UPSC Quiz – 2023 : IASbaba’s Daily Current Affairs Quiz 16th August 2023

·       Awarded for displaying conspicuous gallantry, indomitable courage, and extreme devotion to duty. or self-sacrifice away from the field of battle.

Eligibility and Design:

·       Open to civilians as well as military personnel, including posthumous awards.

·       A circular silver medal with a lotus flower in the center and a chakra around it, suspended from a green ribbon with two orange stripes.

·       PM-USHA is the new name for the Ministry of Education’s scheme to improve the quality of higher education in State Universities.

·       Aim – To improve quality through curricular & programme changes, teacher training, physical and digital infrastructure, accreditation, and enhancing employability, while ensuring equity, access, and inclusion.

·       States are required to sign a MoU with the Centre.

·       The MoU mandates the implementation of the National Education Policy in order to avail funds for the next 3 years, under the Centre’s flagship scheme for State-run higher education.

·       Nearly 40% of the PM USHA budget must be borne by the States themselves, and no extra funds have been earmarked for NEP reforms.

·       The MoU makes it mandatory for States to undertake the administrative, academic, accreditation, and governance reforms detailed in the NEP.

·       These include an academic credit bank, entry and exit flexibility, and the Samarth e-governance platform.

·       PM-USHA carries forward the vision of the earlier Rashtriya Uchstar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA), to improve the access, equity and quality of higher education in States.

·       PM-USHA reduces the fragmentation of resources by streamlining the number of (scheme) components to six.

·       It is a part of the Great Rift Valley.

·       The northern portion of the Red Sea is bifurcated by the Sinai Peninsula into the Gulf of Aqaba and the Gulf of Suez, where it is connected to the Mediterranean Sea via the famous Suez Canal.

·       The Red Sea is linked with the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea by the straits of Bab el Mandeb.

·       The Red Sea contains some of the world’s hottest and saltiest seawater.

·       With its connection to the Mediterranean Sea via the Suez Canal, it is one of the most heavily traveled waterways in the world, carrying maritime traffic between Europe and Asia.

·       Its name is derived from the colour changes observed in its waters. Normally, the Red Sea is an intense blue-green.

·       Sometimes it is populated by extensive blooms of the algae Trichodesmium erythraeum, turn the sea a reddish brown colour.

·       It will be launched by the PSLV-XL launch vehicle.

·       The spacecraft shall be placed in a halo orbit around the Lagrange point 1 (L1) of the Sun-Earth system, which is about 1.5 million km from the Earth.

·       A satellite placed in the halo orbit around the L1 point has the major advantage of continuously viewing the Sun without any occultation/eclipses.

·       This will provide a greater advantage in observing solar activities and their effect on space weather in real-time.

·       Lagrangian points, also known as Lagrange points or libration points, are specific locations in space where the gravitational forces of two large bodies, such as a planet and its moon or a planet and the Sun, produce enhanced regions of gravitational equilibrium.

·       In these points, the gravitational pull from the two bodies creates a stable or quasi-stable region where a third, smaller object can maintain a relatively constant position relative to the larger bodies.

·       There are five primary Lagrangian points, labeled L1 through L5, in a Sun-Earth system.

Keeladi

Sivagalai

Adichanallur

Kodumanal

Keeladi-

·       Located in Sivaganga district on the banks of river Vaigai.

·       It is an urban settlement of Sangam Age.

Kodumanal-

·       Village located in Erode district, TN.

·       Flourishing ancient trade city known as Kodumanam (as inscribed in Pathitrupathu of Sangam Literature).

·       It is located on the northern banks of Noyyal River (a tributary of the Cauvery).

Sivagalai-

·       Village in the Tuticorin district, TN.

·       It was once known as ‘Small Ceylon’ by Britishers.

·       Evidence of megalithic archaeological remains were found here in 2018.

Adichanallur-

·       Located in Thoothukudi district, TN.

·       In 2004, iron-age (1500 BC to 500 BC) burial sites were unearthed by ASI from here.

Porpanaikottai 

·       Porpanaikottai is situated at Pudukottai, Tamilnadu.

·       The name Porpanaikottai could have been derived from the designative name of the Paana chieftain clan or based on the village’s name Porpanai.

·       The site had grave goods indicating a burial site, conch bangles, fragments of red and black pots, of pots engraved with Tamili, iron fragments, glass beads and weapons made of bones.

·       A golden nose stud or earring weighing 0.2g, a bone point and a fragment of carnelian bead was found at this site.

·       The fort area had temples for Muneeswaran and Karuppan on all four sides, ruins of a palace and there were signs of waterbodies inside too.

·       A hero stone mentioning the name of one Kanangkumaran who hailed from Adhavanur was found at the site.

Poyyilkotta is an archeological site in Kasargod, Kerala.