UPSC Civil Services GK Questions 2026

Established in 1953 with its seat at New Delhi, it is the national academy for the performing arts, it supports festivals, archives and training, and it is the authority whose recognition decides which dance styles are counted as classical.

Mamallapuram, also written Mahabalipuram, lies on the coast south of Chennai and is a World Heritage site of Pallava rock-cut architecture; the dance festival is staged there from late December into January, with the great relief called Arjuna's Penance as its backdrop.

The mela is held at Surajkund in the Faridabad district of Haryana, close to Delhi, and runs through the first fortnight of February; craftspeople and folk performers from across the country gather there, and each edition names a theme state and a partner country.

The festival is held in the courtyard of the Nataraja temple at Chidambaram, where Shiva is worshipped in his dancing form as Nataraja, and dancers from across the country offer their art there over five days beginning on Maha Shivratri; the very name Natyanjali means an offering of dance.

It began in 2006, is held every January at the Diggi Palace in Jaipur, admits visitors free of charge and draws writers, translators and publishers from many countries, which is how it came to be called the greatest literary show on Earth.

The Tansen Samaroh is held every December near Gwalior, at the tomb of Tansen, one of the nine jewels of Akbar's court and a founding figure of Hindustani classical music; the state also confers the Tansen Samman at the festival.

The Hornbill Festival is held at the Kisama heritage village near Kohima from 1 to 10 December, the days around Nagaland's statehood day, and it is called the Festival of Festivals because every major tribe of the state presents its own dances, songs, games and food in one place.

The Konark Festival is held on an open-air stage beside the thirteenth century Sun Temple at Konark in Odisha, a World Heritage monument, and the classical styles of the country are performed there in the first week of December.

The Khajuraho Dance Festival is held every February at Khajuraho in the Chhatarpur district of Madhya Pradesh, with the Western group of temples as its setting, and it presents the recognised classical dance styles of the country on an open-air stage.

The Public Accounts Committee consists of twenty-two members, fifteen elected by the Lok Sabha and seven by the Rajya Sabha, all by proportional representation through the single transferable vote, and its chairman is appointed by the Speaker; by a convention followed since 1967 the chairman is from the opposition.

It states in a single sentence that no tax shall be levied or collected except by authority of law, which is why every tax proposal in the Budget has to be enacted through the Finance Bill before the money can be demanded from the citizen.

The Speaker, in consultation with the Leader of the House, fixes the number of days available for the demands for grants, and on the last of those days all the demands still pending are put to the vote together, discussed or not.

An excess grant is asked for when money has actually been spent on a service during a financial year in excess of the amount granted for it; the demand is made after the year is over, and by convention the Public Accounts Committee first examines the excess and recommends its…

Article 110(3) provides that if a question arises whether a bill is a money bill, the decision of the Speaker of the House of the People is final, and the Speaker certifies the bill as such when it is transmitted to the Rajya Sabha and when it is presented to…

Article 267(1) allows Parliament by law to establish a Contingency Fund of India in the nature of an imprest, placed at the disposal of the President, out of which he may make advances to meet unforeseen expenditure pending authorisation by Parliament; the fund is held on his behalf by the…

A token cut is moved to ventilate a specific grievance within the sphere of responsibility of the Government of India, and its form is that the amount of the demand be reduced by one hundred rupees; the sum is symbolic and the purpose is the discussion it forces.

Under Article 109 a money bill passed by the Lok Sabha goes to the Rajya Sabha, which must return it within fourteen days with or without recommendations; if it is not returned in that period the bill is deemed to have been passed by both Houses in the form in…

The Prime Minister is paid like other ministers out of the voted expenditure, so the amount appears in a demand for grant that the Lok Sabha can reduce or refuse; it is not charged expenditure.

Article 112 requires the President to cause a statement of the estimated receipts and expenditure of the Government of India for every financial year to be laid before both Houses of Parliament, and the Constitution calls that statement the Annual Financial Statement; in ordinary speech it is the Budget.

The Meerut session of November 1946, with Acharya J. B. Kripalani in the chair, was the last session of the Congress held before 15 August 1947.