K-Circle Lone Wolf Quiz January 2015

The Arre Bhai Quiz
January 2015
Sameer Dharur

The quiz can be taken either lone wolf or in randomly formed
teams of 3.
Please keep the decibel levels at a minimum throughout the
quiz.
I am the only authority on facts for today.
Only for today.
The quiz is easy.
Really.

“Great quiz. Very
accessible”
– Navin Rajaram
“Lovely stuff!”
– Nitish Khadiya
“Great way to start the
year at KC!”
– Major Nair
“This quiz gets a 3 on
my scale of 2”
– Ravikiran Ramaswamy

 3 rounds.
 Round I – Q1 to Q15. 1 point each.
 Round II – Q16 to Q35. 2 points each.
 Round III – Q36 to Q50. 3 points each.
100 points in all.

Round I
15 questions.
1 point each.

Q1.
Where would you find this much famed 101 seater dining table?

Q2.
@LutyensMasala is a popular Twitter handle that offers interesting gossip
about the Delhi elite – the bureaucrats, politicians and journalists –
reminiscent of the Fake IPL Player a few years ago.
i. Which American journalist is nicknamed Anu Malik?
ii. Which world leader is nicknamed Boney M?

i. Fareed Zakaria. [0.5 pt]
ii. Vladimir Putin. [0.5 pt]

Q3.
Black Mirror is a British TV show that focuses on an evolutionary lifestyle
change that has affected all of us in this age.
Director Charlie Brooks explains : “If it is a drug – and it does feel like a drug –
then what, precisely, are the side-effects? This area – between delight and
discomfort – is where the drama series is set.”
What is the show all about?

Technology, the use of gadgets. [1 pt]

Q4.
This phrase derives from the name of a band of Javanese and Malay warriors
who were known for their indiscriminate violence, initially a source of
fascination for Westerners.
It was popularized in the 18th and 19th centuries, when European visitors to
Malaysia learned of a peculiar mental affliction that caused otherwise normal
tribesmen to go on brutal and seemingly random killing sprees. Once thought
to be the result of possession by evil spirits, the phenomenon later found its
way into psychiatric manuals. It remains a diagnosable mental condition to this
day.
What phrase is being described here?

Q5.
The following are a few recently released images of a machine having
undergone wear and tear over the last 2 years – as a result of extreme
heat and dust in its operational environment.
What machine is this?

Q6.
At the 1984 National Viewers and Listeners Awards in Britain, a special
sketch of the popular political TV show of the dayYes Minister was aired.
The sketch featured the usual protagonists Paul Eddington and Nigel
Hawthorne, both of whom are talking to the Prime Minister about her
notion to abolish economists.
Who wrote this special episode of the series?

Q7.
What contrast is this recent photography project trying to capture?

Q8.
Which company is this an advertisement for?

Q9.
Pictures from the renovation of the 163 year old Georgian House Hotel in
London.
What is the renovation a tribute to?

Q10.
Home to most of his pursuits till 1887, he dubbed this place The Invention
Factory (image follows). He subsequently constructed a larger facility in New
Jersey where he would work till 1931.
Who?

Q11.
The Bath Film Festival in England last year introduced the ‘F-rating’ for films,
with the intention of addressing a larger cultural issue.
17 of the 42 films that premiered at the festival were given this status. Studies
show that about 15% of the top grossing films of 2013 would fit the required
criteria, including Gravity, the Hunger Games Saga and the animated hit Frozen.
What is this rating given for?

Movies with female protagonists. [1 pt]

Q12.
Known for its innovative designs of mundane things, the following images depict
Norway’s newly approved passports.
The USP of this design – besides simplicity – symbolizes the uniqueness of the
Norwegian landscape and is revealed only under the glare of a UV lamp.
What is the intended depiction?

Q13.
At the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in China last year.
In the mocking that inevitably followed, parallels were drawn with what from the
field of popular culture?

Q14.
One of 2014’s best acclaimed films, Queen is about the story about an
under-confident young girl from Delhi who embarks alone on her
honeymoon to Paris and Amsterdam after her fiancée calls off their
wedding.
The film is inspired by a popular 1815 novel about youthful hubris and the
perils of misconstrued romance.
Which one?

Q15.
This commonly used phrase dates back to a legendary chapter in the career of
the British naval hero Horatio Nelson. During 1801’s Battle of Copenhagen,
Nelson’s ships were pitted against a large Danish-Norwegian fleet. When his
more conservative superior officer flagged for him to withdraw, Nelson
supposedly proclaimed, “I really do not see the signal.”
He went on to score a decisive victory. Some historians have since dismissed
Nelson’s famous quip as merely a battlefield myth, but the phrase persists to this
day.
Origins of which phrase?

Round II
20 questions.
2 points each.

Who is the only Nobel laureate to have ever featured in the annual Wisden
Cricketers’ Almanack?
Clue?
Q16.

Q17.
An alternative version of a famous painting :
i) What’s the painting called?
ii) Who’s the painter?

i. The Death of Marat. [1 pt]
ii. Edvard Munch. [1 pt]

Q18.
Recently disclosed reports of CIA’s torture methods have also brought to light the story
of a key operative called Maya.
Often dubbed “The Torture Queen” in internal communication, her misdemeanors in
the past include overlooking information that may have prevented 9/11, gleeful
participation in ‘enhanced interrogation’ (read : torture) sessions, misleading the
Congress about the agency’s use of torture – thereby becoming a polarizing figure
within the agency.
However, her biggest claim to fame 4 years ago has ensured that we’ve all seen and
known about her existence well before these reports came out.
So where would we have seen a depiction of Maya before these revelations?

Zero Dark Thirty. Operation Geronimo is also
acceptable. [2 pts]

Q19.
The following are Mughal miniatures commissioned by Emperor Akbar.
In each case, identify the mythological incident being depicted.

i. The death of King Dasharatha. [1 pt]
ii. The construction of the Ram Sethu. [1 pt]

Q20.
Images from an infrastructural innovation – 328 metres in length – by the
Netherlands in November last year.
The expense has been cited as a deterrent but it is increasingly beginning to be
seen as a necessary way ahead in the future, for big cities.
What is this innovation all about? Two word answer required.

Q21.
The title of this 1993 album is believed to be an inside joke referring to a food
fight between 2 of the band’s members.
Much was made of this fight in a lawsuit filed by one of the above 2 individuals
against the band, in which it was referred to in the same words which later
went on to become the title of this album.
i. Which band?
ii. What was the album?

Guns N’ Roses [1 pt], The Spaghetti Incident? [1 pt]

Q22.
Much like in 2014, the Nobel Peace Prize in another year was also given out
with the intention of bringing together neighbours in conflict.
In the image that follows, identify any 2 of the recipients.

Yasser Arafat, Shimon Peres, Yitzhak Rabin.
2 pts for getting any two of them right.
1 pt for getting just one right.

Q23.
Two satirical accounts of Disney classics, if they were to be directed by
Christopher Nolan. ( cue much laughter )
Identify the original work in each case.

i.
Told in nonlinear fashion, it becomes an exciting, chilling story about one
woman’s anxious search for her own identity.
With memories of being a high-society socialite with an expensive shoe
habit, Marion Cotillard has to solve the mystery of the glass slipper before
Cillian Murphy does. Who is the true Cotillard — or are both personalities
as fake as each other? Michael Caine plays a supporting role as a mouse
turned into a particularly dour horse, who happens to be Cotillard's aged
confidant and one true friend.

ii.
Anne Hathaway plays a double role, with a much-loved song being
replaced by a 22-minute IMAX sequence in which the two Hathaways
stand on visually spectacular icy landscapes while elaborate Hans
Zimmer orchestral music sums up not only their emotional journeys but
the emotional journey of all human beings who have ever had to deal
with sibling rivalry.
Michael Caine plays a supporting role, now transformed into an aged
confidant and one true friend.

i. Cinderella. [1 pt]
ii. Frozen. [1 pt]

Q24.
The Mongol invasion of Iraq in 1258 resulted in the fall of the Abbasid
caliphate.
When Baghdad fell to the Mongols, the last of the city’s caliphs was rolled
in a carpet and trampled under the hooves of Mongol horses.
Why did the invaders adopt this particular method of execution?

The Mongols believed that people of rank had to be
executed in a bloodless manner as a mark of respect.
[2 pts]

Q25.
i. Where would you find this structure?
ii. What does it commemorate?

i. Birla House. [1 pt]
ii. Gandhi’s assassination. [1 pt]

Q26.
Excerpt from a Simpsons episode called Bart After Dark that aired in 1996,
where it unintentionally offered a peek into the future.
How?

Depicted the shape of the iPod. [2 pts]

Q27.
This video is a mini-biography of which famous personality in the field of
medicine?

Q28.
This character in Richard Sheridan's 1775 play ‘The Rivals’ was known for her
verbal blunders.
"He is the very pine-apple of politeness," she exclaimed, complimenting a
courteous young man. Thinking of the geography of contiguous countries, she
spoke of the "geometry" of "contagious countries," and she hoped that her
daughter might "reprehend" the true meaning of what she was saying. She
regretted that her "affluence" over her niece was small.
A word in the English language derives from this blundering character’s name,
which Sheridan took from the French term for ‘inappropriate’.
What word are we talking about?

Q29.
Excerpt from a recent BBC documentary.
i) What place is this?
ii) Which capital city is it located in?

i. Tower of David. [1 pt]
ii. Caracas. [1 pt]

Q30.
Images from a ‘waterfall’ in Antarctica’s McMurdo Dry Valley.
What explains the peculiar colour?

When the iron-rich water, iron churned into the water by glaciers scraping the
bedrock below the lake, comes into contact with the air it rusts—depositing
blood red stains on the ice as it falls.
Rusting of iron content in the water. [2 pts]

Q31.
More artistic than practical, whom or what is this bicycle track in
Netherlands a tribute to?

Starry Night, or Van Gogh. [2 pts]

Q32.
The Chateau is a bungalow of historical importance located near the Valerian
Grammar School in Bolarum, Secunderabad.
It is renowned for having housed a British Army Captain during the 1880s who
was also one of the best polo players in his regiment and led his team to many
tournament victories.
He was transferred out of town in 1896 at such short notice that he was unable
to settle his bills with the Secunderabad Club – a document that is, to this date, a
part of the club’s archives.
Who was this resident of the bungalow?

Q33.
Identify the movies that inspired each of the following music videos.
i. ii.

i. Goodfellas. [1 pt]
ii. Brokeback Mountain. [1 pt]

Q34.
In management and organizational jargon, what are ‘golden handcuffs’ and
‘golden parachutes’?

Golden handcuffs – financial benefits that encourage highly
compensated employees to remain within a company. [1 pt]
Golden parachute – agreement between a company and an
employee specifying that the employee will receive certain
significant benefits if employment is terminated. [1 pt]

Q35.
This profession in Britain and Ireland is said to have started during the Industrial
Revolution and lasted as late as the 1920s.
A large number of people carried out this job everyday, especially in big
industrial towns. Elderly men and women were the most common ones but
sometimes police constables too supplemented their pay through this job.
All one needed to carry out the task was a truncheon, a bamboo and
occasionally, a pea-shooter and a ‘snuffer outer’.
What profession is being talked about?

Knocker-ups, who’d wake people up before the
advent of the alarm clock. [2 pts]

Round III
15 questions.
3 points each.

Q36.
This recently released historical book called They Fought Like Demons talks
about “the best kept secret of the Civil War”, according to the two authors.
It slams a certain “oppression by omission” through the years which this book
hopes to correct. The idea is to give due credit and create awareness about a
little-known phenomenon in the war that has been kept under the wraps for
cultural reasons.
The primary reason for this phenomenon was concluded to be economics,
more than patriotism or love.
What is this book all about?

Women soldiers in the War. [3 pts]

Q37.
In the two images that follow –
i. Identify both the artists, in order.
ii. Which incident is being depicted?

i. Rembrant [1 pt] and Botticelli [1 pt]
ii. Adoration of the Magi, or the visit of the 3 wise kings. [1 pt]

Q38.
According to medical documents that came to light in America in 2012, the
activities of a certain Theodor Morell and his most important client have
generated great interest.
To help shrug away ‘morning grogginess’, Morell often injected his client with well
concealed amphetamine. This became an addictive habit with dangerous long-
term consequences, and on one particular occasion in 1941, the client was
pumped with 80 different drugs – including testosterone, opiates, sedatives,
laxatives, morphine and probiotics – which led to the direction of a historic
tactical blunder.
i. Who was the client?
ii. What incident is being talked about?

i. Adolf Hitler. [1 pt]
ii. Operation Barbarossa. [2 pts]

Q39.
Following an important sponsorship deal late last year, Real Madrid FC
made a subtle change to their emblem – only in the home country of this
company – in order to undergo an image makeover.
The image on the next slide shows the revised emblem.
i. Which country is this?
ii. What was the change made?

i. United Arab Emirates. [1 pt]
ii. Dropped the cross at the top, to appease sponsors. [2 pts]

Q40.
In the days following 3 December 1926 in Berkshire, more than 1000 policemen
were assigned to a certain case along with hundreds of civilians. For the first
time, aeroplanes were employed to help with an operation of this kind.
Two of Britain’s most famous crime writers, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Dorothy
L. Sayers were also drawn into the case to chip in with their expertise.
After the discovery of an abandoned car on a steep slope near Guildford and
days of relentless international publicity that followed, the case reached a
favourable conclusion on 14 December at the Old Swan Hotel in Harrogate.
What was it all about?

The disappearance of Agatha Christie. [3 pts]

Q41.
Track 61 is one of the abandoned train stations along the New York City subway
system.
This station was always intended to be a powerhouse and a storage area for
unused subway cars. However, the secluded track has managed to gain a fair
amount of publicity through the years for its occasional secretive operations.
Its most noteworthy passenger was in the 1930s to hide a worsening disease. It
is believed to have been used on numerous occasions ever since, but then –
nobody really knows for sure.
i. What is this track intended for?
ii. Who was this high profile passenger in the 30s?

i. Used as a getaway for the US President. [1 pt]
ii. Franklin D Roosevelt. [2 pts]

Q42.
Phil Edmonds was a slow left-arm-orthodox English bowler who played for
Middlesex in the 1980s.
In one particular game against Yorkshire, he devised a scheme along with his
captain Mike Brearly to tempt the batsmen into playing towards midwicket.
This tactic was seen as unfair by the authorities and shortly after this match, an
important regulation was changed to ensure this never happened again.
i. What was this tactic that the duo employed to trick batsmen?
ii. What was the rule change that followed?

i. The spare helmet was placed at midwicket to tempt batsmen
into hitting it. [1 pt]
ii. The rule that followed was to always have the helmet behind
the keeper. [2 pts]

Q43.
Excerpt from a letter to the editor of the Journal of Paris written in 1795 –
“All the difficulty will be in the first two or three days; after which the reformation will be
as natural and easy as the present irregularity; for, ce n’est que le premier pas qui
coûte. Oblige a man to rise at four in the morning, and it is more than probable he will
go willingly to bed at eight in the evening; and, having had eight hours sleep, he will rise
more willingly at four in the morning following.”
Contrary to popular assumption, the writer of this letter is said to have proposed a
practice 100 years before it was officially recognized and attributed to someone else.
i. Who wrote this letter?
ii. What practice are we talking about?

i. Benjamin Franklin. [1 pt]
ii. Daylight Saving Time. [2 pts]

Q44.
One of the tricky chapters in the integration of India, this princely state initially acceded to
Pakistan under pressure from Shah Nawaz Bhutto.
It was, however, quite far from Pakistan and 80% of its population was Hindu. Sardar Patel
combined diplomacy with force, demanding that Pakistan annul the accession, and that
the Nawab accede to India. The Army was eventually sent in to occupy the state. A
plebiscite later organised produced a 99.5% vote for merger with India.
Besides just integration, Patel also oversaw the much needed renovation of a local
monument that was plundered 17 times by Mahmud of Ghazni who robbed it of its riches,
emeralds, diamonds and gold. The work was eventually completed after Patel’s death.
i. Which state is being talked about?
ii. What is the monument that underwent this renovation?

i. Junagadh. [1 pt]
ii. Somnath Temple. [2 pts]

Q45.
The Siege of Golconda in 1687 lasted 8 months and resulted in the decisive
victory of the Mughal army led by Aurangzeb over the Qutb Shahi dynasty at
Golconda Fort.
During this period, the Mughals used a certain large open space in Hyderabad
as a camping ground.
i. What was it renamed as after the siege?
ii. How do we know it today?

i. Fateh Maidan. [1 pt]
ii. Lal Bahadur Shastri stadium. [2 pts]

Q46.
71 year old Stasi lieutenant-colonel Harald Jager talks about his life changing
moment –
“After I gave the order, I and the other guards couldn’t believe what we were
seeing. We were shell shocked, we felt the world was collapsing around us. We
stood there and watched our citizens leaving en masse. These were our people.
We cried. We felt betrayed by our superiors. It was the terrible realisation that not
only the system and our leaders had failed. We had too. More than stampede, it
was the fear of a bloodbath that prompted my actions.”
What is his claim to fame, that is being described here?

Opened the gate that led to the Fall of the Berlin
Wall. [3 pts]

Q47.
The Purple Plain is a 1954 war film starring Gregory Peck, where he plays a
Canadian pilot serving in the Royal Air Force in Burma. The shooting of this film
was done entirely in Sri Lanka.
During the course of the shooting in October, Peck had to leave the set for a
couple of days to keep a historic commitment. But as fate would have it – his
flight from Colombo was delayed and thus couldn’t be a part of the occasion.
He did, however, join the celebrations a day later.
What important occasion was he supposed to be a part of?

He was supposed to be the Chief Guest for the
first ever Filmfare Awards. [3 pts]

Q48.
Amir Aczel is an Israeli author and historian who concluded an important quest
2 years ago in the Angkor Conservation in Cambodia.
The object he was seeking was documented in 1931 by a French scholar named
George Coedès. Assigned the identifying label K-127, it includes references to
slaves, five pairs of oxen and sacks of white rice. The object predates an Indian
counterpart in Gwalior by 2 years – a fact not very well known to the world. But
the K-127 disappeared during the Khmer Rouge’s rule of terror, when more than
10,000 artifacts were deliberately destroyed.
What is the significance of this object, that inspired this long trail?

The first ever use of the number zero. [3 pts]

Q49.
Late last year, the Venice City Council introduced a peculiar law to do away with
a certain kind of pollution that was badly affecting the city.
The law bans the use of a regular commodity that effected great inconvenience,
given the city’s cobblestone pathways, staircases, walkways and historic places –
besides causing general wear and tear.
What was this ban all about, which would definitely trouble the city’s 20 million
tourists every year?

No wheeled suitcases, to cut noise pollution. [3 pts]

Q50.
Lennart Nilsson is considered to be among Sweden’s first modern
photojournalists. He is noted for his macrophotography in the field of medicine.
He achieved international fame in 1965, when his photographs of the beginning
of human life appeared on the cover and on sixteen pages of Life magazine.
They made up a part of the book called ‘A Child Is Born’. Some of the photos
from this book were later included on the Voyager spacecraft.
Where would we have seen a depiction inspired by these photos, in the years
following the release of this book?

The final scene of 2001 : A Space Odyssey. [3 pts]

K-Circle Lone Wolf Quiz January 2015

K-Circle Lone Wolf Quiz January 2015

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