The document discusses various trivia questions and their answers. It includes the following: 1. Company X was Vijaya Bank, founded on Vijayadashami. 2. The two stanzas of a song originally constituted the national anthem of Czechoslovakia but are now the national anthems of the Czech Republic and Slovakia. 3. Abbey National Building Society received letters addressed to 221B Baker Street due to its London address.

1. Questionable Intelligence
Prelims Answers
Conducted and researched by:
Rithwik Rao

2. 1
This company X was named after the auspicious day it was founded on, which
comes up on the third or fourth quarter of every year. X was known to be one of
the biggest employers of women in the South Canara region.
When it merged with another company in 2019 (and thus losing its independent
identity), the Deccan Chronicle came up with an article interviewing its
ex-employees. One of them mentioned that it will be difficult to believe that there
will be no man to welcome them with his hands in pockets.
ID the company X. Which annual occasion was it founded on?

3. Vijaya Bank (0.5)
Vijayadashami (0.5)

4. 2
These two stanzas were originally a
part of one single song for a long
period. However, in the end of last
century, the two stanzas got divided to
two different songs with the latter
extended with an additional stanza.
What was the cause of the division of
stanzas into two separate songs?

5. Split of Czechoslovakia
The two stanzas are now part of the Czech Republic and Slovakia national
anthems and originally constituted the national anthem of Czechoslovakia

6. 3
Abbey National Building Society was a banking corporation that became defunct
in 2010.
One particular branch of this corporation in London was established in the early
1930s and instantly started receiving letters from all over the world with most of
them being letters of immense praise of someone and some of them involving
deaths of the senders’ relatives. Because of this, an officer from the public
relations was always employed as a ________ ______ secretary to respond to
the latter set of letters by informing them about it being impossible. This used to
happen till the bank branch relocated in 1999.
Why did this bank branch receive such letters?

7. Its address was 221B Baker Street

8. 4
The Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Indoor
Stadium is currently the home of a Pro
Kabaddi League team and has even hosted
national and international trade fairs.
25 years ago, the stadium was chosen as the
venue for a particular ceremony that had 25
heads of states as guests and was presided
by the man pictured beside.
What ceremony was this stadium a host to
25 years ago?

9. Mother Teresa’s funeral

10. 5
Carlo Rambaldi was a famous name in a particular field of the entertainment
industry. Unbeknownst to many, he was also a multifaceted artist and a graduate
from the Academy of Fine Arts in Bologna.
One particular painting of his from this time at the academy during mid 20th
century was named “Women of Delta”. This painting of his came very much in
handy three decades after he painted it to come up with his most famous
contribution in his main career.
What took inspiration from his own painting from his college days?

11. 5

12. The look of ET

13. 6
A Yellowstone peak is called as the ______ Peak, named in honour of a German
scientist for his lesser known contributions to the study of volcanic geysers.
However, many people have mistaken the reason for its nomenclature to be
because of the nature of the surroundings of this peak, reminding them of a
certain tool used in their school days. This tool is also named after the same
scientist because of it being his own invention.
What tool is this, which was also used by the scientist while smoking?

14. Bunsen burner

15. 7
Season 5 Episode 10 of the time-travelling TV show Doctor Who was released in
2010 and involves a time jump to 120 years back with the intent to meet someone.
The Doctor ends up meeting the intended person at a cafe in Paris first and
becomes good friends with him in the episode on the course of time despite his
regular complaints of being lonely and sad. This cameo appearance was
portrayed by Scottish actor Tony Curran which needed him to shorten his hair
and grow a thicker beard compared to his appearance shown in the next slide.
Which character, played by Curran, was the special cameo appearance in this
episode?

16. 7

17. Vincent Van Gogh

18. 8
Flieger abwehr kanone (literally Flyer Defence Cannon) was an anti-aircraft
weapon used by the German forces during the Second World War. The weapon
was so intense that it used to lead to complete destruction of the target aircrafts
with one shot each.
The weapon has lead to the origin of a phrase which symbolises to receive intense
disapproval which is as unbearable as the situation of getting stuck in a plane that
is a target of this weapon.
What is the phrase?

19. Get flak/ take flak (Fliegerabwehrkanone)

20. 9
Julia Georgallis is a chef, baker and author. In 2020, she published a cookbook
with all the recipes having one ingredient in common. These recipes are solutions
to a problem at the start of every year, mainly in the Western world. Some of the
images of the dishes in her cookbook are shown in the next slide.
What is the common ingredient among all these recipes?

21. 9

22. Christmas trees

23. 10
Sadagoppan Ramesh is a former cricketer who was active as an opening batsman
for the Indian cricket team. In the second game of his debut Test series, he scored
69 and 96 against a formidable bowling attack.
Cricket experts called him an unsung hero due to his performance being
overshadowed by something that happened during the same game. He mentioned
a memory from this game. He said that he was cautioned by Javagal Srinath to not
try catching the ball when Srinath was bowling at the brink of India’s victory to
ensure that the overshadowing of his performance happened.
What happened during this game for his performance to be overshadowed?

24. Anil Kumble’s perfect 10 wicket haul

25. 11*
15 years back, this individual ad libbed a rap-like composition while performing
at a concert. The rap-like composition was inspired by a book he had read
recently, the cover of which is shown in the next slide.
Quite coincidentally, a popular figure in the audience found this individual useful
for something that he had just started working on. He then approached this
individual after the concert for the same.
What came about as a result of this coincidental meeting?

26. 11*

27. Big Bang Theory theme

28. 12*
The record of world's largest manned balloon has not been broken since
about a decade ago. This record is held by a certain balloon named Stratos
that weighed 2 tons, stood 334 feet tall and occupied 180000 cubic feet.
The balloon was launched in the New Mexican desert lands and was made
using 0.0008 inch thick translucent polyethylene with a total payload of 1360
kg, including a capsule. However, the main purpose of making this balloon
was not to break the aforementioned record but rather the record itself was a
result of the specifications required for its main purpose. The balloon
eventually landed but only after it was completely deflated mid-air once its
purpose was fulfilled.
What was the balloon's main purpose?

29. 12*

30. Felix Baumgartner skydive

31. 13*
The original one, invented by Taiwanese inventor Tsao-i-Shih, was designed
based on an essential object that is used in something which is a popular craze
and an activity of leisure in his country. The design has been modified today to
look like a similar essential but in a different activity of leisure.
The working principle of it is very simple. It consists of one internal grid of metal
wires sandwiched between two external grid of metal wires. The 3V offered by the
battery is upgraded to 650V by a transformer which is supplied to the external
grids. The supposed subjects are supposed to enter this grid network and they
naturally offer a very low electrical resistance, causing sparks.
What is being talked about in this question, which is a familiar object mainly used
in the third quarter of the year in India?

32. Mosquito bats

33. 14*
The demolition of the Supertech Twin Towers and their eventual collapse to the
ground in Noida created quite a buzz throughout India late last month.
A famous Indian newspaper covered this topic with an article accompanied by a
time lapse image of the demolition which had an apt punny caption. The caption
was a wordplay on the three word title of a 15 year old critically acclaimed
Bollywood film with the change incorporated to the first word of the film’s title.
What was the caption given to the time lapse image of the demolition?

34. Tower-e Zameen Par

35. 15*
In 2010, Giorgia (pictured next slide) became the first woman to officially
pursue a famous region-specific profession that has been dominated by
males for over 900 years.
The job has known to be a typical man’s job because of the physical burden
it takes to succeed in it but when Giorgia was asked about the physical toll it
takes on her, she mentioned that it was much easier than childbirth.
What profession is pursued by Giorgia, making her the first ever woman to
pursue it?

36. 15*

37. Venetian gondolier

38. 16*
About ten and a half years ago, a British Airways Airbus A319 was painted in
custom gold and was named “The Firefly” as a reference to its mission which was
to fly all the way from Heathrow to a national capital 2500 kilometres to the
southeast, collect an item and come back to the UK.
What was the item that the Firefly collected?

39. 2012 London Olympic torch

40. 17*
Shown is an image of an ancient Greek coin
yielding the image of the shape of a certain
oblong shield that the Greek soldiers used.
In the 1600s, a medical practitioner named
Thomas Wharton was reminded of these
antique shields when he saw something. He
thus named it after these shields by adding
a suffix meaning “resembling” to the first
half of the shield’s name.
What got its name in this manner?

41. Thyroid gland

42. 18*
The villages of Kankapur and Kareli are a few kilometres away by crow’s flight and
are on either bank of a certain river. The only recommendable travel route between
these two villages, however, is by road which requires one to go about 20
kilometres east of this region, cross a bridge and come back.
This is because of the tidal nature of the river here with an estuary situated
closeby. Thus, a shortcut route via boat or foot is highly not recommended and
even the idea of building a bridge has been turned down. Some tourists, however,
try to cross the river on foot and sometimes have got stranded by trying to recreate
what a large group did about a century ago. What they don’t know was that these
people actually had to wait till 3 am for the low tides to turn in to cross.
Who were these people who might have been the only ones to cross the river here?

43. People of the Dandi March

44. 19*
Logorama is an Oscar-winning animated short adult film which is set in LA and
makes use of 3000+ logos and mascots to model the universe. The short film
surprisingly did not face any copyright infringement cases,
Which company’s logo aptly replaces all the steering wheels of cars in the film?
Which company’s logo aptly replaces all the telephone line poles in the film ?
(Hint: Both companies are based in the same country)

45. Mercedes Benz
T-Mobile

46. 20*
The Penguin Popular Classics version of a book is the only one among the 215
mostly pre-20th century published to have a conversion table at the start which
have some definitions such as below.
● ______ : Roughly two to three nautical miles; when _____ wants to be more
exact, he himself gives the equivalent in English miles.
● FATHOM: An English measure equivalent to six feet.
● CENTIMETER: One hundredth of a metre, or 0.39 inch.
● LITER: 61.02 cubic inches, or 1.057 quarts
The Penguin Popular Classic version of which book has this conversion table?

47. Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea

48. 21
Michail Antonio is a Jamaican footballer who currently plays for the English
football club West Ham.
In October 2021, Antonio scored the only goal in a derby clash against Tottenham
Hotspur. However, what grabbed attention was his celebration after scoring the
goal, which took inspiration from something iconic in the end of last century. As a
result of this celebration, the social media account of West Ham referred to him
by an apt nickname which was a slight pun on his own name.
What was his celebration inspired by? What was this nickname?

49. 21
Video removed; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESVUL396pKE (1:28 - 1:58)

50. Bullet dodge scene from Matrix
Michail Antoneo

51. 22
Sarhad is a restaurant located at the place X with the tagline “Make food, not
war”. The menu of the hotel is equally split into known dishes such as daal
makhani, chicken tikkas and aloo paranthas and relatively unknown dishes such
as chapli kebabs, miyanji ka sabji and khalifa khatai.
The daily straining spectacle at X. that has been taking place since 1959 before
sunset everyday, has continuously taken place till 2020 (due to the onset of
COVID) in the 21st century except for a few days. One of these days was in March
2019 when a special ceremony was in order to take place and due to security
concerns, access to the place X was denied to the common public.
Which place (X)? What ceremony caused X to be deserted in March 2019?

52. Attari-Wagah border
Return of Abhinandan Varthaman to India

53. 23
The process __ _______ was a very common data storage and transfer process
between 1996 and 2005 and was practiced even sometime later. The process gets
its name because of the laser device involved to modify the data by changing the
surface texture through heat.
A certain German company, quite aptly named after an infamous person, was the
global market leader in this industry. Their most famous product’s name contains
three words and is an apt pun on an infamous event. The first word is the
company’s name and the second word is the process (_______). They also
incorporated a clever logo for this software despite involving an anachronism.
What was the process called (FITB)? Which software, with a punny name, was the
most used for this process?

54. 23

55. CD burning
Nero Burning ROM

56. 24
One of the World Expos in the early 1990s was initially planned to be one hosted
simultaneously by two metropolitan cities, one in Europe and the other in USA.
Cartuja Island in Seville went on to become a host but Chicago had to drop out
due to funding issues.
After the expo, some of the floating exhibits at the entrance of the expo centre
were permanently shifted to a town named Palos de la Frontera about 100 kms to
the west of Seville which was seen as a very appropriate move.
What was the special theme of the Expo? Why was the permanent shift of the
expo exhibits to Palos de la Frontera appropriate?

57. 500th anniversary of Colombus’ first voyage to America
The voyage started at Palos de la Frontera

58. 25
This Indian song is from a coming-of-age film from the beginning of this year.
The male singer (also the music director) makes use of a famous artist’s signature
sound at the beginning of the vocals of the song and the bridge of the song post
the second chorus which is accompanied by a heartbeat sound.
The music director also wanted to use some unconventional instruments in the
background and found out that some foreign ones fit in nicely with the song.
Thus, to give it an authentic feeling, he travelled to a European city and had a
recording session with the expert players of these instruments.
Whose signature sound? Which European city did the music director travel to?
Audio removed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-pNp0LUV2Y

59. Michael Jackson
Istanbul
Video removed:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brjKA7iBns
A&t=246s

60. End of Prelims
Finals coming up