UPPSC 2020 Prelims GS Paper-I · Question 31 of 150

Correct — A, Hubballi (Hubli), Karnataka. A new Rail Museum at Hubballi was dedicated to the nation in August 2020 (reported as 9 August 2020, via video conference by the Railway Minister). Hubballi is the headquarters of South Western Railway, and this became the zone's second rail museum after the older Mysuru Rail Museum, showcasing the heritage and evolution of Indian Railways.

• (b)Mysore — Mysuru (Mysore) does have a well-known Rail Museum — but it is an older, long-established one (opened in 1979), not a facility 'dedicated to the nation' in August 2020. It is the distractor precisely because the new Hubballi museum was described as the second in the zone after Mysuru's.
• (c)Silvasa — Silvassa is the capital of the Dadra and Nagar Haveli UT; it has no notable railway museum inaugurated in August 2020.
• (d)Chittaranjan — Chittaranjan (West Bengal) is famous for the Chittaranjan Locomotive Works (CLW), a locomotive-manufacturing unit — not the rail museum dedicated in August 2020.

Rail museums preserve and display the heritage of Indian Railways — old locomotives, coaches, saloons, signalling gear and photographs. The apex is the National Rail Museum, New Delhi (1977); zonal and regional museums (Mysuru, and now Hubballi) extend this to other regions. Hubballi is the headquarters of the South Western Railway (SWR) zone, which made it a natural site for a new museum.

This is a current-affairs recall of an August-2020 event. The trap is Mysuru, which genuinely has a famous rail museum — but the 2020 dedication was at Hubballi, the SWR headquarters. Anchor 'August 2020 + newly dedicated + Karnataka' to Hubballi.

• Rail Museum at Hubballi dedicated to the nation in August 2020 (reported 9 Aug 2020)
• Hubballi is the headquarters of the South Western Railway (SWR) zone
• It was described as the second rail museum in SWR, after the older Mysuru Rail Museum
• India's apex railway museum is the National Rail Museum, New Delhi (1977)

• Picking Mysuru because it has a famous rail museum — but that one is old, not the 2020 dedication
• Confusing Chittaranjan (a locomotive works) with a museum

UPPSC/UPSC ask such items as 'which place/city' current-affairs recalls tied to a month and year — pair the event (new museum) with its location (Hubballi, SWR HQ).

No directly related past PYQ was found.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  The headquarters of the South Western Railway (SWR) zone of Indian Railways is located at:

  • (a)Bengaluru
  • (b)Hubballi
  • (c)Mysuru
  • (d)Belagavi

  Answer(b) Hubballi — SWR is headquartered at Hubballi, Karnataka.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  India's National Rail Museum, showcasing the heritage of Indian Railways, is located in which city?

  • (a)Mumbai
  • (b)Kolkata
  • (c)New Delhi
  • (d)Chennai

  Answer(c) New Delhi — the National Rail Museum (Chanakyapuri) opened in 1977.