Bengaluru :
“No clues, No clues,” came the fervent pleas from a crowd of 1,200 students from 200 schools, as they competed for a place in the finals of the Times NIE Quizomania 2015-16. It was held jointly with the State Bank of India at The Cathedral High School, Bengaluru, on Thursday.
The excitement and tension was palpable from the word go, as quizmaster Giri ‘Pickbrain’ Balasubramanium took them through 20 questions in the preliminary round, before 12 schools made it to the semifinals. Presidency School, RT Nagar, walked away with the winning trophy.
They also got an impromptu cash prize of Rs 10,116, from Vijaya Kumar, general manager-network II of SBI, St Mark’s Road.
From Viv Richards starting his cricketing career from K Chinnaswamy Stadium to RBI governor Raghuram Rajan starring in the Oscar-winning documentary ‘Inside Job’, to Fauntelroy being Donald Duck’s middle name, the students had answers to almost all the questions.
Chief general manager of SBI Rajni Mishra said: “Some of the questions bowled me over; the children know so much today. I am often asked where I see India going economically, and today I can say that India is going to be No 1 in the world soon. We will have brilliant scientists, entrepreneurs and leaders,” she said.
Isabella Simon, principal of The Cathedral High School, said quizzing is a fun way to learn and gather information. CEO of Greycaps India Pvt. Ltd Giri Balasubramanium said he was delighted to see so many girls taking to quizzing. “Girls opening up to a mind sport like quizzing is a fantastic new trend. The comfort level the youngsters have with all the information around them is also amazing,” he said.
The winners, Aymen Maqsood and Bavadharini Manohar attributed their success to the 40-minute quiz they have in school every day, and reading the newspaper. The prizes to the winners were sponsored by Vedantu.com. General manager-network I, YV Ramana Murthy was among those who gave away the prizes.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Bengaluru / by Santrupti Rajankar, TNN / August 21st, 2015