Question:

The Qasr al-Farid Tomb (The Lonely Castle) in the archaeological site of Mada'in Saleh is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is located in

A. Saudi Arabia
B. Egypt
C. Israel
D. Jordon

Answer: A

Explanation:
• The Qasr al-Farid is located in the archaeological site of Mada'in Saleh in the north of Saudi Arabia. It is one of the 111 monumental tombs scattered around the Mada'in Saleh, a site which was inscribed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 2008.

Question:

Consider the following statements vis-à-vis ‘Gaganyaan Mission’:

1. India will become the second country after US to send an astronaut in space.
2. This mission will be launched by PSLV-XL.
3. Human space flight centre has been set up in Odisha to aid the Gaganyaan Mission.

Choose the correct answer from the code given below:

A. 1 and 2 only
B. 3 only
C. 1, 2 and 3
D. None of these

Answer: D

Explanation:
The Gaganyaan Mission:
• The mission was announced by the Prime Minister during his 72nd Independence Day speech. It will be India’s first manned space mission in which three Gaganyatris will be sent to space.
• The mission is scheduled to happen before December 2021. If this mission becomes successful, India will become the 4th country after US, Russia and China to send astronauts to space.
• Three Gaganyatris will be sent in Low Earth ORBIT (Approx. 400km). This mission will be launched by GSLVMK-III and not PSLV.
• Recently, ISRO has set up a Human Space Flight Centre at Bengaluru to aid the Gaganyaan mission.

Source: The Hindu