IIFT, Kolkata team crowned as the National Champions of Tata Crucible Campus Quiz 2015

Kunal Malhotra and Viraj Bake from Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, Kolkata emerged as the National Champions in a neck-to-neck fight at the National Finals of the Tata Crucible Campus Quiz 2015 held in Mumbai on April 19, 2015. Giving the winners a tough competition were Anivesh Baratam and Kushal Shah from The LNM Institute of Information Technology, Jaipur, the second team to qualify from India for the final face-off with the top two teams of the Singapore edition of the quiz. Tata Crucible Campus Quiz, India’s largest and most awaited inter-collegiate business quiz, is a knowledge initiative by the Tata Group that aims to provide a distinctive platform for the sharpest young minds to showcase their quizzing mettle.

Bringing an exciting close to the 11th edition of the quiz, was the battle-of-minds between the top two teams of the India and the Singapore edition of the quiz. Kunal Malhotra and Viraj Bake from IIFT, Kolkata also clinched the title of International Champions. The final face-off saw the four teams fighting for each point, keeping the audience on the edge-of-their seats.

THE WIN!

The chief guest of the evening, Mr. R. Gopalakrishnan, Director, Tata Sons, felicitated the winning teams. The National Champions were awarded the coveted Tata Crucible Campus Quiz 2015 trophy and the team prize money of Rs 7,00,000*. As a special prize this year, Bolt,*the all-new sporty hatchback from Tata Motors, was also given to each of the members of the national winning team. In line with the philosophy of the Tata group of giving back to society, Tata Crucible endeavours to encourage the culture of philanthropy among the participants. To this effect, the construct of the prize money of the National Champions seeks them to contribute Rs. 2 lakhs* out of the total win to a charity of their choice, fulfilling specified conditions*.The International Champions received an exciting holiday package and a laptop, each. 

*Subject to tax deduction as applicable

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. R. Gopalakrishnan said, “The Tata Crucible Campus Quiz is a wonderful initiative.  I feel extremely proud that, this year, we have been able to touch the lives of over 8000 young minds from across colleges in India and Singapore, stimulating their creativity and curiosity. My message to the young people is to continue intellectual engagements like debating, quizzing and writing in order to grow and learn throughout their lives.”

Thrilled with his win as the National Champion, Kunal Malhotra from IIFT, Kolkata said, “We are delighted to win the national and international finals of the Tata Crucible Campus Quiz 2015. We won the Kolkata round last year but did not think we would reach this far. The participants make the show what it is with their vibrancy and zest for competition. There is a lot of passion for quizzing and it is commendable to see that the Tata group has created a niche segment with this show."

The top two teams from each of the four zones that battled it out for the coveted top position at the National Finals were as under:

Rohan Naidu & Shivam Bharadwaj from National University of Singapore and Karan Prasad & Sagar from National University of Singapore participated in the final clash with the top two teams from the India edition.

THE FORMAT!

This year, the format of the quiz was inspired by ‘CRICKET’ as the campus edition ran parallel to the World Cup. The questions were segmented based on runs where the pre-defined value of the question ranged from 50, 60 or 75 runs. Every single question or ‘DELIVERY’ was a fair play to all the teams who could go for it on a buzzer. The quiz included segments like ‘TAKING GUARD’ and ‘SLOG OVERS’.

The format was a huge hit across the country and produced some nail biting finishes. The larger objective was to create a gamification platform that would help future leaders to experience ‘decision making’, ‘situation management’ and ‘strategize and learn to take calculated risks’ all in ambit of fun and learning at a quiz.

THE QUIZMASTER!

The quiz was hosted by the ace quizmaster, Giri Balasubramaniam, a.k.a. Pickbrain. Bowling questions like

Q. “A member of the original cast of Agatha Christie's play Mousetrap, he sold his 10 percent production rights of the play to finance his dream which won him an Oscar for best film and direction. Which Oscar winner's epic is this?”

A. Richard Attenborough’s Gandhi

Q. “George Witter, one of the first board members of the Tata Engineering Co, the previous avatar of Tata Motors, was the first President of IIA from 1917. What did he architect for the Tatas?”

A. Bombay House

Q. “The patent for what was given by US Patent department to Clarence Saunders on October 9, 1917 which he used for his grocery store 'Piggly Wiggly'?”

A. Self Service Store

The quizmaster kept the contestants as well as the audience engaged with his distinctive and witty style of quizzing.

THE ENGAGEMENT!

This year, the India edition of Tata Crucible Campus Quiz saw over 3900 teams from across 32 cities battling it out to secure the top 8 spots in the National Finals. The Singapore edition of the quiz received participation from over 90 teams from prominent educational institutions like Nanyang Technological University, National University of Singapore, S. P. Jain Institute of Management and Research, Singapore Management University and Singapore Institute of Management (SIM), among others.

Entering its second decade of exciting quizzing, Tata Crucible Campus Quiz 2015 engaged with, and challenged, the student community by bringing together the sharpest young minds, and testing their speed of thought and lateral thinking skills in a healthy competitive environment. Tata Crucible Campus Quiz is open to all accredited business schools, engineering colleges and other fulltime college students, who can participate in teams of two each from the same institution.

TALK TO US!

You can follow Tata Crucible Campus Quiz on:
• Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/TataCrucible
• Twitter:https://twitter.com/Tata_Crucible
• YouTube:http://www.youtube.com/user/TataCrucible
• Mobile App: Download the Tata Crucible Brainbox mobile app on your android phone

The prizes for Tata Crucible Campus Quiz 2015 are being supported by Tata Docomo, Fastrack and Tata Motors.

About the Tata Group:

The Tata group’s core purpose is to improve the quality of life of the communities it serves globally, through long-term stakeholder value creation based on leadership with trust. Founded by Jamsetji Tata in 1868, the Tata group is a global enterprise headquartered in India, and comprises over 100 operating companies, with operations in more than 100 countries across six continents, exporting products and services to over 150 countries. The revenue of Tata companies, taken together, was $103.27 billion (around Rs 624,757 crore) in 2013-14, with 67.2 percent of this coming from businesses outside India. Tata companies employ over 581,000 people worldwide. Good corporate citizenship is part of the Tata group’s DNA. Sixty six percent of the equity of Tata Sons, the promoter holding company, is held by philanthropic trusts, thereby returning wealth to society. As a result of this unique ownership structure and ethos of serving the community, the Tata name has been respected for more than 140 years and is trusted for its adherence to strong values and business ethics.Each Tata company or enterprise operates independently and has its own board of directors and shareholders, to whom it is answerable. There are 32 publicly-listed Tata enterprises and they have a combined market capitalisation of about $134.3 billion (as on April 16, 2015), and a shareholder base of 3.9 million. Tata companies with significant scale include Tata Steel, Tata Motors, Tata Consultancy Services, Tata Power, Tata Chemicals, Tata Global Beverages, Tata Teleservices, Titan, Tata Communications and Indian Hotels.