K circle weekly-october2020

K-Circle Weekly Quiz
October-2020
(Lockdown kc)
Quizmaster : Pankaj Rodey

Infinite Pounce
Clockwise
(+10 / -5)

Following is a series of paintings
created in 1969.
Name the artist.
What do these 12 paintings depict?
1

SALVADOR DALI
PAINTINGS FOR EACH OF 12 CHAPTERS IN ALICE IN WONDERLAND
Through rabbit hole
Pool of tears
The Caucus Race and a Long Tale
The Rabbit Sends in a Little Bill
Advice From a Caterpillar
Pig and Pepper
Mad Tea Party
The Queen’s Croquet Ground
The Mock Turtle’s Story
The Lobster’s Quadrille
Who stole the tarts
Alice’s Evidence

Among many other things, this explorer and diplomat is known for promoting such
documents in the early 20th century.
Name the person (Red blank) whose name appears twice in the list of Nobel Peace
prize winners?
What is blanked in the Blue blank OR what was the purpose of these documents?
2

NANSEN PASSPORT
(Nobel prize in 1922 himself, Nansen International Office
for Refugees in 1938)
Refugees

This jar is a primitive form of an
electrical capacitor, developed in
1740s had a metal foil cemented
inside and outside to store
electrical charge.
The apparatus was named after
the city where it was first
developed.
This jar, made from pottery is
known by the name of the
city, which has been a major
centre of production of such
pottery since 18th century.
These 2 jars are named for 2 cities in the same country. Name the cities
3

Delft jar (Delftware jar)
Leyden jar
Cities in Netherlands

According to biographers, this person’s life was replete with
contradictions. He had lofty hobbies like fox-hunting and
fencing, yet he despised the upper class, the landowner
gentry.
He arrived from Prussia to Manchester in 1840s to run a
family business. Here, during the day, he was an effective
businessman. After business hours, however, he pursued
his real interests: writing articles for English journals,
reading parliamentary reports on economic and political
conditions in England.
In the night, he would travel through Manchester’s noisome
slums, collecting information about their inhabitants’ grim
lives for his first great work of literature. Who?
4

Frederic Engels. (The Condition of the Working Class
in England)

The common name of this highly contagious bacterial infection of the
respiratory tract comes from the Greek word for a certain man-made
material, thanks to the appearance of such thick grey membrane
formed by the bacteria in the throat and tongue.
Thanks to the popularity of this material to make bags, the Marathi
word for ‘school bag’ possibly comes from the same Greek root.
The Hindi word for a place, traditionally associated with bureaucracy
also comes from same Greek root.
Which disease and what man-made material?
5

DIPHTHERIA from Greek diphthera meaning leather
Marathi Daptar (दप्तर),
Hindi Daftar

In the 1890s, paraffin was used but the idea was dropped due to its
tendency to ‘leak’.
In the 1920s and 1930s, fat from certain parts of the body was used,
but the idea did not work as it would cause infections.
In the 1950s, sponges, wood and even glass balls were tried, but
eventually dropped.
In 1962, the first successful procedure of this kind was performed on
a dog. According to official records, “The dog was observed for 2
weeks after the procedure, the procedure was deemed a complete
success and the material used for the procedure was declared ‘as
harmless as water’ for humans.”
The history of what procedure is this and what was the material first
successfully used on the dog?
6

The French word meaning “ball” which comes
ultimately from Latin pila gives 2 English words:
1) A small military unit with about 50 soldiers,
commanded by a lieutenant, organized in 2 or
more ‘squads’, that are led by non-commissioned
officers.
2) Word used for the main equipment used in a
sport that has won India medals in Olympics
including a gold in 2008 and a silver and a bronze
in 2012?
7

PLATOON, PELLET from French Pelote from
Latin pila

In medieval Europe, the berries of the
shrub Laurus nobilis were awarded by
teachers to students achieving academic
success.
What 8-lettered English word, used in
academics, that is a word play on Latin for
‘Fruit of the Laurel’ comes from this
practice?
8

BACCALAUREATE from Bacca Laurel (Berry of
the Laurel) ALSO THE ORIGIN OF PHRASE
BACHELOR’S DEGREE

According to sources, the research for which X was awarded the
Nobel prize in medicine was successful partly because he had
gained access to such photos captured by Y, reportedly, without
Y’s permission.
According to biographers, as Y’s work was at par or even
superior to that of X, Y could have received the Nobel prize with
X but Y died in 1958 and there was no rule for posthumous
nomination.
Interestingly prior to their careers in medicine, both X and Y
worked in the field of ____s, albeit those of different kinds.
During WWI, X worked as a scientist for the British Admiralty,
and was an expert in magnetic and acoustic kinds of ____s.
Y was awarded a PhD in 1945 in molecular structures of
sedimentary rocks, and was thus associated with ____s of
different kind.
Name X, Y and the blanked out noun.
9

FRNCIS CRICK. ROSALIND FRANKLIN (famous
photo51 of the DNA strand was captured by
Franklin). EXPLOSIVE MINES AND COAL MINES

World's largest maker of a certain common essential
household item is this company founded in 1971 by
a Gujarati businessman.
A version of this household item was patented in
mid-17th century by a Dutch scientist whose name is
associated with NASA's robotic spacecraft mission
to Saturn that lasted 20 years from 1997 to 2017.
Name the company known by the name X Y where X
comes from the name of a world heritage site and Y
comes from the combination of the name, middle
name and surname of the founder.
10

AJANTA ORPAT. (ODHAVJI R. PATEL).
HUYGENS PATENTED THE PENDULUM CLOCK IN
1657 (CASSINI-HUYGENS MISSION)

According to biographers, the Dutch artist X made an effective use of
this optical device called camera obscura in the early 17th century as
an aid to his paintings as evident from a perfect geometrical sense of
some works.
The camera obscura was also of interest to a contemporary Dutch
scientist Y, who reportedly created several versions of the camera.
Y is credited with an invention of another optical device that has
played a pivotal role in all the sciences.
It is also believed that X and Y were good friends and Y is the subject
of some paintings by X shown here.
11

In 2011, a spying scandal rocked the Secretariat in New Delhi where
traces of certain material were discovered in the office of finance
minister Pranab Mukherjee. This material was suspected to have
been used to fix electronic devices in the FM’s office room.
Just after this scandal, a TOI journalist had gone to meet the FM
undersecretary. According to his narrative,
“Happy to have finally made it through the security, I started
humming a lively Hindi film song. And, for some obscure reason, it
was that line from the 1978 hit film.
That was it! A highly sensitive surveillance chip installed at North
Block had latched on to the words “___ ___” from the song, which led
to a security red-alert. My undersecretary friend had to rush out of his
cabin to save me from yet another embarrassing security scan”.
Which song is this that alerted the security system? It was filmed on
Sachin Pilgaonkar and Poonam from a movie starring Amitach
Bachhan, Shashi Kapoor among others?
12

GAPUCHI GAPUCHI GUM GUM FROM TRISHUL.
TRACES OF CHEWING GUM WERE JUST DISCOVERED
IN THE FM OFFICE

Word _X_ comes from the Latin ‘Panis’
meaning bread/food and word _Y_ comes
from Greek ‘Penien’, a verb meaning ‘to drink’.
The contexts in which these 2 words are now
used do not have any ‘ingestible’ aspect
associated with these words since you can be
someone’s _X_ without eating bread with that
person and you can also attend a _Y_ without
drinking at the event.
13

In an issue of science parody magazine “Annals of Improbable
Research”, an article was published titled “The Search for X’s Y”.
According to the researcher,
“On a December night in the 1560s, in an engagement party hosted
by Professor Lucas Bachmeister, two Danish guests, in a drunken
condition, started an argument over who was the superior
mathematician. The argument ended on a bitter note but the quarrel
did not.
On Dec 29, the two decided to settle the matter by having a rapier
duel. The duel was fought in total darkness and ended with one of
them suffering severe facial injuries that also left a broad scar on his
forehead among other brutal cuts and bruises.”
The two later became friends and one married to the other’s cousin.
What was the title of the article where X is a person and Y is a word
associated with human anatomy?
14

BRAHE’S NOSE.
TYCHO BRAHE LOST A PART OF HIS NOSE IN A DUEL
WITH MANDERUP PARSBERG

American cosmologist Ralph Alpher and his PhD advisor George Gammow
wrote a paper in 1948 issue of a journal.
Gammow humorously decided to add the name of his friend - the eminent
physicist Y to this paper in order to create the whimsical author list to look
like a play on the Greek letters α, β, and γ (alpha, beta, gamma). Name Y, a
nuclear scientist who later won the Nobel prize in physics.
1

A person living on this island marked.
A condition defined as “A physical and mental state characterized by an absence
of response to external stimuli”, as shown in this painting of Oracle of Delphi.
2

In a battle in 1842, the British forces were attacked and overwhelmed by some
tribesmen and were forced to retreat from with present day Asian national capital
that shares its name with a river?
Possibly adapted from the same term from cue sports like Billiards, what word
meaning ‘stop short of’ is used for this line in a Kabaddi ground layout?
3

It is seen that if you place a Geiger counter in a common
household kitchen, it may show larger level of radiation
than other places in the house. This is thanks to a material,
used in modern kitchens which is a natural source of the
radioactive gases like Radon, though the levels of the gas
may not pose a health hazard. Which material?
A city in North Africa whose international airport is named
after a 14th century explorer?
4

The name of this ancient
region in present day
Iraq, the site of one of
the most ancient
civilizations.
A word in the name of
this company with the
logo shown, much in
news recently.
5

In a battle in 1842, the British forces were attacked and overwhelmed some
tribesmen and were forced to retreat from with present day Asian national capital
that shares its name with a river?
Possibly adapted from the same term from cue sports like Billiards, what word
meaning ‘stop short of’ is used for this line in a Kabaddi ground layout?
3

It is seen that if you place a Geiger counter in a common household
kitchen, it may show larger level of radiation than other places in the
house. This is thanks to a material, used in modern kitchens which is a
natural source of the radioactive gases like Radon, though the levels
of the gas may not pose a health hazard. Which material?
A city in North Africa whose international airport is named after a
14th century explorer?
4

The name of this ancient
region in present day
Iraq, the site of one of
the most ancient
civilizations.
A word in the name of
this company, much in
news recently.
5

Infinite Pounce
Counter clockwise
(+10 / -5)

This company X founded in the 1940s is named after
its French founder, Marcel ____.
As the French name of the owner was prone to
mispronunciation and could mean a pejorative word
in the English-speaking word, the company dropped
a letter from its name for branding.
Recently, X acquired a 100% stake in one of India’s
most recognized brands, Y that makes writing
implements and that shares its name with a type of
musical instrument.
X, Y?
1

CELLO BIC (NAMED FOR MARCEL BICH BUT
DROPPED THE H FOR OBVIOUS REASON)

The narration of this 2016 book is a soliloquy of the narrator, as he hears the
plot of the story unfold, while being confined alone at a certain place.
A few opening lines of the novel:
“....Here I am.....Arms patiently crossed, waiting, and wondering who I’m,
what I’m in for. …...I count myself innocent, but it seems I’m party to a plot
and my mother, bless her unceasing, loudly squelching heart, seems to be
involved.”
The narrator is acutely aware of the words from the podcast lectures that
his mother hears over headphones: “So efficiently did sound waves travel
through jawbone and clavicle, down through her skeletal structure…....”
From these descriptions, considering the location the narrator is in, this plot
may be reminiscent of what story in Mahabharata where a character, while
confined in a similar location, overhears something of importance albeit
(unfortunately) only partially?
2

ABHIMANYU OVERHEARS FATHER ARJUNA WHILE IN
WOMB

The title of this book, published in the UK in the
early 1930s had a 6 lettered word that is the English
equivalent of French Levant or Russian Vostok or
Greek Anatolia.
However, when the book was published in USA a
few months later, this specific word was dropped
and was replaced with the name of a port city in
Northern France.
What was the published name in the USA and why
the name change?
3

MURDER ON ORIENT EXPRESS WAS PUBLISHED AS
MURDER ON CALAIS COACH TO AVOID CONFUSION
WITH GRAHEME GREENE S BOOK STANBUL TRAIN
WHICH WAS PUBLISHED AS ORIENT EXPRESS.

A: This person is popularly associated with a 2-word
nickname, the first word being the name of an
Antimony-based cosmetic compound used on the
face and the second word is an Indian city (X).
B: This person, who is known to have once impressed
painter M F Hussain by his ‘art’, adopted a surname as
the name of the city of his birth. This city is ~200 km
by road from X.
Name both persons who died within about a month
of each other in 2020.
4

JAGDEEP (SOORMA BHOPALI),
RAHAT INDORI

In Ian Fleming's book Dr. No, the character Dr. No narrates a
story of his survival from a gun attack to James bond:
“….Then, when they could not break me, they cut off my
hands to show that the corpse was that of a thief, and then
they shot me through the heart and went away. But they
did not know something about me. I am the one man in a
million who has ……. Those are the odds against it, one in a
million. I lived..."
In spite of the trained gunmen confidently shooting him
through heart, Dr. No survives because he has a rare
congenital condition sometimes found in a person who is
from a pair born as mirror twins.
So, how does he survive the apparently fatal gun attack?
5

…I am the one man in a million who has his heart on
the right side of his body
SITUS INVERSUS
Mirror twins can have mirrored internal organs

In 1999, to mimic the painting style of this artist, a researcher at an
American university created an apparatus that involved a container,
suspended on a string, that flings paint onto the canvas from a nozzle
as an electric voltage activated coils to kick the string into motion.
At the conclusion of this experiment, the researcher wrote an article
in Nature journal saying “His painted patterns have characteristics
that match those displayed by nature's -------- (specifically, they
demonstrate a statistically significant self-similarity….)
This analysis supported clues that these painting patterns are --------
and reflect "the fingerprint of nature".
6

In the 1760s, the Northern peninsular point of this island of French Polynesia was
an ideal spot to witness an apparently spectacular celestial phenomenon. A British
explorer and his team built fortified tents and an observatory at this location to
witness and successfully catalogue the event. Hence this spot is known popularly as
point _____ as a reference to the celestial phenomenon.
One of the highest prices paid for a painting was 210 million USD for this artwork
created in 1892. The subject of this painting are women from the same island in the
Central Pacific, where the French painter spent most of his artistic life.
FITB and name the painter.
7

POINT VENUS AS TRIBUTE TO TRANSIT OF VENUS
OBSERVED BY JAMES COOK FROM TAHITI.
PAUL GAUGUIN IS THE PAINTER

ॐ शंखं चक्र
ं जलौकां दधदमृतघटं चारुदोर्भिश्चतुर्मििः।
This is the first line of a shloka dedicated to
the Hindu God believed to be the
personification of the Ayurveda and medicine.
A word in this starting line is a reference to a
peculiar Ayurvedic therapy used to manage
inflammatory and ischemic diseases.
Which God and what therapy?
8

Dhanwantari (Jalauka or leech therapy)

Yugoslavia in 1956 : A Hungarian politician
Australia in 1989 : A song composer from Taiwan
Netherlands in 2008 : The later head of the sate of
Zimbabwe
X in 2012 : An Australian publisher and activist
India in 2013 : Head of the state of Maldives
Spain in 2019 : A political leader from Venezuela
What non-exhaustive list is this and what is X and
the person?
9

People who requested refuge in a diplomatic
mission
Ecuador : Jullian Assange, Australian political activist
and founder of Wikileaks.

This project, launched in 2014 and achieved a milestone in
Sep 2020 involves a novel research in the Marine
environment.
Its name quite appropriately sounds like Naticidae, the
name of the family of large-sized predatory marine
gastropod molluscs.
The stated goals for this apparently outlandish research
project is to ‘save electricity’ by harvesting tidal energy,
save ‘real estate and taxes’, and ‘increase speed’ among
others.
The encouraging results reported in Sep 2020 showed that
the idea is reliable and practical.
Which project?
10

PROJECT NATICK.
MICROSOFT’S PROJECT TO EVALUATE POSSIBILITY
OF LOCATING DATA CENTERS INSIDE SEA

In 1892, German doctor, microbiologist and Nobel Laureate Robert
Koch published several scientific papers that established the definitive
cause of a medical condition which was till then believed to be caused
by miasmas or bad air.
As a result of his findings, these 2 ladies fashion trends suffered a
gradual decline. Explain why.
These long trailing gowns These hourglass shaped article of clothing
11

Tuberculosis.
These skirts, physicians said, were responsible for
sweeping up germs on the street and bringing
disease into the home.
Corsets, too, came under attack, as they were
believed to exacerbate tuberculosis by limiting the
movement of the lungs and circulation of the blood.

In May 2020, researchers at MIT used a technology
known as "Specific High Sensitivity Enzymatic
Reporter UnLOCKing" for the detection of COVID-19
virus thus creating the acronym SHERLOCK for the
test.
In Oct 2020, scientists at CSIR India developed a
COVID test using a similar technology. Apparently
taking a cue from the acronym used by MIT, the
CSIR assigned it a technical name to shorten quite
appropriately to what Indian-sounding acronym?
12

FNCAS9 Editor Linked Uniform Detection Assay
(FELUDA, the Indian fictional detective)

In the late 19th century, compounds of this
chemical element were used as a sedative to treat
everything from epilepsy to sleeplessness.
By the 20th century, the generic word for such
compounds was being used figuratively to apply to
anything or anyone that might put one to sleep
because of commonness or just plain dullness (like
this quiz, may be).
Which element / what word, that is also used in
literature to mean “a hackneyed / trite statement”?
13

In mechanics, This type of gearing mechanism is
called ___, due to the resemblance of the red
rotating part to a Heraldic cross symbol.
The eponym of this Heraldic cross is the name of
a country whose flag ironically does not have this
heraldic cross but features this cross instead.
FITB.
14

MALTESE CROSS MECHANISM ALSO CALLED
GENEVA DRIVE
Flag of Malta featured the George Cross instead of
Maltese cross

K circle weekly-october2020

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