UPSC Prelims 2015 · Question 33 of 98
UPSC Prelims 2015 question on Golan Heights
- ExamUPSC CSE
- Year2015
- PaperGeneral Studies Paper I
- SubjectInternational Relations
- TopicCurrent Affairs
- DifficultyMedium
- TypeDirect
The area known as 'Golan Heights' sometimes appears in the news in the context of the events related to
Show answer
Answer: B. Middle East
Verdict
The answer is the Middle East. The Golan Heights is a disputed upland on the Israel and Syria frontier.
Analysis
The Golan Heights is a hilly area overlooking the upper Jordan valley to the west. It formed part of extreme south-western Syria until 1967, when it came under Israeli military occupation, and Israel unilaterally annexed the part it held in December 1981. The region recurs in reporting on the Syrian conflict and on rocket fire across the ceasefire line. None of the other three regions, Central Asia, South-East Asia or Central Africa, contains a place of this name in the news.
Source
The Hindu report on rockets from Syria striking the Golan Heights.
How to crack it
For places in news, the minimum viable knowledge is the region, the two or more parties disputing it, and the year the dispute changed status. Golan means Israel and Syria and 1967, just as Crimea means Russia and Ukraine and 2014. When you meet a contested territory in the newspaper, write that triplet down immediately, because UPSC asks for the region far more often than for the detail of the dispute.
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