The correct answer is A - 3, B - 4, C - 2, D - 1.

Key Points

Dodda Betta

• It is the highest mountain in the Nilgiri Mountains, Tamil Nadu.
• It is 2,637 metres (8,652 feet) high.
• Doddabetta translates to “Big Mountain”.

Nanda Devi

• It is the second-highest mountain in India after Kangchenjunga.
• It is in Uttrakhand.
• It is the 23rd-highest peak in the world.

Anai Mudi

• It is a mountain located in the Indian state of Kerala.
• It is the highest peak in the Western Ghats and South India.
• Anamudi or Anai Mudi means Elephant Peak in Malayalam and Tamil respectively.

Saramati

• It is the highest peak in the state of Nagaland.
• Mount Saramati is a mountain straddling the border of Nagaland and Myanmar.

The correct answer is Billiards.

• When the player strikes his cue ball so that it hits, the red ball and the opponent's cue ball on the same shot known as Canon.
• By scoring canon player gains two points.

Key Points

• Some important terms of Billiards - Cue, Hit, Break Shot, etc.
• Billiards is played on a rectangular table with three balls, one red ball, and two white cue balls, one with a small black dot and one without. 
• It is scored in various ways. 
• Pankaj Advani is a famous billiards player in India.
• He is also known as 'The billiards Maestro of India'.

Additional Information

• Some important terms for Shooting are Range, Bull's eye, Rapidfire Pistol, etc.
• Golf terms - Mulligan, Bogey, Ballooning, Ball mark, etc.
• Archery is the national game of Bhutan.
  • Archery was adopted as the national game when Bhutan joined the United Nations in 1971.

The correct answr is Karnaprayag Bhagirathi + Pindar not correctly matched.

Important Points

• Vishnuprayag- Alaknanda meets the Dhauliganga River
• Nandaprayag- Alaknanda meets the Nandakini River
• Karnaprayag- Alaknanda meets the Pindar River
• Rudraprayag- Alaknanda meets the Mandakini River
• Devprayag- Alaknanda meets the Bhagirathi River and it becomes the Ganga.

Key Points

Five revered sites in Uttarakhand where five rivers merge into River Alaknanda to ultimately form the holy River Ganges (Ganga) is called Panch Prayag (in Hindi, 'panch' means five and 'prayag' means confluence).

Karnaprayag- Alaknanda meets the Pindar River

• Karnaprayag is located on the way to Badrinath and is the site of the confluence of two holy rivers Alaknanda and Pindar.
• It is said that Karna of Mahabharata meditated here for many years to acquire the impregnable shield, which made him a formidable warrior on the battlefield.
• . It is the sub-divisional headquarter of district Chamoli. Roads from here go to Almora, Nainital, and Jim Corbett National Park.

Vishnuprayag- Alaknanda meets the Dhauliganga River

• Formed by the confluence of the impetuous Vishnu Ganga (known after this point as Alaknanda) and the Dhauliganga river, Vishnuprayag (1372 m) has an ancient temple called Vishnu Kund
•  Kagbhusandi is near that

Rudraprayag - Mandakini + Alaknanda

• Named after Lord Shiva (Rudra), Rudraprayag confluence of rivers Alaknanda and Mandakini and is venerated as one of the five sacred confluences or the 'Panch Prayag'.
• The meeting of the Mandakini and Alaknanda rivers has a unique beauty of its own and appears as two sisters embracing each other.
• Kedarnath Valley and parts of district Tehri and Pauri were conjoined to form Rudraprayag as a new district.​

Devprayag- Alaknanda meets the Bhagirathi River and it becomes the Ganga.

• The last prayag or confluence, Devprayag (850 m) is a pilgrimage town in the Tehri Garhwal district of Uttarakhand.

• Alaknanda and Bhagirathi rivers merge to form the holy River Ganga at Devprayag. The small town is situated on the route from Rishikesh to Badrinath.

  Devprayag literally means 'holy confluence'. It is an extremely important religious site for Hindus. Ganga, the biggest and the holiest river in India, starts its journey to the plains and further towards the Bay of Bengal from Devprayag.

Additional Information

The Ganga

• Origin: Gangotri glacier near Gaumukh (3,900 m) in the Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand.
• Here, it is known as the Bhagirathi.
• The river has a length of 2,525 km.
• It is shared by Uttarakhand (110 km) and Uttar Pradesh(1,450 km), Bihar (445 km), and West Bengal (520 km).
• The Ganga basin covers about 8.6 lakh sq. km area in India alone.
• The Ganga river system is the largest in India. 
• The Son is its major right-bank tributary.
• The important left-bank tributaries are the Ramganga, the Gomati, the Ghaghara, the Gandak, the Kosi, and the Mahananda.
• The river finally discharges itself into the Bay of Bengal near Sagar Island.

The correct answer is Belgaum Session 1924.

Key Points

• Belgaum Session 1924:
  • It was the 39th session of the Indian National Congress.
  • It was the only session chaired by Mahatma Gandhi.
  • It is here that spinning was made the mainstay of activity and Gandhi declared Non-violent non-cooperation as a means to attain political freedom.

Additional Information

The correct answer is President.

Key Points

• President can be removed from his office by the process of 'impeachment'.
• The impeachment procedure can be initiated in either of the two houses of the Legislature: Lok Sabha (The Lower House) or Rajya Sabha (The Upper House).
• By levelling the charges against the President, the house initiates the procedure. 
• The House sends the charges contained in a notice after one-quarter of its members have signed on it, 14 days prior to initiating the process.

Additional Information

• Then a debate is held on the impeachment resolution. If the House which has initiated the resolution, passes it by a two-thirds majority of its total membership, it then goes to the other House.
• The other House investigates the charges against the President. If the resolution is passed by the other House as well by not less than a two-thirds majority, the President stands impeached from the date of passing the resolution.

The correct answer is First.

Key Points

• 1st Buddhist Council:
  • This was held at Saptaparni cave, Rajgriha, in the year 483 BC.
  • This council was organized under the chairmanship of Mahakasyapa.
  • The king who ruled then was Ajatshatru of the Haryanka dynasty.
  • This gathering results in the division of the teachings of Buddha into two Pitakas – Vinaya Pitaka and Sutta Pitaka. Vinaya Pitaka was recited by Upali and Sutta Pitaka by Ananda.

Additional Information

The correct answer is Saswati Sen – Bharatanatyam.

Key Points

• Madhavi Mudgal belongs to Orissi.
• Nandini Singh belongs to Kathak.
• Radha Reddy belongs to Kuchipudi.
• Saswati Sen is a leading Indian exponent of Kathak. So 2 option is wrong.
• Yamini Krishna Murthy belongs to Bharatnatyam while Saswati Sen is the performer of Kathak.

Additional Information

Important dance form and performing states.

Correct Answer Bryophytes

Key Points:

Bryophyta

• These are small terrestrial plants.
• They show differentiation in the body design, with stem, leaf-like structures, and root-like structures.
• "Moss" and "Marchantia" are both types of plants belonging to the division Bryophyta.
• Bryophyta is one of the divisions or phyla of non-vascular plants, which also include liverworts (such as Marchantia) and hornworts.
• Mosses, liverworts, and hornworts are all grouped under the division Bryophyta.

Pteridophyta

• ​Plants from this group have well-developed roots, stems and leaves and separate tissues for the conduction of food and water. But, they do not bear flowers and fruits.
• They reproduce with the help of spores formed along the back or posterior surface of their leaves.
• Examples- ferns like Nephrolepis, Marsilea, Pteris, Adiantum, Equisetum, Selaginella, Lycopodium, etc.

Additional Information

Concept-

• Kingdom plants are divided into five groups- Thallophytes, Bryophytes, Pteridophytes, Gymnosperms, and Angiosperms.

• The gymnosperms (gymnos : naked, Sperma: seeds) are planted in which the ovules are not enclosed by any ovary wall and remain exposed, both before and after fertilization.
• The seeds that develop post-fertilization, are not covered, i.e., are naked.
• Gymnosperms include medium-sized trees or tall trees and shrubs.
• The leaves in gymnosperms are well-adapted to withstand extremes of temperature, humidity, and wind.
• The characteristics of Gymnosperms-
• They do not produce flowers.
• Seeds are not formed inside a fruit.
• They are not differentiated into an ovary, style, and stigma.
• Since stigma is not present, they are pollinated directly by the wind.
• Examples of gymnosperms are- Cycas, pinus, etc.

Explanation-

Professor Divya Darshan(D.D) Pant has divide gymnosperms into three divisions.

Additional Information

• Carolus Linnaeus gave the two kingdom system classification.
  • Plantae and Animalia.
• R.H. Whittaker proposed a five-kingdom classification.
  • Monera, protista, fungi, plantae and anamalia.

The correct answer is Both 1 and 2.

Key Points

• Pallava:
  • The early Pallava rulers from 250 A.D. to 350 A.D. issued their charters in Prakrit. Important among them were Sivaskandavarman and Vijayaskandavarman. The second line of Pallava rulers who ruled between 350 A.D. and 550 A.D. issued their charters in Sanskrit. Hence, Statement 1 is correct.
  • The most important ruler of this line was Vishnugopa Pallava who was defeated by Samudragupta during his South Indian expedition. The rulers of the third line who ruled from 575 A.D. to their ultimate fall in the ninth century issued their charters both in Sanskrit and Tamil.
  • Narsimhavarman II (695-722 A.D.)
    • Narasimhavarman II is also known as Rajasimha.
    • His regime was peaceful, and he evinced more interest in developing art and architecture. 
    • The Shore Temple at Mamallapuram and the Kailasanatha temple at Kanchipuram were built in this period. Hence, Statement 2 is correct.
    • Dandin was a court poet of Rajasimha. Narsimhavarman II sent embassies to China. Maritime trade flourished during his reign.
      Parameshwaravarman II and Nandivarman II were the successors of him.
    • Pallava's rule lasted till 9th century A.D. Aparajita was the last Pallava ruler who was defeated by Aditya I of the Chola dynasty.

Concept:

• Olympic is an international multi-sportings event.
• It is held once every four years.
• It includes several countries' selected players as participants.

Explanation:

Indian gymnastics in Olympics:

• Dipa Karmakar was the first Indian women gymnast to represent India in the Olympic games.
• She represented India in the 2016 Summer Olympics, Rio de Janeiro.
• Her style was Artistic Gymnastic.

​Thus, the first Indian woman Gymnast to take part in Olympic Games was Dipa Karmakar.

Additional Information:

• Kalpana Chawla was an Indian-born American astronaut and mechanical engineer who was the first woman of Indian origin to go to space.
• Anju Bobby George was the first Indian athlete who won the bronze medal in the long jump at the 2003 World Championships in Athletics in Paris.
• P.T Usha has won 4 Asian gold medals and 7 Silver medals. She is often called the "Queen of Indian track and field".