Search Previous Year Questions

The correct answer is West Bengal.

Key Points

• In an effort to make the Gangasagar Mela in West Bengal plastic-free, around 150 inmates of two correctional homes have made eco-friendly bags for distribution among the pilgrims.
• More than 50,000 bags made of cotton and jute had been stitched by the inmates of Dum Dum Central Correctional Home and Presidency Correctional Home.
• The inmates had been trained by an NGO, Rakshak Foundation.

Additional Information

• The Ganga Sagar Mela is a religious festival and second biggest fair of India after Kumbha Mela and is celebrated on Sagar Dweep (Sagar Island) in West Bengal state of India.

The correct answer is Power Of The Dog.

Key Points 

• The 79^th edition of the Golden Globes award ceremony took place on 9 January 2022.
• The Power Of The Dog won Best Film (Drama).
• Jane Campion won the Best Director for 'The Power Of The Dog'.
• Will Smith won the Best Film Actor (Drama) for 'King Richard'.
• This is the first time that Will Smith has won a Golden Globe after being nominated for the accolade six times in his career.
• Nicole Kidman won her 5^th Golden Globe for Best Film Actress (Drama) for 'Being The Ricardos'.
• Best Foreign Language Film was won by Drive My Car (Japan).
• South Korean actor O Yeong-su won the country's first Golden Globe award on 9 Jan 2022 for his role in Netflix series "Squid Game".
• He won best supporting actor in television for his portrayal of Oh II-nam, also known as The Host or Player 001, becoming the first South Korean ever to snatch a Golden Globe.
• He is regarded as one of the greatest stage actors in South Korea.

Additional Information 

The correct answer is A - 2, B - 1, C - 4, D - 3.

Key Points

Kuchipudi:

• Kuchipudi is one of the eight Indian classical dances.
• Kuchipudi is a dance-drama performance art that originated in the village of the Krishna district of Andhra Pradesh, India.
• Kuchipudi is not only a dance but a fine amalgamation of dance, gestures, speech, and song.

Bharatanatyam:

• It is an Indian classical dance that originated in Tamil Nadu.
• It is the first of India's traditional dances to be refashioned as theatre art and to be exhibited widely both at home and abroad.

Kathak ​

• Kathak is the classical dance of Uttar Pradesh.
• Kathak is considered to have originated from the acts of priests during the prayers in the temple.
• This dance was greatly developed in the royal court of the last Nawab of Awadh, Wajid Ali Shah.
• The period of Nawab Wajid Ali Shah who himself was a Kathak dancer was known as the Golden Age of Art of Awadh.

Mohiniattam

• Mohiniattam is one of the classical dance forms in India.
• Mohiniattam is originated from the state of Kerala.
• Mohiniyattam derives its name from the word ‘Mohini’, a female avatar of Lord Vishnu It is performed by women in honor of the Hindu god Vishnu in his incarnation as the enchantress Mohini.
• Music for Mohiniattam is provided by a Karnatak (South Indian) classical music ensemble.

Additional Information

Indian Classical Dances:

1. Bharatanatyam Dance
2. Kathakali Dance
3. Kathak Dance
4. Manipuri Dance
5. Odissi Dance
6. Kuchipudi Dance
7. Sattriya Dance
8. Mohiniyattam Dance

The correct answer is Indra.

Key Points

• The most important god was Indra also known as Purandara or breaker of forts in the Rig Veda.
• 255 hymns are dedicated to Indra.
• The second and third most important god was Agni and Varuna.
• The god of plants and intoxicating drink was Soma.

Additional InformationRig Veda:

• Rig Veda is the oldest Veda dating back to 1500 to 1000 BC.
• It is divided into 10 mandals.
• 2-7 mandals are the oldest and are family books describe to a particular family of Rishis.
• 8^th Mandal is related to the Kanva family.
• 9^th Mandal contains the compilation of Soma Hymns.
• 1^st and 10^th mandals are the latest and contain Purushsukta which defines the four varnas.
• It is recited by Hota or Hotri Priest.
• The Upveda of rigveda is Ayurveda.
• It consists of 1028 hymns.
• Indra is mentioned 250 times in Rigveda.

The correct answer is Patliputra.

Key Points

• The First Jain Council was organized in Pataliputra and the chief patron was Chandragupta Maurya.
• It was organized in 300 BC and Sthulabhadra presided over the council.
• The Second Jain Council was organized in 512 AD at Vallabhi.
• Compilation of 12 Angas took place in the First Jain Council whereas the Second Council saw the final compilation of Angas and Upangas.

Additional Information

• Jainism is a very ancient religion. According to some traditions, it is as old as the Vedic religion.
• There is a succession of great teachers or Tirthankaras in the Jain tradition.
• There were 24 Tirthankaras, the last of whom was Vardhaman Mahavira.
• The first Tirthankara is believed to be Rishabhanatha or Rishabhdev.
• Second Council: Held at Vallabhi in Gujarat in 512 AD, Presided by Devardhi Kshemasarmana.

The correct answer is Priyadarshika.

Key Points 

Harshavardhana

• Harsha was a poet and composed three Sanskrit plays: Nagananda, Ratnavali, and Priyadarsika.
• ​Harshacharita and Kadambari were written by Banabhatta.
• Devi-Chandraguptam is attributed to Vishakhadeva or Vishakhadatta.
• He belonged to the Pushyabhuti also called the Vardhana dynasty.
• Pushyabhutis were feudatories of Gupta.
• They became independent after the Huna invasion.

Additional Information

• During Harshavardhana’s rule, Kannauj was conquered and united with Thaneswar.
• Harshavardhana attacked Shashank of Gauda Kingdom and established his control over regions of Bengal, Bihar, and Odisha and friended Bhashkarvarman of Kamrup (Assam).
• Vallabhi King Dhruvbhata in Gujrat too was defeated and a truce was negotiated with him by the marriage of Harsha’s daughter to Dhruvbhata.
• He assumed the title of Uttarapathanatha or Uttarapathapati (Lord of the North).
• There were two types of territories under Harsha. One was directly under him and the other type was those that were feudatories.

1. Direct territories: Central Provinces, Bengal, Kalinga, Rajputana(Rajasthan), Gujarat.
2. Feudatories: Jalandhar, Kashmir, Kamarupa, Sind, Nepal.

The correct answer is Kakatiya.

Key Points

Kakatiya dynasty

• ​ It is an Andhra dynasty that flourished in the 12^th century.
• The Kakatiya dynasty ruled from Warangal (Telangana) from CE 1083-1323.
• Some of the important rulers of the Kakatiya dynasty are - Ganapati Deva, Rudrama Devi, and Prataparudra.
• The Kakatiya and their struggle with the Pandyan rulers are found in the Chandana Mantapa in the Ranganatha Temple inscription.
• In the Anumakonda inscription, it is described that Rudradeva I was the first independent ruler of the Kakatiya kingdom of Warangal.
• The Golconda Fort was also built by the Kakatiya rulers.
• The Rudreswara temple was constructed in 1213 AD during the reign of the Kakatiya Empire by Recharla Rudra, a general of Kakatiya king Ganapati Deva.

Additional Information

Administration during Kakatiyas:

• During the Kakatiya Dynasty agriculture was the main profession. 
• They witnessed excellent economic progress because they paid a keen interest in agricultural expansion.
• They brought large tracts of uncultivable lands under cultivation by building tanks and digging wells
• The Kakatiya rulers especially Prataparudra attempted to increase the extent of cultivable land by cutting down forests and bringing many virgin soils under the plough.
• The  Land revenue was collected either in cash or in kind. 
• The state collected one-fourth to one-half of the produce as revenue.

The correct answer is Mathematician.

• Lilavati and Bhaksar IInd was written by Bhaskaracharya.

Key Points

Bhaskaracharya

• He was an Indian mathematician who treatise on mathematics subjects, written in the year 1150.
• It is the first volume of his main work, the Siddhanta Shiromani, alongside the Bijaganita, the Grahaganita, and the Goladhyaya.
• The book Lilavati contains thirteen chapters, mainly definitions, arithmetical terms, interest computation, arithmetical and geometrical progressions, plane geometry, solid geometry, the shadow of the gnomon, the Kuṭṭaka - a method to solve indeterminate equations, and combinations.
• Bhaskara II gives the value of pi as 22/7 in the book but suggests a more accurate ratio of 3927/1250 for use in astronomical calculations.
• Also according to the book, the largest number is the parardha equal to one hundred thousand billion.

The correct answer is Milindapanho.

Key Points

• Milindapanho (i.e. Questions of Milinda)–a dialogue between Milinda (identical with Indo-Greek ruler Menander) and Buddhist saint Nagasena.
• Nagasena was the writer of Milind panho.
• Nagasena was a Sarvastivadan Buddhist sage who lived about 150 BCE and was born in Kashmir.
• The Milindapanha (Questions o f Milinda) contain his answers to questions regarding Buddhism raised by Menander I (Milinda), the Indo-Greek king of northwestern India.

The correct answer is 1 ∶ 35.

Key Point

Saka Era:

• The Shaka era or Shalivahana Śaka is a historical calendar era (year numbering), the epoch (its year zero) of which corresponds to Julian year 78.
• It is commonly known in Indian languages as Shalivahana Śaka ("era of Shalivahana") or in RTGS Mahasakkarat ("Greater Era") and continues to be used in traditional calendars.
• The origin of the Shaka era is highly controversial.
• There are two Shaka era systems in scholarly use, one is called Old Shaka Era, whose epoch is uncertain, probably sometime in the 1^st millennium BCE because ancient Buddhist and Jaina inscriptions and texts use it, but this is a subject of dispute among scholars.
• The other is called Saka Era of 78 CE, or simply Saka Era, a system that is common in epigraphic evidence from southern India.