Today’s GK Test Quiz

Sampurnanand Sanskrit Vishwavidyalaya, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, is an international centre of study, teaching and research in Sanskrit. Jurisdiction of the university extends all over India and it has more than 1,000 affiliated and recognised colleges.

The excavated site of Lothal is the only port-town of the Indus Valley Civilisation. It is the massive dockyard which has helped make this place so important to international archaeology. It is speculated that Lothal engineers studied tidal movements, and their effects on brick-built structures since the walls are of kiln-burnt bricks.

The most accurate description of The Mauryan monarchy under Ashoka was Enlightened despotism. The enlightened despots tried to institute enlightenment reforms but kept all of the political power without creating a constitution.

The typical composition of exhaled air is about 18 percent O₂, 78 percent N₂, and 4 percent CO₂.

Pingali Venkayya was an Indian freedom fighter. He was a staunch follower of Mahatma Gandhi and the designer of the flag on which the Indian national flag was based.

The mercury and sodium street lamps light up because of atomic emission. An electric discharge takes place when electricity is passed through sodium vapors at low or high pressure. As a result, the valence electron present in sodium atoms becomes excited and emits light. The mercury vapor lamp works by creating an electric current to mercury vapor within a sealed glass jacket.

Phosphorus is used in making smoke bombs. White phosphorus burns with a brilliant yellow flame while producing ample amounts of white smoke which is phosphorus pentoxide (P₄O₁₀).

The mixture of Propane (C₃H₈) and Butane (C₄H₁₀) gases is mainly stored as a liquid under pressure in LPG cylinder.

Article 19 of the Indian constitution mentions six freedoms that are available to the citizens of India: 1. Freedom of speech and expression, 2. Freedom to assemble peacefully and without arms, 3. Freedom to form Associations and Unions, 4. Freedom to move freely throughout the territory of India, 5. Freedom to reside and settle in any part of India, 6. Freedom to practice any profession or to carry on any occupation, trade or business.

In order to be chosen a member of Parliament (Article 84(b)), a person must be a citizen of India and not less than 30 years of age in the case of Rajya Sabha and not less than 25 years of age in the case of Lok Sabha.

The original text of the Constitution contained 395 articles in 22 parts and 8 schedules. It came into effect on January 26, 1950, the day that India celebrates each year as Republic Day. Currently, the Constitution of India comprises 470 articles in 25 parts and 12 schedules. There are 104 amendments have been made in the Indian constitution till the date.

The Eighth Schedule of the Constitution of India consists of 22 languages: Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Nepali, Oriya, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu Bodo, Santhali, Maithili and Dogri. Of these languages, 14 were initially included in the Constitution. Sindhi language was added in 1967. Thereafter three more languages viz., Konkani, Manipuri and Nepali were included in 1992. Subsequently Bodo, Dogri, Maithili and Santhali were added in 2004.

Ustad Amjad Ali Khan is an Indian classical Sarod player, best known for his clear and fast ekhara taans. He was awarded India's second-highest civilian honour Padma Vibhushan in 2001.

A depository is an organization where the securities of an investor are held in electronic form.

Special drawing rights (SDRs) are supplementary foreign exchange reserve assets defined and maintained by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). SDRs are units of account for the IMF, and not a currency per se. They represent a claim to currency held by IMF member countries for which they may be exchanged.

The law of demand states that the quantity purchased varies inversely with price. In other words, the higher the price, the lower the quantity demanded.

The Group of Seven (G-7) is an organisation of the world's seven largest advanced economies. They are Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the United States. Russia joined in 1998, creating the G8, but was excluded in 2014 for its takeover of Crimea. China has never been a member, despite its large economy as it is not seen as an advanced economy in the way the G7 members are.

Bats navigate and find insect prey using echolocation. They produce ultrasound. The sound waves emitted by bats bounce off objects in their environment. Then, the sounds return to the bats' ears, which are finely tuned to recognize their own unique calls.

Most metals are good conductors of heat as solid at room temperature. But mercury is the only good conductor of heat in a liquid state due to its high coefficient of expansion.

The Bodhi tree (Peepal tree) in Bodh Gaya under which the Buddha is believed to have meditated and attained enlightenment is located within this temple complex and venerated.