1. INDIA QUIZ - FINALS
India – Lots of people…Lots of fun!!!
2. 21.
Henry Piddington (1797–1858) was an
English-Indian scientist and merchant captain
in East India and China who while working in
Calcutta coined the name X for the natural
phenomenon that he observed there. He also
made a presentation to the Asiatic Society of
Bengal and described X as ‘moving in circle,
like coil of a snake’.
The term nowadays is used only in Indian
subcontinent while different names are used to
describe it across the World.
4. 22.
Although written over more than 120 years ago (1892),
this fantasy epic describes many gadgets, like-light
sabres, door lock having alphabetic key pad, wheel
operated lifts, lever operated secret doors, massive DC
generating batteries, robots doing a limited set of
prefixed actions. Which fantasy novel?
6. 23.
The Ancient Mesopotamian texts refers to X as
one of the important trading places they traded
with. Scholars suggest that it might be the
Sumerian name for ‘Indus Valley Civilization’
as it might have originated from the Dravidian
Word mel akam meaning ‘high abode’ or ‘high
country’.
It has also been claimed that it might have
originated from the Sanskrit word mleccha
meaning ‘barbarian, foreigner’.
So X?
12. 26.
X’s death was erroneously announced by the
Indian prime minister Y to the parliament as he lay
fighting for his life in a hospital, causing a brief
wave of national mourning, including the
suspension of parliament and regular radio
broadcasting, and closure of schools and shops.
The mistake arose when the director of the
Intelligence Bureau saw a body looking like X
being carried from hospital.
It was announced in March 1979 while X died in
October, 1979.
Who are X and Y?
14. 27.
American author Katherine Mayo's 1927 book titled __ __ attacked
Indian society, religion and culture. Written against the demands for
self-rule and Indian independence, Mayo pointed to the treatment of
India's women, the untouchables, the dirt, and the character of its
nationalistic politicians. Mayo singled out the "rampant" and fatally
weakening sexuality of its males to be at the core of all problems,
leading to rape, homosexuality, prostitution etc. Mayo created an
outrage across India, and her book was burned along with an effigy
of its author.
The title of the book __ __was taken for a movie which was actually
a remake of a movie made in 1940. When the name of the title of
movie was applied to Indian Ministry of Information and
Broadcasting, they demanded that director send them the script for
review, suspicious that the film was based on the book and a
possible threat to national interest.
Book or Movie name?
15.
16. 28.
It has its origin from a Tamil word which means “a
roll”. The word was absorbed into French language
from Tamil in 18th century, when the French were
trying to stamp their presence in South India and then
consequently into English from French. It’s
inexpensive and is cylindrical with both ends clipped
during manufacture.
One of the most popular (above mentioned item) is X,
which was actually made from Dindigul though it gets
its name from nearby town. At its peak, over 12 million
cigars were manufactured and exported annually and
the characteristics of the fabled X are described by
Arthur Conan Doyle's fictitious detective Sherlock
Holmes in his 1887 novel A Study in Scarlet.
18. 29.
Roberto Rossellini, an Italian film director and screenwriter
was invited by Jawaharlal Nehru in 1957 to make a
documentary called “India”. X, who was fascinated with
movies (who also made few movies after making his mark in
another field) travelled with him all over India while shooting
for the movie. Rossellini fell in love with Y, who was a
scriptwriter working with him and they had an affair. Rossellini
was already married to the famous actress Ingrid Bergman
while Y was also married. This caused a huge scandal in
India and Nehru had to ask Rossellini to leave.
X played a crucial role in getting them together. One night he
booked a first class coupe on the Frontier Mail from Bombay
to Delhi along with Y, who travelled as Mrs X. Avoiding the
paparazzi, X escorted Y to Delhi and set up a meeting with
Rosselini. Soon the couple left for Rome and were married.
X and Y?
20. 30.
Neel Akasher Neechey ("Under the Blue Sky") is
a 1959 Bengali language film directed by Mrinal
Sen.
Set in the background of 1930’s British Raj in
Calcutta, the film explores the lives of a number of
characters, including the platonic relationship
between an immigrant Chinese wage worker,
Wang Lu, a poor hawker selling his merchandise,
China silk and the main female character called
Basanti. The film had overt political overtones and
has a first to its name.
What?
21. The first film to be banned by the Government
of India, though it was for only for 2 months.
24. 32.
X is the site of an ancient Jain monastery. The caves here served as
Jain shelters and are considered to be South India’s Ajantha caves due
to the rock paintings. One can also find inscriptions dating back to the
Pandian period of 9th and 10th century.
The name of the place is supposed to be mean “the abode of great
saints”.
X?
25. Sittanavasal (distorted form of Sit-tan-na-va-
yil in Tamil, which means "the abode great
saints").
26. 33.
_X_ _Y_Productions is a film company founded
in 1961 by producer Ismail X and director James
Y. Their films were for the most part produced by
the former, directed by the latter, and scripted by
Ruth Prawer Jhabvala. The initial goal of the
company was "to make English-language films in
India aimed at the international market.
Of this collaboration, X once commented: "It is a
strange marriage we have at XY... I am an Indian
Muslim, Ruth is a German Jew, and Jim is a
Protestant American. Someone once described us
as a three-headed god. Maybe they should have
called us a three-headed monster!"
28. 34.
In 1891, Maharaja Bhupinder Singh of Patiala incurred
the rage of Lord Kitchener. It led to the restriction of
his entry into the summer capital, Shimla. This
incensed the Maharaja and he vowed to build a new
summer capital for himself, so he rebuilt the place as
per his requirements.
This place that the Maharaja built is 49 km from
Shimla and is well known for its architecture. This
place has a cricket ground and a polo ground owned
by erstwhile royal family of Patiala who after
accession to the Indian Union donated most of the
buildings to X (name of the place) Military School and
Government of India.
Name of the place and its claim to fame.
31. Inspirations for Gandhi’s
autobiogrpahy
Leo Tolstoy's The Kingdom of God Is Within
You, John Ruskin's Unto This Last and the
Jain philosopher and poet Shrimad
Rajchandra.
32. 36.
Name the 2 Indian Sportsmen who have won
‘the treble’ (Awards) in Indian Sports – Arjuna
Award, Dronacharya Award and Rajiv Gandhi
Khel Ratna.
34. 37.
A dilapidated house in Mexico City, Mexico has
been recently converted to a conceptual nightclub
called M.N.ROY, named after Manabendra Nath
Roy of India. He used to live in this house when
he was in Mexico. He had fled to Mexico when he
had been bothered by British spies in USA. Some
of his contributions are – establishing a military
school in Tashkent and leading a delegation to
Canton, China for implementing agrarian
revolution.
The question is who is MN Roy and what’s his
contribution to Mexico and India?
36. 37.
Indian Standard Time (IST) is the time observed
throughout India and is calculated on the basis of
82.5° E longitude, from a clock tower in Mirzapur
(near Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh). The whole of the
country follows the same time zone which is +5:30
of GMT.
Though the government has refused to split the
country into multiple time zones, provisions in
labour laws such as the Plantations Labour Act,
1951 allows the Central and State governments to
set the local time for a particular industrial area. In
Assam, tea gardens follow a separate time zone
known as the Tea Garden Time or X time that is
one hour ahead of IST.
38. 38.
X was the heir apparent of the Mughal emperor Shah
Jahan. He was an intellectual and devoted much of
his efforts towards finding a common mystical
language between Islam and Hinduism. He completed
the translation of 50 Upanishads from
Sanskrit into Persian so it could be read by Muslim
scholars. In the introduction of this book, he
speculates that the work referred to in the Qur'an as
the "Kitab al-maknun" or the hidden book, is none
other than the Upanishads.
A symbol of the composite culture and liberal thought
of the Indian subcontinent, he was killed by his
orthodox brother, Aurangzeb who claimed that was X
was a heretic to gain support while executing him
before he would stake his rightful claim to the Mughal
throne.
42. 40.
Held in 1877 for the very first time, it was attended by
the Viceroy of India, maharajas, nawabs and intellectuals. It
was the culmination of transfer of control of East India
Company held parts of India to The Crown, even though the
process had started by the end of 1857 revolt itself.
It was held the 2nd time in 1903 to celebrate the coronation
of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra as Emperor and
Empress of India.
Held in December to commemorate the coronation in Britain
a few months earlier of King George V and Queen Mary, and
their proclamation as Emperor and Empress of India--and,
without public forewarning, the shifting of India's capital from
Calcutta to Delhi.
It’s 100th anniversary was celebrated last year.
44. 41.
X was an emperor ruling large parts of Asia from
Tajkistan to North of India and China during the 2
century AD. He is remembered for his association
with Buddhism. He himself was a Buddhist
convert, and convened the fourth Buddhist council
in Kashmir. He is believed to have carried the
Mayahana school of Buddhism to China.
Though his name has been largely remained
unknown, it has got a fresh lease of life since
1985 and has continued to be in news
continuously till 2010.
X?
45. Kanishka of Kushan dynasty
On 23 June 1985, an Air India plane operating
on the route — a Boeing 747-237B named
after Emperor Kanishka — was blown up by a
bomb and crashed into the Atlantic Ocean
while in Irish airspace. Sikh militant group
Babbar Khalsa are the accused and case was
completed in 2010
46. 42.
In 1941, India received a gift of 100,000 pounds from
the Sudanese government towards building a war
memorial recognizing the sacrifices made by the
Indian soldiers in liberation of Sudan during WW2.
The commander-in-chief at that time, Field Marshal
Claude Auchinleck, led a commission drawing
experiences of the army during war and submitted
report to Indian government in 1946.
Soon after independence, this report was taken up
and as per the recommendation in the report, X was
to be setup. The foundation stone was laid in 1949
and it was formally opened in 1954.
Name the institution.
48. 43.
X was considered a very tough leader. By his orders
in 1960, a demonstration by the Samyukta
Maharashtra Samiti was fired upon by the police
resulting in the deaths of 105 demonstrators. This led
to public outrage that shook the central government
and eventually to the formation of the present State of
Maharashtra.
X’s reign introduced India to coalition politics.
Accused India’s Research & Analysis Wing of being a
guard of his main rival and closed down most of the
agency.
Despite all this, he is the only person to have received
the highest civilian awards of both India (Bharat
Ratna) and Pakistan (Nishaan-e-Pakistan).
Who?
50. 44
X, a highly decorated naval officer discovers that his English wife, Sylvia
was having an affair with a rich playboy Y, who had been friends with the
officer for 15 years. X drops his family to a cinema hall, collects his revolver
from his ship and goes to Y's house to confront him. Y has just stepped out
of a shower, a towel wrapped around his waist. X confronts him with the
question: "Will you marry Sylvia and accept our children?" Y's reply is
casual and callous: "Will I marry every woman I sleep with?" X fires three
shots at Y, killing him instantly. He then surrenders to the police.
The very next day, enterprising peddlers are selling ‘Y Towels' and toy ‘X’s
Revolvers' on the streets of Bombay.
The incident received unprecedented media coverage and inspired several
books and movies. There was a public outpouring of support for X and he
was initially declared not guilty by a jury, but the verdict was dismissed by
the Bombay High Court and the case was retried as a bench trial and X
was sentenced to life imprisonment. It was the last case to have jury trial in
India.
X and Y?
51. 45.
The story attributes the name to the
anglicisation of Sairandhri (Draupadi), the
polyandrous wife of the five Pandavas, who
disguised herself as Sairandhri, queen
Sudeshna's assistant, while they were in exile.
A second story, refers to the presence there of
many Lion-Tailed Macaques Macaca silenus.
A third story attributes that the name is
because of a perceived absence of noisy
Cicadas.
54. 46.
X made her bollywood singing debut at the age
of 10, singing for the movie Chachi 420. Her
second song came in Hey Ram, where she sang
the bilingual versions of the title theme, Rama
Rama, in Hindi and in Tamil. She also made her
cinematic debut in the movie.
She's had a cameo appearance as the daughter of
Vallabhbhai Patel in the biopic of Mahatma
Gandhi. Apart from this, she's also the vocalist of
an alternative rock band The Extramentals.
56. 47.
Some of his famous quotes –
To a surgeon who was going to give up on his bullet-riddled
body who asked him what had happened and got the reply, “I
was kicked by a donkey.” A joker at such a time, the
surgeon reckoned, had a chance.
On the military knowledge of politicians: "I wonder whether
those of our political masters who have been put in
charge of the defence of the country can distinguish a
mortar from a motor; a gun from a howitzer; a guerrilla
from a gorilla, although a great many resemble the
latter."
On being asked by Indira Gandhi if he was ready to fight on
the eve of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971: “I am always
ready, sweetie."[
Whose?
60. 49.
A theory that was in vogue during the 19th
century states that the name is derived from
Sanskrit language, by way of Malay, and refers
to Hanuman, the monkey deity. It is
prominently featured in the Sherlock Holmes
mystery ‘The sign of four’. The Maratha
admiral Kanhoji Angre used the place as a
base and "fought the British off these islands
until his death in 1729."
62. 50.
X was an Indian international footballer and a first
class cricketer. He has played more than 50
international matches representing Indian football
team. He has also captained Asian Games Gold
Medal in 1962 and a Silver in the 1964 Asia Cup
in Tel Aviv. He reportedly had an offer from
Tottenham Hotspurs, which he refused since he
didn’t want to leave his secure job at SBI.
He has represented Bengal in Ranji trophy and
has led them to Ranji Trophy finals twice.
X?
70. 1.
X had a disappointing start to his career making
his debut in one-dayers against Sri Lanka after
World Cup in March 1996, replacing Vinod Kambli
Subsequently, he was dropped from the team.
X came back into team the next year and made
his debut when Sanjay Manjrekar got injured on
the tour.
X has the second fastest 50 among Indians in
ODI(strike rate-227.27)vs NewZealand in
Hydrabad on 15 Nov 2003.
He also has the distinction of playing his last
international match on his debut match in a T20I
71. 2
X is very often considered to be the
geographical separator dividing Indian
Subcontinent into Northern Indian and
Southern India. People of Southern India are
often referred to as people south of X and
similarly people of Northern India are referred
to as people north of X.
74. 5.
X means high art and high apprehension and also
is a name of one of the tribes present in that state.
There was a proposal from the administrators
from the state of Orissa to change the name of the
state to X as early as 1949 itself. The major
university of this place was called X university and
the Congress itself referred to this province as X
province. The day April 1 is celebrated as X divas
in that state.
However Orissa was renamed as Odisha, which is
reference to another one of their tribes.
Id X.
77. 8.
X is highly venerated in Hinduism and
worshipped as goddess X, throughout its
course. In Hindu mythology, she is the
daughter of Sun God, Surya, and sister
of Yama, the God of Death and hence her
name
83. 50.
X had a disappointing start to his career making
his debut in one-dayers against Sri Lanka after
World Cup in March 1996, replacing Vinod
Kambli. Subsequently, he was dropped from the
team.
X came back into team the next year and made
his debut when Sanjay Manjrekar got injured on
the tour.
X has the second fastest 50 among Indians in
ODI(strike rate-227.27)vs NewZealand in
Hydrabad on 15 Nov 2003.
He also has the distinction of playing his last
international match on his debut match in a T20I
85. 51
X is very often considered to be the
geographical separator dividing Indian
Subcontinent into Northern Indian and
Southern India. People of Southern India are
often referred to as people south of X and
similarly people of Northern India are referred
to as people north of X.
91. 54.
X means high art and high apprehension and also
is a name of one of the tribes present in that state.
There was a proposal from the administrators
from the state of Orissa to change the name of the
state to X as early as 1949 itself. The major
university of this place was called X university and
the Congress itself referred to this province as X
province. The day April 1 is celebrated as X divas
in that state.
However Orissa was renamed as Odisha, which is
reference to another one of their tribes.
Id X.
97. 57.
X is highly venerated in Hinduism and
worshipped as goddess X, throughout its
course. In Hindu mythology, she is the
daughter of Sun God, Surya, and sister
of Yama, the God of Death and hence her
name