Which one of the following is the oldest scientific department of Government of India?
- A.Department of Biotechnology
- B.Survey of India
- C.India Meteorological Department
- D.DRDO
Correct answer
Explanation
The correct answer is B, Survey of India. Founded in 1767, the Survey of India is the oldest scientific department of the Government of India.
It began under the East India Company, with James Rennell as the first Surveyor General of Bengal. Its Great Trigonometrical Survey, started by William Lambton in 1802 and continued by George Everest, measured the length of India along a meridian; in 1852 its computer Radhanath Sikdar worked out that Peak XV was the highest in the world, later named Mount Everest. Today it is India's national mapping agency under the Department of Science and Technology, with its headquarters at Dehradun.
A, the Department of Biotechnology, was set up only in 1986.
C, the India Meteorological Department, was established in 1875.
D, DRDO, was formed in 1958.
Exam tip: Survey of India 1767 (Dehradun), Geological Survey of India 1851, IMD 1875, DRDO 1958, DBT 1986.
Practice Questions
View allThe term "two-state solution" is sometimes mentioned in the news in the context of the affairs of
- A.China
- B.Israel
- C.Iraq
- D.Yemen
Show answer
The two-state solution is the proposal to settle the Israeli–Palestinian conflict by having an independent State of Palestine alongside the State of Israel.
Read the full explanation →Which one of the following countries is called the 'country of winds'?
- A.India
- B.China
- C.Denmark
- D.Germany
Show answer
Denmark is known as the country of winds because strong westerly winds blow across its flat land and long North Sea coast for most of the year.
Read the full explanation →Mahavira, the twenty-fourth Tirthankara of Jainism, attained nirvana at
- A.Vaishali
- B.Pavapuri
- C.Shravanabelagola
- D.Girnar
Show answer
The correct answer is B, Pavapuri, in Nalanda district of Bihar, where a marble temple stands in a lotus tank at the spot held to be the place of his nirvana; Diwali is observed by Jains as the anniversary of that event.
Read the full explanation →The Torah is the holy book of which religion, and in which building is it read?
- A.Christianity, in a church
- B.Judaism, in a synagogue
- C.Islam, in a mosque
- D.Shinto, in a shrine
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The Torah, the first five books of the Hebrew scripture, is kept as a scroll in the synagogue and read aloud in worship; Judaism traces itself to Abraham and Moses and holds Jerusalem as its holy city.
Read the full explanation →The Lotus Temple at New Delhi is a house of worship of which faith?
- A.Bahai faith
- B.Jainism
- C.Buddhism
- D.Zoroastrianism
Show answer
The correct answer is A, the Bahai faith, founded by Bahaullah in nineteenth century Persia, whose scripture is the Kitab-i-Aqdas and whose Indian house of worship is the marble building at New Delhi shaped like a lotus in bloom, open to people of every religion and holding no images.
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