Q 01/05

Which English novelist, later a colonial policeman in Burma, was born in Motihari, Bihar?

A) George Orwell

B) E. M. Forster

C) Graham Greene

D) Aldous Huxley

Answer · why

A) George Orwell

George Orwell, born Eric Blair, was taken to England as a baby and brought up almost entirely by his mother.

Q 02/05

Which Mauryan-era caves in Bihar were E. M. Forster's model for the cave episode of A Passage to India?

A) Ajanta

B) Barabar

C) Ellora

D) Son Bhandar

Answer · why

B) Barabar

The Barabar Caves' polished granite walls produce striking echoes, and Forster renamed them the Marabar Caves in his novel.

Q 03/05

Which Bihar labourer spent 22 years cutting a 110-metre path through a hill with a hammer and chisel?

A) Jadav Payeng

B) Dashrath Manjhi

C) Laungi Bhuiyan

D) Sunderlal Bahuguna

Answer · why

B) Dashrath Manjhi

Dashrath Manjhi's cut shortened the Atri–Wazirganj journey from 55 km to 15 km, and in 2015 his story became the film Manjhi – The Mountain Man.

Q 04/05

Which native of Ziradei in Siwan district was the first President of India, from 1950 to 1962?

A) Jawaharlal Nehru

B) Rajendra Prasad

C) Zakir Husain

D) S. Radhakrishnan

Answer · why

B) Rajendra Prasad

Rajendra Prasad, as a student, turned down Gokhale's invitation to join the Servants of India Society out of duty to his family.

Q 05/05

Which river, called the 'Sorrow of Bihar', jumped back into a long-abandoned channel in August 2008?

A) Gandak

B) Kosi

C) Punpun

D) Mahananda

Answer · why

B) Kosi

Kosi floodwaters broke through an embankment at Kusaha, and nearly three million people in Bihar were forced from their homes.