Know Your GK: UPSC Current Affairs & General Knowledge

Revolt of 1857  Background On 10 May 1857 , the Indian soldiers (sepoys) in the Meerut cantonment started a rebellion . It began with the infantry (foot soldiers), quickly spread to the cavalry (horse riders), and then reached the city . The local people from the town and nearby villages also joined the soldiers. The sepoys seized the weapons storage area (bell of arms) where guns and ammunition were kept and then attacked the British officers . They also set fire to and looted government buildings like the record office, jail, court, post office, and treasury . After this, a group of sepoys headed towards Delhi to continue the revolt.The sepoys acquired a kind of legitimacy from the Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah in Delhi. Once the word spread that Bahadur Shah had blessed the rebellion, events moved swiftly. Cantonment after cantonment in the Gangetic valley and some to the west of Delhi rose in mutiny. Major causes The reasons behind the Revolt of 1857 , like the earlier u...

  Mountains are landforms that rise above the Earth's surface, characterized by slopes, steep sides, and a pointed top called a peak. They are formed due to tectonic forces, volcanic activity, or erosion. Mountains play a vital role in influencing climate, storing freshwater, and supporting biodiversity."  William Morris Davis defines mountains as elevated land masses formed by endogenic forces, undergoing a cycle of youth, maturity, and old age through erosion. Types of Mountains Based on the Period of Origin Earth has experienced a total of  nine major orogenic movements  (mountain-building phases) throughout its geological history. Some of these orogenies occurred in the Precambrian era , dating back 3,500 to 600 million years ago , and are among the oldest known. The three most recent and geologically significant orogenies are: Caledonian Orogeny (around 400 million years ago) Hercynian Orogeny (around 300 million years ago) Alpine Orogeny (began around 65 mi...

 Introduction  After the fall of the Kushanas, northern India saw the emergence of the powerful Gupta dynasty. It is believed that the Guptas were once feudatories of the Kushanas and likely belonged to the Vaishya varna. The Gupta era is often called the Golden Age or Classical Age of Indian history due to its remarkable achievements in art and sculpture, literature, science and technology, medicine, political consolidation, and economic prosperity. sources  Literary sources: the puranas like vayu,matsya,vishnu,bhagwata, skanda etc., throw light on the royal genealogy of the Gupta kings.  Devichandraguptam and Mudraraksha were written by Vishakhadutta. Kalidasa's Abhigyanshakuntalam Meghdootam,Malvikagnimitram,raghuvamsam,ritusamhara, and kumarsambhava provide relatable information about society,polity and religion of gupta period. Sudraka's Mrichkatika describes the unstable political system of the Gupta period. Fahein, the Chinese traveller who visited India du...

  🌌 What Is the Solar System? The solar system is a collection of celestial bodies bound together by gravity, with the Sun at its center. It includes eight planets , their moons , dwarf planets , asteroids , comets , meteoroids , and space dust . All these objects orbit the Sun, forming our cosmic neighborhood. 🌠 Origin of the Solar System The solar system formed around 4.6 billion years ago from a massive cloud of gas and dust called a solar nebula . Over time, gravity caused this cloud to collapse, leading to the birth of the Sun at the center. The remaining matter clumped together to form planets, moons, and other bodies . This process is explained by the Nebular Hypothesis , which states that spinning disks of gas and dust gradually combine into the solar system as we know it today. 🌞 Components of the Solar System   The Sun The central star of our solar system. Comprises 99.8% of the system's total mass. Source of heat and light; drives weat...