Daily Quiz #78 UPSC Prelims Marathon – February 3, 2020

Explanation: The festival of Sekrenyi is celebrated in the month of February by the Angami tribe of Nagaland. According to the Angami tribe, it falls on the 25th of the ‘Kezei’ month or February. It is celebrated for over 10 days and is also called ‘Phousanyi’ by the Angamis.

Explanation: The government body that governs and directs censorship in India iscalled the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC). It was set up in 1950 under the name Central Board of Film Censors, but the same was changed under the Act of 1952. It is directly under the directive of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. All films have to get a Censor Board certificate. Even the foreign films that are imported to India have to get a CBFC certification. All the films that are dubbed from one language to another have to get a fresh certificate to ensure that the language change is not offensive in any manner. The only exception to the CBFC certificate is filmsmade especially for Doordarshan as they are the official broadcaster for the Government of India and they have their own set of rules for examining such films. CBFC certification is also not required for television programmes and serials.

Explanation: Linguists have argued the Nannaya (11th century) was the first poet in Telugu. Several great works have been written in Telugu but it reached its zenith during the Vijayanagara period that is also known as the golden age of Telugu literature. One of the most successful works in this period is titled Uttaraharivamsam which was composed by Nachana Somanatha, a well-known court poet of King Bukka I. Not only were the court poets producing outstanding literature, even the kings like Krishnadevaraya (1509-1529) were composing exceptional poetry titled Amuktamalyada.

Explanation: Hitler’s astounding success and the fall of Belgium, Holland and France put England in a conciliatory mood. As the war in Europe had undertaken a new turn, the dominant Congress leadership was again in a dilemma. Both Gandhi and Nehru strongly opposed the idea of taking advantage of Britain’s position. The Congress was ready to compromise, asking the British government to let it form an interim government during the war period but the government was not interested. The government came up with its own offer to get the cooperation of India in the war effort. Linlithgow announced the August Offer (August 1940) which proposed:
•dominion status as the objective for India;
•expansion of viceroy’s executive council which would have a majority of Indians (who would be drawn from major political parties);
•setting up of a constituent assembly after the war where mainly Indians would decide the constitution according to their social, economic and political conceptions, subject to fulfilment of the obligation of the government regarding defence, minority rights, treaties with States, all India services; and
•no future constitution to be adopted without the consent of minorities.

Explanation: The overall layout of the Indus Saraswati cities is distinguished by the orientation of streets and buildings, according to the cardinal directions – east-west, and north-south. The idea of settlement planning did not appear suddenly with the first large cities but was already well established in earlier period as has been revealed from the excavations at Kot Diji, Kalibangan, Harappa, Rahman Dheri, Nausharo etc. The basic layout at all these settlements was established along a grid that was defined by large streets running north-south and east-west and fortification all around.