India Quiz 2006.

I recently conducted an India Quiz, here at NCSU...here're the prelims questions...feel free to leave answers in the comments...some are downright easy, some moderately difficult I should say...I shall put up the correct answers in about 2-3 days...

1. India has three official archipelagos (a lanform which consists of a chain
 or cluster of islands). Name them.

2. This dance form originated as devotional dances, which were performed in
 goddess Durga's honour. It shows the mock fight between the Goddess and
 Mahishasura and is nick-named the "sword-dance". Other variations find
 origins to the life and times of Lord Krishna. Which dance ?

3. A rectangular piece of unstitched cloth, it is wrapped in, at times, a
 complex manner around the waist and legs. Apparently there are 60 ways
 of draping this ornament. It's name in some south Indian languages,
 indicates that as much as five knots are required to wrap it in the formal
 style. What ?

4. The first foundation was laid at Burhanpur in Madhya Pradesh, but was the
 shifted to its current famous location, after problems in transporting
 the raw material to Burhanpur. What ?

5. Which famous pesonality founded the "hawala party" and got it registered
 with the election commission ?

6. At the age of 14, he was sent to the Rugby School in England. He continued
 his studies at Kings College, Cambridge, where he read history. On
 graduation, in 1968, he worked for the Pakistani TV industry. From 1971 to
 1981 he worked intermittently as a freelance advertising copywriter for
 Ogilvy and Mather and then went on to achieve international fame/notoriety.
 Who ?

7. Initially known as the "Hindustan Landmaster", it later became an icon of
 sorts in India. What ?

8. His original family name was "Kaul, but then his ancestors changed the name
to "one that dwells besides the canal". His autobiography starts with "An only
son of prosperous parents, is apt to be spoilt, especially in India". Who ?

9. M L Jaisimha is one of two Indian batsmen to have batted on all five days
of a test match. Who was the other ?

10. Michael Madhusudhan Dutt published a partial translation of s famous
literary work, and named it "Hector Badh". Name the original.

11. Why is Uttarkashi named so ?

12. It is a derivative of the leaf and flower of the female cannabis plant,
and is used to make beverages and smoked at times. The mughals believed it to
be an aphrodisiac. What ?

13. His real name was Singanalluru Puttaswamayya Muthuraju and was often
referred to as the John Wayne of India. Who ?

14. Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and his followers, especially, former Major
General Shabeg Singh (who was dismissed from the Indian Army in 1976), started
a sequence of events that finally culminated in what military operation ?

15. On June 8, 1948, a Lockheed Constellation aircraft named "Malabar Princess", took
off from Bombay for London, via Cairo and Geneva. What did this mark ?

16. The great poet, Purandara Dasa (also known as Sangita Pitamaha) laid out
the basic learning structure and framework for what ?

17. "this twenty sixth day of November, 1949, do hereby adopt, enact and give
to ourselves this Contitution." -- the last line of what ?

18. Connect : tatkar (fast footwork), chakkar (pirouettes), temple dancers, the bhakti
movement and mughal court dancers.

19. It falls on the Phalgun purnima and spans two days, the second of which is
known as "dhulandi". In vrindavan and mathura where lord krishna is supposed
to have grown up, it is celebrated for 16 days. What ?

20. What specifically dis Aryabhatta refer to as "bijaganitham" ?

21. Located 10 kms from Pune, it is the first joint services academy in the
world. Name the institution and the place. (no half marks)

22. What is the constitutional body, in India, to conduct examinations for the
appointment to the services of the union ?

23. Who is the current Chief Justice of India ?

24. What was the name of the commission set up to investigate the events of
the Babri masjid demolition ?

The remaining ones were audio-visual questions, which I am not putting up right now...