10. Who was the first woman pilot inducted into the Indian Navy?
[UPSC NDA General Ability Test, 22 Apr 2018]
A) Astha Segal
B) Roopa A
C) Sakthi Maya S
D) Shubhangi Swaroop
Answer: D) Shubhangi Swaroop
Explanation: Shubhangi Swaroop, commissioned in 2017, became the Indian Navy’s first woman pilot. A graduate of the Indian Naval Academy, she represented an important opening for women in naval aviation. This distinction must not be confused with the Air Force’s first women fighter pilots.
9. Who was the first woman mountaineer to scale Mount Everest twice?
[HSSC Junior Engineer Civil, 13 Apr 2018, Shift 2]
A) Santosh Yadav
B) Sunita Sharma
C) Karnam Malleswari
D) Mamta Kharab
Answer: A) Santosh Yadav
Explanation: Santosh Yadav climbed Mount Everest in May 1992 and again in May 1993. She became the first woman in the world to summit the peak twice and also pioneered a successful ascent from the difficult Kangshung Face route.
8. Bhawana Kanth, Avani Chaturvedi and Mohana Singh are known as which of the following?
[UPSC NDA General Ability Test, 18 Sep 2016]
A) Sprinters
B) Rock climbers
C) Fighter pilots
D) Mountaineers
Answer: C) Fighter pilots
Explanation: Bhawana Kanth, Avani Chaturvedi and Mohana Singh were commissioned in June 2016 as the first women fighter pilots of the Indian Air Force. Their induction marked the opening of the combat fighter stream to women in India’s military aviation.
7. Who became the first woman to head an Indian central paramilitary force?
[RRB NTPC Tier-I, 6 Apr 2016, Shift 1]
A) Divya Ajith
B) Archana Ramasundaram
C) Punita Arora
D) Ashwini Pawar
Answer: B) Archana Ramasundaram
Explanation: IPS officer Archana Ramasundaram became the first woman Director General of the Sashastra Seema Bal in 2016. Her appointment was considered a breakthrough in leadership opportunities for women within central armed police forces.
6. Who was the first woman Chief Justice of a High Court in India?
[RRB NTPC CBT-I, 2016]
A) M. Fathima Beevi
B) Leila Seth
C) Anna Chandy
D) Ruma Pal
Answer: B) Leila Seth
Explanation: Leila Seth became Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court in 1991, the first woman to head a High Court in India. She had earlier been a judge of the Delhi High Court and was a prominent legal reformer.
5. Consider:
(1) Sarojini Naidu was the first woman Congress president;
(2) Badruddin Tyabji was the first Muslim Congress president.
Which statement is correct?
[UPSC CSE Prelims General Studies, 23 Aug 2015]
A) 1 only
B) 2 only
C) Both 1 and 2
D) Neither 1 nor 2
Answer: B) 2 only
Explanation: Statement 1 is false: Annie Besant became the first woman President of Congress in 1917, although Sarojini Naidu was its first Indian woman president. Statement 2 is correct: Badruddin Tyabji presided over Congress in 1887.
4. Who was the first woman Chairperson of the State Bank of India, appointed in 2013?
[WBCS Prelims 2015]
A) Arundhati Bhattacharya
B) Arundhati Roy
C) Arundhati Basu
D) Arundhati Nag
Answer: A) Arundhati Bhattacharya
Explanation: Arundhati Bhattacharya became Chairperson of the State Bank of India in October 2013. She was the first woman to lead the bank, India’s largest public-sector bank, and served in the role until 2017.
3. Who was the first woman to become President of the Indian National Congress?
[WBCS Prelims 2015]
A) Annie Besant
B) Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit
C) Sarojini Naidu
D) Aruna Asaf Ali
Answer: A) Annie Besant
Explanation: Annie Besant chaired the Indian National Congress at Calcutta in 1917. She was an advocate of Home Rule and the first woman to hold the party presidency. Sarojini Naidu was the first Indian woman president in 1925.
2. Which statements are correct about Annie Besant:
(1) she promoted Home Rule;
(2) she founded the Theosophical Society;
(3) she once presided over Congress?
[UPSC CSE Prelims 2013]
A) 1 only
B) 2 and 3 only
C) 1 and 3 only
D) 1, 2 and 3
Answer: C) 1 and 3 only
Explanation: Annie Besant promoted the Home Rule movement and presided over the Indian National Congress in 1917. She did not found the Theosophical Society; Helena Blavatsky and Henry Steel Olcott founded it in New York in 1875.
1. Who was the first woman President of India?
[Odisha Police Constable Official Paper 2011]
A) Indira Gandhi
B) Sarojini Naidu
C) Pratibha Devi Singh Patil
D) Kiran Bedi
Answer: C) Pratibha Devi Singh Patil
Explanation: Pratibha Patil served as India’s twelfth President from 25 July 2007 to 25 July 2012, becoming the country’s first woman head of state. She previously served as Governor of Rajasthan and was active in Maharashtra politics.
