Indian Mythology, Sports & Civics Quiz

Bhishma (Gangaputra, son of Ganga) received the boon of 'Ichcha Mrityu' (death at will) from his father Shantanu. This allowed him to choose the time of his death, and he lay on a bed of arrows for 58 days after the war until he chose to die. Yudhishthira, Arjuna, and Krishna did not have this specific boon.

Suprateeka was the name of Bhagadatta's elephant that attacked Arjuna on the 13th day of the Kurukshetra war. Bhagadatta, riding Suprateeka, nearly killed Arjuna with his Vaishnavastra before Krishna intervened and took the weapon upon himself. Ashwathama was Drona's son, Gajraaj is a common elephant name, and Suparna is related to birds.

After learning of Abhimanyu's brutal death, Arjuna took a terrible vow to kill Jayadratha before sunset the next day, or else commit suicide by entering fire. This led to the dramatic events on the 14th day of war. Ashwathama, Dronacharya, and Karna were not the specific targets of this vow.

After Dronacharya's death on the 15th day, Karna was appointed as the supreme commander of the Kaurava army. He led the forces for two days (15th and 16th) until his death in combat with Arjuna. Ashwathama became a key commander after Karna's death, but not the immediate successor to Drona.

Dronacharya was killed by Drishtadyumna, the brother of Draupadi and prince of Panchala. This was part of a planned strategy - Drona was demoralized by the false news of Ashwathama's death, and Drishtadyumna seized the opportunity to attack him. Arjuna, Yudhishthira, and Satyaki were not Drona's killer.

After Draupadi's humiliating disrobing attempt, she vowed to keep her hair untied until it could be washed with Dushasana's blood. After the war, Bhima killed Dushasana, brought his blood, and fulfilled Draupadi's vow by washing her hair with it. Duryodhana, Karna, and Ashwathama were not the specific targets of this vow.

Sanjaya was blessed with divine sight (divya drishti) by Sage Vyasa to narrate the Kurukshetra war events to the blind King Dhritrashtra in real-time. He could see and describe everything happening on the battlefield from afar, allowing the king to 'watch' the war. This is a key narrative device in the Mahabharata epic.

The traditional cricket Test match played at Melbourne Cricket Ground starting December 26th is called the Boxing Day Test. It's an annual fixture where Australia plays a touring team. The Ashes is a specific England-Australia rivalry, not the name of this Boxing Day tradition.

Vece Paes won a bronze medal in field hockey at the 1972 Munich Olympics. His son, Leander Paes, later won a bronze medal in lawn tennis at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. The question correctly identifies the different sport in which the son achieved Olympic success.

Lance Armstrong won 7 consecutive Tour de France titles from 1999-2005. He won 6 of those (1999-2004) with the US Postal Service team, and his final one (2005) with Discovery Channel. The question specifically asks about the 6 out of 7, which refers to his US Postal victories.

Members of the Rajya Sabha are elected indirectly by the elected members of the State Legislative Assemblies. This system of indirect election ensures that only elected representatives participate in choosing the Rajya Sabha members, maintaining the federal structure's integrity.

Election petitions are filed to challenge the validity of an election. Under the Constitution, the power to decide election petitions is vested in the High Courts. The High Court's decision can then be appealed to the Supreme Court.

Article 84(b) of the Indian Constitution sets the minimum age for election to the Lok Sabha at 25 years. This is higher than the voting age (18 years) and the age for Rajya Sabha (30 years), reflecting the maturity expected of those directly elected to the Lower House.

The Legislative Council has a staggered retirement system. Unlike the Legislative Assembly or Lok Sabha which have fixed terms, the Council's members retire in batches - one-third every two years. This ensures continuity while allowing periodic renewal of membership.

Under Article 125(2) of the Constitution, the salaries and allowances of High Court judges are charged to the Consolidated Fund of India. This centralized charging ensures financial independence of the judiciary and uniformity across states, preventing state legislatures from influencing judges through financial control.

Michael Phelps first competed in the Olympics at Sydney 2000 when he was 15 years old. He did not win any gold medals in his first appearance - he finished 5th in the 200m butterfly. His first gold medals came in Athens 2004, where he won 6 gold medals.

Carl Lewis is one of only three athletes to win gold in the same event in four consecutive Olympic games (1984, 1988, 1992, 1996). He achieved this unique record in the Long Jump, winning gold each time. The other two events mentioned (100m, 200m) he also won multiple times, but not four in a row.

Brahma originally had five heads according to Puranic texts. Shiva plucked out one head as punishment for Brahma's arrogance and lying, leaving him with four heads. This story explains why Brahma is depicted with four heads in Hindu iconography.

Nine avatars of Vishnu have already appeared: Matsya, Kurma, Varaha, Narasimha, Vamana, Parashurama, Rama, Krishna, and Buddha. The tenth avatar, Kalki, is yet to come and will appear at the end of the current age (Kali Yuga) to restore dharma.