Questions from the 2013 edition of the Shyam Bhatt Memorial Open Quiz held on 16 Feb 2013, at Armed Forces Medical College, Pune. This is also the oldest running Open Quiz in Pune.
5. Protest, brothers
Written Round
Topic – Protests
10 questions
5 points for every correct answer
Bonus of 10 for getting all 10 correct
Total – 60 points
6. Stills from a function organized at the Arif Nagar Stadium on
July 26, 2012. The opening ceremony featured performances
highlighting the many famines that happened during the
British rule in India, the mass hangings following the First
battle for Indian independence in 1857 and the massacre at
Jallianwala Bagh in 1919, among others.
What was this event called?
Images in the next 2 slides.
9. This was the world’s largest open-air swimming pool from 1958-
95.
In 1995, the pool gave way to the reconstructed Cathedral of
Christ the Saviour (that was demolished in 1930 to harvest 20
tons of gold in the dome). The original church, in 1882, saw the
debut of a musical composition that had a repetitive fragment of
the La Marseillaise, and this usage is considered an error.
Identify the piece. Why is the usage of the French National
Anthem in the piece thought to be wrong? Why was the
Cathedral in news in early 2012? Image in the next slide.
11. Rev. James Bevel, Strategist and Architect of the 1960s Civil
Rights Movement, organized a march by hundreds of school
kids on 2-5 May, 1963, in Birmingham, Alabama, during the
American Civil Rights Movement. The purpose of the march
was to walk downtown to talk to the mayor about segregation
in the city. Many students left their schools in order to be
arrested, set free, only to get arrested again the next day.
However, these demonstrations had to be stopped due to the
usage of fire hoses and police dogs to ward of the protesters.
What name was given to these demonstrations?
Image in the next slide.
13. What is happening in this video?
Why are many people not getting up and applauding?
Video Removed
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YziNNCZeNs
(From 1:25 to 2:10)
14. “If it could be like that for me, a foreigner, a visitor, imagine what
it must be like for the Palestinians, for the underclass, for the
passbook carriers. I knew then that my conscience would not
allow me to walk away from that wall, from the fate of the
Palestinians I met: people whose lives are crushed daily by Israel's
occupation. In solidarity, and somewhat impotently, I wrote on
their wall that day: <BLANKED OUT>.”
Speaking is someone who visited the Israeli wall around the
West Bank in 2006 and later took part in an event that was
moved to Neve Shalom (from Tel Aviv), the largest ever of its
kind in Israel.
Who? What did he write?
15. A is the only person to do it before (and during the fight for)
Independence. B is the most famous example after
Independence.
What? Also, identify both people. Images in the next slide.
17. They were brand new and tight and hence were removed and
kept aside. An angry response resulted in the watch falling off.
When the watch was being retrieved, one of the removed items
was sighted again, and was promptly picked up to be used
rhythmically, ‘like a metronome’ in the act that made it famous.
This is the theory proposed by a lady named Nina, about a
response directed at a “jerk, stooge and lackey of imperialism”.
One of the arguments against this theory, however, was that
large tummy that would not have let all this happen.
What half-a-century old response are we talking about?
18. Sometime in 2008, a group of scientists from Japan, France and
US announced the discovery of around 50 caves along the old
Silk Route. These caves were filled with paintings dating back to
the 5th-9th centuries, and were confirmed to be the world's
oldest-known oil paintings, predating oil painting in Europe by
as much as six centuries.
The paint used contained pigments such as vermilion and lead
white. These were mixed with many binders, including natural
resins, gums and oils, probably derived from walnuts or poppies.
What lead to the discovery of these caves and paintings?
19. In the novel Fight Club, Tyler Durden, the protagonist, travels to
a 15th century installation that is famous as a trigger for attacks
of acrophobia and requires a certain amount of flexibility to
access. He urinates at the location thereby marking his first act
of vandalism.
What usually happens at this location?
20. Graffiti refers to writing or drawings scribbled, scratched, or
sprayed illicitly on a wall or other surface in a public place.
So, what is Reverse Graffiti?
22. Stills from a function organized at the Arif Nagar Stadium on
July 26, 2012. The opening ceremony featured performances
highlighting the many famines that happened during the
British rule in India, the mass hangings following the First
battle for Indian independence in 1857 and the massacre at
Jallianwala Bagh in 1919, among others.
What was this event called?
Images in the next 2 slides.
26. This was the world’s largest open-air swimming pool from
1958-95.
In 1995, the pool gave way to the reconstructed Cathedral of
Christ the Saviour (that was demolished in 1930 to harvest
the 20 tons of gold in the dome). The original church, in 1882,
saw the debut of a musical composition that had a repetitive
fragment of the La Marseillaise, and this usage is considered
an error.
Identify the piece. Why is the usage of the French National
Anthem in the piece thought to be wrong? Why was the
Cathedral in news in early 2012? Image in the next slide.
29. Rev. James Bevel, Strategist and Architect of the 1960s Civil
Rights Movement, organized a march by hundreds of school
kids on 2-5 May, 1963, in Birmingham, Alabama, during the
American Civil Rights Movement. The purpose of the march
was to walk downtown to talk to the mayor about segregation
in the city. Many students left their schools in order to be
arrested, set free, only to get arrested again the next day.
However, these demonstrations had to be stopped due to the
usage of fire hoses and police dogs to ward of the protesters.
What name was given to these demonstrations?
Image in the next slide.
32. What is happening in this video?
Why are many people not getting up and applauding?
Video Removed
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YziNNCZeNs
(From 1:25 to 2:10)
34. “If it could be like that for me, a foreigner, a visitor, imagine what
it must be like for the Palestinians, for the underclass, for the
passbook carriers. I knew then that my conscience would not
allow me to walk away from that wall, from the fate of the
Palestinians I met: people whose lives are crushed daily by Israel's
occupation. In solidarity, and somewhat impotently, I wrote on
their wall that day: <BLANKED OUT>.”
Speaking is someone who visited the Israeli wall around the
West Bank in 2006 and later took part in an event that was
moved to Neve Shalom (from Tel Aviv), the largest ever of its
kind in Israel.
Who? What did he write?
36. A is the only person to do it before (and during the fight for)
Independence. B is the most famous example after
Independence.
What? Also, identify both people. Images in the next slide.
39. They were brand new and tight and hence were removed and
kept aside. An angry response resulted in the watch falling off.
When the watch was being retrieved, one of the removed items
was sighted again, and was promptly picked up to be used
rhythmically, ‘like a metronome’ in the act that made it famous.
This is the theory proposed by a lady named Nina, about a
response directed at a “jerk, stooge and lackey of imperialism”.
One of the arguments against this theory, however, was that
large tummy that would not have let all this happen.
What half-a-century old response are we talking about?
41. Sometime in 2008, a group of scientists from Japan, France and
US announced the discovery of around 50 caves along the old
Silk Route. These caves were filled with paintings dating back to
the 5th-9th centuries, and were confirmed to be the world's
oldest-known oil paintings, predating oil painting in Europe by
as much as six centuries.
The paint used contained pigments such as vermilion and lead
white. These were mixed with many binders, including natural
resins, gums and oils, probably derived from walnuts or poppies.
What lead to the discovery of these caves and paintings?
43. In the novel Fight Club, Tyler Durden, the protagonist, travels to
a 15th century installation that is famous as a trigger for attacks
of acrophobia and requires a certain amount of flexibility to
access. He urinates at the location thereby marking his first act
of vandalism.
What usually happens at this location?
45. Graffiti refers to writing or drawings scribbled, scratched, or
sprayed illicitly on a wall or other surface in a public place.
So, what is Reverse Graffiti?
48. This map resulted from a study by Harvard scientist Edwin G.
Boring (also famous for the Boring Figure illusion pictured),
which in turn was a translation of a German study named Zur
Psychophysik des Geschmackssinnes by a scientist named D.P.
Hanig conducted in the Japanese isles in 1901.
The paper demonstrated very minute differences in threshold
detection levels across the region mapped. However, these
differences were later taken out of context, due to the unclear
portrayal of data, to arrive at the wrong representation that we
are all familiar with today.
What are we talking about? Image in the next slide.
52. Terra nullius is a Latin expression which is used in
international law to describe territory that is unclaimed by
any state.
There are currently four categories of terra nullius:
1. Parts of Antarctica
2. The international waters and international seabed
3. Celestial bodies
4. X
X please.
55. Zachary Copfer, a new age American artist invented a form of
photography in 2012 that combined photographic process with
his erstwhile profession. The process is very similar to darkroom
photography, only that the enlarger was replaced by a different
source, and instead of photographic paper the process used
another medium. Pictured are some of his creations titled My
Favorite Scientist Series.
How did he create these images? OR What was the medium
used instead of photographic paper?
Images in the next 2 slides.
60. Palacio Barolo is a landmark office building in Buenos Aires and at
the time of completion of construction in 1923, it was the tallest
building in the city and entire South America.
There are 22 floors, divided into three "sections". The basement
and ground floor represent the first section, floors 1-14 constitute
the second, and 15-22 make up the third. The building itself is 100
meters tall.
What are the three sections representative of? OR What did the
Italian architect of the building, Mario Palanti, base its design on?
Image in the next slide.
64. After enrolling at the University of Minnesota in 1933, he soon
became a member of the varsity wrestling team, reaching the
Big Ten semifinals. He helped popularize the sport in Minnesota
high schools by putting on exhibition matches around the state.
For his contributions, he was inducted into the National
Wrestling Hall of Fame in 1992.
He cited his time in the Civilian Conservation Corps while
working with the unemployed and starving, and a lecture on
organisms of the order Pucciniales as the major turning points
that prompted him to give up on a promising wrestling career.
Who?
67. After The Decision, the July 2010 television special in which
LeBron James announced his move from Cleveland Cavaliers
to Miami Heat, memorabilia and jerseys bearing is name and
images plummeted in price from $99.99 to $17.41.
Why?
70. This pedestrian bridge linking the Marina Centre with Marina
South in the Marina Bay area in Singapore was opened in
2010. It also went on to win the 'World's Best Transport
Building' award at the World Architecture Festival Awards in
the same year.
What is the bridge called? What is the significance of the
different colored lights that illuminate the bridge at night?
Images in the next 2 slides.
75. Their development is credited to American psychologist
Edward Lee Thorndike who created the prototypes in the early
20th century. However, they were popularized by Frederick J.
Kelly who used them extensively at the University of Kansas
and later adapted by Lewis Terman, who is best known as the
inventor of the Stanford-Binet IQ Test. The first ever large scale
project that involved them was the Army Alpha, which was
used to assess the capabilities of World War I military recruits.
What are we talking about?
78. Zamenis longissimus, a member of the Colubridae family, is a
nonvenomous snake native to Europe. Members measure up
to 2 meters in length and are among the largest European
snakes. They are very good climbers capable of ascending
even vertical, branchless tree trunks and have been observed
at heights of even 15–20 metres in trees.
These snakes get their common name from the fact that
they were allowed to crawl around freely on the floors of the
dormitories of the buildings such as the one pictured.
By what common name are these snakes known? Image in
the next slide.
82. The inscription on this medal
refers to one of the factors
that made a big difference.
What was this factor called?
And why was it called so?
Bigger image in next slide.
87. The Periodic Table is a collection of short stories by Primo Levi,
published in 1975, named after the periodic table of elements.
The stories are autobiographical accounts of the author's
experiences during the Fascist regime and afterwards. In 2006,
the Royal Institution of Great Britain named it the best science
book ever.
Each story in the book is named after a chemical element and is
connected to it in some way.
Story No.11 deals with Lager. What is the story about and which
element is used as the title of the story?
90. Dubbed the World’s Most Famous Filing Cabinet by the
Smithsonian, this piece of furniture cabinet in the NMAH once
stood in the LA office of Lewis Fielding, psychoanalyst of one
Daniel Ellsberg, a former US military analyst.
The cabinet contained the medical files of Ellsberg with
information about his mental state which his enemies wanted to
use against him, but couldn’t extract in a failed attempt. This
attempt went unnoticed by Ellsberg and Fielding until it was
revealed during a trial against Ellsberg two years later.
So, how did this failed attempt ultimately lead to the quoted
title being bestowed upon the cabinet? Image follows.
93. Ellsberg: “Had my lawyers and I known about the break-in from the beginning, they
would have had to shut down the illegal plumbers operation, and the Watergate break-in
of June 1972 might never have taken place.”
NMAH curator Harry Rubenstein : “Would the plumbers group have been formed if they
hadn’t wanted Ellsberg’s file? Probably not. This humble filing cabinet was the beginning
of the end of the Nixon presidency.”
94. Fangataufa and Moruroa are two small coral atolls in the
Tuamotu Archipelago, part of French Polynesia. They have been
the site of approximately 200 French nuclear tests, starting with
a test codenamed Operation Canopus, on August 24, 1968. The
device, suspended from a large hydrogen filled balloon, had a
2.6 megaton yield and was detonated at an altitude of 1800 feet.
The test made France the fifth country to test a thermonuclear
device, after the US, the Soviet Union, the UK and China.
The test, however, is more notable for the lasting changes in a
species commonly called Gallina de palo, i.e. “bamboo chicken”
or “chicken of the tree”, as they are said to taste like chicken.
What were these changes? Image in the next slide.
99. A popular joke about Russian politics, it is an empirical rule of
the state leaders' succession that has been observed to hold true
since 1825 starting with Nicholas I who followed his late brother
Alexander I as the Russian Emperor. It achieved popularity
during the period of Leonid Brezhnev's leadership and is a
frequent subject in Russian cartoons and media. In the 1990s, it
was even joked that Gennady Zyuganov would "inevitably" win
the 1996 presidential election to replace Boris Yeltsin.
What are we talking about?
102. These are some of the plants that were used in a medicinal
philosophy named Doctrine of Signatures. What exactly was
the principle followed by this doctrine?
Images in the next slide as well.
105. Lungwort
Spleenwort
Toothwort
St. John’s Wort/Skinwort
106. A group of English-speaking female broadcasters were used by
the Japanese during WW II for propaganda against the allies.
They were known by a common name Tokyo Rose and were used
with an intent to break the morale of the allied troops who were
listening to the broadcast. One Mr. George Putnam was quite
intrigued by the legend of Tokyo Rose and went great lengths to
find out their identity. He did this by listening to numerous
recordings of various Tokyo Roses.
What prompted Mr. Putnam to set out on this wild goose chase?
Listen to the audio clip.
Audio removed.
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cj8w_03695w
109. Amytis was the daughter/granddaughter of the Cyaxares, the
first king of Media. In 585 BC, she was married off to the son of
King Nabopolassar, in an effort to formalize the alliance
between the two dynasties.
Amytis, who had never lived anywhere besides the mountains,
could not adjust to the flat environs of her husband’s nation
with very little rain, and soon fell homesick. Her husband, in an
effort to improve her mood, ordered a lot of stuff to be brought
from Media.
What exactly did he do with these items?
112. Adolf Hitler was a big fan of a 1804 play (based on a 14th century
legend) and even quoted it in Mein Kampf. He also approved of a
production of the play in which Hermann Goering's mistress
Emmy Sonnemann appeared as the wife of the principal
character. The play became a big hit during the Nazi regime.
However, following an attempt on his life by a Swiss student
named Maurice Bavaud, Hitler banned the play.
A.) Why did he ban it?
Painting of a part of the story of the play in the next slide.
B.) What happened prior to the event depicted?
115. Hitler believed that Maurice Bavaud was inspired by this legend to assassinate him.
116. Originally used for the purpose of carrying rice, they could hold
up to 30 tons of rice over a short distance, which usually took 3
days. The basic raw material used in their manufacture is jack-
wood, and not a single nail is used during the construction. The
whole structure is then coated with a caustic black resin made
from boiled kernels, to afford them durability.
Their present day usage is derived from a requirement to keep
them active, almost all of which were more than 100 years old.
What are we talking about?
119. Lieutenant-General Sir Frederick Browning, among his other
achievements, competed in the bobsleigh event at the 1928
Winter Olympics in St. Moritz and finished tenth. He was also the
Deputy Chairman of the British Olympic Association at the 1948
Summer Olympics.
In 1931, while reading The Loving Spirit, he was very impressed
and went on to marry the author. His wife is today credited with
an Army tradition that began sometime during the North African
campaign in 1942. He passed away sometime in 1965 at a
mansion named Menabilly (pictured in the next slide) which his
wife had leased and formed the basis of her most famous work.
Name the wife and the work. What Army tradition are we talking
about?
123. Cafe Maravillas is a bar in the Plaza 2 de Mayo region of Madrid,
specializing in salads, typical Spanish tapas, meat dishes and all
kinds of appetizers and sandwiches.
Sometime in 2010, Annie Leibovitz was contracted for a project
here. Central to the project was something conceived by
Alexandre de Finesterre , a Spanish Civil War veteran, out of
boredom while convalescing in a hospital and inspired by table
tennis. The project, originally thought to be impossible, itself
was part of the Core Values campaign of a group and was
taglined as a celebration of three journeys.
What project?
126. Initially (i.e. 1913) 10-watt incandescent bulbs illuminated it, but
over the years, they burned out. Replacing them was labor-
intensive as workers had to crawl to reach the fittings and screw
in new bulbs. So, a fiber-optic system was installed in 1997 and
this in turn gave way to LEDs in 2010.
Only about 60 (out of 2,500) subjects are illuminated in this
25,000 foot project that is reversed (the favorite explanation
being that it is a representation how it would look to God from
above).
What are we talking about? Also, what is the reason for a
prominent void in this representation?
130. One of the proposed motives was the thing pictured. Another
was the belief in reincarnation and possible future resurrection.
Eight empty items from a work bench in the Chemical Room at
the Laboratory in West Orange, New Jersey, were waved around
the room at around 3:24 a.m. on October 18, 1931, to complete
the act. One of these eight were gifted away and is today the
most famous one.
What are we talking about? Image in the next slide.
134. List-It
20 variables
2 points for each correct variable.
Bonus of 10 points for getting all 20.
Total – 50 points
135. Of all the movies that have gone on to win the Academy
Award for Best Picture, only 20 movies have a title made up of
a single word.
Name all.
P.S. Titles like Ben-Hur don’t count.
158. • This mixed language, composed mostly (80%) of Italian with a
broad vocabulary drawn from Turkish, French, Greek, Arabic,
Portuguese and Spanish, was used for communication
throughout the medieval and early modern Middle East and
Mediterranean as a commercial and diplomatic language. It was
also the language used among slaves, Barbary pirates and
European renegades in pre-colonial North Africa.
• The usage of the name of this language in modern English,
thus, stems from its usage by a wide variety of people.
• Identify the language.
161. This is an American elm (Ulmus americana) in the Tompkins
Square Park in New York. The tree is significant as the site of
a October 9, 1966 event which saw people like beat poet
Allen Ginsberg participating. The event was the first of its
kind outside the Indian subcontinent and was instrumental
for pioneering something in the United States.
By what name is this tree referred to? OR What is the event
in question?
Image in the next slide.
165. Zeng Liansong, a citizen from the Zheijang province, was
consumed by the idea that the Communist Party of China was the
great savior of the Chinese people. He was particularly impressed
by the 1949 article “On the People's Democratic Dictatorship”
written by Mao Zedong, which defined the Chinese people as
consisting of four social classes. The article went on to describe
China as belonging to the Chinese people, who were a yellow
race.
What did he do to express his patriotism as a true Chinese citizen?
168. There are over 200 Xs on Y, the earliest recorded ones dating
back to 1922. Most of these Xs today have nicknames and are
used as landmarks. The most famous X is from 1996 (nicknamed
“Green Boots”), the worst year of its kind, next to a cave along
the path to the final objective and gives an accurate assessment
of the distance involved.
As per local law, these Xs have to be retrieved. However, if this
is not possible, alternate arrangements are made using stones.
What are we talking about?
171. During the Indo-Pak war of 1971, the technical aspect of the
operations of the Pakistani Air Force was supervised by a retired
Major General.
He was supplied with a twin engined Beechcraft plane, to keep
track of all the equipment that kept appearing from destroyed
planes. This liaison aircraft, however, was destroyed in a daring
Indian air raid on the airbase in Rawalpindi by, none other than
then Lieutenant and later India's Chief of the Naval Staff,
Admiral Arun Prakash. He described this as a deliberate ploy by
Indira Gandhi and that it was the Indian way of showing them
the finger. The General soon vanished and was not be seen in
Islamabad again until the war was over.
What, however, is this officer’s primary claim to fame?
174. The first one, named Carrington Event, was observed on Sep 1,
1859, and is to date the most powerful one recorded. It left
traces of Nitrates and Beryllium-10 in the Greenland ice which
has allowed strength comparisons with similar ones over the
past 150 years. The frequency varies, from several per day when
during the "active" phase to less than one every week during
the "quiet" phase, each phase lasting 10-13 years.
What are we talking about?
Audio removed.
Link: http://soundcloud.com/discovermag-1/solar-flare-2-2-13
177. The change came about in the 18th century to represent the
landscape and more importantly, to signify the association with
something locally called Seamair bhui that was vital in
conveying a 5th century message. The scope of this change was
expanded thanks to a 1798 rebellion.
What are we talking about?
The person who conveyed the message is also said to have
thwarted various attempts to have his 40-day fast broken and
this is cited as the background of a famous legend. However,
this theory has been discarded in favor of the most recent Ice
Age. What legend?
180. McCann Erickson were hired by the London Zoo for a promotional
poster campaign in 2003. The advertising agency famously based
their ideas on a project by illustrator Paul Middlewick. Again, in
April 2008, the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) used
posters of the Seal, Elephant and Whale based on Middlewick’s
project to raise awareness of seal hunting in Canada, the ivory
trade and whale hunting respectively.
How did Paul Middlewick create images of the various animals?
183. The gentleman pictured did a cryptographic analysis of the
front pages of The New York Times in the 1930s to arrive at a
conclusion that has remained valid for almost 3 generations. He
coupled his own intuition with direct observation and had his
wife and their friends as guinea pigs in his quest. This analysis
received a much-needed legitimate aid in 1978.
However, recent changes have necessitated a re-thinking of
this analysis, with Slate citing a Chinese life force and pizza as
examples.
What are we talking about? Image in the next slide.
187. It was a creation of Dr. James Fennelly, a self-confessed fan, of
New York's Adelphi University, to illustrate a paper ("The City of
_________ as an Expression of the Ordered Hindu Cosmos") that
he delivered to the American Academy of Religion in 1978.
The blanked place in its modern sense dates back to the
Vijayadashami day of 1930, considered an auspicious day to start
new efforts. It has an enviable historical record, dating to the
Ramayana days with Lord Rama passing through, while on his
journey to Lanka. The streets of the place are believed to have
been touched by Buddha’s feet as well.
So, what was this creation?
190. Adjustments are made using coins as follows: On top of the
principal structure is a small stack of old penny coins. Adding a coin
has the effect of minutely lifting the position of the centre of mass,
reducing the effective length and hence increasing the rate at which
the structure moves. Adding or removing a penny will change the
final output by 0.4 units per day.
This is also supposedly the origin of the English phrase ‘to put a
penny on’ meaning to slow something down.
What is this technique used for? Image in the next slide.
194. A 2006 study by Dr. Doron Nof, a Florida State University prof
of oceanography suggested that temperatures dropped to -4
degree Celsius for up to two days once every 30-60 years, in a
period between 2,500 to 1,500 years ago. This was in stark
contrast to the odds of such conditions developing in the low-
latitude region that Dr. Nof had studied (1-in-1000 the last 120
centuries). The existence of such conditions could create a
floating patch of ice from the salty springs along the region’s
western border. This would be hard to spot, especially if rain
had smoothed the surface of the region under study.
What was this study trying to explain? Also name the region.
197. This profession had its beginnings in the Industrial Revolution
and lasted till as late as the 1920s (when the technology that we
are familiar with today replaced it). Common raw materials used
were truncheons, bamboo sticks, pea-shooters etc. The
profession itself was discussed in detail by Charles Dickens in
Great Expectations.
Since this profession involved a collision of sorts, a strange
theory proposed is that it was supposedly adapted into English
over a period of time to refer to a particular human physiological
process.
What profession? What physiological process? Image in the next
slide.
201. A bonus feature on the extended DVD version of The Lord of
the Rings: The Return of the King shows a tribute from the stunt
crew in honor of Viggo Mortensen and Bernard Hill (among
others), the “two kings” who put in incredible performances in
the movie.
The tribute was paid again before the LOTR cast departed for
the 2002 Oscars ceremony. The moment itself is described ‘as
precious(sssss!) as Oscar Gold’ in the feature.
What was this tribute?
203. Videos removed
Link 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPr2fql-3ME
Link 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_kqn5MQiDY
205. Sometime in the 1940s, the backyard of this building saw the
formation of a pit over a feet deep. Bamboo poles had to be
erected around the pit in order to prevent it from further
increasing in size.
What was the reason for the formation of the pit?
Image in the next slide.
209. This three-issue mini-series from DC comics stands outside of
the mainstream continuity of the DC Universe. In this alternate
universe, Jonathan and Martha Kent do not discover the
spaceship outside Smallville carrying baby Kal-El, due to their
pick-up truck breaking down, and hence there is no Superman.
The exact nature of the break-down is detailed in the opening
paragraph. These lines are, apparently, a reference to a late 15th
century incident, the subject of which is very much in news.
What are the lines in question? Also, identify the subject.
Image follows.
215. The most common theory proposed is that it was instituted by
the upper caste Brahmins to signify their domicile and to set
them apart from the rest of the population.
Other reasons proposed include:
- Maintenance of cool interiors and to fend off mosquitoes
- Display of human resilience against a bleak backdrop
However, the actual reason is the usage of copper compounds to
prevent damage from the termites prevalent in the area.
What are we talking about?
218. Anabasis is the most famous work of the Greek soldier and
historian Xenophon. The books is about his experiences while
accompanying the Ten Thousand, a large army of Greek
mercenaries hired by Cyrus the Younger, who wanted to seize
the throne of Persia from his brother, Artaxerxes II.
The march (401-399 B.C.) was a failure and the joy of the troops
on seeing the Euxeinos Pontos from Mount Theches on their
way back was evident in their shouting out something. The
shout itself meant that they were at last close to Greek cities.
What did they shout out? Who, supposedly, used this cry as the
title of a Booker Prize winning work in the late 1970s?
Image in the next slide.
222. Rendez-vous Houston: A City in Concert was a live performance by
French composer Jean Michel Jarre on April 5, 1986, to coincide with the
release of his album Rendez-Vous. It held the Guinness World Record for
the largest outdoor "rock concert" in history (1 to 1.5 million in
attendance) for a brief time.
One of the events planned for the concert was that Ronald McNair, a
close friend of Jarre, would play the saxophone from elsewhere during
the track “Last Rendez-Vous”. However, this did not happen and localite
(and multiple Grammy nominee) Kirk Whalum had to fill in.
Where was McNair supposed to play his saxophone from? What record
would this have given him? Listen to the audio clip.
Audio removed.
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtGG1WLP1pk
225. She was born in 1881 to a wealthy Jewish banker in Austria.
Described as a ‘proud, arrogant and outspoken woman…a modern
woman living in a world of yesterday’, she hosted a renowned
salon at the beginning of the 20th century, with guests like
Gustav Mahler, Richard Strauss, Stefan Zweig and Jakob
Wassermann. To escape from her parents’ household, she
entered into an arranged marriage with a business tycoon
named Ferdinand at the age of 18.
She is most famous for something Ferdinand released in 1907,
originally intended as a present for her parents’ anniversary.
Something similar was later made in 1912.
What did he get made? OR Name her.
228. It is a large, barrel-shaped device invented in 1979 by Dr. Al
Bedard and Carl Ramzy of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA) Environmental Technology Laboratory.
Each device weighed between 250 and 350 lbs., and had to be
rolled out of the back of a customized pickup truck in about 30
seconds, using metal wheel ramps and then placed directly in the
path of a tornado. When absorbed by the tornado, the device
could give valuable information about its structure.
The device was also the inspiration for similar instrument
packages used in the 1996 movie Twister.
What is this device called? And by what name is the instrument in
Twister referred to? Images in the next slide.
232. One cylinder of LPG used to take around 1.5 days to exhaust
itself. Also, there were severe space constraints of stocking the
cylinders. So, a 6 lakh project for a pipeline-fed switch-over to
PNG was sanctioned on December 14, 2005 and Indraprastha
Gas Limited (IGL) was asked to complete it on priority. PNG
was chosen because it was 20% cheaper, safer, and a more
reliable source. The agency went on to lay a 500-metre pipeline
to complete the task.
What is all this about?
235. “Perpetual Repercussion” is an art installation that went on to win
multiple lighting awards in 2009.
It runs the length of the flat roof and front face a building to
ensure that it is identifiable even from a great distance. A
brainchild of prominent artist Dyveke Sanne, the system ensures
that the building shines in light summer nights as well as dark
winter days. Highly reflective stainless steel, mirrors, and prisms
together act as a beacon, reflecting light in the summer months,
while in the winter, a network of 200 fibre-optic cables gives the
piece a muted greenish-turquoise and white light.
Which building would you find this artwork on?
239. Theme Round
Closed theme, non-exhaustive
10 questions
5 points for individual answers
Points for the theme
1-2 - +25
3-4 - +20
5-6 - +15
7-8 - +10
9-10 - +5
Uniform negative of minus 5 throughout for wrong attempts at
the theme. Unlimited attempts at the theme at any point.
240. “Got me a movie, I want you to know
Slicing up eyeballs, I want you to know
Girlie so groovy, I want you to know
Don't know about you, but I am ____ _______ ____________
Wanna grow up to be, be a debaser, debaser.”
The title and lyrics of this song is a reference to a movie X
and the fact that X debased morality and standards of art, as
per the band.
Name the band and identify X. Listen to the audio clip.
Audio removed.
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVyS9JwtFoQ
241. Both these images that appeared during Euro 2012 are
references to X, who has been ranked three times by Forbes
magazine among the most powerful women in the world –
3rd in 2005, 17th in 2008 and 47th in 2009.
Who is X?
Images in the next 2 slides.
244. It was conceived at the end of WW II, with the aim of ‘providing a
platform for the flowering of the human spirit.’
Named in 1948 by Scottish playwright-journalist Scott Kemp, it
is today the world's largest arts festival, with the 2012 edition
spanning 25 days including 42,096 performances of 2,695 shows
in 279 venues. It has spawned many notable original shows and
helped establish the careers of many writers and performers,
like Monty Python, Rowan Atkinson, Stephen Fry and Hugh
Laurie.
Just identify.
245. This 1991 pre-season NHL game (first ever official outdoor
game) between the New York Rangers and the Los Angeles
Kings took place at a location where the 6 main structures are
named Augustus, Centurion, Roman, Palace, Octavius, and
Forum.
Which location? What is the name of the main entertainment
venue at this location?
Image in the next slide.
247. Fort Wood is a disused army post named after Eleazer D Wood,
a hero of the War of 1812. Abandoned after the early 19th
century, it has been used as a recruiting station during the Civil
War and also as a POW camp.
The only major addition to Fort Wood over the years has been a
creation that used a metalworking technique called Repousse,
wherein a malleable metal is shaped by hammering from the
reverse side to create a design on the opposite side. This
technique made the addition very light for its volume with the
skin thickness less than 0.1 inch.
Just identify this addition.
248. X is one of the commonest emblems used by freemasons to
represent industry, perseverance, diligence and co-operation.
Various masonic textbooks portray X as symbolic of
cathedrals and their construction. The term X was also used in
place of the current term Lodge by early freemasons. For this
reason, when a dissention happens in a Lodge, the going off
and forming another Lodge is called Y.
What are X and Y?
249. These rivers form when a threshold level of sediment load or
slope is reached. There is a relative lack of vegetation
combined with heavy sediment deposition at high flows and
re-erosion at low flows, resulting multiple small, shallow
channels that divide and recombine numerous times.
What are such rivers called?
Image in the next slide.
251. The Thai Airways logo incorporates elements of traditional Thai
imagery, including the colours and image of a flower genus that
is popular in Thailand. The various other aspects of the airline,
including the lounges, spas and frequent flyer programs of the
airline are also named after this flower.
The particular flower species represented in the logo (and
presented to female passengers) is nicknamed after a 18th
century personality who is associated with the colour
pink/purple (which was the standard fashion for the person’s
porcelain business).
Which flower? Also name the personality. Images follow.
253. 14 collections of over 50,000 ‘excitable units’ were analyzed for
this study (by researchers at the Eotvos Lorand University in
Hungary) that was published in a 2002 edition of The Nature.
Each unit, once activated, was found to follow the same set of
internal rules to pass through the active and refractory phases
before returning to its original resting/excitable state.
The subject of the study, about 6-12 m wide, was found to move
predominantly clockwise with a speed of 12 m/s, expanding over
a period of time to acquire a stable, near-linear shape.
Identify the subject.
254. This movie features Henry Fonda as a supporting character
named Watson. In a pivotal scene, the hero accidentally spills
acid onto his lap and shouts in pain and asks Watson to
immediately come to his aid.
This scene is followed by the hero breaking into a particular
Native American dance, like he always used to on getting
excited. This was because he was awarded the title of Honorary
Chief in 1870 by the tribe in question for his work in translating
their unwritten vocabulary into Visible Speech symbols.
Whose life is the movie based on? Which tribe? Image follows.
257. “Got me a movie, I want you to know
Slicing up eyeballs, I want you to know
Girlie so groovy, I want you to know
Don't know about you, but I am ____ _______ ____________
Wanna grow up to be, be a debaser, debaser.”
The title and lyrics of this song is a reference to a movie X
and the fact that X debased morality and standards of art, as
per the band.
Name the band and identify X. Listen to the audio clip.
Audio removed.
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVyS9JwtFoQ
259. Both these images that appeared during Euro 2012 are
references to X, who has been ranked three times by Forbes
magazine among the most powerful women in the world –
3rd in 2005, 17th in 2008 and 47th in 2009.
Who is X?
Images in the next 2 slides.
263. It was conceived at the end of WW II, with the aim of ‘providing a
platform for the flowering of the human spirit.’
Named in 1948 by Scottish playwright-journalist Scott Kemp, it
is today the world's largest arts festival, with the 2012 edition
spanning 25 days including 42,096 performances of 2,695 shows
in 279 venues. It has spawned many notable original shows and
helped establish the careers of many writers and performers,
like Monty Python, Rowan Atkinson, Stephen Fry and Hugh
Laurie.
Just identify.
265. This 1991 pre-season NHL game (first ever official outdoor
game) between the New York Rangers and the Los Angeles
Kings took place at a location where the 6 main structures are
named Augustus, Centurion, Roman, Palace, Octavius, and
Forum.
Which location? What is the name of the main entertainment
venue at this location?
Image in the next slide.
269. Fort Wood is a disused army post named after Eleazer D Wood,
a hero of the War of 1812. Abandoned after the early 19th
century, it has been used as a recruiting station during the Civil
War and also as a POW camp.
The only major addition to Fort Wood over the years has been a
creation that used a metalworking technique called Repousse,
wherein a malleable metal is shaped by hammering from the
reverse side to create a design on the opposite side. This
technique made the addition very light for its volume with the
skin thickness less than 0.1 inch.
Just identify this addition.
271. X is one of the commonest emblems used by freemasons to
represent industry, perseverance, diligence and co-operation.
Various masonic textbooks portray X as symbolic of
cathedrals and their construction. The term X was also used in
place of the current term Lodge by early freemasons. For this
reason, when a dissention happens in a Lodge, the going off
and forming another Lodge is called Y.
What are X and Y?
273. These rivers form when a threshold level of sediment load or
slope is reached. There is a relative lack of vegetation
combined with heavy sediment deposition at high flows and
re-erosion at low flows, resulting multiple small, shallow
channels that divide and recombine numerous times.
What are such rivers called?
Image in the next slide.
276. The Thai Airways logo incorporates elements of traditional Thai
imagery, including the colours and image of a flower genus that
is popular in Thailand. The various other aspects of the airline,
including the lounges, spas and frequent flyer programs of the
airline are also named after this flower.
The particular flower species represented in the logo (and
presented to female passengers) is nicknamed after a 18th
century personality who is associated with the colour
pink/purple (which was the standard fashion for the person’s
porcelain business).
Which flower? Also name the personality. Images follow.
279. 14 collections of over 50,000 ‘excitable units’ were analyzed for
this study (by researchers at the Eotvos Lorand University in
Hungary) that was published in a 2002 edition of The Nature.
Each unit, once activated, was found to follow the same set of
internal rules to pass through the active and refractory phases
before returning to its original resting/excitable state.
The subject of the study, about 6-12 m wide, was found to move
predominantly clockwise with a speed of 12 m/s, expanding over
a period of time to acquire a stable, near-linear shape.
Identify the subject.
281. This movie features Henry Fonda as a supporting character
named Watson. In a pivotal scene, the hero accidentally spills
acid onto his lap and shouts in pain and asks Watson to
immediately come to his aid.
This scene is followed by the hero breaking into a particular
Native American dance, like he always used to on getting
excited. This was because he was awarded the title of Honorary
Chief in 1870 by the tribe in question for his work in translating
their unwritten vocabulary into Visible Speech symbols.
Whose life is the movie based on? Which tribe? Image follows.
285. Pixie
Yulia Tymoshenko
Fringe
Caesar
Statue of Liberty
Beehive
Braid
Madame de Pompadour
Wave
Mohawk
297. Differential Scoring
8 questions
Point scheme
1-3 teams - +20
4-6 teams - +15
7-8 teams - +10
Minus 10 for wrong answers. One attempt per question.
298. When Niels Bohr was awarded the Highest Civil Honor in
Denmark, the Order of the Elephant, in 1947, he was asked to
create a family coat of arms/crest as per custom.
Staying true to his motto ‘contraria sunt complementa’, he
chose something that supposedly represented two incoming
colliding heavy ions with quarks in the colliding nuclei.
So, what did Bohr choose as his crest?
301. In the musical Evita, the song “The art of the possible” depicts
Juan Peron and a group of officers indulging in a contest,
which Peron wins by eliminating the other officers one by one.
This concept was included to symbolize Peron’s rise to power.
What contest?
305. It started in the late 1950s as a nonfiction article about the
ecosystem of the place pictured, with the Department of
Agriculture using Hudsonia (Poverty grass) to stabilize it. The
author of the article described the problem in the ecosystem
as “every bit as devastating as a tidal wave …they've even
caused deaths.”
What?
Image in the next slide.
309. This is an infrared image from the Spitzer Space Telescope
showing a long tendril of dust and gas that appears dark, is 300
light-years long and 1-2 light-years wide. It contains about
100,000 suns’ worth of material and has been dubbed the ‘First
Bone of the Milky Way’.
This piece of galactic skeleton was named (by the scientists at
the Boston University who discovered it) X, that supposedly is
the descendant of a line of long-surviving plesiosaurs, an order
of Mesozoic marine reptiles.
Identify X. Image in the next slide.
313. Ambe-Babula is a tiny tribal hamlet just off the Bombay-Agra
highway in the Nashik district.
The main source of income for the villagers is collection and
sale of scrap with copper fetching Rs 80/kg, Brass Rs 60,
Aluminium Rs 30, and Iron Rs 5. The villagers trek 5-10 km
every morning, and wait from 8 am to 3 pm collect the scrap
from a 25,000-acre area, usually weighing 10-25 kg and up to
10 feet long. The whole process has been dubbed by the
media as the rural version of catches win matches.
So, what exactly is the source of all this scrap?
316. The first plans were mooted during the reign of Florestan I, but
bore fruit only during the rule of Charles III. The plans were
actually a result of the 1840s revolt by the towns of Menton and
Roquebrune, that crippled finances.
The plans were implemented by two gentlemen named Francois
and Louis Blanc who petitioned Charles III to rename a depressed
seaside area known as “Les Spelegures” (Den of Thieves) after the
king himself. Their venture also profited heavily from the newly
established railroad system. Soon enough, the region finally
recovered from the previous half century of economic slump.
What was this venture? OR What did this venture pioneer?
319. Initially, i.e. circa 1986, hands could be used. However, when this
arrangement failed, a mounted infrared system was developed,
which detected movement in cheek muscles. The most integral
part of this mechanism is a grey box in the office of one Mr Sam
Blackburn, that contains the only copy of the final desired
output, which he is trying to reverse-engineer as the company
that made them has gone bankrupt. But this system is failing
gradually as well, to limit the output to one unit per minute.
Hence, eye-tracking systems and brain scanning are being
considered as future modalities.
What are we talking about?
322. It dates back to his playing days with Gloucestershire, for whom
he scored a hundred against Oxford University on debut.
It, however, entered popular conscience in the 2nd Test between
England vs. Australia at Edgbaston, in 1985. He had this to say
about it: “Someone had written in to dear old Brian Johnston.
There was a titter in the crowd. I thought there must be a streaker
on the field but it was Brian telling the world - and the spectators
were listening on their radios. I've been lumbered with it ever
since.”
What are we talking about?