Static GK Mixed Quiz: Set 28

The correct answer is B, Jordan. Petra is the city carved into rose-red rock in southern Jordan, built by the Nabataeans, and it was included among the New Seven Wonders of the World chosen in 2007. Option A is wrong because Egypt's entry in the wider list is the Great Pyramid of Giza, which was given honorary standing as the only survivor of the ancient wonders rather than being voted in. Option C is wrong because Turkey's famous monuments are Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque at Istanbul, neither of which is in the list. Option D is wrong because Iran, with Persepolis among its ancient sites, has no entry either. Petra and Jordan are best learnt as a fixed pair. Petra is also known as the rose-red city for the colour of the sandstone from which its facades were carved, a description papers sometimes use in place of the name.

The correct answer is B, Unity, Faith, Sacrifice. The Indian National Army took 'Ittehad, Etmad, Qurbani' as its motto, and those three words mean unity, faith and sacrifice.

Subhas Chandra Bose reorganised the INA at Singapore in 1943 and gave it the war cry 'Jai Hind' and the marching song 'Kadam Kadam Badhaye Ja'. The army had a women's regiment named after Rani Lakshmibai, which was led by Captain Lakshmi Sahgal.

Option A, Unity and Discipline, is the motto of the National Cadet Corps. Option C, Do or Die, was Gandhi's call to the people in the Quit India Movement of 1942. Option D, Service before self, is a general service slogan and was not the motto of the INA.

Exam tip: INA — motto Ittehad, Etmad, Qurbani; slogan Jai Hind; founded 1942 and reorganised by Bose in 1943.

The correct answer is B, Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah. He founded the city of Hyderabad and built the Charminar in 1591, a square building about 56 metres high with four arches and four minarets, one at each corner, which is why it carries that name. Option A is wrong because Ibrahim Qutb Shah ruled earlier at Golconda and is remembered for the Ibrahim Bagh and for tanks around the city, not for the Charminar. Option C is wrong because Asaf Jah I founded the Nizam dynasty of Hyderabad in the eighteenth century, more than a hundred years after the Charminar was built. Option D is wrong because Yusuf Adil Shah founded the Adil Shahi dynasty of Bijapur, a different Deccan kingdom. Fix 1591 and the Qutb Shahi dynasty with the Charminar.

The correct answer is D, Foreign Policy of India. Panchsheel is the name given to the five principles that guide India's conduct towards other countries.

The five are mutual respect for each other's territorial integrity and sovereignty, mutual non-aggression, non-interference in each other's internal affairs, equality and mutual benefit, and peaceful coexistence. They were written into the preamble of the agreement on trade and intercourse with the Tibet region of China, signed by Jawaharlal Nehru and Zhou Enlai on 29 April 1954. The word itself comes from Buddhist usage, where the five rules of conduct are called panchsheel, and these principles later fed into the non-aligned movement.

A is wrong: the Fundamental Duties were added by the 42nd Amendment in 1976 and now number eleven. B is wrong: NITI Aayog is a policy think tank set up in 2015 and has nothing to do with this term. C is wrong: inter-state relations are dealt with in Articles 261 to 263 of the Constitution.

Exam tip: Panchsheel means the five principles signed by Nehru and Zhou Enlai on 29 April 1954, the base of India's non-alignment.

The correct answer is C, Rio de Janeiro. Christ the Redeemer stands on a peak above Rio de Janeiro in Brazil and was chosen in 2007 as one of the New Seven Wonders of the World. Option A is wrong because Lisbon is the capital of Portugal; a similar figure stands near it, which is exactly why the option is placed here. Option B is wrong because Buenos Aires is the capital of Argentina and has no entry in the list. Option D is wrong because Lima is the capital of Peru, whose entry in the list is Machu Picchu, set high in the Andes and far from the capital. The three Latin American wonders should be kept as a block: Brazil, Peru and Mexico.

The correct answer is C, France and Germany. The Maginot Line was the chain of concrete forts that France built along its border with Germany.

It is named after Andre Maginot, the French war minister who pushed the project through, and it was built in the 1930s after the First World War to stop another German invasion. The line was deep, heavily armed and widely thought to be impregnable, but it covered only the German frontier. In 1940 the German army simply went around its northern end through the Ardennes in Belgium and France fell in six weeks, which is why a Maginot Line is now a byword for a defence that is strong in the wrong place.

A is wrong: no such line divides Namibia and Angola. B is wrong: the United States and Canada are separated by the 49th Parallel. D is wrong: the Germany and Poland boundary is the Oder Neisse Line, fixed after the Second World War.

Exam tip: Maginot Line is France and Germany, while the Siegfried Line was Germany's own answering line of defences.

The correct answer is B, Bahubali. The 57 foot statue on Vindhyagiri hill at Shravanabelagola in the Hassan district of Karnataka portrays Bahubali, also called Gomateshwara, the son of the first Jain tirthankara Rishabhanatha, and it was raised about the year 983 by Chavundaraya, a minister of the Western Ganga kingdom. Option A is wrong because Mahavira was the twenty fourth tirthankara, and the statue is not of him. Option C is wrong because Parshvanatha was the twenty third tirthankara, usually shown with a canopy of snake hoods. Option D is wrong because the statue is Jain and not Buddhist; the famous monolithic Buddha of the Deccan stands in the Hussain Sagar lake at Hyderabad. The anointing ceremony here, the Mahamastakabhisheka, is held once in twelve years.

The correct answer is C, San Francisco Conference. The Charter of the United Nations was signed at San Francisco on 26 June 1945, at the close of the United Nations Conference on International Organization, by the delegates of fifty nations; Poland signed a little later and so the organisation began with fifty-one original members. The Charter came into force on 24 October 1945, once the five permanent members of the Security Council and a majority of the others had ratified it, and that day is kept as United Nations Day. The name United Nations was coined by President Franklin Roosevelt. Option A is wrong because The Hague is the seat of the International Court of Justice, not the place of signing. Option B is wrong because London is where the General Assembly held its first session, in January 1946. Option D is wrong because no United Nations conference was held at Berlin. Exam tip: signed 26 June 1945 at San Francisco and in force from 24 October 1945.

The correct answer is B, Great Pyramid of Giza. The Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt is the only one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World still standing, and for that reason it was given honorary standing alongside the New Seven Wonders chosen in 2007. Option A is wrong because the Colossus of Rhodes, a huge bronze statue, was destroyed by an earthquake in antiquity. Option C is wrong because the Lighthouse of Alexandria, also called the Pharos, was likewise brought down by earthquakes. Option D is wrong because the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus was destroyed and rebuilt more than once and finally lost. The remaining ancient wonders were the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Statue of Zeus at Olympia and the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus.

The correct answer is A, 1962. The Sino-Indian War was fought between 20 October and 21 November 1962, when China attacked across the Himalayan frontier. The fighting ran in two separate theatres, Aksai Chin in Ladakh in the west and the North East Frontier Agency, today Arunachal Pradesh, in the east. China declared a unilateral ceasefire on 21 November 1962 and kept Aksai Chin. Jawaharlal Nehru was Prime Minister and the reverses cost Defence Minister V. K. Krishna Menon his post; the war pushed India to enlarge its army and raise mountain divisions trained for high altitude. Option B is wrong because no India-China war took place in 1969. Option C is wrong because 1973 is remembered for the Kesavananda Bharati judgment and the launch of Project Tiger, not a war. Option D is wrong because 1964 is the year Nehru died. Exam tip: 1962 with China, 1965 and 1971 with Pakistan, 1999 Kargil.

The correct answer is C, Kanyakumari. The statue of Thiruvalluvar stands on a small island off Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu, beside the Vivekananda Rock Memorial, and its height of 133 feet was chosen to match the 133 chapters of the Tirukkural, the poet's work on ethics, wealth and love. Option A is wrong because Rameswaram is known for the Ramanathaswamy temple and for the Pamban bridge, the first sea bridge of India. Option B is wrong because Madurai is the city of the Meenakshi temple. Option D is wrong because Thanjavur is known for the Brihadeeswarar temple of the Cholas, a World Heritage Site. The sculptor of the Thiruvalluvar statue was V. Ganapati Sthapati, and it was opened to the public in the year 2000.

The correct answer is A, Brazil. Brazil is called the Coffee Bowl of the World because it grows and sends out more coffee than any other country and has done so for more than a century. Its coffee belt lies in the south-east, in the states of Minas Gerais, Sao Paulo and Parana, where the deep red soil called terra rossa, the warm climate and the rolling plateau suit the plant. The large estates there are known as fazendas, and the port of Santos handles much of the export. Coffee needs a hot, wet climate with well drained slopes, which is why it is a plantation crop of the tropics. B is wrong because Mexico is a smaller coffee grower and is better known for maize and silver. C is wrong because India grows coffee mainly in Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu but is far behind Brazil. D is wrong because Serbia has a cool climate that cannot support coffee at all. Exam tip: Brazil Coffee Bowl of the World, Sri Lanka Pearl of the Indian Ocean, Cuba Sugar Bowl of the World.

The correct answer is C, Indonesia. Borobudur stands on the island of Java in Indonesia and is the largest Buddhist temple in the world, built as a great stepped monument whose terraces carry hundreds of relief panels and stupas. Option A is wrong because Cambodia's great monument is Angkor Wat, the largest religious monument in the world, built first as a Hindu temple; Angkor Wat and Borobudur are the pair most often interchanged in this chapter. Option B is wrong because Thailand, though full of important Buddhist temples, has none that carries this superlative. Option D is wrong because Sri Lanka's famous Buddhist sites, such as the Temple of the Tooth at Kandy, are also not the largest. The simplest rule to carry is that the largest religious monument of any faith is Angkor Wat, while the largest of the Buddhist temples alone is Borobudur.

The correct answer is C, Kothari commission 1966. The Kothari Commission, which worked from 1964 to 1966, recommended the three language formula for schools, and the policy of 1968 later adopted it. The commission was headed by Daulat Singh Kothari, then chairman of the University Grants Commission, and its report was titled Education and National Development. Under the formula a pupil learns the regional language or mother tongue, Hindi and English, so that the country keeps a link language while regional languages are respected. The same commission is remembered for asking that six per cent of national income be spent on education. A is wrong because the National Policy on Education of 1968 only accepted and announced what the commission had proposed. B is wrong because the policy of 1986 restated the formula and added the idea of a national system of education. D is wrong because the Chattopadhyaya Commission, which sat from 1983 to 1985, examined teachers and their status. Exam tip: the Kothari Commission of 1964 to 1966 proposed it and the 1968 policy adopted it.

The correct answer is C, Jammu and Kashmir. The bridge crosses the gorge of the Chenab in the Reasi district of Jammu and Kashmir on the Udhampur to Srinagar and Baramulla railway line, and its deck stands about 359 metres above the bed of the river, higher than the Eiffel Tower, which makes it the highest railway arch bridge in the world. Option A is wrong because Himachal Pradesh is known for the Kalka Shimla mountain railway, a World Heritage line, not for this bridge. Option B is wrong because Uttarakhand has the Rishikesh Karnaprayag project under construction but no bridge of this record. Option D is wrong because Arunachal Pradesh is linked with long road bridges over the Brahmaputra system, not with the Chenab. Fix the Chenab with Reasi.

The correct answer is C, Kanpur. The Indian Institute of Pulses Research works at Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh and is one of the institutes of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research. It began in 1984 as the Project Directorate on Pulses and was raised to an institute in 1993. Its work is on chickpea, pigeonpea, lentil, mungbean, urdbean and field pea: breeding better varieties, protecting the crop from disease and pests, and advising farmers, which matters because India is the largest producer and consumer of pulses in the world. Option A is wrong because Bhopal has the Central Institute of Agricultural Engineering. Option B is wrong because Patna has the ICAR Research Complex for the Eastern Region. Option D is wrong because Hyderabad has the Indian Institute of Rice Research and the Institute of Millets Research. Exam tip: Kanpur pulses, Hyderabad rice and millets, Shimla potato, Lucknow sugarcane.

The correct answer is A, Jorn Utzon. The Sydney Opera House, with its shells rising above the harbour, was designed by the Danish architect Jorn Utzon and is the best known building in Australia. Option B is wrong because Le Corbusier is remembered in India for planning the city of Chandigarh and its Capitol Complex, which makes him a tempting choice for an Indian candidate. Option C is wrong because Frank Lloyd Wright, the American architect, is remembered for Fallingwater and the Guggenheim Museum in New York. Option D is wrong because Antoni Gaudi designed the Sagrada Familia at Barcelona, the church left unfinished at his death. Four architects, four very different buildings, is the way to hold this question in memory. The building took many years to complete and its roof shells are the detail by which it is recognised in any photograph set alongside such a question.

The correct answer is A, Lohit. The Bhupen Hazarika Setu, also called the Dhola Sadiya bridge, runs 9.15 kilometres over the Lohit, a tributary of the Brahmaputra, and joins Dhola in Assam with Sadiya towards Arunachal Pradesh; it was opened in 2017 and is the longest bridge over a river in India. Option B is wrong because the Hooghly at Kolkata carries the Howrah Bridge, now called Rabindra Setu, and the Vidyasagar Setu. Option C is wrong because the Godavari is crossed by the long rail and road bridges at Rajahmundry, which are shorter than this one. Option D is wrong because the Mahanadi is crossed near Cuttack but holds no such record. The longest sea bridge in India, by contrast, is Atal Setu at Mumbai.

The correct answer is B, Rome. The Colosseum is the vast amphitheatre of the Roman empire, standing in the heart of Rome in Italy, and it was chosen in 2007 as one of the New Seven Wonders of the World. Option A is wrong because Athens in Greece is the city of the Parthenon, the temple of Athena on the Acropolis, which is not in the list. Option C is wrong because Istanbul in Turkey is the city of Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque. Option D is wrong because Barcelona in Spain is the city of Gaudi's Sagrada Familia. Italy also holds the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the bell tower that settled to one side on soft ground, which is often set alongside the Colosseum.

The correct answer is B, Hooghly. The Howrah Bridge joins Kolkata with Howrah across the Hooghly, was opened to traffic in 1943, and is a riveted steel cantilever bridge built without nuts and bolts, which is the detail papers most often test. It was renamed Rabindra Setu in 1965 after Rabindranath Tagore. Option A is wrong because the Damodar, once called the sorrow of Bengal, flows further west and is known for the Damodar Valley Corporation. Option C is wrong because the Subarnarekha flows through Jharkhand, West Bengal and Odisha and carries no bridge of this fame. Option D is wrong because the Teesta flows through Sikkim and north Bengal. Also remember the Vidyasagar Setu, the cable stayed bridge on the same river. Papers also ask which bridge was opened to traffic in 1943, and the answer is this one.