HQC Open 2009 Prelims

GREENKO OPEN - 2009

Prelims

HQC Open Quiz 2009

GREENKO OPEN - 2009

In 2004, the Government of India declared that a language that met certain requirements could be accorded the status of a “classical language”. It should be ancient, it should be an independent tradition that arose mostly on its own and not as an offshoot of another tradition, and it must have a large and extremely rich body of ancient literature. Four languages that have met this criteria include Tamil (2004) and Sanskrit (2005). Two were accorded this status in 2008. Name them.

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Telugu

Kannada

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Three artistes are widely regarded to constitute the “female trinity of Carnatic music”.

M. S. Subbulakshmi is one.

Who were the other two?

2

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M. L. Vasanthakumari

D. K. Pattammal

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The famous Venezeulan-born leftist revolutionary Carlos ‘The Jackal’s full name is Ilich Ramirez Sanchez. His father was a Marxist lawyer.

What were the first names of his two younger brothers?

3

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Vladimir

Lenin

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Identify the two people speaking in this audio.

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Rafael Nadal

Roger Federer

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Bird A used to be called the _______ Kite in India, because its diet included household refuse and carrion. It is now referred to as the XXX Kite. The name change was for reasons of political correctness.

Bird B is even now called the _______ mynah, thanks to its distinctive appearance. There have been calls to change this name as well, because of its casteist connotations. Fill in the blanks.

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A B

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Pariah Kite

Brahminy Mynah

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This is a print ad from a series by agency ‘Conexión Colombia’ which raises funds to stop child labor. In these ads they show the dark side of fairy tales – stories which are never told.

What story is this a poster for?

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Little Red Riding Hood

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In 1905, the US Ministry of Public Instruction sought a way to weed out children who needed special education. They devised a series of tests that measured logical aptitude and memory. The tests supposedly yielded the “mental age” of the child.

In 1912, German William Stern improved upon this by dividing the mental age by the chronological age and multiplying by 100. What concept was thus created?

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IQ, Intelligence Quotient

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This art form is a classical example of the amalgamation of medieval art, poetry and music. Several schools produced works in this genre. Each work is usually about one of 6 these (and their 5 “wives” and 8 “sons/daughters”). Each one of these is personified by a colour, mood, and a verse describing a story of a hero and heroine. It elucidates a season and time of day; most of them also specify a deity. What art form?

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Raagamala Paintings

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What rather controversial “technique” is being demonstrated in the visual?

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Waterboarding

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From the “Thesaurus of Anecdotes” by Edmund Fuller:

“Not all your plays are successes, I suppose, Sir James”, someone remarked to J. M. Barrie at a party…Barrie leaned toward him and said, “No, some ______ out and some ______ out.”

Fill in the blanks. NO part points. 10

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peter, pan

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The name of this city is derived form an old word meaning “monks” in English. This was to honour the fact that monks of the Benedictine order founded the city. It is also the reason for the monk depicted on the city’s coat of arms. What city?

11*

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Munich

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“Across the Zodiac: The Story of a Wrecked Record” (1880) is a science fiction novel by Percy Greg, who is credited as an originator of the “sword-and-planet” sub-genre of science fiction. The book describes a flight to Mars, set in the year 1830. The name of the spacecraft is now a word in the English language. This was one of the word’s earliest appearances.

What?

12*

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Astronaut

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The Canadian ones are all attached to Ellesmere Island. There are at least 40 in the Southern Hemisphere, with names such as Brahms, Verdi, Bach, George VI etc. The more relevantly named ones are probably Cook, Ross, Shackleton etc. The ones named after Captain Carl Anton Larsen were in the news in January 1995 and February 2002, and the one named for Sir Hubert Wilkins was featured as recently as April this year.

What are we talking about?

13*

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Ice Shelves

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US Patent # 4,571,201 was awarded to Takashi Matsuda an employee of Takara Co. Ltd. What did this patent lead to the creation of?

14*

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Transformers

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Composed by pop band, Vital Signs it was included in the band’s debut album ‘Vital Signs 1’. In 2003, BBC World Service conducted an international poll to choose ten most famous songs of all time. Around 7000 songs were selected from all over the world. According to BBC, people from 155 countries/islands voted. This song was third in top 10 songs and is now considered almost an anthem. What often heard song, especially in April-May this year? 15*

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Dil Dil Pakistan

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Prince Henry the Navigator’s people landed in this place, which literally meant “wood”, in 1420 and set about clearing the thick woods. They set a fire that raged for seven years. Although they never planned it that way, the potash left from the consumed wood would prove a perfect fertilizer for vineyards of the Malmsey grapes imported from Crete to replace these forests.What famous product resulted?

16*

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Madeira

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Formerly known as Sahron Saburjian, he was the son of a blacksmith, born near Garmsar in the Talysh family on 28 October 1956 and ironically may have come from a Jewish background. The original name, which derives from “thread painter”, was changed to the present one, meaning “of virtuous race”, deriving from the Arabic for “virtuous” and Farsi for “race”. Opponents have speculated that the name was changed in order to cover Jewish roots. Who are we talking about?

17*

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Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

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This word may have its origins in an Arabic word for ‘diversion, amusement’, or the Chinese word ch’ih-fan (meaning ‘eat-rice’). Neither of these has been conclusively established. The most likely origin is an English colloquial or slang term which means “a draught of liquor” or “small beer”. It is in a 1785 dictionary where the meaning is given as “eating or drinking out of meal-times”.

What word?18*

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Tiffin

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19*

The central government has budgeted Rs. 100 crores for setting up the Unique Identification Number Authority of India. The Chairperson will be considered the equivalent of Cabinet rank in the government.

Who has been appointed the first Chairperson?

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Nandan Nilekani

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According to John Keay’s “Sowing the Wind”, in 1925, he paid his one and only visit to a certain place in connection with the opening of the Hebrew University. The tone of the visit was supposedly set in the customs shed in Jaffa where the disembarking VIP was accosted by an officer asking, “And have you anything else to declare, Mr. _______?”

Fill in the blank.

20*

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Balfour

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This hill range is originally supposed to have been named after the Telugu word for “hair partition”, because it seems as though the river and hills cutting each other resemble the partition in a woman’s hair. The commonly used name now is a slightly shortened form of the original.

What place?21

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Papikondalu

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Identify the playback singer of this song.

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Shruti Hassan

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The meaning of this phrase has been a hotly debated topic recently. Said to originate from a folk song in Chhattisgarh, most people believe that it alludes to the complications in a relation between a bride and her in-laws, akin to the complex arrangement of flowers on a branch.However, some people also believe that this is a tongue-in-cheek comparison of the husband’s house to a flower that seems beautiful but has no fragrance.What phrase is this?

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Sasuraal Genda Phool

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Which sportsperson gets his nickname from the character given below because of the similarities between their surnames?

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Andrew “Freddie” Flintoff

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1. Manas Katyal – A 22 year old Delhi based media professional2. Elesh Parujanwala – A 30 year old entrepreneur from Toronto3. Chittiz Jain – 26 year old garment exporter from Delhi

What is the “prize” that these folks are “competing” for?

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Rakhi Sawant

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In April 2009, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke was interviewed for CBS’ “60 Minutes” programme (a first by any sitting Fed chairman in 20 years). He said, “And I think as those ______ ______ begin to appear in different markets, and as some confidence begins to come back, that will begin the positive dynamic that brings our economy back”.

What expression fills the blanks?26

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green shoots

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This painting made history when it fetched nearly $1.6 million at a Christie’s auction in 2005.

What is the full name of the artist?

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Tyeb Mehta

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X’s log for 6 May 1770 records, “The great quantity of these sort of fish found in this place occasioned my giving it the name Stingrays Harbour.” However, in his journal he changed it to, “The great quantity of plants Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander found in this place occasioned my giving it the name ______ ______.”

Fill in the blanks.

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Botany Bay

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From the Springfield (Mass.) Sunday Republican of November 10, 1901: “There is a void in the English language which…we undertake to fill…Now, clearly, what is needed is a more comprehensive term which does homage to the sex without expressing any view as to their domestic situation, and what could be more simpler or more logical than the retention of what the two doubtful terms have in common. The abbreviation _____ is simple, easy to write…” Fill in the blanks.

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Ms.

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What is the subject of discussion in this video?

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Mongoose Bat

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According to the Union Minister for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh, the Gajner Wildlife Sanctuary in Rajasthan will see the re-introduction of the African variant of which species to India, after attempts to procure specimens of the Asiatic variety from Iran led nowhere?

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Cheetah

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This dish was supposedly created by a chef in a mess frequented by lawmakers of the state as a “combo”, to reduce the mealtime delays that would eat into their busy schedule. He did so by combining an existing dosai-like dish with upma.

What?32

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MLA Pesarattu

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Scientists originally believed that digestion was a process controlled by the nervous system. In a 1902 experiment, the small intestine of a dog whose intestinal nerves were severed were simulated (in contrast to what had been done earlier).

The pancreas continued to secrete digestive juices suggesting that there was some sort of signaling mechanism in play. The Greek words for “to set in motion” were used for this mechanism. What had just been discovered?

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hormones

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India leased K-43 from 1988 to 1992 and supposedly used it in designing and building a first indigenous version. More of these are in the pipeline and they will reportedly be based at a facility being built in Rambilli, about 60 km south of Visakhapatnam.

Simply name the first of this series, which in Sanskrit means “destroyer of enemies”.

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INS Arihant

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What iconic original music video served as the “inspiration” for this mind-blowing sequel?

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The finals will be a

Thriller!!

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Top 8 teams make it to the Finals

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Quiz by:

Diwakar Pingle

Priyambad Pattanayak

Ravi Mundoli

Nitish Khadiya