India Quiz [2012]

India Quiz 2012

QM Souvik Basu / Aniruddha Biswas

Here is a set of 15 questions to celebrate Independence Day

1. Who is depicted in this stamp?

Ans - Pingali Venkaiah, the person credited with designing our national flag


2. Huffington Post has recently brought out a list titled ‘10 Foods Around the World to Try Before You Die’.
9 of them are:
China – Peking Duck
France – Escargots
Greece – Moussaka
Italy – Zucchini flowers
Japan – Teppanyaki
Malaysia – Seafood curry laksa
Thailand – Som tam
Australia & New Zealand – Pavolva
USA – BBQ ribs
What is the 10th item?  (specific answer)

Ans - India -- Masala Dosa


3. What is common among the following?
Gaekwadi
Jai Jai Maharaja
Jai Bhawani
God Save the Maharajah
Ya Rab humare Badshah ko
Kayo Shri Gowri

Ans - Before 1947, every major princely state had its own state anthem which would be played on state occasions and sung in schools. These included “Gaekwadi” of Baroda state, “Jai Jai Maharaja” of Nawanagar, “Jai Bhawani” of Kolhapur, “God save the Maharaja” of Jammu and Kashmir, “Ya rab humare badshah ko” of Hyderabad and “Kayo Shri Gowri”, the Mysore State Anthem.

4. The serial was based on a novel of the same name, written by the Montreal-based author Bhagwan S Gidwani. The novel was a best-seller, having sold about 200,000 copies, translated into many languages and reprinted in 44 editions. Apart from being the author, Gidwani also wrote the screenplay and script
for the 60 episodes.The serial was quite a big hit in India in late 1980's - early 90's though it had its share of controversies. Name the serial.

Ans - The Sword of Tipu Sultan


5. Put funda.

Ans - Awareness against female foeticide


6. The coat of arms was finalized from the design furnished by Mr. Lockwood Kipling, a former Principal of the School of Arts, Lahore and father of the famous Rudyard Kipling.

In the Upper Centre of the Shield are ___ Arms, and Quarterings, a Lion Rampant and an Open Hand.On the right and left are the Sun and the Moon, typical of Suryawanshi and Chandrawanshi, the two great families of Rajputs. Below are the Panch Rang, the five sacred colours of the Rajputs, Red, Gold,
Blue, White and Green. In the centre of which is a Rajput fort - two towers connected by a curtain. The Supports are on the right, a Bhil warrior with string bow and quiver full of arrows. On the left a Rajput, armed at all points, wearing a steel helmet with three plumes, a shield on his back, a dagger and Qatar
in his belt, and a suit of chain covered with embroidered cloth and gauntlet on his hand.

Whose coat of arms is this?

Ans - Mayo College, Ajmer


7. Whose logo is this?

Ans - Carrom Federation of India


8. Whose face has been blanked out?

Ans - .Swami Vivekananda. These are the speakers at the World Parliament of Religions in Chicago in 1893.

9. Agumbe is a village located in the Shimoga district in the state of Karnataka. Lying in the Thirthahalli taluk and the Malnad region, Agumbe is among the places in India that get a lot of rain. It is also called 'Cherrapunji of the South'.
Early in the 1980's, John Devraj, a sculptor, musician, art director and town planner, visited Agumbe, a village roughly 400 km from Bangalore, with a population of about 180 families.
For what purpose did Devraj visit Agumbe?

Ans - To create the fictional town of Malgudi for the shooting of the tv serial 'Malgudi Days.'

10. Last year, Times brought out a list titled 'Top 10 Bad-Ass Wives.'
The list included both present day and historical people like Eleanor Roosevelt, Queen Isabella of Spain, June Carter Cash, Cleopatra, Sarah Palin, Ellen de Generes and Portia de Rossi, Michelle Obama, Melinda Gates, Elin Nordegren. Who completes the list of ten?

Ans - Rani Laxmibai of Jhansi

11, It is a small village on the Bhagirathi river, located approximately 50 kms from the town of Krishnanagar,WB . It gets its name from a flower which blooms in Spring found abundantly in the area. There is a sugar factory owned by the Khaitan Group located near to the village.In 1998,the owners of the
sugar factory tried to rename the village to Khaitan Nagar which was met with strong protests.Identify the village

Ans - Plassey / Polashi

12. According to a interview given to BBC, X said he was surprised on being given the award since he had not heard of it untill he received a phone call from Mr Y. He admits that a decent internet connection helps overcome the low funding available to people in his field of work Based out of Allahabad, X
loves to prepare a meal for his friends and family.

In 2005 Y  had founded  the investment firm Digital Sky Technologies which focusses on web based companies Y was included in the list of 50 most prominent business people in the world by Fortune magazine in 2010.

Identify X and Y

Ans - X - Ashoke Sen . Y - Yuri Milner.

13.The name of this mountain pass means "listening ears" It is one of the three trading border posts between India and China,The pass was sealed after the Indo China war of 1962 and was reopened in 2006 .Only citizens of India can visit this pass from the Indian side after obtaining a permit from the state capital,Identify

Ans- Nathu La

14.This is the official seal of the smallest union territory of India,having a total surface area of just 32 square kilometers. Identify.

Ans - Lakshwadeep

15,The company began its first commercial operations in May 1895.The people of the city were familiar with the horse drawn service which had been operating since 1877.In order to encourage people to try out the new electric version , free rides were offered before start of commercial service.The service continued to run at a loss till April 1953.The company promised that all efforts would be made to revive the service in the future.However that promise never materialised. What is being talked about

Ans - Madras Tramways Corporation


Leave your answers as a  comment in the blog.