Interrobang India Quiz 2018 Finals

INDIA
QUIZ
‽ N T E R R O B A N G 2 0 1 8
Researched and conducted by Lokesh
Kaza
21st January 2018

PRESENTED BY
Experience Partner
Associate Sponsors

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
• Balaji Subramanian
• Vishnu Sumanth
• Major Chandrakant Nair
• Rumaiza Fathima
• Abid Abdulla
• Rushabh Menon
• TPS Harsha
• Manav Kapur
• Anjaneya Das
• Karthik Suresh

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Content Team
• Abhishek Babbar
• Anirudh Singh
• Anubhav Sachdeva
• Jayavardhan Josyula
• Samiha Gopal
• Siddarth Rajeevan
Organising Team
• Akash Prasad
• Aparajita Kaul
• Nipuna Varman
• Sachit Kapoor
• Yash Bhagwat

FINALS
•48 questions
•Round I: Written (8 questions)
•Round II: Clockwise dries (15 questions)
•Round III: Written (8 questions)
•Round IV: Anticlockwise dries (15
questions)

ROUND I: WRITTEN
• 8 questions in total
• +5 for each correct answer, +5 bonus
• Theme: 2017, The Year That Was

1.
Chakradhar Alla is a 27-year old from Hyderabad who received a
cash prize of Rs. 1 lakh in October last year after creating this,
which got selected among from around 100 entries.
A three-member screening committee headed by renowned painter
and architect Satish Gujral, picked Chakradhar’s creation. The
creation incorporates something which is no longer found in India,
but aptly represents what the project stands for. It also has blue
and red lines, which according to sources symbolise a sense of
calm and reliability.
What did he create?
What does it incorporate?

2.
• First published in 1965, the eccentric inventor Professor Shonku lives in
Giridh near the river Usri and has a cat named Newton. He is a polyglot
and has several fantastic inventions to his name. He often goes on
many adventures in both real and imaginary places, some with historical
learnings and with revelations related to human civilisation.
• Recently, an article in The Hindu noted the similarities between this and
a pop culture phenomenon, which began in 2013 and resurfaced (for the
third time) in 2017.
• Who was the creator of Professor Shonku?
• What was it compared to in the article?

3.
• In October, a 42-year-old DJ in Goa noticed a puzzling comment on
his Instagram. It was abusive, but without any clear reason. The next
day, more strange comments (some with a hashtag) began to appear
on his account. In mid-December, the number of abusive comments
intensified and the DJ told the Verge later, “I've been getting death
[threats] and abusive calls the whole night, since we are 10 and half
hours ahead of your time [in India]”. From fewer than 100 daily
visitors to his website, the numbers shot up to several thousand.
Some comments suggesting that the DJ change his name were also
seen.
• What was the uproar all about, which was reminiscent of the trouble
faced by the Sunrisers Hyderabad coach?

• Members of two bodies X and Y of the Civil Services got into a tiff
in 2017, over who got to keep the 3-letter abbreviation.
• While cadre from X claim that X is the older among the two
(having been used since 1946), those in Y claim that the name X
itself is an oxymoron considering that two words in X are
paradoxical to each other.
• What are X and Y? (with full expansions, obviously)
4.

5.
• One of the oldest railway stations in India began to attract
tourists after hundreds of trained individuals undertook the
project. The aim was for it to be a beautification and
cleanliness exercise and was also intended to highlight the
skill of these individuals.
• Which railway station was all this happening in?

6.
• When Rajinikanth recently announced his entry into politics, he
made statements promising a political revolution and said that he
would embark on a path of ‘spiritual politics’ devoid of caste,
religion, etc.
• He went on to cite incidents from the history of Tamil Nadu, saying
it was a state which had overseen major political events/decisions,
including a 1921 decision that turned heads in Madurai for the first
time, and was a radical alteration of sorts.
• What decision, which garnered national support (but also attracted
international ridicule) was referred to by Rajinikanth?

7.
• Founders Prashant and Praveen Udupa bought up some real estate
when the market was in a slump immediately after demonetisation. To
make sure that their space gives the best possible experience to their
customers, they hired an award-winning company that they met at a
Bengaluru trade-show, to buy amplifiers, speaker systems, acoustic
materials and DLP projectors. The seating materials, placement and
colour themes were handpicked by the founders to ensure that the
place comes off as both professional and personal at the same time.
“We are trying to alter customers’ buying behaviour from one of
‘buying tickets’ to that of ‘renting a theatre’. We are creating this
whole new market.”, they say.
• What service does this startup offer at its location in Girinagar,
Bangalore?

8.
• In 2017, a unique memorial honouring this individual
was inaugurated by Narendra Modi in Tamil Nadu.
• While the person is known to us for other reasons,
playing the rudra veena (as seen in this art installation
inside the memorial) and writing Tamil poetry were a
few lesser known facets.
• Whose memorial is this?

BULLET TRAIN PROJECT
LOGO; CHEETAH

3.
• In October, a 42-year-old DJ in Goa noticed a puzzling comment on
his Instagram. It was abusive, but without any clear reason. The next
day, more strange comments (some with a hashtag) began to appear
on his account. In mid-December, the number of abusive comments
intensified and the DJ told the Verge later, “I've been getting death
[threats] and abusive calls the whole night, since we are 10 and half
hours ahead of your time [in India]”. From fewer than 100 daily visitors
to his website, the numbers shot up to several thousand. Some
comments suggesting that the DJ change his name were also seen.
• What was the uproar all about, which was reminiscent of the trouble
faced by the Sunrisers Hyderabad coach?

4.
• Members of two bodies X and Y of the Civil Services got into
a tiff in 2017, over who got to keep the 3-letter abbreviation.
• While cadre from X claim that X is the older among the two
(having been used since 1946), those in Y claim that the
name X itself is an oxymoron considering that two words in X
are paradoxical to each other.
• What are X and Y? (with full expansions, obviously)

INDIAN FOREIGN SERVICE,
INDIAN FOREST SERVICE

GANDHI SHEDDING HIS TRADITIONAL ATTIRE
AND WEARING A LOIN

7.
• Founders Prashant and Praveen Udupa bought up some real estate
when the market was in a slump immediately after demonetisation. To
make sure that their space gives the best possible experience to their
customers, they hired an award-winning company that they met at a
Bengaluru trade-show, to buy amplifiers, speaker systems, acoustic
materials and DLP projectors. The seating materials, placement and
colour themes were handpicked by the founders to ensure that the
place comes off as both professional and personal at the same time.
“We are trying to alter customers’ buying behaviour from one of
‘buying tickets’ to that of ‘renting a theatre’. We are creating this whole
new market.”, they say.
• What service does this startup offer at its location in Girinagar,
Bangalore?

YOU CAN CONNECT YOUR NETFLIX/OTHER
STREAMING CHANNELS AND WATCH IN A
THEATRE

ROUND II: CLOCKWISE DRIES
• 15 questions
• Infinite bounce, with pounce
• +10 for a direct, on the pass and on correct pounces
• -5 for incorrect pounces
• Teams cannot pounce on their own direct
• If no team answers, question goes back to the same
team

1.
• Sir Arthur Cotton was a British general who devoted his life to the
construction of irrigation and navigation canals throughout British
India, especially in what is today's Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
Some of his iconic projects include the Prakasam Barrage, the
Dowleswaram Barrage and the Kurnool Cuddappah Canal. In 1858,
after droughts in Orissa and its nearby regions, Cotton envisaged
an idea, which has gained enormous traction over the past few
years. What idea was this?
• As he was a revered figure in the history of the state of Andhra
Pradesh, he became part of an illustrious group of 33 (the only non-
Telugu/non-Deccan figure) who were commemorated in Hyderabad
in a particular way. How would you have seen this

STATUES ON TANK BUND IN
HYDERABAD

2.
• One of the most well-known landmarks in this city, this engineering
marvel has been severely threatened in recent years owing to a
ubiquitous Indian habit. While the structure, completed in 1943, has
withstood the weight of its teeming human load, officials say it cannot
continue to survive the outcome of the habit.
• The problem had to be addressed when officials realized that the bases
reduced to half of their original size owing to the highly corrosive nature
of the acidic slake lime and paraffin involved. As a preventive measure, a
£20,000 project to provide protective fibre glass covers at the bases
began in 2013. Officials also mooted the idea of installing pictures of
gods and goddesses as an alternative to the glass covers.
• Which landmark is this? What habit has led to structural integrity
concerns?

HOWRAH BRIDGE/RABINDRA
SETU BRIDGE

3.
• The Vikramshila Sanctuary in Bhagalpur District of Bihar is the only
one of its kind in the country. Spanning a stretch of 50 km, it was
designated in 1991 but an inadequate presence of law-enforcement in
the sanctuary areas till the late 1990s led to frequent poaching of the
sanctuary’s most important inhabitants.
• Sunil Kumar Choudhary, a conservationist then decided to undertake
a padyatra to create awareness so that these inhabitants did not
threaten the daily existence of a specific 8,000-strong community who
lived in the area. An announcement, made in 2009, was hugely
beneficial to the rest of the country finding out about the existence of
the sanctuary and its inhabitants.
• What was this sanctuary set up to protect? What was the 2009
announcement?

NOTIFIED AS THE NATIONAL
AQUATIC ANIMAL OF INDIA

4.
• After the BJP government in Rajasthan had opted to delete
chapters on this from school textbooks, it was a moment of irony
when a unique memorial celebrating it was unveiled in Beawar in
2016. Hundreds of people gathered for the unveiling, which also
commemorated a famous dharna that happened for over 40 days
in 1996. Justice SN Bhargava, who unveiled the memorial said it
was befitting and a matter of pride that such a memorial has
been constructed. The judge also said that the memorial would
give inspiration to millions in the country.
• What does this memorial commemorate, which was also the
demand made by those doing the dharna?

THIS IS AN 'RTI MEMORIAL', IN TRIBUTE TO THE
HISTORIC DHARNA STAGED BY THE MAZDOOR
KISAN SHAKTI SANGATHAN WHO DEMANDED THE
RIGHT TO INFORMATION.

5.
• Tumhari Sulu is a 2017 comedy-drama film starring Vidya Balan as
the titular character, an ambitious housewife who becomes a radio
jockey for a late-night relationship advice show. A day after the film
was released, a statement made by a 20-year old individual in
China impressed Balan who felt that the statement resonated with
her film.
• In an interview, Balan said, “X’s answer underlines what we were
trying to say in my recent film. People have acknowledged that a
mother and homemaker’s contribution is always undervalued and it
has diminished further after women started stepping out to earn”.
• Who is X, and in what context was this statement made?

MANUSHI CHHILLAR’S ANSWER IN THE
QUESTION-ANSWER ROUND OF THE
MISS WORLD 2017 PAGEANT

6.
• Hiralal Masani is a Porbandar-based businessman who spent as
much as Rs 3 lakh last year for Kuber’s refurbishment, after it was
returned to him. During the refurbishment, he decided to not only
give it a different look but also a new name.
• He had initially wanted to completely do away with the name Kuber
but as it was registered under that name, he did not succeed in the
attempt. Masani therefore renamed it the Shri Ganesha Kuber, to
appease the lord of good luck and to make sure that evil forces
stayed away this time around.
• Who/what is Kuber and why was Kuber not in Masani’s possession
for sometime over the past decade?

FISHING TRAWLER HIJACKED
BEFORE THE 26/11 MUMBAI ATTACKS

7.
• Sucralose, an artificial sweetener, was discovered in 1976, by two
chemists at Queen Elizabeth College London, Leslie Hough and
Shashikant Phadnis. The discovery, like many others, was quite
accidental.
• The duo were mixing various batches of sucrose with other chemicals,
when Hough asked his colleague to run some chemical tests on one of
the batches to which some chlorinators were added.
• In what way did his very Maharashtrian colleague misunderstand him
(and do something different), leading to the discovery?
• What?

8.
• In 1927, a cricket team named Gilligan’s XI was sent to India to
play at the Chepauk stadium. Twenty-five year old Ernest
Cowdrey was included in the Madras Europeans XI side for the
one-day game against the visitors and top-scored with 48, even
earning an entry in Wisden.
• This right-hand batsman, in later years became so determined
that his son should play for England that when the boy was born
in Bangalore, he named him Michael Colin.
• How did this particular match and the father’s love for cricket
influence the naming of his son?

HIS INITIALS ARE MCC, IN HONOUR OF THE
MARYLEBONE CRICKET CLUB WHO HAD
SENT THE GILLIGAN’S XI TEAM TO INDIA

9.
• The beginning of this process is manual and assistance is provided by
placing plastic cups on paper. After a couple of hours, the cups are
removed and each circle around which the cup was placed is marked
bearing the ‘output’, usually between 400-500, each the size of a
pinhead.
• Towards the end of the process, locally-made equipment called
chandrike are used for this ‘output’. The chandrike is a large coir mat
upon which long strips of woven bamboo (5-6 cm high) are concentrically
mounted in a spiral configuration giving little space (about 2 inches)
between the strips. Bamboo is used because it provides the best
absorbent surface for quick drying. The equipment is necessary for 58-
60 hours, after which it is disinfected thoroughly before reuse.
• What is all of this done for?

10.
• While many of the documents were ordered to be destroyed, there were
a few that survived. These include a journal that was written entirely in
Urdu, and which journalist Shrabani Basu translated a few years ago.
The translations reveal fascinating insights into the author’s life. It was
also revealed by Basu that the author’s Urdu teacher had created a
phrase book of everyday Urdu words and had written them out in the
Roman script. The phrases included standard ones such as: “You may
go home if you like” (Tum ghar jao agar chhate ho) and “The egg is not
boiled enough”.
• There were other intriguing phrases such as “Hold me tight” (Ham ko
mazbut thamo), which could have led to them being destroyed.
• Who was the author?
• Who was the Urdu teacher?

11.
• The chaplain of this city’s Holy Trinity Church approached British
commander Walter Windham to help him raise funds for a new hostel. A
trade exhibition was going on at that time and Windham came up with an
idea that would bring in some revenue from those attending the exhibition.
The idea involved interested people sending something to the chaplain
along with a sum of six annas, which was set aside for the hostel. Whatever
the people sent had to be lesser than one ounce or it was not accepted,
considering that weight had an important role to play.
• Thousands of people who had come to the city for something else
altogether were able to see this at the Polo ground. Another spot outside
the city had to be cleared specially for the occasion by convicts from the
central jail nearby.
• What idea did Windham come up with?

WORLD'S FIRST OFFICIAL AIR MAIL
BY AIRPLANE, BETWEEN ALLAHABAD
AND NAINI

12.
• Razm Namah is a work commissioned by X in 1574 under the larger
scheme of translating native works to help the majorly Muslim
administration understand Indian society better.
• The copies of the finished work were sent to members of royal families
as gifts and according to a preface written by the historian in X's court,
the intention behind these gifts and their distribution was very pious.
• Who was X? (2.5)
• What is the Razm Namah? (2.5)
• What do these two illustrations in the work signify? (2.5 X 2)

AKBAR, WHO PASSED AN ORDER TO
TRANSLATE THE MAHABHARATA INTO
PERSIAN.

BHEESHMA’S LYING ON A PILE OF ARROWS;
ARJUNA PIERCING THE EYE OF A FISH WHILST ONLY LOOKING
AT ITS REFLECTION

13.
• X was born in Berlin in 1908, and trained as an architect there at the Technical
University. In 1933, he won the Schinkel Prize for Architecture for a design for the
Olympic Stadium in Berlin. However, with the rise to power of the Nazi Party, X
was forced to leave the country, as was his uncle, physicist Y. X later illustrated Y’s
popularized physics text, The Restless Universe.
• When Y was in Bangalore as a guest of C. V. Raman, the Diwan Mirza Ismail
enquired if he knew of any trained architect. Thanks to Y's introduction, X was
appointed chief architect and planner to Mysore State. His buildings during this
period include some buildings in the Indian Institute of Science (1943–44) and the
Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR).
• Who was X?
• Who was Y, who won the 1954 Nobel Prize in Physics for his "fundamental
research in quantum mechanics, especially in the statistical interpretation of the
wave function”?

14.
• After coming to Chennai , she bought herself a few dresses, trinklets and
cosmetics even though she had never used cosmetics in her life. She also
bought a pair of spectacles - again a first-time purchase which she did not
really require. A few others, with her included Sivarasan and Subha,
Bhagyanathan, Haribabu (who was tasked with photography) and Arivu.
• Haribabu was also tasked with buying something something else, which he did
when he bought one made out of sandalwood at the Poompuhar Handicrafts
on Mount Road. The woman’s churidar was a seemingly unusual dress in
South India and was stitched at a shop at Purasawalkam the city. It was
ordered to be made loose, and a number of people remembered it being rather
garish.
• In what context was all of this happening more than 25 years ago?

15.
• One of the famous anecdotes that goes on to explain the genesis
behind a famous engineering marvel goes like this. Herbert Rumsey,
the engineering contractor was stuck trying to find a solution to a
particular problem. He explained the problem to his wife while ball-
dancing with her and she came up with an innocent remark which
showed Rumsey the way out of his problems.
• Essentially, Rumsey’s wife said, “If you can't go forward, why don't you
go back darling”, which in the context of the dance also referred to
reversing back if one gets tucked into a corner.
• What playful entity/marvel was this, which was declared as a World
Heritage Site in December 1999?
• How exactly did the statement inspire Rumsey’s work on the entity?

DARJEELING HIMALAYAN RAILWAY TOY
TRAIN

CONCEPT OF ZIG ZAG REVERSALS OR Z
CURVES USED, ALLOWING FOR A GAIN IN
ALTITUDE WITHOUT HAVING TO MAKE STEEP
CLIMBS OR GO THROUGH TUNNELS

ROUND III: WRITTEN
• 8 questions in total
• 4 questions with a follow-up question for each
• +5 for each correct answer, +5 bonus
• Theme: Remnants Of The British Raj

1. A.
Frank Smythe was a mountaineer and botanist best known for his
Himalayan explorations. In 1931, during his climb of Mount Kamet
in the Garhwal region, he discovered an area where “it was
impossible to take a step without crushing a ______.” He later
named the region based on his experience, which is now a
protected national park.
What name did he give?

1. B.
• In 1936, Smythe carried out another expedition in the Himalayas when
he noticed something through a high-powered telescope. This
prompted him to write a letter to a certain Edward Norton stating, "I was
scanning the face from base camp when I saw something queer in a
gully below the scree shelf. Of course it was a long way away and very
small, but I've a six/six eyesight and do not believe it was a rock. It’s
not to be written about as the press would make an unpleasant
sensation.”
• Smythe was right to be concerned about possible sensationalism.
When climber Conrad Anker discovered the same in 1999,
photographs appeared in newspapers around the world.
• What did Smythe supposedly notice and keep a secret?

2. A.
• A combination of different factors led to them being lost, or
destroyed. Cities like Bombay, Madras and Calcutta had high heat
and humidity levels that were extremely damaging. With no proper
storage facilities, these were stored in warehouses where the
adverse climatic conditions ate into them.
• The fact that they were made of nitrocellulose meant that they
were highly inflammable and could spontaneously combust even if
they were stored carefully. Greed also had a large part to play as
some individuals dumped them into chemical solutions to extract
silver.
• What are we talking about here?

2.B.
• After their purpose was completed, their financial backers found
themselves with several of these, which were heavy and occupied
space. Not knowing what to do with them, they would leave them
somewhere knowing that the legal responsibility for dealing with
them would then fall on the entity whose unwilling care they had
left it in. However, this was a blessing in disguise considering that
thousands of these were saved, owing to the entity passing these
onto safe hands.
• How were they disposed?

3. A.
• In 2007, C.P. Bhatia, an assistant commissioner of Income Tax in
Kolkata discovered the grave of Scottish national James Wilson when
he was posted there. Wilson was generally opposed to privileging the
Church of England, the secret ballot when it was proposed in 1853, and
the Corn Laws.
• He wrote a pamphlet titled Influences of the Corn Laws, as affecting all
classes of the community, and particularly the landed interests. It slowly
received positive feedback and Wilson's fame had grown. He started to
write for newspapers, including the Manchester Guardian.
• In 1843 he established something to campaign for free trade, and acted
as Chief editor and sole proprietor for sixteen years.
• What did he establish?

3. B.
• Later, in life, Wilson overhauled the financial system in India. He
delivered the first budget speech and proposed a new law in his
capacity as the finance member of the India Council that advised
the British in India.
• This Act of 1861 conferred upon the government in India the
monopoly of something, which brought to an end issues of
monopoly enjoyed by private and presidency banks. The proposal
that Wilson came up with for the first time can see its influence all
across India today.
• What did he propose?

4.A.
• After Germany were defeated in WW1, the Supreme War Council
was tasked with shaping the boundaries of the newly
independent Poland (Poland was now its own country after more
than a hundred years of Prussian/ German rule). A boundary line
was proposed by ______, who was then the British Foreign
Secretary, and this line came to form the basis of much of the
Poland-USSR boundary at the time. While it was overrun by the
Russians in WW 2, Stalin however agreed to retain most of the
original boundary and today it stands as most of the Polish
borders between Russia, Belarus and Ukraine.
• Who was this person?

4. B.
• This individual was involved in dividing up territories in this
part of the world as well, and had done so when he made an
announcement on 7th July 1905. Some were outraged at what
they recognised as a "divide and rule" policy, where the
colonisers turned the native population against itself in order
to rule, even though the individual stressed it would produce
administrative efficiency.
• What announcement was this?

1. B.
• In 1936, Smythe carried out another expedition in the Himalayas when
he noticed something through a high-powered telescope. This prompted
him to write a letter to a certain Edward Norton stating, "I was scanning
the face from base camp when I saw something queer in a gully below
the scree shelf. Of course it was a long way away and very small, but
I've a six/six eyesight and do not believe it was a rock. It’s not to be
written about as the press would make an unpleasant sensation.”
• Smythe was right to be concerned about possible sensationalism. When
climber Conrad Anker discovered the same in 1999, photographs
appeared in newspapers around the world.
• What did Smythe supposedly notice and keep a secret?

THEY WERE DUMPED IN INDIAN RAILWAYS GOODS
TRAINS, AND THE RAILWAYS HAD A LEGAL
RESPONSIBILITY TO TRACK OWNERS (OR GIVE THEM TO
CARETAKERS)

3. B.
• Later, in life, Wilson overhauled the financial system in India. He
delivered the first budget speech and proposed a new law in his
capacity as the finance member of the India Council that advised the
British in India.
• This Act of 1861 conferred upon the government in India the
monopoly of something, which brought to an end issues of monopoly
enjoyed by private and presidency banks. The proposal that Wilson
came up with for the first time can see its influence all across India
today.
• What did he propose?

INTRODUCTION OF PAPER CURRENCY

4.A.
• After Germany were defeated in WW1, the Supreme War Council
was tasked with shaping the boundaries of the newly independent
Poland (Poland was now its own country after more than a
hundred years of Prussian/ German rule). A boundary line was
proposed by ______, who was then the British Foreign Secretary,
and this line came to form the basis of much of the Poland-USSR
boundary at the time. While it was overrun by the Russians in WW
2, Stalin however agreed to retain most of the original boundary
and today it stands as most of the Polish borders between Russia,
Belarus and Ukraine.
• Who was this person?

4. B.
• This individual was involved in dividing up territories in this part of
the world as well, and had done so when he made an
announcement on 7th July 1905. Some were outraged at what
they recognised as a "divide and rule" policy, where the
colonisers turned the native population against itself in order to
rule, even though the individual stressed it would produce
administrative efficiency.
• What announcement was this?

ROUND II: ANTI-CLOCKWISE
DRIES
• 15 questions
• Infinite bounce, with pounce
• +10 for a direct, on the pass and on correct pounces
• -5 for incorrect pounces
• Teams cannot pounce on their own direct
• If no team answers, question goes back to the same
team

16.
• This job is done by an internal committee, and has representatives
from the Department of Archaeology, and the Ministry of Surface
Transport, among others. The recommendations of this committee
require the assent of the President.
• To maintain uniformity, the committee follows certain broad
parameters, which have been enumerated here. A lot of care is
taken to ensure that those belonging to the same category have
the same initial letter and describe similar/related objects. For
instance, the committee came up with Kora, Kirch, Kulish and
Karmuk for those belonging to one category.
• What is this the protocol behind?

NAMING CONVENTION FOR
INDIAN NAVAL VESSELS

17.
• After it was established by Charu Sharma in 2014, the owners
decided to finalize names and logos for their respective entities.
One of the owners then began to work with the ad agency Ogilvy &
Mather to come up with an identity for his side.
• The name and accompanying logo that were finally chosen by this
owner contained a nickname of the city that was being
represented. However, there was also some amount of speculation
on whether the naming choice was inspired by a 2009 project,
which the owner’s spouse was involved in.
• What did Sharma establish?
• What naming choice was this?

JAIPUR PINK PANTHERS (AISHWARYA
RAI HAD ACTED IN PINK PANTHER 2)

18.
• A 2000 report by Dr. Amit Nair, an environmental consultant,
described how field researchers had been prevented from collecting a
particular type of sample—one that was a suitable indicator for
human exposure—from hospitals, due to government orders against
helping private research.
• Hence, they had to go door-to-door in specific residential areas to
collect samples in 5 ml Teflon screwcap Borosil vials, store them at 0
°C at first, and later at −20 °C in laboratories for analysis. (Images
follow.)
• a) What was the purpose of the study?
• b) What were the samples being collected?

TO EXAMINE CHEMICAL CONTAMINATION IN AREAS CLOSE
TO THE UNION CARBIDE PLANT IN BHOPAL
THE SAMPLES WERE OF BREAST MILK.

19.
• In Alex von Tunzelmann’s Indian Summer, she describes a famous meeting
that took place in London in 1931, between Gandhi who was there for the
Round Table Conference, and X, who happened to be in London around that
time.
• X was later quoted as saying that he felt uneasy and terrified and did not know
what to talk about on a subject he barely knew anything about. X recalled that
he was nervous, and declared that he was sympathetic to India’s freedom
struggle. He then asked Gandhi why he opposed the use of machines, to
which Gandhi responded, “I am not against machines but I cannot bear it when
these very machines take away a man’s work from him. Today we your slaves
because we cannot overcome our attraction, for your goods. Freedom will
surely be ours if we learn to free ourselves from this attraction.”
• Who was X? What, according to Tunzelmnn did this exchange inspire in 1936?

• Modern Times, in which
Chaplin’s iconic Little Tramp
character struggles to survive in
the modern, industrialized world.
The film is a comment on the
desperate employment and
financial conditions many people
faced during the Great
Depression, conditions created,
in Chaplin's view, by the
efficiencies of modern
industrialization

20.
• It has been in the Archaeological Survey of India’s ‘reserve collection’
for decades and was put on public display at the Fort Museum in Fort St
George complex in Chennai a few years ago.
• Placed in an air tight wooden-glass showcase, it is surrounded by six
bowls of silica gel to regulate humidity and absorb moisture. Appropriate
temperature is maintained by round-the-clock air conditioning. Human
sensor enabled LED lighting is used around the showcase and the
lights turn on only if there are visitors around.
• Made out of pure silk, some portions of it are in tatters owing to age,
and it is considered to be the only one of its kind in the country.
• What is put on display, and why is it unique?

ONLY INDIAN NATIONAL FLAG
HOISTED ON 15TH AUGUST 1947

21.
• One of the first individuals to attempt to dislodge this entity was the Pallava
king Narasimhavarman, who ruled southern India from 630 to 668AD. Not for a
lack of trying, the mission was unsuccessful, and a similar endeavour was
undertaken in 1908 by the Governor of Madras, Arthur Lawley. He feared for
the safety of the town at the base of the hill and is said to have used seven
elephants to try to move it, also without any luck.
• a) While its colloquial name means stone of the sky god, its popular English
name derives from Hindu myth and refers to a mischievous activity a certain
child was well known in indulging in. What is the English name, and where is
this found at?
• b) It is said that Raja Raja Chola was inspired by the balance of this massive
stone boulder and it led to the creation of a particular GI entity albeit from a
different town. ID the GI product.

KRISHNA’S BUTTERBALL IN
MAHABALIPURAM

22.
• The Venice Charter of 1964 states that the process of restoration is a highly
specialized operation and to preserve historical value, original material is
supposed to be used. In the 1970s, Indian archaeologists decided to restore
the ‘feet’ by using new material, which would have gone against this rule. As
this was a small aspect compared to the overall size, little notice was paid to
the specifics of the Charter. The Indian government also assisted with works
over the cliffs and checked for water drainage and erosion risk.
• In 2013, a team from Germany began restoration work on the ‘feet’ once again,
but this time, authorities ordered them to put down their tools, citing the
Charter.
• Why did another team have to begin restoration work, considering it had
already been done previously?

DESTRUCTION OF THE BAMIYAN
BUDDHAS

23.
• In cinematography, Double Exposure is the superimposition of two
or more exposures to create a single image. Before the advent of
this technology in India, a very unique method was adopted to film
scenes involving sky and flight. The artists had to walk on the
studio walls with the camera placed at a low angle showing the sky
and moving clouds. The frame line at the bottom would cut off the
feet, giving the illusion that the person is flying.
• This is the reason behind an erroneous portrayal in the Indian
mythological films of the 1930s-1969s. What?

THE TAMBURA DEPICTED AS NARADA’S INSTRUMENT (INSTEAD OF
VEENA).
THE VEENA WAS HEAVIER AND IT WAS DIFFICULT FOR THE ARTISTS
TO CARRY IT AND BALANCE ON THE WALL AT THE SAME TIME

24.
• At the time, many questioned the spinelessness of the establishment. The
incident has been decried as the reason for India being seen as particularly
vulnerable. However, the inexplicable weakness and inaction was later
attributed to a company called De La Rue plc, which has long held a near-total
monopoly over the business of currency printing machines worldwide. The
company’s then owner, Mr. Roberto Giori, was in Delhi on a business trip with
his assistant. On Christmas Day, the Swiss government was informed of
Giori's presence, and Foreign Minister Joseph Deiss had a long telephone
conversation with Jaswant Singh in which he stressed on the need to protect
Giori at any cost. The Swiss also sent a special envoy to the scene, who
remained there for five days before escorting Giori home. Some historians
suggest that it was Giori’s presence that ensured that the episode ended with
a “New Year’s gift to India”, in the words of the principal antagonist. What
event did Giori inadvertently influence in this way?

25.
• Bhagwan Mahaveer Sanctuary and Mollem National Park is a 240 sq. km
protected area in the Western Ghats. Within the sanctuary is a railway
station named after the attraction X it serves. The 2 railway routes for
reaching X are:
• 1) Collem-X
• 2) Carambolim-Old Goa-Ponda-Tiska-Mollem-X
• X (station code DWF OR DDS) has trains stopping there for a minute or
so for technical reasons, but no tickets are issued to or from this station
and it is not a commercial halt for trains.
• Which station/place? Why is its appearance in a 2013 Bollywood film
technically wrong? Images follow.

CHENNAI EXPRESS (OR ANY TRAIN
CONNECTING CHENNAI TO MUMBAI)
DOESN’T GO VIA DUDHSAGAR FALLS

26.
• More than five decades ago, efforts began when a team headed by Robert
Anderson began to import about 200 tons of Lerma Rojo and Sonora 64.
Many obstacles were encountered before the cargo was finally loaded onto a
freighter destined for Bombay.
• Twelve hours into the freighter's voyage, the Indo-Pakistan war began which
made led to doubts over the continuation of this project. However, an
American individual in Anderson’s team decided to get to the task and the
team often worked in sight of artillery flashes. Later, the massive success of
the project and the individual led to William Gaud, a US administrator giving it
a term that has been used ever since.
• What exactly was being imported?
• Who was the individual? What term did Gaud give?

HIGH-YIELDING VARIETIES OF
WHEAT BEING IMPORTED FROM
MEXICO

NORMAN BORLAUG, GREEN
REVOLUTION

27.
• X decided to travel to London to show something to artist William
Rothenstein, so that Rothenstein could further ask Y to help X out with
something. On arrival in London, X and his family took the underground
railway. Awe-struck at the “sight of the modern marvels of the tube”, they
forgot an attaché case which contained whatever X had brought from India.
• Just before the scheduled meeting with Rothenstein, X realised that his
attaché case was missing and asked his son to go to the London tube
railway’s “lost property” office and try his luck. Thankfully, whatever was
inside was intact. The visit to Rothenstein’s went ahead as scheduled and Y’s
assistance was provided after all.
• Who are X and Y in this context?

TAGORE AND WB YEATS (YEATS HAD
TO WRITE THE INTRODUCTION TO
GITANJALI)

28.
• Nain Singh Rawat, who hailed from Kumaon was a Himalayan explorer who
became the first man to survey Tibet. Due to the prevailing geo-political
situation, explorers vied with each other to map the vastness of Central Asia
and understand its people and customs.
• As secrecy was paramount, Rawat disguised himself as a Tibetan monk and
walked alone so as not to create suspicion. To conceal his tools, he hid his
sextant in a false bottom of his travelling box, some mercury in cowrie shells
and disguised travel records as prayers.
• Where did he hide his compass, in which respect the disguise helped him?
• What did he use to measure his steps during the journey?

EACH STEP TAKEN WAS
COUNTED WITH A ROSARY
BEAD

29.
• JM Tanner and RH Whitehouse were experts in the field of pediatric
endocrinology who famously developed the Tanner-Whitehouse (TW) method.
For this method, radiographs of the hand and wrist are taken so that twenty
regions/angles of bones can be examined. The doctors developed the method
using radiographs of children in the United Kingdom, and it has since then
become standardized in several countries.
• A few years ago, an Indian entity decided to adopt this method to try and
address a controversial issue that was prevailing across the country (and still
does), sometimes causing scope for international embarrassment. The method
has been preferred as the margin of error in its results are quite low, and that
can make all the difference for those who are made to undergo the scans.
• What is this method used for?
• What organization was this, and what issue was it trying to address?

BCCI, TO CHECK AGE FRAUD
IN TOURNAMENTS

30.
• The 500 cc engine of the Royal Enfield has more pulling power
than other vehicle engines. A few years ago, a second-hand Bullet
bike was purchased to attain the required speed. The handles of
the bike were replaced with a steering and two wheels each were
attached to the front and rear sides.
• The distance between the front and back wheels was quite long
which was necessary to set up the apparatus, and include space
for a person to stand. A separate driver was required to move this
vehicle but the apparatus concealed him and the steering.
• Where was this vehicle used, until it was destroyed in April last
year?

BHALLALADEVA’S CHARIOT
IN BAAHUBALI

Interrobang India Quiz 2018 Finals

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