65th National Exhibition of Art Honours 20 Award-Winning Artists

The correct answer is the Lalit Kala Akademi, India's national academy of fine arts, which works under the Ministry of Culture and organises the National Exhibition of Art. At the sixty fifth edition the Union Minister of Culture and Tourism, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, was the Chief Guest and felicitated twenty award-winning artists. Option A, the Sangeet Natak Akademi, is the national academy for music, dance and drama, not for the visual arts, so it is wrong. Option B, the Sahitya Akademi, is the national academy of letters and deals with literature, which rules it out. Option D, the National Gallery of Modern Art, is a museum that displays modern and contemporary art but does not organise this exhibition, so it is incorrect too. Aspirants should keep the three national akademies and their fields clearly separated.

The correct answer is 270. The Secretary of the Lalit Kala Akademi said the edition attracted more than six thousand entries, and from that pool two hundred and seventy artists were chosen through a jury that screened the work in two rounds. A two-tier process of this kind keeps a national show of such size manageable while still giving lesser known artists a way in. Option A understates the number of selected artists and is wrong. Option C is a round figure that does not match the selection announced, so it is incorrect. Option D is closer to the scale of entries received than to the number of artists finally chosen, which makes it a tempting but wrong answer. Twenty of these artists were felicitated by the Chief Guest for their contribution to Indian visual arts.

The correct answer is Abdul Aziz Raiba. A monograph on this eminent modern Indian painter, known for his bold lines, vibrant colours and a distinctive fusion of traditional Indian and modern art, was released at the exhibition. Option B, Sudarshan Patnaik, is a Padma Shri awardee celebrated for sand art and was present on the occasion, but the monograph was not about him, so he is wrong. Option C, Sudhakar Olwe, is a Padma Shri awardee known for photography who also attended, which again does not make him the subject of the publication. Option D, Ram Gopal Khadilkar, is the editor of the monograph rather than the artist it is about, so this is the classic trap of confusing the editor with the subject. Aspirants should note both names and their different roles.