Prelims - General Quiz - The Capgemini K-Circle College Quiz Fest 2016

The Capgemini K-Circle College Quiz Fest 2016
The General Quiz
Prelims

Content and Presentation
Sameer Dharur.

Acknowledgements
 Major Chandrakant Nair and Navin Rajaram for playing
Siskel and Ebert to perfection.
 Special thanks to M Sree Nihit, Kartik Reddy and Abhishek
Bhan for general endorsement and goodwill.

Scores
Top Score – 33.5
Cutoff – 28

 34 questions.
 Questions 27 to 34 carry two points each, and will resolve ties.
 42 points in all.
 No negatives. Feel free to take guesses for every question.
 Malpractice is too much effort. Don’t bother trying.
 Good luck!
The Deal

1.
About two decades ago, CM N T Rama Rao commissioned this list
comprising 34 luminaries from various fields hailing from the state of
erstwhile united Andhra Pradesh, including Krishnadevaraya, Kandukuri
Veeresalingam, Gurajada Apparao, Annamayya, Sir Arthur Cotton, Sri Sri,
Pingali Venkayya, Dr C R Reddy, Rudrama Devi – among several others.
During the Telangana agitation in 2011, demands were made to remove
some of these people from this group and include those from the region
instead – resulting in serious law and order problems for the Hyderabad
police. Two years in to the new state’s formation, no such exclusion has yet
been carried out.
What is this group? OR Where would you find them all together?

During 1979 – a year before the USA’s 49th Presidential election – this phrase was
coined by Ronald Reagan’s campaign in order to stir up a sense of patriotism and
glory among the electorate, while the country was suffering from a worsening
economy marked by high unemployment and inflation.
What four word phrase, that has now been revived by someone who served on
Reagan’s financial advisory committee for the election?
2.

3.
At the entrance to which significant site in Indian history would you find
these hedges?

4.
The St. Francis Church in Kochi, built in 1503, is the oldest European church
in India. Owing to its timeless sanctity, it was spared demolition by the
Dutch and the British in successive invasions.
Part of its importance lies in the fact that it once contained the body of
someone who died in Kochi in 1524 on his third visit to India. His remains
were eventually shipped to Lisbon, but the symbolic gravestone still exists.
Whose remains were these, a local hero who lends his name to the area
around the church?

5.
In this commencement speech at the University of Florida last year –
Whom is the speaker using as an example to urge students to maintain
their independence and compassion in technology driven times?

6.
Rubondo is a small island in Tanzania on Lake Victoria that was identified as
a national park in 1977.
During this period, several endangered species were introduced onto this
little island whose water-bound geography and lack of inhabitation by
humans and predators offered absolute protection. This experiment
managed to drastically turn around the falling numbers of animals like the
chimps, elephants, colobus monkeys, suni elephants and African grey
parrots.
As a result, what appropriate two-word mythological nickname has this
conservationist island acquired?

7.
Following a sting operation by his own MLAs earlier this year, Uttarakhand
CM Harish Rawat was ousted from his office and President’s Rule was
imposed. However, the High Court intervened and reinstated him before
the Supreme Court stepped in the very next day and nullified the High
Court’s verdict.
In the one day that he found himself in the CM’s chair, he acted with
uncharacteristic efficiency holding 2 cabinet meetings and inaugurating
more than 1800 schemes including several populist measures.
What did Rawat claim to be his source of inspiration, from a decade and a
half ago, for this streak?

Anil Kapoor’s one-day-CM stint
in Nayak.

8.
Australian start-up firm Marathon Robotics recently tied up with a
company to create these first-of-their-kind autonomous delivery robots.
Equipped with four wheels and a maximum speed of 20 kmph, some of
the interesting features of these robots include lasers to identify obstacles,
a facility to read in a code and a temperature controlled box intended to
serve its primary purpose.
Which company were these robots made for?

9.
The following visuals are from Neil Gaiman’s recent adaptation of which
classic literary work from the 19th century?

10.
S Narayan was a young metallurgist teaching at the Indian Institute of
Science in Bangalore in April 1958 – who was soon to be sent off to the
Bhilai Steel Plant, which was set up in collaboration with the USSR.
Owing to his fluency in the Russian language, he was then approached
for lessons by someone who had just won the Lenin Prize for ‘outstanding
services in the struggle for preservation and conservation of peace’. The
lessons went off well, and the famous acceptance speech was delivered in
Russian in Moscow.
Who was this student, an appropriate presence around the IISc?

11.
The women’s 1500 metres final at the 2012 London Olympics will be
remembered for all the wrong reasons in which 6 of the top 9 runners
have tested positive for the consumption of banned drugs.
With most of them handed harsh sentences for their offences, sports
commentators were quick to compare this race with another event close
to three decades ago.
What infamous phrase was used to describe this race? OR What event
was it being compared to?

The Dirtiest Race in History.
The 1988 Seoul Olympics’ 100 meters men’s final.

12.
Around 5 years ago, the already tense geopolitical relations between China
and Nepal suffered a further jolt.
The matter of dispute was a certain reading first put in place in 1856,
subsequently revised in 1955 by an Indian agency and in a state of constant,
natural flux ever since, sometimes even on a yearly basis. While the Chinese
insist that their version is accurate, Nepal – for the first time armed with the
requisite technology – set out to find the truth for themselves as an act of
‘national enterprise’. The results of this effort are yet to be made public.
What is this subject of conflict between the two nations, a matter of
achievement to over 4,000 people and heritage value to the two nations?

13.
According to a study conducted around the Hawaiian and Caribbean islands
late last year, coral reefs were observed breaking down rapidly and turning
white – especially around popular tourist areas.
The main culprit was identified as oxybenzone – a toxic compound whose
presence in very small amounts was believed to rob the reefs of vital nutrients.
As a result, environmental organizations began a campaign to educate people
on the ill effects of a commonly used tourist product.
What product, commercialized by French chemist Eugene Scheuller, is the
primary contributor of oxybenzone to such surroundings?

14.
The Strand Magazine was a British monthly that started circulating in
1890. Its immediate popularity among the masses surged its initial sales to
nearly 3,00,00 in its first few years.
However, the magazine ran into tough times economically in 1893 losing
over 20,000 subscriptions and barely surviving. The sudden dip in
fortunes was unexpected and caused a great loss of revenue to the
organization, which it eventually regained after making a correction eight
years later.
What was the reason for the magazine’s losses around this time?

15.
A Hard Rain’s a-Gonna Fall is a track from Bob Dylan’s second album The
Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan that came out in 1962.
While the broader message of the song has been disputed over the
years, the song remained relevant in the aftermath of its release and
conveyed the feelings of the people around the time, so much so that
some critics believed Dylan’s lyrics were inspired by them.
What prevailing circumstances were aptly captured by the song’s title and
lyrics?

16.
Thomas Ferebee was born in North Carolina in 1918 and tried out several
sports professions early on in his life before eventually enlisting in the US
Air Force as a fighter pilot.
His career’s crowning glory came his late 20s when he was recruited by
the 509th Composite Group and carried out their duties which brought
him worldwide fame. Looking back at it years later, Ferebee describes it as
a job that had to be done and one that actually saved several lives
contrary to belief.
What specific job, that became his claim-to-fame, was he referring to?

Dropping the atomic bomb
on Hiroshima.

17.
Schrei Nach Liebe is a popular German song released in 1993 by Die
Artze, a punk band from Berlin.
Being one of their widely liked numbers both for its music and larger
message, its popularity was revived last year throughout the country
owing to a national campaign.
Why exactly did this song make headlines again last year?

Supporting the influx of
Syrian refugees.

18.
The Chennai Corporation’s health department over the last few years has
had a serious shortage of sanitation workers – with 224 of the 706 posts
in the city lying vacant as of September 2015.
The major reason behind this shortage is believed to be the diversion of a
good number of workers to performing similar duties of maintaining
cleanliness in certain government establishments whose growing number
in the city – close to 300 now – is also taking up an annual expenditure of
90 crores from the corporation’s budget.
What places are these?

19.
The island of Skellig Michael off the coast of Ireland is a designated
UNESCO World Heritage Site due to the presence of Christian
monasteries where monks would relocate to in order to achieve solitude
and dedicate themselves to spiritual pursuits. This is helped by the fact
that the island is remote and difficult to reach.
It is due to these considerations that this place was chosen for a purpose
last year that brought it worldwide visibility and interest.
What purpose was this?

The place of Luke Skywalker’s refuge
in The Force Awakens.

20.
In geometrical calculations, the distance between two points in a grid is
sometimes considered only on strictly horizontal or vertical lines, without
any diagonals – making it the simple sum of the horizontal and vertical
components.
The colloquial name of this distance comes from a famous area and its
iconic vehicles which often need to travel with these constraints between
any two given points, owing to its grid-like street geography.
What is the name given to this distance?

21.
The Scotland Triathlon is an annual event that involves biking, swimming
and running – contested among various countries.
Insurance premiums are common for such events, but one such policy
made with NIG Insurance for an edition last decade made news world
over for having a £1m policy for each of the players in the swimming leg
of the event – whose health and safety was feared by the organizers.
What was the irrational reason for this unusual insurance policy?

Insurance from the
Loch Ness monster!

22.
The Circular Ruins is a 1940 short story by Argentine writer JL Borges that
deals with the themes of idealism and the manifestation of thoughts as
objects in the real world. The story seems to symbolize every character as
a creator whose imagination brings about real changes in the things and
the people around them.
This story was declared to be one of the key inspirations behind a 2010
work that dealt with similar themes, although on a much bigger scale.
What did this story serve as the inspiration for?

23.
As part of the ongoing geopolitical games in the South China Sea, the
Fiery Cross Reef was turned into the Spratly Islands in 2014 by the
Chinese which now serve as full fledged harbours with occasional music
and entertainment shows for the closeted workers.
A recent such performance caught much attention because it featured a
chartbuster from the late 90s, which was seen as a symbolic assertion of
surviving through their hostile times in the waters.
What apt song was chosen to convey this message?

24.
The Wurlitzer Electric Piano was one of the earliest string-less
electromechanical pianos. First manufactured in the 1950s, they grew
immensely popular for their portability, with easily detachable legs and
sustain pedals.
Owing to these benefits, they earned an unusual client – the largest in the
world in its field – which called for these pianos from 1970 to 1974 as part
of a business makeover strategy pandering to luxury. While it worked
successfully to begin with, it was later abandoned as the pianos required
frequent repairs due to the spilling of liquid on the keys.
Who was this client? OR Where were these pianos used?

American Airlines, for in-flight
entertainment.

25.
Virtual Reality film-making is rapidly gaining traction world-over, with
directors Jonah Hirsch and Danny Abrahms being among its pioneers.
Their upcoming project will center around letting viewers go back to the
1940s, sense and experience within the room one of the most important
chapters in history that the makers believe deserves greater attention.
Where exactly is this VR film going to be set, a place that also inspired a
much loved literary output?

26.
Qualcomm’s innovative Mirasol display attempts to address the problem
of battery draining on high resolution screens of smartphones.
It uses a mirror-like film underneath the screen by virtue of which the
display doesn’t emit light but merely reflects it. Depending on the desired
colour – the wavelength is modified by adjusting the gap between the
mirror and the screen.
What iridescent entity from the natural world, that works on the similar
principle of structural coloration, is this technology inspired by?

27.
Early last year, famous auction house Bonhams had these items go under
the hammer and fetched a whopping 56 crore rupees for their historical
importance.
Whom did these items belong to? In what 1799 event, assisted by the
Nizam of Hyderabad, were these items surrendered by the original owner?

28.
Tobie Hatfield is one of Nike’s chief designers who has been involved with
some of their best designs over the years.
In 2012, he received a letter from a college student seeking a special
design which came to light last year. Owing to their market potential, they
were also produced on a mass scale and prominently used in a biennial
sporting event in 2015 held in Los Angeles with over 6,500 participants
from 177 countries.
What is the purpose of these shoes? What is the event in question, that
had India coming in 3rd overall behind USA and China?

Shoes without laces
for the disabled.

The 2015 Special Olympic Games.

29.
In the early 16th century, these drawings of the human anatomy were rare and
treasured by doctors for their lucidity and accuracy.
Apart from these detailed anatomical impressions, a more famous sketch by the
same person was published in 1490 in accordance with the treatise De
Architectura – widely regarded as the first major book on architectural theory.
Unlike these thorough explanations of internal body organs, the aim of this
sketch was to accurately map out the broader anatomy of the human body to
its geometric precision.
Who was this anatomical pioneer? What is this better known representation
that preceded the others?

30.
In an important trade deal with Israel, India will soon acquire the services of
state-of-the-art underwater and underground sensors fitted with cameras,
and several aerostat balloons to be stationed across 4 or 5 states in the
North and the West – at an overall cost of over 20 crores.
These will be put into use by one of India’s largest government
organizations that was formed as a result of dire circumstances in 1965 and
employs over 2.4 lakh people. The whole process, owing to its purpose, has
also been given an appropriate codename derived from a similar exercise
from Indian mythology.
Which organization will employ these devices? What is the apt codename?

31.
The Circle of Lights festival held this capital city last year was a successful
event that invited artists to project light installations onto famous
buildings.
The most popular performance – seen in the following video – was a
tribute to one of the best recognized works in its field, composed in the
1870s. The building chosen was the foremost place for such events since
the early 19th century, which was also the site of a famous geopolitical
declaration in December 1922 that was signed by 4 members but soon
expanded to more.
What is the subject of this tribute? What famous declaration?

The formal declaration of the
Soviet Union.

32.
In this appropriate artwork erected at the Eiffel Tower late last year –
Who is the artist, who shot to worldwide fame about 8 years ago? What
event that occurred in Paris and connected to the depictions is the
subject of the artwork?

The UN Climate Change Conference.

33.
The Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre
located in Lahore is Pakistan’s largest radiation oncology center.
Its establishment in the mid-1990s attracted worldwide attention largely
due to the popular founder of the hospital, who was inspired to set up
the place following the death of his mother to cancer.
Who was the founder, a constant figure in the country’s public life? Where
did the funds for setting up the place come from?

Winnings from the
1992 Cricket World Cup.

34.
Great Minds with Dan Harmon is a fun series by History Channel that has
the host bring back important people from the past to have
conversations with them.
In the video that follows, who has been brought back? What vehicle are
they travelling in towards the end?

Prelims - General Quiz - The Capgemini K-Circle College Quiz Fest 2016

Prelims - General Quiz - The Capgemini K-Circle College Quiz Fest 2016

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