KQA October Open 2013

October Open - 2013
Prelim
KQA
Kaustuba

1. Statues/Monuments found across erstwhile
Soviet Union. What’s the inspiration behind
these?

2. Earlier this year Niall Ferguson (known for writing “The
Ascent of Money” etc.), raised hackles by suggesting that
X’s seeming indifference to the welfare of future
generations had something to do with the fact that he
was childless and gay.
He of course recanted a few days later in the face of
strong criticism.
Apart from being homophobic, his assertion that X wasn’t
bothered about the future generation was grossly
inaccurate (X has even written a famous essay titled –
“[…] Possibilities for Our Grandchildren”) and only goes
to show that he completely missed the intended point.
What specific and oft quoted view/opinion of X was
Ferguson targeting?

In the long run we’re all dead

3. What satirical
television comedy
programme first aired in
1962 on BBC Television
was informally known
as TWTWTW or TW3?
It inspired similarly
themed shows across
the world. The one in
India has a name which
is a direct antonym of
the original British
show.

4. Identify this model in whose honour the award
bearing her name and likeness is instituted for her
effort in a different field.

5. Man in the picture was
a revolutionary French
acrobatic performer who
is credited with inventing
the art of trapeze. He was
also responsible for
popularizing something
else, that bears his name,
and is probably more
familiar to us from its use
in various other related
fields . Who (or What)?

Leotard
A unisex skin-tight
one-piece garment
worn by gymnasts,
figure skaters,
ballet dancers etc
apart from circus
acrobats

6. ”I forget who it is was who said, speaking of the
1950s, that "in every meeting of the Indian Cabinet
there is a chair reserved for the ghost of Professor X“ “–
excerpt from a 2003 article by Ramachandra Guha
published in The Hindu.
Name X, who had a strong influence on the Indian
politicians of the era apart from also teaching a few of
them?

7) The movie was famously inspired by the after effects of 1973 oil
crisis. Screenplay writer James McCausland drew heavily from his
observations of the crisis' effects on Australian motorists:
“Yet there were further signs of the desperate measures
individuals would take to ensure mobility. A couple of oil strikes
that hit many pumps revealed the ferocity with which Australians
would defend their right to fill a tank. Long queues formed at the
stations with petrol – and anyone who tried to sneak ahead in the
queue met raw violence. ... George and I wrote the script based on
the thesis that people would do almost anything to keep vehicles
moving and the assumption that nations would not consider the
huge costs of providing infrastructure for alternative energy until it
was too late – thus justifying the use of oil as a fuel in a futuristic
world.”
What film?

8. John List, sometimes labeled the Bogeyman of Westfield, was a
convicted multiple murderer and long-time fugitive. In November
1971, he killed his wife, mother, and three children in their home in
Westfield, New Jersey, and then disappeared. He had planned the
murders so meticulously that nearly a month passed before
anyone noticed that anything was amiss. A fugitive for nearly 18
years, he assumed a new identity and remarried, and was finally
apprehended in June 1989, after the story of his murders was
broadcast on America's Most Wanted.
His crime and the fact that he remained untraceable for many
years served as the primary inspiration for which famous movie
villain?

9. This Indian origin UK businessman briefly made headlines as one
of Princess Diana’s paramours. The consumer electronic goods
company he founded has a legacy in India as it was one of the first
brands to bring out a particular product in the country. The
company is named after his younger sister who lives in India and
has had her own share of scandals and run-ins with the law over the
years. Name the company and the person it was named after

10. In the 19th Century, during the battle of Sevastopol, a French soldier (also
known as a “X”) had his pipe broken by a bullet. He had the brilliant idea of rolling a
piece of paper torn from a bag of gunpowder, instead.
In 1894, the Braunstein Brothers perfected the process of interleaving papers in a
___ ___ manner and introduced their product under the name ___ -___.
For over 100 years the image of the X has been part of all ___-___ products as a
tribute to that creative soldier.
Sourced from the brand’s website. Brand, X?

__X____ was the title given to certain light infantry regiments in the French Army,
normally serving in French North Africa between 1831 and 1962. The name was
also adopted during the 19th century by volunteer units in other armies, like
volunteer regiments in the American Civil War, or Brazilian Free Black volunteers in
Paraguayan War. The chief distinguishing characteristics of such units were the
__X____ uniform, which included short open-fronted jackets, baggy trousers and
often sashes and oriental headgear.

11. Contrary to popular belief it
wasn’t named after the weapon
bearing the same name or the
horse, but for the player and the
team he’s most often associated
with, a fact reflected in the
colours used on the packaging as
well.
The NFL team, however, were
named after the weapon.
What the fuck am I talking
about?

13. The sports first league was established in 1950 by the
Belgians, and in 1976, the European Union was formed.
Although how they call it a ‘union’ is a mystery considering that
in different countries the “playing fields” were of different
dimensions, the “players” didn’t all look or dress alike , none of
the handles were the same design and even the balls were made
of different compositions. The game still doesn’t even have a
single set of rules – or one name. “You’ve got langirt in Turkey,
jouer au baby-foot in France, csocso in Hungary, cadureguel-schulchan
in Israel” etc. What’s the most popular name of this
game?

14. During World War II, the British secret service hatched a master plan to
smuggle escape gear to captured Allied soldiers inside Germany. Fearing that
the usual paper maps might draw the attention of German troops, they turned
to silk. Not only would silk maps hold up in all kinds of weather, but they’d also
come with the benefit of being whisper quiet.To produce these silent maps, the
Brits turned to John Waddington Ltd., a company that had recently perfected the
process of printing on silk.
But they couldn’t figure out how to get them to the prisoners. They then turned
again to John Waddington for help. He was the licensed manufacturer of X
outside the United States. X was seen as a perfect way to conceal, rather
conspicuously, small pieces, such as a metal file, a magnetic compass, a regional
silk escape map, complete with marked safe-houses along the way—all neatly
concealed in the package that made up the components of X. Soon they began
realizing other potentials of X. They also began using X to supply money to the
prisoners to help them after their escape.
X?

15. What music group initially called itself “The Other Gang” as a
simultaneous homage to both a legendary British music group as
well as a famous American rebel film? Eventually they settled on
the actual name of the first gang.

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
The other gang in the film are the Beetles

16.Name the two collaborators behind the following
designs. One must be fairly obvious 

Elsa Schiaperelli, Salvador Dali

17. This vegetable/melon is fuzzy when young and has thick
white flesh that is sweet when eaten. By maturity, the fruit loses
its hairs and develops a waxy coating. This coating, apart from
providing a long shelf life is also the reason behind almost all of
its common names (and there are many). One such name is also
how its known in Kannada when translated. What vegetable?

Ash gourd, white gourd, winter melon, wax gourd,
honeydew melons etc
Boodi-Kumbla – Kannada name

18. If the wife took her pseudonym after the personalities seen here,
who did the husband choose for his pseudonym?

Frank Capra.
The couple being – Robert Kappa and
Gerda Taro (Greta Garbo and Taro in pic)

19. __ ___ ________ ________ is a legal term of art referring to the indeterminate
length of service of certain appointed officials or the indeterminate sentences of some
prisoners. It’s use, if at all, is restricted to a only group of countries.
A judge may rule that a person be "detained at ___ ________ ________ " for serious
offences or based on a successful insanity defence. This is sometimes used where
there is a great risk of re-offending; however, it is most often used for juvenile
offenders.
TL;DR version – Term of US President: 4 years, Indian PM: 5 Years, Australian PM: ??

20. Scientists have recently discovered 85 new species of rare
jewel-like clown beetles, known for their brilliant colouring and
bizarrely flattened body forms. The new species in the genus X.
The lead author of the study team responsible for the discovery,
Michael Caterino, had this to say about the species - "Although
the genus X was originally named in honour of […]the
Elizabethan philosopher, the experimental artist would also be a
fitting namesake for these fantastic beetles“
Name either

21. Award winning wildlife photographers. Made
headlines in late 90s for a totally different reason.
Who? Why were they in news?

Krupakar and Senani
Abducted by Veerappan.
Incident largely forgotten after Rajkumar episode

22. X is a comic book character created by Bill Parker and C. C.
Beck for Fawcett Comics. He is an ancient wizard (Whiz Comics
#2 gives his age as 3,000 years) who gives young Billy Batson
the power to transform into the superhero Captain Marvel.
Because DC Comics has billed Captain Marvel's adventures
under the name X! since 1973, the superhero is often
mistakenly referred to by his mentor's name. Because of this, in
2012 DC officially changed Captain Marvel's name to X. Who is
X?
His name has acquired popularity in a different context today.
“Application” is in the field of music

23. What 1934 event does Greyhound credit on their
official website for spurring interest in bus travel across
US and thus helping their business?

24. Born in Cuttack, Orissa, X is
B.Tech. from the College of
Engineering and Technology,
Bhubaneswar. She did her MBA
from SCMHRD, Pune, and later
worked as the brand manager in
Marico,handling brands like
Parachute & Mediker amongst
others. But, we know her today
for her exploits elsewhere. Who?

25. Whose image features in the artwork
accompanying this single?
Audio: God is Dead by Black Sabbath

October Open 2013
Final
KQA
Kaustuba

FuQ
• Written
• Teams that get the answer right to the opener
are eligible for follow up question
• There maybe one or two follow up questions
to each opener.
• If no team gets the openener right, the follow
up would be open to all

1 a. Helicopter stabilizers and wings
of certain aircraft where high lift is
essential, (such as banner-towing
airplanes) feature a small fixed flap
attached in order to assist in take-offs.
Although they are widely used
today in flying machines (Douglas
Aircraft was the first to use it on a
plane), their original use was in
another field where it’s used to the
opposite effect. Where was it first
used (its still very much in use in the
said field)?
Oye naacho.. bc

1 b) The flap is named after its inventor, a champion driver of his
times who later went on to manage his own racing team. He is
credited with many firsts when it comes to exploits on the track.
He is the first driver to win races in Sports Cars (1958), Formula
One (1962), NASCAR (1963), and Indy Car (1967) (the only other
two being Mario Andretti and Juan Pablo Montoya). Arguably
his most lasting legacy is the invention of the flap. But, two
other practices he gave birth to have become commonplace in
motorsport. While one of them is a just a tradition, the other
one today is one of the bare minimum safety necessities in
racing. Give me both

Dan Gurney – Spraying
champagne after his
victory at Le Mans in 1967
First racer to use a full
face helmet

1 c) Gurney was able to use his invention, the flap, in racing for
several years before its true purpose became known. To
conceal his true intent, he deceived inquisitive competitors by
lying to them about it’s actual use. He told them its use was
for a non-racing purpose. As a result many copied the design,
albeit incorrectly which actually hurt their performance. What
non-racing purpose did he say was the flap fitted to serve?

Better grip while pushing the car

2a) Sid Monga of ESPNCricinfo named this song the greatest
cricket song ever written. The song captures the atmosphere
of a village cricket match and is an elegy to the game as
played during the singer’s youth. It also pays homage to two
of the singer’s heroes – Geoff Boycott and John Snow – in its
lyrics.
Name the song which is often played/remembered at the
time of a cricketer’s retirement.

When an old cricketer leaves the crease

2 b) Roy Harper’s other claim to fame is that he sang lead vocals on
one of only two songs by a famous British band to feature guest
lead vocals on. He is apparently miffed that his desired fee of a
Season’s ticket to Lord’s for life has never been honoured by the
band.
Name the British band. What song did he “guest lead vocal” on?

2c) Who does
Roy Harper
have for
company in this
photograph
who has also
named a song
after the
former?

Robert Plant – (Hats off to (Roy) Harper)

3 a) “A Class Divided” is a sequel to the more famous
documentary named “The Eye of the Storm” released some
years before it. The sequel chronicles the lives of the group of
people shown in the picture and the way the lady has influenced
them. What does the original documentary talk about?

Brown Eye, Blue eye experiment

3 b) What work of literature gave Jane Elliott the idea
of segregating the class based on the colour of the
eye?

Leon Uris's Mila 18, about the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. One of
the ways the Nazis decided who went to the gas chamber,
according to the novel, was eye color.

4 a) Dwight D Eisenhower faced something of a dilemma in
1953. He was inclined to augment country’s defence in the
face of the perceived threat from the Soviets. But, being a
Republican President he had to toe the party’s line of cutting
state spending.
The solution that the US Joint Chiefs of Staff came up with
was to radically reduce the numbers of servicemen and
replace them with the comparatively inexpensive atomic
bombs. Although it was officially known as the “New Look
Policy”, what phrase, whose coinage is credited by most
sources to then U.S. Secretary of Defense Charles Wilson, was
used to describe this approach that has now become a
common cliché (as opposed to its use being more literal
initially)?

Bigger (More) Bang for the Buck

4 b) More bang for the buck was actually adapted
from an earlier phrase which was invented as an
advertising slogan to market Pepsi in the US in 1950.
What phrase?

5 a) The picturisation of what Bollywood film’s title song
leans heavily on this MIA number wrt its overall theme as
well as certain aspects of its choreography – “An open
desert, shiny gold metal, flowy robes, a generous sprinkle on
middle eastern folk dressed in their traditional attire, death-defying
stunts involving cars” (Some say even the tune has a
similar ring to it.. Oh well) – source: India Today

5 b) Elsewhere in the video you would see MIA
riding in a see through glow-in-the-dark car .
The inspiration for this was a video MIA had
seen of a idol of hers where a similar prop was
used. What song?

Transparent Bus in Urvasi, Uravasi

Who or what is the subject of this
song?
Audio: Boom, Like That

Ray Kroc (McDonald’s will also do)

In 1992 consultants from Teradata were hired by Osco group of
supermarket chains in the US to look at point of sales data from
their stores. Teradata helped them create a new merchandising
strategy to help improve business.
Although this sufficiently served the purpose they were hired for,
Terada also had another minor insight based on which they
suggested that it was possible to redesign the store based on
consumer preferences at the center of all decisions – they noticed a
strong correlation in buying patterns and hence wanted the store
redesigned accordingly. Though Osco thought there might be an
opportunity here, they wisely chose to ignore the advice as they
were not convinced enough by the finding.
What was this minor finding that over the years has seen many
iterations of misattributions and misrepresentations?

Players of Napoli when playing at the Stadio San
Paolo in Naples, are often seen warming up to the
beats of the song ‘Live is Life’ by the band Opus
before the games. What is the reason/history
behind this tradition?

Maradona’s famous keepy-uppy to the beats of the song
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZXelXpHYWs

Hungary, one of the worst hit countries in the wake of the Western
European debt crisis, was in a dire financial situation in 2012. It had
been unable to seek funding from private investors, its negotiations
with the IMF had not yielded much success and potential donors, China
and Saudi Arabia, too denied it loans.
But, late in August 2012, it had emerged, through a report in
Hungarian business weekly Figyelo, that Azerbaijan might invest 2-3
billion euros of its oil export revenues in a special Hungarian bond
issue. This was supposed to have been a hush-hush affair done behind
closed doors. The news gained further momentum when Reuters too
wrote about a possible quid pro quo deal between Hungary and
Azerbaijan brokered through Turkey. What, according to these reports,
was Azerbaijan getting in return for the loan? Or what major
headlining event occurred a week after the report of the alleged secret
deal surfaced?

Ramil Safarov, Azeri Axe-murderer accused of killing an
Armenian Army Lieutenant with an axe during a NATO-sponsored
training seminar in Budapest. He’s now been
promoted to the rank of a Major in his home country.

At the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix, during the red flag which
followed the fatal crash of Ayrton Senna, one driver mistakenly
drove out of the pits and onto the circuit only narrowly
avoiding a collision with rescue workers and vehicles, including
an aid helicopter which had landed at the scene. Who was this
driver?
Later when the race was restarted he was the only driver not to
participate in it (apart from Senna, that is). It was not so much
because of the incident mentioned, as the Stewarts ruled it as
an honest mistake. What then was the reason he retired from
the race?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xFifqmSQiU

Erik Comas.
1992 at Spa, in a reversal of roles, Senna arrived
first at the scene of Comas’ crash. Senna then
stopped his car and helped Comas from a fatal
engine blow up by turning off the ignition
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1s-2pfRHg_Q

This director is known for the many casting coups he has pulled off
throughout his career. Many of his films were big budget, ensemble
cast affairs.
One such casting coup he attempted in the late 80s was for a film
titled “Zameen”. He brought together two of the top stars of that era
(one fairly well established, while the other well on the way to
stardom) for the film that also had Rajnikanth and Vinod Khanna as
the other leads.
Though the movie got shelved, the director maintained that contrary
to popular belief it wasn’t because the two stars were difficult to get
to work together. He said that if anyone it was Vinod Khanna who
threw his weight around and caused problems during filming. Who
is the director? Who are the two stars, who were to never share
screen space in a movie ever again?

Ramesh Sippy. Madhuri Dixit, Sridevi

This play was first introduced in American Football by San Francisco
wide receiver R.C. Owens in 1957.
In the final seconds of a game against the Detroit Lions, Quarterback
Y.A. Tittle heaved a pass toward the end zone, with Owens making a
leaping catch despite having a pair of defenders covering him tightly.
Thus, the play won the game for San Francisco and went on to receive
mainstream cred.
It was coined, however, by Tittle who named it after a French
catchphrase “allez hop” meaning “lets go” used by circus acrobats
before leaping in the air.
Although the phrase has been used as the name of a syndicated
comic strip as well as a Billboard No.1 Hit by Hollywood Argyles, we
are probably more familiar with it due to its cross-over to another
sport (to describe a similar play). Name the phrase/play.

Ironically for a vessel designed to engage enemy
battleships, her only significant action was the ramming
and sinking of German submarine SM U-29 in 1915,
cutting it in two after a short chase. She thus became
the only battleship ever to sink a submarine.
Incidentally, a congratulatory telegram she received
after the sinking read “_____ _____”, alluding to the
ship’s other claim to fame – an incident that involved
the repeated exclamation of the said phrase. Name the
ship.
(On an unrelated note, the phrase itself has assumed a
more risqué meaning in recent times)

HMS Dreadnought..
Bunga Bunga!!

Above Suspicion is a 1995 suspense thriller about a
paralyzed wheel-chair bound police officer who plots to
murder his unfaithful wife and her lover.
It is written by William H. Macy, who also has a small role
in the film and stars Kim Cattrall as the cheating wife and
Edward Kerr as her lover. The film was a small budget HBO
special and is largely forgotten but for a life-imitating-art
type incident that happened two days after its release.
What happened?

Christopher Reeve who played the wheelchair bound
husband met with an accident that paralyzed him for
life

Anil Kapoor said in some interview that he found it extremely
difficult to learn to dance until Dance master Kamal taught him a
few easy steps from the famous X dance (X is a person). It
consisted of halt and move steps with hands swaying alternately
forward and backward. He modeled all of his dancing on this
blueprint.
Anil Kapoor, however, wasn’t the first to learn from X. It was Y
who made it mainstream. With his build, he had always found
dancing difficult. It was after he watched X dancing in that typical
style of his, that he decided to dance like him.
X and Y?

Bhagwan Dada, Amitabh Bachchan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHEXI3xHbGA

The book is a collection of bed-time
stories written by Dawn
Raffel for children. Contrary to
what the book’s name and its
cover might suggest, it has
nothing to do with astronomy or
science. Neither are any stories set
in an outside world. The reason
behind it being named and
designed so is that the author’s
father would read to her every
night when she was a child from a
popular science book. It was
written by a Nobel laureate and
was intended to help laymen and
kids understand concepts of
physics. Who was this physicist?
Or for five points name the book

Max Born, The Restless Universe

After the WW II what was used by the British Military
Government in Germany as their main headqaurters
from where they carried out their operations? It was
also famous as the site where the Queen’s Birthday
celebrations would be held every year well into the
years even after the fall of the Berlin Wall

The Reichssportfeld (or Berlin Olympics
Stadium..)

To serve what specific purpose did the following Indian towns
and localities come into existence?
• Faridabad, Haryana
• Gandhidham, Gujarat
• Rajpura – Patiala, Punjab
• Lajpat Nagar, Delhi
• Karol Bagh, Delhi
• New Friends Colony, Delhi

Resettlement for Partition Refugees

As per legend, what Indian city’s current name is
derived from ______________, literally meaning “Lord
of the Three Worlds (Shiva)”

Bhubaneswar, from Tribhuvaneshwar

What Bangalore landmark during cleaner times?

The vegetarian restaurant inside the Indian Institute of Science
(IISc) campus was originally built (in the early 1940’s) as a
hydrogen plant. They filled hydrogen cylinders ready to be
transported to the Hindustan Aircraft factory at a moment’s
notice. Who at that time were in occupation of HAL?

United States Army Air Force to service its World
War II airplanes headed to South East Asia..

Otto Koenigsberger
• German Architect
• Nephew of Max Born. Drew illustrations for some of his works, including The
Restless Universe
• Originally designed the Olympic Stadium in Berlin, but after the rise of the
Nazis his plan was scrapped as he was a Jew.
• Fled Germany (along with his uncle), and after travelling through many
countries reached India and was appointed as chief architect in Mysore State
• Designed many buildings in Mysore and Bangalore - Jawahar Bal Bhavan,
Serum Institute, Krishna Rao Park/Pavilion, Mysore Akashvani, Many portions
of the IISc (including the wind tunnel)
• after the independence of India in 1948, appointed as federal director of
housing.
• In that position he was responsible for providing housing solutions for the
hundreds of thousands of refugees who had fled Pakistan following partition –
planned Faridabad, Gandhidham etc
• Bhubaneswar was designed by him
• He also supervised the building/planning of Chandigarh – recommended all
the chief architects – Jane Drew, Maxwell Fry and Le Corbusier

His illustration for Max Born’s book
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=huV3p5noSic
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiqido1KSJg

From left to right: George Nelson, Edward Wormley, Eero
Saarinen, Harry Bertoia, Charles Eames and Jens Risom

KQA October Open 2013

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