[Mission 2022] QUIZ – 2021: Insights Current Affairs Quiz , 17 May 2022 – INSIGHTSIAS

Solution: d)

The first photograph of Sagittarius A*, a supermassive black hole about 26,000 light years from Earth and situated at the centre of the Milky Way, was revealed by astronomers of the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT).

A black hole is formed when stars collapse, leading to a space in the universe with an escape velocity — the speed at which an object must travel to override a planet or an object’s gravitational force. For instance, for a spacecraft to leave the surface of the Earth, it needs to be travelling at a speed of about 40,000 km per hour which is so great that even light cannot escape it.

Because light cannot get out, black holes are invisible and can only be tracked with the help of spatial telescopes and special tools. The light cannot go out as the gravity inside a black hole is very strong because a lot of matter being squeezed into a small space.

Source

Solution: b)

The expression “minorities” appears in some Articles of the Constitution, but is not defined anywhere.

Central Government notifies minority communities at the national level in consultation with various stakeholders under Section 2 (c) of National Commission for Minorities (NCM), Act, 1992.  The six communities notified as minority communities under Section 2(c) of the NCM Act, 1992 are Christians, Sikhs, Muslims, Buddhists, Parsis and Jains. Notification of any community specific to a State as minority community with in a State comes under the purview of the State concerned.

Source                  Source

Solution: a)

Due to greenhouse gas emissions, global warming is already 1°C higher than the pre-industrial levels. There is vast evidence that this has serious consequences for ecosystems and human being. The IPCC’s special report on Oceans and Cryosphere (published in 2019) reveals that the ocean is 0.8 degrees warmer than the pre-industrial age. It is more acidic, and less productive because of the carbon emission that was sunk by the oceans.

The impact of ocean warming would be an increase in the frequency of tropical cyclone winds and rainfall, as well as an increase in extreme waves, all of which would be accompanied by a rise in relative sea level. 

Solution: c)

The Taj Mahal incorporates characteristics of Indo-Islamic and Timurid architecture, and is often seen as a natural progression of Mughal architecture from older monuments such as Humayun’s Tomb in Delhi.

It was built between 1632 and 1648 on the orders of the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan.

Floral designs made of semi-precious stones on the walls, this type of decoration was called pietra dura.

This method became more popular during the reign of Shah Jahan. The pietra dura method was used on a large scale in the Taj Mahal by Shah Jahan.

Source

Solution: a)

Carbon dating of excavated finds in Tamil Nadu pushes evidence of iron being used in India back to 4,200 years ago.

Before this, the earliest evidence of iron use was from 1900-2000 BCE for the country, and from 1500 BCE for Tamil Nadu. The latest evidence dates the findings from Tamil Nadu to 2172 BCE.

The dates when humans entered the Iron Age vary from one region of the world to another. In India, too, the date has been revised with successive findings over the decades.

Iron is not known to have been used in the Indus Valley, from where the use of copper in India is said to have originated (1500 BCE).

The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic, and Chalcolithic) and the Bronze Age. 

Source