States PCS: West Bengal GK Questions for WBPSC Examinations

Notes:
Sohrai is the biggest festival among Santhals. Karam festival celebrated in the month of September-October is their major festival. Santhals play a variety of
musical instruments like Tirio, Dhodro, Banam, Phet Banam, Tamak and Tumdak.

Notes:
The people of Rajbanshi tribe speak the Cooch language that is close to the Bodo and Rajbanshi languages. This tribe is also called Koch Rajbongshi and its people consider
themselves belonging to the Kamarupa Kingdom (350 CE).

Notes:
Diamond Harbour
is situated in South 24 Parganas on the banks of river Hooghly where the river
enters the Bay of Bengal. It is a picturesque beach and also an important harbour for
shipping activity.

Notes:
Vishnupur was the capital of Malla kings and is famous for its handicrafts and silk sarees. The festival becomes immensely popular. There are various stalls of handicrafts including sea-shell works, terracotta works and clothes, sweets, etc. A variety of cultural programmes including local dance and music are also held during the festival. Vishnupur is also famous for its own school of Gharana of
classical music. The tribal culture, which is one of the ancient cultures in West
Bengal can be observed during the festival.

Notes:
The Boys’ Club, founded by Nagendra Prasad around this
time, was the first Indian initiative at football organisation.
Some famous football players from West Bengal are Chuni Goswami, Gostho Pal,
Sailen Manna Krishanu Dey, Mohammed Salim, Pradip Kumar Banerjee, Subratu Paul Sudip Chatterjee, etc.

Notes:
The state of Bengal launched Swasthya Sathi in 2016 to provide medical insurance cover
upto 1.5 lakh. It is open to all as there is no cap on the family size of the income. The state also gives Swasthya Samman Award for recognising commendable
services rendered by healthcare personnel in public sector.

Notes:
Bengal was one of the last strongholds of Buddhism in the medieval period, and Hindu temples before the Muslim conquest (starting in 1204) were relatively small. Most of the Hindu temples were built in Gupta era, Shashanka, Pala and Sena dynasty who ruled since 5th century until the conquest. However, most of temples are in ruins and relatively small. The Sena dynasty built the relatively modest Dhakeshwari Temple in Dhaka, although this has been greatly rebuilt, which is the national temple of Bangladesh now.

Notes:
Some of the main functions of Gram Sabha is that– they approve the annual budget of the Panchayat, they play a vital role by electing the right candidates as members (Panch) of Gram
Panchayats. They also review the overall performance of the Gram Panchayat.

Notes:
The Bengal cabinet on 2nd July, 2019
approved 10% reservation for Economically
Weaker Sections in the General category in
state government jobs and educational
institutions. This would make Bengal the
fourth state after Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra
and Telangana to cross the 50% reservation
criteria.

Notes:
On August 2021, eminent Bengali writer Buddhadeb Guha has passed away. Buddhadeb Guha the author of many notable works such as “Madhukari” (Honey Gatherer), “Koeler Kachhe” (Near the Koel bird) and “Sobinoy Nibedon” (Humble Offering). He also won several awards including Ananda Purashkar in 1976, Shiroman Purashkar and Sharat Puraskar.