Famous Personalities Questions and Answers

Answer: D

C. Rangarajan headed the committee on computerisation in Indian banks in 1988.

Then a Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank, he chaired the committee that laid out the phased plan for bank automation - branch computerisation first, then regional and head-office networking. He later became Governor of the RBI. M. Narasimham chaired the banking-sector reform committees of 1991 and 1998.

Answer: A

Rajasthan has had only one woman Chief Minister.

Vasundhara Raje is the only one, serving from 2003 to 2008 and again from 2013 to 2018. Delhi has had Sushma Swaraj and Sheila Dikshit, Uttar Pradesh Sucheta Kripalani and Mayawati, and Tamil Nadu Janaki Ramachandran and Jayalalithaa.

Answer: A

Valentina Tereshkova was the first woman in space.

She flew aboard Vostok 6 on 16 June 1963, orbiting the earth forty-eight times in nearly three days - more time in space than all the American astronauts put together up to that point. Sally Ride was the first American woman, in 1983.

Answer: C

Justice Ashok Kumar Mathur chaired the Seventh Central Pay Commission.

He was appointed in February 2014, and the commission reported in November 2015. A retired Supreme Court judge, he had also chaired the Armed Forces Tribunal.

Answer: B

The incorrect pair is M.S. Subbulakshmi – dance.

She was a Carnatic vocalist, the first musician to receive the Bharat Ratna, and sang at the United Nations General Assembly in 1966. The other three pairings are right: Ravi Shankar with the sitar, Hari Prasad Chaurasia with the flute and Zakir Hussain with the tabla.

Answer: D

Benjamin Netanyahu became Prime Minister of Israel after the 2009 election.

Tzipi Livni's Kadima won one seat more, but Netanyahu's Likud could assemble a coalition, and he formed the government in March 2009. He had already served as Prime Minister from 1996 to 1999.

Answer: D

Bulo C. Rani was associated with motion pictures.

He was a music director in Hindi cinema from the 1940s, remembered above all for the score of Jogan (1950), whose songs Geeta Dutt sang.

Answer: B

Kim Campbell was the first woman Prime Minister of Canada.

She took office in June 1993 on Brian Mulroney's resignation and served about four months, losing that October's election. She remains Canada's only woman Prime Minister.

Answer: B

Manik Sarkar had served longest.

He became Chief Minister of Tripura in March 1998 and held office until 2018, twenty years in all - and was known for living on a modest salary and owning almost no property.

Answer: B

Hari Prasad Chaurasia is a renowned flute player.

He plays the bansuri, the bamboo transverse flute, and is credited with bringing it to the front rank of Hindustani classical instruments. He was awarded the Padma Vibhushan in 2000.