Defence
The 'Gandhi Solar Park', India's gift to the United Nations, is located at:
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Answer: Option D — New York
Detailed Solution
The "Gandhi Solar Park" is a solar power installation on the roof of the United Nations Headquarters in New York, gifted by India.
About the Gandhi Solar Park:
- It was inaugurated on 24 September 2019 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, at an event at the UN headquarters marking the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
- It was gifted by India at a cost of about 1 million US dollars.
- It has 193 solar panels, one for each member state of the United Nations.
- Each panel represents a member country, symbolising global cooperation for clean energy.
- It has a capacity of about 50 kilowatts.
- It reflects India's commitment to renewable energy and the fight against climate change, and Gandhi's ideas of living simply and in harmony with nature.
- At the same event, India also released a special UN postage stamp on Mahatma Gandhi and inaugurated the "Gandhi Peace Garden" in New York, where 150 trees were planted, one for each year since Gandhi's birth.
Other India-UN connections:
- India is a founding member of the UN (1945).
- The International Day of Non-Violence is observed on 2 October, Gandhi's birthday, declared by the UN General Assembly in 2007.
- International Day of Yoga (21 June) was declared by the UN in 2014 on India's proposal.
- International Year of Millets (2023) was declared on India's proposal.
- India donated a bust of Mahatma Gandhi installed at the UN headquarters in December 2022, the first statue of Gandhi at the UN.
India's solar initiatives:
- India co-founded the "International Solar Alliance" (ISA) with France in 2015, with its headquarters in Gurugram, India.
- "One Sun, One World, One Grid" (OSOWOG) is an initiative to connect solar energy across countries.
- "PM-KUSUM" (2019) helps farmers install solar pumps.
- "PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana" (2024) aims to install rooftop solar panels in one crore homes.
- India's largest solar parks include Bhadla Solar Park (Rajasthan) and the Khavda Renewable Energy Park (Gujarat), the world's largest renewable energy project under construction.
Why not the other options?
- ✗Geneva has the UN's European headquarters.
- ✗Paris has UNESCO's headquarters.
- ✗Nairobi has UNEP's headquarters.
Quick tip
Remember: Gandhi Solar Park = UN Headquarters, New York (inaugurated 24 September 2019 by PM Modi; 193 panels, one per UN member; 50 kW; for Gandhi's 150th anniversary); International Day of Non-Violence = 2 October.
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Organisations & Headquarters — Preparation
This question tests your understanding of Organisations & Headquarters, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.
This topic covers national and international organisations: the United Nations and its agencies, regional groups such as SAARC, ASEAN and BRICS, global bodies such as the WHO, ILO and UNESCO, and Indian institutions, with their headquarters, founding years, members and heads. Questions typically ask where an organisation is headquartered, when it was founded, or what its full form is. For example, UNESCO is headquartered in Paris and the WHO in Geneva. Membership and leadership change over time, so pair the static facts here with current affairs for recent changes such as new members or new heads. Practise the organisations and headquarters questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.