Indian States & UTs Mixed Quiz: Set 28

The correct answer is B, 26 October 1947. Maharaja Hari Singh, the last Dogra ruler of the princely State, signed the Instrument of Accession on 26 October 1947 after tribal raiders backed from across the border entered the State, and Indian troops were airlifted to Srinagar the next day. Option A is wrong because on 15 August 1947 the State had acceded to neither dominion and had sought a standstill agreement instead. Option C is wrong because 26 January 1950 is the date the Constitution of India came into force, on which day Article 370 also began to operate for the State. Option D is wrong because 17 November 1956 is the date the Constituent Assembly of Jammu and Kashmir adopted the State’s own Constitution, which came into force in January 1957.

The correct answer is B, Ladakh. The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019 gave the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir a Legislative Assembly but made Ladakh a Union Territory without a legislature, administered by a Lieutenant Governor. Ladakh’s local representation comes instead through the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Councils of Leh, created in 1995, and of Kargil, created in 2003. Option A is wrong because Jammu and Kashmir is one of the Union Territories that does have an Assembly, along with Delhi and Puducherry. Option C is wrong because only one of the two has an Assembly. Option D is wrong because Jammu and Kashmir has one. Remember the list of Union Territories with legislatures: Delhi, Puducherry and Jammu and Kashmir. Delhi gets its Assembly from Article 239AA and Puducherry from Article 239A, while the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly comes from the Reorganisation Act of 2019 itself, so the three rest on three different provisions.

The correct answer is B, Great Nicobar. Indira Point lies at the southern tip of Great Nicobar, the largest island of the Nicobar group, and is the southernmost point of the territory of India; it was formerly called Pygmalion Point and also Parsons Point, and its lighthouse subsided during the tsunami of 2004. Option A is wrong because Car Nicobar lies at the northern end of the Nicobar group, just south of the Ten Degree Channel, and is the administrative headquarters of the Nicobar district. Option C is wrong because Little Andaman is the southernmost large island of the Andaman group, north of the Ten Degree Channel. Option D is wrong because Minicoy is the southernmost inhabited island of Lakshadweep, in the Arabian Sea, which is a different sea and a different Union Territory.

The correct answer is B, Assam. Sattriya grew in the sattras, the Vaishnava monasteries founded by Srimanta Sankardeva in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, many of them on the river island of Majuli, and it was recognised as a classical dance of India in 2000, the most recent addition to the list. Option A, Manipur, is wrong; Manipuri is itself a classical dance and was recognised much earlier, which makes it the likeliest wrong choice among north-eastern states. Option C, Odisha, is wrong because its classical dance is Odissi. Option D, Kerala, is wrong since Kathakali and Mohiniyattam belong to Kerala. Note that Bihu, the best known dance of Assam, is a folk dance of the spring festival and not the classical one, so a question that asks for the classical dance of Assam is never answered with Bihu.

The correct answer is B, the Calcutta High Court. It was established in July 1862 under the Indian High Courts Act of 1861, which allowed the Crown to replace the old supreme courts and sadar courts of the Presidency towns with High Courts. Its jurisdiction today extends over West Bengal and the union territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Option A is wrong because the Bombay High Court, although also created in 1862, was established in August, a few weeks after Calcutta, and it now covers Maharashtra, Goa and Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu. Option C is wrong because the Madras High Court was likewise established in August 1862 and is the third of the group, serving Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. Option D is wrong because the Allahabad High Court came later, in 1866, sitting first at Agra and moving to Allahabad, now Prayagraj, in 1875.

The correct answer is A, 21 January 1972. The North-Eastern Areas Reorganisation Act 1971 took effect on that day, turning Manipur, Meghalaya and Tripura into full states and creating the Union Territories of Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh, then called the North East Frontier Agency; the day is observed as statehood day in all three states. Option B is wrong for these three but is the date on which Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh became states, fifteen years later. Option C is wrong; 1 December 1963 is the day Nagaland became the sixteenth state of India, the first of the north-eastern states to be created after independence. Option D is wrong; 16 May 1975 is the day Sikkim became the twenty-second state under the thirty-sixth amendment. Learning these four dates in order answers most questions set on the north-east.

The correct answer is C, Andhra Pradesh. Kuchipudi takes its name from the village of Kuchipudi in the Krishna district of Andhra Pradesh, where the dance-drama tradition of the Bhagavatulu performers grew, and Siddhendra Yogi is remembered as the teacher who shaped it. Its best known item is the Tarangam, in which the dancer performs balanced on the rim of a brass plate, often with a pot of water on the head. Option A is wrong because the classical dance of Tamil Nadu is Bharatanatyam, which developed from the Sadir of temple dancers. Option B is wrong because Uttar Pradesh and the northern plains are the home of Kathak, with its Lucknow, Jaipur and Banaras gharanas. Option D is wrong because Kerala has two classical forms of its own, Kathakali and Mohiniyattam, and neither is Kuchipudi. Pairing each of the eight classical dances with one state is the safest way to answer this family of questions.

The correct answer is D, Blackbuck. The blackbuck, called Krishna Jinka in Telugu, is the state animal of Andhra Pradesh. It is an antelope of open grassland and scrub; the male turns dark brown to black with age and carries long spiral horns, while the female stays fawn coloured and usually hornless. It is among the fastest Indian animals and is protected under Schedule I of the Wild Life Protection Act of 1972. Punjab and Haryana also carry the blackbuck as their state animal. A is wrong because the mithun, a domesticated bovine of the hills, is the state animal of Arunachal Pradesh and of Nagaland. B is wrong because the ox is a domestic draught animal and is not named as any state animal. C is wrong because the one-horned rhinoceros is the state animal of Assam, where Kaziranga protects most of its population. Exam tip: blackbuck for Andhra Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana; rhinoceros for Assam; mithun for Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland.

The correct answer is B, the Nubra valley. The Siachen glacier lies at the head of the Nubra valley in the eastern Karakoram and is the longest glacier of that range; the Nubra river issues from it and joins the Shyok, which joins the Indus. Operation Meghdoot in April 1984 placed Indian troops on the glacier and the Saltoro ridge to its west. Option A is wrong because the Zanskar valley lies south of the Indus and its river joins the Indus at Nimmu. Option C is wrong because the Suru valley is in the Kargil district and carries the Chutak project. Option D is wrong because the Markha valley, south of Leh inside Hemis National Park, is a trekking route and has no glacier of this size. Remember Siachen with Nubra, Shyok and the Karakoram.

The correct answer is B, Rabindranath Tagore. Santiniketan in Birbhum district grew around the school and later the university Visva Bharati that Tagore founded there, teaching in the open air and joining Indian and world traditions, and it was inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 2023. Option A is wrong because Swami Vivekananda founded the Ramakrishna Mission in 1897, with its headquarters at Belur Math on the Hooghly, a different site. Option C is wrong because Raja Ram Mohan Roy founded the Brahmo Samaj in 1828 and is remembered as the father of the Indian Renaissance, but he is not connected with Santiniketan. Option D is wrong because Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar is remembered for the campaign for widow remarriage and for reform of Bengali education.

The correct answer is B, the Calcutta High Court, which exercises jurisdiction over the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and holds a circuit bench at the Territory’s capital. Option A is wrong because the Madras High Court has jurisdiction over Puducherry, not over these islands. Option C is wrong because the Kerala High Court has jurisdiction over Lakshadweep. Option D is wrong because the Orissa High Court is confined to Odisha. Under Article 241 Parliament may create a High Court for a Union Territory, and where it has not done so the Territory is attached to a neighbouring State’s High Court, which is why Chandigarh goes to the Punjab and Haryana High Court and the merged Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu to the Bombay High Court.

The correct answer is C, the Mahanadi. Hirakud was built across the Mahanadi above Sambalpur, work beginning in 1947 and the project being dedicated in 1957, and it stands as independent India first major multipurpose river valley project. Counting its long earthen dykes it stretches about twenty six kilometres, which makes it one of the longest earthen dams in the world, and it serves irrigation, flood control in the Mahanadi delta and hydroelectricity together. Option A is wrong because the Brahmani, formed where the Sankh and the South Koel meet, carries the Rengali project, not Hirakud. Option B is wrong because the Baitarani is a smaller river of northern Odisha. Option D is wrong because the Subarnarekha rises in Jharkhand and only clips the north eastern corner of the state. The Mahanadi is the longest river of Odisha and the one on which the Satkosia gorge and its tiger reserve also lie.

The correct answer is C, Kochi. The Kerala High Court sits at Kochi, in the Ernakulam area, although the capital of the state is Thiruvananthapuram. Its territorial jurisdiction covers the state of Kerala and the union territory of Lakshadweep, an arrangement permitted by Article 230, which allows the jurisdiction of a High Court to be extended to a union territory. Option A is wrong because Thiruvananthapuram is the seat of the Governor and the legislature but not of the High Court, and this gap between capital and court is exactly what the question tests. Option B is wrong because Kozhikode, the old Calicut, has no High Court, though it has district courts. Option D is wrong because Thrissur is known as the cultural capital of Kerala and for the Thrissur Pooram festival, not for the High Court.

The correct answer is B, the Godavari and the Krishna. Kolleru is a large shallow freshwater lake lying in the low ground between the deltas of the Godavari and the Krishna; it acts as a natural flood balancing reservoir for the two rivers, is a wintering ground for pelicans and painted storks, and was declared a Ramsar site of international importance. Option A is wrong because the Penna drains Rayalaseema far to the south of Kolleru. Option C is wrong because the Vamsadhara flows in the far north of the state, near the Odisha border, nowhere near the lake. Option D is wrong for the same reason in respect of the Nagavali, which is also a north Andhra river. Fix Kolleru with the two great deltas, and Pulicat with the Tamil Nadu border.

The correct answer is A, Assam. Sattriya grew in the sattras, the Vaishnava monasteries of Assam established in the devotional movement of Srimanta Sankardeva in the sixteenth century, where it was performed by celibate monks as part of worship. It was the last form to be recognised as classical by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, in 2000, which makes the year a favourite question. Option B is wrong because the classical dance of Odisha is Odissi, marked by the tribhanga posture and connected with the mahari dancers and gotipua boys of the Jagannath temple. Option C is wrong because Manipuri is the classical dance of Manipur, known for the Raas Leela and the Pung Cholom. Option D is wrong because West Bengal has no form on the classical list; its famous traditions are the Baul songs, Gambhira and the Purulia Chhau.

The correct answer is B, Goddess Mahakali. Bonalu is celebrated in the month of Ashada, roughly July and August, when women carry cooked rice with milk and jaggery in decorated pots on their heads as an offering to the goddess Mahakali. The best known centres are the Ujjaini Mahankali temple at Secunderabad, the Jagadamba temple inside Golconda fort and the Lal Darwaza temple in the old city of Hyderabad, and the word bonam itself means a meal offered to the deity.

Option A, Durga, is worshipped across India during Navaratri, and because Mahakali is a fierce form of the mother goddess the two are easily mixed up, but Bonalu names Mahakali. Option C, Shiva, is honoured in Telangana by the Perini dance and by the Srisailam and Ramappa temples, not by Bonalu. Option D, Vishnu, is worshipped at Bhadrachalam and Yadadri, which are separate traditions.

The correct answer is A, Bhand Pather. Bhand Pather is the traditional satirical folk theatre of the Kashmir valley, performed by the Bhand community with music on the surnai and the dhol, and it mixes acting, dance and sharp social comment. Option B is wrong because Nautanki is the operatic folk theatre of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Haryana, known for its loud nagara drum. Option C is wrong because Jatra is the open-air folk theatre of Bengal, Odisha and eastern India. Option D is wrong because Tamasha belongs to Maharashtra and grew out of the lavani song tradition. Along with Bhand Pather, remember the Kashmiri folk dances Rouf and Hafiza, Dumhal danced by the men of the Wattal community, and Sufiana Mausiqi as the valley’s classical music.

The correct answer is B, Swaraj Dweep. In 2018, on the seventy-fifth anniversary of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose hoisting the tricolour at Port Blair on 30 December 1943, three islands were renamed: Havelock became Swaraj Dweep, Neil became Shaheed Dweep and Ross Island became Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Dweep. Option A is wrong because Shaheed Dweep is the new name of Neil Island, and candidates commonly swap the two. Option C is wrong because that name went to Ross Island, which lies off the capital and holds the ruins of the old British administrative centre. Option D is wrong because no island was given that name; Sri Vijaya Puram is instead the new name of the capital, adopted in September 2024. The three renamed islands all lie in the South Andaman group and are reached by ferry from the capital.

The correct answer is B, Article 214. It states plainly that there shall be a High Court for each state, and the following articles complete the scheme: Article 215 makes every High Court a court of record, Article 216 leaves the number of judges to the President, Article 217 provides for their appointment, and Article 231 allows a common High Court for two or more states or union territories. Option A is wrong because Article 124 establishes the Supreme Court of India and provides for the appointment of its judges. Option C is wrong because Article 226 confers on a High Court the power to issue writs, which is a power of the court and not the provision creating it. Option D is wrong because Article 239 deals with the administration of union territories by an Administrator appointed by the President.

The correct answer is A, Mizoram. Cheraw is the best known dance of Mizoram, in which men sit facing each other and clap long bamboo staves together in rhythm while women dancers step in and out of the closing poles. It is performed at Chapchar Kut, the spring festival of Mizoram, and because the pattern resembles dances in south east Asia it is a standard matching question. Option B is wrong because Nagaland's dances are the Chang Lo, also called Sua Lua, and the war dances performed at the Hornbill Festival. Option C is wrong because Meghalaya has the Nongkrem dance of the Khasi, Shad Suk Mynsiem and the Garo Wangala. Option D is wrong because Tripura's dances are Hojagiri, performed balancing on an earthen pitcher, and Garia. Candidates often mark Tripura here, so fix the bamboo poles with Mizoram and the pitcher with Tripura.