Correct answer: (d) 1, 2 and 3
Explanation
- A
1 and 2 only
(a) 1 and 2 only. Light bending in a gravitational field and an expanding cosmos are GR-related, but statement 3—matter warping spacetime—is the core of the theory and cannot be dropped. This option is not the key.
- B
3 only
(b) 3 only. Curved spacetime is Einstein’s geometry of gravity, yet gravitational effect on light and cosmic expansion from the field equations are also GR predictions discussed in media. This option is not the key.
- C
1 and 3 only
(c) 1 and 3 only. Light deflection and spacetime curvature are textbook GR, but Friedmann expansion of the universe also follows from Einstein’s equations (with suitable sources). Omitting 2 is therefore wrong for this question. This option is not the key.
- D
1, 2 and 3
(d) 1, 2 and 3. General Relativity says mass-energy curves spacetime, so light follows that curvature; the same equations admit an expanding universe. All three statements are GR predictions in the sense UPSC asked. This option is the official key.
Summary. Official key is (d) 1, 2 and 3. Einstein’s field equations identify gravity with spacetime curvature caused by matter-energy, which implies that light is deflected and that cosmological solutions can expand. Hubble’s observation fitted that GR framework. None of the three listed claims lies outside that theory as the question frames it. Partial options that drop any statement therefore fail.