BQC Open India Quiz 2012 - Finals

The BQC Open Quizzes, 2012

THE BOMBAY QUIZ CLUB

Would not have been possible without you…

Rajiv Rai
Anannya Deb

Working Draft - Last Modified 5/17/2009 12:04:01 PM
Vikram Joshi
Anil Kothuri
Shrikant Narasimhan
Sumant Srivathsan
Vibhendu Tewari

Printed
Srinath TB
Atul Mathew
Prasad Sawant
Shubhankar Gokhale
Abhinav Dasgupta

Prathmik

 23 relatively easy questions worth 10 points each on
infinite bounce.
 Starting with 12 clockwise.
 We will have 11 counter-clockwise in the 2nd half.
 Shut up and pounce
 One team (on the buzzer) gets an opportunity to answer in
written on the pounce (+10/-7)

Prathmik 1

The Nizam of Hyderabad (Asaf Jah VII) tried to
improve the deteriorating condition of a historic site in
his territory and even employed Italian experts in
1922-23 who used shellac to provide a protective
coating.
However, in time, the shellac darkened in the hot and
humid climate, obscuring the luminous figures and
causing cracks to appear.
What are we talking about?

Prathmik 1 - Answer

The darkened and cracked cave paintings of Ajanta
Caves

Prathmik 2

This folk music group was first created for the Osian
Film Festival in Delhi in 2006.

The sets (43 musicians seated in 36 cubicles) are
inspired by the Hawa Mahal in Jaipur and the red light
district in Amsterdam.

Identify the group.
http://youtu.be/E7mO1HvwDww

Prathmik 2 - Answer

Manganiyar Seduction

Prathmik 3

One of the triggers for the Mutiny of 1857 was the date
June 23 1857.

On all fronts, in Delhi, Kanpur, Lucknow and Meerut,
the fighting on June 23rd was fierce and desperate
from the Indian sepoys.

What was the significance of this date?

Prathmik 3 - Answer

It was the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Plassey.
It had been predicted that the British hegemony will
end on that day.

Prathmik 4

By what nickname is the area around Lodhi Estate in
Delhi sometimes also called?

This is because of the presence of buildings such as
India International Centre, India Habitat Centre,
UNICEF HQ etc.

Prathmik 4 - Answer

Steinabad after the American
architect Joseph Stein who created
the iconic buildings on this stretch.

Prathmik 5

Which famous phrase signifying unbounded optimism
was inspired by a phrase coined by Prof. Samuel Beer
and used in a 1936 Democratic National Convention
speech by Franklin D Roosevelt?

“There is a mysterious cycle in human events. To
some generations much is given. Of other generations
much is expected. This generation of Americans has a
rendezvous with ______.”

Prathmik 5 - Answer

Tryst With Destiny.

Prathmik 6

“My regiment was stationed near a small marsh (in
Secunderabad) and suffered badly, while another
regiment situated only a mile to leeward of the same
marsh escaped.”

This is an extract from a speech delivered in 1902 by a
polymath who also made significant contributions in
pure and applied mathematics as well as poetry.

Who and which speech is this an extract from?

Prathmik 6 - Answer

Ronald Ross
This is from his Nobel Prize acceptance speech discussing how he
started suspecting mosquitoes to be a vector for malaria.

Prathmik 7

The Jain Family headed by D.K. Jain started
Siddhomal and Sons, a paper and newsprint trading
organization in 1923.
They took their first step in manufacturing by setting
up the Industrial Oxygen Co. Ltd. in 1963.
Based on advice from McKinsey & Co., in 1999, they
diversified into the entertainment industry.

Name their initiative in this area.

Prathmik 7 - Answer

INOX (short for Industrial Oxygen).

Prathmik 8

Who about what?

“I wanted it to be partly India, like that guy Kipling
and The Jungle Book and all that. Basically, I wanted
Rajas. I thought why not make up an Afro-Indian
country with its own name? I wanted something
really wild-sounding. You know, like the tiger.”

Prathmik 8 - Answer

Lee Falk about the fictional country of Bangalla
(Bengali or Denkali) in Phantom comics.

Prathmik 9

He was the 1st Indian to get a PhD in English from
Cambridge University* with a dissertation on WB
Yeats. There, he started using the name, he was called
by affectionately as a child, as his pen name.

In 1955, he shifted to Delhi to join the External Affairs
Ministry as a Hindi officer. His thankless job was to
“help and assist in the progressive use of Hindi” and he
coined such terms like गृह मन्त्रालय (home ministry)
and विदे श मन्त्रालय (foreign ministry) there.
Who?

Prathmik 9 - Answer

 Harivansh Rai Bachchan

Prathmik 10

Ahmad Ali Khan Bahadur was the Nawab of a princely
state (in present day Uttar Pradesh) from 1794 to
1840.

He is famous for having developed something by
mixing English speed and obedience with the power
and ferocity of Afghan Tazis.

What?

Prathmik 10 - Answer

Rampur Greyhound.
He cross bred Afghan Tazis with the English Greyhound and
gave them the name, Rampur Greyhound

Prathmik 11

A disciple of Agastya carried two hillocks to be
installed in South India on behalf of Lord Shiva.
On the way he put the hillocks down to take some rest
and could not lift them again. He sought the help of a
passing youth who claimed ownership of these
hillocks. In the ensuing scuffle, the youth defeated the
disciple of Agastaya.

Identify both of them.
Where did this incident take place?


Idumban and Lord Murugan. The incident took place
in Palani.
Idumban then decreed that anyone who came to Palani to
worship Murugan with two hillock-shaped objects may be
granted his heart’s desire.

Prathmik 12

After Independence, he formed Pakistan’s first
National Opposition party (Pakistan Azad Party). At
loggerheads with the government and the dictators
(his brother was assassinated), he was jailed several
times.

In accordance with his wishes, he was controversially
buried in Jalalabad in Afghanistan in 1988 – this was
marked by a ceasefire in the Afghan Civil War.
Who?


Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan

Madhyamik

 23 tough questions worth 15 points each on infinite
bounce.
 Starting with 11 clockwise,
 We will have 12 counter-clockwise in the 2nd half
 No pounce

Madhyamik 1

Both these words come from the Amoy (Xiamen)
dialect of China.
A literally means dark dragon (typical look caused by
withering under the sun) while B denoting whole
leaves of a specific size literally means white downy
hair.
Identify A & B.

A B

Madhyamik 1 - Answer

A - Oolong
B - Pekoe

Madhyamik 2

Who composed the music for these two famous
Doordarshan programs?

http://youtu.be/ucrgoqMOSTM

http://youtu.be/Whq25--h4Mo


Loy Mendonsa

Madhyamik 3

Which was the first town in India to get electricity in
1902 (supplied from the Shivanasamudra
hydroelectric project), only the 2nd in the whole of Asia
after Tokyo?


Kolar Gold Fields

Madhyamik 4 - A

This Padma Bhushan awardee was
the first Indian artist to foresake
figurism for abstract art. His Banaras
series (bottom) shows the pessimistic
side of the city. The Vagabond (right)
fetched $1.1 million at Christie’s, NY.

Madhyamik 4 - B

This movie is based on the story by a Jnanpith
awardee.

http://youtu.be/gttVpwnvJ44

Identify these siblings.


Ram Kumar and Nirmal Verma

Madhyamik 5

This was the sequence that unfolded:
Burma 1969 (25 July)
Sri Lanka 1972
Nepal 1975 (6 May)
India 1975 (26 May)
Bangladesh 1975 (16 October)
Somalia 1977 (26 October)

As a result of the above, what announcement was
made on 9 December 1979?


Small Pox had been eradicated from the world.
These were dates for various countries conquering the disease.

Madhyamik 6

The duo were both camped at Amravati as part of
different drama troupes playing on the same theme of
Draupadi Vastraharan.

The audience watched both plays and wondered who
was the greater of the two. Dadasaheb Khaparde, the
uncrowned King of Varhaad, was awestruck by one of
them and exclaimed, “He tar ________ aahet!”,
comparing one to the other.

Identify both.


Bal Gandharva (Narayan Rajhans) and Sawai
Gandharva (Rambhau Kundgolkar). Dadasaheb Kaparde in
asserting that Rambhau was one and a quarter times better
than Narayan ended up giving the honorific Sawai to
Rambhau.

Madhyamik 7

He was a pioneer in more than one field.
In 1918, he founded the first trade union in India.
On May 1, 1923 he organized the first ever celebration
of May Day in the country complete with the first ever
use of the red flag in India.
In 1925, he became one of the founding fathers of the
Communist Party of India; and chaired its inaugural
convention in Kanpur.
Who?


M. Singaravelu

Madhyamik 8

He was a British Army officer and later Inspector-General
of the Royal Irish Constabulary (he resigned in the
aftermath of the 1916 Easter Rising).
He was wounded at the Battle of Kandahar (1878) during
the 2nd Anglo-Afghan War. In 1890 he became military
secretary to the Kashmir government.
In 1938 (post-retirement) in a letter to The Field, he
claimed to have done something pioneering at the officer's
mess of the 11th Devonshire Regiment in 1875 (a claim
cemented by support from the author Compton
Mackenzie).
What pioneering initiative?


Sir Neville (Francis Fitzgerald) Chamberlain invented
the game of snooker at Jabalpur in 1875.

Madhyamik 9

In 1930s while staying in Dresden she chanced upon
Uday Shankar’s touring ballet Shiva Parvati.

She joined the troupe as the leading lady and later
became a dance teacher at his school in Almora.

Among other things she choreographed this dream
sequence in Hindi movies. Who?

http://youtu.be/frkVuQAvkms


Zohra Sehgal

Madhyamik 10

This imposing gateway was built in 1784 and modelled
on a similar structure in Constantinople. It even
derives its name from a name applied to the Turkish
city.
When George Russell, a reporter of The New York
Times visited the city in 1858, he called the stretch of
road from this place to Chattar Manzil the most
beautiful and spectacular cityscape that he had ever
seen, better than Rome, Paris, London and
Constantinople.
Identify the gateway. How did its get its name?


Rumi Darwaza in Lucknow.

Rumi is Persian for Rome and was a name given to
Constantinople.

Madhyamik 11

 This place near Ahmednagar was established in 1923
and contains the tomb and other institutions created
in memory of Sheriar Irani.
 It attracts over 30,000 pilgrims on his death day
(January 31).
 From July 1925 till his death in 1969 he did not
speak a word and communicated through an
alphabet board and gestures.
 Identify the place.


 Meherabad founded by Meher Baba

Venue Gopal

 Written round
 5 clips from Indian movies – you have to identify the
subcontinental location
 5 points for a right answer
 If you get all 5 right, congratulations! You top the
round with 25 points.

Venue Gopal

1) Where is this song shot?

http://youtu.be/wHD9mdv0rMA

2) Which valley forms the backdrop
here?

http://youtu.be/VHJsc778AVM

3) Identify this tourist attraction.

http://youtu.be/Aq6IhntlmOo

Venue Gopal

4) Inside which building is this scene
shot?

http://youtu.be/TH_WRKiDy_o

5) Which place of worship forms the
backdrop?

http://youtu.be/8el9SUnPAyQ

Venue Gopal - Answers

1) Dhanushkodi.

2) Bamiyan valley in Afghanistan.

3) Marble rocks (Bheraghat) near Jabalpur on the
Narmada.

4) Afghan Church in Bombay.

5) Thiksey gompha in Ladakh

Madhyamik 12

The first completed Urdu play and opera was written by
Agha Hasan Amanat and first staged in 1853 at the
Kaiserbagh Baradari in Lucknow (specially built for this
purpose).
The play written entireley in verse has a celestial theme
featuring the romance between a prince and a fairy. The
play included 31 ghazals and 9 thumris and influenced not
just later Urdu playwrights but also the geet tradition of
popular Indian culture.

Name the play. Who played the male protagonist when the
play was first staged?


Indrasabha and Wajid Ali
Shah.

It was made into one of the
earliest talkies in 1932 and
featured a record-breaking
71 songs.

Madhyamik 13

If Chaudhary Brahm Prakash (1952-55) was the 1st and
G N Singh (1955-56) the 2nd.

What are we talking about?

Who was the 3rd between 1993-96?


Madan Lal Khurana (chief ministers of Delhi)

Madhyamik 14

This composition features a legendary father and his
three talented sons.

Identify any three.

http://youtu.be/TkEC5PUBhow


This is Tree of Rhythm featuring Allah Rakha with
Zakir Hussain, Taufiq Qureshi (and Fazal Qureshi).
This is the only recorded vocal performance of Allah
Rakha (also his last performance before he died).

Madhyamik 15

This Suryavanshi Kshatriya king and contemporary of
Lord Krishna adopted the Vaishya tradition of
business for the prosperity of his people.
He wanted to conduct 18 mahayajnas in honour of his
18 children. When he was in the process of performing
the last one, he was filled with compassion for the
horse that was to be sacrificed. He stopped and
announced that no more animal sacrifices will be
made. Thus, only 17½ yajnas were completed.
Identify the person.
What is the significance of these 17½ yajnas?


King Agrasena - the legendary king of Agroha from
whom the Agrawal clan traces its origin.
Due to these yajnas, the gods blessed him with 17 ½
Agrawal gotras:
Airan, Bansal, Bindal, Bhandal, Dharan, Garg, Goyal, Goyan (the
half gotra), Jindal, Kansal, Kuchhal, Madhukul, Mangal, Mittal,
Nangal, Singhal, Tayal, Tingle.

Madhyamik 16

Connect the song to the video.

http://youtu.be/izPRablQtGI

http://youtu.be/yqTBSxGqZfc


Akbar Allahabadi - the first song is written by him and
the name of Rishi Kapoor’s character in the movie is
inspired by him.
Syed Akbar Hussain Rizvi (Akbar Allahabadi) spoke up for
Hindu-Muslim unity. People taunted him saying that Hindus had
bribed him with wine to speak such nonsense. In response he
wrote the verse, “थोड़ी स़ी जो प़ी ऴी है .”

Madhyamik 17

5 Panchendriyas (vision, hearing, smell, taste and touch)

8 Ashtaragas (Kama, Krodha, Lobha, Moha, Madha,
Maltsarya, Asooya, Dhumb)

3 Trigunas (Satva, Rajas and Tamas)

2 (Vidya and Avidya)

One has to progressively detach oneself from all worldly
ties to be one with the Creator. What are we talking about?


Symbolism of the final 18
steps at Sabarimala.

Madhyamik 18

This is the only referendum to have been held in India
(on January 16, 1967), with its result binding on the
government.
The two options presented before the people were
‘flower’ for merger and ‘two leaves’ for retaining
independent identity.
54.20% voted against a merger, 43.50% voted in
favour.
What did the referendum set out to decide?


Goa Opinion Poll
To decide whether Goa should be merged with the state of
Maharashtra or remain a union territory. The people voted in
favour of it remaining a UT.
It was only in 1987 that Goa became a full-fledged state.

Madhyamik 19

Which Dogra tabalchi and member of SD Burman’s
orchestra played the tabla on this famous song (among
others)?

http://youtu.be/sbR_IREaTs8


Shivkumar Sharma

Madhyamik 20

A Union Minister for Irrigation and Electricity in the
1960s, Dr. Kanuri Lakshmana Rao was instrumental in
setting up Rural Electrification Corporation (REC).
The world's longest earth dam on River Krishna in
Nalgonda was his brain child. His memoir was titled
‘Cusecs Candidate’.
Sometime in the 1970s, he envisaged an idea whose
cost was initially pegged at Rs.12,500 crores (now it is
estimated at Rs 5.6 lakh crores or Rs 1 crore per
village).
What did KL Rao propose?


Inter-linking of Indian Rivers

Madhyamik 21

Positive response to an exhibition of Indian art (on loan from
various Indian museums) at the Royal Academy in London in
1947-48 followed by a display in New Delhi, led to the decision
to create a National Museum.

On 15 August 1949, the National Museum was formally
inaugurated by the Governor-General Rajagopalachari at a
temporary location.

The cornerstone of the permanent museum building was laid by
J.L. Nehru, then Prime Minister of India in May 1955 and the
building formally opened to the public in December 1960.

Where was the Indian museum based for 12 years (1949-1960)?


Rashtrapati Bhavan

Madhyamik 22

This village in Madhya Pradesh, (approximately 62 km from Jabalpur)
was founded and named after a British soldier and administrator in 1860.
One of his many achievements was the effective implementation of the
ban on Sati in Central India. He was also the earliest discoverer of
dinosaur fossils in India.
He opened a reformatory school at Jabalpur for rehabilitating a certain
bunch of children. A carpet (weighing two tons) made in this reformatory
school for Queen Victoria became the first carpet sent from India to
England.
Based on advice from a certain Baba Haridas, he visited a Devi temple in
village Kohka and was blessed with a child. He distributed 100 acres of
land to the poor of that village and this new settlement was named after
him.
Name the village. What bunch of children formed the nucleus of the
Jabalpur school?


Sleemanabad (named after William Henry Sleeman).
The children of the Pindaris and the Thugs were rehabilitated in
the Jabalpur school.

Madhyamik 23

In 1965, he along with Pravina Mehta and Shirish Patel
authored a blueprint in the art magazine Marg
describing the creation of a ‘counter-magnet’ to attract
people.
They wished that it would be discussed by the
Maharashtra Govt. ‘so that the democratic will can be
ascertained’.
The proposed blueprint was accepted and a diluted
execution started in 1972.
What blueprint? Who was the author?


New Bombay (Navi Mumbai) and Charles Correa

Prathmik 13

“On July 1, 1961, five people including myself, went out
into Brighton for some Chinese food. Having dined, I felt
pleasantly relaxed as we traveled in the Morris 100 car
given by Robin Waters…the lads decided that they would
walk the last lap back home. “Come with us, a walk will do
you good.” But I was feeling much too lazy. “No thanks, I’d
sooner ride back with Robin,” I decided. The other three
got out, and as Robin started up again I clambered over
into the front seat beside him.”

An accident happened next causing what?


Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi lost an eye
when a shard from the wind screen
penetrated his right eye.

Prathmik 14

Which territory of India famous in the field of cricket
and for its royalty went from being a kingdom to a
state to a district in just 5 months between August
1949 to January 1950?


Cooch Behar (Maharani Gayatri Devi hailed from here
and the Cooh Behar trophy is awarded for the zonal U-
19 cricket contest).

Prathmik 15

In 1864, he joined the British Army and served in
India. He worked on India’s first steam-driven road
engine. Later, he was invited to assist in the
preparation of the Electric Lighting Act. He also acted
as an advisor for the Madras Tramway and supplied
motors for it.
Globally he was involved with the standardisation of
electricity (notation, symbols etc.), he created the first
electric toaster and commercially successful oven,
created the prototype for the first practical tank.
Who?


Col. REB Crompton
Crompton Greaves traces its origin to REB Crompton & Co. set
up by him in 1878 and Greaves Cotton & Co. founded by James
Greaves in 1859.

Prathmik 16

Chitrangada was the elder son of Shantanu and
Satyavati. As Bhishma had vowed not to be a king,
Chitrangada succeeded Shantanu to the throne of
Hastinapur.
This angered a quirky Gandharva king who engaged
Chitrangada in an evenly matched battle lasting 3 days
and finally killed him. Chitrangada was succeeded by
his younger brother Vichitravirya.

Why did the Gandharva fight and kill Chitrangada?


The Gandharva king was named Chitrangada, too. He
did not want another king by the same name!

Prathmik 17

He died on Shangchuan Island while en route to
continental China in 1552.
He was buried in Malacca, but two years later shipped
back in accordance with his wishes, and given a resting
place in a casket gifted by the last of the Medicis
(Cosimo III) in a mausoleum designed by the 17th-
century Florentine sculptor Giovanni Battista Foggini.

Who?


Francis
Xavier

Prathmik 18

The circle represents the sun and the moon as well as
the circle of life, which has neither a beginning nor an
end.
The triangle is the mountain and pointed trees.

The square is the sacred enclosure or piece of land
inside which is the mother goddess Palaghata,
symbolising fertility.

What is being described?


Warli Paintings
The walls of the huts are washed with wet cow dung and smeared
with red mud. Bamboo sticks that are chewed at one end are
used as paintbrushes. The paintings are done using white rice
paste, water and gum with touches of yellow and red, usually
turmeric and kumkum.

Prathmik 19

Identify the youngest recipient of the Sahitya Akademi
Award in 1967 who also wrote the lyrics for these
songs.

http://youtu.be/D9FQ2QATaPU

http://youtu.be/A9Q9i4Z8sAo


 Shiv Kumar Batalvi

Prathmik 20

This is the largest monastery in India. It was
established in 1680 where Mera Lama Lodre Gyatso's
horse went and stopped on a hill (the name literally
means “horse chosen”).

Which monastery?

What incident catapulted this place to international
fame on 30 March 1959?


Tawang Monastery.
The Dalai Lama entered India and rested at this monastery. The
news of his escape was relayed to the world from here.

Prathmik 21

Frieze Projects East is a series of public art projects
commissioned by the Frieze Foundation as part of the
2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Which Indian artist (along with Can Altay, Anthea
Hamilton, Nicholas Byrne and Gary Webb) will design
48 billboards as part of this project and explore
“feeling of being almost there — with a win within
reach, but somehow never succumbing to glory”?


Sarnath Banerjee

Prathmik 22

A day prior to a fateful event, he wrote:
“…There will be roughly 80 million people with a grievance who
will begin looking for me. I do not want them to find me.”

WH Auden, picks up the story from the day after:
The next day he sailed for England, where he could quickly
forget
The case, as a good lawyer must. Return he would not,
Afraid, as he told his Club, that he might get shot.
Who is being referred to?


Cyril Radcliffe

Prathmik 23

Nirmala is a 1948 Malayalam film with many firsts to
its credit.
It is the fourth Malayali talkie but the first Malayali film made by
Malayalis.
First Malayali film to feature playback, with its songs being a hit.

Who wrote the lyrics for the songs?

http://youtu.be/9RwFvIjC9jQ


G Sankara Kurup
In 1965, he became the first ever recipient of the Jnanpith
Award.

BQC Open India Quiz 2012 - Finals

BQC Open India Quiz 2012 - Finals

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