(Paper) UPSC (PT) CURRENT AFFAIRS (IV)

PAPER : UPSC (PT) CURRENT AFFAIRS

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121. They began to appear in quantities in the 1860s. “I hate those redbreasts”, cried “Punch” in 1869. In 1877 “The Times” magazine declared them a great social evil, and it was following difficulties with them in 1879 that the London Post Office in 1880 cried out “Post Early”. What are we talking about?
121. Christmas Cards
122. His first voyage, in 1607, was intended to find a quick way to China by way of the North Pole, but resulted instead in the establishment of the Spitzbergen whale fisheries. In 1608, in the service of the Dutch East India Company, he sailed 150 miles past the site of New York, but returned back. In 1610, he explored the site that is now known by his name and was frozen in it. Who?
122. Henry Hudson, of Hudson Bay

123. A man by name Friedrich Froebel, walking with two of his disciples over the Steiger Pass on the way to the village of Blankenburg, scratched his head for the right name to give the institution, and then suddenly shouted out “Eureka ! I have it ! It shall be called _______________!”. Fill in the blank.
123. Kindergarten. Froebel, the German educational reformer was the inventor of the Kindergarden system of education.

124. Back in 1890, Johnson & Johnson put together the first of its kind in response to a plea from railroad workers who needed treatment on the scene as they toiled to lay tracks across America. What?
124. First Aid kits

125. To the Hopi Indians, who feared it and filled it with frightening myths, it was the trail made by the God Ta-Vwoats when he took a mourning chief to find his wife in the other world; the river associated with it, according to them was an addition to hold back the unworthy. What?
125. The Grand Canyon and the River Colorado.

126. An author, as a sign of gratitude to the nurse who had cared for his firstborn child, gave a script and asked her to sell it when she was in need of money. Years later, when the nurse was really in want of money, she sold it and lived in comfort for the rest of her life. The manuscript was the first part of a famous work of this author Name the book and author?
126. Rudyard Kipling and the Jungle Book

127. Though Magellan is regarded as the first person to circumnavigate the world, technically he was not, and it was a person by name Juan Sebastian del Cano, who is technically the first circumnavigator. Why?
127. Magellan, while on the expedition, was killed in a squabble with the natives in the Philippines, and it was Cano who assumed command of the expedition and sailed the expedition through the rest of its journey

128. In the United States, currently a small stock of this exists at only one location - at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia. Some additional stocks are available in Great Britain, Russia and China. Stocks of what?
128. The Small pox virus

129. Masaru Ibuka, after graduating in engineering, failed the entry examination for lifetime employment at Toshiba, and decided to start his own small business. He was fortunate to find a partner who had a flair for finance and salesmanship. Who was this partner?
129. Akio Morita. They together started the company that later became Sony.

130. US banned her entry calling her ‘a communist good’. She was kept in On her journey to the USA from China she got into trouble when the London for time’s sake and became a major attraction there. Who?
130. Chi-Chi the Panda, who became the mascot of the WWF

131. The comic character Yogi Bear lives in a national park that takes its name from the world’s first national park. Name both.
131. Jellystone and Yellowstone

132. The byline of which company, rather ironically went ‘What we do will touch your lives in some way everyday’?
132. Union Carbide Limited (Bhopal Gas Tragedy)

133. Cubatao, in Brazil has certain epithet because it is the world’s most polluted place. What epithet?
133. The Valley of Death

134. Which popular brand takes its name from a particular species of deer native to South Africa?
134. Reebok

135. Which metal was responsible for the fatal brain disease that affected people eating fish caught from the Minamata Bay off the Japanese island of Kyushu?
135. Mercury

136. What is the claim to fame of a body called the Dasohli Gram Swarajya Mandali?
136. Pioneered the Chipko movement

137. A certain kind of bird called Storm Petrels are named after St. Peter. Why?
137. Because they can walk on water

138. The largest flower in the world is named after the person who forced Lord Minto to occupy Java and was at one time the keeper of the London Zoo. We know him best for a city that he founded. Name him and the flower?
138. Sir Stamford Thomas Raffles and the Rafflesia arnoldi

139. In which book would you find the lines ‘All animals are equal but some animals are more equal’.
139. George Orwell’s ‘Animal farm’

140. The Indian television series ‘Living on the edge’ was the first in Asia to win the prestigious Panda Award. By what popular name is this award known?
140. The Green Oscar

141. Which animal is mentioned as the teacher of Yudhishthira in the Mahabharatha?
141. The Mongoose

142. Which comic character cannot stand trees being cut down?
142. Dogmatix of Asterix

143. Which Banking and Finance corporate major recently tied up with the WWF to issue special WWF branded credit cards wherein the company would donate a certain amount of money on the customer’s behalf to WWF everytime he used the card?
143. Citibank

144. A few years ago a certain insect called the Mexican Beetle was imported into Bangalore in large numbers. Why?
144. To eradicate the weed Parthenium

145. India’s premier environmental magazine is edited by activist Bittu Sahgal. Name it.
145. Sanctuary

146. Who said ‘A nation’s wealth, its real wealth can be gauged by its tree cover ‘?
146. Richard St. Barbe Baker, ‘The Man of Trees’

147. Who is the patron saint of ecology?
147. St. Francis

148. Of which media powerhouse is the Discovery Channel a division?
148. Disney

149. Who authored a bestseller ‘Overload’ which is concerned with a fight between environmentalists and an engineer over the building of a thermal power station?
149. Arthur Hailey

150. This American industrialist donated about 1/5th of his property to WWF in return for which the WWF gives an annual Wildlife Conservation Prize to individuals and organisations for distinguished service to the cause of conservation, in his name. Who?
150. J. Paul Getty

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