-01.png)
-
1. Identify the former British colony which was handed over to mainland China in 1997?
Hong Kong. Hong Kong was formerly a British colony and was handed over to mainland China in 1997, becoming one of its Special Administrative Regions (SAR). It is governed by a mini-constitution called the Basic Law, which affirms the principle of “one country, two systems”. The constitutional document is a product of the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration, under which China promised to honour Hong Kong’s liberal policies, system of governance, independent judiciary, and individual freedoms for a period of 50 years from 1997.
-
2. Identify the former republic of the Soviet Union which is separated from Russia by the Kerch Strait?
Ukraine. Ukraine, a country located in eastern Europe. The capital is Kyiv (Kiev), located on the Dnieper River in north-central Ukraine. Ukraine is bordered by Belarus to the north, Russia to the east, the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea to the south, Moldova and Romania to the southwest, and Hungary, Slovakia, and Poland to the west. In the far southeast, Ukraine is separated from Russia by the Kerch Strait, which connects the Sea of Azov to the Black Sea.
-
3. The ‘Brookesia Nana’, the smallest reptile on earth is discovered by scientists from?
Madagascar. Scientists believe they may have discovered the smallest reptile on earth - a Chameleon subspecies that is the size of a seed. Two of the tiny lizards were discovered by a German-Madagascan expedition team in Madagascar. The team found one male and one female of the species, named Brookesia nana, during an expedition in 2012. The Male Brookesia Nana, or Nano-Chameleon, has a body of just 13.5 mm. Its length from top to tail is 22 mm. The female is far bigger at around 29 mm.
-
4. The Senkaku Island recently seen in the news because of territorial dispute is located in?
East China Sea. The Senkaku Island dispute concerns a territorial dispute over a group of uninhabited islands known as: Senkaku Islands in Japan, Diaoyu Islands in China, and Tiaoyutai Islands in Taiwan. Both Japan and China claim ownership of these islands. The islands lie in the East China Sea. They have a total area of about 7 sq km and lie northeast of Taiwan. Islands are close to strategically important shipping lanes, offer rich fishing grounds and are thought to contain oil deposits.
-
5. Identify the place where the headquarters of the Square Kilometre Array Observatory (SKAO) is located?
United Kingdom. Recently, the Square Kilometre Array Observatory (SKAO) Council held its inaugural meeting and approved the establishment of the world’s largest radio telescope. SKAO is a new intergovernmental organisation dedicated to radio astronomy and is headquartered in the UK. The new venture is being deemed as important following the collapse of one of the most prolific radio telescopes in the world, the Arecibo in Puerto Rico, in December last year. At the moment, organisations from ten countries are a part of the SKAO. These include Australia, Canada, China, India, Italy, New Zealand, South Africa, Sweden, the Netherlands and the UK.
