Questions and Answers about
India
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in PlacesWhat is the Hindu festival known for its vibrant celebration with colored powders and marks the beginning of spring?
Answer: Holi – often called the festival of colors – is a celebration that marks the onset of spring. This festival is celebrated widely in India and Nepal, as well as by the Hindu diaspora. It is renowned for its vibrant display of colors as participants smear each other with colored powders. It signifies the…
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in PlacesThe Ram Mandir temple in Ayodhya, India, inaugurated in January 2024, stands over what historical structure?
Answer: The Ram Mandir temple, ceremoniously opened on Jan. 22, 2024, by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, now stands tall over what was once the Babri Masjid.
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in PlacesWhich country is “Bharat”?
Answer: India recently stirred the pot (and not just a curry one) by referring to itself as “Bharat” in the Sept. 2023 G20 summit dinner invitations. For those who missed the memo, “Bharat” is an ancient Sanskrit term deeply rooted in India’s history and is also the name mentioned in the Indian Constitution. But why…
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in SpaceWhat does the Sanskrit word “Pragyan” translate to?
Answer: “Pragyan” translates to ‘wisdom’ in Sanskrit. The rover, with its profound name, was part of the Chandrayaan-3 mission that successfully landed on the Moon on Aug. 23, 2023. It landed near the lunar south pole. On Sept. 2, the Pragyan rover was put into “sleep mode” to protect it during the lunar night, which…
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in PlacesWhat is the Khalistan movement?
Answer: The Khalistan movement advocates for an independent homeland for Sikhs in India’s Punjab region. While the idea of Khalistan has been around for a while, it made headlines in 2023 due to the alleged assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a prominent Canadian Sikh leader and Khalistan advocate. This incident led to a diplomatic tiff…
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in PlacesWhich country boasts the busiest rail system on the planet?
Answer: India’s railway system is ranked #1 in the world in terms of passengers carried, with a record of 721.6 billion person miles per year. This means India’s railways transport more people over greater distances than any other country. The second busiest is China, with 423.3 billion person miles per year. On June 2, 2023.…
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in FilmsWhat movie won Best Original Song at the 2023 Academy Awards?
Answer: “RRR,” a Telugu-language period action film directed by S. S. Rajamouli. won Best Original Song at the 95th Academy Awards for its title track, Naatu Naatu, composed by M. M. Keeravani and sung by Anirudh Ravichander. It is the first Indian film to win an Oscar in this category.
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in PlacesWhat is the caste system?
Answer: Caste systems have ruled India and other parts of South Asia for thousands of years, providing privileges to the upper castes and repressing the lower castes. Dalits, on the lowest rung of Indian Hindu castes. have been called “untouchables.” Caste discrimination in India was outlawed more than 70 years ago, but it still happens…
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in PlacesWhere do most of the world’s Muslims live?
Answer: According to the Pew Research Center, around 62% of the world’s Muslims live in the Asia-Pacific region (from Turkey to Indonesia), and just about 20% live in the Arab world – including the middle-east. The largest Muslim population lives in Indonesia, home to 12.7% of the world’s Muslims, followed by Pakistan (11.1%), India (10.9%),…
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in PoliticsWhat’s the 4-nation Quad?
Answer: The 4-nation Quad, Formally the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, is a strategic security dialogue between Australia, India, Japan, and the United States. It began after the devastating 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami when the four countries joined together to provide humanitarian and disaster assistance to the affected region and was formalized in 2007. The nations regrouped in…
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in booksWhere was Salman Rushdie born?
Answer: Famed novelist Salman Rushdie, 75, was born in Mumbai, India, on June 19, 1947. He was stabbed in the neck and abdomen in New York on Aug. 12, 2022, by a 24-year-old New Jersey man.
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in PoliticsThe 2021 climate talks ended with a first deal on what?
Answer: The 2021 COP26 UN climate talks ended with a deal that targeted fossil fuels as the key driver of global warming for the first time. More answers inside!
