Friday, August 8, 2008

Greenko - Hyderabad Open Quiz Prelims questions (non audio-video)

  1. The cover of a book by Narendra Luther. What is the title?
  2. With reference to the human anatomy, the first seven sets of these are known as True, the next three sets are False and the next two are called the Floating. What?
  3. This famous food item is made not from besan, as elsewhere in India , but from ground moth pulse, the only crop that flourishes in this arid land. A secret ingredient is a good fistful of fine, clean, desert sand mixed into the dough. These, together with the region's bone-dry air, are what give it that special crispness and long shelf life. What food item are we talking about?
  4. Complete this quote attributed to Sam Manekshaw: “Anyone who says he doesn’t know fear is either lying or is a _________.”
  5. Called the Ursus maritimus, this is the world's largest predator found on land. An adult male weighs around 300–600 kg , while an adult female is about half that size. The IUCN now lists global warming as the most significant threat to this animal, primarily because this reduces its ability to find sufficient food. What?
  6. Listen to the piece. Identify the lead vocalist.
  7. The US benchmark for pricing this commodity is West Texas Intermediate while the British and European benchmark is the variety that we are all familiar with. Other varieties include Saharan Blend from Algeria, Girassol from Angola, Minas from Indonesia, Iran Heavy, Basra Light from Iraq, Kuwait Export, Es Sider from Libya, Bonny Light from Nigeria, Saudi Arabia's Arab Light, Murban from theEmirates and BCF 17 from Venezuela. What commodity?
  8. This was co-founded by Dick Durrell as a spin-off from Time magazine. Its first managing editor, Richard Stolley, characterized the magazine as “getting back to the people who are causing the news and who are caught up in it, or deserve to be in it. Our focus is on people, not issues.” The magazine is perhaps best known for its yearly special issues naming “The Most Beautiful People”, “The Best and Worst Dressed”, and “The Sexiest Man Alive”. What?
  9. Connect the visual to the audio piece you will hear.
  10. The Beijing National Stadium which will host the opening and closing ceremony of the Olympics and the track & field events has a nickname because of the way it looks. What is it?
  11. These two words come from two Sanskrit words meaning “fear” and “sound”. Traditionally they were devotees of Lord Shiva and they lived in and around cremation ghats. It is said they exorcised the spirits of the dead. They have given their names to two musical ragas. Name either.
  12. Take a look at the visual. Identify the country that has introduced currencies in such denominations.
  13. Manuel Santana was the first person from a particular country to win a prestigious event in 1966. Who is the second person?
  14. He is referred to by the title “King of Darkness”. He is treated as a personification of darkness itself even though he was once a human being who later became very powerful and committed many evil deeds. His trademark quote is “Andhera kaayam rahe!” (“May darkness persist!”), which is also used by his followers. It is said that the source of his strength is one-half of the Shakti Punj which he obtained by trickery. Who is this great villain?
  15. On 7 July 2008, this Indian tourist attraction joined among others Melaka and George Town in Malaysia, the Kuk Early Agricultural Site in Papua New Guinea, Stari Grad Plain in Croatia, the fortifications of Vauban in France, Berlin Modernism Housing Estates in Germany, Mantua and Sabbioneta in Italy, San Marino Historic Center and Mount Titano, and the Wooden Churches of the Slovak part of the Carpathian Mountain area as additions to the list of UNESCO World Heritage sites. Which one?
  16. The aquatic part of the larger Silk Route, passes through this place. From the 7th to the 13th centuries, this island was controlled by the Srivijaya empire based in Sumatra. The city then changed hands several times before coming under the influence of the Sultanate of Malacca in the 15th century. After the fall of Malacca to the Portuguese in 1511, it came under the control of the Malay Sultanate of Johore. Which city?
  17. The constellation called Mensa is the only one in the universe to be named for a terrestrial feature. Which one?
  18. Take a look at the map. Whose journey is it depicting?
  19. Watch this video. What very famous painting are they trying to recreate?
  20. Guru Gorakhnath visited the palace of Narbhupal Shah, a ruler of a small region. The wandering ascetic offered a bowl of curd to Prithvinarayan, the son of Narbhupal, who threw the bowl to the ground - a portion of the curd spattering to his feet. From this occurrence, the Guru predicted that Prithivinarayan would have the world at his feet and would rule a large kingdom. However, this new kingdom would be ruled only till the 12th generation of the Shah dynasty. The first part of the prophecy did come true and Prithivinarayan established a kingdom. Coincidentally the last part othe prophecy also came true when the 12th generation of the dynasty became the last to rule this kingdom. Who was the last king belonging to the 12th generation ?
  21. Identify the person you see in this visual.
  22. With respect to the United States, how would you better know: The Federal National Mortgage Association and The Federal Home Mortgage Corporation.
  23. Vultures in India are being driven to extinction due to the use of the drug Diclofenac, which is given to cattle and in turn is a poison for vultures. The Bombay Natural History Society’s efforts to conserve vultures are being supported by members of a certain religion, because vultures play an important part in their tradition. Which religion?
  24. “Quota-1” means West A Zone, West B Zone, North A Zone, North B Zone, Central Zone, East Zone, South Zone. “Quota-2” means minimum 50% between 18 - 35 years of age. “Quota – 3” means minimum 25% women. This quota system is the basis for selecting people for what TV programme?
  25. “A Tale of Two Cities” by Charles Dickens is about which two cities?
  26. Even though it is not an ore producing region, Rewari in Rajasthan has been known for its brasswork and metal craft. Historians attribute the popularity of this profession to the fact that it was started by an emperor from Rewari. Trusting only his kith and kin, he asked them to manufacture the weapons for his army and sowed the seeds for the industry. Who was this Hindu emperor who ascended the throne of Delhi ?
  27. The last movie in which this person will be seen is “The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus”. Which is the second last one?
  28. Identify the person you see in this stamp.
  29. What might this chart help you derive?
  30. In Norse mythology Bifrost is the bridge leading from Midgard, the realm of mortals, to Asgard, the realm of the gods, which the gods travel daily to hold their councils and pass judgments at Urdarbrunn. The bridge is guarded by Heimdall and is destroyed at the end of the world, Ragnarok. How do we know the bridge commonly?
  31. Take a look at the video. Identify the Nobel laureate in the video.
  32. Baobab is a rare medicinal tree and is the national tree of Madagascar and is known colloquially in Africa as the “upside-down tree”. The diameter of the tree varies between 5 and 7 metres. Once it dries up, the hollow part of the tree is used as a natural hut by some African tribes. In India, there are only 9 such trees. 5 of them are found in Ranchi's Doranda area and people believe the tree has spiritual powers. How do we know it in India as?
  33. Literally meaning two rivers, this term is used in India and Pakistan for a tract of land lying between two confluent rivers. It designates the flat alluvial tract between the Ganges and Yamuna rivers in western and south-western Uttar Pradesh, extending from the Shivalik range to the two rivers' confluence at Allahabad. What region?
  34. The visual shows two official residences of this person. Which is the third one?
  35. GOLKONDA which produced many diamonds had a mnemonic to remember it. The diamonds mined which made up the mnemonic were:
  • G - Great Table
  • OL - Orloff
  • KO - Kohinoor
  • N - ?
  • DA - Darya-i-Noor. What does N stand for?

Thursday, August 7, 2008

Report on the Greenko - Hyderabad Open Quiz

Quizmaster – Diwakar Pingle

Content Team – Diwakar Pingle, Ravi Mundoli, Nitish Khadiya, Priyambad

Format: Prelims consisting of 35 questions (1 mark each) with 10 tie-breaker questions. Finals: 5 rounds on round robin basis with a special environment round and a Wipe the Grid round. To even the scoring chances one of the normal rounds was based on a patented algorithm :).

Thumbs Up:

• Huge audience – 300 teams registered and 178 teams participated
• About 800-900 people in the auditorium
• Representation from many major cities like Bombay, Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi and major quiz clubs like QFI, KQA and BQC
• The questions covered a lot of varied topics – so we think
• Balanced set of questions – so we think
• Finished the quiz bang on time – The last question being asked at 7:30 p.m
• Your feedback is essential and please do comment on this post

Thumbs Down:
• The school kids were disappointed by a high-standard finals (We promise to do a school quiz next year for the kids)
• Some teams cribbing about seating arrangements – The teams had the option of picking their spots in the finals (Should put an end to all cribs)
• The power failure – We couldn’t help it what with the acute power shortage in Andhra Pradesh. (But then Andhera Kaayam Rahe)
• Your feedback is essential and please do comment on this post

Memorable questions: You tell us. (Other than the Blade Runner and the Wittgenstein questions which we know were sensational, weren’t they :))

1st: We Are Like This Wonly (WALTO) – Anustup Dutta, Ochintya Sharma and Apu from Bangalore
2nd: Ping(Le) Is King – Arul Mani, Vinod Ganesh, Jayakantan from Banglore/Chennai
3rd: Travelling Pillsburys – Rajiv Rai, Vibhendu, Sumant Srivatsan from Bombay.


With a tremendous performance ‘WALTO’ romped home winners with ‘Ping is King’ being a distant second. A great debut by ‘Rangeele from Rangoon’ who we hope will definitely improve by the time we are back for the next round. The Quizzing Royalty of India dished up a fantastic show and whetted the appetite of Hyderabadis hungry for quality Open quizzes. A majority of questions were cracked while a few passed all the teams only to be cracked by the intelligent Junta of Hyderabad. All the Prelims Questions from this quiz will be posted soon.

Thanking all the sponsors of this huge Open – GREENKO, TMC, Novotel Accor Group, Odyssey Books and Leisure Stores, Sun Direct for their support to make the event a big success; All the participants for turning up and putting up a great show; and above all the intelligent junta of Hyderabad for their enthusiasm.

Not to forget Odyssey Leisure Stores, Junior Chambers, Innobox and K – Circle for the year round support for our monthly meetings.

See you next year.
Happy Quizzing till then…