International Organizations, Defence, Books & Authors, World History

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The peace treaty signed with the Germany after the WWI was known as the Treaty of Versailles. According to the provisions of the treaty, Alsace-Lorraine, which Germany had seized from France in 1871, was returned to France. The newly created State of Poland was provided with the access to the sea by giving it about 65 km of corridor which separated East Prussia from the rest of Germany. Danzig was made a free city under the political control of the League of Nations and economic control of Poland. Belgium, Denmark and Lithuania gained territories from Germany. The Saar- a strategically important coal mining area- was brought under the control of the League of Nations for fifteen years while the mines in the area were transferred to France as compensation. Germany was debarred from uniting with Austria. The Rhineland was to be permanently demilitarized and occupied by the allied troops for fifteen years. German military strength was severely curtailed.

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INS Vikrant, India’s first home-built aircraft carrier, was formally commissioned after completing almost a year of sea trials in Cochin Shipyard Limited.

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The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in the period from about 1760 to sometime between 1820 and 1840. It began in Great Britain and then spread to Western Europe and the United States.

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The Security Council is the chief executive body of the U.N.O. It consists of fifteen members – five permanent and ten temporary. Russia, China, U.S.A., France and Great Britain are the permanent members of the Security Council of the U.N.O. Its main function is to preserve peace and security in the world. It can take diplomatic and economic steps against those nations who violate the constitution of the U.N.O. Each of the five permanent members has a powerful vote known as veto.

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The force has a unique dual control structure, with administrative oversight by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and operational control by the Indian Army under the Ministry of Defence (MoD). While the MHA provides salaries and infrastructure, the Army manages personnel deployment, posting, transfer, and deputation. Senior ranks, from Director General to Inspector General, are filled by Army officers, and the force is commanded by a Lieutenant General from the Indian Army.

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X-radiation (composed of X-rays) is a form of electromagnetic radiation. X-rays have a wavelength in the range of 0.01 to 10 nanometers, corresponding to frequencies in the range 30 petahertz to 30 exahertz (3×1016 Hz to 3×1019 Hz) and energies in the range 100 eV to 100 keV. They are shorter in wavelength than UV rays and longer than gamma rays. In many languages, X-radiation is called Röntgen radiation, after Wilhelm Röntgen, who is usually credited as its discoverer, and who had named it X-radiation to signify an unknown type of radiation.

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A crescograph is a device for measuring growth in plants. It was invented in the early 20th century by Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose– an Indian polymath, physicist, biologist, botanist, and archaeologist.

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An anemometer is a device used for measuring wind speed. The term is derived from the Greek word anemos (wind). The first known description of an anemometer was given by Leon Battista Alberti in 1450.

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The Castle is a novel written by Franz Kafka. It presents a bureaucratic and surreal world, showcasing Kafka’s unique blend of realism and existential anxiety.

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‘Jasmine Days’ is a novel by Benyamin, an Indian author who writes in Malayalam, published in English translation in 2018. It highlights the plight of South Asian migrant workers through the eyes of a young Pakistani woman in an unnamed Arab country during the 2011 Arab Spring.