3. Thanks to my good friend Baba Abhinav Dhar for his inputs and major contribution to the
quiz.
4. ⢠This is a gennish media quiz. Not all questions are media related.
⢠Thirty eight directs and a six part written round.
⢠+10/-0 on bounce and +10/-10 on pounce.
⢠Blanks are indicative of length at all points through this quiz unless specified otherwise.
⢠Quizmasterâs decisions are final and irrevocably binding. DO NOT QUARREL.
⢠Say Jai Bawana!
5.
6. When Twitter co-founder and former CEO Evan Williams thought of coming up with a
product to let users create content which wasnât limited to merely 140 characters, he wanted
to keep it very different from the idea of blogs. He wanted some sort of a hybrid of Twitter
and blogs.
What he then created is a social journalism platform, having a hybrid collection of amateur
and professional people and publications. He created this in 2012, and despite a slow start,
as of May of this year, they have 60 million unique monthly readers, and growing. Their
international Alexa rank hivers around the 300-350 mark.
What platform did Evan Williams create?
9. Some historians say that during the eighteenth century, this area often changed hands due to
the repeated raids on it, and has been an area of continual conflict since.
This rather in news 89 sq.km. area is between a stream and a river and literally means ârocky
pathâ.
What area is being talked about?
15. As pellets guns, used last year on protestors in Kashmir, leaving many dead and blinded, the
government took a decision to import a less aggressive alternative from Israel some time
back. These replacements are to be sprayed from water cannons, and are very effective at
what they do.
The security forces, were positive that it would work in India too, and decided to try it out in
Delhi on a âcaptive crowdâ, consisting of their own personnel and the general public.
Surprisingly, no one moved an inch, the reason for which has been attributed to the
conditions Indians live in and are used to, and a higher threshold because of such living
environments.
What proposed alternative failed thus?
18. The following slide contains an image from 1948 of someone getting her leg placed in the
cement, in the forecourt from Graumanâs Chinese theatre in Hollywood.
She was the highest-paid Hollywood celebrity between 1943 and 1951 and the highest
salaried American woman, from 1945-47.
She insured her legs for US$1 million and her white bathing suit shot became a pinup
favourite with GIs during World War II.
Who is being talked about?
22. The season finale of The Dewarists, Season 7, featured a pastiche of form, genre, media and
style through a collaboration between India's folk rock collective, The Raghu Dixit Project; a
contemporary dance troupe, Nritarutya; mask maker, Sridhar Murthy; and X.
Shot in the agglomeration that Bengaluru has come to be known by, the artists reworked the
visual, verbal and visceral, as they came together to create a spectacle that was a fitting end
to S3 of The Dewarists, where music meets art.
X identifies himself as a DIY artist, but is also a phenomenal artist of his related field.
Identify X.
25. In 2015, the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA), a trade group, announced voluntary
guidelines to halt turbines at low wind speeds to reduce a particular phenomenon by up to
30%. Along with the speed of the blades at low wind speeds, the problem is also caused by
the low pressure which builds up along with it.
The build-up of this problem meant that farmers would have to spend more money on pest
control each year, as the number of insects would increase.
What caused the AWEA to come up with these guidelines?
28. In 1966, Xâs friend Dubby landed a job at Calcuttaâs circulation department for The Statesman
newspaper.
British journalist, Desmond Doig, a famous name in West Bengal at the time owing to his
scandalous expose of the Calcutta Government Hospitals and their condition, wanted to start
an offshoot of the Statesman. He was also the first journalist in the world to write about a
tiny Albanian nun called Mother Teresa who was picking up dying destitutes from Calcuttaâs
streets.
He got Dubby, X and a person called Papa Menon to join him, and what resulted was Indiaâs
first magazine for youngsters.
X, who later went on to become the associate editor for Times group, gained fame as co-
curator of comic strips Dubyaman, Dubyaman II, and Duniya Ke Neta to name a few.
Identify X, and name the magazine.
31. It is well known that Inglorious Basterds (2009) was directed by Quentin Tarantino, who also
earned an Academy nomination for the same. However, a certain scene/part in the film was
directed by another director.
Interestingly, both directors also acted in the film. While QT played the role of the first Nazi
to be scalped by the Basterds, the second director had a much more significant role.
Identify the second director and the role he played.
33. Eli Roth played Staff Sergeant Donny âThe Bear Jewâ Donowitz
The climax features a Nazi propaganda film called Stolz der Nation. Eli Roth directed the film-
within-a-film using the pseudonym Alois von Eichberg.
34. The grey francolin is a species of francolin found in the plains and drier parts of South Asia.
They are found in open cultivated lands as well as scrub forests. The grey francolin is
normally found foraging on bare or low grass covered ground in scrub and open country, and
is rarely found above an altitude of 500 m above sea level in India, and 1200 m in Pakistan.
The distribution is south of the foothills of the Himalayas westwards to the Indus valley and
eastwards to Bengal. It is also found in north-western Sri Lanka.
In the earlier days, it was known to be one of the tastier game birds, and was considered to
be a good catch along with quails, for luxurious dining.
The sound that the grey francolin makes, resembles that of certain quails and partridges as
well. This onomatopoeic word gives the local name to the grey francolin as well as the other
aforementioned birds.
What is the local name of this bird?
37. The _______ Pass is a mountain pass in northern Italy, the highest paved mountain pass in
the Eastern Alps, and the second highest in the Alps. The pass is a mere 200 m from the Swiss
border and the âThree Languages Peakâ right above the pass is so named because this is
where the Italian, German, and Romansh languages meet.
Each year on the last Saturday of August or first Saturday of September the _______ National
Park administration organizes the _______ Bike Day where over 12,000 cyclists participate.
With 48 circuitous switchbacks, the pass is widely regarded as one of the most beautiful
motorable roads in the world, and is generally the highest altitude point for any Grand Tour.
So much is its value, that Moto Guzzi launched a GT bike by the same name in 2007 and Alfa
Romeo launched a car by the same name in 2016.
Fill in the blank
40. As a very young child in the late 80s â early 90s, Vishal Gondal got a computer gifted to him
by his businessman father. He took to computer programming pretty soon and in a few years,
also got involved in proper visual libraries, to build some brilliant games. He founded X in
1999 and made games for Nokia, Samsung, IPL and many more clients. The first pre-loaded
3D game that came with a Nokia device was made by X. Identify X.
In 2011, he sold X to DisneyUTV Digital, The Walt Disney Company (India) in 2011 for $100
million. This is when he got into fitness and realized that there are no online trainers
available for someone not willing to join the gym. To solve this problem, he founded Y in
2014 which is basically a device with an inbuilt-server controlled trainer. What sells, is
however not the device, but the trainer. The device comes free with various plans for the
trainer.
Identify both of Vishal Gondalâs ventures.
43. A simple interview about the South Korean upheaval earlier this year became a matter of
international interest. While Professor Robert E Kelly was in an interview with BBC, offering
his thoughts about the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye, something happened
which gained a lot of social media coverage across the world.
What happened?
While this happened, a number of online activists also started raising voices of racism against
the Professor.
Why did this happen?
45. He was giving the interview over video conference from his office at home, when his two kids
barged into the room.
The wife then came running into the room, to pick the kids. However, the wife was Asian and
was mistaken to be his maid, that led to some racism allegations.
46. Marwar Mathania is a village in Jodhpur district of Rajasthan, India. The town is the site of
the oldest Karni Mata temple, constructed by Amara Charan in the fifteenth century. Native
to Mathania, are the Mathania chillies.
Known as the Lal Badshah of Rajasthan, this chilli is said to be the main reason behind the
stoic and spirited temperament of the Rajputs. It is the main component of food items such
as Laal Maans and Kairsangri.
Though the environment conditions are conducive for this chilli between March and July,
there was little or no manure or fertilizer available for better growth of these chillies. Hence,
what the locals decided, was to use something very readily available to them, given the large
number of secluded forts around the area. This technique is still very much in use, to grow
healthy Mathania chillies.
What do the locals use as fertilizer?
49. Massimo Bottura is an Italian chef who owns Osteria Francescana, a three Michelin star
restaurant in Modena, Italy. In 2016, OF secured the first place in S. Pellegrinoâs Worldâs 50
Best Restaurants ranking, but dropped to second in 2017.
The signature dish at OF, is actually a dessert and not a main course. The story goes that one
day Massimo and Takahiko Kondo, his sous-chef, were about to close service by serving the
last two dessert plates to a customer, when taka dropped one plate on the ground.
This I when the culinary genius of Massimo came to power, and he created X out of the
dessert. The dessert to be served was a simple one, available everywhere in the world. But
what he created, now attracts foodies from across the world to Modena.
What is X, a dessert that he created from a very simple commonly available dessert?
52. In the flowering vine family of this edible item, the fruit is plucked in three stages.
In the first stage, the extremely unripe fruit is plucked, dried and cooked to then sell in the
markets as the black variety.
In the second stage, the almost ripe (still unripe though) fruit is plucked and dried, but not
cooked, to sell in the markets as the green variety.
In the third stage, ripe fruit is plucked and sold as it is as the white variety.
What am I talking about?
55. Sir John __________ was an English courtier, author and translator popularly known as the
inventor of the _____________ (not indicative). He had the honour of being accepted as a
godson of the childless Queen, Elizabeth I, one of 102, and was known as her âsaucy
Godsonâ.
In late sixteenth century, Sir John is said to have invented what he called the Ajax. The Ajax
had a valve to let water out of the tank, and a conical design to make it rotate and flow faster.
The present day version of the Ajax is also sometimes referred to as âJohnâ in the USA.
What did Sir John invent? What is his last name, one that is the same as of an actor who
apparently knows nothing?
58. XY served was an Indian film producer who was called to Mumbai by his cousin Prithviraj
Kapoor in the 1950s. He started his film career as an assistant to K. Asif on Mughal E Azam,
and went on to produce over 30 hit films.
His first film as producer was Shehzada (1972), about which he says that Rajesh Khanna
signed for the film on goodwill, thus establishing XYâs production house.
After a slew of flops in the 1970s and early 1980s, he gained a lot of success as producer in
films starring his son in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
He served as the president of the Film & Television Producers Guild of India from 1995 to
2001.
Identify his successful and famous son(s).
61. Hipponax, the sixth century BC comic poet, describes a certain lover of fine food having
âconsumed his estate dining lavishly and at leisure every day on tuna and garlic-honey
cheese patĂŠ like a Lampsacene ________â.
The word that fills the blank generally designates some incapacity for or abstention from
procreation. It was derived from the Greek word for bed, and roughly translates to a
bedroom guard.
Later modifications and combinations of the word; one of which involves intermixing with
Latin word âekheinâ meaning âto holdâ; gives the word its present day form.
Apart from the common meaning, the word also refers to anyone whoâs ineffective in his job.
Whatâs the good word?
79. The Kutchi Double Roti, commonly known as the X, originated in the Kutch region of Gujarat
in the 1960s.
It is said to be invented by Keshavji Gabha Chudasama in Mandvi, whose shop still serves the
item till date.
Taking its name from the word meaning âpressedâ, and is said to be a variety of another snack
from the surrounding regions. It is said that X was inspired from the Y but slight changes of
adding some chaat-like items such as sev and pomegranate seeds were made. The spice
profile of the two is also different.
Identify X and Y.
82. In 1987, sports car and radio enthusiast, Harry Turner, backed by Jim Tanner and Chris Crewe-
Smith, founders of TTC radio, started a new Radio channel with on particular purpose, to give
non-stop commentary on a specific event.
In the early years, this radio station was used only for around a week around the event, and
didnât play anything else. However, owing to geographical and developmental reasons, many
such events are now organized around this area, so the radio channel now remains active at
all times.
The aforementioned week, is referred to as âThe English Weekâ by locals and visitors. During
the English Week, this station generally remains the one with the worlds largest listenership,
beating the competition by factors of 3-4 sometimes. It is now broadcast over the internet as
well.
What radio station am I talking about, that gets its name from the event itself.
85. Karsh Kale is an Indian-American musician, record producer, songwriter, film composer and
DJ. He is considered one of the pioneering figures in defining the Asian Underground genre
by mixing disparate genres of music such as Indian classical and folk with electronica, rock,
pop and ambient music. In addition to production, remixing, and DJ work, Kale is known for
his tabla drumming and film composition.
As a percussionist, he realised that all his instruments echoed a lot during live performances.
This led to him getting custom tablas and other instruments made, which had a very simple
hack to help cancel the echo.
The technique used in these custom made instruments was originally used by English and
Greek musicians, but was made famous by Karsh Kale in the last decade or so.
What technique did he use?
88. Born in a lineage of many statesmen, X is the great grand daughter of former prime minister
of Hyderabad, grand niece of a former governor of Assam, and grand daughter of J
Rameshwar Rao from her motherâs side.
Calling herself more a dancer than an actress, she has gained acclaim for many of her films,
but not much mainstream success. She is trained in Bharatnatyam as well as classical vocals,
but started acting at a pretty young age.
She did play small parts in many films before, but she was noticed by the masses in an April
2011 advertisement.
Id the LSR alumna and the advertisement that gave her instant fame.
94. In light of some recent controversies, Twitter account History of India shared the following
pic with the title: âYoung _____ _______ taking Mahatma Gandhi on the path of non-
violence. Bombay (1944)â.
Fill in the blanks and give me the trending hashtag that was used.
99. She screen-printed the bookâs spine with match striking paper, in order to, as she says on her
website, âspread the book-burning message to the book itself.â
100. Following are the lines of a little known
Hindi nursery rhyme:-
___ ___ ____ _____ _____ _____ x2
Mummy meri rani
Papa mere raja
Phal khaein taaza
Sone ki chidiya, Chandi ka darwaza
Usmein kaun aega, mera bhaiyya raja
Another version goes like this:-
___ ___ ____ _____ _____ _____ x2
Pani mein phisla machli
Papa ne pakda
Mamma ne banaaya
Tum ne khaaya
Hum ne khaaya
Bada mazaa aaya
The blanks in both the versions are exactly the same, with very minor changes.
Fill in the blanks of the rhymes that were used in the title song of a rather famous album of
2015. The song at the moment has about 3.5 lakh views, and the album is available online for
free.
107. When a certain someone moved into a posh Juhu apartment block earlier this year, this is
what Twinkle Khanna tweeted.
Who was the great personality, who moved into the Juhu apartment?
110. An international journal recently published a study in which they categorized a certain group
of people into four broad types: relationship builders, window shoppers, town criers, and
selfies.
âSelfies are all about themselves, town criers are wrapped in political controversies/celeb
gossips, window shoppers who in spite of being present all the time donât do much content
creation, just lurking there, and relationship builders well... look to reinforce relationships.â
What group of people are we talking about?
113. When Christoph Bartneck of the University of Canterbury submitted a paper on Nuclear
Physics at a conference by the OMICS group, it got selected in just three hours. He was taken
aback and complained to the authorities.
He had written the paper as a certain Iris Pears, in a particularly unique manner. How was
the paper written? The abstract is given below.
âAtomic Physics and I shall not have the same problem with a separate section for a very long long way. Nuclear weapons will not have to come out the
same day after a long time of the year he added the two sides will have the two leaders to take the same way to bring up to their long ways of the same as
they will have been a good place for a good time at home the united front and she is a great place for a good time. The atoms of a better universe will have
the right for the same as you are the way we shall have to be a great place for a great time to enjoy the day you are a wonderful person to your great time
to take the fun and take a great time and enjoy the great day you will be a wonderful time for your parents and kids. Molecular diagnostics will have been
available for the rest by a single day and a good day to the rest have a wonderful time and aggravation for the rest day at home time for the two of us will
have a great place for the rest to be great for you tomorrow and tomorrow after all and I am a very happy boy to the great day and I hope he is wonderful.
Nevertheless I have to go back home to nuclear power to the united way she is to be the first woman united to work on their own and the rest will be the
same way as she will have to come back to work and we are still not the way we shall have the united side and we are not the same way she is the way she
said the same as she was a good time. Physics are great but the way it does it makes you want a good book and I will pick it to the same time I am just a
little more than I can play for later and then it is very very good for a good game. Nuclear energy is not a nuclear nuclear power to the nuclear nuclear
program he added and the nuclear nuclear program is a good united state of the nuclear nuclear power program and the united way nuclear nuclear
program nuclear. Scientist and I have been very good to me today I hope I have to work on tomorrow after work today so far but I'm still going for
tomorrow night at work today but I'm not going home said I am a good friend and a great time for the rest I have been doing. Physics are great but the
same as you have been able and the same way to get the rest to your parents. Atoms for a play of the same as you can do with a great time to take the rest
to your parents or you will be nucleus a great time for a great place. Power is not a great place for a good time.â
115. He wrote it using his iPhoneâs auto-complete feature. The fictional name Iris Pears is derived
from Siri Apple.
116. The first part of the name (X) is an adjective describing the second part. The second part of
the name (Y) is an ancient Malabari word for the tail of a peacock. Rumour has it that the
British spotted a peacock for the first time in the Malabar region.
This was also where the British set the first ______ _______ up in India. The produce of this
region is what is mainly contributes to the product line up of XY.
Give XY.
119. In 1712, the British placed a tax on newspapers based on the number of their pages. This
meant that the publishers had to turn to something which was until then used in different
contexts, like royal proclamations, acts, and official notices.
What began from here, which saw its eventual dismissal in 1855, because of the gradual
reduction of the newspaper tax?
122. Jayaram Banan was born in an extremely strict Karnataka household, where his father used
to throw red chilli into his eyes at the slightest mistake.
At the age of 13, when he failed in school, he stole money from his fatherâs wallet and ran
away to Mumbai. He washed dishes at a canteen in Panvel, before realizing that what he
wanted to do, was already available in abundance in Mumbai. So he moved to Delhi.
In 1986, he opened his first store in Defence Colony by the name Xâs Food. Within days, his
food gained fame and people started to queue up outside Xâs Food. In 1990, when he opened
a restaurant in Lodhi hotel with a 20% price rise above Xâs Food, he called it XY.
XY has now expanded throughout North India, and also to USA, Canada, Singapore and
Bangkok.
Identify XY
125. _______ is a welsh word that is said to be one of the most difficult to translate into English.
Though there is no direct translation, the online Welsh-English dictionary of the University of
Wales, Lampeter, likens it to homesickness tinged with grief or sadness over the lost or
departed. It is a mix of longing, yearning, nostalgia, wistfulness, or an earnest desire for
home, a home which you cannot go back to.
Whatâs the good word?
128. Born in Mumbai in a musical family, Taufiq Qureshi took to classical music pretty early in his
life. He received guidance from Ghatam Vidhwan, Pandit Vikku Vinayakram and is now a
professional composer and percussionist.
A dedicated self-learner, Taufiq discovered his greatest asset, a feel for the world of sound
with all its intricate nuances which makes him one of the most sought after rhythm-
programmers, arranger-composers and percussionists in the world of studio recordings.
He has also been a part of background score and music for movies like Ashoka, Mission
Kashmir, Black, Dil Chahta Hai, Devdaas, Sawariya, Dhoom 2, Parzania, Tere Naam, Jab We
Met, ABCD and Bhaag Milkha Bhaag.
Identify his more famous sibling.
131. ________ ___ is an illustration of a paradox in philosophy based on free will. The paradox is
named after the 14th century French philosopher Jean _______, whose philosophy of moral
determinism it satirizes.
It refers to a hypothetical situation wherein a donkey that is equally hungry and thirsty is
placed precisely midway between a stack of hay and a pail of water. Since the paradox
assumes the ass will always go to whichever is closer, it dies of both hunger and thirst since it
cannot make any rational decision between the hay and water.
Although the illustration is named after _______, philosophers have discussed the concept
before him, notably Aristotle who used the example of a man equally hungry and thirsty. A
version of this situation appears as metastability in digital electronics, when a circuit must
decide between two states when there is an input that is changing value.
What is this paradox?
134. Panache â17⢠Content Curator and Finals Quizmaster: Yours Truly
⢠Date: October 27 and 28
⢠Venue: Somewhere in Bawanaland
⢠Genre: General
⢠Team Size: Max 3, cross allowed
⢠Open: One open participant allowed to join two students
135. Feel free to direct all your bouquets and brickbats via Facebook, WhatsApp or Mail. Iâll
appreciate the appreciation, as well as work on the constructive feedback. Thenk.
Mohd Fahad
WhatsApp: +91-7042645691
E-mail: contact@mohdfahad.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/mohdfahad42/
136. Widely regarded as one of the better English openers of 1980s, this cricketer somehow never
played for the national side despite scoring almost 25,000 runs in First Class and List A
cricket. He was one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1988.
A right hand opening batsman and occasional off spinner, he played for Somerset reserves
ever since he turned 13, and went on to captain the main side from 1986-88.
He first faced controversy in 1986 when, at the end of his first season as captain of Somerset,
he was instrumental in the county's decision not to renew the contracts of its two overseas
players, Viv Richards and Joel Garner, whose runs and wickets had brought the county much
success in the previous eight years. This led to Ian Botham refusing himself a contract and
joining Worcestershire.
Identify this controversy marred cricketer, extremely famous as a media personality, not a
cricketer. His name will also remind us of a brilliant DQC quizzer who left us a few days back.