In which of the following years was the Sino-Indian War (Indo-China War) fought?

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 A, Kolkata. The Eastern Railway zone has its headquarters at Fairlie Place in Kolkata, West Bengal. Eastern Railway was created in 1952 out of the eastern part of the old East Indian Railway and a portion of the Bengal Nagpur Railway, which makes it one of the oldest zones of Indian Railways. It is run through the Howrah, Sealdah, Asansol and Malda divisions, and each zone of Indian Railways is headed by a General Manager. Kolkata is unusual in holding two zonal headquarters, because South Eastern Railway also sits in the city, at Garden Reach. Option B is wrong because Bhubaneswar is the headquarters of East Coast Railway. Option C is wrong because no zone is based at Patna; East Central Railway, which covers Bihar, is headquartered at Hajipur. Option D is wrong because Durgapur is an industrial town of West Bengal and not a railway headquarters. Exam tip: Eastern Railway at Kolkata, East Central at Hajipur, East Coast at Bhubaneswar.

The correct answer is B, Rome. The capital of Italy was called the Eternal City by Roman poets who believed the city would last whatever happened to its empire, and the Seven Hills, the Palatine, Capitoline, Aventine, Caelian, Esquiline, Quirinal and Viminal, are the heights on which the ancient city grew. Option A is wrong because Athens is called the City of Violet Crown and, in a transferred sense, lends its name to Madurai as the Athens of the East. Option C is wrong because Jerusalem is called the Holy City. Option D is wrong because Istanbul was Constantinople and is called the city on two continents; Lucknow, not Istanbul, is sometimes called the Constantinople of the East. The Eternal City and the Seven Hills always point to one answer, which makes this an easy mark once learnt.

The correct answer is B, New York. The phrase came into use among jazz musicians and racing writers in the United States in the early twentieth century and was later taken up as a tourism slogan for New York City, which is also called the City of Skyscrapers and the Empire City. Option A is wrong because London is called the Old Smoke or simply the Smoke, after its historic coal fogs. Option C is wrong because Chicago is the Windy City, named for the wind off Lake Michigan and, by some accounts, for the talk of its politicians. Option D is wrong because Toronto is called the Queen City in Canada. World nicknames are asked as often as Indian ones, so pair the Big Apple with New York, the Windy City with Chicago and the City of Light with Paris.

The correct answer is B, Pune. The Maharashtra city earned the title from its long list of colleges, its university and its old tradition of Sanskrit and English learning, which drew students from across western and southern India; it is also called the Queen of the Deccan. Option A is wrong because Varanasi is the City of Temples, the Holy City and the City of Ghats, and although it is sometimes called the Oxford of India for the Banaras Hindu University, the Oxford of the East in Indian general knowledge is Pune. Option C is wrong because Kolkata is the City of Joy, the City of Palaces and the Cultural Capital of India. Option D is wrong because Aligarh is known for the Aligarh Muslim University and for its lock industry, not for this title. Read the options with care, since Varanasi is placed here precisely to confuse.