UPSC Static Quiz, 27 April 2023

Ans d
The Harappan civilization is known to have shown earliest evidence of silver. The Harappans
greatly specialized in the making of beads and made jewellery of gold, silver, carnelian, and
other precious stones.
The trade during the Harappan times was largely based on the barter system as there was
no metallic money in use. The trade was both internal as well as external.
A large-scale use of burnt bricks was used in the buildings by the Harappan people.
However, their knowledge for the use of burnt bricks was not obtained from the Egyptian
civilization as the buildings there were mainly made of dried bricks.

Ans b
The cities of Ujjain and Shravasti never served as the capital of Magadha from its rise to the
end of the Mauryan times. Ujjain was the capital of the Avanti while Shravasti served as the
capital of the Kosala.

Ans b
Equal nights and days at all places on the earth including arctic and Antarctic circle

Ans a
The subtropical high pressure, also known as the horse latitudes are located between 30
and 35 degrees both north and south. It is the region of descending air currents or wind
divergence.
This region receives little precipitation and has variable winds because of high pressure, so
the air is dry and calm.
Due to this particular reason, most of the deserts are present along this belt in both the
hemispheres such as the Sahara Desert in Africa, northern Mexico, and some parts of the
Middle East in the northern hemisphere; and the Australian Desert, Atacama Desert, the
Kalahari Desert in the southern hemisphere.
It is also the region of descending air current and is further marked by anticyclones The term
Horse latitude came from the ships that used to carry horses to America as a part of their
cargo.
These ships often encountered areas of high pressure and calm winds, making it unable to
sail and resupply for days or even weeks.
The crews often ran out of drinking water. To conserve water for their own survival, the
sailors would throw the horses into the sea, hence the name horse latitudes.

Ans d
All the statements are correct.