NEIGHBOURS OF INDIA - 3 - ANSWERS

1. C. Lahore

After independence, the first capital of Pakistan was the coastal city of Karachi in Sindh province, which was selected by Muhammad Ali Jinnah. It remained the seat of government until 1959, when the military President, Ayub Khan, decided to build a new capital, Islamabad in the north of Pakistan, near the general headquarters of the Pakistani Armed Forces which is in Rawalpindi. During this process, Rawalpindi was the interim capital. On 14 August 1967, Islamabad officially became the capital of Pakistan.

2. A. Poson

“Poson”, also known as “Poson Poya”, is an annual festival held by Sri Lankan Buddhists celebrating the arrival of Buddhism in Sri Lanka in the 3rd century BC by Mahinda (Mahendra), the son of the Mauryan emperor Ashoka, who came as a Buddhist missionary to the Anuradhapura Kingdom with his sister “Sanghamitra” in 236 BC. The festival is the most important Poya (full moon) holiday of the year and the second most important Buddhist holiday of the year, being surpassed in importance by Vesak (Buddha Purnima, the Birth of Buddha). Poson is celebrated throughout the island, with the most important ceremonies of the festival being held in Anuradhapura and Mihintale. The festival is held in early June, coinciding with the June full moon.

(The annual gathering on the occasion of “Poson” at Mihintale, a mountain peak near Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka, the site of the meeting between the Buddhist monk Mahinda and King Devanampiyatissa of Anuradhapura which heralded the presence of Buddhism in Sri Lanka)

3. B. Sagarmatha National Park

Sagarmatha National Park is home to the highest peak in the world - Mt. Everest (8,848 m), Sagarmatha being the Nepali name for Everest. It encompasses an area of 1,148 km2 in the Solukhumbu District and ranges in elevation from 2,845 to 8,848 mts at the summit of Mount Everest. The area was designated a national park in 1976 and encompasses several other peaks all above 6,000 m. The park got recognition as a National World Heritage Site in 1979.

With most of the park lying above 3,000 m, it is mostly rugged terrain made up of deep gorges, glaciers and massive rocks. The Park boasts of a wide variety of wildlife including more than 118 species of birds. The protected area has been identified as an “Important Bird Area” by BirdLife International. While the forest is dominated by silver fir, birch, rhododendron and juniper trees, animals such as musk deer, the Himalayan Tahr, the ghoral, the serow, the wolf and the Himalayan black bear may be spotted by trekkers in this region.

Endangered species which are rarely seen include: snow leopard, red panda, and two kinds of dazzling pheasants - the crimson-horned and the Impeyan, Nepal's national bird. Smaller animals like marmots, pikas and martens are also found in the park.

4. C. Bagan

Bagan (formerly Pagan) is an ancient city and a UNESCO World Heritage Site located in the Mandalay Region of Myanmar. From the 9th to 13th centuries, the city was the capital of the Pagan Kingdom, the first kingdom that unified the regions that would later constitute modern Myanmar. During the kingdom's height between the 11th and 13th centuries, 4,446 Buddhist temples, pagodas and monasteries were constructed in the Bagan plains alone, of which the remains of 3822 temples and pagodas still survive to the present day. The Bagan Archaeological Zone (defined as the 13 x 8 km area centred around Old Bagan) is the largest archaeological site in the world.

5. A. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto

The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) is a centre-left, social-democratic political party of Pakistan founded by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (its first Chairman) in 1967. After its formation, an immediate task was the struggle against the dictatorship of General Ayub Khan, who was at the height of his power then. Among the expressed goals of the party were the establishment of an "egalitarian democracy" and the "application of socialistic ideas to realize economic and social justice".

(Zulfikar Bhutto-Benazir Bhutto-Asif Ali Zardari-Bilawal Bhutto Zardari)

Since its foundation in 1967, it had been a major and influential political left-wing and socialist force in the country and the party's leadership has been dominated by the members of the Bhutto family. Its centre of power lies in the southern province of Sindh. The PPP has been voted into power on five separate occasions [(1970 – First General Elections of Pakistan, but the win of Awami League of East Pakistan led to civil war and the formation of the independent state of Bangladesh. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto became Prime Minister in 1973, after the post was recreated by the new Constitution),   (1977 - Landslide victory for the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) over the Pakistan National Alliance (PNA), an alliance of nine parties opposed to Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. However, the opposition alleged widespread vote rigging, and violence escalated across the country. On 5 July that same year, Bhutto was deposed in a military coup by his appointed army chief Zia-ul-Haq, before being controversially tried and executed by the Supreme Court of Pakistan in 1979 for authorizing the murder of a political opponent),  (1988 - The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), led by Benazir Bhutto, beat the technocratic military government of dead General Zia-ul-Haq, winning 94 of the 207 seats in the National Assembly. This was the second of four non-consecutive victories for the PPP and saw Benazir became Pakistan's – and the Muslim world's — first female head of government),   (1993 - Although the Pakistan Muslim League (N) won the largest number of votes, the Pakistan Peoples Party won the most seats. After winning the support of minor parties and independents the leader of the PPP, Benazir Bhutto, was elected Prime Minister by the National Assembly) and  (2008 - Following the assassination on Benazir Bhutto on 27 December 2007, the Election was postponed to February, 2008. Yosaf Raza Gillani became the Prime Minister of Pakistan by forming a coalition government initially with “Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz)” and later with leftist parties. Asif Ali Zardari, husband of Benazir Bhutto became the President of Pakistan.)].

Currently, Asif Ali Zardari is serving as the President of PPP and his son Bilawal Bhutto Zardari as the Chairman of the Party.