Landmark Quiz 07 questions

As usual, the Music Academy was over flowing for the 15th Landmark Quiz (interestingly on 15th of August). Read more about it here.

Here are the prelims questions. Some questions may not be the exact reproduction. Certain questions were too long to be written in the short interval between successive posers. Hence I have tried to provide them as trivia bits.

1. The Kalashnikov is the largest produced assault rifle. In which year was its most popular version adopted and standardised?

Ans: 1947. And thats why the name AK 47. (No, Sanjay Dutt was not an inspiration for this question)

2. In 1948, the Nobel Committee declined to award a Peace prize on the ground that “there was no suitable living candidate” that year. Later, when the Dalai Lama was awarded the Peace Prize in 1989, the chairman of the committee said that this was “in part a tribute to the memory of” whom?

Ans: Mahatma Gandhi

3. Which is the source of the Brahmaputra, Indus, Sutlej and Karnali rivers? In Hindu mythology, this is also supposed to be the summer abode of swans.

Ans: Lake Manasarovar

4. Which Indian vehicle is named a son of Vayu? (You normally cannot expect such questions in Landmark!)

Ans: Maruti

5. Which Sanskrit word used in Hindu mythology usually with reference to Vishnu is also related to the descending part of a raaga in Indian Classical music?

Ans: Avatar (The descending part of a raaga is called avarohana)

6. This is the only Indian car that can be completely bullet proofed. Available in all petrol, diesel, LPG and CNG versions

Ans: HM Ambassador

7. This fragrant flower is a vine and is the national flower of Philippines and Indonesia. Identify the flower.

Ans: Jasmine 

8. Who were the only two non Indians to be awarded the Bharat Ratna?

Ans: Nelson Mandela and Khan Abdul Ghafar Khan

9. What economic effect named after a company includes local effects such as forcing smaller competitions out of business and driving down wages and broader effects such as helping to keep inflation low and productivity high?

Ans: Walmart effect

10. MRF founded by K.M. Mammen Mappilai in 1946 started with a unit at Tiruvottriyur manufacturing what product?

Ans: Toy balloons

11. What was the name of the novel by Douglas Coupland about young people whose future appeared uncertain and gave rise to what term?

Ans: Generation X

12. In Norse mythology, Odin had the dwarfs forge the magical chain Gleipnir to trap which wolf like monster?

Ans: Fenrisulfr of Fenrir

13. What are the two words that collectively describe the fictitious symbol (I could manage only for a small image)

Ans: Deathly Hallows

 

 

14. What is the Indian name of the smallest Asiatic antelope?

Ans: Chinkara (Of Salman Khan fame)

 

 

15. The company is engaged in an ongoing campaign to convince the public that its name should not be used as a verb. It says “you cannot X a document, but you can copy it on a P”. What is X and P? (I understand hell lot of clues out there)

Ans: Xerox and Photocopier

 

 

16. What is the term used in Question Hour in the Parliament to denote a query to which a member desires an oral answer?

Ans: Starred question (This was the tenth question in the quiz. Questions starting from 11 are starred questions in the Landmark Quiz!)

 

 

17. The UN issued its first resolution in 1946, soon after the World War II to start what organisation?

Ans: Atomic Energy Commission. This is the predecessor of IAEA (the International Atomic Energy Agency)

 

18. The flag of Nepal is unique and has two triangular pennants. Which are the only two independent states/countries to have square shaped flags?

 

Ans: Switzerland and Vatican City

 

19. Which word meaning demote/devalue was chosen by the American Dialect Society as the “Word of the Year 2006”?

 

Ans: Plutoed

 

20. Ekta Kapoor is famous producer. Most of her creations begin with the letter “K” due to her superstition that it brings her good luck and fantastic reputation. About 9 television productions and 5 movies all start with the letter K. Which is the only movie that does not start with this letter?

 

Ans: Shootout at Lokhandwala

 

21. What natural construction comes in the following shapes: Spiral orb, cob/tangle, Funnel, Tubular and Sheet?

 

Ans: Spider webs

 

22. What is the surname of the person shown below? The stained glass work in the college where he studied was made in his memory.(Enough clues at that)

Ans: John Venn. Stained glass window in the dining hall of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, commemorating John Venn and the Venn diagram.

23. What are the imaginative names by which these photos are known?

Ans: Blue Marble and Pale Blue Dot. The Blue Marble is a famous photograph of the Earth taken on 7 December 1972 by the crew of the Apollo 17 spacecraft at a distance of about 45,000 km. The image is one of the few to show a fully lit Earth. The Pale Blue Dot is a photograph of planet Earth made by Voyager 1 from a record distance, showing it against the vastness of space. It is also the title of a 1994 book by astronomer Carl Sagan that was inspired by the photo. On February 14, 1990, NASA commanded the Voyager 1 spacecraft, having completed its primary mission, to turn around to photograph the planets of the Solar system. One image Voyager returned was of Earth, showing up as a “pale blue dot” in the grainy photo.

 

24. A clip from “An Inconvenient Truth”. Identify the voice.

Ans: Al Gore

25. A clip of the “Thee Thee” from Sivaji:The Boss. Where was this song shot?

Ans: Binny Mills, Chennai

26. Which Chennai student event holds the unique distinction of being the first student managed event in the world to earn the ISO 9001:2000 certification for implementing a Quality Management System.

Ans: IIT Madras’ Shaastra

27. What was the name of the series of animated short subjects produced by the Walt Disney that brought along many imitations like Warner Bros’ Looney Tunes and MGM’s Happy Harmonies?

Ans: Silly Symphonies

28. The element with atomic number 43 derives its name from the Greek word for “artificial” since this was the first predominantly artificial element to be produced. Identify the element.

Ans: Technetium

29. The term font is a cognate of the word fondue. Fondue refers to Swiss communal dishes shared at the table in an earthenware pot and is prepared by mixing wine and cheese. The word derives from Middle French fonte, meaning “(something that has been) melt(ed)”, referring to type produced by casting molten metal at a type foundry.

30. It was in the Robinson Crusoe Island that the sailor Alexander Selkirk was marooned in 1705 and lived in absolute solitude for four years and four months. The sailor inspired Daniel Defoe to write the classic novel, Robinson Crusoe. To reflect the literary lore associated with the island, the Chilean government named the location Robinson Crusoe Island on January 1, 1966.

Finals Questions (Just a few of them as I left early)

1. Connect

A clip from Jungle Book. (Akela talking to the wolves) and

Ans: The photograph is that of Baden Powell. Here goes the explanation for the connection. The Jungle Book, because of its moral tone, came to be used as a motivational book by the Cub Scouts, a junior element of the Scouting movement. This use of the book’s universe was approved by Kipling after a direct petition of Baden Powell, founder of the Scouting movement. Akela, the head wolf in The Jungle Book, has become a senior figure in the movement.

2. In March 2006, President Kalam visited the mausoleum of Bahadur Shah Zafar in Myanmar and offered floral tributes, lit candles, donated a chador brought from the dargah of Sufi Saint Nizamuddin Auliya and said prayers. What is the significance of this act?

Ans: Just before Bahadur Shah Zafar passed away in a British Army officer’s garage in Myanmar, following the failure of the 1857 war of independence, he wrote: “Who would pray on my behalf? Or bring me a bunch of flowers? Who would light a candle for me? I am nothing but a gloomy tomb.”

Mr. Kalam visited the mausoleum to offer floral tributes, light candles and donate a chador brought from the dargah of Sufi Saint Nizamuddin Auliya. Later, the President wrote in the visitors’ book “You wrote who will come to my grave. Today on behalf of my nation I have come, prayed and lit candles, offered chador and recited the fatiha. May your soul rest in peace”.

Read The Hindu article on the incident here

3. What is dendronautics the study of?

Ans: Study of canopy of rainforests.

4. Čerenkov radiation, named after Pavel Alekseyevich Cerenkov, is electromagnatic radiation emitted when a charged particle passes through an insulator at a speed greater than the speed of light in that medium. The characteristic “blue glow” of nuclear reactors is due to Čerenkov radiation. With which Hindu mythological characters did Nehru compare these radiations with when he first saw them at a nuclear reactor at the BARC?

Ans: Apsaras. And thats the reason the country’s first reactor was named Apsara.

5. What unusual occurrence in 1956 Summer Olympics will be repeated in 2008 Beijing Olympics?

Ans: Due to the strict quarantine regulations, the equestrian events were held in Stockholm, Sweden while all other events were held in Melbourne, Australia. Similarly, in the 2008 Olympics the equestrian events will be held in Hong Kong while other events will be held at Beijing

Hope you had fun.

Cheers

Venkatesan Narasimhan