Early Muslim invasion of India - appsc UPSC

The very first Muslim attack on India in Sindh in the year 715 A.D by Arabs khaliffa led by Mohammad Bin Qasim(one of the loyal man to calipha). They had displaced Raja Dabir who ruled Sindh from his capital Deval (near modern Karachi). They even unsuccessfully tried to attack Malwa. After this invasion, which was limited to Sindh, for a period of 300 years kings like Raja Bhoja and other Gurjara prathihar Kings thwarted all further Muslim attacks. The next invasion was by Turk Sabuktagin. He had established himself in Khorasan and extended his kingdom extended to Kabul and Ghazni. In 986 AD he came into conflict with Raja Jaipal of Bathinda. In 991 A.D. Raja Jaipal allied with other Hindu king including Rajyapala the Prathira king of Kannauj and Dhanga the ruler of the distant Chandela kingdom but they too were defeated.

Mahmud of Ghazni : The elder son-in-law of Sabuktagin, Mahmud of Ghazni assumed the throne in 997 AD. He was very conscious of the wealth he could achieve from further conquests into India. He was also a religious fanatic who aimed to spread Islam. Mahmud is said to have invaded India seventeen times between 1001 -1027 AD. King Jaipal and later his son Anandpal resisted Mahmud but were defeated. Between 1009 A.D and 1026 A.D he invaded Kangra, Thaneshwar, Kanauj, Mathura, Gwalior, Kashmir and Punjab. In 1025AD Mahmud invaded Somnath and looted its temple on the coast of Saurashtra or Kathiwar. Enormous treasure of the fortified temple was looted. His last invasion was in about 1027 AD. He died in 1030AD.

After this Mohammad- bin-sam (mohhammad gori) attacked india and aftre defeating prithvi raj III chauhan in battle of tarain in 1193 and after it defeating raja jaichand of kannauj. Mohhammad gori died in 1206 then his three slaves divide his territory in three parts..first and favourite slave yaldoj captured Ghori area(in afghanistan and iran), second slave qutub din aibak controlled indus and gangettic plains and third slave bakhtiyaar controlled bengal and assam region.

after this muslims control india upto 1857 when the last muslim mughal emperor bhadurshah jafar was exiled to rangoon by british east india company.

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Deltas in India Decreasing ---- A question came from this topic in SSC CGL 2010 - useful to APPSC UPSC

Twenty-four of the thirty-three deltas in the world are sinking, and many of these are in India. This alarming finding comes from a study of the world's deltas using satellite data. The results were published online in the journal Nature Geoscience.

The study found that most of the deltas are "sinking at rates many times faster than global sea level rise."

Deltas that are sinking relative to the sea level are prone to flooding. As per projections made by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), sea level is expected to rise by another 21 to 71 cm by 2070 due to global warming and this will put millions of people living along the deltas at great risk.

According to James P.M. Syvitski from the University of Colorado, the first author of the study, the deltaic area at risk of flooding would increase by 50 per cent over the twenty-first century if the global sea level continues to rise rapidly.

Reduction in sediment inflow into the deltas

The study found that reduction in sediment inflow into the deltas played a major role in making the deltas vulnerable to flooding. The vulnerability arises as the deltas which lack sediment supply are unable to stay well above the sea level.

Delivery of vital sediments has either been reduced or totally eliminated in most of the deltas by the construction of dams and compaction of delta sediments through water and oil extraction. These activities, which have been going on for the past 50 years, tend to reduce the height of deltas with respect to the sea level.

Fate of many Indian deltas

The study found that some of the Indian deltas — Brahmani delta in Orissa, and Godavari and Mahanadi in Andhra Pradesh — are at a greater risk as the rate of sediment aggradation (raising the level of the delta through sediment deposition) no longer exceeds relative sea-level rise.

While there are no Indian deltas in the peril category (where the aggradation and compaction of the delta sediments overwhelms the rate of sea-level rise), the Krishna delta in Andhra Pradesh falls in the last category of greater peril.

In the case of the greater peril category, the deltas have virtually no sediment deposition (aggradation) and/or have very high accelerated compaction of sediments. Here the relative see-level rise is about 3 mm per year. The maximum relative sea-level rise of 13-150 mm per year is seen in the Chao Phraya delta in Thailand.

Though the relative sea-level rise is around 3 mm per year even in the case of the Mahanadi delta, there has been some amount of deposition of sediments leading to a small increase in the delta level surface relative to the sea level. The relative sea-level rise has been about 1.3 mm per year in the case of the Brahmani and Godavari deltas.

Reduction in sediment inflow into the deltas is mainly due to human activity. Dams constructed across many major rivers tend to reduce the silt from flowing. Another major reason is the reduction of flow in the active distributary channels that supply the river with water and sediments. Accelerated compacting of floodplain sediment caused by the extraction of groundwater and natural gas is yet another cause.

Repercussions of sinking deltas

Reduced sediment inflow into deltas could have severe repercussions Nearly 85 per cent of the world's major deltas have experienced flooding during the last decade. The flooding could either be from coastal inundation from surges, flooding from rivers overflowing the embankment, or flooding from intense rainfall within the delta.

In 2007-08, many deltas in the world, including Brahmani, Mahanadi, Krishna, and Godavari experienced flooding killing more than 100,000 lives and displacing millions of habitants.

The paper shows that more than 100,000 square km of deltas in the world are vulnerable to flooding from storms, surges or river floods as they have elevations of less than 2 metres above sea level.

 

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Noble Gases and their Applications - for Competitive Exams

Noble Gas	Uses	Property
Argon	Light bulbs	Doesn't react with the metal filament
Helium	Used with O2 for deep sea dives	Low solubility of helium in the blood.
Helium	To inflate the tyres of large aircraft	Non-flammable
Helium	To fill airships and weather balloons	Low density, does not burn
Neon	In advertising signs because it glows red when electricity passes	Conductor of electricity at high voltage
Krypton/Xenon	In lamps used in photographic flash units, in stroboscopic lamps used in lighthouses	Gives out a lot of light when electricity passes through

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General Awareness Questions for APPSC Prelims G1, G2

1. Who among the following is the
President of Belarus?
(1) Georgi Purvanov
(2) Alexander Lukashenko
(3) Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva
(4) Alvaro Uribe Velez
2. Who among the following is the
Chairman of National Knowledge
Commission?
(1)Mr. P.M. Bhargava
(2)Mr. P. Balram
(3)Mr. Andre Beteille
(4)Mr. Sam Pitroda
3. Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya's Dargah
is located at
(1)Ajmer (2) Mumbai
(3) Delhi (4) Hyderabad
4. With which sport is the term
'butterfly' associated?
(1) Kabaddi (2) Swimming
(3)Boxing (4) Wrestling
5. Who among the following won the
renowned Adiseshiah Award 2007?
(1)Mr. Khushwant Singh
(2)Mr. Vikram Seth
(3) Prof. Amartya Sen
(4) Dr. Ram Chandra Guha
6. Who among the following tennis
sensations announced her
retirement in 2007?
(1) Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario
(2) Monica Seles
(3) Kim Clijsters
(4) Serena Williams
7. Which of the following sports will be
included in 2010 Asian Games to be
held in Guangzhou (China)?
(1) Baseball (2) Rugby
(3)Squash (4) Cricket
8. The Dronacharya Award for sports
coaches was instituted by the
Government in
(1) 1961 (2) 1970
(3) 1985 (4) 1987
9. Who among the following literary
personalities won Cervantes Prize
recently?
(1)Mr. Paulo Coelho
(2)Mr. Franz Kafka
(3)Mr. Antonio Gamoneda
(4)Mr. Chinua Achebe
10. Which of the following countries has
the highest life expectancy at birth?
(1) Australia (2) Japan
(3)Sweden (4) Canada
11. Which of the following is the world's
largest city in area?
(1) Mount Isa (Australia)
(2) Mumbai (India)
(3)Wenchuan (China)
(4) Tokyo (Japan)
12. Who among the following is
regarded as the father of Modern
Biology?
(1) Aristotle
(2)Darwin
(3)Robert Hooke
(4) Vesalius
13. Which of the following rivers rises
in lake Lan-Ka Tso in Tibet?
(1)Jhelum (2)Chenab
(3) Beas (4) Sutlej
14. Who among the following tennis
players won the women's singles title
in French Open 2007?
(1) Venus Williams
(2) Maria Sharapova
(3) Justine Henin
(4) Martina Hingis
15. By what name is the disease,
Varicella, more commonly known?
(1) Chicken Pox (2) Small Pox
(3) Malaria (4) Tuberculosis
16. Who among the following noted
personalities won the prestigious
Abel Prize recently?
(1)Mr. M.S. Swaminathan
(2)Mr. Srinivasan Padmanabhan
(3)Mr. A. Sivathanu Pillai
(4)Mr. Srinivasa Varadhan
17. Which of the following parts of the
skeleton protects the spinal cord?
(1) Auditory Capsule
(2)Cranium
(3) Olfactory Capsule
(4) Vertebral Column
18. The Community of Sahel-Saharan
States (CEN-SAD) Summit was held
in
(1)Sudan (2) Nigeria
(3) Libya (4) Niger
19. Who among the following is the
Attorney-General of India?
(1)Mr. Goolam E. Vahanvati
(2)Mr. Milon Kumar Banerji
(3)Mr. Vikas Singh
(4)Mr. Gopal Subramaniam
20. Which of the following countries has
the largest area of forest?
(1) Russia (2) Canada
(3) Brazil (4)USA
21. The States/UT through which the
Kaveri river flows are
(1)Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and
Puducherry
(2) Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and
Puducherry
(3)Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and
Puducherry
(4)Maharashtra, Karnataka and
Puducherry
22. PERT is a technique used for which
one of the following?
(1) Electric Power Transmission
(2) Project Management
(3) Railway Safety
(4) Internet
23. The Asteroid Belt is found between
which of the following planets?
(1) Mars and Jupiter
(2) Earth and Mars
(3) Jupiter and Saturn
(4) Saturn and Uranus
24. Who among the following
propounded the 'Saptanga' Theory?
(1)Manu (2) Charaka
(3) Kautilya (4) Tulsidas
2
25. The visible part of the Sun is called
(1) Ionosphere (2) Hydrosphere
(3) Photosphere (4) Troposphere
26. Where was the 14th SAARC Summit
held?
(1)Kathmandu (2) Dhaka
(3)Colombo (4) New Delhi
27. The 2008 Olympic Games will be
held at
(1) Montreal (2) Beijing
(3) Atlanta (4) London
28. Which among the following films
won the award for 'Best Motion
Picture of the Year' in 79th Annual
Academy Awards 2007?
(1)The Queen
(2)The Departed
(3) The Last King of Scotland
(4) The Lives of Others
29. Who among the following is the
Governor of Meghalaya?
(1)Mr. K. Sankaranarayan
(2)Mr. Shivinder Singh Sidhu
(3)Mr. B.L. Joshi
(4)Mr. Dinesh Nandan Sahaya
30. Where is the world's tallest Pagoda
located?
(1)Bhutan (2) Japan
(3) Nepal (4) China
31. At which international film festival
is the 'Golden Lion' awarded to the
best film?
(1) IIFA
(2) Locarno Film Festival
(3) Cannes Film Festival
(4) Venice Film Festival
32. With which mythological figure would
you associate the weapons – 'Ajagava',
'Khatwanga' and 'Pinaka'?
(1)Vishnu (2) Shiva
(3)Brahma (4) Indra
33. How many companies from India
figure in the 'Global-500' list?
(1)6 (2) 4
(3)8 (4) 10
34. Which of the following planets takes
nearly the same time for a rotation
on its own axis as does the Earth?
(1) Jupiter (2) Mars
(3)Neptune (4) Uranus
35. Noted author and activist Arundhati
Roy has been supporting the
farmers of Singur in West Bengal
who are resisting the State
Government's move to acquire land
and give it to
(1) Tata Motors
(2) Maruti Udyog Ltd.
(3) Infosys
(4) Hindustan Motors
36. Who among the following batsmen
achieved the feat of hitting six 6s in
one over for the first time in
international cricket during the
World Cup 2007?
(1) Scott Styris
(2) Sanath Jayasuriya
(3) Herschelle Gibbs
(4) Brian Lara
37. The XVI Asian Games are scheduled
to be held at
(1) Qatar (2) Incheon
(3)Guangzhou (4) Jakarta
38. Who was the founder of the Asiatic
Society?
(1) William Carey
(2) William Jones
(3) David Hare
(4)Marshman
39. Lance Armstrong, a sportsperson of
international repute, belongs to
which of the following countries?
(1)USA (2) Ukraine
(3) Spain (4) Brazil
40. 'Galileo Satellites', named after their
discoverer, are four large moons of
the planet
(1) Jupiter (2) Neptune
(3) Saturn (4) Uranus
BUSINESS
41. How many companies from India
found a place in the 'Global-500' list?
(1)6 (2) 4
(3)8 (4) 10
42. Tata Consultancy Services (TCS)
has succeeded in acquiring a big deal
from Bank of China worth
(1) $ 75 million
(2) $ 50 million
(3) $ 100 million
(4) $ 125 million
43. According to the Global Gender Gap
Report, 2006 by the World Economic
Forum, the country which has
provided more political
empowerment to women among the
following is
(1)USA
(2) India
(3) Sri Lanka
(4) Bangladesh
44. Noted author and activist Arundhati
Roy has been supporting the
farmers of Singur in West Bengal
who are resisting the State
Government's move to acquire land
and give it to
(1)Tata Motors
(2) Maruti Udyog Ltd.
(3) Infosys
(4) Hindustan Motors
45. The 14th Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation
(APEC) 2006 Summit was
held in
(1) Thailand (2) Vietnam
(3) Brazil (4) China
46. Which of the following industries are
the major beneficiaries of the
Mumbai port?
(1)Sugar and Cotton textile
industry
(2) Iron and Steel industry
(3) Cotton textile and Petrochemical
industry
(4)Engineering and Fertilizer
industry
47. What is Value Added Tax (VAT)?
(1) A new initiative taken by the
Government to increase the taxburden
of high income groups
(2) A simple, transparent, easy to pay
tax imposed on consumers
(3) A single tax that replaces State tax
like surcharge, turnover tax, etc.
(4) A new tax to be imposed on the
producers of capital goods.
48. The common currency which has
been introduced among 11 European
nations is known as
(1)Euro
(2)Euro Pound
(3) Euro Dollar
(4) None of these
49. Who amongst the following was the
head of the Investment Commission
which submitted its report to the
Government of India?
(1)Dr. Rakesh Mohan
(2)Mr. Ratan Tata
(3)Mr. Kumar Mangalam Birla
(4)Mr. Rahul Bajaj
50. Which bank has launched a new
health cover scheme under the
name of "Arogya Shree"?
(1)PNB (2) SBI
(3)Andhra Bank (4)OBC

1.(2) 2.(4) 3.(3) 4.(2) 5.(4) 6.(3) 7.(4) 8.(3) 9.(3) 10.(2)
11.(1) 12.(1) 13.(4) 14.(3) 15.(1) 16.(4) 17.(4) 18.(3) 19.(2) 20.(1)
21.(1) 22.(2) 23.(1) 24.(3) 25.(3) 26.(4) 27.(2) 28.(2) 29.(3) 30.(4)
31.(4) 32.(2) 33.(1) 34.(2) 35.(1) 36.(3) 37.(3) 38.(2) 39.(1) 40.(1)
41.(1) 42.(3) 43.(2) 44.(1) 45.(2) 46.(3) 47.(3) 48.(1) 49.(2) 50.(1)

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