Explanation:   Banihal Pass Kashmir Valley with the outer Himalaya and the plains to the south. Bara-Lacha-La Pass Lahaul district in Himachal Pradesh with Leh district in Ladakh. Fotu La Pass Leh with Kargil of Ladakh Rohtang Pass Kullu Valley with the Lahaul and Spiti Valleys of Himachal Pradesh. Shipki La Pass Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh with Autonomous Region of Tibet, China. Jelep La Pass Sikkim with Autonomous Region of Tibet, China. Nathu La Pass Sikkim with Autonomous Region of Tibet, China. LipuLekh Pass Chaudans valley of India with Autonomous Region of Tibet, China. It is located close to the tri junction of Uttarakhand (India), China and Nepal. Khardung La Ladakh with Siachen glacier. It is the highest motorable pass in the world. Bom di La It is in Arunachal Pradesh

• Shruti describes the sacred texts comprising the central canon of Hinduism viz. Vedas, Brahmanas, Aranyakas, & Upanishads.
• Smiriti literally means “that which is remembered,” and it is entire body of the post Vedic Classical Sanskrit literature.
• It comprises Vedanga, Shad darsana, Puranas, Itihasa, Upveda, Tantras, Agamas, Upangs.
• There is another post Vedic class of Sanskrit literature called Epics which includes Ramayana and Mahabharta.
• However, there is not a distinct divide between Shruti and Smriti.
• Both Shruti and Smriti can be represented as a continuum, with some texts more canonical than others.

• Gautama Buddha’s three main disciples known as Upali, Ananda and Mahakashyap remembered his teachings and passed them on to his followers.
• It is believed that soon after the Buddha’s death a council was called at Rajagriha where Upali recited the Vinaya Pitaka (rules of the order) and Ananda recited the Sutta Pitaka (Buddha’s sermons or doctrines and ethics).
• Sometime later the AbhidhammaPitaka consisting of the Buddhist philosophy came into existence.
• It is the last of the three pitakas constituting the Pali Canon, the scriptures of Theravāda Buddhism.
• It is a detailed scholastic reworking of material appearing in the Suttas, according to schematic classifications.
• It does not contain systematic philosophical treatises, but summaries or enumerated lists.

• The main styles of North Indian temples include Latina, Phamsana, Shekhari and Valabhi types. Valabhi style of temples comprises ayatakaratalachhanda yojana (rectangular ground plan), a doorway to one of its longer parasvas (side) and a semi- cylindrical sikhara (superstructure).
• About fifty percent of Valabhi style temples are in Uttarakhand. Latina types are mainly used for housing the garbhagriha.
• Phamsana type shikhara are broader and shorter than Latina type.
• In many north Indian temples, the phamsana type is used for mandapas while the main garbhagriha is housed in a Latina building.

Explanation:

 

Bara-lacha La is a high mountain pass in Zanskar range.It connects Lahaul district in Himachal

Pradesh to Leh district in Ladakh, situated along the Leh–Manali Highway.

• Lomas Rishi Cave is carved into the hard-monolithic granite rock face of Barabar hills, flanked to its left by the smaller Sudama cave.
• This rock-cut cave was carved out as a sanctuary.
• It was built during the Ashokan period of the Maurya Empire in the 3rd century BC, as part of the sacred architecture of the Ajivikas.
• The hut-style facade at the entrance to the cave, which was meant as a milk shed, had an impact on South Asian rock-cut architecture.
• It became a model for all such arched entrance portals built at many other Buddhist and Jain caves in India, such as the much bigger Buddhist Chaitya halls of Ajanta or Karli in Maharashtra.

Explanation:

 

CBM is covered under HELP that includes all hydrocarbons like Natural Gas and Shale Gas, it is governed by Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.Coal bed methane (CBM): Methane is associated with coal as a byproduct of the coal formation process and it occurs naturally underground within coal reserves. It can be extracted using a variety of techniques. Currently, Great Eastern Energy Corporation and Essar Oil are the only two CBM-gas producing blocks in the country, both from separate reserves in Raniganj, West Bengal. Reliance Industries has reportedly begun test production from its two blocks in Madhya Pradesh. Comparison with Shale gas in extraction: CBM extraction gives out water while shale fracking needs water. Again, CBM production can only be ramped up gradually after de-watering while in case of shale, production is high in the initial years. Hydrocarbon Exploration and Licensing Policy (HELP) has following key features: There will be a uniform licensing system which will cover all hydrocarbons, i.e. oil, gas, coal bed methane etc. under a single license and policy framework. Contracts will be based on “biddable revenue sharing”. An Open Acreage Licensing Policy will be implemented whereby a bidder may apply to the Government seeking exploration of any block not already covered by exploration. A concessional royalty regime will be implemented for deep water and ultra-deep-water areas. The contractor will have freedom for pricing and marketing of gas produced in the domestic market on arm’s length basis.

Explanation:

 

India was the first country to receive the status of a pioneer investor for exploration and

utilization of polymetallic nodules. It was allocated an exclusive area in Central Indian Ocean

Basin by United Nations (UN) in 1987. The International Seabed Authority (ISA) in its 23rd session recently held at Kingston; Jamaica has extended India’s exclusive rights to explore polymetallic nodules from seabed in Central Indian Ocean Basin (CIOB). Polymetallic nodules (also called as manganese nodules) are small potato-sized (from millimetres to tens of centimetres in diameter) lumps of minerals found in deep sea. They contain nickel, copper, cobalt, lead, cadmium, vanadium, molybdenum, titanium in various proportions of which nickel, cobalt and copper are considered to be of economic and strategic importance. They are found in abundance carpeting the sea floor of world oceans in deep sea.

• The Ajanta Caves constitute ancient monasteries and worship-halls of different Buddhist traditions carved into a 75-metre (246 ft) wall of rock.
• The caves also present paintings depicting the past lives and rebirths of the Buddha, pictorial tales from Aryasura’sJatakamala, and rock-cut sculptures of Buddhist deities.
• The rock shelters and caves of Bhimbetka have a large number of paintings.
• The oldest paintings are found to be 10,000 years old, but some of the geometric figures date to as recently as the medieval period.
• The Bagh Caves are a group of nine rock-cut monuments, situated among the southern slopes of the Vindhyas in Bagh town of Dhar district in Madhya Pradesh state in central India.
• These are renowned for mural paintings by master painters of ancient India.

Explanation:

 

Ten minerals which are selected to measure the degree of hardness from 1-10-

1. Talc;
2. Gypsum;
3. Calcite;

4.Fluorite;

5. Apatite;
6. Feldspar;
7. Quartz;
8. Topaz;
9. Corundum;
10. Diamond.