1. Apart from Reconciliation what other facet did the commission of inquiry look at following the end of the 26-year long civil war in Sri Lanka?
2. Scouting was officially founded in British India in 1909, starting at which school in Bangalore?
3. The only actor to win an Oscar for playing a real-life Oscar winner is Cate Blanchett in 2004. Whom did she play?
4. In 1992 he became his sport’s first ‘Grand Slam’ champion, having won all three of the sport’s major events: The World Championship (1989, 1992, 1997), the World Cup, and the Olympics (1992). In China he is known as Lao Wa (Old Wa) or Chang Qing Shu (Evergreen). He is widely considered to be the greatest player of all time in his sport. Who is he?
5. The Mameluk Turks were the originators of these images: Coins represented merchants; Swords represented soldiers; Cups represented clergy; Polo-sticks or batons represented peasants. These images have since then undergone many changes. But one link between the original and the present day representation of the soldier is the name for the ‘sword’, which is derived from the Spanish/ Italian word for sword. What are we talking about here?
6. What German origin term in music describes a short music phrase that the audience associates with a
particular person, place, object or idea (a concept commonly used in movies and video games). Richard Wagner is the earliest composer most specifically associated with this concept of ‘theme music’.
7. The origin of which Karnataka handicraft can be traced to Tipu Sultan who invited Persian artisans to train the local artisans in creating these items? Ivory-wood was mainly used in making these items, (rosewood and sandalwood were also used). This handicraft has a GI tag and is named after a town 60 km south-west of Bengaluru, on the Bengaluru-Mysore highway.
8. Narada asked the bandit Ratnakar (later known as Valmiki) to ask what question his family?
9. What is the generic name given to sports like billiards, pool and snooker because they all use this object?
10. This common symbol in heraldry is most commonly associated with the Byzantine Empire, the Holy Roman Empire and Russia. What is it called in Kannada?
11. Storms and bleaching are two of three reasons for loss of half of the coral cover of the Great Barrier Reef. Which is the third that is associated with something Jesus Christ was made to wear?
12. This small town in Dhanbad district of Jharkhand, the Coal Capital of India was founded by two brothers MA ____ Sahab and MA Jabbar Sahab in 1955. It bears the name of one of the brothers. Most people here work in administrative capacities but the more notorious ‘business’ is illegal coal
mining. Name this place which is the home of rival dons Sabir Alam and Fahim Khan.
13. This disease was the second in the world that was shown to be caused by a virus. Name the disease and the vector. The vector has distinctive markings on its legs and thorax and is named after the Greek word for ‘unpleasant’ and the fact that it originated from Africa.
14. He was named Inquilab by his father who was inspired by the freedom struggle but later changed it to ‘A’ on the suggestion of the father’s friend, the poet Sumitranandan Pant. The new name meant ‘the light that would never stop shining’. Although his surname was Shrivastava, his father adopted the pen-name ‘B’ meaning ‘child-like’ in colloquial Hindi, under which he published all his works. What do ‘A’ and ‘B’ stand for?
15. Discus throw is an Olympic sport that uses a circular throwing area and a sector radiating from it within which the discus must fall to be counted as a legitimate attempt. Which two other Olympic sports also use the same playing area?
Answers
1. Lessons Learned
2. Bishop Cotton Boys’ School
3. Katharine Hepburn in The Aviator
4. Table Tennis legend Jan-Ove Waldner
5. The four suits in a deck of playing cards – Spades, Hearts, Clubs and Diamonds. The word ‘spade’ comes from ‘espada’ the Spanish/Italian word for sword.
6. Leitmotif
7. Channapatna Toys
8. Whether they would share his sins
9. Cue sports
10. Ganda Berunda (Double headed eagle)
11. Crown of Thorns starfish
12. Wasseypur (made famous by the Bollywood film Gangs of Wasseypur)
13. Dengue / Aedes aegypti mosquito (Aedes means ‘unpleasant’ in Greek)
14. Amitabh Bachchan
15. Hammer Throw and Shot Put