Defence Correspondents Course Concludes at Tezpur

The correct answer is Tezpur. The Defence Correspondents Course ended there once the participating journalists had completed the Navy, Air Force and Army legs of the programme, and the valedictory function was held at the same place. It was chaired by Lieutenant General Neeraj Shukla, the General Officer Commanding of the Gajraj Corps, with the Additional Director General for Media and Communication in the Ministry of Defence and officials of the Directorate of Public Relations also attending. Options A and C name other cities of the North East, which makes them plausible choices for a course whose last leg was held in that region, but neither was the venue of the closing event. Option D names a city in Rajasthan and is therefore wrong as well. Only option B gives the place where the course concluded.

The correct answer is 24. The course was made up of 24 journalists, who went through legs with the Navy, the Air Force and the Army before the programme closed at Tezpur. It stretched over three weeks, during which the group was given briefings, taken on field visits and allowed to interact directly with serving military personnel, so that each participant came away with an understanding of the roles, capabilities and operational environments of all three Services. The remaining options are simply other numbers of the kind a reader might half remember, and none of them matches the strength of the group that attended. Options A and C are close enough to be tempting, while option D is far higher than the actual number. Only option B is correct.

The correct answer is the General Officer Commanding, Gajraj Corps. Lieutenant General Neeraj Shukla, who holds that command, chaired the closing ceremony at Tezpur at the end of the three-week course taken by 24 journalists. Option A is wrong because the Defence Secretary had no part in this function. Option B is wrong as well, since the Chief of the Army Staff did not preside over it, even though the Army leg was one of the three legs of the course. Option D is the most tempting distractor, because Vijay Kumar, the Additional Director General for Media and Communication in the Ministry of Defence, was indeed present at the ceremony along with officials of the Directorate of Public Relations; he attended it, however, rather than chairing it. Only option C names the officer who chaired the function.