Jaldi Quizzing

Question 2 Chew Series - Round 3

2010-11-07T08:28:00.002-05:00

Hello

Diwali Greetings to one and all.

The Last Month was an eventful one in terms of the limited quizzing accomplishments that I have been able to achieve. Our team managed to get its hands on the Tata Crucible Trophy for Tata Group Companies for the third year in succession.

Well, it may be the only event that we manage to qualify and win. But, then, the Tatas still give us a similar looking trophy and as much the prize money as that our friends, who face competition at least a hundred times more than what we do, do as well. And when three such trophies adorn your drawing room, it gives a good feeling at the end of the day.

Coming back to what I actually started putting this post for. The Question 2 Chew series, is basically an attempt to put together in a question and answer form, some of the stuff picked up during the time I spend surfing around the net or revisit information that was put together in some of the quizzes, I manage to attend.

Therefore, in case you find any resemblance to any of the questions that appear here to those that actually originated in the brilliant brains of the quiz master or his/her team, they may actually be correct. And if some inspired quiz master picks up information from here and presents it to another hundreds attending an event, I would say thank you to have spread my tit bits of trivia around.

So here goes the latest offering. And yes, in case you want to leave your feedback, do drop a line in the Comments Section.

Questions:

1. China has recently deployed 6,781 artillery guns and 4,110 rocket launchers throughout the country to shoot dry ice. Explain purpose.

2. Marc Madnick created "Final Draft" to solve the rigid formatting regulations &sought to create a software for auto formatting.For whom?

3. The Little Banded Goshawk is a small bird of prey with short broad wings and a long tail,adaptations to fast manoeuvrings.Common name?

4. Greek origin. In medieval literature ____ was the term used for a table of content, the first page glued into a manuscript cover.

5. In film shooting, it describes the final shot set-up for the day and is so named because it refers to the post-wrap drink. What term?

6. Which country's national anthem does not end on the same key on which it starts and employs the country's five official languages?

7. What began in 1922 as an editorial project with aims outlined in the article “An Essential Groundwork for a Broad Executive Theory.”

8. Current Affairs. "If ______was a country, it would be one of the largest tourist centers in the world". Words by whom & for what?

9. Created by utilizing Serenity Technology's nano-diamond coating technology,its plans to sell its creation in 18 carat gold. Name.

10. "Inspired qn." Which Group's logo is the "Daisy Wheel" representing the accumulation and concentration of wealth by the Group?

11. Connect -Tibetan for Auspicious & the Inflight magazine of Bhutanese airline Druk Air to a new offering from the world of Tatas.

12. In the only cricket match he played after the end of World War I, he scored a golden duck.He advocated withdrawal of pads & asked for a bigger and harder ball.Who?

13. 1st developed in70s by Nick Sheridon,1st was Gyricon.Consisted of polyethylene spheres, -vely charged black & +vely charged white plastic ones

14. Operating from an inconspicuous property in San Rafael, California till 2006, locals knew it as the "Kerner Company". Whom?

15. Origin in Prussian military drill to keep troops lined up properly as they advanced towards enemy lines,will end in India soon.Where?

16. Established as a patent medical business in 1893,shifted headquarters to Chennai.Lid of the product still has the orig city's name inscribed.

17. In the 1970s,documentary filmmaker Zafar Hai made a promotional film called "To Serve is to Love".Who were the subjects of this film? (The film never released).

18. Connect IEEE Symbol code: IEC 5009 to the world of Condoms.

19. Put funda behind this visual - http://bit.ly/bf6z0F

20. The word surfaced in English and was used as a slang term for "tumult" or "uproar".

21. Which product had a controversial ad campaign in the late 1980's - "Don't hate me because I'm beautiful."?

22. What item of use in families with babies takes its name from "fabric with a repeated pattern of figures" & usage traces back to 1590s?

23. What was first set up in 1937 in Charing Cross Road in London and dubbed the "Penguincubator"?

24. Which subject of the 1960 Best Seller in Latin(featured in the NY Times Best Sellers list) is also the UN "Ambassador of Friendship"?

25. What 1st is reportedly credited to "Anokhelal" around the 1950s after he saw the movie "Highway 301" and came to Mumbai from Delhi?

26. What was the outcome of this pic by Kenneth Adelman as part of the California Coastal Records Project in 2003? http://bit.ly/c9ed4A

27. "Helluuur thurrrr, I’m Lola and this is my first blog entry so it’s kind of like ummmm."-1st blog entry of which Macys Creative Dir.?

Question 2 Chew Series - Round 2

2010-07-24T09:47:00.004-05:00

Hello

Well. I did not think that I would come back so soon. But, here I am. This is the second set from the Question 2 Chew (Qn2Cw) series questions that appear on Twitter.

The questions are generally inspired from recent occurrences and hence are fairly simple ones.

In case you like them or like to criticize them, do drop a line in the Comments Section.

Once again, do not wait for the Answers to be posted or sending queries to post them. All the answers are well within your reach and will appear as soon as you paste the Questions on a Search Engine.

The 140 word limit on Twitter is solely responsible for the way in which the Questions appear.

So here is the Second set.

1. On 19 Jan,1907- wht did a 7 min comedy film "An Exciting Honeymoon" get, something which is now quite common for all films made?

2. In 1935,wht trm did Walter Winchell coin, as a descrptn of radio announcer Martin Block,who plyd recrds for a show Mk Blve Ballroom?

3. Which key on the cmputer keybrd rarely used now, was used to allow the console to give input to the opertng system in IBM mainframes?

4. Connect "How I want a drink, alcoholic of course, after the heavy lectures involving quantum mechanics" to William Jones from Wales.

5. Which Commonwealth Games venue, first built in 1933, was a gift from the Maharaja of Bhavnagar to the city of Delhi?

6. For a 100 yrs till 1937,which West Asian territory was governed as part of British India under the Bombay Presidency?

7. Who is behind the "TheSmokingJacket.com", which terms itself as a "satirical antidote to the drudgery of the work day"?

8. Connect "Global Public Square" to a recent Padma Bhushan awardee and to the world of news channels.

9. Which legendary Indian singer,born in 1911,was nicknamed George since his birth coincided with King George the 5th's visit to India?

10. Whch music score for a TV show composed by the fathr & son duo Keith & Matthew Strachan had a brief to create mood & tension?

11. What were Ganesh,Chintamaneshwardev,Chintamaneshwaridevi,Suryanarayandev &Laxminarayandev frm Sangli recently denied by Bom High Crt?

12. In Dec'08,Burger King chose Baan Khun Chang Kiean,Thailand, Kulusuk,Greenland & Budesti,Romania fr its taste-test campgn. Name it.

13. In Oct 2009,Burger King in Jap sold burger wth 7 stacked beef patties & was originally planned to be available for 7 days. Promo for?

14. Easy.Who has the UK's Treasury Dept. approached for its "Spending Challenge", on how to make savings in public spending?

15. In the late 1990s,what did ex-England Cricket captains, Ted Dexter and Colin Cowdrey seek to enshrine in the laws of the game?

16. Rachael Heyhoe-Flint, Diana Rait Kerr and Sheila Hill were the first set of Women to be given Life Membership in 1999 of which club?

17. Baul sngrs in Bngl hv thr musical instrmnts made out of it. Amng the 1st cltivted plnts in the wrld, it lends its name to wht in soccer.

18. Sport Billy is an animated cartoon character frm Olympus populated by athletic god-like beings.Cnnect it to the World Cup of Football.

Question 2 Chew Series on Twitter...

2010-07-05T09:05:00.005-05:00

Hello

Its been ages that I posted on this blog. So much so, that it required me to click on a couple of "Forgot Password" links to finally find way back.

However, do not expect that I will ever be regular as I was some 5 years back. Much has changed since then. Jaldi Quizzing was one of the first Quiz Blogs to appear and today there are at least a thousand of them. Each one, bigger and brighter than the other and carries questions far superior in content than what this blog has to offer.

Blogger has now given way to Twitter and most of the trivia that I pick on finds its outlet through Twitter currently.

The Question2Chew or Qn2Cw is how I randomly try to put up questions nowadays. They are random, picked up on what occurs all around us and interests me generally.

This visit to the Jaldi Quiz blog is to present to you the Questions that I posted on Twitter earlier. Well, as for the answers, they can be easily searched up on Google.

So, do not wait for the Answers to be posted or sending queries to post them. Because, the answers are all within your reach...

Here go the Questions. Do not go for the Spellings. Its Twitter's word limit that is solely responsible for the way the Questions appear.

And well, if you have seen these questions appear elsewhere and feel that they were copied / inspired, please bring it to my notice and I will delete them.

So here are the 33 Questions that have appeared so far in the Question 2 Chew series on Twitter.

1. This German footballer is nicknamed "The Insect", and he claims he models his football skills on worker ants. Name him.

2. Evolution Securities makes market on these debentures on LSE.Ground Comp. advertises current prices on FT on first Sat. every mth.What?

3. What communication form is based on somthng dvlpd to meet Napolean's dmnd for soldiers to communicate silently & without light @ night?

4.Which song, with lyrics by Tim Rice was originally titled “It’s Only Your Lover Returning” and was first sung by Julie Covington?

5. This Indian born, with over 1.4 million followers on Twitter, has one of the largest following way ahead of SrBachchan,SRK & SRT?

6. Painter Jacopo Comin's nickname comes from the Italian for the "dyer's boy". His painting was a subject of a 2008 Indian detctive film.

7. Which retailer's famous expert army of Blue Shirts now help customers online and call themselves the "Twelpforce"?

8. Which of our favorite TV shows had Dieter Hallervorden play a detective who is struck by "brilliant" ideas whch turn out disastrously?

9. Which popular game offrs a "Flower Garden" mode after concerns contending that its popular mode is an "offense against the victims"?

10. Which Ind. instn having branches in Kathmandu,Moscow&Tehran has MoUs with Micrsft,Oracle&Intel under Project Shiksha & thinkQuest?

11. FIFA has 208 member associations,16 more than the UN.Which sports body has the highest number of members, 5 more than FIFA?

12. http://www.ghidelli.net/scripophily/pictures/cuba/bnc%201960.JPG Idntfy the President of the Natl Bnk of Cuba's signature(left)?

13. Which recent Member of the British Empire remarked-"A lot of people haven't actually realised we are actual people."?

14. Identify the "Fresh" family - Poppin, wife Poppie and two kids - Popper and Bun Bun.

15. Which word comes frm the Greek words meaning "love" and "free of charge"?Free of charge signifies replcng a cash chrg wth smthng free.

16. This device in the news was invented by William Bridges Adams in May 1842, because of his dissatisfaction with the scarf joints.Wht?

17. The motto taken from the Upanishad literally means a person who is awake in those that sleep. Given by Sri Aurobindo. Identify.

18. Kenneth Clarke:Whisky, Geoffrey Howe:Gin and tonic,Benjamin Disraeli:Brandy and water,Water: Gordon Brown. Explain this tradition.

19. “Candanga” frm Spanish translates into “the devil”,also describes someone who is strong-willed, or fearless. Who in the online wrld?

20. Easy one. Whose enemies are nicknamed Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde?

21. In 1912 at the U.S. Naval Acdmy’s gradtin,newly commssnd grads got officers’ hats replacing their midshipmen’s caps.Wht tradtn srtd?

22. What in the online world is run by "Organizing for America",a Grassroots orgzn and a spl project of the Democratic Natl Committee?

23. TOI in its personals section on 17th May,2010 pblshd a trbute to a certn Mr. Narayan by his great grand nephews Shankar and Chintamani Velkar. Who was Mr. Narayan?

24. Which logo contains a house,adult female,adult male,female child, male child,star with 10 points and symbl fr people's participation?

25. A recent University of Warwick study is considering Star Wars Sound Effects to act as a solution to a problem faced on streets.What?

26. Born Kanaan Warsame, he fired his first gun at the age of 8. At 11, he found a hand grenade, and blew up half his school. Identify.

27. Agricultural economist Leonard Elmhirst set up the Institute for Rural Reconstruction in India in 1921. How do we know it better?

28. Funda behind quote by astrnt Piers Sellers: I'll take it up into orbit and let it float around a bit, which will confuse Isaac.

29. Which union minister born to an ICS father has a Post-Grad Diploma in Spanish Art and Lit from Univ of Havana, Cuba?

30. This ethnic grp gets its name from the Mandarin words for guest and family. Ind. Chnse Cuisine named after is diff frm actual.

31. When launched, Cine Blitz promoted itself with the tagline "C to Z of Hindi Films". Why was it the "C to Z"?

32. In May,2005 Airtel sent Deepak Sharma of Ludhiana a 1411 page bill but didnt charge him more than 99 paise. Explain.

33. MECON began as the Central Engineering and Designing Bureau of the Hindustan Steel Limited in 1959. For what recent "collaboration" was the company in the news?

Jaldi Quiz 2006 - Round 4

2006-04-02T09:39:00.000-05:00

Hi All,

Yesterday, a good part of the day was spent in South Mumbai. Staying in the northern suburbs, my daily journey ends up at Andheri in Mumbai where work takes me.

So, after close to 2 months, when I got the oppurtunity, I got up early after staying up really late in the night to finish off office work.

A few quizzers had come up with idea of The Bombay Quiz Club. And I surely wanted to check in. The Tea Center in Churchgate was the venue. In attendance were 5 more souls.

Dhoomk2 , NU, Milo ,Dhananjay Shettigar, the Pan Galactic Quiz Blaster and the Badshah of Indian Blogdom Amit Varma.

Though I finished last in the Quiz that followed, the experience was quite enriching.

So, in case you are from Mumbai and want to know more, do visit the Bombay Quiz Club Blog.

And here are the Set of Questions that I carried for the Meet.

PS: Folks not conversant with places in Mumbai - Apologies. Probably this might help.

Mail your answers to: aniruddhadutta@gmail.com

Questions:

1. What is so official/significant about the phrase - "The razor-toothed piranhas of the genera Serrasalmus and Pygocentrus are the most ferocious freshwater fish in the world. In reality they seldom attack a human."

Ans:

2. English architect FW Stevens was the man behind the Victoria Terminus building. His son Charles Stevens designed another famous landmark in Mumbai. Which one?

Ans:

3. Connect the Beatles to an accidental activity at the hands of Marie Ana Smith from Australia in 1865.

Ans:

4. In which country is food made at a McDonalds outlet used as reward for prisoners?

Ans:

5. Easy one, What was introduced by the Indian Government bearing code XPGR with the Reserve bank of India (Amendment) Act on May 1st,1959.

Ans:

6. Another Mumbai landmark. Erected in 1864 by the Agri Horticultural Society of Western India out of a donation of Rs.20000 by Cursetjee Fardoonjee Parekh, it is sculpted in imported Portland stone. It was originally to be named after Sir Bartle Frere, the then governor of Bombay.

Ans:

7. What did an advertising man Harvey R Ball design for the State Mutual Life Assurance Company of Worcester, Massachusetts in 1963 for a fee of $45? The brief given was to come up with something cheerful to smooth wrinkled brows and make the whole merger process which the company was contemplating a little more bearable for everyone.

Ans:

8. Named in honor of Sir Appleby, the civil servant in Yes Minister, whose recent passing away led to this tribute from The Times - Political World Mourns a killer named _____".

Ans:

9. When does a British Member of Parliament apply to the King / Queen for the post of the "steward of the Chiltren Hundreds" or the "Steward of the Manor of Northstead"?

Ans:

10. Dhananjay's Question - What did Dr. Kanuga successfully bid for Rs.1600 in an autcion in 1930?

Ans:

The Brand Equity Quiz, 2006- My Journey

2006-04-02T09:05:00.000-05:00

Hi All,

The Brand Equity Quiz, the annual corporate Quiz , organized by the Media Behemoth - Benett,Coleman and Company Ltd, is touted as Asia's largest Business Quiz.

Though I have not gone ahead and verified this fact, the event does see participation from almost every Corporate House in the country.

On the 20th of March 2006, when the BEQ Bandwagon came to Mumbai, I left early from office and arrived at the St. Andrews Auditorium in Bandra. Being a bit of a pessimist myself, all I thought is that I will be coming back with a few Gift coupons or T- Shirts.

But at 9:00 PM, when I was trying to get into a second class compartment of the Borivali slow train at Bandra, I realized that I had something heavier to carry back.

Prior to that, Mr. M. Suresh Kumar, my partner, who earned the distinction of becoming the oldest ever participant on stage in the history of the Quiz and yours truly went past 70 odd teams to come Second Best.

It was another thing that after every round, all that I was doing was picking my bag and getting all set to walk off the stage.

Maybe next time, I would have another story to tell.

Mr. M. Suresh Kumar (left) and Yours truly in action at the Brand Equity Quiz, Mumbai. Photo Courtesy: The Economic Times dated 29th March,2006 (Brand Equity - Page 4) .

Jaldi Quiz 2006 - Round 3

2006-03-12T07:09:00.000-05:00

Hi All,

After a long hiatus, here are the answers. Not many responses this time.

Congratulations to Dipankar Goswami who came up with the maximum correct answers.

To view the answers, drag the mouse over.

1. Waterborne, a film directed by Kanwal Rekhi's son Ben Rekhi and starring Shabana Azmi has to its credit one of the most unconventional firsts. What?

Ans: First film to premiere on Google Video.

2. Supertex Sarex, a company specialising in dyes and chemicals for the textiles industry has been in operation since 1952. However, most parks and railway stations in Mumbai owe a lot to the philanthropic activities of its founder. Name the founder and the activity.

Ans: Mahavir Prasad Saraf. Benches in Railway stations and Parks.

3. What is actually based on on a 19th-century guitar work named "Gran Vals" by Spanish musician Francisco Tarrega?

Ans: The Nokia Tune.

4. Which recent venture by an NRI has the tag line - Your opinion matters... express it?

Ans: Sabeer Bhatia's Blogeverywhere.com.

5. In the year 2001, Dutch animator Michael Dudok de Wit, not only won the Oscar for Best Animated Short Film, but also has won a high-definition TV for a special "achievement". What was this achievement?

Ans: Making the Shortest Acceptance Award.

Womens' Day Questions

1. Born Manikarnika to Moropanth Tambey and Bhagirathibai, she was affectionately called Manu. In 1842, she married Raja Gangadhar Rao Niwalkar. Who?

Ans: Rani Lakshmi Bai of Jhansi.

2. Connect: _____ Karen Green, ______ Eustace Geller,________ Buffay-Hannigan

Ans: Rachel, Monica , Phoebe from the hit series Friends.

3. Born in Hyderabad in a Bengali family, she married at the age of 19. Mother to Jayasurya, Padmaja,Randheer and Lakshmi, her famous works include "Golden Threshold", "The Bird of Time" and "The Broken Wing". Who?

Ans: Sarojini Naidu.

4. This movement begun as Jasmeen Patheja's personal reaction to street sexual harassment and has grown to record women's experiences in creative ways. The movement also created raised a storm in blogdom. Name the movement.

Ans: Blank Noise Project.

5. What was achieved in 1893 as a result of the suffragist movement in New Zealand?

Ans: The Right To Vote.

The Breaking News Question: Who is the Manager, Group Sponsorships for Standard Bank in South Africa?

Ans: Jonty Rhodes.

For the Archives:

Its good to be back. On a day when Australia has broken the 400 run barrier in ODIs, Test cricket in India continues as the clock is about to strike 6:00 PM. (The teams walk back at 5:55 PM)

-----------------------BREAKING NEWS---------------------------------------------------
South Africa create history at Bull Ring. Smash 438 to win.
Australia score 434 only to come second best. Mike Lewis goes for 113 off 10 overs.

The Breaking News Question:
Who is the Manager, Group Sponsorships for Standard Bank in South Africa?
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Among the Quiz fraternity, it is time for the Brand Equity Quiz juggernaut to roll across the nation. The event this year culminates in Amby Valley, where I believe, Parthiv Patel, Ajit Agarkar and Sanjay Bangar own apartments alongwith those who "played" in the 2003 World Cup.

Well, its Question Time once again and this time apart of the usual 5 questions, there are 5 bonus questions celebrating Womens' Day that went by last week.

Jaldi Quiz 2006 - Round 2

2006-02-19T08:15:00.000-05:00

Hi All,

Took some time to come out with the answers. But the response as always was more than encouraging. Around 40 odd responses and leaving a handful, most of them all had an all correct response.

Congratulations to all who participated.

Am trying something new this time with the answers. Have used a lighter font color. To view the answers, drag your mouse over.

Answers:

1. In Maldives, it is the all purpose boat built by master carpenters using very few tools. Apart from its use in fishing , inter-island transport and the movement of cargo, they are used as diving boats, live-aboard cruise vessels, passenger ferry boats and deep-sea fishing craft complete with outriggers and fighting chairs. In India, the "name" is a phenomenon. What is the boat called?

Ans: Dhoni.

2. The Official clothing supplier to the ICC, this Pakistani company's logo can be seen on Pakistan's cricket jerseys. The company also supplies the clothing for ICC Umpires and Referees and selected corporate leisure wear for ICC staff. Name the company.

Ans: AJ Sports.

3. The CEO of Harpreet Insurance Agents Pvt. Ltd. is in the news recently for things totally unrelated to the firm. Who is this CEO?

Ans: Priya Sachdev who got married to NY Hotelier Vikram Chatwal.

4. Connect the Pink Ladies Service in the UK and the Project Priyadarshini in India.(Inspired by a NMQ elims question posted on Quinkie).

Ans: Both of them are taxi services. Project Priyadarshini is a drive from ITDC to appoint women cab drivers and Pink Ladies Service is the all women cab service in UK.

5. What is the contribution of Scott Fahlman of Carnegie Mellon University to everyday usage in the world of "communication"?

Ans: Smileys / Emoticons.

Mail your answers to: aniruddhadutta@gmail.com

For the Archives:

Back with Round 2 of this new Series. The Quizzing season in India is truly underway and lots of action happening in the college and corporate circuits.

In my immediate world, H5N1 has rocked Maharashtra and it means people like me become forced vegetarians (its not that I am a die hard Non - Vegan).

Pakistan was rocked by a resurgent Indian team. Jyllands-Posten and their cartoons still rock the rest of the world. In the coming weeks, India play host to the Poms and then to Mr. Bush.

Jaldi Quiz 2006 - Round 1

2006-02-12T10:04:00.000-05:00

Hi All,

It was after a long gap that I came back and I wondered whether it was "Out of Sight, Out of Mind".

I was mistaken. The response was overwhelming - almost 40 of them in a week's time. Close to 100 hits and normalcy for the time being has been restored.

Jaldi Quiz veterans Suman Mukherjee and Anukriti Pandey, Nitir Sorah, Rohit Nair, Krishna Kumar and Rohan Nair complete the top 6.

Here are the answers:

1. Two firms - Marksman Marketing Services Private Ltd and Vectracom were in the news recently. Why?

Ans: The PCB had granted the exclusive rights to disseminate information relating to scores via SMS on wireless and mobile telephones on a global basis to VectraCom Private Limited. Marksman Marketing Services Private Ltd had obtained exclusive territorial rights for India from the VectraCom.

2. Kyon Ki, Home Delivery, Neal N Nikki, Kisna and James are vying for top honours at this awards. Name this newly launched awards and the publication behind the awards.

Ans: The Outlook Follywood Film Awards (Outlook Magazine).

3. Its been included as an Olympic sport 12 times since 1964.The FIL based in Germany is its governing body. Georg Hackl of Germany has the rare distinction of having a podium finish in 5 consecutive Olympics. Who represents India in this Olympic discipline?

Ans: Shiva Keshavan. The discipline is Luge.

4. Easy One. Connect Ratan Tata - DIN 0001.

Ans: DIN is the Director Identification Number. Ratan Tata is the first executive in corporate india to get a director identification number. This is under a surveillance system introduced by the government to keep an eye on the activites of the directors of companies.

5. The Kadima (meaning Forward) Party formed in the year 2005 is the ruling party of which country? (Its founder has been in the news recently).

Ans: Israel (Founded by Ariel Sharon).

6. CALTECH, FOX, RAFFEYSOD and GO NAVY are some of the many alterations that were made to this famous landmark. Which one?

Ans: The HOLLYWOOD sign.

7. The Essar Group and the Bajaj Group are the Indian partners of these companies. Both these companies have been hogging attention in the Sports pages of the Indian subcontinent. Name the companies.

Ans: Hutchison and Allianz. (Sponsors of the ODI and Test series between India and Pakistan).

8. Which film production company's logo takes its inspiration from the Mahabharata and features Arjun at the Draupadi swayamvar taking aim at the fish?

Ans: Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra Productions (Rang De Basanti).

9. The Elder Pharma Group (license holders in India of the famous Tiger Balm) is the main sponsors of the Filmfare Awards this year. Which TV personality is the Director of the company?

Ans: Anuj Saxena (Abhay of KKusum and now Jatin of Kumkum).

10. Derek type Question - In which Indian daily would you find Blue, Red, Yellow and Black dots in each of the pages that appear in color.

Ans: Well, its Cyan, Magenta,Yellow and Black (thanks to Rohan Nair). The daily or dailies are those brought out by the Times of India Group. The colors are also visible on the ENIL (Entertainment Network India Ltd. that runs Radio Mirchi).

11. Overdrive is a monthly auto magazine brought out by the Infomedia India Limited. A few months ago it tied up with a more than 140 year old publication in the UK to launch which magazine in India?

Ans: Cricinfo.

12.The President of this Latin American country recently cut his salary by more than half leading to a review of the salaries of all public sector employees in the country as no official can earn more than the President. Which country?

Ans: Bolivia (President: Evo Morales).

For the Archives:

At the outset, I am reminded of the main protagonist of Washington Irving's short story - Rip Van Winkle. This hibernation of mine would have put even him into shame.

Well, part of it was due to my relocation from the United States to Mumbai, India. But mainly, it was laziness (to put it shamelessly).

Thank you to all those who made the Jaldi Quiz Series - 2005 a great success. The 15000+ hits this blog received was all a result of the efforts each one of you took to hit those strokes and clicks to reach out here.

Times have changed. Its debatable whether we have entered the "Endulkar" era. But "Tensex" and "IndiaOne" surely signify the times we are in. Well, without further ado, here's presenting Round 1 of the Jaldi Quiz 2006.

Mail your answers to: aniruddhadutta@gmail.com

Plagiarism Or Inspiration

2005-08-30T21:20:00.000-05:00

Hi All,

A few days back, I was woken up from my slumber by a couple of mails.

My good friend from Hong Kong, Anshuman Das who is singularly responsible for this blog seeing the light of the day, enquired as to when the 25th edition was coming up.

The other, from Murali Duggineni, the man behind the popular Business Quiz group - Quinkie. His mail was an eye opener to the plagiarism that has hit Quizzing in India.

Coming from a seasoned quizzer like Jaspreet Bindra, this one merited a post on this blog.

As I get back to some activity on the blog, let me begin by reproducing one of his mails that he had sent me.

And to Anshuman and everyone else who have been by this blog's side, the Silver Jubilee post is just a few days away.

Regards,

Aniruddha Dutta

The Strategist Quiz link is here.

The Mail:

Hello Aniruddha,

In my earlier mail, I wrote to you about the plagiarism in Business Standard quizzes. When I brought this to the notice of the Editor, she wrote back informing me that she would take action. I have no clue about what action she has taken. I think now it's our turn to see that parasites like Bindra do not flourish at the expense of good quizzers. In the latest quiz in Business Standard (dated 30 Aug 2005), you can see some of your questions. You can see some of your questions.

Let's come forward to make Business Stanadard and Bindra pay a heavy price for what they have been doing for years.

THE STRATEGIST QUIZ

Jaspreet Bindra / New Delhi August 30, 2005

1. Jack Welch is one of several prominent people who have appeared on this three-minute snippet where celebrity-achievers share their concept of management with viewers. The programme, which appears on a business channel, is called Moments of inspiration. Which brand sponsors this programme?

Source: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/quinkie/message/1650 (refer to question 7; Original contributor: Mr Sudip Roy)

2. This company had to change its earlier name due to infringement of rights on the name and adopted its new name by mixing an old French word with a Greek one meaning "beam of lights from the Gods". What is its present name?

Source: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/quinkie/message/1650 (refer to question 9; original contributor: Mr Sudip Roy)

3. His passions are Guinness beer and pistol shooting, but "not mixing them together". And his middle name is Benedict. Who is this software genius?

Source: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/quinkie/message/1650 (refer to question 7; Original contributor: Mr Sudip Roy)

4. Traces of benzene found in this product in 1990 in the US forced the brand to withdraw millions of bottles from the market in the US and Europe. Which brand?

Source: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/quinkie/message/1650 (refer to question 2; original contributor: Mr Sudip Roy)

5. PB Air has been granted permission by the Indian government to begin bi-weekly international charter flights in December 2005, between Bangkok and which Indian city?

Source: http://adquiz.blogspot.com/ and http://groups.yahoo.com/group/quinkie/message/1677

(refer to question 1 in Answers to Round 12; original contributor: Aniruddha Dutta)

6. What is the connection between Montpelier, Vermont, and McDonald's?

Source: http://adquiz.blogspot.com/ and http://groups.yahoo.com/group/quinkie/message/1677 (refer to question 4 in answers to Round 12; Original Contributor: Aniruddha Dutta)

7. What is the common link between the lion, palm tree and Hilton Young?

Source: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/quinkie/message/1684 (Original contributor: Mr Sudip Roy)

8. Who said, "In the business world, the rearview mirror is always clearer than the windshield"?

Source:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/quinkie/message/1701 (refer to question 1; original Contributor: Prakash Subbarao of Bangalore Quiz Group)

9. What is a bond issued by an insurance company, linking principal and interest to the company's losses due to natural disasters, called?

Source: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/quinkie/message/1701 (refer to question 9; original contributor: Prakash Subbarao of Bangalore Quiz Group)

10. On January 17, 2002, Yusuf Ratlamwala received two cheques from Bank of Baroda. What was special about them?

Source: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/quinkie/message/1702 (refer to question question 3; original contributor: Sudip Roy)

The Deepak Bhaskaran Update

2005-08-18T09:10:00.000-05:00

Hi All,

Playing the second fiddle, it has definitely been quite a long time since I contributed to this Quiz Blog. Anyways was quite busy conducting a few School level Quizzes - one at Shishya School and the other at Hindu Senior, Indira Nagar both in Chennai.

And frankly was quite amazed with the reservoir of knowledge and Trivia the youngsters of the day possess.

Most of the Questions have been compiled from the Quizzing Groups like Quinkie and IBQ. Acknowledgement is due to Sudip Kumar Roy whose BizConnect series has been my biggest source.

Shishya School Quiz : http://quantum.blogdrive.com/archive/1.html
Hindu School Quiz : http://quantum.blogdrive.com/archive/2.html
WIPRO corporate Quiz (PRELIMS) : http://quantum.blogdrive.com/archive/3.html
WIPRO corporate Quiz (Finals) : http://quantum.blogdrive.com/archive/4.html

Deepak Bhaskaran (Alpha)

2005 Jaldi Quiz - 24

2005-08-07T23:26:00.000-05:00

Hi All,

Answer Time it is.

Amresh Kumar yet again comes up with a superlative performance.

When everyone else failed to connect Anil Ambani with the "queen", it was Amresh who mailed in the Correct connection.

Rakesh Taklikar and Sampreeth Kumar came in a close second.

As always, keep your suggestions, comments and responses flowing at aniruddhadutta@gmail.com.

Questions:

1. The author's preferred title for this book was "Four-and-a-Half Years Of Struggle Against Lies, Stupidity And Cowardice" but the publisher thought otherwise. In its first year in 1925, this book sold only 9000 copies. However in another 8 years time, the book sold an estimated 1.5 million copies. Name the book and its author.

Ans: Mein Kamph by Adolf Hitler.

2. Easy one, why is the company, Global Fuel Management Services in the news recently ?

Ans: It is one of the companies which have been formed as a part of the Reliance de-merger. Is a part of the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Enterprises (ADA) Group.

3. Where would you come across this verse -

When Ivo goes back with the urn, the urn;

Studds, Steel, Read and Tylecote return, return;

The welkin will ring loud,

The great crowd will feel proud, Seeing Barlow and Bates with the urn, the urn;

And the rest coming home with the urn.

Ans: The Ashes Urn.

4. The beginnings of this company can be traced back to 1895. The company was then called J.W. Foster and Sons . It rose to fame after the 1924 Olympics and the film Chariots of Fire. The company was in the headlines last week. Name it.

Ans: Reebok.

5. Which television show gets its name from a 1956 Cole Porter song which featured in the soundtrack of the Hollywood movie High Society ?

Ans: Who Wants To Be A Millionaire.

Visual Questions:

6.1 What connects both of them ?

Ans: The lady in the question is Ada Lovelace, the first lady of computing. The Connection is ADA - Anil Ambani's holding compnay - Anil Dhirubhai Ambani (ADA) Enterprises.

6.2 Identify the connection.

Ans: Adidas buying out Reebok - Reebok gets its name from the African antelope - Rhebok. The logo to the left is Adidas'.

6.3 Identify this Cricket Coach.

Ans: Bennet King, the West Indies coach.

For the Archives:

Till now, a Silver Jubilee was what I associated with Wedding anniversaries or films from the Big B , Shah Rukh Khan or the Chopras. Seeing a self creation turning 25 would be in itself a wonderful feeling, I guess.

Anyway, the world over, rains seem to have subsided and as life picks up and moves on, I guess Mumbai now has enough newspapers for its people to follow.

After the Hindustan Times, it is the Daily News and Analysis (DNA) which has hit the news stands.

Elsewhere, in the telly world, Kaun Banega Crorepati, the show which resurrected Amitabh's career is back for its second innings. This is the show that took quizzing to the pan-wallah and though a seasoned quizzer may have different opinions, no one can get away from the lure of the big bucks.

I still remember waking up in the middle of the night and trying the numbers only to find my fingers going numb after some time.

On the cricket field, the Prince is now a commoner. Whether or not he gets the crown back is another matter. But if Team India needs to have a better season, all its top guns should start firing pretty soon or else the Indian Oil Cup would continue to remain south of the Palk Strait.

2005 Jaldi Quiz - 23

2005-07-31T23:06:00.000-05:00

Hi All,

Its answer time and this time once again, answers poured in from all corners.

Three people came out on tops beating most of the others buy a solitary point. It was Question 4 which proved to be the decider.

Aravind Ghosh Suri, Vaibhav Jain and Anshuman Das had the answer and therefore win the quiz with an all correct response.

Congratulations to them and hope the Jaldi quizzing tribe continues to grow.

As always, keep your suggestions, comments and responses flowing at aniruddhadutta@gmail.com.

Questions:

1. The author of the following books - "Every Second Counts" and "It's not About the Bike : My Journey Back to Life" was in the news recently. Name him.

Ans: Lance Armstrong.

2. Pierre Omidyar and his wife Pam are well-known philanthropists who founded the Omidyar Network. They promote what has come to be called "venture philanthropy", in which foundations are expected to achieve quick results and financial independence. However, Pierre is famous for other reasons too. What is his claim to fame ?

Ans: He founded the auction site E-Bay.

3. In 1935, the then Governor of the US State of Kentucky,Ruby Laffoon made this gentleman born in Henryville, Indiana an honorary Colonel. The Colonel's exploits included not only at the battlefront but elsewhere too. Name him.

Ans: Colonel Harland Sanders of KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken).

4. Wipro, Infosys, Hero Honda, Bajaj Auto, Ranbaxy, German Remedies and Cadilla Health are among the 40 odd companies whose debt does not exceed 33 per cent of the company's market capitalisation and their receivables stay below 45 per cent of the company's total assets. How does this make them unique in the financial markets in terms of investments ?

Ans: They are companies who comply with the Islamic Investment Laws and have broken into the club of the Islamic Equity Fund. They have been considered Shariah compliant by the Islamic fund management company, Parsoli Corporation Ltd.

5. It has happened regularly since 1919 at the NM Rothschild offices at St.Swithin's Lane, London twice each weekday at 10:30am and at 3pm. What are we talking about?

Ans: The world gold and silver prices are determined at these times everyday.

For the Archives:

In less than 8 months, two places , which have played an important role in my little under than three decades of existence, have bore the brunt of nature's wrath. In both cases, among the people who bore the brunt were people I knew, grew up with, went to school or work.

After the killer Tsunami that rocked the Andamans, the place I spent 17 years of my early life, last week saw metropolis Mumbai, the place where I started earning my bread and butter ,coming under torrential downpour.

944 mm would soon find its way to the Record books but what wont be seen or taken into account is the courage and resilience that the people displayed.

In blogdom, be sure to check out CloudBurstMumbai which is as comprehensive a source for the situation back home in Mumbai. Also worth visiting is MumbaiHelp.

Elsewhere, Team India under Chappell and Dravid started season 2005-06 in Sri Lanka. The team may have a new coach and captain but the symptoms it developed last season do not seem to have healed.

On the personal front, with my team in Mumbai, still coping with the Monsoons, it was left to us here to double for them as well. 15-16 hours of workload throughout the week has left me with very little time to do anything else but take the much needed sleep over the weekend.

So its a dry quiz of 5 questions this time. Audio and Visuals would hopefully be back next week.

And before I wind up, the blog recorded its 10,000th visitor last week. Was reminded of Gavaskar taking his 10,000th run in Ahmedabad off Ejaz Fakih. A big Thank you to all who made it possible.

2005 Jaldi Quiz - 22

2005-07-24T21:04:00.000-05:00

Hi All,

Time to come out with the answers. And this time, we have a four way tie for the top spot.

As we move on, we have new enthusiasts joining in. Hope to have all of you in the regulars list in the days to come.

Aditya Pethe, Amresh Kumar , Sampreeth Kumar and Shovon Chakraborty share the top honours for the round with an identical score of 8.

As always keep your responses and suggestions flowing at aniruddhadutta@gmail.com.

Questions:

1. Officially titled the Public Company Accounting Reform and Investor Protection Act of 2002, it was signed into law on July 30, 2002 . It was designed to review the dated legislative audit requirements, and is considered the most significant change to federal securities laws in the United States since the New Deal in the 1930s. How do we popularly know it as ?

Ans: Sarbanes Oxley Act.

2. Cushrow Russy was his first name. How did we better know him as ?

Ans: CR Irani of The Statesman who passed away recently.

3. What is the claim to fame of the company InfoEdge India Pvt. Limited ?

Ans: It runs the portal naukri.com.

4. It was first published in New York in the late 1970s by the specialist puzzle publisher Dell Magazines in its magazine Math Puzzles and Logic Problems, under the title Number Place.The puzzle was introduced in Japan by Nikoli in the paper Monthly Nikolist. Currently, the New York Post and USA Today also publish the puzzle. How do we better know this puzzle ?

Ans: Sudoku.

5. Also referred to as the "hathiwala cream", it is the flagship brand of GD Pharmaceuticals Ltd. On 15th August 1947, it was distributed free to anyone who asked for it during the day from two of its outlets. Name the product.

Ans: Boroline.

6. Visual Questions:

6.1 This was the company's logo prior to its merger in 1998. Identify the company.

Ans: Price WaterHouse prior to its merger withLybrands and Coopers.

6.2 This person's invention is credited for bringing in the era of skyscrapers. Identify him.

Ans: Elisha Graves Otis.

6.3 With which brand would you associate this company.

Ans: They manufacture the Aamar PC / Apna PC / Aamchi PC / Namma PC brand of computers.

7. Audio Questions:

7.1 Identify the singer (Clue: she is however famous for other reasons.)

Ans: Shabana Azmi from the movie Anjuman.

7.2 Identify the voice.

Ans: Satyajit Ray (from the documentary : Tagore).

For the Archives:

Another round of blasts and this time Egypt bore the brunt. With terror creeping in, closer home, the New York Penn Station was evacuated earlier in the day on account of a bomb scare.
But we all live to tell our tales. However, for 27 year old Jean Charles de Menezes, the Brazilian born electrician, that was not to be. Five shots in the back of the head and he was a man wrongly gunned down. All that his near and dear ones got were words of regret.

On the technical front, Windows' Longhorn will now be known as "Vista". For trivia sake, XP was earlier codenamed "Whistler".

In other happenings, blogdom till a few weeks back was up in arms against Parnab Mukherjee. And guess who rose in defence !! Someone who has borrowed all but the first letter of his name. The Great Bong, who has got me addicted to his blog for sure, defends all accusations in a way, only he can. Read it here. If you always believed that Laughter was the Best Medicine, this is where you should head to.

2005 Jaldi Quiz - 21

2005-07-17T20:36:00.000-05:00

Hi All,

Its time to give out the answers yet again. Lots of new faces this time. Not to take away any credit from the enthusiasm of the regulars which has shown no signs of dying down.

We have a new winner. Amresh Kumar recorded a perfect 10 closely followed by Kiran Kumar Bakka.

Regulars Anukriti Pandey and Sanjeev Mittal were not far behind.

As always keep your responses and suggestions flowing at aniruddhadutta@gmail.com

Answers follow the question yet again. Let me know if you guys require a change in the format in which the answers are given out.

Now the Answers:

1. This annual event was started as a publicity event for the newspaper L'Auto (presently known as the L'Equipe) by its editor and co-founder, Henri Desgrange alongwith jouranlist Géo Lefèvre to rival another event sponsored by a rival journal. The event proved a great success for the newspaper and circulation leapt from 25,000 before to 65,000 after it. The event continues even today and is organised by the Amaury Organisation (ASO), which is a part of the media group that owns l'Équipe. Which event is being talked about ?

Ans: Tour De' France.

2. As a part of a US $100 million agreement, German company Lufthansa Technik is installing a product called Rockwell Collins’ Tailwind 560 on board Qatar Airways' fleet of 15 A330s. What would this result in for the passengers flying Qatar Airways ?

Ans: Lufthansa Technik will install Rockwell Collins’ Tailwind 560 product for onboard live satellite television on the airline’s fleet of 15 A330s. Passengers will be able to watch live TV from selected networks, further enhancing their inflight entertainment options.

3. Why were Cleveland Bridge and Engineering Company Ltd. of England in the news recently in India ?

Ans: They were the ones involved in the construction of the Howrah Bridge. The Bridge was in the news recently when it suffered damages recently after being hit by a barge.

4. The current top of the line models for this sports gear is the Firebolt. Other models include Nimbus 2001, Cleansweep 7s and Nimbus 2000. Which sport are we talking about ?

Ans: They are brands of Brooms. The Game: Quidditch.

5. It was originally a call used in British Army camps to signal the end of the day. Its name derives from the practice of inspecting all the sentry posts around such a camp at the end of the day, and playing a bugle call at each of them. This custom dates from at least the 17th century, and originated with British troops stationed in the Netherlands where it drew on an older Dutch custom, called 'Taptoe'. How do we better know this custom today ?

Ans: The Last Post.

6. Visual Questions:

6.1 This European Bank was set up as a federation of local credit unions primarily for farmers. It also is involved in sponsoring major sports events and even sponsors a professional road cycling team. It also has a presence in India. Identify the bank from its logo.

Ans: Rabobank.

6.2 Identify this logo of a publishing company which is in the news.

Ans: Bloomsbury , publishers of Harry Potter in the UK.

6.3 This South African is in the news more in India than in his native country. Identify him.

Ans: Albie Sachs who will hear Sourav Ganguly's appeal against the ban.

7. Audio Questions:

7.1 This Kannada song set to music by Ilayaraja is said to be the inspiration for a very well known Ad jingle. Identify the Advertisement.

Ans: Idea Cellular.

7.2 From the audio piece, identify this poster boy of Adidas.

Ans: Fauja Singh. The grand old man of Marathons.

Audio Courtesy: www.historytalking.com , www.itwofs.com

For the Archives:

The week gone by has been quite an eventful one. While it opened up new challenges at the work front (leading to extra long hours on some days) to something quite refreshing and encouraging on the blog front as well.

The blog reported 100 plus hits on three consecutive days during the week. The number of people linking up to the blog grew and offers to post quizzes elsewhere also came by.

Technorati reports of this blog finding a mention in the Mumbai edition of The Times Of India (Mousetrap section) on the 17th of July,2005. Yours truly searched up the e-Paper but could not locate it. Here is the link that Technorati has fetched for me. If someone among you could officially verify it, that would be good.

The list of quiz blogs and the enlightening on a certain individual also drew people to narrate their personal experiences.

Its time to move on and for the first time this week, the quiz features "Audio" questions in addition to the Visual ones.

Well this week saw HT entering the doorsteps of Mumbaikars with juicy news from Bollywood. I guess some producer must be on his way to registering the title "Maine Phone Kyun Kiya".
Potter Mania overshowed the gloom that had engulfed 7/7 and kids flocked round the world to grab the latest offering from Ms. Rowling.

Ownership of the Taj Mahal and Leadership of the BJP were other issues to hog headlines in India.

Much as we engross ourselves in Politics and Potter, read along the achievements of 9 year old Arfa Karim Randhawa from Pakistan here.

2005 Jaldi Quiz - 20

2005-07-10T19:00:00.000-05:00

Hi All,

Its time to come out with the answers. Once again, responses flew in from far and near.

And once again, it was the enthusiasm to which I bow. All I can write is to keep up the interest and I would try to bring in my trivial pursuits to your screens (computer screens as of now) periodically.

High fliers with a score of 7 were Chandra Sekhar Sasrula and Rakesh Taklikar.

Seasoned quizzer from Hyderabad Aravind Ghosh Suri wasn't far behind.

So here go the answers.

Answers:

1. In London, they are referred to as "one-unders". In New York, they are known as "track pizzas". Who are we talking about ?

Ans: People who commit suicide by coming under the underground trains.

2. This Arabic word means 'guaranteeing each other' or joint guarantee. LIC's new international joint venture company - Indo-Saudi Insurance Company will be the first to introduce it in India. It can also be described as cooperative insurance where policyholders contribute a certain amount of money to a common pool. Each member pays his subscription (premium) to help those that need assistance. What are we talking about ?

Ans: Takaful.

3. Easy one. 7th July, 2005 in Headingley - Umpire Rudi Koertzen makes a "T" signal. What follows ?

Ans: The first super substitution in One Day Cricket. Vikram Solanki walking in for Simon Jones.

4. C-Sam Inc. offers a suite of secure web-based services that enables users to execute transactions in the real as well virtual worlds using mobile phones and PCs. Which famous Indian is associated with this venture ?

Ans: Sam Pitroda.

5. David Bonderman, James G. Coulter and William S. Price, III founded this firm in 1993 with offices in San Francisco, Washington, New York, Fort Worth, and London. It has significant investments in many important brand-name companies including Burger King, Seagate, J.Crew, Bally, and Ducati. This company hogged the headlines last week on account of an Indian partner. Name the company and the Indian partner.

Ans: The Texas Pacific Group / Vivek Paul who recently quit Wipro.

Visual Questions:

6.1 Dont ask me the names of these ladies. But tell me the name of their Indian counterpart ?

Ans: Malaika Arora. The ladies can be found on the Yahoo Mail home pages.

6.2 An alumnus of the London International College of Business and Technology, has been in the news for his "exploits" elsewhere. Who is he ?

Ans: Junaid Miandad who is set to marry Mahrukh - Dawood Ibrahim's daughter.

6.3 From the world of sports, identify this once world beater in the news again.

Ans: British long distance legend Sebastian Coe.

For the Archives:

Well, the responses to the last weeks quiz was stupendous. Responses flew in from all corners of India and a few from closer New York as well.

Most of the responses I receive are from students mostly pursuing their Engineering or their Masters and sometimes responses come in from 15 and 16 year olds too.

When I was that old , how much did I know !!

But times surely have changed. Was going through blogdom and chanced upon this article on Today's kids.

Also, have been hunting for Blogs that feature quizzes or have posts related to quizzing on a periodic basis. Visitors and fellow Jaldi Quizzers may help me with more.

1. Notes and Stones - From and for the Quizzing fraternity in Pune.

2. IT Mavens - Dig into the archives and you would find some good IT quizzes.

3. Audit Trails of Self - Aaman Lamba's blog features some very good quizzes.

4. Quiz Chakra - from Shovon Chakraborty (again dig into Archives).

5. Bhrigu's Question - No quizzes but Interesting posts from the Quizman.

6. Gautam Ghosh's Quizzes - Not a Blog but Weekly Quizzes nevertheless.

Roaming through the corridors of Blogdom led me to these posts on Quizmaster Parnab Mukherjee. Read this and this and also go through this.

Held high regards for the man before going through the above !!

Anyway, the world over it was 7/7 which hogged the headlines. The London attacks have become another pointer to the world that we live in.

2005 Jaldi Quiz - 19

2005-07-04T15:47:00.000-05:00

Hi All,

When I had replied with the scores for Round 18, this person who missed maxing the quiz by a point, wrote back saying:

"Damn! Couldn't max it again this time! Ok never mind. Round 19 may be."

And now, Anukriti Pandey from Delhi can offer herself a small jig. She indeed has maxed Round 19.

Its such enthusiasm that comes around in most of the replies that I receive and it really is a humbling experience.

Congratulations are also due to Aishwarya Varma, Himanshu Gandhi and Jaldi quiz veteran Rakesh Taklikar.

Its answer time and here they are:

Answers:

1. The new World Trade Center (WTC) design was unveiled last week. "The Freedom Tower", designed by architects David Childs and Daniel Libeskind, will retain the height of the earlier towers - 1776 feet symbolising the year of America's independence. The construction should get over by 2009.

The Question however is - What is the name of the memorial that is going to be built to honour the victims of 9/11 ?

Ans: Reflecting Absence.

2. How do we better know " Lateral epicondylitis" ?

Ans: Tennis Elbow.

3. Other than Mahesh Bhupathi, there was another person of Indian origin - Jayant Mistry who won a title at the Wimbledon this year. Incidentally he is a leading player in his category. Which event did he win ?

Ans: Wheelchair Tennis.

4. Which political leader jailed during the Emergency chose to name his daughter after the Maintenance of Internal Security Act that he was booked under ?

Ans: Laloo Prasad Yadav (The daughter's name: Misa)

5. What 2943 square-yard plot formerly occupied by Air Force Stables in South Mumbai was leased to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) for 999 years at a nominal annual rent of Rs 1 ?

Ans: Metro Cinema.

Do you know -

In Sport, what is "Ban Qiu" in Chinese ?

Ans: Cricket.

6. Visual Questions:

6.1 Identify this gentleman, a pioneer in his field, who died recently.

Ans: Jack Kilby, the Nobel laureate who gave us microchips and the calculator.

6.2 Identify this logo of an organisation always in the news.

Ans: OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries).

6.3 Easy One. Two Car Brands.Identify them.

Ans: Infiniti and Acura. (Rakesh Taklikar adds - Infiniti is the luxury brand of Nissan and Acura is the luxury brand of Honda).

For the Archives:

Its Independence Day weekend here and in a few hours of writing this post, it would be fireworks time in New York.

Macys has been bringing the spectacular fireworks display for over a quarter of a century and yours truly has had the good fortune of viewing it on a couple of occassions.

In other places round the world, after Pistol Pete, its Federer who has made Wimbledon a part of his own backyard. Venus Williams, when all thought that the Russian Revolution had eclipsed the Williams Rule, laid her hands on the trophy that bears her name.

Also noteworthy is Salil Oberoi's performance. The 21-year-old Rhodes scholar who has played first-class cricket for Delhi, broke a 74-year-old record when he made 247 for Oxford University against Cambridge at Fenner's.

In the process he surpassed the Nawab of Pataudi Snr's 238 not out in 1931, the previous-highest in a Varsity match. Read about his exploits here.

On the silver screen, when War of the Worlds rages in Hollywood, its RGV with (AB) sqaured who Sarkar the territory in Bolly land.

On a sad note, Gujarat again bears the brunt - After the earthquake and the Godhra mayhem, it is the fury of the floods.

In trivial news, our most "loved" quizmaster, Derek O Brien missed out on the Rajya Sabha ticket Mamata Banerjee wanted to give him. The party has now nominated "Mohun Bagan" and "Sambad Pratidin" 's Swapan Sadhan (Tutu) Bose. O'Brien would have to be content handling Didi's mouthpiece - Jaago Bangla.

2005 Jaldi Quiz - 18

2005-06-26T23:42:00.000-05:00

Hi All,

Its answer time yet again. The responses came from far and wide. This week also featured an all correct entry.

Congratulations to Amit Pandey for his perfect score. Jaldi regulars - Anukriti Pandey, Rakesh Taklikar missed the bulls eye by a whisker.

Sanjeev Mittal, Shiva Nath, Gaurav Sabnis - well tried.

As always, keep the responses and your suggestions flowing at aniruddhadutta@gmail.com

Questions:

1. David Cook and Roger Green, the founders of SeaCode have opened up new frontiers in Outsourcing. Programmers to be referred to as "seamen" so that they are protected by international maritime laws will churn out code on board a cruise liner. The ship would be stationed at a distance of 3.1 miles off the coast of El Segundo in California. The question is - What is the significance of these 3.1 miles ?

Ans: Because the international maritime waters start at 3 miles from the coast.

2. In 1900, the Devon City Wanderers, a combination of the old Boys of Blundell's School in Tiverton and Castle Cary CC beat All Paris by 163 runs in a 12 a side Cricket match at the Velodrome de Vincennes in Paris. They then received models of the Eiffel Tower. What was the historical significance of this match ?

Ans: Britain Vs. France Cricket Match at the 1900 Paris Olympics. The only time Cricket featured in the Olympics.

3. One of the oldest trademarks, this was introduced in 1898. It takes its name from the slogan meaning "Now is the time to Drink". It is also used to describe the appearance of someone obsese or wearing comically bulky clothing. Whom are we talking about ?

Ans: Bibendum - The Michein Man.

4. Which company has been the official sponsors of the Tennis balls used at Wimbledon since 1902 ?

Ans: Slazenger.

5. In the 1971 Lok Sabha elections NN Kailas of the Congress (I) won from the Bombay South constituency. Who was placed third after George Fernandes in that election ?

Ans: Naval Tata.

6. Visual Questions

6.1 This restaurant in New South Wales, Australia had to replace its older logo with this new one after protests by Indians. Who / What featured in the logo earlier ? Also identify the name of the restaurant.

Ans: Mahatma Gandhi. Name of the restaurant - Handi Ghandi.

6.2 Identify the movie from the poster.

Ans: Wimbeldon.

6.3 Identify this person who conceived something initially to be used for a memo pad but the creation ended up being something by which we identify the brand. (Hint: Tata Crucible)

Ans: Bobby Kooka - the man who conceived the Air India Maharaja.

6.4 Easy one, from the world of Rajasthani literature, identify the gentleman seated to the right, presently in the news for one of his works.

Ans: Vijaydan Detha - Paheli the film, is based upon his story - Duvidha.

Special Thanks to:

Mukundan Krishnaswamy (aka Thennavan in blogdom) of http://indibloggers.blogspot.com for including this site in his list of bloggers. Thanks are due also to all who have blogrolled me on their blogs.

2005 Jaldi Quiz - 17

2005-06-19T21:13:00.000-05:00

Hi All,

Another week has come and gone by and its answer time yet again. Not very many responses this time but the regulars were in business.

Rakesh Taklikar and Aditya Das taking the honours for this quiz.

Here come the Answers.

As always, mail your answers / comments / suggestions to: aniruddhadutta@gmail.com

Answers:

1. Located on Bhausaheb Hirey Marg in Mumbai, this structure was designed by architect Claude Batley in 1936.From 1948 to 1983, it was the residence of the British High Commission. The owner of this house was offered a monthly rent of three thousand rupees in exchange. How do we better know this structure ?

Ans: Jinnah House.

2. What was established in 1806 by Faiz Talab Khan ?

Ans: The princely state of Pataudi.

3. With which annual publication well known the world over would you associate HIT Entertainment ?

Ans: The Guinness Book of World Records.

4. Who rang the opening bell at the NYSE when the fictional newspaper "The New York Star" went public ?

Ans: Sarah Jessica Parker who played Carrie Bradshaw in the HBO Series "Sex and the City". The first episode of the final season began with Bradshaw's paper "The New York Post" going public. The shot also featured the then NYSE President Richard Grasso.

5. Which company calls it highway hospitality "dhabas" in Uttar Pradesh "Al Plazas" ?

Ans: Reliance.

6. Where in India (specific location) is the TJ Brand of Confectioneries (including Potato Chips/Wafers) manufactured ?

Ans: Tihar Jail.

7. Who becomes the first Pakistan football player in over 50 years to be invited to play for an Indian Club (though East Bengal says it is yet to make an offer)?

Ans: Mohammad Issa.

8. Accidentally invented by General Electric's James Wright when he dropped boric acid into silicone oil, what was used by the crew of Apollo 8 to secure tools in zero gravity ?

Ans: Silly Putty.

9. With whom would you associate "The ____ and Videocon School of Cricket" ?

Ans: Sourav Ganguly.

10. Easy one, with its headquarters in Raj Bagh in Srinagar, this "party" takes its name from the Arabic word meaning "Freedom". It even has the word "Freedom" in brackets in its signboard. Name the "party".

Ans: All Party Hurriyat Conference.

The 11th Question:

Connect Kokilaben Ambani's recently released statement on the settlement between the Ambani brothers to the form of Lord Krishna in which he lifted the Govardhan hill and subdued Indra who was sending an incessant downpour of rain, causing immense hardship to the cowherds of Gokul.

Ans: Sreenathji.

Visual Questions:

12.1 Identify the film from the illustration.

Ans: Pather Panchali.

12.2 A famous cricketer in his own right, he had to face the wrath of the spectators in Calcutta, when as a selector, he dropped Mushtaq Ali from the "Test match" against Australia. "No Mushtaq, No Test" is what the crowds demanded. Identify the man in the picture.

Ans: Duleepsinhji.

12.3 Identify the logo of this company from the world of television.

Ans: Geo TV , the leading news channel in Pakistan,owned by the Dawn Group.

12.4 Part of the team which created the jingle - "Bole Mere Lips, I love Uncle Chips", who is this person who has been in the limelight recently.

Ans: Shantanu Moitra who scored the music for Parineeta (2005).

12.5 Born in the 15th century, followers of this religious leader are in the news recently. Identify the person and the name by which his followers are known.

Ans: Jambho Ji, the religious leader of the Bishnois - the people who were behind the Chipko movement and also regard the Black Buck as sacred.

Highlights:

And there is another one called QuizVyasa.com , where Jaldi Quizzing and Wikipedia are the only sites that find a mention. And to top it all, the contents of the page are protected by Copyright (what Copyright !!). Kindly enlighten...

Trivia Bite Round 1: Worms Worms Worms

2005-06-16T09:10:00.000-05:00

Aloha Quizzards,

“The Best thing about computers, is that no matter how much ever information you pack into them, they don’t get more heavier“ – Bill Gates

So we start this episode of Trivia with some heavy words from the SATAN of computers, which I totally endorse .

This week’s trivia consists of Filling the Blanks.

Trivia of the Week:

No, Mr. Sullivan, we can´t stop it! There´s never been a ______ with that tough a head or that long a tail! It´s building itself, don´t you understand? Already it´s passed a billion bits and it´s still growing. It´s the exact inverse of a phage- whatever it takes in, it adds to itself instead of wiping... Yes, sir! I´m quite aware that a ______ of that type is theoretically impossible! But the fact stands, he´s done it, and now it´s so goddamn comprehensive that it can´t be killed. Not short of demolishing the net!

CLUE: “what man creates he himself destroys”, is the apt saying that comes to my mind, when I read these lines from John Brunner.

Answer:

“ WORMS ”; no this ain’t the latest production from Walt Disney or Pixar animation but the computer worm; remember MELISSA.

What is a computer Worm (Definition) :

A computer worm is a program that self-propagates across a network exploiting security or policy flaws in widely-used services. They are not a new phenomenon, having first gained widespread notice in 1988 [16]. We distinguish between worms and viruses in that the latter infect otherwise non-mobile files and therefore require some sort of user action to abet their propagation. As such, viruses tend to propagate more slowly. They also have more mature defenses due to the presence of a large anti-virus industry that actively seeks to identify and control their spread.

More info here : Worms

Creators of WORM : John Shoch and Jon Hupp at the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center discover the computer “worm,” a short program that searches a network for idle processors. Initially designed to provide more efficient use of computers and for testing, the worm had the unintended effect of invading networked computers, creating a security threat.Shoch took the term “worm” from the book “The Shockwave Rider,” by John Brunner, in which an omnipotent “tapeworm” program runs loose through a network of computers.

Isn’t it an irony that what was created first as a potential usage for identification and utilization of idle computing power became a potent killer by residing in the computer memory and scavenging it like a parasite?
Act one : The first worm to attract wide attention, the Morris worm, was written by Robert Tappan Morris, Jr., who at the time was a graduate student at Cornell University. It was released on November 2, 1988, and quickly infected a great many computers on the Internet at the time. It propagated through a number of bugs in BSD Unix and its derivatives. Morris himself was convicted under the US Computer Crime and Abuse Act and received three years’ probation, community service and a fine in excess of $10,000.
Slimy worms and slithering Bugs… Man the life of a Software engineer can be quite Buggy… NO more comments people !!!!

Questions:

Mail your answers to : bhaskaran.deepak@wipro.com

1. Also known as “Mailissa”, “Simpsons”, “Kwyjibo”, or “Kwejeebo”, is a computer worm that also functions as a macro virus, hence making it a “multipartite virus”.

Ans: "Melissa" A Word macro virus that was unleashed in the spring of 1999. It sends an e-mail message with a list of pornographic Web sites. named by David.L.Smith after a LAP Dancer he met in Florida... Hmmm

2. In computer terminology what (or) who is 1977 Trinity ?

Ans: The 3 companies that came out with ready to run PCs in the year 1977. They were Apple, Tandy (Of RadioShack) and Commodore.

3. What is common to David Smith, Joe Popp and Christopher Pile? [Clue: Virus and Law and yes the list is not ending there …]

Ans: They are the only three virus writers who have been sentenced and served time in jail. David Smith for writing Melissa, Cristopher Pile also known as the "Black Baron" for creating a toolkit (SMEG) which could boost the impact of existing viruses by randomizing their code, and Joe Popp for mailing 20,000 copies of a Trojan Program.

4. OK.. just to go with the Trivia of the day, What is the name of the protagonist of “The ShockWave” by John Brunner ?

Ans: Niel Haflinger

5. 30 June 1945: The “First Draft of a Report on the EDVAC” was written and set the stage for computer architectural design for many years. This work included the concept of a “stored program” and this architectural style was named after him. What is the architectural style?

Ans: The inimitable "VON NUEMAN Architecture"; every Computer Professionals Bible.

6. This game was Atari’s comeback to Space Invaders and defined the genre of addictive video games. Employees had to be pulled away from the prototypes and made to work. The thrust, direction and hyperspace buttons were new concepts and it was the first game to save High Scores for all to see and went to smash all Space Invaders Records.

Ans: Asteroids.

7. Name another word which is also inspired by a similar play of words or from another Sci-fi Novel ? (Additional points for more Words )

Ans: YAHOO (Gulliver's Travels) or TROJAN ( Homer's epics) or VIRUS (H.A.R.L.I.E),etc etc

The IT Trivia Bite - from Deepak Bhaskaran.

2005-06-13T10:57:00.000-05:00

Hi All,

Over quite some time, requests had been pouring in for having quizzes dedicated to a particular subject, IT in particular.

Well, here we are.

Deepak Bhaskaran from Chennai had been posting his IT quizzes on the popular Quizzing communities for quite some time.

This week, we bring to you the first set of his compilation.

Hope you find them interesting.

Folks, presenting the IT Trivia Bite from Deepak Bhaskaran.

Questions:

1. What was named Time man of the year in the year 1982 ?

Ans : The Personal Computer. (IBM’s PC)

2. Edgser Dikjstra laid the foundation stone in the march towardscreating structure in the domain of programming by writing, not ascholarly paper on the subject, but instead a letter to the editorentitled "---- Statement Considered Harmful". ?

Ans: “GOTO” ; in computer Terminology.

3.This game upon release was responsible for riots in Japan along with coin shortage. The country had to quadruple Yen production to keep up. In America, videogames were introduced in department stores for the first time to cope with its popularity? (Clue: Not Tetris, or PONG… Guess Guess Guess)

Ans: The Correct Answer is “Space Invaders” but even PACMAN fits the Bill.

4. Ok, A sitter for all you Game Freaks .. Expand “K.O” ?
(Clue: Remember all those Mortal Combat and D.O.A .. at last you have a chance to redeem yourself)

Ans: Knock Out (This phrase is the Only Consistent Keyword across every Fighter Games and also thanks to Boxing Mania)

5. Developed by 25 year old college graduate Jordan Mechner who created the story, characters and levels this game took four years to make. His father composed the music and he video taped his brothers motions in order to make the animation realistic. Initially produced on Appel II, it later made almost all platforms. What? [Hint: The game had to be completed in 60 minutes and cheat Codes are “Megahit”]

Ans: Prince Of Persia (The latest 3D Version is So Riveting, esp. on the XBOX)

6. Bell Telephone Labs joined a project with MIT and General Electricwhich it later dropped out of in April 1969. Two of its programmerscontinued working on a similar project on their own and even named itas a joke on their earlier project. They presented a paper on this workat the 1973 SIGOPS conference which won the best paper award that year. What was the project?

Ans: The Paper Being Presented was on Unix.

7. Which British computing brain died of Cyanide poisoning after being arrested and tried for homosexuality?(Clue: Go Step By Step, in a State wise manner)

Ans: Yes, ALAN TURING. (The Turing Machine is a State wise machine wherein the Next progression depends on the output of the previous state.)

8. What method of signaling with two flags, used at sea, called?

Ans: Semaphore (Semaphore, is the method using for Various Synchronization Mechanisms, wherein any operations being performed on same resources are done in a Simultaneous methodology to avoid any Clashes, etc)

9. The HAL 9000 computer, the inimitable star of the classic Kubrick and Clarke film "2001: A Space Odyssey," Was and is the computer of the FUTURE. But what we don’t realize is that HAL was named due to a specific reason …. WHAT ???? (CLUE: MENSA and the next Question)

Ans:

(a) In the standard English alphabet, the letters H, A, and L immediately precede the letters I, B, and M, respectively.

(b) IBM is the technology giant in question, a company often mistakenly credited as the basis for the HAL 9000's three-letter name. In the standard English alphabet, the letters H, A, and L immediately precede the letters I, B, and M, respectively.

The coincidence is so striking that many have often assumed that the HAL initials are a veiled reference to Big Blue. The fact that a number of fake IBM products appear in the film—including several monitors and a spacesuit control—only served to reinforce this assumption.

In actuality, HAL's real-world creator, Arthur C. Clarke, and his instructor in the novel, Dr. Chandra, both profess that the HAL name is shorthand for heuristic algorithm, purportedly the mathematical principle that serves as the basis for HAL 9000's artificial intelligence. Clarke has also gone on record to say that, had he noticed the IBM-HAL connection before the release of the film or novel, he would have named the computer something else.

If there's any actual connection between HAL and IBM that's intentional, it's perhaps the one most cleverly obscured. As embattled astronaut Dave Bowman slowly disconnects the HAL 9000's processors, the computer noticeably regresses in intelligence, ultimately clinging to one of its first "lessons" in human interaction—a song.

That song, "A Bicycle Built for Two," was actually the first song "sung" by any computer—a feat accomplished at Bell Laboratories in 1961 by an IBM 7094 computer. The touch is a subtle nod to computer history, if not IBM itself.

And just to hammer home the point, when Clarke penned the sequel to 2001 in 1982, 2010: Odyssey Two, he didn't name HAL's twin the HAL 9001 or the HAL 9000-B but instead chose SAL 9000. Whether that will put the HAL-IBM issue to rest is a matter of debate—and of great Geek Trivia.

10. Incorporated as Computing-Tabulating-Recording company in 1911, it formally changed its name in 1924. How do we better know this company today?

Ans: IBM

11. Released on 22 March 93.. Ted Hoff and Fedricco Faggin designed the first one for usiom of Japan. It was originally to be called 80586, Razor,Prochip & Intellect. What are we discussing?

Ans: Pentium . Well, it seems that there was an open contest for Naming this among all the company employees and this was the Winning Entry.

12. The phrase was originated by John Seybold and popularized at Xerox PARC during the late 1970s when the first WYSIWYG______ editor, Bravo was created on the Alto. The Alto monitor (72 pixels per inch) was designed so that one full page of text could be seen and then printed on the first laser printers. When the text was laid out on the screen 72 PPI font metric files were used, but when printed 300 PPI files were used -- thus one would occasionally find characters and words slightly off, a problem that continues to this day. (72 PPI came from the standard of 72 "points" per inch used in the commercial printing industry.) Seybold and the researchers at PARC were simply re-appropriating a popular catchphrase of the time originated by "Geraldine", a character on The Flip Wilson Show, (1970-1974). What phrase did Seybold coin ?

Ans: What You See Is What You Get

13. A word origin question: William Gibson, in his famous novel Necromancer, coined a word that has become very popular. What word?

Ans: NEUROMANCER

14. What is the Middle Name of Linus Torvalds?

Ans: Benedict.

15. Invented by IBM engineer, Alan Shugart. It was used initially to hold microcode and diagnostics for the IBM mainframe computer systems. It got a nick name due to its flexibilty and that is the name by which we know it today. What? (Clue: a Cheaper cousin of what we discussed today)

Ans. The FLOPPY DISK

16. In 1983, the subscribers of PC World received a free demo floppy with the magazine. This was probably the first time in history that a magazine featured a floppy bind in. Now a days this practice is pretty common with magazines giving away CDs instead of floppies. What product was introduced to the subscribers via that floppy?

ANS : WORD for MSDOS 1.0

17. It could have been: Calex, Elcal, Calecom, Elcom, Calcomp, Digicom, Tronicom, Comptek, Computek, Esscotek or Ectek. But what name was finally chosen for this startup?

Ans. Intel

18. How and where would you most probably read the following:
“And the beast shall come forth surrounded by a roiling cloud of vengeance. The house of the unbelievers shall be razed and they shall be scorched to the earth. Their tags shall blink until the end of days.”

Ans. Anything ranging from the “BOOK of MOZILLA” or in case you TYPE “about:mozilla” upon either NETSCAPE, FIREFOX, etc etc …

19. What from the Robyn and Rand miller created a revolution in the Gaming industry? What is their latest creation?

ANS: “MYST “ The first interactive game which entirely ran on the CD (or I could be wrong).
Robyn and Rand found the Cyan Corporation. With their Stupendous animation and intellect these people created Games which stimulated the Brain rather than degraded it with Guns, etc..

20. Akio Morita wrote “Made in Japan”; an amazing bio wherein he lists out his struggles at bring SONY to the current standards, etc, etc. Who wrote “Made in America” ?

ANS: Sam Walton.

21. Back in late 50s, John W. Backus lead an IBM team of talented programmers to produce a mathematical Formula Translating system. Backus proposed a programming language that would allow users to express their problem as a mathematical formulae and it was initially meant mainly for scientific programming. How do we better know it ?

Ans. FORMULA TRANSLATION. FORTRAN…

2005 Jaldi Quiz - 16

2005-06-05T22:16:00.000-05:00

Hi All,

The time has come to give out the answers for Round 16. Responses were overwhelming to say the least.

However, this time, we have a new winner in Shiva Nath from Delhi who beat the field by 0.5 points.

Congratulations are due to Amit Kumar Aditya Das, Rakesh Taklikar and Anukriti Pandey who came pretty close.

And yes, Jaldi Quizzing now has over 5000 hits with around 450 hits measured during the course of this round.

Praising myself... Maybe !!

Useless Trivia:

In addition to having the Bachchan father-son pairing for the first time on screen in the con caper "Bunty aur Babli", Bunty also happens to be Big B's estranged brother Ajitabh Bachchan's pet name at home. Amitabh on the other hand responds to "Munna".

Another interesting observation -

The Times of India's latest offering in Mumbai - Mumbai Mirror calls its Readers' feedback section - Mirror Blog.

Well, much as I deliberate my offerings here being termed as a blog, could Mumbai Mirror's feedback section qualify as a blog !!

Answers:

1. One of the most loved Umpires in World Cricket - David Shepherd is officiating in his final Test in the West Indies currently. Incidentally, his retirement comes 200 years after the Battle of Trafalgar - Lord Nelson's most famous military campaign. The question is - Name the county for which Shepherd once played County Cricket.

Ans: Gloucestershire.

2. This organization is a registered charity in the United Kingdom. Though it receives funds from the government, more than half of its income is self generated - through teaching English, conducting examinations and managing aid and development projects. Has a good presence in the Indian metros as well. Name the organization.

Ans: The British Council which completes 70 years of its existence this year.

3. If it is "Daily Desher Kotha" in Tripura, "Theekathir" in Tamil Nadu and "Prajashakti" in Andhra Pradesh, what is it in West Bengal and Kerala ?

Ans: Ganashakti - West Bengal and Deshabhimani - Kerala. They are all dailies brought out by the Communist Party of India (Marxist).

4. Where would you be if you reached 2650 Virginia Avenue, Washington DC, USA ?

Ans: The Watergate Hotel in Washington.

5. Which company, in the news a year earlier, published Rudyard Kipling's "The Phantom Rickshaw and other Eerie Tales" in 1888 ?

Ans: A H Wheeler.

Visual Questions:

6.1 Identify the connection between the gentleman and the lady. (Hint: The gentleman is not a movie star).

Ans: The gentleman is W. Mark Felt identified as the Deep Throat in the Watergate controversy. The lady is Linda Susan Boreman better known as Linda Lovelace, who starred in the film "Deep Throat".

6.2 Identify the connection between Greg Chappell and the lady.

Ans: The lady is Sudha Shah. The connection - Coaches of the Indian Cricket Team (Eves and Mens').

6.3 Identify the logo.

Ans: British Council (again).

2005 Jaldi Quiz - 15

2005-05-30T20:16:00.000-05:00

Hi All,

Its answer time again. Though there were fewer responses this week, the mailbox was kept busy by the regulars who seem to have developed a liking to the quiz.

Thank you all for dropping by with words of encouragement.

For the second week in succession, Anukriti Pandey secures a podium finish and giving her company is another Pandey, Amit Pandey from Mumbai.

Time for the answers now.

Answers:

1. It was first founded by the California clothing company Pacific Mills to showcase its Catalina swimwear brand. Later, it became a part of Kayser-Roth and then Gulf and Western Industries. In 1996 the ownership was taken over by Donald Trump. What are we talking about ? (Hint: Current Affairs)

Ans: Miss Universe pageant.

2. Established in 1970, it is one of the leading Business groups in the Middle East. In its initial years it dealt primarily in the sale and manufacturing of gold products. Over the past 34 years, it has grown into a multinational company and has interests in Manufacturing, Refineries and the Media. The company bears the name of its founder. Name the company.

Ans: ARY (named after Abdul Razak Yakoob)

3. Which newspaper in India once advertised itself with the following tagline - "No one but us to break the records, it’s a lonesome feeling. Ask Bubka."

Ans: Malayala Manorama.

4. In the blogging world, what is a Blogsnob ?

Ans: A person who refuses to respond to comments on their blog from people outside their circle of friends.

5. Which company listed on the New York Stock Exchange has the initials of a famous composer as its ticker symbol ? Name the company and the music composer.

Ans: Steinway Musical Instruments. Their ticker on NYSE is LVB after Ludvig Van Beethoven.

Visual Questions:

6.1 This father son is one of the most popular pairs in the "Indian Entertainment Industry". Name them and their profession.

Ans: The famous numerologists - Bansilal Jumani and Sanjay Jumani.

6.2 What is the significance of this photograph to the world of Internet ?

Ans: This was the first photo to appear on the Internet.

6.3 Name the event being advertised here.

Ans: 2005 Scripps National Spelling Bee Contest (Anurag Kashyap being the winner this time. His winning word - appoggiatura which means an embellishing note, usually one step above or below the note it precedes and indicated by a small note or special sign.)

2005 Jaldi Quiz - 14

2005-05-23T07:41:00.000-05:00

Hi All,

The long weekend hangover is yet to recede. And that is the reason why posting Round 15 of the Jaldi Quiz is held up as of now. Will post it soon.

In the meantime, here are the answers to the Questions for Round 14.

Congratulations are due to two regulars of the Jaldi Quiz - Yashasvi Arun and Anukriti Pandey.

They have come up with the top scores in this round.

As always, keep the responses and suggestions flowing.

Answers:

1. The logo of this production company is the only one to change after every telecast of their television show. Their "latest" logo was that of a plate with a check that had the words "No Charge" written on it. Name the production company and the famous show being talked about ?

Ans: The "Where's Lunch" logo. Their production - Everybody Loves Raymond.

2. A month back, Imphal saw its oldest library burnt down. The reason being the script used to write Manipuri. The majority Meitei community want a return to the Meitei Mayek script from the present one. Which script has been used to write Manipuri for the last 300 years ?

Ans: Bengali.

3. The United Eco Action Fund (UNECO) runs a school in war torn Liberia. Who is this school especially run for ?

Ans: Children fathered by the UN Peacekeepers.

4. The Fasli, Shahanshahi and Qadimi hold a significant place in the Zoroastrian religion. Often they have led to controversies and confusion. What are Fasli, Shahanshahi and Qadimi ?

Ans: Calendars.

5. The underarm delivery is one of the infamous incidents in International cricket. Very recently, another bowler pretended to do the same but was "red carded" by the umpire. Who is the person in question ?

Ans: Glenn McGrath against New Zealand in the first Twenty-20 International. The umpire - Billy Bowden.

The Star Wars Round:

1. The Star Wars Universe has its own dating system or calendar where events are referred in either BBY or ABY. What do BBY and ABY stand for ?

Ans: Before Battle of Yavin and After Battle of Yavin.

2. Very Very Easy One. The Star Wars fight sequences are characterised by the use of this weapon. This is the weapon of the Jedi which when deactivated appears as a polished metallic handle, about 30 centimeters long, lined with control studs. What is the name of this weapon ?

Ans: The LightSaber.

3. Which work of Joseph Campbell serves as an inspiration to both Star Wars and the Matrix ?

Ans: The Hero with a Thousand Faces.

4. Another easy one, which Star Wars creature is able to understand the galactic language "Basic" but communicates in his own language "Shyriiwook" due to a vocal defect ?

Ans: Chewbecca.

5. The name Yoda is derived from the Sanskrit word "Yoddha". But who was the original Yoda sculpted to look like ?

Ans: Albert Einstein.

The 6th Star Wars question: What is George Lucas's next project called ?

Ans: Red Tails.

Visual Round

6.1 Identify these logos.

Ans: Reebok and Bank of America.
6.2 This chef was in the news recently for quitting his present job. He shot to fame during his company's IPO when he was presented to the investors as the company's CFO (Chief Food Officer). Identify him and his erstwhile company.

Ans: Charlie Ayers. The company - Google.
6.3 Identify the person recently in the news promoting vegetarianism in this advertisement.

Ans: Greg Chappell.

2005 Jaldi Quiz - 13

2005-05-15T21:53:00.000-05:00

Hi All,

Responses to this quiz really packed my inbox throughout the week. It feels nice to interact with quizzers with varied tastes and interests from all over.

This week saw not one but two people who came out with the maximum correct entries.

Congratulations are due to Amit Pandeya, the seasoned Biz Quizzer from Mumbai and to Bharat Choragudi.

Infact, Amit was the only one who came quite close to answering the fourth visual.

Without further ado, here are the Answers:

Answers:

1. The French have a strong aversion to English terms. They seem to be coining words in French and are putting them to official use. The Académie Française came up with words related to the Cyber world like ARROSAGE, BOGUE and COURRIEL. How do we better know these terms ?

Ans: Arrosage - Spam, Bogue - Bug , Courriel - Email.

2. The literal meaning in Chinese for this term is - "Ten-Thousand-Dimensional Web in Heaven and Net on Earth". How do we better know this yet another term from the Cyber world ?

Ans: World Wide Web. (www). In fact the Chinese words are : Wan Wei Wang.

3. Easy One. In the 1930s, the representatives of Western democracies attending the Mostra di Venezia were shocked by the influence of the fascist governments of Italy and Germany on the selection of films and the decisions of the jury. What resulted ?

Ans: The Cannes Film Festival.

4. This was a brief from the agency to the musician - "We want a piece of music that is inspiring, universal, blah-blah, da-da-da, optimistic, futuristic, sentimental, emotional," this whole list of adjectives, and then at the bottom it said "and it must be 3 1/4 seconds long." The musician's name at birth was Brian Peter George. How do we know him better and identify the piece he created ?

Ans: Brian Eno and the Windows 95 Startup Music.

5. The Maharashtra State Commission for Women in the year 2002 instituted the ‘Duryodhan Award’ and the ‘Rakshasha Award’. The winners that year were Amdani Atthani Kharcha Rupaiyya and Aks respectively. What are these awards meant to (dis)honour ?

Ans: Rakshasa - The most violent film. Duryodhana - The most gender insensitive film.

6. Visual Questions:

6.1 Both these logos are pretty well known. Identify them.

Ans: AT & T and Minolta (known as Konica Minolta after its merger with Konica.)

6.2 This is the logo of a Foundation located in Tampa, Florida dedicated to assisting charitable and educational causes in the West Central Florida region. The Pirates Flag is synoymous with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. However the person behind the Foundation and the Buccaneers is creating a storm and is the reason for protest elsewhere. Whom are we talking about ?

Ans: Malcolm Glazer who now has control of Manchester United.

6.3 Easy one. Kanan Dairy Products located in Illinois,USA is the sole importer of what to the USA ?

Ans: Amul Products.

6.4 He was a person in the news recently. He belongs to the film fraternity but is not an actor or a director . Identify him and his claim to fame.

Ans: The only unanswered question. He is Manoj Desai, the owner of the Maratha Mandir theatre where DDLJ (Dilwale Dulhania Le Jaayenge) completed 500 weeks. He also is the executive director of the G-7 theaters in Bandra,Mumbai. Infact, he produced the Amitabh Bachchan - Sridevi starrer Khuda Gawah and is the Chairman of the Amitabh Bachchan Fan Club.

2005 Jaldi Quiz - 12

2005-05-08T19:05:00.000-05:00

Hi All,

The 12th Round saw answers pouring in from various corners of the globe. But it was Shovon Chakraborty who came out with the maximum correct answers.

Congratulations Shovon !!

Answers:

1. An international Airline company called PB Air has been granted permission by the Indian Govt. to begin bi-weekly International Charter Flights between Bangkok and an Indian destination from December 2005. Name the Indian City.

Ans: Port Blair (Andaman and Nicobar Islands).

2. Which greats of the Music World were known as Tom and Jerry in their early days ?

Ans: Simon and Gaurfunkel.

3. A High School in Pakistan is to be named after an Indian Prime Minister. Name the Prime Minister in question and also the place where this school is located?

Ans: Manmohan Singh. The village is Gah in Punjab, Pakistan.

4. Connect Montpelier, the capital of the US state of Vermont with the fast food chain - McDonalds ?

Ans: Only US State Capital without a McDonalds outlet.

5. A sitter. Someone who featured in a commemorative postage stamp in 1988 has recently been named the Brand Ambassador of an airline company. Name the figure and the Airline company.

Ans: RK Laxman's Common Man for Air Deccan.

6. Visual Questions:

6.1 This ship built in Mumbai was used extensively during the IPKF operations in Sri Lanka. It has been in service for over 30 years now and shares its name with a very famous Indian ruler. Name the ship.

(I was always fascinated with the shape of its chimney which is quite unlike the other ships).

Ans: M V Harshavardhana.

6.2 Identify this person from the Indian film fraternity who has been in the news recently. (Hint: He is not Shahid Kapoor.)

Ans: Soham Shah (Director of Kaal).

6.3 Both these persons have been the President of a Middle East Asian country. They were succeeded and preceeded respectively by someone who needs no introduction the world over. Whom are we talking about ?

Ans: Saddam Hussein. The men above are Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr and Jalal Talabani respectively.

Quizophiles Vs Quizophobes

2005-05-03T23:44:00.000-05:00

Well, for most of us who have been bitten by the Quizzing bug, its always a question of Us versus They (They - who ?? those who consider Quizzing to be a sheer waste of almost everything)

Chanced upon this interesting article on a Blog maintained by Tadatmya Vaishnav where he brings out all that the non Quizzing world has to say.

But Tadatmya, the quizophile that he is, rebuts in a blow by blow account and stands in defence of quizzing.

Do read this two part article:

Part I

Part II

Update: Almost 500 hits in a matter of 3 days since the last post. Quizophrenics have dropped in from far and wide. From quizzers in Pakistan to the Trinidad and Tobago, a warm welcome to all.

Aniruddha Dutta

2005 Jaldi Quiz - 11

2005-05-01T10:10:00.000-05:00

Hi All,

Its Answer time for Round 11. Congratulations to Rakesh Tiklekar who had the maximum correct responses.

Thank you all for your words of encouragement.

Answers:

1. The Metropolitan Motor Works was a short lived venture. It was started by an eminent Indian for his son. Though the father reached the pinnacle in his field, the son was a mostly unknown entity. Name this father-son duo.

Ans: Rabindranath Tagore and Rathindranath Tagore.

2. An easy one. This album features nine film and Indipop tracks. One of them though critically ridiculed has really caught the attention of the people and has gone on to become quite a rage in India. The track has music by Vishal-Shekhar and vocals by Sudesh Bhosle among others. Name the album.

Ans: Oye Bubbly.

3. Ganga Dham is a proposed spiritual theme park at Haridwar.It is an “Edutainment / Infotainment” project that will promote, in an entertaining fashion, the diverse cultural, mythological and religious heritage of India. Who are the promoters of this group ?

Ans: Sagar Group (makers of Ramayan).

4. Another easy one. At school, he formed a stick-ball team called the Nads (providing him and his pals with a chance to shout “Go Nads”). At Yale, he was famous for doing the alligator, a dance that involved falling on the floor and rolling around.At Harvard Business School, he wore cowboy boots and chewed tobacco. Whom are we talking about ?

Ans: George W. Bush.

5. Who in the US are referred to as CXOs ?

Ans: Corporate executives whose title begins with the word “chief” and ends with the word “officer”.

6. The Visual Round.

6.1 Identify the logo.

Ans: The Bajaj Group.(Bajaj Auto)

6.2 Identify this logo which looks quite similar to the previous one.

Ans: Bluetooth.

6.3 Identify the institution to which this logo belongs.

Ans: Peerless.

6.4 The lady's name is Halina Kwiatkowska. She made it to the newspapers in the month of April. What is her claim to fame ?

Ans: Pope John Paul II's childhood sweetheart.

2005 Jaldi Quiz - 10

2005-04-24T12:45:00.000-05:00

Hi All,

Thank you all for responding to the Jaldi Quiz Round 10. Though the number of people actually responding to the quiz is just beginning to pick up, the number of people giving a dekko has been phenomenal.

Congratulations to Mr. V. Raja from Mumbai who sent in an all correct response.

A few of you suggested that the answers be posted after the questions. So scroll down and see how many of them you got.

Questions:

1. The membership of this club is fixed at 7000. Any death or non-renewal of membership for two years vacant a place for a new member. There are two kinds of memberships that are currently being offered to the people - Ordinary / Tennis membership and Life Membership. The Annual Membership fees are Rs.3000 (Registration Fee) and Rs.261 (Annual Fee). For a Life Membership, you need to pay Rs. 12250 (Registration Fee) and Rs. 3 (Annual Subscription Fee). Which club are we talking about ? (Hint: This club is currently in the doldrums.)

2. What are Bubble Range, Gold Crown, Ridgeback Series and Kahuna Range types of ? (In the news)

3. Why is the dialect Ku from the African republic of Matobo in the news recently ? (Both the dialect and country are however imaginary)

4. Traf-O-Data , a company formed in 1972 developed a computer system for recording automobile traffic flow on a highway. It kept track of traffic from black hoses laid across the road. Who were the founders of this now defunct company ?

5. Who am I ? This one time talk of the town in India wanted to make it to the Civil Services. Eventually he did not. In his hey day he even modelled for a TV commercial. However at present, he is doing a one year MBA, specialising in marketing and public relations at Edinburgh University.

6. Here comes the Visual Round:

6.1 Identify this legendary footballer of yesteryears who even has a street named after him in Calcutta.

6.2 This is the logo of a company which is making the headlines in the Sporting world. Identify the company.

6.3 Pope John Paul II was the first pope of the Internet age. Here he is seen sending his first email in a much televised event. What was this "email" all about ?

Answers:

1. Mohun Bagan (Really sad to see the state of affairs of the club I still love. A relegation would surely hurt all who still care)

2. They are types of cricket bats made by the Kookaburra company.

3. Matobo is the imaginary African country and Ku is the imaginary dialect from the film "The Interpreter - the first film that was allowed to be shot inside the UN )

4. Bill Gates,Paul Allen and Paul Gilbert.

5. Harshavardhan Navathe - India's first Crorepati from Kaun Banega Crorepati. (Well KBC also had a Couples round and a Junior KBC

Vijay and Arundhati Raul were the Crorepatis from the Couples Round whereas Ravi Mohan Saini was the Junior KBC winner)

6.1 The legendary footballer from Mohun Bagan - Gostho Pal

6.2 Kookaburra

6.3 The Pope apologised for the injustice committed by Roman Catholic Clergy in the Pacific Island Nations.

2005 Jaldi Quiz - 9

2005-04-17T17:07:00.000-05:00

Hi All,

Here are the answers to Jaldi Quiz - Round 9.

Congratulations to Yashavi Arun. His was the response with the maximum correct answers.

Answers:

1. What unique achievement connects Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson of Norway and Rabindranath Tagore of India ?

Ans: Besides being Nobel Prize Winners in Literature, they have also written the National Anthems of their countries. Tagore has also written the National Anthem of Bangladesh.

2. What is "Alltami" the ancient art of (most of us need to do this daily) ?

Ans: The art of balancing the hot and cold water taps of the shower. (Yes, this is from "The Meaning of Liff")

3. Connect Amita Marie with Tata Entertainment Company Limited.

Ans: Tata Young - the pop sensation from Thailand. Her middle name is Amita Marie and her website is managed by Tata Entertainment Company Limited.

4. With which brand would you associate Mahashay Ji ?

Ans: Mahashiyan Di Hatti - the makers of MDH masaale

5. This company manufactures the products - Chintoo,Chox,Rangeeli and 4ever. Though not available in India, most of the people see their ads thanks mainly to their local cable wallah. Name the company.

Ans: Kidco - the company is based in Karachi, Pakistan. Its ads can be seen in the pirated movie CDs aired by the friendly neignbourhood cable wallah.

2005 Jaldi Quiz - 8

2005-04-09T19:20:00.000-05:00

Hi All,

Here are the answers to the Round 8 of questions. The 6th question still remains answered. Anyone having any clue of the answer can reach me at the following id.

Mail your answers to: aniruddhadutta@gmail.com

Answers:

1. What connects the following CEOs - Tim Taft of Pizza Inn, Eric Schmidt of Google and Steve Jobs of Apple ?

Ans: All these CEOs draw an annual salary of $1.

2. It is made of cotton and linen blend with red and blue silk fibers running through it. A special and unknown blend of ink is used for printing purposes. It is starched to make it water resistant and pressed for a nice crisp look. What is the item mentioned above ?
Ans: The Dollar Note
3. A property developer Sir Jack Hayward has a school named after him in the Bahamas. He is also the owner of the Wolverhampton Wanderers FC. But what has been his contribution to the world of cricket ?
Ans: He sponsored the first ever World Cup Cricket Tournament for Women.

4. What unique cricketing record connects Martyn Moxon,Alex Tudor and Norman Yardley of England,John Beck and Dipak Patel of New Zealand, Rusi Surti of India, Maqsood Ahmed and Asim Kamal of Pakistan and Shane Warne of Australia ?
Ans: All these players have a Highest Test score of 99.

5. What connects the clothing lines launched by Serena Williams and Bono of U2 ?
Ans: Their clothing lines are words spelled backwards. Serena's is called Aneres (Serena spelled backwards) whereas Bono's is Edun (Nude spelled backwards)
The 6th question:
We all know that Kapil Dev's great knock of 175* against Zimbabwe in the 1983 World Cup was not captured on Video or was not telecast since BBC went to strike on that day. The Question is: What were the employees of the BBC striking against on that day ??
NO ANSWERS YET

2005 Jaldi Quiz - 7

2005-04-05T23:06:00.000-05:00

Answers:

1. Connect Adrian Florisz Dedel with Pope John Paul II.

Ans: They are the last two non Italian Popes. Adrian VI was from Netherlands of German ancestry. John Paul II born Karol Wojtyla was from Poland.

Addendum: Jay Srinivas from the QFI group adds on non Italian Popes: Adrian IV or Hadrian IV, born Nicholas Breakspear is the only Englishman who has occupied the papal chair (1154 to 1159).

2. What connects Castel Gandolfo in Italy to the Pope.

Ans: It is the summer residence of the Pope.

3. What was first mentioned in a letter of Pope Clement IV to his nephew in 1265 ?

Ans: The Fisherman's Ring. The Ring features features St. Peter fishing from a boat.

4. Applicants to this job must be Roman Catholic males of Swiss nationality who have completed basic training with the Swiss military and can obtain certificates of good conduct. Recruits must be between 19 and 30 and at least (5ft 9in) tall. Which job ?

Ans: The Swiss Guards.

5. What was first created in Ireland for the visit of Pope John Paul II in 1979 ?

Ans: The Popemobile.

The 6 th question: Which organisation has the motto "Nation Shall Speak Peace Unto Nation "

Ans: BBC.

2005 Jaldi Quiz - 6

2005-03-28T00:30:00.000-05:00

Answers

1. The Italian for this word is "slave", However off late this word has been hogging headlines all over the US for other reasons. What is the word ?

Answer: Schiavo (in the headlines due to the Terri Schiavo case)

2. What is a Perkins Brailler ?

Answer: The Perkins Brailler is a simple, inexpensive typewriter used to write Braille.

3. If the Red Ribbon is used as a symol for AIDS awareness, what does a Yellow ribbon symbolize ?

Answer: A yellow ribbon is a symbol associated with those waiting for the return of a loved one or of military troops who are temporarily unable to come home.

4. Seeking truth from facts is the motto of which political party?

Answer: Chinese Communist Party

5. Who are said to be belonging to the Sandwich generation ?

Answer: People who have to support both their children as well as their parents.

2005 Jaldi Quiz - 5

2005-03-28T00:28:00.000-05:00

Answers :

1. What is the claim to fame of a company called Scaled Composites ?

Answer: They recently developed the Global Flyer used by Steve Fossett for his record breaking flight. They also developed Spaceship One

2. Connect 55170-054,Camp Cupcake,Martha Helen Kostyra .

Answer: Martha Stewart (55170-054 was her Prison number, Camp Cupcake is how the Alderson Federal Prison Camp is referred to (where she was housed). The last is her maiden name)

3. Which electric supply company recently came out with an Electricity Bill in Braille ?

Answer: Reliance Energy

4. Sanjay Dutt's recently launched company is called SON. What does SON stand for ?

Answer: Son of Nargis

5. In computer storage media, what does WORM stand for ?

Answer: Write Once Read Many Times

6th question:

Why is March 14th celebrated as the Official Pi (the mathematical Pi) day ?

Answer: March 14, written 3-14 in the USA date format, is the official day for Pi Day derived from the common three-digit approximation for the number i.e. 3.14

2005 Jaldi Quiz - 4

2005-03-28T00:25:00.000-05:00

Answers

1. The Currency of this country had to be revalued recently since the many zeroes in the former currency was causing technical difficulties in accounting, statistic records,and data processing programs, as well as in various payment systems.Therefore, the international payment and exchange systems, which are shown by a maximum of 14-digit figures failed to recognize this currency. Name the country and the currency.
Answer: Turkey

2. Which television channel is jointly owned by Microsoft and General Electric ?
Answer: MSNBC

3. Charlie Lubin, a bakery entrepreneur, decided to name his new line of cheesecakes after his daughter. His company was purchased in 1956 by Consolidated Foods, where Mr. Lubin continued to serve as a senior executive for many years. In 1985, Consolidated Foods changed its name to the present name. Although the daughter has never had a management role at the corporation, she has appeared in some television advertisements for the bakery products. Today she is a philanthropist who spends most of her time supporting the education and advancement of women and girls in science. Name the daughter.
Answer: Sara Lee

4. The letters 'T' and 'G' will shortly lose their present meaning to traders on the New York Stock Exchange. What do they stand for?
Answer: T for ATT (to be taken over by SBC), G for Gillette (to be taken over by Proctor and Gamble)

5. Why were artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude in the news recently ?
Answer: The Gates in Central Park, New York.

2005 Jaldi Quiz - 3

2005-03-28T00:24:00.000-05:00

Answers

1. If John Doe:USA, then ___:Internet.
Answer: B1FF (B1FF as the most famous pseudonym on the Internet. The comparison has been drawn taking into account the anonymity associated with both the names).

2. Which newspaper in its first edition said ""We publish today the first issue of the ____, and we intend to issue it every morning (Sundays excepted) for an indefinite number of years to come.".
Answer: New York Times

3. The Duleep Trophy this year has teams from the 5 zones in India and the Bangladesh Cricket Board. Which was the 6th team to participate in the tournament last year ?
Answer: England A.

4. Oscar Trivia - Cate Blanchett nominated for Best Actress in a Supporting role this year for Aviator is playing the role of an actress who herself was an Oscar Award winner. Who ?
Answer: Katherine Hepburn.

5. Awards again, Amitabh Bachchan has won two National Awards. One was the Best Actor for Agneepath. Which was the other one?
Answer: Most Promising newcomer for Saat Hindustani.

The 6th question: Which place in New York Citywas known as Longacre till 1904 ? Hint: Gangs of New York.
Answer: Times Square.

2005 Jaldi Quiz - 2

2005-03-28T00:21:00.000-05:00

Answers

1. In Australia he is called Fred Nurk. In China, he is called Chan Siu Ming and in France, he is called Jean Dupont. How is he known in the USA ?
Answer: John Doe

2. The NHL (National Hockey League) in the US will not be played this year due to a strike after 86 years. What was the reason the NHL was not played in 1919 ?
Answer: Flu Epidemic

3. A patent application is lying in the US Patent and Trademark Office for the title of "The World's Second Home". Who has applied for this title ?
Answer: The City of New York

4. Of the Top 25 innovations in the technical world according to CNN, the Internet, Cell Phone, Personal Computers and Fiber Optics come at 1,2,3, and 4. Which innovation occupies the 5th position ?
Answer: Email

5. What did the HOLLYWOOD Sign on Mount Lee in California originally read (until 1945) ?
Answer: Hollywoodland

2005 Jaldi Quiz - 1

2005-03-28T00:17:00.000-05:00

Answers

1. What is common to Pooler Jones, Lazy Plate, Jayne Hill, Untorn Ribbon, Buckthorn, Barber Perfect, and Underwood Tack?
Answer: They are types of barbed wires.

2. In Latin, this word means a female animal used for breeding. It was first used in English in the 16th century to refer to the uterus or womb. In biology, it is the intercellular substance of a tissue, and in geology it is the natural material surrounding a metal or gem or fossil embedded in the earth. Commonest use is however in mathematics.
Answer: Matrix

3. If an egg is candled, what is being done?
Answer: Held up to a strong light to check the freshness and quality.

4. A Sleeve and a Tray are the principal components of which everyday object?
Answer: Matchbox

5. This famous doctor, after graduating, commemorated the occasion with a cartoon bearing the caption "Licensed to Kill". Who?
Answer: Arthur Conan Doyle.

Current Events:

1. The Jet Airways IPO is on its way. Name the only airline company to be listed in India so far ?
Answer: Royal Airlines Ltd.

2. Apple dislodged Google to be the Brand of the Year for 2004. Which Asian company figures in the Top five list ?
Answer: Al Jazeera (Sony was No. 1 in the Asian segment)

3. Name the people behind the company Plan B Entertainment ?
Answer: Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston.

4. Formula 1 - Jaguar made its exit for F-1 last season. Under what name is it going to make an entry this year ?
Answer: Red Bull.

5. Connect Aishwarya Rai with WorldWise Pants Limited.
Answer: Worldwide Pants Inc. produces David Letterman's Show on CBS and Aishwarya was interviewed on this show yesterday (8th Jan,2005)

2004 Jaldi Quiz - 8

2005-03-28T00:09:00.000-05:00

Answers

1. Connect "gamekeeper", "village leader" and "country dweller" to the Name searches in England.(on telephone directories and websites).
Answer: They are the literal meaning of the surnames: Parker, Patel and Paine.

2. What is the Hanuman Tekdi area in Vadodara, Gujarat famous or infamous for off late ?
Answer: The Best Bakery (infamous for the Best Bakery case involving Zaheera Sheikh)

3. Sterling Investment Pvt. Ltd. Are the producers of the evergreen "Mughal - e- Azam". Who owns the company ?
Answer: Shapoorji Pallonji Mistry

4. One of the first wholly made Indian commercial was for Dalda. Who sang the jingle ?
Answer: Talat Mehmood

5. What is the claim to fame of Mehnga Ram and the company "Beat-All Sports" ?
Answer: He works for the company Beat All Sports (BAS) that manufactures cricket bats for the likes of Sachin Tendulkar.

2004 Jaldi Quiz - 7

2005-03-28T00:08:00.000-05:00

Answers

1. With which electronics company would you associate the Digital Natural Image enhancement technology?

Answer: Samsung

2. This is the story of a very famous Socrates quote. Which one?

Socrates had such a cross wife, that her name, Xan-thip´pe, is still used to describe a scolding and bad-tempered woman. Whenever Xanthippe was angry, she used to scold poor Socrates roundly. He always listened without flying into a passion, or even answering her; and when her temper was too unbearable, he quietly left the house, and went about his business elsewhere. This gentleness and meekness only angered Xanthippe the more; and one day, when he was escaping as usual, she caught up a jug full of water and poured it over his head. Socrates good-naturedly shook off the water, smiled, and merely remarked to his companions,---------------.

Answer: After thunder comes rain

3. Of Chinese descent, why was US citizen Leroy Chiao become the first person to do recently?

Answer: He became the first person to vote in the American Presidential elections from space.

4. Why is Fremantle Media in the news recently?

Answer: They own the format for Indian Idol. The original program the "Idols" which premiered as "Pop Idol" on UK's ITV in 2001.

5. Sahara and Star went to court recently with regards to the "One" controversy. What change would Star do in the next three months after having agreed to the court's decision?

Answer: Star will change the logo. Star was advised by the Delhi High Court to use the word Star along with One in the logo.

6. A lady in the news controversially also edits the magazine "Communalism Combat". Who?

Answer: Teesta Setalvad.

2004 Jaldi Quiz - 6

2005-03-28T00:07:00.000-05:00

Answers

1. The Mumbai-based BackOps is said to be a call centre-like service, providing engineering detail and structural planning services to overseas civil engineering firms. Who is said to own 83 per cent of the company's shares. (Hint: Juanita)

Answer: Rahul Gandhi

2. This company was established during 1937 by the then ruler Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar. It was converted into public sector undertaking during 1947.H N Nagaraja Murthy is the current chairman and M V Hemantha Kumar the current managing director. The company was in the news recently. Which company is being referred here.

Answer: Mysore Varnishes and Paints Limited (MVPL)

3. Which countries are referred to as the BRIC countries ?

Answer: Brazil, Russia, India and China

4. What is referred to as "literally selling India's ancient ayurvedic civilization in a jar to the world" ?

Answer: Shahnaz Hussain's age defying Diamond Collection

5. Why was Lemon Communications in the news recently?

Answer: They would handle all creative duties for Times' channel Zoom.

2004 Jaldi Quiz - 5

2005-03-28T00:06:00.000-05:00

Answers

1. He was born Lawrence Harvey Ziegler and his numerous failed marriages is somewhat legendary. He is also credited with hosting the first worldwide phone-in television talk show. Who?

Answer: Larry King

2. This TV personality's comedy is heavily influenced by comedians Ernie Kovacs and Johnny Carson. His production company is called Worldwide Pants Incorporated . It has produced the popular TV series Everybody Loves Raymond.

Answer: David Letterman

3. This main promoters of this television company's IPO hold 32.6% each of its shares. The company has three subsidiaries ---- Media Ltd ,---- World Ltd. and --- News Ltd. The company was founded in 1988 and its Board of Directors include NR Narayana Murthy and KVL Narayan Rao. Name the company and its promoters.

Answer: New Delhi Television Ltd. (Parannoy and Radhika Roy)

4. This company's website's traffic jumped eight fold with close to 250,000 hits following a television event which received lots of media attention. The product in question costs $28,000 and 276 people received it for free during the television event. This product now also features on the reality series "Survivor". Name the product and the television event?

Answer: Pontiac's G6 Sedan / Oprah Winfrey Show 19th season

5. What would you be doing if you have "MillionaireIM" in your AOL Buddy list?
Answer: In the 2004-2005 season of the programme (Who Wants to be a Millionaire) , the format of the game will change. (Note that some of these changes only apply to certain versions) .Also, after reaching the 25,000 level, contestants are given a new lifeline, "Switch the Question". It allows them to dismiss the current question and to play a new one. However, they will not have any lifelines used on the discarded question returned to them. Finally, the "Ask the Audience" lifeline has been expanded. Instead of just the studio audience giving answers, users of the AOL Instant Messenger (sometimes referred to as IM) can participate too. If they have the name "MillionaireIM" in their buddy list, then they will receive an instant message if a contestant uses his or her "Ask the Audience" lifeline. The message will contain the question, and four possible answers, and they will send their answer back. This is the first time in history that the public has been able to interact with a game show while it is being taped. When the tape is shown, the results of the poll will first show the studio audience's response, then the IM users' response. This has been done as an effort to get everyone more involved with the program, and to interest the producers in the show once again.
I don't know whether KBC when it resumes would have these changes as well.

2004 Jaldi Quiz - 4

2005-03-28T00:05:00.000-05:00

Answers

What shouldn't one do while queuing to see Lenin's corpse in the gruesome mausoleum on Moscow's Red Square?

Answer: Put your hands in your pockets.

2. This product is based on a software developed at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. It is distributed under a licensing agreement with Spyglass, Inc. Portions of this software are based in part on the work of the Independent JPEG Group. Its Unix version contains software licensed from Mainsoft Corporation. Which product?

Answer: Internet Explorer (Click About Internet Explorer on the Help menu).

3.What is the claim to fame of the companies - Lernout and Hauspie Speech Products N.V., Bloomsbury Publishing Plc., SYNAPSE Developpement,Toulose(France) and SIGNUM Cia,Ltda,Quito,Ecuador ?

Answer: Lernout and Hauspie Speech Products N.V's International CorrectSpell is used by Microsoft for its spelling correction system in its Microsoft Office products. Bloomsbury Publishing Plc. Has developed the English thesaurus content. SYNAPSE Developpement,Toulose(France) has developed the Frech Spelling checker, hyphenator tool, dictionaries and spelling checker whereas SIGNUM Cia,Ltda,Quito,Ecuador has developed the Spanish Hypenation engine, Spelling engine and Thesaurus Engine. (Click About Microsoft Office Word on the Help menu).

4.This man who briefly worked as the finance manager of a company called Bell Equipments (manufacturers of heavy earth moving equipment) before his death, was famous and infamous for other reasons. Name him.

Answer: Hansie Cronje.

5.Which instrument literally means " made of clay " and is made out of a scooped out single block of wood , usually a neem tree or coconut ?

Answer: Mridangam.

2004 Jaldi Quiz - 3

2005-03-28T00:02:00.000-05:00

Answers

1. What is defined thus in music - 'To sing by rapidly alternating between natural voice and falsetto'?

Answer: Yodelling

2. This is about an organization's symbol. X's tree is alright but the tiger looks like some species of dog and I am afraid that the design ofa dog and a tree would arouse derision among the irreverent. X's tiger is distinctly good but the tree has spoiled it. The stem is too long and the branches too spidery.' On February 23, 1935, in the board meeting of X, it was decided to replace the lion in East India Company's Lion & Palm seal by a tiger which is more Indian. Several design's were submitted. The above was the comment of Sir James Taylor on examining various designs. Finally East India Company's seal was decided to be
continued as X's seal. Which organization ?

Answer: Reserve Bank of India

3. This term was first used in cricket early eighteenth century. It is an old middle English word and has a French origin, meaning 'not equal'. Which term ?

Answer: Umpire

4. The following excerpts are from the April 26th 1996 edition of the New York Times: "Bill Gates gets the credit but somebody else did most of the work'.'For the first time in this decade something from Microsoft has been shipped on time'. 'Regardless of the problems with this one calling Microsoft Support won't help'.
'For at least another year it'll suck." What was the topic of this article?

Answer: Birth of Bill and Melinda Gates' daughter

5. If you would hear these words what would be happening - "Close the book, quench the candle, ring the bell" ?

Answer: Excommunication from the church.

2004 Jaldi Quiz - 2

2005-03-27T23:59:00.000-05:00

Answers

1. What is the difference between a "gorilla" and a "guerilla" brand?

Answer: Gorilla - The no. 1 brand in the category.
Guerilla - This brand niches the gorilla brand.

2. I would have been a biscuit-maker," he said, when asked in an interview what he would have been had it not been for his current job! Biscuit manufacturing wouldn't have been a problem for him, as his father has been running Luckyland Biscuits for the past three decades? Whose quote?

Answer: Muttiah Muralitharan

3. What is the claim to fame of Mr. SC Malhotra and Mr. P. Kulashekharan in the Indian Parliament ?

Answer: They are the officers responsible for the supply of the information for Wit and Humoir, Poetry and Couplets in the Lok Sabha.

4. What is the significance of the languages - Bhutani, English (UK), Nauru and Sangho in terms of the Google search Engine ?

Answer: Well all these languages had 0% progress under the Google in your Language translation status report. That was at the time of framing the question. Since then English (UK) has seen 7% progress. The rest are still at 0%.

5. Who owns the Bangalore based company ATTS - (Aviation Technology And Turbine Services)

Answer: Maqsood Ali (better known as Lucky Ali)

2004 Jaldi Quiz - 1

2005-03-27T23:57:00.000-05:00

Answers

1. Connect the phrase "The razor-toothed piranhas of the genera Serrasalmus and Pygocentrus are the most ferocious freshwater fish in the world. In reality they seldom attack a human" to a 23 year old student from Singapore Kimberly Yeo.

Answer: Kimberly Yeo typed this phrase in 43.24 seconds to win the SMS contest (SingTel SMS Shootout) organized by SingTel. (This record is set to feature in the Guinness Book of World Records soon). - (http://home.singtel.com/news_centre/news_releases/2004_06_27.asp)

2. Which term coined by Nima Namchu and Nitin Berry of Leo Burnett in the lead up to a Reebok campaign in 1996-97 is now synonymous with Indian Cricket?

Answer: The Wall (Rahul Dravid)

3. After finishing his B.Com, he began his career with Filix India, where he worked as a sales executive. Following a brief stint with a guest house, he took up employment in Saudi Arabia. Returning to India, he set up a manpower consultancy service. But his big opportunity to run a multi-crore business'came when he bagged a licence from the Government in '94. Who is the person referred here?

Answer: Abdul Kareem Telgi

4. Fernanda Gaitam Salom's name is a regular on Indian television (especially the couch potatoes would never miss this one). What is her/his claim to fame?

Answer: The original story for the popular soap "Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahin" on Sony is by this person.

5. A TCS Question to round this one - Question from the TCS IPO Bid-Cum Application form - Why does the address: Sagardarshan 8,Worli Seaface,Mumbai feature in the form?

Answer: The address is Mr. S. Ramadorai's. (MD,TCS) The reason it features is because he is on of the Board of Directors and SEBI requires the information about the Board of Directors on the Red Herring Prospectus.

The Indian Couch Potato Quiz - The Answers

2005-03-27T23:34:00.000-05:00

Hi All,
This quiz is dedicated to the Indian Couch Potato. Though I dont claim myself to be one, my trivial instincts led me to pick these questions up while watching these Saas Bahu soaps. Hope you find them "challenging". Answers in a weeks time.

Mail answers to: aniruddhadutta@gmail.com

1. If Jassi works for Gulmohar, who works as a Secretary for the Chamatkar group of Industries.

Answer: Kareena Sood from Kareena Kareena (Zee TV)

2. What connects "Kyunki Saat Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi" to the movie "Aankhen" (starring Govinda)?

Answer: The Shivpuris. Ritu Shivpuri starred in Aankhen while her mother Sudha Shivpuri plays Ba in KSBKBT. Ritu's father Om Shivpuri was a popular character actor in Hindi films.

3. Earlier KSBKBT episodes carried a special thanks to Sachin Pilgaonkar (the actor director Sachin). Why ?

Answer: Sachin, the maker of the hit series Tu Tu Main Main had registered the title - Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi. When approached by Jeetendra for the title, he was happy enough to give it. Hence the thanks.

4. Which fictional Radio station broadcasts at the frequency 111.1 FM ?

Answer: Radio Curry (Kareena Kareena)

5. Which former Miss India contestants now play the roles of Mother in law - Daughter in law.

Answer: Smriti Malhotra Irani and Gauri Pradhan Tejwani (in KSBKBT - Tulsi and Nandini)

6. Why does Fernando Gaitam Salom's name appear on Indian Television ?

Answer: The original screenplay of the hit series Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahin is written by this guy.

7. What connects Amar Upadhyay, Inder Kumar and Ronit Roy ?

Answer: All of them played Mihir Virani on KSBKBT

8. Which TV Star also runs a Security Agency, Ace Security and Protection ?

Answer: Ronit Roy

9. The production house Optimystix Entertainment which produced the Indian Idol also produces a daily soap. Which one ?

Answer: Yeh Meri Life Hai (Sony)

10. Which television star is set to make his big screen debut in the film "Lips"?

Answer: Anuj Saxena (plays Abhay Kapoor in Kkusum on Sony)

11. Which serial had its lead going to St. Martins College ?

Answer: Yeh Meri Life Hai (Sony)

12. Which popular Indian TV villain appeared in the World’s first full length feature film sold online using peer-to-peer technology ?

Answer: Akashdeep Sehgal (Ansh Gujral - Virani from KSBKBT)

13. Identify the connection - Sunidhi Chauhan - Kareena Kareena,Shreya Ghoshal - Yeh Meri Life Hai, Shaan - Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahin.

Answer: The playback for the title track of these serials

14. What is the claim to fame of Colonel Raj Kapoor in the Indian television industry ?

Answer: He produced ad directed Fauji - Shah Rukh Khan's debut serial

15. Which TV stars once represented the Baroda and Sabarkantha constituencies in the Lok Sabha ?

Answer: Deepika Chikhalia (Sita from Ramayan) and Arvind Trivedi (Ravan from Ramayan)

16. Sudhir Dalvi played the patriarch "Govardhan ....." (surname would be a giveaway) in which popular Balaji soap ?

Answer: Virani (Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bau Thi - Star Plus)

17. Which Eagle Video Film production is the most award winning show on television.

Answer: Office Office (SAB TV)

18. What connects the following BSE scrip codes wrt. Indian Television - 532299,532515 and 532529 ?

Answer: 532299 (TV Eighteen - CNBC), 532515 ( TV Today ), 532529 (NDTV)

19. What is the contribution of Mr.Anil Wanvari to the Indian television industry ?

Answer: He is the CEO of indiantelevision.com which gives away the annual Indian Telly Awards.

20. Connect the families with their serials - Viranis -, Agarwals -,Basus -,Wadhwas -,Suris -,Kapoors -.

Answer: Viranis - Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi (Star Plus)

Agarwals - Kahaani Ghar Ghar Ki (Star Plus)

Basus - Kasauti Zindagi Kay (Star Plus)

Wadhwas - Kumkum Pyaara Sa Bandhan (Star Plus)

Suris - Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahin (Sony)

Kapoors - Kkusum (Sony)