General Knowledge Questions

Read the passage carefully and choose the best answer to each question out of the four alternatives.

Many plays and films have depicted the life story of Gautama Buddha, but what made the musical play The Way Across unique was its regional focus. Directed by G. Kumara Swamy, the play adapted from the book Telangana lo Buddhism focused on the enlightenment of a cursed Brahmin Bawari and his 16 curious disciples willing to understand the deeper truths of birth, death, rebirth and brotherhood.

From the impressive use of projector visuals, music and shadow-play, there was every effort to lend authenticity to the theme. Despite the play's focus on Telangana, the native essence was compromised, due to the English rendition (done for a wider reach). The lines appeared jaded with literal translations. The honest performances from the crew impacted only on a surface-level. Kiran Kumar's Bawari act and Krishna Chaitanya Joshi as Pingiya (said to have propagated Buddhism from Telangana to several regions across South India) grab your attention.

What was unique about the play, 'The Way Across'?

Read the passage carefully and choose the best answer to each question out of the four alternatives.

There's more than the 101-seater dining table at the Falaknuma Palace that is awe inspiring. The library done in rosewood and mahogany is a place that will force anyone to pause, if only to admire the fine original polish, the furniture and the walnut carved high roof. The last is supposedly an imitation of the one at Windsor Castle.

The library is almost the size of a large banquet hall and acts as the passage to other parts of the palace including the dining area. For years the palace had no librarian because they couldn't find the right person to do justice to the treasure trove of books collected by the Nizam's family over several decades. That is until they found Asif Husain Arastu who belongs to the family that owned the famous A A Husain book store in Abids. So when his friend and historian Anuradha Naik pointed out the palace's requirement at the library, Husain was delighted. On his very first day as the librarian at the magnificent Taj Falaknuma palace, Asif Husain found a reference book on 'How to paint grass' by Alfred East.

Name the author of the book that Mr Hussain found on his first day as the librarian?

Verses ascribed to poet-saint Kabir have been compiled in which of the following traditions?

1. Bijak in Varanasi

2. Kabir Granthavali in Rajasthan

3. Adi Granth Sahib

Select the correct answer using the code given below.

________ is the process of dividing the disk into tracks and sectors

Read the passage carefully and choose the best answer to each question out of the four alternatives.

Manja, or the glass-coated string used for flying kites, not only poses threat to humans, animals and birds but also to trees. A study by the country's oldest botanical garden has revealed that it poses a great threat to trees. But how can a snapped string struck in a tree kill the tree? Apparently, it does so by allying with the creepers in the garden.

A research paper by three scientists of the Acharya Jagdish Chandra Bose Indian Botanic Garden, located in West Bengal's Howrah district, illustrates in detail how the manja, in collusion with climbers, does the damage. "The abandoned, torn kite strings act as an excellent primary supporting platform for the tender climbers, giving easy passage to reach the top of the trees. Lateral branches from the top of the climber and other accessory branches from the ground reaches the top taking support of the first climber, completely covers the treetop, thus inhibiting the penetration of sunlight," says the research paper.

How many scientists contributed to a study by country's oldest botanical gardens on how manja can kill a tree?

Read the passage carefully and choose the best answer to each question out of the four alternatives.

"Tryst with Destiny" was a speech delivered by Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of independent India, to the Indian Constituent Assembly in Parliament, on 14th August 1947. It is considered to be one of the greatest speeches of all times and to be a landmark oration that captures the essence of the triumphant culmination of the largely non­violent Indian independence struggle against the British Empire in India.

"Long years ago we made a tryst with destiny, and now the time comes when we shall redeem our pledge, not wholly or in full measure, but very substantially. Freedom and power bring responsibility. The responsibility rests upon the assembly, a sovereign body representing the sovereign people of India. The service of India means the service of the millions who suffer. It means the ending of poverty and ignorance and disease and inequality of opportunity. We cannot encourage communalism or narrow­mindedness, for no nation can be great whose people are narrow in thought or in action.

To the people of India, whose representatives we are, this is no time for petty and destructive criticism, no time for ill will or blaming others. We have to build the noble mansion of free India where all her children may dwell".

What mansion did Nehru want to see built?

Rearrange the parts of the sentence in correct order.

P: His story symbolizes a lifestyle struggle against apartheid in South Africa.
Q: 'Nelson Mandela' was born on July 18th, 1918 in the village of Mvezo in Umtata, then a part of South Africa's Cape Province.
R: It was a terrible form of institutionalized racism that held the South African society in it's grip for a long time.
S: It was not easy for Mandela to fight against it, as he too was among those who were oppressed by the system.

Read the passage carefully and choose the best answer to each question out of the four alternatives.

Many plays and films have depicted the life story of Gautama Buddha, but what made the musical play The Way Across unique was its regional focus. Directed by G. Kumara Swamy, the play adapted from the book Telangana lo Buddhism focused on the enlightenment of a cursed Brahmin Bawari and his 16 curious disciples willing to understand the deeper truths of birth, death, rebirth and brotherhood.

From the impressive use of projector visuals, music and shadow-play, there was every effort to lend authenticity to the theme. Despite the play's focus on Telangana, the native essence was compromised, due to the English rendition (done for a wider reach). The lines appeared jaded with literal translations. The honest performances from the crew impacted only on a surface-level. Kiran Kumar's Bawari act and Krishna Chaitanya Joshi as Pingiya (said to have propagated Buddhism from Telangana to several regions across South India) grab your attention.

What was sacrificed to keep the play in English?