It’s 2016, and as good a time as any for a quiz about the year that was.

Looking back

1 What was started on January 1, 2015, with Sindushree Khullar as CEO, replacing an institution inspired by a body that started in 1921 and finally wrapped up in 1991?

2 Why did Carolina Marin’s defeat to Ratchanok Intanon on March 28, 2015, create front page news in India?

3 Version ‘O’ of the ‘Les Femmes d’Alger’ series set a new record for a painting at a Christie’s auction in May, selling for $179.3 million and comfortably beating the previous record held by Francis Bacon’s ‘Three Studies of Lucien Freud.’ Name the painter.

4 In December, which company became the first private institution to create a space rocket that managed to land its first stage back to the ground at Cape Canaveral? The owner is probably even more famous than the organisation.

5 Which actor, who passed away last year, was so associated with one specific role that his two autobiographies were titled ‘I Am Not ______’ and ‘I Am _____’, both blanks being the name of the same role?

6 In 2015, who announced her retirement immediately after winning her first Grand Slam singles tennis event?

7 Last year, who was the most searched person in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and, strangely, Bolivia?

8 Which organisation’s website has the url www.abc.xyz?

9 In more important news, why did a British Airways flight from London to Dubai in March 2015 return to Heathrow about 40 minutes after take-off? Fittingly, the news was first broadcast on Twitter by a certain Abhishek Sachdev?

10 In July 2015, NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft completed the first close fly-by of which astronomical body in our solar system?

Answers

1. The NITI Aayog, which replaced the Planning Commission — which in turn was based on the Soviet Gosplan

2. Marin’s defeat meant that Saina Nehwal, who had beaten Yui Hashimoto of Japan in another encounter in the Indian Open tournament, became the first ever Indian woman to be ranked No 1 in world badminton

3. Pablo Picasso; this was the final painting of his ‘Women Of Algiers’ series

4. Spacex, a company founded in 2002 by tech entrepreneur Elon Musk

5. Leonard Nimoy, who appeared as Spock the Vulcan in the Star Trek series

6. Italian Flavia Penetta, who beat fellow Italian Roberta Vinci in the finals

7. Katrina Kaif

8. Alphabet, the new parent company of Google, created by Sergey Brin and Larry Page

9. Smelly poo. The stink was so unbearable from one of the toilets that the crew decided to return to Heathrow

10. Pluto; the spaceship was launched in 2006, and crossed Jupiter in 2007

Joy Bhattacharjya is a quizmaster and Project Director, FIFA U-17 World Cup

Follow Joy on Twitter @joybhattacharj

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