UPSC Post-Independence India – Chapter 1: Independence and Partition – the Immediate Challenges (20 MCQs)

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UPSC Post-Independence India – Chapter 1: Independence and Partition – the Immediate Challenges (20 MCQs) – 20 questions, subject: History. Every question has the correct answer with a one-line explanation; tap "Show Answer". Free practice for TNPSC, UPSC, SSC, Bank and RRB exams – Shanmugam IAS Academy, Coimbatore.

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1.  

Who was the first Governor-General of independent India?

Correct Answer: D [Lord Mountbatten]

Explanation:

Mountbatten, the last Viceroy, stayed on as the first Governor-General of the Dominion of India from 15 August 1947.

2.  

The Radcliffe Award was made public on:

Correct Answer: B [17 August 1947]

Explanation:

The Radcliffe boundary lines for Punjab and Bengal were made public on 17 August 1947, two days after independence.

3.  

The Nehru–Liaquat Pact of 1950 dealt mainly with:

Correct Answer: C [protection of minorities]

Explanation:

The April 1950 pact between Nehru and Liaquat Ali Khan promised minorities protection and set up minority commissions in both countries.

4.  

Which of these towns was built to resettle partition refugees?

Correct Answer: B [Faridabad]

Explanation:

Faridabad was developed from 1949 as a township to resettle refugees from the North-West Frontier Province.

5.  

Gandhi's fast of January 1948 took place in:

Correct Answer: B [Delhi]

Explanation:

Gandhi fasted in Delhi from 13 to 18 January 1948, ending it after leaders pledged to restore communal peace.

6.  

In the first Union Cabinet of independent India (1947), Syama Prasad Mookerjee held the portfolio of:

Correct Answer: B [Industry and Supply]

Explanation:

Mookerjee, a non-Congress leader, was Minister for Industry and Supply in Nehru's first cabinet.

7.  

The Displaced Persons (Compensation and Rehabilitation) Act was passed in:

Correct Answer: D [1954]

Explanation:

The Displaced Persons (Compensation and Rehabilitation) Act, 1954 provided compensation for property refugees had left behind in Pakistan.

8.  

The new capital of East Punjab after partition was:

Correct Answer: C [Chandigarh]

Explanation:

Chandigarh, a planned city designed by Le Corbusier, was built as East Punjab's new capital in place of Lahore.

9.  

Consider the following statements:

1. The first Union Cabinet included B.R. Ambedkar.
2. Vallabhbhai Patel held the Home and States portfolios.
3. The first Union Cabinet consisted only of Congress members.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

Correct Answer: B [1 and 2 only]

Explanation:

Ambedkar was Law Minister and Patel held Home and States, but the cabinet also had non-Congress members, so statement 3 fails.

10.  

Assertion (A): Rehabilitation of refugees in the east took longer than in the west.

Reason (R): Migration from East Bengal continued in waves for many years after 1947.

Correct Answer: A [Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A]

Explanation:

Both are true, and the continuing waves of migration from East Bengal are exactly why resettlement in the east took longer.

11.  

Who assassinated Mahatma Gandhi on 30 January 1948?

Correct Answer: A [Nathuram Godse]

Explanation:

Nathuram Godse shot Gandhi at Birla House, Delhi, on 30 January 1948; he was later tried and hanged.

12.  

The amount paid to Pakistan in January 1948 as its share of cash balances was:

Correct Answer: D [₹55 crore]

Explanation:

After Gandhi's Delhi fast, India released the withheld balance of 55 crore rupees from Pakistan's 75 crore cash share.

13.  

Refugees from East Bengal were later resettled under which project?

Correct Answer: B [Dandakaranya]

Explanation:

The Dandakaranya project (1958) resettled East Bengal refugees in parts of Odisha and Madhya Pradesh (Bastar).

14.  

India became a Republic on:

Correct Answer: A [26 January 1950]

Explanation:

The Constitution came into force on 26 January 1950, making India a Republic and ending the Governor-General's office.

15.  

Mountbatten described Gandhi's peace mission in Calcutta in 1947 as a:

Correct Answer: D ["one-man boundary force"]

Explanation:

Mountbatten said Gandhi in Calcutta achieved what his 55,000 soldiers in Punjab could not – a one-man boundary force.

16.  

Arrange the following in chronological order:

1. Radcliffe Award made public
2. Nehru–Liaquat Pact
3. Assassination of Gandhi
4. C. Rajagopalachari becomes Governor-General

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

Correct Answer: C [1-3-4-2]

Explanation:

August 1947, January 1948, June 1948, April 1950.

17.  

Which of the following was NOT one of the "three great challenges" before independent India?

Correct Answer: A [Colonial expansion]

Explanation:

Colonial expansion was never India's aim; historians name unity, democracy and development as the three great challenges.

18.  

The armed forces of British India were divided between India and Pakistan roughly in the ratio of:

Correct Answer: A [two-thirds to one-third]

Explanation:

The Partition Council divided the armed forces roughly two-thirds to India and one-third to Pakistan.

19.  

The recovery of women abducted during partition was given legal backing by an Act passed in:

Correct Answer: B [1949]

Explanation:

The Abducted Persons (Recovery and Restoration) Act, 1949 gave legal backing to the inter-dominion recovery of abducted women.

20.  

Who presented the first Budget of independent India on 26 November 1947?

Correct Answer: C [R.K. Shanmukham Chetty]

Explanation:

R.K. Shanmukham Chetty, independent India's first Finance Minister, presented the first Budget on 26 November 1947.

➤ Full notes, maps, tables, a reason for every option and Mains PYQs – U04 · Post-Independence India (UPSC book, ₹249): www.shanmugamiasacademy.in/study-materials/upsc-post-independence-india

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