1) The document is a quiz with 35 questions about India covering topics like history, geography, culture and current events. 2) Many questions require identifying important people, places, events, works of literature, inventions and more that are significant to India. 3) The questions provide clues, hints and context to help identify the right answers related to India.

1. India Quiz 2012
Quizmaster: Namrata Basu
Atharva, IIM Kozhikode

2. 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

3. Bahrain-15th august 1971

4. Q 2. ID the monument

5. Bibi Ka Maqbara, Aurangabad

6. 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

7. • Lahore and Kasur

8. 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”

9. Bombay Blood Group-a combination of
ABO blood types

10. Q 5. Father of the Nation
• Which is the only Ghat in Banaras that is
named after an event in the freedom
struggle?

11. Dandi Ghat

12. 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.

13. Snapdeal.com

14. 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.

15. Sea of Poppies by Amitava Ghosh

16. 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.

17. Praveen Kumar a.k.a Bhim

18. 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.

19. Such a long journey by Rohinton Mistry

20. Q 10. Title track of what?

21. Alif Laila

22. 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?

23. Lakme Cosmetics

24. 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?

25. Washing powder Nirma jingle

26. Q 13. ID the actress

27. Jayalalitha

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

29. The Raman Effect named after C.V Raman

30. Q 15. Whose lyrics? (Think royal)

31. Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar II
-The last Mughal

32. 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)

33. Chambal

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

35. Gulzar referring to the Jalianwala Bagh Massacre

36. 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.

37. Daal-Baati-Churma &
Litti-Chokha

38. The triangle

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

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

41. 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

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

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

44. Hint: Previous Question

45. K.L Saigal’s birth centenary

46. 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.

47. Keibul Lamjao National Park, Manipur

48. 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.

49. Doga

50. 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?

51. Mohsin Khan

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

53. Gumnami Baba was unofficially confirmed
as Netaji by the Mukherjee commission

54. 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.

55. Kim by Rudyard Kipling

56. 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

57. Sir Ronald Ross

58. 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?

59. Bengali
Language Percentage of
native speakers
Number 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

60. 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

61. Ruskin Bond

62. 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

63. The Rupee symbol

64. Q 31. Identify

65. Reita Faria-first Indian Miss World

66. 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.

67. Setting up of the IIMs

68. Q 33. Fire-n-Ice
• Why are the Narcondam islands (in the
Andamans) unique in their own way? Please
be specific
• Hint: think geology

69. The only dormant volcano in India

70. 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

71. Our very own

72. 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.

73. Pandit Jasraj

74. Q 36. Logo and Mascot of what?

75. 35th indian national games

76. 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.

77. Shiv-Hari

78. 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?

79. Pure banking nothing else

80. 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”

81. Dayanand Shetty a.k.a Daya of CID fame

82. 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

83. Last verse of Jana Gana Mana

84. Thank You