Which is not an official language of Jammu and Kashmir?

The correct answer is A, Assam. Bodo is the language of the Bodo people of the Brahmaputra valley and is spoken mainly in the Bodoland Territorial Region of western Assam. It belongs to the Tibeto-Burman group, is written in the Devanagari script and is an associate official language of Assam. Bodo was added to the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution by the 92nd Amendment of 2003, along with Dogri, Maithili and Santhali. Option B is wrong because Jharkhand's main tongues are Hindi along with Santhali, Mundari and Ho. Option C is wrong because Himachal Pradesh speaks Hindi and Pahari dialects such as Kangri and Mandeali. Option D is wrong because Karnataka's official language is Kannada, a Dravidian language. Exam tip: the 92nd Amendment, 2003 added four languages — Bodo, Dogri, Maithili and Santhali — taking the Eighth Schedule to 22.

The correct answer is A, Mizoram. Chapchar Kut is the best known festival of the Mizo, held in March once the jhum fields have been cleared and burnt and the villagers wait for the sowing rains. Men and women in thangchhuah puan and vakiria headgear dance to drums, and the Cheraw, in which dancers step between bamboo staves clapped together on the ground, is its signature performance. Mim Kut and Pawl Kut are the other two Mizo festivals.

Option B, Sikkim, observes Losar, Losoong and Saga Dawa. Option C, Arunachal Pradesh, holds Mopin of the Galo, Solung of the Adi and Nyokum of the Nyishi. Option D, Assam, celebrates Bihu and Ali Ai Ligang. The bamboo dance itself is the clue, because Cheraw is Mizoram's own and is often confused with the similar dances of the region.

The correct answer is C, the 89th Amendment. Until 2003 a single National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes worked under Article 338. The 89th Constitutional Amendment Act of 2003 split it, leaving Article 338 with the National Commission for Scheduled Castes and inserting Article 338A to create a separate National Commission for Scheduled Tribes, with a chairperson, a vice-chairperson and other members appointed by the President.

Option A, the 73rd Amendment of 1992, added Part IX and gave panchayats constitutional status. Option B, the 86th Amendment of 2002, inserted Article 21A and made free and compulsory education for children a fundamental right. Option D, the 97th Amendment of 2011, dealt with cooperative societies. Only the 89th Amendment concerns the tribal commission, so C is correct.

The correct answer is C, Telangana. The Sammakka Saralamma Jatara, usually called the Medaram Jatara, is held at Medaram in the Mulugu district of Telangana, once in two years in the month of Magha. It honours Sammakka and her daughter Saralamma, remembered as Koya women who fought the rulers of the Kakatiya kingdom, and the Koya tribe leads the rituals. Devotees offer bellam, or jaggery, equal to their own weight, and the fair draws a tribal crowd larger than any other in the country.

Option A, Chhattisgarh, holds the long Bastar Dussehra. Option B, Odisha, holds the Puri Rath Yatra and the Bali Yatra at Cuttack. Option D, Jharkhand, has Sarhul and Bhagta Parab. All are strong tribal states, but the Medaram Jatara is Telangana's.

The correct answer is B, Nagaland. The Hornbill Festival is held at the Naga Heritage Village at Kisama, near Kohima, from 1 to 10 December, and it opens on the day Nagaland became a state. Every major Naga tribe puts up its morung, or dormitory house, and the days are filled with log-drum pulling, wrestling, Naga chilli eating contests and folk songs. The festival takes its name from the hornbill, the bird whose feathers appear on Naga headgear.

Option A, Manipur, holds the Sangai Festival in November. Option C, Tripura, is the state of Kharchi Puja and the Garia festival. Option D, Meghalaya, holds Wangala, Behdienkhlam and the Shad Nongkrem dance. All three are North Eastern states with their own showpiece festivals, which is why they appear as distractors, but Kisama is in Nagaland.