Chhattisgarh was carved out of which state?

The correct answer is A, 1 November 2000. Chhattisgarh was carved out of Madhya Pradesh under the Madhya Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2000, becoming the twenty-sixth state of India and the first of the three states created that year. Option B is wrong because 9 November 2000 is the formation day of Uttarakhand, then named Uttaranchal, separated from Uttar Pradesh. Option C is wrong because 15 November 2000 is the formation day of Jharkhand, separated from Bihar, and that date was chosen as the birth anniversary of Birsa Munda. Option D is wrong because 1 November 1956 is the date on which the States Reorganisation Act came into force and several states, including Madhya Pradesh in its older form, were reconstituted on linguistic lines. Fix the order of the year 2000 as Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand, Jharkhand.

The correct answer is B, Bilaspur. When the state was formed in 2000 the High Court was established at Bilaspur, so the capital and the seat of the High Court are in different cities, a split the examiner likes. Option A is wrong because Raipur is the capital of the state and the seat of the government and the Legislative Assembly, with Nava Raipur Atal Nagar built beside it as the planned new capital city, but it does not house the High Court. Option C is wrong because Jagdalpur is the principal town of the Bastar region, known for Bastar Dussehra and as the base for Chitrakote Falls, not for the judiciary. Option D is wrong because Durg is an industrial district and the location of the Bhilai Steel Plant. Remember the pairing: Raipur governs, Bilaspur judges.

The correct answer is C, the Indravati. Chitrakote Falls is in the Bastar region on the Indravati, a tributary of the Godavari, and its broad horseshoe curve, the widest fall in India, earns it the name Niagara of India. Option A is wrong because the Mahanadi is the main river of the central plain, rising at Sihawa in Dhamtari district; it is the lifeline of the state but does not carry this fall. Option B is wrong because the Shivnath is the longest tributary of the Mahanadi and flows through the plain without such a drop. Option D is wrong because the Hasdeo is another Mahanadi tributary, better known for the coalfield and the dense forest along it. Keep the second waterfall of the state in mind too: Tirathgarh, which is on the Kanger river inside Kanger Valley National Park.

The correct answer is B, Dantewada. The Bailadila range in Dantewada district holds some of the finest haematite iron ore in the world, mined by the National Mineral Development Corporation, and the name is said to come from the hump of an ox, which the range resembles. Option A is wrong because Korba is the coal and power district, with large thermal stations and the BALCO aluminium smelter, which makes it the power capital of the state. Option C is wrong because Durg is where the Bhilai Steel Plant stands; it consumes iron ore rather than producing it. Option D is wrong because Raigarh is associated with coal mining and with the Raigarh gharana of Kathak, not with Bailadila. The clean pairing to memorise is Bailadila for iron ore, Korba for coal and power, Bhilai for steel.

The correct answer is C, Kanger Valley National Park, in the Bastar region. The park is unusual because it protects limestone caves as well as forest: Kutumsar and Kailash are its best known caves, and it also holds the Tirathgarh waterfall on the Kanger river and the hill myna, the state bird. Option A is wrong because Indravati National Park lies in Bijapur district along the Indravati and is known as a tiger reserve and a refuge of the wild buffalo, the state animal. Option B is wrong because Guru Ghasidas National Park is in the north of the state and is named after the founder of the Satnami sect. Option D is wrong because Sanjay National Park lies in Madhya Pradesh, the area from which the Guru Ghasidas park was separated at reorganisation.