Q140. Who wrote The Great Conciliator: Lal Bahadur Shastri and the Transformation of India?
[RRB NTPC (UG) • 9 May 2026, Shift 3]
A) Sanjeev Chopra
B) P. S. Raman
C) Rosie Thomas
D) Arun Singhal and Devendra Kumar Sharma
Answer: A) Sanjeev Chopra
Explanation: Sanjeev Chopra is a former civil servant and biographer. This volume focuses on Lal Bahadur Shastri’s political career and reputation for consensus-building. Its launch was described in the exam as taking place in April 2025.
Q139. Who authored Modi’s Mission?
[RRB NTPC (UG) • 18 Jun 2026, Shift 3]
A) Amish Tripathi
B) Berjis Desai
C) B. K. Harinarayanan
D) Arundhati Roy
Answer: B) Berjis Desai
Explanation: Berjis Desai, a lawyer and writer, authored this book concerning Narendra Modi’s political journey. The title belongs among books on public figures, not among Amish Tripathi’s mythological novels or Arundhati Roy’s literary works.
Q138. Which novel won the 2026 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction?
[RRB Group D • 17 Aug 2026, Shift 1]
A) Trust
B) The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store
C) Angel Down
D) Demon Copperhead
Answer: C) Angel Down
Explanation: Daniel Kraus wrote Angel Down, a World War I novel composed in a distinctive single-sentence form. The Pulitzer Prizes officially named it the Fiction winner in 2026, while the other novels listed relate to other years.
Q137. Which award did Taiwan Travelogue win in 2026?
[RRB Group D • 21 Aug 2026, Shift 1]
A) Women’s Prize for Fiction
B) Nobel Prize in Literature
C) Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
D) International Booker Prize
Answer: D) International Booker Prize
Explanation: Yang Shuang-zi’s Taiwan Travelogue, translated into English by Lin King, won the 2026 International Booker Prize. That award specifically celebrates fiction in translation and shares the prize between the author and translator.
Q136. Who originally wrote Taiwan Travelogue, the 2026 International Booker winner?
[RRB Group D • 10 Aug 2026, Shift 2]
A) Wu Ming-yi
B) Chi Ta-wei
C) Yang Shuang-zi
D) Lin King
Answer: C) Yang Shuang-zi
Explanation: Yang Shuang-zi wrote the novel in Mandarin Chinese; Lin King translated it into English. Its story set in Japanese-ruled Taiwan explores language, cuisine, power and personal relationships, making authorship and translation distinct facts.
Q135. Who authored Mahatma: A Great Communicator?
[RRB Group D • 10 Aug 2026, Shift 1]
A) Vikram Seth
B) Amish Tripathi
C) Dhiraj Kakadia
D) Shashi Tharoor
Answer: C) Dhiraj Kakadia
Explanation: Dhiraj Kakadia examines Mahatma Gandhi’s ability to communicate political ideas and mobilise the public. This book approaches Gandhi through methods of communication, rather than being one of his own autobiographical or political writings.
Q134. Who published Karuna: The Power of Compassion in 2026?
[RRB Group D • 18 Aug 2026, Shift 2]
A) Ruskin Bond
B) Devdutt Pattanaik
C) Rajdeep Sardesai
D) Kailash Satyarthi
Answer: D) Kailash Satyarthi
Explanation: Kailash Satyarthi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate and child-rights campaigner, wrote Karuna. It treats compassion as a practical foundation for social action, connecting humanitarian values with his long experience fighting child labour.
Q133. Who wrote Being Indian?
[SSC MTS • 11 Feb 2026, Shift 1]
A) Salman Khurshid
B) Pavan K. Varma
C) Anuja Chandramouli
D) Ravi Subramanian
Answer: B) Pavan K. Varma
Explanation: Pavan K. Varma’s Being Indian studies national character, public attitudes and social aspirations. Published in 2004, it is a work of cultural interpretation; the similarly placed authors are known for different political or fictional writings.
Q132. Who is the author of Riot: A Novel?
[SSC MTS • 5 Feb 2026, Shift 2]
A) Shashi Tharoor
B) Samit Basu
C) Anita Nair
D) Shobha Rao
Answer: A) Shashi Tharoor
Explanation: Shashi Tharoor’s 2001 novel uses letters, diaries and other accounts to examine communal conflict in India. Its narrative structure presents different views of the same events, distinguishing it from a conventional historical chronicle.
Q131. Who wrote India Divided?
[SSC MTS • 9 Feb 2026, Shift 3]
A) Jawaharlal Nehru
B) Rajendra Prasad
C) B. R. Ambedkar
D) Vallabhbhai Patel
Answer: B) Rajendra Prasad
Explanation: Rajendra Prasad wrote India Divided before becoming India’s first President. Published in 1946, the book argues against the partition of India and analyses the political proposals that were being debated in the final colonial years.
