Indian Culture

Bhanu Athaiya became the first Indian to win an Academy Award (Oscar), for Costume Design for Gandhi in 1983.

Swami Vivekananda’s spiritual teacher was Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa of Dakshineswar. Vivekananda became his prominent disciple and later founded the Ramakrishna Mission.

Bal Gangadhar Tilak started the Marathi newspaper Kesari in 1881. He also founded the English newspaper The Mahratta.

The Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA) was formed in 1928 after the reorganization of the Hindustan Republican Association. Bhagat Singh and his associates were prominent members.

The first no-confidence motion in the Indian Parliament was moved in 1963 by J. B. Kripalani. No-confidence motions test whether the Council of Ministers retains Lok Sabha support.

Junko Tabei of Japan became the first woman to summit Mount Everest on 16 May 1975. Bachendri Pal was the first Indian woman to do so, in 1984.

The Gayatri Mantra occurs in the Rigveda, specifically Mandala 3, Hymn 62, Verse 10. It is addressed to Savitr, the solar deity.

The Burdwan Trophy is associated with weightlifting. Named sporting trophies are often used in Indian national-level competitions.

The Jama Masjid of Agra was commissioned by Shah Jahan in 1648 in honour of his daughter Jahanara Begum.

Wimbledon is the only Grand Slam played on a grass court. It is held annually in London and is traditionally the oldest of the four Grand Slam tournaments.

The first Commonwealth Games were held in Hamilton, Canada, in 1930, originally under the name British Empire Games.

The Grammy Awards honour outstanding achievements in the music industry. They are presented by the Recording Academy in the United States.

Venice is known as the “Queen of the Adriatic” because of its historic maritime power and location on the Adriatic Sea.

In cricket, a Chinaman is an older term for a left-arm unorthodox wrist spinner, i.e. a left-arm bowler whose wrist spin turns the ball in the opposite direction to conventional left-arm spin.

Kanishka is sometimes called the “Second Ashoka” because of his patronage of Buddhism. He was a major Kushan ruler associated with the spread of Mahayana Buddhism.

Gautama Buddha died at Kushinagar in present-day Uttar Pradesh. His death, traditionally dated to the 5th century BCE, is called Mahaparinirvana.

Jyotiba Phule founded the Satyashodhak Samaj in 1873 in Maharashtra to challenge caste discrimination and promote social equality.

Cuttack in Odisha is known as the “Silver City” because of its famous Tarakasi silver filigree craft.

Peng Karkli is a traditional festival associated with the Karbi community of Assam.

Stephen Hawking wrote A Brief History of Time, first published in 1988. The book explains cosmology and major ideas about the origin and structure of the universe.