Maharashtra HSC General Knowledge flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Chandrayaan-3 landing site

ISRO's Chandrayaan-3 touched down near the lunar south pole on 23 August 2023, making India the first country to soft-land in that region and the fourth to soft-land on the Moon.

African Union G20 membership

At the G20 New Delhi Leaders' Summit in September 2023, the African Union was admitted as a permanent member, expanding the grouping from 20 to 21 members.

Aditya-L1

India's first dedicated solar observatory mission, launched on 2 September 2023 and placed in a halo orbit around the Sun-Earth Lagrange point L1 to study the solar corona.

SpaDeX mission

An ISRO demonstration in December 2024 in which two small satellites autonomously docked in orbit, a capability required for space stations and sample-return missions.

Ashoka's Kalinga war

The Kalinga war, fought around 261 BCE, led Ashoka to embrace Buddhism and propagate Dhamma through rock and pillar edicts across his Mauryan empire.

Battle of Plassey

Fought in 1757, it gave the East India Company effective control of Bengal after Robert Clive defeated Siraj-ud-Daulah, a turning point in British expansion in India.

Quit India Movement

Launched on 8 August 1942 at Gowalia Tank in Bombay, it demanded immediate British withdrawal and adopted the slogan 'Do or Die' given by Mahatma Gandhi.

Sattriya dance

A classical dance form of Assam that developed in Vaishnava satras, recognised by the Sangeet Natak Akademi as a classical dance in the year 2000.

Warli painting

A folk painting tradition of the Warli community in Maharashtra, using white rice-paste figures on a mud base to depict daily life, harvests and rituals.

Yakshagana

A traditional folk theatre form of coastal Karnataka combining dance, music, dialogue and elaborate costumes, usually performed at night on an open stage.

Article 32

A Fundamental Right that empowers individuals to move the Supreme Court for enforcement of Fundamental Rights; Ambedkar called it the heart and soul of the Constitution.

Fundamental Duties

Eleven duties listed in Article 51A, added by the 42nd Amendment in 1976 on the Swaran Singh Committee's recommendation, urging citizens to respect the Constitution and national symbols.

Tenth Schedule

Inserted by the 52nd Amendment in 1985, it contains anti-defection provisions and empowers the presiding officer to disqualify legislators who defect from their party.

Standard Meridian of India

The longitude 82°30'E, which sets Indian Standard Time at UTC+5:30; it passes near Mirzapur in Uttar Pradesh and is used across the country.

Godavari river

The longest peninsular river in India, rising at Trimbakeshwar in Nashik district, Maharashtra, and flowing east to the Bay of Bengal; also called Dakshin Ganga.

Palghat Gap

A major pass in the Western Ghats linking Kerala and Tamil Nadu, notable for being one of the few low-level routes through the otherwise continuous mountain range.

Repo rate

The rate at which the Reserve Bank of India lends short-term funds to commercial banks against government securities, used as the principal tool of monetary policy.

GST slabs

India's Goods and Services Tax, launched on 1 July 2017, has four main slabs of 5, 12, 18 and 28 percent, plus cess on specified demerit goods.

MGNREGA

A 2005 law guaranteeing at least 100 days of unskilled wage employment per year to every rural household whose adult members volunteer to do manual work.

Photosynthesis equation

The process in chloroplasts where chlorophyll captures light to convert six molecules of carbon dioxide and six of water into glucose and six molecules of oxygen.

Flexible inflation targeting

India's monetary framework sets a Consumer Price Index inflation target of 4 percent with a tolerance band of plus or minus 2 percent, reviewed by the RBI.

Biodiversity hotspots of India

Four regions in India meet the hotspot criteria: the Western Ghats, the Himalaya, Indo-Burma, and Sundaland, which includes the Nicobar Islands.

Montreal Protocol

A 1987 international agreement that phases out ozone-depleting substances such as chlorofluorocarbons, credited with the recovery of the ozone layer.

Ramsar Convention

A 1971 treaty for the conservation of wetlands of international importance; India has designated more than eighty Ramsar sites, including Chilika and Keoladeo.

Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna

India's highest sporting honour, awarded annually by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports for spectacular performance in international competitions over a sustained period.

Param Vir Chakra

India's highest wartime military decoration, awarded for conspicuous bravery or self-sacrifice in the presence of the enemy; the peacetime equivalent is the Ashoka Chakra.

Bharat Ratna

India's highest civilian award, instituted in 1954, conferred for exceptional service or performance of the highest order in any field of human endeavour.

Gitanjali

A collection of poems by Rabindranath Tagore that won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913, making him the first Asian Nobel laureate in literature.

Hind Swaraj

A 1909 book by Mahatma Gandhi, written in Gujarati, setting out his critique of modern civilisation and his vision of Indian self-rule.

Formation of Maharashtra

Maharashtra was created on 1 May 1960 under the Bombay Reorganisation Act, which split the bilingual Bombay State into Maharashtra and Gujarat, with Mumbai as capital.

Kalsubai peak

At about 1,646 metres, it is the highest peak in Maharashtra, located in the Kalsubai range of the Western Ghats in Ahmednagar district.

Raigad fort

A hill fort in Maharashtra where Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj was crowned in 1674, establishing the Maratha state and its council of eight ministers, the Ashta Pradhan.