1. Ustad Allah Rakkha Khan was a famous exponent of which among the following instruments?
[A] Shehnai
[B] Tabla
[C] Sitar
[D] Harmonium
Show Answer
Correct Answer: B [Tabla]
Notes:
Ustad Allah Rakha Khan, also known as A. R. Khan or simply Ustad Allah Rakha, was a Indian classical musician and tabla player. He was one of the most respected and influential tabla players of his time, and he played with many of the greatest musicians in Indian classical music.
2. Sangai Festival is celebrated in which among the following states of India?
[A] Assam
[B] Manipur
[C] Bihar
[D] Karnataka
Show Answer
Correct Answer: B [Manipur]
Notes:
The Manipur Sangai Festival is an annual calendar mega-event of the Government of Manipur spearheaded by the Tourism Department that seeks to showcase and promote the finest of Manipur’s arts & culture, adventure sports, indigenous cuisines, handloom & handicrafts, fine arts, indigenous games & music and various other niche products to a regional, national and global audience.
3. What is the official name of the women’s branch of the Vishva Hindu Parishad?
[A] Sewa Bharti
[B] Durga Vahini
[C] VHP Mahila Morcha
[D] Hindu Shakti
Show Answer
Correct Answer: B [Durga Vahini]
Notes:
Durga Vahini is the women’s wing of the Vishva Hindu Parishad, a right-wing Hindu nationalist organisation in India. The wing was founded in 1991 by Sadhvi Rithambara as a part of a larger movement to mobilize Hindu women for the protection and promotion of Hindu culture. The group trains women in self-defense and other tactical skills as part of its ideology to build a Hindu nation.
4. Who among the following was the poets composed Sur Sagar?
[A] Surdas
[B] Mira Bai
[C] Jagjivan Das
[D] Kabir Das
Show Answer
Correct Answer: A [Surdas]
Notes:
Saint Surdas ji was an ardent devotee of Lord Krishna and Radha, known for his devotional songs dedicated to Lord Krishna. He composed Sur Sagar (Ocean of Melody), Sur Saravali and Sahitya Ratna. He was blind from birth belong to saguna school of Bhakti Kal.
5. The “Nayanars” from ancient times were primarily associated with which Hindu deity?
[A] Vishnu
[B] Shiva
[C] Hanuman
[D] Ganesh
Show Answer
Correct Answer: B [Shiva]
Notes:
The Nayanars were a group of 63 saints specifically associated with Lord Shiva. They were notable figures in Tamil Nadu who propagated the Bhakti Movement with their devotional teachings, poetic expressions, and fervor for their deity. Their heartfelt verses are renowned in Tamil literature. This period marked a significant transition from ritualistic worship towards a more personal and emotional approach towards divinity, contributing significantly to the cultural and spiritual heritage of Tamil Nadu.
6. The Aitareya Aranyakas and the Kaushitaki Aranyakas are associated with which of the following Vedas?
[A] Rig-Veda
[B] Sama-Veda
[C] Yajur-Veda
[D] Atharva-Veda
Show Answer
Correct Answer: A [ Rig-Veda]
Notes:
Each Veda has its own Aranyakas and Upanisads. Aranyakas were mainly meant for ascetics who lived in forest. Kaushitaki Aranyakas and Aitareya Aranyakas are parts of Rig-Veda.
7. Which among the following term correctly represents the religious and belief systems in which items in nature such as animals, trees or mountains can have spiritual value?
[A] Animism
[B] Syncretic religion
[C] Tribalism
[D] Hybrid religion
Show Answer
Correct Answer: A [ Animism]
Notes:
Animistic religions such as voodoun are based on items in nature having spiritual value. Syncretic religions are ones that have integrated the beliefs of two or more other religions. An example would be Sikhism, drawing from both Hinduism and Islam. Please don’t confuse with tribalism. Although many of the world’s tribal groups have animistic beliefs, they are identified as a social unit, not a religion. Hybrid religious practices can describe the syncretic or involve the worship of two or more religions simultaneously
8. Who composed music for the 1969 film Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne?
[A] Satyajit Ray
[B] Ravi Shankar
[C] Shiv-Hari
[D] None of the above
Show Answer
Correct Answer: A [Satyajit Ray]
Notes:
Satyajit Ray was an Indian filmmaker, screenwriter, music composer, graphic artist, lyricist and author, widely regarded as one of the greatest filmmakers of the 20th century. Ray was born in Calcutta into a Bengali Kayastha family which was prominent in the field of arts and literature.
9. Who designed the city of Chandigarh? (UPSC Prelims 1980).
[A] Le Corbusier
[B] Jacob Epstein
[C] Rodhin Auguste
[D] Ferdinand M. V. De Lesseps
Show Answer
Correct Answer: A [Le Corbusier]
Notes:
Chandigarh is the dream city of India’s first Prime Minister, Sh. Jawahar Lal Nehru. It was planned by the famous French architect Le Corbusier. It is located at the foothills of Shivaliks. It is known as one of the best experiments in urban planning and modern architecture in the twentieth century in India.
10. “Females are inferior to males,” said Aristotle. Actually, it is not true. The true statement would be that females are different from males. More research is required in this regard. What conclusions can be obtained from the above lines? (UPSC Prelims 1986)
[A] Aristotle was a male chauvinist
[B] Females may be inferior to males
[C] Nothing can be said about the superiority of males unless research is done
[D] Research is required to clearly tell the differences between the males and the females
Show Answer
Correct Answer: D [Research is required to clearly tell the differences between the males and the females]
Notes:
In his Politics, Aristotle saw women as subject to men, but as higher than slaves, and lacking authority; he believed the husband should exert political rule over the wife. Among women’s differences from men were that they were, in his view, more impulsive, more compassionate, more complaining, and more deceptive. He gave the same weight to women’s happiness as to men’s, and in his Rhetoric stated that society could not be happy unless women were happy too. Whereas Plato was open to the potential equality of men and women, stating both that women were not equal to men in terms of strength and virtue, but were equal to men in terms of rational and occupational capacity, and hence in the ideal Republic should be educated and allowed to work alongside men without differentiation, Aristotle appears to have disagreed.