The document provides information about the prelims round of the BQC Open Quizzes held in 2012. It includes 28 questions to be answered by teams of 3 participants. Questions 11-18 are marked as tiebreakers. The top 8 teams will qualify for the finals. Participants are instructed to answer legibly and try to spell answers correctly. Electronic devices should be kept far away during the quiz. The questions cover a range of topics on history, people, places and current events related to India.

1. The BQC Open Quizzes, 2012
THE BOMBAY QUIZ CLUB

3. Preliminary Round
INDIA QUIZ

4. Preliminary Round
 Teams of 3 – please let us know if you need partners
 28 questions
 Please answer legibly – if we can’t read it, it’s wrong
 This isn’t a spelling bee, but do try & get as close as possible
 Questions 11-18 are * marked and are tiebreakers
 The top 8 teams will qualify for the finals
 Please put your electronic devices far away

5. Prelims 1
This is the I. M. Kadri designed CEAT Mahal in Worli.
What is the inspiration for this building?

6. Prelims 1 – Answer
 Hawa Mahal in Jaipur
Just like the Hawa Mahal catches breeze and a view
from all parts, the CEAT Mahal catches the sun
allowing for terrace garden on each floor.

7. Prelims 2
Who was the first Indian to be knighted?
He was in the business of manufacturing bottles and
was therefore called ‘Bottlewaller’.

8. Prelims 2 – Answer
Sir Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy, 1st Baronet.
JJ School of Art, Architecture etc. are named after him.

9. Prelims 3
Anu Kapur was crowned Miss India in 2006. She
married the guy in the picture in December 2011
Identify the guy (his real name or the name under
which he has gained fame).

10. Prelims 3 – Answer
Kunal Nayyar as Raj Koothrapalli

11. Prelims 4
Which cricketing trophy for test matches between two
nations was instituted in 2007 and named for a person
who played for both these countries?

12. Prelims 4 – Answer
The Pataudi trophy (named after Iftikhar Ali Khan
Pataudi)

13. Prelims 5
Primarily domestic-focused, some of its international
‘clients’ include WIPO, IAEA and WHO.
Founded in 1860, Sir Edmund Drummend was the first
person to head this department. Famous people who
worked in this department include Sarat Chandra
Chatterjee and CV Raman.
In independent India, V Narahari Rao became the first
head on Aug 15, 1948.
Identify the designation of the head of this department.

14. Prelims 5 – Answer
Comptroller & Auditor General of India
The department is called the Indian Audit and Accounts
Department (IAAD). Vinod Rai is the current CAG of India.

15. Prelims 6
The name of this caste in Tamil literally means “one
who rules the land”. The community was previously
known as Shanar but legally changed its name in 1921.
In post independent India, they have made significant
progress through education and entrepreneurship
which has also elicited international academic interest
and appreciation.
One of the richest persons in India is from this
community.
Which community?

16. Prelims 6 – Answer
Nadar

17. Prelims 7
Which is the largest functioning Hindu temple in the
world?
It also houses India’s largest stepwell with 2870 steps
and the world's smallest animatronic robot.

18. Prelims 7 – Answer
Swaminarayan Akshardham temple in Delhi.

19. Prelims 8
He became the youngest winner of the PVC at the age of
21, when as a 2nd Lieutenant he destroyed five tanks in
the battle of Shakargarh in 1971.
The NDA parade ground in Khadakvasla is named after
him. Who?

20. Prelims 8 – Answer
Arun Khetarpal

21. Prelims 9
Twelve-year-old Elaine D’Lima stood first in a story-
telling contest held across schools of Bombay.
On November 14, 1980, she was chosen to launch what
at Birla Mathusree Sabhagar, Bombay?

22. Prelims 9 – Answer
Tinkle Comics

23. Prelims 10
In 1946, this football player was watching a practice
session of the Bengal Nagpur Railway hockey team in
Kharagpur.
Finding themselves short of a player, the captain,
Dickie Carr, who had represented India at the 1936
Berlin Olympics, thrust a stick in his hands. He went
on to be a part of the Indian gold medal winning
hockey team at the 1948 London Olympics.
Identify.

24. Prelims 10 – Answer
Leslie Claudius
He and Udham Singh are the
only hockey players to win 3
Olympic gold medals.

25. Prelims 11 *
In 1719, he was witness to a noisy discussion in the
court of Mughal Emperor Muhammad Shah about how
to determine an auspicious date when the emperor
could start a journey.
This led him to think on the need to improve the
knowledge of a particular subject.
It is a marvel that in the midst of local wars and
foreign invasions, he found the time and the energy to
do so much about it.
What did he do?

26. Prelims 11 * – Answer
Sawai Jai Singh II built the Jantar Mantars
(astronomical observatories) at Delhi, Mathura,
Benares, Ujjain and Jaipur.

27. Prelims 12 *
Which 9-time National Film awardee has the
distinction of having directed the most number of
films in India (over 80)?
He also gave breaks to over 100 actors and actresses
including two of the biggest names in the Indian film
industry.

28. Prelims 12 * – Answer
K Balachander
A Dadasaheb Phalke award winner, he introduced Rajinikanth
and Kamal Hassan

29. Prelims 13 *
On January 1, 1894, an order of the Government in the
military department eliminated which word from the
designation of all Indian infantry regiments, as it had
acquired an insulting connotation?

30. Prelims 13 * – Answer
Native

31. Prelims 14 *
In colonial times, when these were transported by sea
from India to Europe (trip taking nearly 6 months), the
humidity and sea winds would combine to ripen it and
change its colour from green to pale yellow.
This new form became a hit with the Europeans and
continues to be protected today through GI tag.
What?

32. Prelims 14 * – Answer
Monsooned Malabar Coffee Beans

33. Prelims 15 *
Rai Sahib Harbilas _____ (representative of Ajmer-
Merwana in the Legislative Assembly, social reformer,
historic scholar of the Rajputana and an educator)
introduced a bill in 1927 prohibiting child marriage of
Hindu girls below 12 and boys below 15.
It came into force in 1930.
FITB.

34. Prelims 15 * – Answer
Sarda
The bill was the Child Marriage Restraint Act,
popularly called the Sarda Act.

35. Prelims 16 *
The Deccan Gymkhana of Pune drafted the first rules
and regulations of this game in 1914. In 1919, the
elliptical field dimensions were standardised. However,
the field shape was changed to rectangular in 1935.
National championships started in 1959. Eklavya Award
and Rani Laxmibai Awards are given to the ‘Man and
Woman of the Tournament.’
Which sport?

36. Prelims 16 * – Answer
Kho Kho

37. Prelims 17 *
DKT International is a charitable organisation that
promotes family planning and prevention of HIV
through social marketing. It is named after
Dharmendra Kumar Tyagi, a health official during the
1960s.
What ‘invention’ of his can be seen across India and
other countries such as Ghana, Zimbabwe and Egypt?

38. Prelims 17 * – Answer
Red Triangle (symbol of Family Planning)

39. Prelims 18 *
Which journalist, historian, poet and dramatist was
given the title Moon of India in 1880 in a public
meeting by the unanimous consent of the vernacular
press and vidwans (learned men) of Kasi headed by
Pandit Rama Sankar Vyas, Editor of Sarsudh-Nidhi?

40. Prelims 18 * – Answer
Bharatendu Harishchandra

41. Prelims 19
In 1986, when nominated to the Rajya Sabha whose
first and only speech was regarding the abolition of
school bags, on account of them being a burden for the
children?

42. Prelims 19 – Answer
RK Narayan

43. Prelims 20
Akhilesh Kumar Yadav has garnered a lot of press in
recent days for becoming at the age of 38, one of the
youngest chief ministers in the country.
Who was the youngest ever chief minister at the age of
32?

44. Prelims 20 – Answer
Prafulla Kumar Mahanta

45. Prelims 21
The monument on the left is inspired by the one on the
right. Identify the one on the left.

46. Prelims 21 - Answer
Deekshabhoomi in Nagpur, where Ambedkar
converted to Buddhism.

47. Prelims 22
Every (old) quizzer’s favourite memory!
Which famous voice intones the familiar words
“Cadbury’s presents the Bournvita Quiz contest”?
http://youtu.be/zCbJjHObrK8

48. Prelims 22 – Answer
Hamid Sayani
Program started in 1972 with Hamid. Ameen took it over after
his brother’s death in 1975. However, the original
announcement was retained.

49. Prelims 23
Which Padma Shri awardee and Karate brown belt
holder, who is often confused with another sporting
icon, is the brand ambassador of the Deccan Chargers
in the IPL?

50. Prelims 23 – Answer
Saina Nehwal

51. Prelims 24
This curious sounding name goes back to a 1757 treaty
between Mir Jafar and the East India Company, by
which Mir Jafar ceded revenue rights in a certain
number of revenue divisions under the Mughal
administration.
What is being referred to?

52. Prelims 24 – Answer
24 Parganas
‘Pargana’ was the name given to a type of revenue division
under Mughal administration. These have now been divided
into districts named North 24 Parganas and South 24
Parganas in West Bengal.

53. Prelims 25
Only time that the Ashok Chakra has been awarded to
foreigners was on April 11 1984 when Yuri Malyshev
and Gennady Strekalov were honoured.
Who was the third awardee along with them?

54. Prelims 25 – Answer
Rakesh Sharma (for the space voyage onboard the
Russian ship Soyuz T-11).

55. Prelims 26
Connect video with the visual.
http://youtu.be/yUDLkVbW14w

56. Prelims 26 – Answer
Bidar
The song is shot at Bidar Fort while the hookah at the Louvre
is an example of Bidriware.

57. Prelims 27
The maternal grandfather of actress Amrita Singh lives
in Sujan Singh Park near Khan Market, New Delhi,
which is Delhi’s first apartment complex built by his
father in 1945, and named after his grandfather.
His father was a major landowner and built several
prominent buildings of Lutyen’s Delhi including South
Block, India Gate and Connaught Place market
complex.
Name the maternal grandfather.

58. Prelims 27 – Answer
Khushwant Singh

59. Prelims 28
The questions were:
1) Who is the greatest Lord in this world?
2) Who is the sole refuge for everyone everywhere?
3) By worshipping whom can one attain peace and
prosperity?
4) Who can confer auspiciousness on man?
5) What is the greatest dharma?
6) By meditating on whom can ‘beings’ transcend the cycle of
endless births and deaths?
What was the answer?

60. Prelims 28 – Answer
Vishnu Sahasranamam

61. We will start the finals in 15 minutes
INDIA QUIZ