Famous Personalities Questions and Answers

Answer: A

Manjit Bawa was a famous painter.

He broke with the grey-and-brown palette then prevailing in Indian art, working in flat, luminous violets, reds and pinks, and drew his figures from Indian mythology and Sufi legend. He died in 2008.

Answer: B

Richard Holbrooke was the US Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan.

He was appointed by President Obama in 2009 and held the post until his death in 2010. He had earlier negotiated the Dayton Accords of 1995, which ended the war in Bosnia.

Answer: B

Kalpana Chawla was an astronaut.

Born at Karnal in Haryana, she flew on the Space Shuttle Columbia in 1997 and again in 2003, becoming the first woman of Indian origin in space. She died with the rest of the crew when Columbia broke up on re-entry on 1 February 2003.

Answer: B

Neelam Sanjiva Reddy was elected President unopposed.

He was chosen in 1977 without a contest, the only President so elected. He had earlier been the first Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh and twice Speaker of the Lok Sabha, and had lost the presidential election of 1969 to V.V. Giri.

Answer: C

Rabindranath Tagore called Subhas Chandra Bose 'Deshnayak'.

He conferred the title in 1939, dedicating his book Taser Desh to him. Tagore, though committed to non-violence, admired Bose's leadership; Gandhi later called him the Prince among the Patriots.

Answer: C

Narendra Modi is the 14th Prime Minister of India.

The count runs from Jawaharlal Nehru and treats a person's separate terms as one entry, so Modi, who took office in May 2014, is the fourteenth individual to hold the post.

Answer: A

Muhammad Iqbal attended the Second and Third Round Table Conferences.

He took part in the London conferences of 1931 and 1932 as a Muslim League representative, having delivered his Allahabad address of 1930 proposing a consolidated Muslim state in north-west India. Faiz Ahmad Faiz was a generation younger and not a participant.

Answer: C

Pratibha Patil was the 12th President of India.

She held office from 2007 to 2012 and was the first woman to do so, having earlier been Governor of Rajasthan.

Answer: B

Dr Rajendra Prasad served two terms as President.

He held the office from 1950 to 1962 and is the only President elected twice. He had earlier presided over the Constituent Assembly.

Answer: B

G.S. Sirohi was the first Indian to reach Antarctica.

He travelled as a member of a Japanese expedition in 1960. India mounted its own first expedition, of twenty-one members under Dr S.Z. Qasim, in 1981–82.