Pop Culture
What was the most popular movie battle in Hollywood in 2024? One of them went on to win the Oscar for best movie (name the movie)
BarbenHeimer, Oppenheimer
Name 2 athletes who set the record for the oldest players to win the Gold in their respective sport in the 2024 Paris Olympics
Simone Biles @ 27 oldest gymnast, Djokovic @ 36 tennis
Name any 4 countries where incumbent parties suffered in elections this year having to form coalition governments or losing the office altogether
India, UK, US, Japan, South Africa, Germany
How much did it cost to build DeepSeek? China's groundbreaking AI tech that beat ChatGPT, Gemini by a mile
$5.6 Million
What is Varun's role title at Google?
Central Strategy & Operations Manager, Top Partners
Name 5 celebrities at the Ambani wedding (need to cover at least per category): Sports, Business, Politics, Movie/Reality Actor, Music
John Cena, Mark Zuckerberg, Tony Blair, Kim Kardashian, Rihanna
Dhoni, Adani, Modi, SRK, Shreya Ghoshal
There were 13 sports players in the top 50 most searched people globally in 2024, name any 3
Alt: Name the top 3 most searched sports players in India in 2024
Serena Williams, LeBron James, Cristiano Ronaldo, Stephen Curry, Lewis Hamilton
Vinesh Phogat, Hardik Pandya, Lakshya Sen
In which state is India's govt-funded first fully solar powered village located?
Masali Village in Gujarat
When Tech met Science: Which AI innovators won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry this year? (Bonus $200 if you can also name the prize winners in Physics)
Demis Hassabis and John Jumper for developing an “AI model to solve a 50-year-old problem: predicting proteins’ complex structures.”
John Hopfield and Geofrey Hinton "for foundational discoveries and inventions that enable machine learning with artificial neural networks"
Name 3 of Varun's friends in the Bay Area
Sravya, Prashanth, Shruti, Abhishek, Avinash
This Indian celebrity had the highest grossing concert tour of 2024 (highest selling Asian artist)
Diljit Dosanjh
What were the 4 retirement announcements after India's T20 world cup win in 2024?
Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Jadeja (Players) and Dravid (Coach)!
Name all the countries that Israel retaliated against since the Hamas war began in its efforts to regain control and peace
Palestine, Iran, Lebanon, Yemen, Syria
Name any 1 of India's top 5 IPOs of 2024 and the value
Hyundai motor: $3.3bn, Swiggy: $1.35bn, NTPC Green: $1.2bn, Bajaj Housing: $782mn, Ola Electric: $732mn
How many hours did Varun play tennis in 2024?
200 hours
This Telugu actor-actress couple who tied the knot in 2024 were introduced by the actor's father. Name the couple and where their wedding was held
Bonus $100 if you can name where they hail from
1) Naga Chaitanya, Sobhita Dulipala
3) Annapurna Studios
Hyderabad & Vizag
Which country reigned supreme at the Ballon D'or 2024 awards securing both male & female titles (name the country & the winners)
Alt: The first player to score 900 career goals in football
Spain - Aitana Bonmati, Rodri
Alt: Cristiano Ronaldo
2024 was the year of roads for India (27km of roads per day) - name 3 major expressways that opened.
Alt: Blast off of the highest motorable tunnel
Delhi-Mumbai, Bangalore-Chennai, Agra-Gwalior, Delhi-Gurgaon
Alt: Shinkun La Tunnel
Name any two iconic Fortune 500 brands which announced a change in CEO in 2024 (Bonus $100 each for naming the new CEOs taking charge)
Nike - Elliott Hill, Starbucks - Brian Niccol, Estee Lauder - Stephanie de la fevrie, Nissan - Ivan Espinosa
Disney - TBC (Bob Iger resigned)
How many cities did Varun travel to in 2024?
12 - Hyderabad, Gurgaon, Kyoto, Tokyo, Berlin, Munich, Frankfurt, Goa, Bangkok, SF, NY, San Diego
Fill in the blanks of the 3 most viral phrases of 2024 on social media
Very ______, very mindful
_______ Summer
Looking for a man in ________
Alternative: The 2 most streamed Indian songs of 2024 are from the same movie - name the movie and the songs
Very Demure, very mindful
Brat Summer
Looking for a man in Finance
Alt: Pehle Bhi Main, Satranga from Animal
In a rare show of cross-border unity, 2 teams from warring countries took a selfie after being adjudged winner & runners up displaying true olympic spirit: name the countries (bonus points for naming the sport)
North Korea & South Korea in TT
What is the highest value Bitcoin reached this year due to a politician's remarks? Name the politician and the initiative for bonus +$200
$109,026, Trump, Bitcoin reserve
Which companies were involved in the biggest M&A deal of 2024 and what was the value?
Exxon Mobil's acquisition of Pioneer at $60bn
Name any 3 artists/bands Varun listened to the most in 2024
There is no wrong answer to this!