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Books & AuthorsMediumAsked in: CDS · CDS-I 2023, GK

Which of the following statements is/are correct? 1. Tomb of Sand, written by Geetanjali Shree, is the first book originally written in any Indian language to win the International Booker Prize. 2. Tomb of Sand is the first novel translated from Hindi to be given the International Booker Prize. Select the correct answer using the code given below.

  1. A.1 only
  2. B.2 only
  3. C.Both 1 and 2
  4. D.Neither 1 nor 2

Correct answer

C. Both 1 and 2

Explanation

The correct answer is C, Both 1 and 2. 'Tomb of Sand' won the International Booker Prize in 2022, and that win was a first on both counts. The novel was written in Hindi by Geetanjali Shree as 'Ret Samadhi' (2018) and translated into English by the American translator Daisy Rockwell, who shared the prize money with her. No book originally written in any Indian language had won the prize before, and it was also the first winner translated from Hindi. The story follows an eighty-year-old widow in north India who, after her husband's death, sets out for Pakistan to face the memories of Partition. The International Booker is given each year in London to a single work of fiction translated into English, with the award divided equally between author and translator. Option A is wrong because it drops statement 2, which is also true. Option B is wrong because it drops statement 1. Option D is wrong because both statements are correct. Exam tip: Ret Samadhi by Geetanjali Shree, translated by Daisy Rockwell as Tomb of Sand, International Booker 2022.

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Q1.Books & AuthorsAsked in: CDS · CDS-II 2022, GKHard

Which one of the following is not the work of Ashvaghosha ?

  1. A.Sariputraprakarana
  2. B.Buddhacharita
  3. C.Saundarananda
  4. D.Manjushrimulakalpa
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Correct answer: D. Manjushrimulakalpa

It is a later Mahayana Buddhist text of ritual and prophecy, not a work of Ashvaghosha. Ashvaghosha was a Buddhist poet, dramatist and philosopher of the first–second century CE, linked by tradition to the court of the Kushana king Kanishka.

Q3.Books & AuthorsAsked in: CDS · CDS-I 2019, GKHard

Which European ruler had observed, "Bear in mind that the commerce of India is the commerce of the world ... he who can exclusively command it is the dictator of Europe"?

  1. A.Queen Victoria
  2. B.Peter the Great of Russia
  3. C.Napoleon Bonaparte
  4. D.Gustav II Adolf
Show answer
Correct answer: B. Peter the Great of Russia

The remark that the commerce of India is the commerce of the world, and that whoever commands it exclusively is the dictator of Europe, is attributed to Peter the Great, Tsar of Russia from 1682 to 1725.