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UPSC Essentials brings to you its initiative of daily subject-wise quizzes. These quizzes are designed to help you revise some of the most important topics from the static part of the syllabus. Attempt today’s subject quiz on History and Culture to check your progress. Find links to previous quizzes for UPSC towards the end of the article.
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Consider the following statements with reference to M N Roy:
1. An All-India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) was formed in 1920 under his presidency.
2. He opposed the 1964 split of the Communist Party of India into CPI and CPI(M).
Which of the above given statements is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
UPSC Relevance:
UPSC often frames questions on historical personalities as well as significant milestones such as the centenary of events, organisations, or institutions. Aspirants should therefore track anniversaries and link them with key facts, contributions, and historical context for Prelims.
The Communist Party of India traces its origins to the Kanpur meeting held on December 26, 1925. Hence, December last year marked its 100 years.
M. N. Roy, a Marxist revolutionary, had spent several years in the US, Mexico, Berlin, and later the USSR during the course of the First World War. He was trying to generate resources, including money and weapons, for India’s liberation.
M.N.Roy became the Indian representative at a meeting of the Soviet-led Communist International (Comintern) of 1920, which discussed prevailing conditions in colonial countries. The Comintern instructed the Communists in these countries to first focus on the struggle against imperialism, for which they were to get into a temporary alliance with all the anti-imperialist forces. The Comintern also resolved to set up a meeting of Asian representatives at Tashkent, then in Soviet Turkistan.
An All-India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) was formed in 1920, under the presidentship of Lala Lajpat Rai and not Roy. Hence, statement 1 is incorrect.
Was the Communist party formed in Tashkent in 1920 or in Kanpur in 1925? The two major factions that developed after the split of 1964 — the CPI and the CPI (Marxist) — hold very different opinions on this. (The 1964 split was a culmination of long-standing differences within the party about relations with the national bourgeoisie that was represented by the Congress, the limits of working within the Indian constitution, and the Sino-Soviet Split, among other things.)
The CPI (M) considers the Tashkent meeting in 1920, with its clear international location and approval by the Comintern, as the historic starting point. The Kanpur conference in 1925 was purely an Indian initiative, with little connection from outside, and much more allied to the anti-imperialist struggle developing in India.
For the CPI, it was Kanpur in 1925 and not Tashkent in 1920 that constituted the foundation moment of the Communist party.
Moreover, the Tashkent venture was associated with M N Roy, who used to be considered a renegade, and had been expelled from the party. In the discourses on Indian Communism, Kanpur signifies the Indian part of Communism, whereas Tashkent exemplifies its Communist component.
However, M.N. Roy was not alive during the major 1964 split of the Communist Party of India (CPI). He passed away on January 25, 1954. So, it is important to keep in mind that the split did not occur during Roy’s lifetime. Hence, statement 2 is incorrect.
Therefore, option (d) is the correct answer.
Consider the following statements with reference to Keshav Baliram Hedgewar:
1. A medical practitioner inspired by Bal Gangadhar Tilak and shaped by his association with the Anushilan Samiti, he was an enthusiastic Congress worker and even courted arrest during Gandhi’s Non-Cooperation Movement.
2. Mahatma Gandhi’s support for the Khilafat agitation and the Congress’s emphasis on Hindu-Muslim unity left him disenchanted, and he laid the foundation of the Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha before establishing the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.
Which of the above statements is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
UPSC Relevance:
Centenary years of institutions/organisations and the personalities associated with them, especially founders, have always been favourites of UPSC. Therefore, aspirants should prepare important historical elements linked to such milestones. Here, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and Keshav Baliram Hedgewar become important.
In 1925, Keshav Baliram Hedgewar established the RSS as a platform to unite Hindus. Hedgewar’s innovation was the shakha: a daily one-hour gathering that combined physical training, ideological education (baudhik), and rituals of Hindu unity.
Hedgewar’s own trajectory reflected the ferment of early 20th-century India. A medical practitioner inspired by Bal Gangadhar Tilak and shaped by his association with the Anushilan Samiti — a fitness club that operated as an underground society for anti-British revolutionaries — he was an enthusiastic Congress worker, even courting arrest during Gandhi’s non-cooperation movement. But the Mahatma’s support for the Khilafat agitation and the Congress’s emphasis on Hindu-Muslim unity left him disenchanted. After a brief association with the Hindu Mahasabha, which was founded in 1915 by Madan Mohan Malviya, Hedgewar decided to chart his own course.
Therefore, option (a) is the correct answer.
With reference to history of civil services in India, consider the following statements:
1. Before independence and establishment of the Union Public Service Commission, India’s administrative machinery was essentially based on the structure of the Mughal-era.
2. The Government of India Act, 1935, proposed to establish a Commission for both the federation and each province or group of provinces.
Which of the above given statements is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
UPSC Relevance:
The 100 years of UPSC should signal aspirants to prepare the history related to the Commission, as well as administrative history in general.
On October 1 2025, UPSC entered its centenary year.
UPSC’s roots date back to the arrival of the East India Company in India as a “traditional trading concern” in the 1600s. As a “traditional trading concern”, its employees — writers, and junior and senior merchants — were purely mercantile servants, appointed and paid according to their individual merits for decades. In the second half of the 18th century, especially after the Company’s victories in the Battle of Plassey in 1757 and the Battle of Buxar in 1764, it realised its new role — to rule India.
By 1858, the character of the Company and its civil servants had changed. To manage a rich empire like India efficiently, the Company had started feeling the need to appoint bureaucrats. Before this, its administrative machinery was essentially based on the structure of the Mughal-era, though the Company kept refining its administrative machinery over time. Statement 1 is incorrect as the administrative structure already went under a change before the establishment of UPSC.
The Macaulay Committee of 1854 was a huge leap forward in the direction of modern-day bureaucracy. In 1855, a Civil Service Commission came into existence in Britain. By 1858, its jurisdiction was extended to the Indian Civil Service (ICS). At first, recruitments to the Commission were done via the direct route — through a written test and, if needed, an interview. After the First World War (1914-1918), a Staff Selection Board (SSB) was set up to manage this.
However, entry to the Commission would remain out of bounds for Indians till 1922. Two years after the ICS exams started being held in India from 1922 onwards, in 1924, the Lee Commission recommended early establishment of a Public Service Commission in the country. From 1926 onwards, the SSB handed over the responsibility of recruitments to this very Public Service Commission. Sir Ross Barker served as its chairperson till 1932.
A new proposal under the Government of India Act, 1935, established a Commission for both the federation and each province or group of provinces. By the time this new format — the Federal Public Service Commission (FPSC) — rolled out in on April 1, 1937, and Sir Eyre Gordon took over from Sir David Petrie as its chairperson, India was merely a decade away from Independence. Already, the Constitution was being debated and provisions were being framed for an independent recruiter of civil servants in India.
When India became independent on August 15, 1947, the FPSC was headed by its first Indian chief, H K Kripalani. After him, R N Banerjee headed the Commission from 1949 to 1955. During his tenure,the Constitution came into effect, as did two change of names — the FPSC was now the UPSC, while the ICS was renamed as the Indian Administrative Service (IAS).
Therefore, option (b) is the correct answer.
Consider the following statements:
1. His beliefs included the rejection of idolatry and overly ritualistic traditions of Hinduism, support for women’s education, denunciation of child marriage, and opposition to untouchability.
2. He emerged as an early proponent of cow protection, first publishing Gokarunanidhi, a pamphlet, and later establishing a committee for the protection of cows called the Gaurakshini Sabha.
The above statements refer to which of the following personalities?
(a) Lokmanya Tilak
(b) Dayanand Saraswati
(c) Swami Shraddhanand
(d) Mahatma Gandhi
UPSC Relevance:
UPSC can give you close options when asking questions on historical personalities, but if you know why a personality is important, particularly in the current year, you may get a clue.
Here, the 150th year of the Arya Samaj should be your recalling point.
Dayanand Saraswati was born on February 12, 1824, in Morbi, Kathiawar, Gujarat. In 1875, he founded the Arya Samaj to counter social inequities. Arya Samaj is said to have played a crucial role in social awakening through its emphasis on social reforms and education. This was a monotheistic Hindu order that rejected the ritualistic excesses and social dogmas of orthodox Hinduism and promoted a united Hindu society on the basis of Vedic teachings.
Among his various beliefs included a rejection of idolatry and the overly ritualistic traditions of Hinduism, support for women’s education, denunciation of child marriage, and an opposition to untouchability. “Gandhi himself gave the highest importance to Swamiji’s campaign of abolishing untouchability,” said Murmu.
His magnum opus, Satyarth Prakash (1875), emphasised the “return to Vedic principles” that Dayanand Saraswati believed “had been lost” over time. The book uses the language of religious revivalism – hearkening back to a ‘better’ ancient past – in order to fashion a modern religious philosophy and organisation, capable of competing against the increasingly proselytising Christian missionaries. He advocated for worshipping of one Supreme God and followed simple rituals and recitation of Vedic mantras. All other religions were rejected by him and he wanted Hindus who had converted to other religions to return to Hinduism based on the Vedas.
He also emerged as an early proponent of cow protection, who first published Gokarun·aˉnidhi , a pamphlet in 1881, which circulated his concerns against cattle slaughter. He later on went to establish a committee for the protection of cows called Gaurakshini Sabha in 1882. He has given economic reason for cow protection arguing that a cow was more beneficial to people alive, as opposed to it being dead, since it gave milk and eased agricultural labour.
After he died in 1883 his followers established a school in Punjab in his name – Dayanand Anglo Vedic (DAV) School to educate children in modern subjects and at the same time keep them in touch with their religion and culture.
Therefore, option (b) is the correct answer.
Khido Khundi is the traditional Indian form of which of the following modern sports ?
(a) Football
(b) Hockey
(c) Wrestling
(d) Cricket
UPSC Relevance:
November 7, 2025, marked the 100th anniversary of the foundation of the Indian Hockey Federation, the country’s first governing body for the sport. This date marks the official beginning of organized hockey in India. Therefore, the history of the sport becomes important to study from a UPSC perspective.
According to the official website of Olympics, “the first version of modern-day field hockey was developed by the British sometime between the late 18th and early 19th century. It was introduced as a popular school game then and made its way to the Indian army during British rule in the 1850s.”
In 1876, the first Hockey Association was formed in the UK which provided the first official set of rules. The association continued only for six years however, it was later revived by nine founding member clubs.
Indians have been playing hockey — and winning at it — even before the country was born. Calcutta took the lead in 1885 with the formation of the first club; years later, came Bombay and Punjab, where the sport existed in the form of ‘Khido Khundi’ (cotton ball and twisted stick).
On November 7, 1925, hockey got a formal structure in India with the creation of the national federation. In 2009, it was replaced by Hockey India. It is the official governing body entrusted with overseeing all hockey-related activities—both men’s and women’s—across the country. It is affiliated with the International Hockey Federation (FIH), the Indian Olympic Association (IOA), and the Asian Hockey Federation (AHF).
Therefore, option (b) is the correct answer.
Daily subject-wise quiz – International Relations (Week 155)
Daily Subject-wise quiz — History, Culture, and Social Issues (Week 150)
Daily subject-wise quiz — Polity and Governance (Week 155)
Daily subject-wise quiz — Science and Technology (Week 155)
Daily subject-wise quiz — Economy (Week 155)
Daily subject-wise quiz — Environment and Geography (Week 155)
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