“NERVE BLAST” -- OPEN QUIZ COMPETITION--------------------------------

JORHAT INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY--------------------------------

DATE: 26.03.2016--------------------------------

QUIZ MASTER: GAUTAM PRIYAM MAHANTA

ROUND 1

1.1

This is an apparel brand of Siyarams. Apart from it being the acronym of its celebrity endorser, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, what does MSD stand for in this context?

ANSWER

“Monday to Sunday Dressing” and “My Style Destination”.

1.2

Also called “Sugarbushes”, X is a genus of flowering shrubs, particularly found in an African country. Famous botanist Carl Linnaeus named the genus X, in 1735, after the name of a similar sounding Greek sea-god, who could change his shapes at will, because of extensive varieties of the flowering plant, X. What is X?

ANSWER

Protea, that gives the nickname to South African cricket team.

The flower also appears in the SA Cricket logo.

1.3

There are certain controversies as regards the Navaratnas in the court of the great Gupta ruler Chanragupta II. Some opinions hold that a few of the figures were not contemporaries of Chandragupta II, whereas some others’ existence was not supported by historical evidences. Still, here is the list – Amarsimha, Dhanvantri, Harisena, Kalidasa, Kahapanaka, Sanku Varahamihira, Vararuchi, and X – a magician. Who is X, the Ninth Ratna?

ANSWER

Vetalbhatta.

Chandragupta II is better known as Vikramaditya.

1.4

• What connects the names of these psychological conditions and disorders –

• i. A neurological disorder is a condition wherein a person suffers from visual image distortions, perceiving parts of their body or any other objects as having been altered in size.

• ii. The habitual neglect of responsibilities by children of superior intelligence because of parental disapproval and feelings of rejection.

• iii. Psychological / emotional condition under which adopted children or stepchildren would make up outrageous (imaginary) stories about how they were abused and /or abandoned by their adoptive mothers or stepmothers.

• iv. It describes a person’s stubborn belief that their mate is being unfaithful; and would therefore make incessant groundless accusations of infidelity, even displaying stalking and violent behaviour.

• v. This describes people who are overly critical of their own physical appearance and have difficulty dealing with ageing; and thus, try to cling to their youth by depending heavily on cosmetic procedures and products.

ANSWER

• Named after literary characters –

• i. Alice in Wonderland Syndrome.

• ii. Huckleberry Finn’s Syndrome.

• iii. Cinderella’s Syndrome.

• iv. Othello Syndrome.

• v. Dorian Grey Syndrome.

1.5

This is an Egyptian goddess of health, marriage and wisdom; and the literal meaning of her name is “throne”. What is her name?

ANSWER

Isis.

1.6

This is a form of acute malnutrition – having symptoms like diarrhoea, headache, fatigue, low blood pressure and slow heart rate, and a vague discomfort and food craving that can be satisfied only by fat consumption – which is attributed to absence of dietary fat and an excess consumption of protein. The condition is named after a meat which has very low fat count, only 8.3%, whereas in case of beef and pork, it is 32% each. What is it named?

ANSWER

Rabbit starvation.

ROUND 2

2.1

This is a photo of X taken in 1938. X’s ancestors had migrated from their original place Nishapur in Khorasan province to Awadh towards the end of the 18th

century; and settled in at Kitnoor near Lucknow, the capital of Awadh. But in 1830, his grandfather, a Twelver Shia scholar, Seyyed Ahmed Musavi ‘Hindi’ left Awadh for good, never returning from a pilgrimage to the tomb of Imam Ali in Najaf, in Ottoman Iraq. Because of this Hindustan connection, even X used the pen-name ‘Hindi’ while writing ghazals. Just identify X.

ANSWER

Ayatollah SayyidRuhollah Khomeini.

2.2

This type of culinary preparation got its name from a Classical Persian root-word meaning “to beat” or “to grind” to highlight the process of making meatballs that are integral part of the dish, which is popular in Afghan, Azerbaijani, Arab, Armenian, Balkan, Bangladeshi, Egyptian, Indian, Iraqi, Palestinian, Iranian,Israeli, Jordanian, Kurdish, Moroccan, Pakistani, Romanian, Lebanese, and Turkish cuisine, consisting of balls of minced or ground meat — usually beef, chicken, lamb, or pork — mixed with spices and onions. Balls of ground paneer or potato are also used in India to make this dish. What is it?

ANSWER

Koftas.

2.3

He is Sarfaraz Khan, India’s star performer in the ICC Under 19 Cricket World Cup 2016 held in Bangladesh. What is the reason behind him choosing the jersey no. 97?

ANSWER

Acknowledging the contribution of his father cum coach Naushad Khan, whose name sounds a bit like Nau Saat (97).

2.4

This battle took place on 1st of January, 1818 as part of the Third and final Ango-Maratha War between the British East India Company forces and the forces of Peshwa Baji Rao II. The 834 member strong Company force – out of which 500 were infantry soldiers from the Mahar Regiment – was highly outnumbered by the huge Peshwa force of around 28,000. Yet the Company troops could inflict defeat to the Marathas. Later, this win of Mahar (Dalit) Regiment over the upper caste Maratha state (Peshwa faction) achieved cult status in the Dalit discourses. This is the victory pillar installed at the site of the battle commemorating the bravery of the Mahar soldiers. What was that battle?

ANSWER

Battle of Koregaon.

2.5

• X is a market area in South Mumbai dominated by the Muslim community, manily Dawoodi Bohras, a Shia sect. The area got its name from the way it was referred to by the British people residing inside the nearby fort of Crawford Market. “Behind the market”, as they called it, got picked by the locals as well and a slightly corrupted pronunciation of the phrase gave the locality its name, X.

• As regards Hindustani classical music, the area houses a Gharana, set up around 1890 by brothers Chhajju Khan, Nazir Khan and Khadim HussainKhan. Lata Mangeshkar, Manna Dey, Kishori Amonkar, Begum Akhtar, Asha Bhosle, Suman Kalyanpur, Pankaj Udhas etc. are / were the prominent disciples of the famous gharana.

• What is X, the name of the locality in Mumbai / gharana?

ANSWER

Bhendi Bazaar (from “Behind the Bazaar”).

2.6

• X is a kind of sugar sweetened fruit preserve which is popular throughout the Middle East, Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent. In a 2013 anthology film, one of the four consisting short films is named X, directed by Anurag Kashyap, which also features a song called X.

• What is X?

ANSWER

Murabba.

ROUND 3

3.1

Ashish Parmar is a Bengaluru based photographer who shot this photo of his wife Raina Nanaiah during Diwali celebrations last year (2015), and uploaded on Twitter with a hashtag. What happened next?

ANSWER

Apple selected this photograph for their billboard ad campaigns for iPhone, as the only entry from India. #ShotOniPhone6S was the hashtag.

3.2

In law, this principle, X, provides for the validation of Pre-Constitution Laws that violate fundamental rights upon the premise that such laws are not null and void but become unenforceable only to the extent of such inconsistency with the fundamental rights. What is the principle called?

ANSWER

Doctrine of Eclipse.

3.3

• X, an eminent Surbahar player who, throughout her life has avoided publicity and public performance / recording, is the daughter of Y, the court musician of Maharaja Brijnath Singh of the princely state of Maihar in present day Madhya Pradesh. X, although originally named Roshanara Khan, later came to be known as X – the name given by Maharaja Brijnath Singh, since she was born on the day of a bright full moon day (Purnima) in Chaitra, in 1927.

• Identify X, Y.

ANSWER

X – Annapurna Devi

(first wife of Pandit Ravi Shankar & sister of Ustad Ali Akbar Khan),

Y – Allauddin Khan.

3.4

This is Shahid Vinay Singh Pathik Sports Complex in Greater Noida, also known as Greater Noida Cricket Stadium. Following a MoUsigned in December, 2015, where BCCI was also a party, this stadium now cannot be used by the Indian Cricket Team to play home games / series. Why?

ANSWER

Home Ground of Afghanistan cricket Team.

3.5

Miley Naa Miley Hum – this 2011 movie, also featuring Kangana Ranaut, was the Bollywood debut of X as the leading hero. After the disastrous debut, X left Bollywood and returned back to Bihar to make a career in his father’s profession. Who is X?

ANSWER

Chirag Paswan, MP and son of Ram Vilas Paswan.

3.6

Seen here are Bagel and Breadsticks, two bread items from Poland and Italy, respectively. The terms are also used colloquially in tennis to refer to specific scenarios. What are those scenarios?

ANSWER

Winning or losing a set 6-0 and 6-1, due to resemblance of shape.

ROUND 4

4.1

This is the cover of “Nine Lives”, the 12th studio album of American rock band Aerosmith. This album featured the song X, which belong to the raga rock genre, i.e. a fusion of rock and Hindustani classical elements. The song, X, contained a Sarangi recital by Pandit Ramesh Mishra. Aerosmith conceived the name / idea of the song while walking past a restaurant by the same name. What is X?

ANSWER

“Taste of India”

4.2

What do we call this kind of fats deposited around one’s belly?

ANSWER

Love Handles

4.3

This is an image from the recently held (March, 2016) series of face-off between Lee Sedol, the current world champion and AlphaGo, a computer programme, in which AlphaGo won 4-1. What is the board game, having its origin in ancient China?

ANSWER

“Go”

4.4

Mithilesh Kumar Srivastava (1912-2009) was a noted Indian conman (cheater / forger) who is famous to have sold TajMahal a number of times besides Red Fort, Rashtrapati Bhavan and the Parliament House of India. He even forged the signatures of business houses like Tatas, Birlas and Ambanis to execute false deals and divert crores of money. He was arrested nine times but every time he could run away from jail. He was sentenced to 113 years of imprisonment, but hardly spent 20. His life even inspired a few Bollywood movies. How is he better known as?

ANSWER

Natwarlal.

4.5

What name is given to this type of ladies’ shoes?

ANSWER

Ballerinas or Ballet Flats.

4.6

This is a recent apology made by someone. What is the context?

ANSWER

Shafqat AmanatAli, the Pakistani singer, over his performance of the Pak National Anthem at the start of the ICC World T20 match between India and Pakistan.

ROUND 5

5.1

Identify the National Flags that resemble India’s?

ANSWER

Ivory Coast and Ireland.

5.2

Seen here are a number of Solidus or gold coins from the Later Roman Empire era. The gold used in the coins was relatively of pure quality and a Solidus weighed about 24 nos. of this tree seeds. Identify the tree / seed.

ANSWER

Carob, from which the unit of purity, Carat, has been derived.

5.3

These are the posters of the films Blue, White and Red – directed by Polish filmmaker Krzysztof Kieślowski – which formed the trilogy “Three Colours”, based on French settings and exploring the French way of life. Why are they called “Three Colours” or Blue, White, Red?

ANSWER

After the colours in the French National Flag.

5.4

This is a print ad / poster of the brand called AetheAer that shows jars of its product from different parts of Great Britain – Dorset, Somerset, Wiltshire, Yorkshire, Wales etc. What does AethAermarket?

ANSWER

Fresh Air.

5.5

This is a film based on American chess player X’s successful challenge of Soviet grandmaster Boris Spassky in the 1972 World Chess Championship held in Reykjavik, Iceland, in the backdrop of the ongoing Cold War. Who is X?

ANSWER

Bobby Fischer.

5.6

This gemstone is named after the East African country in which it was first discovered in 1967 near Mount Kilimanjaro. This is a popular alternative to the more precious gemstone, Sapphire. Identify it.

ANSWER

Tanzanite, from Tanzania.

ROUND 6

6.1

In the video, you can see music being played on an electric instrument, without actually touching it. Name the instrument, which appeared in a recent Google doodle.

ANSWER

Theremin, named after its inventor Leon Theremin, who invented it in 1928.

6.2

This is a famous song by Rabindranath Tagore which is said to have written for this Argentine writer you see here, X, whom he named Vijaya. X, Tagore’s romantic interest for some time, who was the inspiration behind many such songs and poems that were included in the collection Puravi –gifted to X by Tagore – is seen here with the ground breaking Argentine (Spanish) literary magazine Sur, with which X was associated. Who was X?

ANSWER

Victoria Ocampo.

6.3

This is a Hindustani classical interpretation / cover of the famous Beatles song X. this version is sung by the person you see here, Y, who is more famous in another field. This version is included in his 2010 album “Found Music”, which is his second album following his debut album “This is Not Fusion” (2005). Identify both X and Y for full points.

ANSWER

Amit Chaudhuri, the writer.

“Norwegian Wood” is the song.

6.4

This is from an epic poem, X, set in tune by Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt and sung by Hariharan. What is X?

ANSWER

6.5

This is a lovely ghazal from the 1982 movie Bazaar featuring LataMangeshkar. Identify the male voice.

ANSWER

Talat Aziz.

6.6

• This song from the film Saathiya is certainly one of the best Bollywood love songs (in my opinion). On the other hand, ____ is an elegant evening raga of romance. In this song, lyricist Gulzar, while trying to masterfully create an ambience of romance, mentions ____ in this way –

“Farvari ki sardiyon ki dhoop mein

Mundi mundi aankhiyon se dekhna

Haath ki aar se…

Nimi nimi thand aur aag mein

Haule haule ____ ki raag mein

Meer ki baat ho…”

• Identify ____, the raga.

ANSWER

Maarwa.

IT’S OVER!