3. 1.1
This is an apparel brand
of Siyarams. Apart from
it being the acronym of
its celebrity endorser,
Mahendra Singh Dhoni,
what does MSD stand
for in this context?
6. 1.2
Also called “Sugarbushes”, X is
a genus of flowering shrubs,
particularly found in an African
country. Famous botanist Carl
Linnaeus named the genus X,
in 1735, after the name of a
similar sounding Greek sea-
god, who could change his
shapes at will, because of
extensive varieties of the
flowering plant, X. What is X?
8. Protea, that gives the
nickname to South
African cricket team.
The flower also appears
in the SA Cricket logo.
9. 1.3
There are certain controversies as regards the Navaratnas in
the court of the great Gupta ruler Chanragupta II. Some
opinions hold that a few of the figures were not
contemporaries of Chandragupta II, whereas some others’
existence was not supported by historical evidences. Still,
here is the list – Amarsimha, Dhanvantri, Harisena, Kalidasa,
Kahapanaka, Sanku Varahamihira, Vararuchi, and X – a
magician. Who is X, the Ninth Ratna?
12. 1.4
• What connects the names of these psychological conditions and disorders –
• i. A neurological disorder is a condition wherein a person suffers from visual image
distortions, perceiving parts of their body or any other objects as having been altered in size.
• ii. The habitual neglect of responsibilities by children of superior intelligence because of
parental disapproval and feelings of rejection.
• iii. Psychological / emotional condition under which adopted children or stepchildren would
make up outrageous (imaginary) stories about how they were abused and /or abandoned by
their adoptive mothers or stepmothers.
• iv. It describes a person’s stubborn belief that their mate is being unfaithful; and would
therefore make incessant groundless accusations of infidelity, even displaying stalking and
violent behaviour.
• v. This describes people who are overly critical of their own physical appearance and have
difficulty dealing with ageing; and thus, try to cling to their youth by depending heavily on
cosmetic procedures and products.
14. • Named after literary characters –
• i. Alice in Wonderland Syndrome.
• ii. Huckleberry Finn’s Syndrome.
• iii. Cinderella’s Syndrome.
• iv. Othello Syndrome.
• v. Dorian Grey Syndrome.
15. 1.5
This is an Egyptian goddess of health, marriage and wisdom; and
the literal meaning of her name is “throne”. What is her name?
18. 1.6
This is a form of acute malnutrition – having symptoms like
diarrhoea, headache, fatigue, low blood pressure and slow
heart rate, and a vague discomfort and food craving that can
be satisfied only by fat consumption – which is attributed to
absence of dietary fat and an excess consumption of protein.
The condition is named after a meat which has very low fat
count, only 8.3%, whereas in case of beef and pork, it is 32%
each. What is it named?
22. 2.1
This is a photo of X taken in 1938. X’s
ancestors had migrated from their original
place Nishapur in Khorasan province to
Awadh towards the end of the 18th
century; and settled in at Kitnoor near
Lucknow, the capital of Awadh. But in
1830, his grandfather, a Twelver Shia
scholar, Seyyed Ahmed Musavi ‘Hindi’ left
Awadh for good, never returning from a
pilgrimage to the tomb of Imam Ali in
Najaf, in Ottoman Iraq. Because of this
Hindustan connection, even X used the
pen-name ‘Hindi’ while writing ghazals.
Just identify X.
25. 2.2
This type of culinary preparation got its name from a Classical
Persian root-word meaning “to beat” or “to grind” to highlight
the process of making meatballs that are integral part of the
dish, which is popular in Afghan, Azerbaijani, Arab, Armenian,
Balkan, Bangladeshi, Egyptian, Indian, Iraqi, Palestinian, Iranian,
Israeli, Jordanian, Kurdish, Moroccan, Pakistani, Romanian, Leb
anese, and Turkish cuisine, consisting of balls of minced or
ground meat — usually beef, chicken, lamb, or pork — mixed
with spices and onions. Balls of ground paneer or potato are
also used in India to make this dish. What is it?
28. 2.3
He is Sarfaraz Khan, India’s star
performer in the ICC Under 19 Cricket
World Cup 2016 held in Bangladesh.
What is the reason behind him
choosing the jersey no. 97?
31. 2.4
This battle took place on 1st of January, 1818 as part
of the Third and final Ango-Maratha War between
the British East India Company forces and the forces
of Peshwa Baji Rao II. The 834 member strong
Company force – out of which 500 were infantry
soldiers from the Mahar Regiment – was highly
outnumbered by the huge Peshwa force of around
28,000. Yet the Company troops could inflict defeat
to the Marathas. Later, this win of Mahar (Dalit)
Regiment over the upper caste Maratha state
(Peshwa faction) achieved cult status in the Dalit
discourses. This is the victory pillar installed at the
site of the battle commemorating the bravery of the
Mahar soldiers. What was that battle?
34. 2.5
• X is a market area in South Mumbai dominated by the Muslim
community, manily Dawoodi Bohras, a Shia sect. The area got its name
from the way it was referred to by the British people residing inside the
nearby fort of Crawford Market. “Behind the market”, as they called it,
got picked by the locals as well and a slightly corrupted pronunciation of
the phrase gave the locality its name, X.
• As regards Hindustani classical music, the area houses a Gharana, set up
around 1890 by brothers Chhajju Khan, Nazir Khan and Khadim Hussain
Khan. Lata Mangeshkar, Manna Dey, Kishori Amonkar, Begum Akhtar,
Asha Bhosle, Suman Kalyanpur, Pankaj Udhas etc. are / were the
prominent disciples of the famous gharana.
• What is X, the name of the locality in Mumbai / gharana?
37. 2.6
• X is a kind of sugar sweetened fruit
preserve which is popular
throughout the Middle East,
Central Asia and the Indian
subcontinent. In a 2013 anthology
film, one of the four consisting
short films is named X, directed by
Anurag Kashyap, which also
features a song called X.
• What is X?
42. 3.1
Ashish Parmar is a
Bengaluru based
photographer who shot
this photo of his wife
Raina Nanaiah during
Diwali celebrations last
year (2015), and
uploaded on Twitter
with a hashtag. What
happened next?
44. Apple selected
this photograph
for their billboard
ad campaigns for
iPhone, as the
only entry from
India.
#ShotOniPhone6S
was the hashtag.
45. 3.2
In law, this principle, X, provides for the validation of Pre-
Constitution Laws that violate fundamental rights upon the
premise that such laws are not null and void but become
unenforceable only to the extent of such inconsistency with
the fundamental rights. What is the principle called?
48. 3.3
• X, an eminent Surbahar player who, throughout her life has avoided
publicity and public performance / recording, is the daughter of Y, the
court musician of Maharaja Brijnath Singh of the princely state of
Maihar in present day Madhya Pradesh. X, although originally named
Roshanara Khan, later came to be known as X – the name given by
Maharaja Brijnath Singh, since she was born on the day of a bright full
moon day (Purnima) in Chaitra, in 1927.
• Identify X, Y.
50. X – Annapurna Devi
(first wife of Pandit Ravi Shankar & sister of Ustad Ali Akbar Khan),
Y – Allauddin Khan.
51. 3.4
This is Shahid Vinay Singh
Pathik Sports Complex in
Greater Noida, also known
as Greater Noida Cricket
Stadium. Following a MoU
signed in December, 2015,
where BCCI was also a
party, this stadium now
cannot be used by the
Indian Cricket Team to play
home games / series. Why?
54. 3.5
Miley Naa Miley Hum – this
2011 movie, also featuring
Kangana Ranaut, was the
Bollywood debut of X as the
leading hero. After the
disastrous debut, X left
Bollywood and returned
back to Bihar to make a
career in his father’s
profession. Who is X?
57. 3.6
Seen here are Bagel and Breadsticks, two bread items from Poland
and Italy, respectively. The terms are also used colloquially in
tennis to refer to specific scenarios. What are those scenarios?
61. 4.1
This is the cover of “Nine Lives”, the
12th studio album of American rock
band Aerosmith. This album featured
the song X, which belong to the raga
rock genre, i.e. a fusion of rock and
Hindustani classical elements. The
song, X, contained a Sarangi recital by
Pandit Ramesh Mishra. Aerosmith
conceived the name / idea of the
song while walking past a restaurant
by the same name. What is X?
68. 4.3
This is an image from
the recently held
(March, 2016) series
of face-off between
Lee Sedol, the current
world champion and
AlphaGo, a computer
programme, in which
AlphaGo won 4-1.
What is the board
game, having its origin
in ancient China?
71. 4.4
Mithilesh Kumar Srivastava (1912-2009)
was a noted Indian conman (cheater /
forger) who is famous to have sold Taj
Mahal a number of times besides Red
Fort, Rashtrapati Bhavan and the
Parliament House of India. He even
forged the signatures of business houses
like Tatas, Birlas and Ambanis to execute
false deals and divert crores of money.
He was arrested nine times but every
time he could run away from jail. He was
sentenced to 113 years of
imprisonment, but hardly spent 20. His
life even inspired a few Bollywood
movies. How is he better known as?
79. Shafqat Amanat
Ali, the Pakistani
singer, over his
performance of
the Pak National
Anthem at the
start of the ICC
World T20
match between
India and
Pakistan.
84. 5.2
Seen here are a number of Solidus or gold coins from the Later Roman
Empire era. The gold used in the coins was relatively of pure quality and a
Solidus weighed about 24 nos. of this tree seeds. Identify the tree / seed.
87. 5.3
These are the posters of the films Blue, White and Red – directed by
Polish filmmaker Krzysztof Kieślowski – which formed the trilogy
“Three Colours”, based on French settings and exploring the French
way of life. Why are they called “Three Colours” or Blue, White, Red?
90. 5.4
This is a print ad /
poster of the brand
called AetheAer that
shows jars of its product
from different parts of
Great Britain – Dorset,
Somerset, Wiltshire,
Yorkshire, Wales etc.
What does AethAer
market?
93. 5.5
This is a film based on American chess player X’s successful challenge
of Soviet grandmaster Boris Spassky in the 1972 World Chess
Championship held in Reykjavik, Iceland, in the backdrop of the
ongoing Cold War. Who is X?
96. 5.6
This gemstone is named
after the East African
country in which it was
first discovered in 1967
near Mount Kilimanjaro.
This is a popular
alternative to the more
precious gemstone,
Sapphire. Identify it.
100. 6.1
In the video, you
can see music
being played on
an electric
instrument,
without actually
touching it.
Name the
instrument,
which appeared
in a recent
Google doodle.
103. 6.2
This is a famous song by Rabindranath
Tagore which is said to have written for this
Argentine writer you see here, X, whom he
named Vijaya. X, Tagore’s romantic interest
for some time, who was the inspiration
behind many such songs and poems that
were included in the collection Puravi –
gifted to X by Tagore – is seen here with the
ground breaking Argentine (Spanish) literary
magazine Sur, with which X was associated.
Who was X?
106. 6.3
This is a Hindustani classical interpretation
/ cover of the famous Beatles song X. this
version is sung by the person you see
here, Y, who is more famous in another
field. This version is included in his 2010
album “Found Music”, which is his second
album following his debut album “This is
Not Fusion” (2005). Identify both X and Y
for full points.
115. 6.6
• This song from the film Saathiya is certainly one of the best Bollywood love
songs (in my opinion). On the other hand, ____ is an elegant evening raga of
romance. In this song, lyricist Gulzar, while trying to masterfully create an
ambience of romance, mentions ____ in this way –
“Farvari ki sardiyon ki dhoop mein
Mundi mundi aankhiyon se dekhna
Haath ki aar se…
Nimi nimi thand aur aag mein
Haule haule ____ ki raag mein
Meer ki baat ho…”
• Identify ____, the raga.