3. Rules
35 questions
11-20 starred questions; Incase of ties starred questions will be considered.
For further ties sudden death will be used from question 1.
Teams of 3 or less.
Top 8 teams into finals.
Incase of tie in finals, performance in prelims will be considered.
Malpractices will lead to disqualification.
Decisions of QM is final.
4. 1 âShe's about fifteen years old I should think, not more, but she stands
there with bangles all the way up her arm and nothing else on. A girl
perfectly, for the moment, perfectly confident of herself and the world.
There's nothing like her, I think, in the worldâ
What/who did British archaeologist Mortimer Wheeler describe thus?
6. 2)
â˘âYou Said It the Best
Independent India has lost its conscience keeperâ was an article in
the Mint magazine on the 28th of January 2015
â˘How was the headline a reference to?
7. The personality was RK Laxman; You Said It was his daily cartoon strip for the
Times of India
8. 3
â˘When A Raja was imprisoned in the Tihar Jail, there were statements from
the officials vehemently denying favourable treatment
â˘The allegations arose because of certain administrative set-up for the jail
â˘What?
13. 5
Monks in Tibet ask people coming from India, if they have ----------- ----
--, and when they give one, they prize it as a holy relic. The reason
why they consider it as a holy relic is because they believe that Dalai
Lama would have touched it because of a certain Trait/characteristic
of ----------- ------.
FITB
15. 6
Mucuna Pruriens is a legume found in various parts of India and Africa.
Looking at its uses- it is used as animal feed, coffee substitute, traditional
ayurvedic medicine in an attempt to treat Parkisonâs etc.
The hairs lining the seed pods contain serotonin and the protein mucunain.
The calyx below the flowers is also a source of some spicules and the
stinging hairs on the outside of the seed pods are used in preparing a
product. These are probably the reason for the productâs effect and thus
the scientific name.
What is this effect?
17. 7
â˘âDrowned Outâ is an award-winning documentary by Franny
Armstrong. It tracks the battle of a family in a certain village in
Madhya Pradesh against the government.
â˘Arundhati Roy talked about the issue: âAs a writer, I was drawn
towards it like a vulture to a kill. Instinctively I knew that this was the
heart of politics, this was the story of modern Indiaâ
What was the documentary about?
18. The building of the Sardar Sarovar Dam
across the Narmada River
19. 8
â˘The following was a revelation from Gabriel to Prophet Muhammad:
âHave ye thought upon Al-Lat and Al-âUzzĂĄ
and ManÄt, the third, the other?
These are the exalted gharÄniq, whose intercession is hoped for.â
â˘Relegated to the footnotes of history, the debates surrounding this
particular revelation gained heat after 1988. Why?
20. These were the âSatanic Versesâ which
the Prophet later recanted. The novel of
the same name by Salman Rushdie was
published in 1988
21. 9
In 1967, the then MLA of Hassanpur in Haryana made a series of actions in a
fortnight which led to the coining of a famous expression/phrase . It became
subject of numerous jokes and cartoons.
18 years later government of India introduced a new law referring to people
like him.
a) Expression or phrase
b) What law?
22. Aaya Ram Gaya Ram
Anti-Defection Law
Gaya Lal changed party thrice in a fortnight first from
the Indian National Congress to United Front, back to
Congress and then within nine hours to United Front
again. When Gaya Lal decided to quit the United Front
and join the Congress, then Congress leader Rao
Birendra Singh brought him to Chandigarh press and
declared âGaya Ram was now Aya Ramâ
23. 10)
Suprabaa sweets and Vegetarian Family restaurants, a Chennai based
restaurant recently introduced a new dish as a tribute to X. It is prepared by
adding Mayonnaise, chilly flakes, white sauce, sweet chilly sauce, mozarella
cheese etc over a base Food item. The entire mixture is slightly undercooked
to give it a distinctive white colour.
Its not expensive and the owner claims they receive approximately 130
orders a day.
who is X?
Image in next slide
26. 11)
The image shown on next slide is that of Lucknow Charbagh Railway Station.
Considered to be one of the most beautiful railway stations in India, the
architectural skills of the designer can be found from the fact that the aerial view of
this railway station resembles something from the field of sports.
Just tell me what is the aerial view of this railway station a resemblance to?
27.
28. Chess board
an aerial view of the station building shows it as a
chess board and the domes and pillars of the building
appear to be pieces of a chess game.
29. 12)FITB
Virender Sehwag, while doing is job as a commentator in the recent India-England
series, made a sarcastic joke referring to a heavy underuse of a player by England
captain Alastair Cook. He made a reference saying ,âEngland ---------- ---------- ----
------- chal raha heinâ, as he mocked that England is protecting/saving a player
from injury.
He was making word play of a government scheme.
31. 13) Give me the name of the train
The image on the right is from the flag-off ceremony of a
train named after the foremost and the most important of
the Dasha-Mahavidyas, a group of ten goddesses of
Hindu Mythology.
It also happens to be the first ever train of a particular
Indian state that ran on broad gauge lines since
Independence
Bigger image follows
34. 14)
The etymology of this âperformanceâ can be traced back to an Urdu word meaning
âcourtâ as it was usually held in royal courts or âdarbarsâ and the audience were
mostly the king and high ranked officials in his kingdom.
Back then such performances usually took 5 hours but nowadays it lasts generally
2-3 hours.
What?
36. ⢠Filmmaker Satyajit Rayâs famous comic character X is a crime-solving detective
who goes on several adventures solving crimes across the country and
sometimes across the border too.
⢠He is accompanied by his teenaged cousin Tapesh and at times by the bumbling
crime writer Lalmohon Ganguli aka Jatayu.
⢠Initially written as short stories and novels, the adventures of X were later
published as comics by Ananda Publishers and more recently, by Penguin Books.
⢠X's character resembles Sherlock Holmes and Tapesh/Topshe's character
resembles Dr. Watson. In the stories of X, he is displayed as a big admirer
of Sherlock Holmes which he mentions multiple times. In Kailash Choudharyr
Pathar he praises the way Holmes used to draw large conclusions from
observations. In Londone X, when X goes to Baker Street, he openly considers
Holmes as the "master" of all private detectives.
15)
38. â˘The Ogilvy and Mather campaign for Make Love Not ----- (MLN-) is a
series of three videos featuring Reshma, sharing beauty tips and
urging people to sign a petition for enforcing a particular ban in India.
The video campaign triggered global conversation and support for
the cause, and more than 300,000 people have signed the petition
addressed to the Prime Minister of India.
â˘What is special about Reshma and what ban are they advocating?
16)
39. Reshma is an acid attack survivor; ban on over the
counter sale of acid
40. â˘Covering an area of 2,500 acres (enough space to organise 476
parallel football matches) and containing 25 lakh individual solar
panels, this plant surpassed the Topaz Solar Farm in California as the
worldâs largest solar power plant.
⢠It has a capacity of 648 MW of clean, green power, and will provide
electricity to 1.5 lakh homes. The plant, built by Adani Power, took
only eight months to complete at a cost of $679 million
(approximately Rs 4,500 crore).
â˘Where am I?
17)
42. â˘In 1853 thirteen square miles of land comprising the five hills
Kathalagli, Potrein, Terah (Moti Tibba), Bakrota, and Bhangora were
acquired by the then Government of India from the Raja of Chamba
state. In return, the annual tribute that the Chamba state paid to the
British Government was reduced by 2000 rupees. The total tribute at
that time was 12,000 rupees per year.
â˘In 1854 Sir Donald McLeod recommended that the estate be named
after James Andrew Broun-Ramsay, the name it still carries today.
â˘Which place are we talking about?
18)
44. 19)
⢠According to legend, to build the fort Rao Jodha had to displace
Bhaurcheeria hill's sole human occupant, a hermit called Cheeria Nathji, the
lord of birds. Upset at being forced to move Cheeria Nathji cursed Rao Jodha
with "Jodha! May your citadel ever suffer a scarcity of water!". Rao Jodha
managed to appease the hermit by building a house and a temple in the fort
very near the cave the hermit had used for meditation, though only to the
extent that even today the area is plagued by a drought every 3 to 4 years.
Jodha then took an extreme measure to ensure that the new site proved
propitious; he buried a man called "Raja Ram Meghwal" alive in the
foundations. "Raja Ram Meghwal" was promised that in return his family
would be looked after by the Rathores. To this day his descendants still live
in Raj Bagh, "Raja Ram Meghwal's" Garden, an estate bequeathed to them
by Jodha.
⢠Which fort
46. ⢠The origin of this genre is generally credited to the filmmaker Manmohan
Desai and screenwriter duo Salim-Javed who very successfully exploited the
genre in the 1970s and 1980s. The genre is named after the Indian mixture
of spices in cuisine. Typically these films freely mix action, comedy, romance,
and drama or melodrama complete with musicals filmed in picturesque
locations. It helped establish many leading actors as superstars such
as Dharmendra, Amitabh Bachchan, Mithun Chakrabarty, Rajnikanth
and Chiranjeevi. More recently, Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar, Mahesh
Babu, Allu Arjun, Ajith and Vijay have all tasted success in this format.
⢠According to The Hindu, this is the most popular genre of Indian cinema.
20)
48. â˘While West Bengal believes it was invented in then Calcutta by
confectioner Nabin Chandra Das, Odisha says it was invented in the
holy city of Puri way back in the 13th century.
â˘This pearly white, mouthwatering delicacy has found itself amid a
controversy over its origin.
â˘Which delicacy?
21)
50. 22)
According to Mythology, when Rudraveena was created by god Shiva,
he attached the two equal resonators because he was thinking about
something. Just tell me what does these equal resonators represent?
Looking for a specific Answer
52. 23)
Moneylife is a website and print magazine edited by Debashis Basu
and his wife Sucheta Dalal. Ms Sucheta Dalal received the Femina
Woman of Substance Award in 1993. She was awarded the Padma
Shri in 2006. For what events that came to limelight in 1992 is she
noted for?
54. 24)
Landmark, Indiaâs leading book and music store had launched a Chennai
based lifestyle magazine named âInbox 1305â in the year 2008.
Explain the number 1305.
56. 25) Few Reasons for what recent proposal by
a state government?
A jumping to 4th position when it comes to speaking in the parliament,
among many.
A geographical anomaly when looking at India as a whole.
Inspiration from a neighbouring state.
Example of Punjab in 1950.
Erase the memory of an unfortunate pre independence episode.
58. 26)
The Motihari town is the headquarters of East Champaran District in
Bihar. There is a massive opium warehouse, which is probably the
most popular house in this place, and is now a protected monument.
The reason for this fame was tracked down in the year 1983 ( thank
god it was a year earlier). This district is important because Mahatma
Gandhi led the first Satyagaraha Revolution here.
Why is this house famous?
60. 27
Some stimates say they are close to 1500. According to the Bengal
gazette, Krem Mawmluh was chronologically the first as it was found in
1844. There are approximately 150 of them just in the Shnongrim ridge. As
a part of Clouds Exhibition Project, it is estimated that Krem Liat Prah
alongwith Krem Labbit, at close to 35 km, would be the longest one in the
Indian Subcontinent.
What am I speaking about?
62. 28 It was started in 1953 at Moazzam Jahi, a prominent fruit market in a
certain Indian city. In addition to Moazzam Jahi, it has outlets in other
parts of the city as well. Besides this city, it has branches in Vizag,
Mumbai, Dubai, Jaipur, Vijayawada Airport, Warangal and Suryapet.
The confusing name is owing to the fact that the founder, Khanchand
Ramnani is a sindhi migrant, who came here after partition.
What?
64. 29)
Sonam Wangchuk, a mechanical Engineer and scientist designed an innovative project
whereby runoff water of the glaciers was diverted to villages in Ladakh using plastic pipes.
When the water came out with high pressure , owing to the temperature being nearly -
25deg Celsius during cold winters, it instantly transformed into ----- as soon as it came in
contact with the air, and thus started falling around the pipes and over the time collected to
form the structure as shown in the next slide.
What are these structures called? (2 worded answer)
First word is related to ------
Second word - think mythology, religion etc . IMAGE FOLLOWS
67. 30)What two word
It is believed, this originated because the Nawab of -------- (a place
otherwise known for a 1925 event), a meat lover could not eat meat
because of his oldage & since he was toothless. Hence he ordered his
chefs to come up with a solution.
What was the delicious recipe had they had created?
One word is the blank
69. 31
⢠This novel by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni is a rendition of the Hindu
epic Mahabharata as told from Draupadi's (Panchaali's) viewpoint, namely, that
of a woman living in a patriarchal world. As Booklist summarizes the plot, "Smart,
resilient, and courageous Panchaali, born of fire, marries all five of the famously
heroic Pandava brothers, harbours a secret love, endures a long exile in the
wilderness, instigates a catastrophic war, and slowly learns the truth about
Krishna, her mysterious friend.â
⢠An excerpt: âI(Panchali) turned the resentment I couldnât express towards my
father onto his palace. I hated the thick gray slabs of the wallsâmore suited to a
fortress than a kingâs residence--that surrounded our quarters, their tops bristling
with sentries. I hated the narrow windows, the mean, dimly-lit corridors, the
uneven floors that were always damp, the massive, severe furniture from
generations ago that was sized more for giants than men. I hated most of all that
the grounds had neither trees nor flowers. King Drupad believed the former to be
a hazard to security, obscuring the vision of the sentries. The latter he saw no use
forâand what my father did not find useful, he removed from his life.â
71. 32)
Up and until the mid 1930s, those outside a social circle refused to
use this âtermâ as it was considered derogatory because of its
association with Devadasis/Courtisans.
It was only after one mainstream person used this âtermâ when
he/she faced the issue in the 1930s .
What âtermâ meaning an âact of ascendingâ ? What did this person do
in Adyar in January 6,1936?
73. 33)Id X
â˘Popular because of their alliterative structure and simplicity, Tripadis deal
mainly with social, ethical and religious issues and are attributed to X, a
16th century poet, pragmatist and philosopher. Xâs poems upheld the
wisdom of pastoral life in rural areas and tried to persuade villagers to give
up superstition, meaningless customs and traditions.
â˘From information gleaned from the poems, historians believe that Xâs
father, a Shaivaite Brahmin, met his mother, a Shudra woman named Mali
in present day Haveri district (formerly part of Dharwad district) of
Karnataka state on his way to Benares while on a pilgrimage.
75. 34) Gopila and Gopralaya Rishi (children of Rishi Vahnimugar) wanted Moksham and
prayed to Lord Narayana, who asked them to go to Dwaraka to seek the blessings
of Lord Krishna(Kannan). By the time they reached Dwaraka, Krishna Avataaram
had ended. Narada asked these two rishis to go to another place in South India.
Here they asked Lord Narayana to give them darshan as Krishna and to show
them all the playful things that Krishna had done at Dwaraka. Answering their
prayers, Lord Narayana appeared before them as Krishna and enacted, on the
banks of Harithra river, all that Kannan had played on the banks of Yamuna river
in Dwaraka.
Which is this place in South India, that has been in the news of late ?
77. 35
On 18 February 1946, Bombay was rocked by an unprecedented mutiny by a
section of Indian employees within the British Army. It gave the British empire its
most dreaded fear and is regarded by many historians as an obscure reason for
the British empire to quit India. The mutiny was a reaction to the unfairly treatment
meted to the ratings. (Ratings are non-commissioned sailors and officers in the
British Army). From the flash point in Bombay, the revolt spread from Karachi to
Calcutta. It ultimately came to involve 78 ships, 20 shore establishments and
20,000 sailors.
Analogous with a different group, what was the name given by the striking
naval officers to themselves?
79. 36) Who
He was tricked by Duryodhana to fight for the kauravas in the Mahabharat war
despite being the brother of Madri, the second wife of Pandu.
Infact he was on his way to join his nephews for the impending war before which
Duryodhana deceived him and made him the Charioteer of Karna.
Identify this mythological character who was the only Great Warrior (atirath,
maharath etc) to be killed by Yudhishtira in the epic war, if you exclude
Yudhishtiraâs role in killing Drona.
81. 37)
The etymology of this weapon can be traced back to 1770âs among soldiers in
British India as a reference to shooting a particular bird, which was considered a
challenging target for marksmen. The weaponâs name was first attested in 1824
in the sense of the word "sharpshooter" .
Which weapon?
83. 38) Riyaz Amlani, the man behind one of Indiaâs most popular chain of Bars, Social,
hadmade an offer which says everytime âsomethingâ happened, drinks will be
offered at his bars on December 31, at just rs 31 .
However fortunately for Amalani that âsomethingâ never happened on that day.
What is this something?