Akhand Bharat Mahaqumbh '21

AKHAND BHARAT
(AN OPEN INDIA
QUIZ)
By: Vedansh Ojha and Arihant Tyagi

Rules
1. 20 Questions in prelims
2. Questions 5,10,15,20 are star-marked and will be used to resolve ties
3. No negative marking. Feel free to guess.
4. In case of disputes regarding anything, Quizmasters’ discretion will be final.

Procedure
i. All the questions will be shown on zoom and ample time will be given for attempting the
question.
ii. Keep anything to write with and write on handy with you and keep writing the answers as they
come.
iii. A Google Form link will be provided to you right after the last question, which will be open for
7 minutes exact. Any one of the team member has to fill the details and all the 20 answers on
the form.
iv. Top 8 teams qualify for the finals.
v. All the best!

Q1
Mritak Sangh is an Indian pressure group based in Azamgarh, Uttar Pradesh that seeks to reclaim
the legal rights of those falsely listed by the Uttar Pradesh state government as being dead. This
happens as a result of bribing the officials in land disputes and declaring ownership falsely. The
association seeks to reverse the declaration, call attention and prevent others from being exploited.
The person who was the reason for the establishment of the organization, prominently known as
Mritak, came to prominence among pop culture earlier in the year.
What was the reason for Mritak’s sudden prominence among media?

Q2.
◦ Hailed as one of the biggest wins in Indian sports history, it was talked by many in the sports and
journalism equally. One such person, who played a pivotal role in the win, produced a show on
YouTube discussing the wins in detail and the psyche they went through.
◦ Responding on twitter, his wife wrote, “Shamelessly going to take credit for the epic _ series
because I kept two screaming girls outside the room while he shot it.”
◦ The name was inspired from an extremely popular Tamil song of 2020. Name the show which
discussed the heroics from an insider’s point of view.

Q3.
◦ Look at the video and tell what is unique(apart from the kit) about this cricket match, played in
Varanasi.

Q4.
◦ X worked as a salesperson at a home décor store in London, United Kingdom.
◦ X also served as an assistant to Economist in the Agricultural Engineers Association in the UK.
◦ During X’s stay in the UK, X also served as a Senior Manager (Research and Development) at
PWC and also briefly at the BBC World Service.
◦ X has also served as a member of the National Commission for Women (NCW).
◦ Give X, who is popular for an entirely different position which X currently holds.

Q5 *.
◦ Preferred by the younger generation as a fast-paced sport, the beauty of the game of cricket has
been seen in the slowest of innings as well. One such match was played on January 12th, 1964 vs
England in Chennai, when a cricketer, (in)famous for his ‘slow’ skills, frustrated the English side
with his performance, which resulted in a formidable draw.
◦ The cricketer was born in Nashik in 1933. It was his accuracy which did the trick as he practiced
by keeping a coin on the pitch since he was in school. He played 41 tests for India and retired in
1968, playing against New Zealand. He managed the Indian team later and was a mentor of Sunil
Gavaskar.
◦ Who is the cricketer in question and what did he achieve in 1964, a record that stays(and given the
style of play these days, will stay for a very long time)?

Bapu Nadkarni ; 21 maiden overs in a row

Q6.
◦ According to Merriam Webster, a Greyhound is ‘any of a breed of tall slender graceful smooth-
coated dogs characterized by swiftness and keen sight’. It is also referred to as English greyhound.
◦ The Afghan Hound is distinguished by its thick, fine, silky coat and its tail with a ring curl at the
end. The breed is locally called Tazi Spay or Sag-e-Tazi. Other names for the breed are Balkh
Hound, Balochi Hound, Barakzai Hound, Shalgar Hound and Galanday Hound.
◦ A certain AA Khan, fond of racing, experimented upon the hounds and created the _______
greyhound, which was very much suited for the races.
◦ What did AA Khan create?

Q7.
◦ A village was established on the banks of river Ghaghra by the Banjara community in 15th century.
As the village was in the midst of a forest, the villagers built walls made of yellow mud to protect
their huts. The closest district later adopted the name of the village, by which it is known till date.
◦ The district produced 95% of all Indian _____ according to an article published in Hindustan
Times. The craftsmen sourced their bamboo from Barak Valley in Assam, from districts like
Silchar. Although once a flourishing tradition which ran in families, the craftsmanship of ______
has decayed under the corporate takeover of the craft. “Classical ______ can sell for as much as
Rs. 3000 a piece but the common ones, sold as toys at fairs can only be priced at Rs. 5-10.” an
article says.
◦ Fill in the blank.

Flutes (district – Pilibhit)

Q8.
◦ Idea of this statutory body was conceived and introduced by the Vajpayee government when a
need was felt to promote the private enterprises especially in the light of 1991 Indian economic liberalization as
the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission was not able to apply itself in the
market.
◦ It consists of a chairperson and six members appointed by the central government. Its duty is to
encourage and sustain a competitive practice and ensure freedom of trade in the markets of India.
◦ Identify this body whose previous chairman has been an RBI governor, which is often confused
as an examination-taking body, but has a completely different role altogether.

Q9.
◦ FAANG (Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Google) refers to the 5 most popular and the
best performing tech companies listed on the American Stock Exchange. The term was coined
and popularized by Jim Cramer, an American television personality and a former hedge fund
manager.
◦ Since we Indians are very eager to adapt things from the west, a similar acronym on the lines of
FAANG which includes Reliance, HDFC Bank, HDFC, TCS, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Infosys and
ICICI Bank was created to group the best performing Indian Stocks.
◦ Though the Indian stocks are not as consistent as their US counterparts, they have shown
remarkable growth in the recent years
◦ Give me the Indian counterpart.

Q10 *.
◦ The days of lockdown were testing times for everyone in the country, and to find a way to ease it for
the common television watching audience, Doordarshan was showing old serials like Ramayan and
Mahabharat. Among them was a 47-episode long television series directed by Dr. CP Dwivedi, which
was highly reputed in early 90s due to its cultural orientation.
◦ With its dialogue in chaste hindi, the show, with its very minimal budget, was rejected by DD multiple
times. It introduced a plethora of very talented theatre actors like Surendra Pal, Irrfan Khan, Neena
Gupta and Manoj Joshi.
◦ The show was deeply criticised by the ‘intellectuals’ of the time saying that it ‘tried to show a feeling of
pan-India and cultural unity among the subcontinent at a time when there was none’ as a particular
concept was a recurring theme in the dialogues.
◦ Which teleseries, and what was the concept for which it was criticised by a select group of thinkers of
the time?

Chanakya ; Concept of Akhand Bharat

Q11.
◦ On February 4th, 2021, speaking at a virtual conference, PM Modi said that it is “unfortunate that
some freedom fighters were not given due place in history…it was not a single incident, but it was
the collective manifestation of the angst against the British rule.”
◦ Which incident was he talking about?

Chauri Chaura incident (centennial celebrations
were held in 2021)

Q12.
◦ Back in 2015, when the Modi government was working on expanding the concept of Digital
India, many policies were being prepared. Amidst all this, Panchgaon, a village chosen by Nitin
Gadkari under Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana came in news for a positive development.
◦ What was this step, which made the residents of the village ‘connect’ to India and the world in a
better way?

India’s first village to get fully connected with
WiFi internet

Q13.
◦ Humasafar Trust, a support group based in Mumbai, has been working for past 20 years to spread
awareness of HIV. The clinic provides free counselling and Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ART) used
to treat the infection or delay the progression process, Hindustan Times reported.
◦ The center will be opened for all and serve as a "one-stop center for counselling, detention and
treatment of HIV". “Until now we would get testing done for the community members at our
centre. If tested positive for the disease, they would be asked to go to Sion Hospital, but there was
a huge dropout (rate) there. Because of how the community is perceived outside, a lot of these people
wouldn’t seek treatment,” said Ashok Row Kavi, founder chairperson of Humsafar Trust.
◦ Which community are the Humsafar Trust dedicated to?

Q14.
◦ This Vadodara-based clothing brand which commenced its operations in 1930 is well-known for
its advertisements which were endorsed by Sunil Gavaskar.
◦ A famous Indian cricketer, who recently led his side to a trophy win and once played winning role
in the greatest ODI win by India under Rohit Sharma’s captaincy, was named after this clothing
brand by his father, who was an ardent Gavaskar fan.
◦ Identify this cricketer, whose mother-in-law was also a part of Indian national cricket team.

Q15 *.
◦ Out of all the sports played in India, Polo is one which is as royal as it gets. For a very long time,
Rajasthan has been the bastion of the sport, with various clubs like Haldighati Polo, Chinkara
Polo, Jaipur Riding and Chandna Polo to mention a few.
◦ In the recently concluded Sirmaur Cup, Golden Globes Hotel led by X won for sixth time
straight. Now, given the way he has grown up, playing Polo had to be very natural to the 21-year
old.
◦ “My great grandfather took his horses from Jaipur to Europe and won the first Polo World Cup for India in
1957. You always stand a better chance of winning with your own horses, otherwise it all depends
on the draw. When I play in Europe, I try to get my horses from London,” he says.
◦ Identify X

Maharaja Padmanabh Singh of Jaipur (also known
as Pacho)

Q16.
◦ It was a moment of joy in December 2020, when sportspersons of a specific sport finally got an
opportunity to display their talent to the country, when the indigenous sport of Manipur,_____
__ (meaning : sword and spear) got recognition.
◦ Legend has it that Lainingthou Pakhangba, the dragon god - king, ordained King Mungyamba, to
kill the demon Moydana of Khagi with a spear and sword, which he presented to the king.
◦ It is also said that Manipuri dance forms originated from the moves made in this sport. Name the
sport, which was in news recently along with Mallakhamba, Gatka and Yoga.

Q17.
A 2017 article by theheritagelab.in quotes William Dalrymple's words "In Delhi, a hard-line right
wing government rejects dialogue with Islamabad. Both countries find themselves more vulnerable
than ever to religious extremism. In a sense, 1947 has yet to come to an end" while describing an art
installation by Reena Saini Kallat at 'Memories of Partition’.
The installation, titled Light Leaks (image on next slide), represents a geographical location.
Name this place.

Q19.
◦ X is a persian word, used as a respected title for persons who have achieved mastery over
languages. It became a surname slowly in India of those whose ancestors had received this title. In
modern Persian, this word is also used to address clerks and secretaries.
Abdul Karim was a valued Indian servant of Queen Victoria who was often known as the “X”. The
close relation between him and the Queen led to friction in the royal household, and he was sent
back to India after her death.
Give the title X.

Q20 *.
◦ The polymath left his mark on almost every aspect there was including literature, culture,
politics, nationalism. One aspect, which can be ignored from the surface level is that he was a
sports enthusiast.
◦ In his work 'Chelebela‘, he reminiscences his childhood experiences of taking lessons of wrestling
from a wrestler, whom he describes as 'Kana Palowan' in the text. It was very much known that he
was an ardent admirer of Japanese culture, and especially so much so of a sport that he had
invited ____ instructors to his school.
◦ Junnutsuke Sano, who was called specifically from Japan, stayed in his school from 1905-08 and
taught the sport to students, who later popularized it in the region. Who is the person and which
sport did he popularize in India?

Akhand Bharat Mahaqumbh '21

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