2017 MegaWhats Semifinal 2 true version

MEGAWHATS 2017
SEMI FINALS 2
Research By
Mitesh Agarwal, Vivek Karthikeyan and Venkatesh Srinivasan

1. Aardvarks – Mumbai
2. Aardvarks Alliance – Chennai
3. BMQJ – Bengaluru
4. Feni Vidi Vici – Goa
5. Memory Blank – Chennai
6. Remembrance of Things Fast – Chennai
7. Tiruppur Tughlaqs – Kovai
8. Travelling Pillsburys – Delhi

▪ 8 questions
▪ +10 on Infinite Bounce
▪ +10/-5 on Infinite Pounce in writing
▪ Blank lengths NOT indicative in any question

MEGAWHATS 2017
This is an artist’s impression of a Sassanian-
era structure located near the modern city of
Firuzabad in Persia, called the Terbal, which
has been re-imagined as a Fire Temple.
The building likely inspired the architecture of
a structure in a city designated as a UNESCO
World Heritage site. The structure was, for a
time, the largest of its kind in the world.
Which site?
1

MEGAWHATS 2017
The Great Mosque of Samarra

MEGAWHATS 2017
Born in 1879 as Muhammad Shah, he soon opted to be called as 'Agha
Hashar Kashmiri' after finding out that his roots were in Kashmir. A
prolific playwright, he adapted several famous works; this output gave
him what nickname referencing his language of proficiency and the
original author of these works ?
Mureed-e-Shak
Shabeed-e-Naaz
Shabeed-e-Havas
Safed Khoon
Khwab-e-Hasti
Saide Hawas
Khoobsurat Bala
2

MEGAWHATS 2017
Shakespeare of Urdu
Mureed-e-Shak – TheWinter’s Tale
Shabeed-e-Naaz – Measure for Measure
Shabeed-e-Havas – King John
Safed Khoon – King Lear
Khwab-e-Hasti – Macbeth
Saide Hawas – King John
Khoobsurat Bala – Macbeth

MEGAWHATS 2017
Of the three people that made up the committee that met on June
25, 1903, two of them went on to receive the Nobel Prize.
Gabriel Lippman was awarded in 1908 and Henri Moissan in 1906.
The three men were of the unanimous opinion that what
they were listening to represented one of the greatest scientific
contributions ever made. This opinion was reinforced by an
announcement later that year.
What was the committee engaged in?
3

MEGAWHATS 2017
Marie Curie’s doctoral thesis defence
They were the judges

MEGAWHATS 2017
You will find many ‘Ima’s in Manipur. All of them in the famous
protest against the Indian army’s killing of Manorama,
were named Ima—Ima Ibemhal, Ima Ramani, Ima Taruni,
Ima Nganbi and Ima Ibetombi.
There is also the vibrant Ima Keithal, a bustling bazaar in
the heart of Imphal like any other in India, but with one
distinct difference—the 5000 traders managing its stalls.
It is the largest of its kind in the world, possibly.
What does ‘Ima’ mean? What is unique about this market?
4

MEGAWHATS 2017
Mother
All the traders are women
Ima Keithel translates to ‘mother’s market’.

MEGAWHATS 2017
The Continental System was a blockade designed by Napoleon
to paralyze Great Britain through the destruction of the
economy—he decreed that neutrals and French allies were not
to trade with the British. This resulted in a particular scarcity,
and in turn, a culinary coup d’état of sorts where this French
native (image) took over.
What was this change that has since continued to be part of
standard addition even today?
5

MEGAWHATS 2017
Adding chicory to coffee

MEGAWHATS 2017
Young Woman with Peonies, 1870. oil on canvas, is seen as
Frederic Bazille’s homage to another painter. The flower vendor
appears to be a reference to the black woman with the
extravagant bouquet in an infamous work. The flowers also
offer a kind of tribute. The other painter cultivated peonies
and often painted their lush blooms.
Who is the homage to, a person who
‘remains’ in our memory?
Which is the other work?
6

MEGAWHATS 2017
Edouard Manet and Olympia
Manet means ‘he remains’ in Latin

MEGAWHATS 2017
Prog-Rock legends Genesis paid a tribute to another band for the
front and back cover of their 1982 E.P. 3x3. The album they were paying
tribute to was a compilation, the songs already having appeared previously
in another collection. Talking about the titular song, their manager said:
I knew that ______ was a real larynx-tearer and I said, ‘We’re not going to
record that until the very end of the day, because if we record it early on,
you’re not going to have any voice left.’ So that was the last thing we did
that night. We did two takes, and after that John didn't have any voice left
at all. It was good enough for the record, and it needed that linen-ripping
sound.
Name the album that was paid tribute to.
7

MEGAWHATS 2017
Twist and Shout

MEGAWHATS 2017
X : This word originated from the Greek root for ‘fatherland’,
morphed into ‘fellow countryman’ in Latin, and moved
to French with the sense of ‘someone who is prepared
to defend their country against enemies or detractors.
Y: A bird that gets its name from a Latin word, which is
related to the Dutch valk, for sickle—the image shows why.
What are X and Y, reminding us of an
early 2017 confrontation?
8

MEGAWHATS 2017
Patriots and Falcons
They fought in Super Bowl 51

▪ Three questions in writing
▪ +8 for a correct answer; +4 for each part
▪ No negative marking
▪ Stake +4/-4 only if you know both parts

MEGAWHATS 2017
Lapra, Konka, Hesalong, and Mayapur are among the villages
that were integrated to form this “homeland” location for a
group of people in 1933. The purported rationale chosen was
three ‘R’s, which made the place accessible to settlers from all
over India, apart from its great weather.
What is the name of this place, which is today
the location of the Don Bosco Ranchi school? (3 points)
What were the three ‘R’s? (3 points)
How did this place come back to popular
consciousness recently? (2 points)
W1

MEGAWHATS 2017
Identify the film.
How did this clip come back into the limelight recently?
W2

MEGAWHATS 2017
Identify the brand.
Identify the original source for the background score.
W3

MEGAWHATS 2017
Lapra, Konka, Hesalong, and Mayapur are among the villages
that were integrated to form this “homeland” location for a
group of people in 1933. The purported rationale chosen was
three ‘R’s, which made the place accessible to settlers from all
over India, apart from its great weather.
What is the name of this place, which is today
the location of the Don Bosco Ranchi school? (3 points)
What were the three ‘R’s? (3 points)
How did this place come back to popular consciousness
recently? (2 points)
W1

MEGAWHATS 2017
Mcluskiegunj
Rail, road and river
A Death in the Gunj

MEGAWHATS 2017
Double Indemnity
House of Cards Season 5

MEGAWHATS 2017
Tata Gluco+
Malgudi Days

MEGAWHATS 2017
Toyota is building a flying car called SkyDrive,
along with Cartivator, a start-up. The car is designed to
drive at roughly 10 metres height, keeping in mind its initial
goal in the next three years.
What is the first big demonstration of the car that is being
planned? Please give a specific answer.
9

MEGAWHATS 2017
To the light the Olympic Torch
in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics

MEGAWHATS 2017
This person was never referred to by his surname Sharma
during his cricketing career. He was a fairly competent lower-
order bat, often extricating India from tricky situations, which
earned him a nickname meaning ‘of assistance’ in Hindi.
He had a cricketing ‘first’ to his name in 1975.
Who and what was his nickname?
10

MEGAWHATS 2017
Madan Lal Sharma and his nickname was
Maddat Lal Sharma
Madan Lal bowled the first ball of the 1975 World Cup,
with John Jameson of England facing

MEGAWHATS 2017
In 1953, a young geologist named Marie Tharp made a map
discovering a 10,000-mile-long ridge – a find that was initially
dismissed as “girl talk.” Her work revealed two theories that
were always debated as there wasn’t enough scientific
evidence to prove them. Which two theories?
11

MEGAWHATS 2017
The theories of plate tectonics and continental drift
(or that the ocean bed was not flat and her thinking
helped to vindicate Alfred Wegener’s 1912 theory of
moving continents)

MEGAWHATS 2017
This British museum’s aspiration is to provide context for
current debates and borrows its idea from Daniel Defoe’s 1701
quote, “A true-born Englishman’s a contradiction/In speech an
irony, in fact a fiction.”
In Britain, ____________ is often thought of as a late-20th
century affair. Although Britain has distinguished and vibrant
museums, there has been no institution devoted solely to
____________. This has started to look remiss, given that many
other countries have spaces dedicated to the issue, including
the Museum of the History of ___________ in Paris.
What is the subject-matter of the museum?
12

MEGAWHATS 2017
Immigration/Migration

MEGAWHATS 2017
The movie is a fascinating exploration of a form of journalism that is
simultaneously of both the past and the present. The writers walk
into their little corner of the newsroom each day ignorant of their
assignment. They are rarely portrayed in fiction or on film, and
when they are, it’s usually as the butt of a joke.
In “Closer” (2004), Jude Law describes his job as “the Siberia of
journalism”. In “Serendipity” (2001), Jeremy Piven’s character brags
about writing at The New York Times, before an overheard phone
call between him and his boss reveals the painful truth.
Either give the title of the movie or the genre of journalism.
13

MEGAWHATS 2017
Obituarists / the film is Obit

MEGAWHATS 2017
This is the Queen Alia International Airport in Amman. The
designers used concrete which has strong thermal properties to
balance the high temperatures during the day and low
temperatures at night.
What is the design inspired by?
14

MEGAWHATS 2017
The dish in the picture got one of its names because of its
resemblance to a phenomenon seen in London. The most
striking example of this happened in December 1952 and
claimed many thousands of lives over four days.
The phenomenon, in turn, is known by
a nickname referencing the dish.
Identify the dish and the phenomenon.
15

MEGAWHATS 2017
The great Pea Soup(er) refers
to the thick fog in London

MEGAWHATS 2017
It's a frame of mind. They talk slowly. And the reason they talk
slowly, is because they're usually about six feet tall and have a
gun. And they know you're listening! And they're not in a hurry
to do anything. It's a very hot place. It's a very big place, and it
can be a very lonely place.
So they don't talk very much. And when they do, they make sure
you listen. And it's a very lazy sort of voice.
This is Michael Caine describing which specific
variety of US English – an alliterative two-word term?
16

MEGAWHATS 2017
Allen Hill – Nathaniel Thomson
Alan Thomson – ____________
Daryll Tuffey – Michael Clarke
Each pair of players above represent two ends of a first.
What is this list all about?
Which cricketer’s name fills in the blank?
W1

MEGAWHATS 2017
On April 19, 1966, she did
something unprecedented,
wearing a hoodie-sweatshirt and
Bermuda shorts. It led to
headlines like, “A Game Girl In A
Man’s Game”.
Who?
What was she the first to do?
W2

MEGAWHATS 2017
In May 2017, he became the first Indian to win a GP3 race. He
also got a contract to be a development driver for a Formula 1
team that made its debut in 2016.
Who?
Which F1 team?
W3

MEGAWHATS 2017
Bowler/batsman pair involved in the
First wicket to fall in Tests, ODIs and T20Is
(Note: First ball bowled in respective formats is wrong)
Geoffrey Boycott

MEGAWHATS 2017
Roberta ‘Bobbi’ Gibb
First woman to run the Boston Marathon

MEGAWHATS 2017
Arjun Maini
Haas

MEGAWHATS 2017
The term was coined by Rene Descartes in 1637 and was meant
to be derogatory. The earliest reference to numbers of the kind
occurred in the work of the Greek mathematician and inventor
Heron of Alexandria in the 1st century AD, when he considered
the volume of an impossible frustum of a pyramid.
What?
17

MEGAWHATS 2017
Imaginary numbers (complex numbers)

MEGAWHATS 2017
This military order get their name from a “noble sanctuary” – a
famous religious site. They are credited with creating modern
banking with a system where pilgrims could deposit money in
Europe and withdraw the deposit in the Middle East, making
the journey a bit safer from robbers. However, King Philip IV of
France wanted their funds for himself and so, in turn,
convinced Pope Clement V that this order had become
heretical and corrupt. Across Europe, they were arrested and
their goods seized; they were then executed.
Which order? Identify the religious site,
comprising three holy structures.
18

MEGAWHATS 2017
The first headquarters of the Knights Templar, on the
Temple Mount in Jerusalem.The Crusaders called it the
Temple of Solomon and it is from this location they
derived their name of Templar.

MEGAWHATS 2017
The picture shows a historic signing in 1982, which resulted in a
return of sorts. What are we talking about?
The word used to describe this, was a backronym formed by
dropping the first two letters from a word meaning, “returning
an asset”. What’s the word?
19

MEGAWHATS 2017
Signing of Canada's Constitution Act, 1982
which was signed by then Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau
and by Elizabeth II as Queen of Canada on April 17, 1982
on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.
The term used was Patriation

MEGAWHATS 2017
This venture was re-named TBC – To Be Continued, when Boeing
objected to the name being confused with The Boeing Company!
In May 2017, the founder announced that the first equipment
used will be called Godot after the Samuel Beckett play,
Waiting for Godot.
“First machine is Godot. Still waiting ... Don't know why, when or
where,” he said in a tweet. The tweet exemplified his frustration.
Who and what’s the interesting idea?
20

MEGAWHATS 2017
In December last year, stuck in a traffic jam in Los
Angeles, Elon Musk tweeted “Traffic is driving me nuts.
Am going to build a tunnel boring machine and just start
digging.”Within an hour, he had a name for the project —
“It shall be called ‘The Boring Company’,” he wrote.

MEGAWHATS 2017
This pioneering work was likely not intended as a record of a
wedding or an announcement. The lady, it has been analysed,
is probably not pregnant, as is often thought, but holding up
her full-skirted dress in the contemporary fashion. Set in
Bruges, the work has a great amount of detail and symbolism.
Among other elements analysed, include some writing on the
wall above the mirror, which has been compared to modern-
day graffiti and a marker of sorts.
Identify the work and the artist.
What does the inscription read?
21

MEGAWHATS 2017
The Arnolfini Portrait by Jan Van Eyck
Van Eyck was Here 1434

MEGAWHATS 2017
This crescent-shaped atoll has been referenced in the travels of
Marco Polo, where he says he visited a “female island”, and Ibn
Battuta, who called this place Malook, and called it a land of
independent and fearless women. The local name is Mahila-du or
“island of women”, and language here is derived from Maldivian
Divehi, making it distinct from the rest of its surrounding territory.
All the houses here are owned by women, and once they get
married, grooms are assigned a bare room in the bride’s house,
which they have to furnish – a form of “reverse dowry”.
Identify this place, which has only one access route via the sea,
and has government controlled tourism packages.
22

MEGAWHATS 2017
This movie is famous for 2 unique cameos.
The first one is an old quizzing chestnut – so go ahead and
take 2 points for identifying the person in the first clip.
But for the remaining 8 points,
identify the Sardar in the movie.
23

MEGAWHATS 2017
Bertrand Russel
Jagjit Singh’s only movie appearance
before he became a cut Sardar!
The film is Aman

MEGAWHATS 2017
Identify the speaker.
He is talking about getting the Queen for a promo for the 2016
edition of what sports initiative that he launched in 2014?
24

MEGAWHATS 2017
Prince Harry
Invictus Games

MEGAWHATS 2017
Affectionately known as Munshi, Hafiz Mohammed ____ Karim,
was the Indian servant, who had a special relationship with the
monarch for the last 15 years of her life; this was captured in
the book, _______ and _____, currently under production as a
film starring Ali Fazal.
The first role Ali Fazal played in Bollywood saw him as a
guitarist who succumbs to the pressures of academic rigour
and an unfinished drone project.
Name the upcoming film. Also name his first film.
W1

MEGAWHATS 2017
During the making of the film – Satta Bazaar, the film’s
distributor Shantibhai Patel christened him ‘_____’ meaning
madman. Patel was very impressed by his work but could not
reconcile his excellence to the typical young man in his twenties
who wore a rather colourful shirt. He said, “Main iska naam
_____ rakhoonga. He looks like a ‘_____’ (madman)”.
A major critic of his peers, he believed in quality and not
quantity – thus resulting in just 240 works to his credit (to date).
Who?
W2

MEGAWHATS 2017
1. The Mermaid
2. The Intouchables
3. Monster Hunt
4. Your Name
Which film comes at #5? What is this list about?
W3

MEGAWHATS 2017
Victoria and Abdul
3 Idiots

MEGAWHATS 2017
Dangal
Highest grossing non-English films globally
China’s The Mermaid ($533 million) and Monster Hunt
($386 million), France's The Intouchables ($427 million),
and Japan's Your Name ($354 million).

MEGAWHATS 2017
Movable bridges of this type with a counter-weight that
continuously balances the span get their name from a French
word for a common playground equipment. That word is, in
turn, derived from the words battre for ‘to bump’ and cul for
‘buttocks’, evocative of the action that takes place in the
playground.
What are such bridges called?
What is the equipment?
25

MEGAWHATS 2017
Bascule
See-saw

MEGAWHATS 2017
The people who were singled out for praise for the efforts
included William Chester Minor, an American Civil War veteran
who supplied 1000 quotations; Harold Murray, who gave 15k
quotations; William Douglas (28k); and H.R. Helwich, who
submitted 46k slips. Helwich focussed on a 30,000-line Middle
English historical poem.
What were all they helping with?
Which is the M.E. work, and what significance does it have in
relation to the answer to the first question?
26

MEGAWHATS 2017
Oxford English Dictionary
Cursor Mundi is the
most quoted work in the OED

MEGAWHATS 2017
When it first appeared in 1924, it was published as a magazine,
but in 1935 it changed to a weekly newspaper. Nikolai Krylenko was
the editor from 1924 until his death in 1938. After a brief interruption
during WW II, printing resumed in 1946. In 1968, it was revamped
as a weekly magazine by Alexander Roshal and Tigran Petrosian.
In 1986, its publication of 2,000-word excerpt—from a 1954 work Different
Shores—caused a flutter. Roshal was severely reprimanded, even though at that
time Karpov was Editor-In-Chief. In 1992, it fell upon hard times and ceased
publication but Roshal soon revived it.
Which magazine?
Why was the extract of interest—a matter of literary trivia
involving a famous author?
27

MEGAWHATS 2017
64
It was the first time
Vladimir Nabokov was published in Russia

MEGAWHATS 2017
This company was a pioneer in some ways. Its first project, in 1924,
was a crossword book—the books were innovatively sold.
It sold 3,600 copies, a big success. Leon Shimkin became an equal
partner in 1930, joining the co-founders Richard and Lincoln.
In 1925, they became the first publisher to offer booksellers a
certain privilege—a practice that revolutionizes the book business,
and continues till this day.
Which company?
What was the practice?
28

MEGAWHATS 2017
Simon and Schuster
They offered booksellers the privilege
of returning unsold copies for credit.

MEGAWHATS 2017
Back in time, when coins were minted using precious metals such as
gold, crooks found a way to take metal from the coins while still
retaining its original shape and without attracting suspicion.
Mints and treasuries got wind of this, and came up with a design
that would deter the thieves.
What was done to coins to counter pilferage?
An Asian country’s currency takes its name
from this new design idea. Which country?
29

MEGAWHATS 2017
To combat pilferage, countries began
minting coins with jagged edges.
Malaysia
‘Ringgit’ means jagged, serrated or milled

MEGAWHATS 2017
Paolo dal Pozzo Toscanelli was a 15th century polymath from
Florence. He had lengthy correspondence with Fernão Martins, a
royal agent. Another person heard of his ideas and wrote to him,
and also sent him an armillary sphere stating his intent.
Toscanelli replied, painting a vivid picture, attaching something
that this person never let go out of his sight. Toscanelli died,
however, without seeing his ‘dream project’ realised.
What was he responsible for—a blunder that
would unfold a decade after his death?
30

MEGAWHATS 2017
He made the wrong map which Columbus
relied on, showing Asia to theWest

MEGAWHATS 2017
These are the last eight lines of Tiare Tahiti by
Rupert Brooke. The four words blanked out give the
title of a debut effort of a well-known writer in
1920.
The writer wrote the novel after something
happened in his personal life; he wanted to quickly
repair that; once the novel was published, it would
bring him fame and wealth, and win him the right
attention. It did turn out that way finally.
Who is the author? What’re the blanks?
What was the personal goal behind
publishing the book?
31
Limbs that gleam and
shadowy hair,
Or floating lazy, half-
asleep.
Dive and double and
follow after,
Snare in flowers, and kiss,
and call,
With lips that fade, and
human laughter
And faces individual,
Well ___ ___ __ ______ ....
There’s little comfort in
the wise.

MEGAWHATS 2017
This Side of Paradise by F Scott Fitzgerald
To win Zelda’s hand in marriage

MEGAWHATS 2017
This is a work depicting the Moirai – common figures in Greek
mythology and philosophy. They are supposed to control the life of
every human being, by performing three actions with a thread.
Lachesis was the allotter – the one who measured the length of the
thread and controlled a person’s longevity, while Atropos was the
inflexible one, who cut the thread and ended a person’s life.
The third was responsible for spinning the thread. She also made
major decisions, such as when a person was born,
in effect controlling people's lives.
What is her name that lives on as a word in the English language?
What is the collective name in English for these three figures?
32

MEGAWHATS 2017
The Three Fates
Clotho, from whose name we get Cloth
The Three Fates willing,you will qualify to the finals☺

2017 MegaWhats Semifinal 2 true version

2017 MegaWhats Semifinal 2 true version

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2017 MegaWhats Semifinal 2 true version