Pashmina is a fine type of wool which were first woven in which state of India?

The correct answer is A, Kushana. The Gandhara school of art grew in the north-west, around Peshawar and Taxila, and reached its height under the Kushana rulers, above all Kanishka, in the first and second centuries. Its sculptors worked in grey schist and later in stucco, and they gave the Buddha a Greek-Roman face: wavy hair, a sharp nose, heavy drapery falling in folds, and a halo behind the head. This blending of styles is why it is called the Greco-Buddhist or Indo-Greek school. The Mathura school flourished in the same Kushana period but used red sandstone and a purely Indian idiom. B is wrong because the Mauryas are known for polished stone pillars and their animal capitals. C is wrong because the Nandas left no distinct school of sculpture. D is wrong because the Cholas are remembered for bronze images such as the Nataraja, many centuries later. Exam tip: Gandhara grey schist and a Greco-Roman Buddha, Mathura red sandstone — both under the Kushanas.

The correct answer is C, ten years. Under the Act of 1999 a registered geographical indication, and the entry of an authorised user, is valid for ten years and may be renewed for further periods of ten years without limit, so a GI can last for ever if renewal is applied for in time. Option A is wrong because five years is not a term used for GIs in the Act. Option B is wrong because seven years belongs to no intellectual property term in Indian law and is a pure distractor. Option D is wrong because twenty years is the term of a patent in India under the Patents Act, 1970, counted from the date of filing, and it is not renewable at all. Papers like to place the patent term and the GI term in the same set of options.

The correct answer is B, Assam. Muga is reared on som and soalu trees in the Brahmaputra valley, and its thread has a natural golden sheen that grows brighter with washing; it is used for the mekhela chador and holds a GI in the name of Assam. Option A is wrong because West Bengal is associated with Baluchari and Murshidabad silk, which are mulberry silks, not muga. Option C is wrong because Manipur is known for its Longpi black pottery and Moirang Phee textile rather than for muga. Option D is wrong because Meghalaya is known for Eri silk and bamboo craft; Eri, the ahimsa silk, is also produced in Assam but is dull white, not golden. Candidates should remember the Assam trio: muga golden, eri warm and pat white mulberry silk.

The correct answer is A, Bihar. Madhubani, also called Mithila painting, comes from the Mithila region of northern Bihar, where women painted the walls and floors of the marriage chamber with natural colours, gods, fish, bamboo and the sun and moon, filling every gap with pattern. Option B is wrong because the best known tribal art of Jharkhand is Sohrai and Khovar wall painting, done at harvest and marriage. Option C is wrong because West Bengal is the home of Kalighat painting, Pattachitra scrolls of Medinipur and Kantha embroidery. Option D is wrong because Odisha is known for its own Pattachitra on the theme of Jagannath and for palm leaf engraving. The families of folk painting are asked in matching form, so link Madhubani with Bihar and Warli with Maharashtra.

The correct answer is C, Karnataka. Channapatna, a town between Bengaluru and Mysuru, is called the toy town of India; its artisans turn soft ivory wood on a lathe and finish it with lac and vegetable colours, and the toys carry a GI. Option A is wrong because Andhra Pradesh has its own two toy centres, Kondapalli near Vijayawada and Etikoppaka in Visakhapatnam district, which are separate GIs. Option B is wrong because Tamil Nadu is known for the Thanjavur bobblehead doll and bronze icons rather than lacquered lathe toys. Option D is wrong because Odisha is known for Pattachitra painting, Sambalpuri bandha textiles and silver filigree of Cuttack. Questions on toys usually mix Channapatna with Kondapalli, so tie Channapatna to Karnataka and Kondapalli to Andhra Pradesh.