India Quiz 2012

Quizmaster: Namrata BasuAtharva, IIM Kozhikode

Q 1. Happy Independence Day

• Apart from india, which is the other asian country that celebrates its independence day on 15th August?

• Hint: this nation was also ruled by the british

Bahrain-15th august 1971

Q 2. ID the monument

Bibi Ka Maqbara, Aurangabad

Q 3. Food for thought

• According to Ramayana, which 2 cities (now in Pakistan) were founded by Lav and Kush?

• Hint: The cities were named after them

• Lahore and Kasur

Q 4. ID X

• X was first discovered in Bombay by Dr. Y.M Bhende in 1952

• Medically it is known as the Hh Antigen System

• Was in the limelight recently due to the success of the Vidya Balan starrer “Kahaani”

Bombay Blood Group-a combination of ABO blood types

Q 5. Father of the Nation

• Which is the only Ghat in Banaras that is named after an event in the freedom struggle?

Dandi Ghat

Q 6. ID X

• In June 2011, X adopted Shivnagar, a remote village near U.P and enabled clean drinking water facilities by installing manual pumps.

• To show their gratitude, the village’s residents decided to rename their village to X Nagar.

Snapdeal.com

Q 7. ID X and the author

• X is the first book in “The Ibis Trilogy”• X was nominated for the Man Booker Prize in

2008• The main characters include Deeti, an ordinary

village woman, a mulatto American sailor named Zachary Reid, an Indian zamindar called Neel Rattan Halder, and Benjamin Burnham, an evangelist opium trader.

Sea of Poppies by Amitava Ghosh

Q 8. ID X and Y• X was a star of Indian athletics in the 1960s and the 1970s. • Being 6'7", he dominated the Indian hammer and discus throws for

several years.• He became a gold medalist in discus throwing in the 1966 and 1970

Asian Games holding the Asian Games record of 56.76 metres.• X was a silver medalist in the 1966 Commonwealth Games in

Kingston and in the 1974 Asian Games in Tehran.• X has starred in more than 50 Hindi films, his most notable

performance being that of “Mukhtar Singh” opposite Amitabh Bachchan in Shahenshah.

• He became a household name after playing the character of Y in a television series.

Praveen Kumar a.k.a Bhim

Q 9. Solve the “Mistry”

• X was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 1991.• X was made into a 1998 film of the same

name starring Roshan Seth, Soni Razdan, Om Puri and Naseeruddin Shah.

• In 2010 the book made headlines when it was withdrawn from the University of Mumbai's English syllabus after complaints from the family of Bal Thackeray.

Such a long journey by Rohinton Mistry

Q 10. Title track of what?

Alif Laila

Q 11. French flavour

• This company was founded in 1952 when Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, personally requested JRD Tata to manufacture beauty products in India as he was concerned that Indian women were spending precious foreign exchange on beauty products. Which well known brand are we referring to?

Lakme Cosmetics

Q 12. Jingle all the way

• Ved Pal was a music composer with some forgettable titles like Souten Ki Beti, Oh Bewafa & Gunehgar in his kitty.

• However, he is most remembered for a non film composition. What are we talking about?

Washing powder Nirma jingle

Q 13. ID the actress

Jayalalitha

Q 14. Inelastic scattering of a photon…better known as what?

The Raman Effect named after C.V Raman

Q 15. Whose lyrics? (Think royal)

Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar II-The last Mughal

Q 16. Khoon ki Nadiya

• According to mythology the name of this river originates from the blood of thousands of cows sacrificed by the Aryan King Rantideva

• It was the southern boundary of Panchala Kingdom ruled by King Drupada

• It is the only river in India that has 3 dams and 1 barrage within a stretch of 96km (344km to 440 km from its source)

Chambal

• Q 17. ID the actor and the incident he is referring to

Gulzar referring to the Jalianwala Bagh Massacre

Q 18. East meets West• ID x-y-z & a-b• Y is a hard, unleavened bread prized for its long shelf life and high

nutritional content, as well as the minimal quantity of water required for its preparation. It is usually eaten with X.

• Y can either be plain or have various kinds of fillings, including onions, peas, and sattu.

• Z is a popular delicacy usually served with X and Y. It is coarsely ground wheat crushed and cooked with ghee and sugar. Traditionally it is made by mashing up wheat flour Ys or leftover rotis in ghee and jaggery, optionally mixed with dry fruits and flavours.

• Y is also known as A.• A can be enjoyed with B (usually a type of spicy mashed potato mixed

with roasted brinjal). A and B are synonymous with bread and butter in many parts of India.

Daal-Baati-Churma &Litti-Chokha

The triangle

• Q 19. ID the movie, narrator and the actor playing General Outram

• Shatranj ke khiladi by Satyajit Ray• Narration : Amitabh Bachchan• General Outram : Sir Richard Attenborough

Q 20. Babul Mora Naihar Chhooto Jaay

• One of the most famous Indian thumris• ID the singer and the lyricist• Hint: answer lies in previous question

• Singer : K.L Saigal• Lyrics: Nawab Wajid Ali Shah

Q 21. These 2 ads came out at a particular time for a very specific reason. What are we talking about?

Hint: Previous Question

K.L Saigal’s birth centenary

Q 22. North East calling…

• Located on the Loktak Lake, this is the only floating national park in the whole world.

• This park is home to the endangered Sangai species.

• In spite of being a swamp with floating mass of vegetation, the park is home to a wide variety of animals including hog deer, wild boar, large Indian civet, krait, cobra, sarus crane and others.

Keibul Lamjao National Park, Manipur

Q 23. Dedicated to Nibedita Chakma and her love for animals…Happy Birthday Chakma

• Created by Tarun kumar Wahi, Sanjay Gupta & artist Manu in the year 1992, X is the first and as yet the only antihero character in Raj Comics.

• X was born as Suraj, an orphan who was found as an infant in a rubbish dump by Daku Halkan Singh, a ruthless Dacoit, who brought him up, but treated him like a ------- and hence the name.

Doga

Q 24. Indo-Pak love

• Sania Mirza and Shoaib Malik tied the knot in 2010. However, this was not the first time that a Pakistani cricketer was marrying an Indian celebrity. The first Pakistani cricketer to be a part of a famous cross border marriage (meaning India of course) tied the knot with actress Reena Roy. Who is the cricketer in question?

Mohsin Khan

Q 25. Memorial built at the site of the cremation of 'Gumnami Baba' alias 'Bhagvan ji' inFaizabad, Uttar Pradesh. How is it significant?

Gumnami Baba was unofficially confirmed as Netaji by the Mukherjee commission

Q 26. ID X and Y• X is the orphaned son of an Irish soldier and a poor white mother

who have both died in poverty. Living a vagabond existence in India under British rule in the late 19th century, X earns his living by begging and running small errands on the streets of Lahore. He occasionally works for Mahbub Ali, a Pashtun horse trader who is one of the native operatives of the British secret service. X is so immersed in the local culture, few realise he is a white child, though he carries a packet of documents from his father entrusted to him by an Indian woman who cared for him.

• X befriends an aged Tibetan Lama who is on a quest to free himself from the Wheel of Things by finding the legendary 'River of the Arrow'. X becomes his chela, or disciple, and accompanies him on his journey. X's trip with the lama along the Grand Trunk Road is the first great adventure in the novel by Y.

Kim by Rudyard Kipling

Q 27. ID X

• X was born in Almora, India in 1857• Joined the Indian Medical Service in 1881• In Calcutta the road linking Presidency General

Hospital with Kidderpore Road has been renamed after him

• He won the Nobel prize in physiology in 1902

Sir Ronald Ross

Q 28. Mind your language

• Hindi is the most spoken language in India in terms of native speakers (approx 41%) as well as total number of speakers worldwide (more than 366 million as per 2007 estimate of Encarta)

• Which is the 2nd most spoken Indian language both in terms of native speakers as well as total number of speakers worldwide?

BengaliLanguage Percentage of

native speakersNumber of worldwide speakers

Hindi 41.03 366 million

Bengali 8.11 207 million

Telugu 7.19 69 million

Marathi 6.99 68 million

Tamil 5.91 66 million

Urdu 5.01 60 million

Q 29. ID X

• X was born in Kasauli in 1934• He was awarded the Padma Shri in 1999• His historical novella “A flight of pigeons” was

turned into a motion picture produced by Shashi Kapoor and directed by Shyam Benegal

• He also made a cameo in a 2011 Bollywood film that was based on his work

Ruskin Bond

Q 30. ID X

• X came into existence on 15th july 2010• The design is inspired from Devanagari and

Latin scripts• X was designed by Udaya Kumar, an assistant

professor at IIT Guwahati

The Rupee symbol

Q 31. Identify

Reita Faria-first Indian Miss World

Q 32. ID X or just give the funda

• After India became independent in 1947, the Planning Commission was entrusted to oversee and direct the development of the nation.

• The Planning Commission in 1959 invited Professor George Robbins of the University of California. Based on his recommendations, the Indian government decided to set up X in 1961.

Setting up of the IIMs

Q 33. Fire-n-Ice

• Why are the Narcondam islands (in the Andamans) unique in their own way? Please be specific

• Hint: think geology

The only dormant volcano in India

Q 34. ID X

• X was born in 1950 to parents Jijabai and Ramoji Rao in Bangalore

• After the death of his mother at his age of 5,

he struggled with an impoverished lifestyle during his childhood

• During that time, he often did odd jobs as a coolie in his community

Our very own

Q 35. ID X

• X was born in Hisar, Haryana in a family that performed the Mewati Gharana style.

• He married V.Shantaram’s daughter Madhura who he met during the making of the film “Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baje”.

• X is a recipient of the Padma Vibhushan Award• X’s daughter is a well known face on television

and has hosted Close-Up antakshari along side Anu Kapoor.

Pandit Jasraj

Q 36. Logo and Mascot of what?

35th indian national games

Q 37. ID X

• X is a music director duo that has worked on Indian classical music pieces as well as major Indian movie scores.

• In 1976 X recorded their first album named “Call of the Valley”

• X has scored music for blockbusters like Silsila, Chandni, Lamhe and Darr.

Shiv-Hari

Q 38. Pure ------- nothing else

• Which Indian organisation’s symbol is a blue circle with a man at its centre signifying that the common man is at the centre of all its operations?

Pure banking nothing else

Q 39. ID X

• X was born in a Tulu speaking family in Katapadi village of Udupi district of Karnataka.

• X began as a sportsman, but turned to acting after a leg injury.

• He was the champion in discus throw from Maharastra in 1994

• He has acted in the 2007 flick “Johnny Gaddar”

Dayanand Shetty a.k.a Daya of CID fame

Q 40. Lines from what?

The night is over, and the Sun has risen over the hills of the eastern horizon.

The birds are singing, and a gentle auspicious breeze is pouring the elixir of new life.

By the halo of Your compassion India that was asleep is now waking

On your feet we now lay our heads

Last verse of Jana Gana Mana

Thank You