RAS question
PM Modi initiated a special Lok Sabha debate to commemorate an anniversary of Vande Mataram in December 2025. Which anniversary was being celebrated?
Correct answer: (C) 150th anniversary.
The special Lok Sabha debate initiated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi commemorated the 150th anniversary of Vande Mataram.
Explanation
The anniversary being marked was 150 years of Vande Mataram. The PIB release identifies the event as Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressing a special Lok Sabha discussion on 150 years of the National Song, Vande Mataram, and records his statement that the country was witnessing 150 years of Vande Mataram. This fits the question's reference to a special Lok Sabha debate in December 2025. The exam-relevant background is that Vande Mataram was composed by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay and first appeared in his 1882 novel Anandamath. So the debate was not for a centenary, 125-year, or 175-year milestone, but specifically for the 150-year commemoration.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) The PIB release frames the Lok Sabha discussion around 150 years of Vande Mataram, not a 100th anniversary.
- (B) A 125th-anniversary reading does not match the official PIB description of the discussion as marking 150 years of Vande Mataram.
- (D) Press Information Bureau does not describe a 175-year commemoration; it repeatedly identifies the milestone as 150 years.
Concept
This tests national symbols and their constitutional-governance salience, especially how cultural-national texts enter parliamentary commemoration. RAS repeats such items because they link static polity with current official events.