Quiz 24

This quiz was contributed by Captain Chandrakant Nair. Please post your answers as comments on this page or mail to captain dot chandrakant at gmail dot com.

1. Canada celebrated the 100^th anniversary of the Canadian Confederation in 1967 and the celebrations culminated on the 1^st of July ,which was the Canadian Dominion day . All children born in this year were declared centennial babies . Who was declared “THE CENTENNIAL BABY” because this person was thought to be the first child born on the 1^st of July, though it was discovered later that another baby had taken birth two hours earlier on the same day ?

2. This city with a striking resemblance with New York has a population of 4 million . It is often referred to as “The Worst place in America ’’ because of the ever-escalating crime situation . Just identify .

3. The World Chess Championship match of 1978 was held in Baguio in the Philippines, and was probably the most bizarre World Championship match ever played. The match featured Anatoly Karpov and Victor Korchnoi . Histrionics surrounding the match included X-raying of chairs, protests about the flags used on the board, the hypnotism complaints [Karpov's team included a Dr. Zukhar ,a well known hypnotist], and the mirror glasses used by Korchnoi to counter hypnotism . When Karpov's team sent him a blueberry yogurt during a game without any request for one by Karpov, the Korchnoi team protested, claiming it could be some kind of code. Korchnoi himself had adopted two local renegades belonging to a particular organisation to counter the negative energy which he thought was being used by Karpov . Prominent among them being Victoria Shepherd , who at that time was out on an appeal bond after her conviction for attempted murder of an Indian diplomat . Which organisation did these renegades belong to ?

4 . Surashri Kesarbai Kerkar was one of the finest and most powerful Indian classical singers of the 20^th century . "Jaat Kahan Ho", one of her recordings , of duration 3:30, is an interpretation of Raga Bhairavi . This recording was regarded by the ethnomusicologist Robert E. Brown (famous for coining the term “World Music” ) to be the finest recorded example of Indian classical music . He liked this piece to such an extent that he recommended it for something and this recording became the only piece of Indian music with a unique honour bestowed upon it . What is this unique distinction ?

5. British MPs , when appointed to the following posts by The Chancellor of the Exchequer, allows them to do what ?
Steward or Bailiff of Her Majesty's Three Chiltern Hundreds of Stoke, Desborough and Burnham in the county of Buckingham

and

Crown Steward and Bailiff of the Manor of Northstead

6. Whats common to :

- The Third Sacred War of 353 BC

- A gallic army lead by Brennus beating a Greek army lead by Calippus in 279 BC

- The Roman army under Manius Acilius Glabrio defeating the Syrian army under Antiochus III the Great in 191 BC

- The confrontation between the German army and the ANZAC army in 1941 during WW II which allowed the British Expeditionary Force to escape

7. Magnum Photos , an international photographic co-operative found by, among others, Henri Cartier-Bresson in 1947 is one of the earliest photographic co-operatives to be owned and managed by the members . Bresson and the other founder members invited New Zealand photographer Brian Brake to join Magnum and he remained a member of the organisation till 1967 . One of the assignments which made Brake a well-known name in the field was the Monsoon series of photographs . The series featured a shot of a girl holding her face to the first drops of monsoon rain. The photo shoot was set up on a rooftop with a ladder and a watering can . This is one of the best known images in New Zealand photography and gave the model her first look at stardom . Just name the model featured in this famous series of photographs (pic below)

8. Douglas Richard Hofstadter , son of Nobel prize winning scientist Robert Hofstadter ,is an American Academic and recipient of the Pulitzer prize in 1980 . His 1995 book , Fluid Concepts and Creative Analogies: Computer Models of the Fundamental Mechanisms of Thought , explored the mechanisms of intelligence through computer modelling . The book analysed several computer programs that members of his Fluid Analogies Research Group had created over the years to solve problems that require intelligence. The book was written during a sabbatical year at the Istituto per la Ricerca Scientifica e Tecnologica in Trento, Italy. This book is widely remembered today for some other unique reason . What ?

9. Band X who were pioneers in the heavy metal revolution takes their name from the semi-autobiographical novel of the same name by Y . Y is a Literature Nobel prize winner and is also the grandson of Z who spent a considerable part of his life in Kerala . Identify X , Y and Z .

X

Y

Z

10. When he was trying to persuade the Parliament to accept an asylum request from Stalin’s daughter Svetlana on the ground of her marriage with an Indian, a charming lady member, Tarkeshwari Sinha, interjected to say that when he was not married how could be talk of conjugal sentiments? He hit back: "Tarkeshwari, when did you give me any chance ". The entire parliament erupted into laughter . Just name this eminent politician who also has a dam in Gujarat and a famous establishment in Delhi named after him .

11. This part of the human body is named after a particular purpose for which this area was/is used . Just gimme the name .

12.Bernd Maylander , a German racing driver , shot into fame in 2000 with a win in the 24 Hours race in Nurburgring in a Porsche 911 GT3-R . His career in Formula One has been very spectacular . In the 2006 Australian Grand Prix , he lead for most number of laps except eventual winner Fernando Alonso . He also did a notable job at the 2007 Japanese Grand Prix , when he led the race for almost 20 laps . Just tell me which team does he drive for .

13. The number plate of this car was GEN 11, the closest to the word "genie" that the UK motor vehicle registration system would have allowed up to that time. However, 1968 ,when it was required , this UK Number Plate would have been available – as GEN 1E – from January to July 1967, when cars were allotted the "E" year suffix in Lancashire . The official website for the car has the word GEN 11 and not GEN 1E and justifies this by stating that " the number plate GEN11 had significance in that if you read the number ones as " i' s ", it spelled out the Latin word "genii" meaning magical person or being."

Which legendary car ?

14. It is the largest natural fresh-water lake in North-East India . It is also regarded as the only “Floating lake ” in the world because of the presence of floating islands (pic below) . These floating islands known as ‘Phoomdies’ are a specialized habitat for many biota . The Keibul Lamjao National Park, situated in the south-eastern region of this lake is the only floating National Park in the world . Which lake ?

15. It originated as a corruption of the term atom bomb . Pioneers in this trend were the movies Caravan , Sholay , Anamika etc in the 70s . The 2004 movie “Rakht” added a new dimension to it . What am i talking about ?


16. His parents had an intercaste marriage forcing them to adopt a new surname and he reverted to the old surname much later in life . He started his first business in 1976 at the age of 18 and this involved making crankshafts for local bicycle manufacturers . He moved to Mumbai in 1980 and became the exclusive dealer for Suzuki Motors 's portable electric-power generators imported from Japan. He wanted a ‘football revolution’ in India and this lead to his company pumping in millions of rupees and joining hands with the All India Football Federation in 2008 for the promotion of the game in the country . Just name him /his current company .

17. Those who have never done it are derisively referred to as "POLLYWOGS" or simply "SLIMY WOGS". Tradition maintains that all those who do it must undergo rites of passage and elaborate rituals initiating them into The Solemn Mysteries of the Ancient Order of the Deep. Upon entering the domain of His Royal Majesty, Neptunus Rex, all wogs are subject to various initiation rituals performed by those members who have done it before. The eve of it is known as “WOG UP-RISING”. Upon completion of the initiation ceremony, the wogs are then known as "TRUSTY SHELLBACKS" . Various other titles conferred are "GOLDEN SHELLBACK" and "EMERALD SHELLBACK’’ depending on the location . It also features a beauty contest where men dress up as women , the use of Truth serum ( after shave + hot sauce + a new ingredient ) etc. What the heck am i talking about?

18. Charles Dana Gibson was an American graphic artist whose most famous creation was the “Gibson Girl ” which was an iconic representation of the American woman at the turn of the 20^th century .The Gibson Girl was portrayed in his satirical illustrated stories during a period spanning 2 decades . His wife Irene Langhorne and her sister Nancy (who was also the first woman MP in the British House of Commons ) served as early models . What particular beauty concept did the Gibson Girl series pioneer ?

19. Connect :

20. An Eskimo Kiss involves two people rubbing their noses together . Hershey’s Kisses are a famous brand of chocolates . Then , what is a Glasgow Kiss ?

{ CLUE – 2006 Soccer world cup }

ANSWERS
1. Pamela Anderson
2. Liberty City , the most featured city in the Grand Theft Auto game series
3. Anand Margis
4. The only piece of Indian music on the Voyager Golden Record
5. It allows them to resign from their post
6. The are all the lesser known "Battles of Thermopylae" , the most famous being the one which is the subject of the movie '300'
7. Aparna Sen
8. The first book sold on Amazon.com
9. Steppenwolf , Hermann Hesse and Hermann Gundert
10. Ram Manohar Lohia
11. Anatomical Snuffbox ; because it is/was used to sniff drugs
12. He drives the safety car in Formula One . So , technically, he drives for Team F1A
13. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
14. Loktak Lake in Manipur
15. Item Number
16. Sunil Mittal and Airtel/Bharti
17. The first crossing of the Equator by a sailor
18. The Hour-Glass figure
19. Sudan contributed 1 lakh pounds to the Indian Government for the valour and sacrifice of the Indian soldiers during WW II in Sudan . This amount was meant for construction of a war memorial , but was used instead for construction of the National Defence Academy in Khadakwasla . The main block (pic 2) was named Sudan Block after this . Shashi Kapoor and Jennifer Kendall got famously engaged at the NDA.
20. Glasgow Kiss = Head-butting somebody (The Zidane - Materazzi incident in the final )

SCORES:

Manjith (Earliest response) - 7.5
Sreeram - 7.5
Rubi - 4.5
Anand N - 5
Lt Col Omveer Singh - 8.5
Hrishi - 9
Anurag Talukdar - 13
Reshmi - 4
Jyothi - 6
Arjun M - 5
Arun AS - 5
Mohammad Shabeer K - 1
Riyaz - 3
Chandrima - 3
Deepak Ranganathan - 10
Alby John - 1
Pankaj Singh - 16
Abhimanyu - 6
Harikrishnan A - 5
Vishesh "The Wiz" Jain - 12
Shafeek - 8.5
Rajesh Mohan - 8
Chithananda - 16
Ranjit C - 5
Snehaj S-5