UPSC Civil Services GK Questions 2026

Jandiala Guru is a town near Amritsar where the Thathera community beats sheets of brass and copper into utensils entirely by hand, heating and hammering the metal in a sequence that has been passed down within families; the craft was inscribed in 2014.

Ramman is celebrated in the twin villages of Saloor Dungra in Chamoli district, in the Garhwal Himalayas, in honour of the local deity Bhumiyal Devta, and it combines masked dances, recitation and episodes from the Ramayana over several days.

The Kalbelia are a community of the Thar region traditionally associated with handling snakes, and their dance, performed by women in flowing black skirts, imitates the movement of a serpent while the men play the been and the khanjari.

Chhau is a masked dance built on martial movement and episodes from the epics, and it has three recognised styles: Seraikella in Jharkhand, Purulia in West Bengal and Mayurbhanj in Odisha, the last of which is danced without masks.

Yoga was inscribed in 2016, and in the same year India joined the multinational element Nawrouz, the spring new year celebrated across a belt of countries, so 2016 carries two entries for India.

Kutiyattam is performed in temple theatres called kuttampalam, uses the Sanskrit drama repertoire, and is counted among the oldest living theatre traditions in the world; UNESCO recognised it as a Masterpiece in 2001 and it moved to the Representative List in 2008.

Garba, the ritual and devotional dance performed during Navaratri around an earthen lamp in honour of the goddess, was inscribed at the eighteenth session of the Intergovernmental Committee held in Botswana in December 2023.

The correct answer is A, Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar, administered by the Ministry of Women and Child Development, in which bravery is one of the categories of the Bal Shakti Puraskar, alongside innovation, scholastic achievement, social service, art and culture, and sport; the Bal Kalyan Puraskar in the same…

The Ministry of Home Affairs announces the Jeevan Raksha Padak series on 15 August each year, and the medal with its certificate is then presented to the recipient by the state government, union territory administration or ministry concerned rather than at a single investiture in Delhi.

In each of the two columns of police awards the medal carrying the President's name is the senior one, so the President's Police Medal for Gallantry, given for a rare and conspicuous act of gallantry, stands above the Police Medal for Gallantry.

The correct answer is A, The Indian Council for Child Welfare, a voluntary organisation that ran the scheme from 1957 and gave within it the Bharat Award as the highest, the Geeta Chopra Award for a girl and the Sanjay Chopra Award for a boy, named after the sister and…

It is the highest peacetime gallantry award and is expressly open to civilians as well as to service personnel, which is why civilians who have fought armed attackers have received it.

The Kabir Puraskar, administered by the Ministry of Home Affairs and named after the poet who stood outside sectarian division, is given for conspicuous courage and humanity in saving the lives and property of members of another community during communal riots, and it too has three classes.

The peacetime gallantry awards run as the Ashoka Chakra, the Kirti Chakra and the Shaurya Chakra in descending order, and the Ashoka Chakra may be conferred on civilians as well as on members of the armed forces, which is what makes it relevant to a question on civilian bravery.

The correct answer is B, Ministry of Home Affairs, which administers the Jeevan Raksha Padak series along with the police, fire service, home guard and correctional service medals and the Kabir Puraskar.

The series was instituted that year to recognise acts of a humane nature in saving life from drowning, fire, electrocution, mine accidents and similar danger, and it is administered by the Ministry of Home Affairs.

The correct answer is C, Sarvottam Jeevan Raksha Padak, given for conspicuous courage where the danger to the rescuer's own life was very great.

The series runs as the Sarvottam Jeevan Raksha Padak, the Uttam Jeevan Raksha Padak and the Jeevan Raksha Padak, in descending order, the class depending on how great the danger to the rescuer's own life was.

The Jahangiri Mahal is the large red sandstone palace within Agra Fort, built in Akbar's reign for the women of the household and later named after Jahangir; the Khas Mahal, the Sheesh Mahal and the Musamman Burj, where Shah Jahan passed his last years, stand in the same fort.

Kumbhalgarh, built by Rana Kumbha in the Aravalli hills, is remembered both as Maharana Pratap's birthplace and for its very long encircling wall, held to be among the longest in the world.