SSC
Who was the first Indian woman to climb Mount Annapurna?
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Answer: Option D — Priyanka Mohite
Detailed Solution
Priyanka Mohite, a mountaineer from Satara in Maharashtra, became the first Indian woman to climb Mount Annapurna on 16 April 2021.
About Mount Annapurna:
- It is in the Annapurna massif in north-central Nepal.
- At 8,091 metres, it is the tenth-highest mountain in the world.
- It was the first 8,000-metre peak ever to be climbed, by the French climbers Maurice Herzog and Louis Lachenal in 1950, three years before Everest.
- It is considered one of the most dangerous mountains to climb, with one of the highest death rates among the 8,000-metre peaks, mainly because of avalanches.
About Priyanka Mohite:
- She climbed Mount Everest in 2013.
- She also climbed Lhotse (2018), Makalu (2019) and Kangchenjunga (2022).
- In 2022, she became the first Indian woman to climb five peaks of over 8,000 metres.
- She received the Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award (for 2020).
There are 14 mountains in the world that are higher than 8,000 metres, all in the Himalaya and Karakoram ranges. They include Everest (8,849 m, the highest), K2 (8,611 m, the second highest, in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir/Gilgit-Baltistan and China), Kangchenjunga (8,586 m, the third highest and the highest in India), Lhotse, Makalu, Cho Oyu, Dhaulagiri, Manaslu, Nanga Parbat, Annapurna, Gasherbrum I, Broad Peak, Gasherbrum II and Shishapangma. The Italian climber Reinhold Messner was the first person to climb all 14 (1986).
Why not the other options?
- ✗Bachendri Pal was the first Indian woman to climb Everest (1984).
- ✗Arunima Sinha was the first female amputee to climb Everest.
- ✗Santosh Yadav was the first woman to climb Everest twice in one year.
Quick tip
Remember: First Indian woman on Annapurna = Priyanka Mohite (2021), Satara; Annapurna = first 8,000 m peak climbed (Herzog, 1950); 14 peaks over 8,000 m.
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Firsts in India & World — Preparation
This question tests your understanding of Firsts in India & World, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.
This topic covers the first persons and events in India and the world: the first Indian to win a Nobel Prize, the first woman to hold major offices, the first to climb Everest or reach space, and India's first institutions, newspapers, railways and satellites. It also covers the largest, longest, highest and smallest records in India and the world. These are pure memory questions, so revise them as short lists by theme: first women, first in sports, first in science and space, and first in governance. Be careful with the exact wording, such as 'first Indian' versus 'first person of Indian origin', or 'first woman President' versus 'first woman Prime Minister', since options are often designed to exploit this. Practise the firsts in India and the world questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.