Equinox



Q:- What do you mean by the term Equinox?

-> A period in which days and night are equal..

The term equinox is derived from the Latin word which means 'equal night'. It happens twice a year when the tilt of earth's axis is neither away nor towards the sun. At this time the sun is directly above the Earth's equator.

The vernal equinox (the first point of Aries), is the point at which the sun appears to cross the celestial equator from south to north and it occurs around March 21. It marks the first day of beginning of spring season.

At the autumnal equinox, around September 23, the sun again appears to cross the celestial equator, but this time from north to south. Autumnal equinox marks the first day of the beginning of autumn season.

It will be interesting to know that one effect of equinoctial periods is the temporary disruption of communication (geostationary) satellites. There are a few days near the equinox when the sun goes directly behind the satellite within the beamwidth of Earth's ground station antenna. Sun's powerful broadband microwave noise spectrum overload the Earth station's reception circuits with noise and, depending on antenna size and other factors, temporarily disrupt or degrade the circuit. This degree of interference caused by the satellite and the sun varies from slight signal degradation to complete signal loss as the downlink is completely swamped by the noise signal from sun.

India Divided


Q:- Who was the author of "India Divided"?

-> Dr. Rajendra Prasad..

He was the first president of the Republic of India (1950–62). A lawyer turned journalist, he was a comrade of Mahatama Gandhi in the earliest noncooperation movements for independence.

The book "India Divided" is divided into six parts. "Part I deals with the theory of Hindus and Muslims of India being two nations. Parts I, III, IV, V and VI of the book were written in the Bankipur jail.

Part II discusses at length how the Hindu-Muslim problem has arisen and grown to its present proportions.

Part III gives the summary of a number of schemes of parti- tion which have appeared.

Part IV, points out the vagueness and ambiguity of the Lahore Resolution of the All- India Muslim League and the difficulty which faces any one trying to consider it on its merits. It analyses the Resolution and, giving their natural meaning to the words used in the Resolution, it fixes the boundaries of Pakistan.

Part V deals with the resources of the Muslim States and shows how the scheme of partition is impracticable.

Part VI gives various proposals put forward by persons or bodies for solving the Hindu-Muslim problem.



Q:- Who was the first women governor of an Indian state ?

-> Sarojini Naidu...

Sorojini Naidu was the first women governor of Uttarpradesh in free India. She was also the first women to be elected as a president of 'Indian National Congress' in 1925. Famously known as Bharatiya Kokila (The Nightingale of India), Sarojini Naidu was born on February 13, 1879 in Hyderabad. She was the eldest daughter of Aghornath Chattopadhyaya and Barada Sundari Devi. Her Father was a scientist and philosopher and mother was a poetess.

She was fluent in Urdu, Telugu, English, Bengali, and Persian. She studied at the Madras University, before moving to England to study. At the age of 15 she met Dr. Muthyala Govindarajulu Naidu and fell in love with him, a non-brahamin and a doctor by profession. After finishing her studies at the age of 19, she married him during the time when inter-caste marriages were not allowed. It was a revolutionary step but Sarojini's father fully supported her in her endeavour.

The partition of Bengal in 1905 drew her to join the Indian freedom struggle. She traveled from state to state, city after city and asked for the rights of the women. She re-established self-esteem within the women of India. Sarojini Naidu was a distinguished poet, renowned freedom fighter and one of the great orators of her time.

She passed away on March 2, 1949 in Allahabad.

Mohiniattam


Q:- In which state a dance style named "Mohiniattam" has originated ?

-> Kerala..



Mohiniattam is the feminine semi-classical dance form of Kerala, a state in the south western of India. Mohiniattam was mainly performed in the temples of Kerala. The central character is 'Mohini'. The word 'Mohini' means a maiden who exerts desire or steals the heart of the onlooker. There goes a famous story that lord Vishnu in a disguise of Mohini (a beautiful celestial nymph); by way of her amorous charms distracts the demons from churning amrit (celestial ambrosia); amrit bestows immortality and great power. By means of this distraction the amrit is given to the gods, and the world is saved from the demons. Thus it is supposed that Vaishnava devotees gave the name Mohiniattam to this dance form..

There is a typical costume for Mohini Attam. It is generally simple and white, or off-white. Usually there is a gold bordered Kasavu saree of Kerala.

The theme of Mohiniattam is love and devotion to god.The style of vocal music for Mohiniattam is classical Carnatic It is essentially a solo dance, but in present times it is performed in groups also.
Some of the exponents of this dance form are Chinnammu Amma, Kalyani Kuttiamma, Kanak Rele, Sunanda Nair, Deepti Bhalla and Bharati Shivaji.


Q:- The state that produces highest amount of Sugarcane in India ?

-> Uttarpradesh...

Western UttarPradesh and Lower Uttaranchal are the biggest sugarcane producing states in India. Sugarcane is mainly used for Jaggery production as it is the main substitute for sugar. Uttarpradesh ranks first having 47.6 per cent of the total sugarcane acreage. Sugar cane plantations are usually established in the spring, by planting stem cuttings in fields. As they grow, the stems multiply at the base, for a cluster of 2 or 3 stems. As the stems mature the sugar content increases.

Other than jaggery production, the molasses left over from sugarcane has many uses. These includes as feed for animals and fertilizers. Molasses, along with cane juice and other by-products can be fermented and then distilled, to produce an alcoholic distillate known as rum.



Q:-> Across which river is the Bhakra Nangal Dam built ?

-> River Sutlej..

The 90 km long dam is spread over an area of 168 sq km and is a combination of Bhakra dam and Nangal dam. It is described as 'New Temple of Resurgent India' by Late Pundit Jawahar Lal Nehru, the first prime minister of India.

It is a dam near the border between Punjab and Haryana in northern India. Bhakra Nangal Dam, is situated at a height of 226 m above sea level, which stuns the visitor with its sheer height. Bhakra dam is 13 km upstream from Nangal city and Nangal dam, on the other hand, is 13 km down-stream. The construction of Bhakra Nangal Dam was started in the year 1948 and was completed by the end of year 1963.
It is the 'largest gravity dam in the world' and stores 9348 million cubic meter of water..

It also has 4 flood gates which are during the period of floods and also has 2 power- stations situated on the either sides of the dam, which receives water through huge pipes which are directly connected from the dam's reservoir to each power plant.
Tourist travel to the dam to view the dam's architecture and the attractive location...

Rigveda

Q:- Which is the oldest of all Veda in Hindu religion?

->Rigveda is the oldest of all Vedas as early as 12000BC-4000BC..

The word Veda means knowledge, and the Vedas are considered the most sacred scripture of Hinduism referred to as sruti, meaning what was revealed to the rishis. The most holy hymns and mantras put together into four collections called the Rig, Sama, Yajur, and Atharva Veda.

- Rigveda consisits of prayers and praises of god.
- Yajurveda speaks of different types of Yagyas (religious sacrifices).
- Atharvaveda consists about the knowledge and spirutaility.
- Samveda consists of richas from the Rigveda which are lyrical and musical.
The Rigveda mentions a library with thousands of documents (sahsra akshare parame vyomen---) kept under the protection of Suryadeva, the last Deva king.The Rigveda consists of ten books. Each is called a mandal. While the first book (mandal) of the Rigveda is a collection of songs of several singers (rishis), mandals 2 to 9 are each the songs of one rishi only. The authors of the verses of the tenth mandal are not known. In the first nine mandals of the Rigveda, there is no mention of God or the soul. This depicts a very high level of intelligence of the Devas and a rational thinking of people in general.


Monsoon winds

Q:- Which wind cause rainfall in Tamil Nadu ?

-> The North East monsoon...
South-West monsoon winds blow over the entire Indian sub continent from June to September. The whole of India except the east coast including Tamil Nadu recieves rainfall due to this monsoon wind.
The Southern hemisphere experiences summer season from October to March. Because of high temperature, a low-pressure belt is developed over the Southern hemisphere. India experiences winter season during these months. A highpressure belt is developed over Northwest India due to low temperature. From the high-pressure centre of India, wind starts blowing towards the low-pressure centre in the Southern hemisphere. Due to rotation of the Earth, this wind is deflected as North-East winds. So it is known as North-East Monsoon wind. Entire Tamil Nadu and Eastern Coast of India receive rainfall due to the North - East monsoon wind.

Great Visitors


Q:- In whose regime the famous visitor Fa-Hien visited India?

-> Chandragupta-II...

Fa-Hien was a renowned Chinese traveler and pilgrim known for his extensive travel throughout India. He visited India in the year somewhere between 376-399, and returned to China in the year 414. Fa-Hien came to India with a view to trace the origin of Buddhist religion. As a part of his tour, he visited various Buddhist shrines and interacted with prominent religious persons. He describes Indian cities are prosperous and stretched far and wide. There are many guest houses for travellers and charitable institutions too. There are hospitals providing free medical service for poor. The Vihar and temples are majestic. People are free to choose their occupation and there is no restrictions on the movement of people. The book written by Fa-Hien contains a description of the famous places in India. It also contains the exact date and time when Buddhism was Introduced in India...


Q:- In which country did Industrial revolution really started ?

-> England...

The Industrial Revolution of the late 18th and early 19th centuries was revolutionary because it changed -- revolutionized -- the productive capacity of England, Europe and United States.The revolution was something more than just new machines, smoke- factories, increased productivity and an increased standard of living. It was a revolution which transformed English, European, and American society down to its very roots.The Industrial Revolution served as a key to the origins of modern
Western society. The major inventions of industrial revolution were:-

- In textile Industry.. Spinning jenny, water frame, spinning mule, power loom and the cotton gin etc were the products.

- Development of Machine shop.. It helped to produce tools that could mass produce other products.

- Agricultural methods.. There was a massive and rapid increase in agricultural productivity and farm technology.

- Steam engines, steam boats, communication technology, newspaper and printing method were to name the few.

Aided by revolution in agriculture,transportation, communication and technology England was able to become the 'First Industrial Nation..'

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