K-Circle-Weekly-Quiz-June-2023.pptx

Weekly Quiz at K-Circle, Hyderabad's prominent open quiz club.

1. K-Circle Weekly Quiz June-2023 Quizmaster : Pankaj Rodey

2. Infinite Pounce Clockwise (+10 / -5)

3. Diplomatic gaffes …. In 1970, the president of country X was invited to the US as a part of the 25th anniversary of the UN.  US president Nixon said to this guest that the time had come to restore diplomatic relations between the US and X. This, he noted, would permit resumption of American aid and one of its benefits might be the US's special capabilities in desert farming. The stunned visitor, who had come from a country with excessive rainfall, tried to shift to a more promising subject. He inquired whether Nixon was satisfied with the operation of the space tracking station the US maintained on his island. Now it was Nixon’s turn to be discomfited as he set about frantically writing on his yellow pad. Tearing off a page, he handed a note to his foreign policy expert, Henry Kissinger, which read: “Why the hell do we have a space tracking station in a country with which we do not have diplomatic relations?” Nixon confused the island country X with another, similar sounding country Y, which had broken diplomatic relations with US in 1967 as a result of U.S. support for Israel during the Six-Day War. 1

4. Answer follows…

5. X: MAURITIUS Y: MAURITANIA

6. Diplomatic gaffes …. In March 2005, an African country _X_’s government summoned the US envoy to the country and requested clarification regarding statements in the US senate that the USA had carried out nuclear tests in that country. The American administration sent assurances to _X_’s government that the area where the nuclear experiments and explosions took place was an area _Y_ in Nevada State in the USA and not the country _X_. The reason for this confusion was a spelling mistake committed by an editor of the Armed Forces Committee at the US Congress, when he mistakenly typed the word _Y_ as _X_ and put it at the minutes of the committee. What is X, Y? Visual clue is for _Y_. 2

7. Answer follows…

8. X: SUDAN Y: SEDAN

9. Rhyming locations …. In Jan 1945, US president FDR and Winston Churchill of UK met at a place _X_ in the Mediterranean sea. The purpose of this meeting was to present a united front in a meeting with Stalin which was scheduled to be a few days later at the location _Y_ in Eastern Europe. Name the rhyming locations _X_ and _Y_. 3

10. Answer follows…

11. X: MALTA Y: YALTA

12. Monuments … In what authorities described as a tribute to a very important part of the town’s history, this structure was installed in Jan 2023 in which town? 4

13. Answer follows…

14. Monuments …. As a tribute to an object associated with this town since 56 years now, in which town was this monument inaugurated in Feb 2020? It weighs over 200 kilograms is embedded with colorful stones and decorated by the city’s famous ‘ zari ’ embroidery. 5

15. Answer follows…

16. BAREILLEY Jhumka Gira Re from Mera Saya (1966)

17. Pakistan …. Named for an honorific title given to a saint, the logo of this team from Pakistan Cricket Super League (PSL) features a saint performing the Sufi Whirling Dance, a tribute to the Sufi culture of the region that the team represents. Which team? Hence, what 3 words from a famous qawwali written by Amir Khusrow appear at the bottom of the logo? 6

18. Answer follows…

19. Qalandar ( Dama dam Mast)

20. Pakistan ….. During the devastating Turkey earthquake of 2023, Turkish authorities found that the aid received from Pakistan was the same relief material that Turkey had sent to Pakistan during June 2022 floods in Pakistan. People on Twitter mocked Pakistan over the faux pas, with trolls dubbing it a ‘-- -- moment’. The blanked sweet dish is known to be packaged and repackaged as a gift during Diwali in India. 7

21. Answer follows…

22. This political border between Poland and USSR, proposed in 1919, was proposed by and named after which person? The person in question, is probably more famous for another geo-political demarcation, earlier in their career causing significant political repercussions. 8

23. Answer follows…

24. CURZON LINE (1905 partition of Bengal)

25. Fauna …. At the Australian Linux conference in 2009 held at Hobart, Linus Torvalds, Linux creator announced that the official Mascot of the contemporary version of Linux will be changed from the traditional penguin to this. Which animal is this and what is the mascot called, a 1 letter change in the name of the original penguin? 9

26. Answer follows…

27. TASMANIAN DEVIL Tuz (Penguin mascot is called Tux )

28. Fauna …. Name these 2 animals whose common names are in top 2 in an ordered exhaustive list of animals. 10

29. Answer follows…

30. Aardvark, Aardwolf (First and second animal in Dictionary)

31. “ Sur ” is a fictional short story by the American writer Ursula K. Le Guin , first published in 1982. The subtitle is " A Summary Report of the Yelcho Expedition " The Spanish word “ Sur ” is the literal translation of the single-word title of another non-fiction literary work about a travelogue, published in 1919. So, what does Spanish “Sur” mean? Who authored the 1919 work? 11

32. Answer follows…

33. “ SOUTH ” Shackleton ’s description of his Antarctic expedition from 1914 to 1917 is titled “South”. (Chilean Navy's Yelcho , a small steamer was used to rescue some men from the expedition stranded on Elephant Island.)

34. The debris from the massive eruption of Tambora volcano of 1815 caused ‘A year without summer’. Crops were killed - either by frost or a lack of sunshine. This caused food to be scarce and expensive. Because the price of oats increased, it was more expensive for people to feed their livestock and lack of crops also caused massive slaughter of livestock for human consumption. This is considered to have been a factor that inspired a German man named Karl Drais to invent what? 12

35. Answer follows…

36. BICYCLE . A primitive version of early bicycles was called Draisine

37. The present day New York City traces its origins to a trading post founded on the southern tip of Manhattan Island by European colonists in 1624. The settlement was then named New _X_ for a European city. The city came under British control in 1664 and was renamed for the Duke of York. In 1673, the city was regained by the European power and was renamed New _Y_ for one year, as a tribute to a ruling king. 13

38. Answer follows…

39. NEW AMSTERDAM, NEW ORANGE

40. According to a series of papers in 1916 by Albert Einstein, when more atoms occupy a higher energy state than a lower one under normal temperature equilibrium, it is possible to force atoms to return to an unexcited state by stimulating them with the same energy as would be emitted naturally. The practical scientific application of this theory forms the foundation of 2 technologies _X_ and _Y_ for which the Nobel prize in Physics in 1964 and the one in 2018 were respectively awarded. In Electrical Engineering, a _Z_ is a scaled line whose length represents an AC quantity that has both magnitude and direction (phase) which is frozen at some point in time. Name the rhyming words X, Y, Z. 14

41. Answer follows…

42. X: MASER, Y: LASER (Magnetic/Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation) Z: PHASOR

43. Name this country with the Sisserou parrot at the center of the flag. Name this national capital, home to one of the tallest flagpoles in world. And connect 15

44. Answer follows…

45. DOMINICA (MEANS SUNDAY ). TAJIKISTAN CAPITAL IS DUSHANBE (MEANS MONDAY )

46. According to a popular legend, which national flag was inspired from the colors of the Parihuanas flamingos sighted by General Jose de San Martin along the coast of the Paracas peninsula? 16

47. Answer follows…

48. Pink and white flag of Peru.

49. Words like Enclave, (a territory enclosed within foreign territory), Conclave (a meeting in a closed place) come from Latin clavis meaning which object of everyday use? The bone Clavicle shown here is probably named so due to its resemblance to this object. 17

50. Answer follows…

51. KEY (Latin Clavis )

52. Anatomy …. _X_ is a long bone in the arm that runs from the shoulder to the elbow. According to a theory, the common name for _Y_ is a misnomer and is thought to be a pun, based on its proximity to the bone _X_. X Y 18

53. Answer follows…

54. X: Humerus Y: Ulnar Nerve (Common name is Funny Bone)

55. Anagrams (Written)

56. 2 of the neighboring countries of Turkey have currencies whose names are anagrams of the name of currency of Turkey. Name both countries and the currencies. 1

57. 2 Whose biography is this? His second name is the anagram of the name of the current ruling political party of Canada. Which party?

58. First proposed by Carl Jung, in psychology what name is given to a period of development during which a girl has increasing love for her father and increasing animosity toward her mother, usually between the ages of 3 and 6. It is named after the daughter of Agamemnon in Greek mythology and is a girl's analogous experience to the Oedipus complex. What word X is used for any uncrystallized syrup made during the refining of sugar, the most common forms of such syrup are golden syrup, a pale variety, and a darker variety known as black X, similar to molasses? 3

59. Professor Abraham ---- is a fictional character from a work of British literature of the 1890s. In the book, he is described as a doctor, professor, lawyer, philosopher, scientist and metaphysic. His last name comes from the name of a province in central Sweden and may also sound like the name of the national capital of another Nordic country. What is his last name? 4

60. What word is used for this type of material used for roofs and such beaches that consists primarily of pebbles rather than sand?

61. Having acquired an international reputation as bankers and lenders, the natives of the Lombardy region of Italy began arriving in England in the 14th century, establishing themselves in London. Soon the term Lombard was being used for “lenders”. Lending also involved pawning goods as security for loans. Pawn Shops often incorporated warehouses for their larger objects. Hence the word _X_ which is derived from the noun ‘Lombard’ is still used for “surplus or disused articles”. 5

62. What is this type of road safety feature called?

63. In 2010, the body of this Danish was exhumed. Greenish stains around a specific part of the corpse contained traces of copper and zinc, indicating that the famous prosthetic was made of brass rather than a precious metal, as was widely believed. Who? As a part of the 1919 Treaty of Versailles, when Germany was required to pay 10s of Billions in gold, this prolific German scientist who won the Nobel prize in Physics in 1918, led a major pseudoscientific project to secretly recover gold from seawater to pay off Germany's war reparations. Who? 6

64. Anagrams Answers

65. 2 of the neighboring countries of Turkey have currencies whose names are anagrams of the name of currency of Turkey. Name both countries and the currencies. 1

66. Turkey Lira Iran Rial Georgia Lari

67. 2 Whose biography is this? His second name is the anagram of the name of the current ruling political party of Canada.

68. BRAILLE LIBERAL

69. First proposed by Carl Jung, in psychology what name is given to a period of development during which a girl has increasing love for her father and increasing animosity toward her mother, usually between the ages of 3 and 6. It is named after the daughter of Agamemnon in Greek mythology and is a girl's analogous experience to the Oedipus complex. What word X is used for any uncrystallized syrup made during the refining of sugar, the most common forms of such syrup are golden syrup, a pale variety, and a darker variety known as black X, similar to molasses? 3

70. ELECTRA TREACLE

71. Professor Abraham ---- is a fictional character from a work of British literature of the 1890s. In the book, he is described as a doctor, professor, lawyer, philosopher, scientist and metaphysic. His last name comes from the name of a province in central Sweden and may also sound like the name of the national capital of another Nordic country. What is his last name? 4

72. What word is used for this type of material used for roofs and such beaches that consists primarily of pebbles rather than sand?

73. HELSING SHINGLE

74. Having acquired an international reputation as bankers and lenders, the natives of the Lombardy region of Italy began arriving in England in the 14th century, establishing themselves in London. Soon the term Lombard was being used for “lenders”. Lending also involved pawning goods as security for loans. Pawn Shops often incorporated warehouses for their larger objects. Hence the word _X_ which is derived from the noun ‘Lombard’ is still used for “surplus or disused articles”. 5

75. What is this type of road safety feature called?

76. LUMBER RUMBLE

77. In 2010, the body of this Danish was exhumed. Greenish stains around a specific part of the corpse contained traces of copper and zinc, indicating that the famous prosthetic was made of brass rather than a precious metal, as was widely believed. Who? As a part of the 1919 Treaty of Versailles, when Germany was required to pay 10s of Billions in gold, this prolific German scientist who won the Nobel prize in Physics in 1918, led a major pseudoscientific project to secretly recover gold from seawater to pay off Germany's war reparations. Who? 6

78. TYCHO BRAHE FRITZ HABER

79. Infinite Pounce Counter clockwise (+10 / -5)

80. In his 1851 book, German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer describes a philosophy called the _X_ dilemma. Schopenhauer conceived this metaphor to describe what he considers to be the state of the individual in relation to others in society. The _X_ dilemma suggests that just like too many _X_s coming together for warmth can not stay together without harming each other, despite goodwill, human intimacy cannot occur without substantial mutual harm, and what results is cautious behavior and weak relationships. 25

81. Answer follows…

82. HEDGEHOG / PORCUPINE

83. This is a typical night time photo of a city, taken from space. The Right part, illuminated by sodium vapor lamps appears yellow and the Left part, illuminated by mercury vapor lamps appears white. Which city? 26

84. Answer follows…

85. “What used to be East Berlin still utilizes nearly 40,000 sodium- vapour lamps, which appear orange, while what used to be West Berlin has upgraded to mercury vapour , fluorescent or LED lamps that appear white.”

86. Which Englishman was one of the first members of the so-called Geological society of London and the author of these books published in 1811 and 1822? He is more famous as an eponym in a totally different and unrelated field and as the author of a groundbreaking essay published in 1817 in that field. 27

87. Answer follows…

88. JAMES PARKINSON, THE EPONYM FOR PARKINSON’S DISEASE

89. In his immensely popular book Cosmos , Carl Sagan says: “Only once before in our history was there the promise of a brilliant scientific civilization. Beneficiary of the Ionian Awakening, it had its citadel at _X_, where 2,000 years ago the best minds of antiquity established the foundations for the systematic study of mathematics, biology, astronomy, literature, geography and medicine: We build on those foundations still. From the time of its creation in the third century B.C. until its destruction seven centuries later, it was the brain and heart of the ancient world.” What is X and what specific ubiquitous technology takes its name from X? 28

90. Answer follows…

91. LIBRARY OF ALEXANDRIA AMAZON ALEXA

92. What is the highest award of the Department of Posts at National level for overall performance and excellence? This award is aptly named for a literary work which involves an unusual mode of long-distance communication. 29

93. Answer follows…

94. MEGHDOOT

95. In a 2009 TED talk about India’s emergence as world’s prominent “soft power” and talking specifically about India’s “soft power” influence in Afghanistan, Shashi Tharoor said that, in early 2000s, in Afghanistan, there was a spike in the sale of generator sets, Late evening wedding banquets had to be canceled or rescheduled and reportedly, there was an increase in theft crimes in late evening, much to the annoyance of conservative religious leaders. What was the reason for this? 30

96. Answer follows…

97. In the 17th century, Calculations conducted by English mathematician Edmund Halley suggested that the comet seen in 1680 swung by the Earth every 575 years. Working backward, another mathematician William Whiston noted that one such cosmic encounter occurred in 2342 B.C. Whiston argued that when this comet passed close to Earth, the gravitational pull of the comet fractured the planet’s crust. He argued that the fractured crust of Earth, the saturation of the upper atmosphere with excess water due to the vaporous tail of the comet and the tidal forces caused by the comet were the reasons behind a specific event that he argued occurred around 2342 B.C. These conclusions documented by Whiston allegedly cost him the prestigious Cambridge Lucassian chair of Mathematics. Which event did Whiston attempt to explain? 31

98. Answer follows…

99. 40 days of rainfall and Noah’s flood

100. According to this biographer, the most famous work for which this person is known came out of his obsession with ‘lists’ which he created as a way to cope up with his bouts of depression. Whose biography? 32

101. Answer follows…

102. PETER ROGET

103. Unlike monarchies like the UK, Thailand, Denmark etc. who have a King, Queen or equivalent as the head of the state, 3 prominent countries - Liechtenstein, Andorra and _X_ are officially ruled by a regnant-monarch with a title different from that used by the head of the state of other monarchies. Hence, what word is used in the official names of these countries? Which is the 3 rd country, _X_, also the name of a product by Parle? 33

104. Answer follows…

105. “PRINCIPALITY” AS THESE STATES ARE RULED BY A “PRINCE” OR “PRINCESS” MONACO

106. What connects: The mythological discovery of the dye “Tyrian Purple”, dye, depicted in a 17th century painting by Flemish painter Peter Paul Rubens. A famous scientific study about “Classical conditioning” published in 1890s. In 1940, the discovery of the 17000 years old Lascaux cave paintings in France. The inspiration for the invention - by Swiss engineer George De Mistral in 1941 - of a product whose name is still used as a genericized trademark. 34

107. Answer follows…

108. DOGS WERE INVOLVED IN THESE DISCOVERIES

109. Dogs …. For ancient Greek astronomical observers, the appearance of this bright star in the sky just before sunrise was an indication of the onset of hot, sultry days of summer, epidemic diseases, lethargy and bad luck. In ancient literature, the days following the spotting of this star were called “dog days of summer”, a phrase still used to indicate the most uncomfortable part of summer in the Northern Hemisphere. Which star and why the phrase “dog days”? 35

110. Answer follows…

111. SIRIUS. DOG BECAUSE SIRIUS IS A PART OF CONSTELLATION CANIS MAJOR.

112. Established in 1931 by Guglielmo Marconi, who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1909, what organization is this the logo of? 36

113. Answer follows…

114. Corporate strategies ….. In business strategy, this is a tactic used by a firm that is the target of a potential hostile takeover by another firm. As a part of this tactic, in an attempt to scare off the would-be acquirer, the target company may sell off its assets and dip into cash reserves to acquire enough funds to buy a majority stake in the other company, thus effectively turning the tables and gobbling up the firm making the attempt of hostile takeover. This strategy is aptly named after which agile fictional character, first created in Japan in 1980? 37

115. Answer follows…

116. PACMAN DEFENSE

117. Corporate strategies ….. In 2022 when Elon Musk announced a hostile takeover of Twitter, Twitter board announced a “limited duration shareholder rights plan”. Under the plan, if any person acquires ownership of 15% or more of Twitter’s outstanding common stock without the board’s approval, other shareholders will be allowed to purchase additional shares at a significant discount. Such a strategy of dissuading an outside takeover attempt by either making the company less desirable, is aptly named after what object that would be used by undercover spies if they thought they were about to be caught? 38

118. Answer follows…

119. POISON PILL STRATEGY

120. In South Korea, every year, 2 nd Thursday of November is the day of Suneung . On this day, the stock market opens a few hours late, local churches and temples see unusually large crowds, the government grounds aircrafts or reroutes flights to keep the noise levels low and a free police escort is arranged for anyone getting stuck on the road. What exactly is Suneung ? 39

121. Answer follows…

122. THE UNIVERSITY ENTRANCE EXAM

123. In 2012, Britain's National Army Museum conducted an online poll of around 8,000 people which produced a short-list of five men to compete for the title of “Britain's greatest military enemy”. The criterion for the contest was that each commander needed to have personally led an army on the battlefield against British forces. Beating Napoleon, Mustapha Kemal and Erwin Romel , which person got maximum votes in this poll? 40

124. Answer follows…

125. George Washington. Other 4 were: Napoleon, Mustapha Kemal, Michel Collins, Erwin Romel

126. In UK, the suffix – wich in the names of places like Northwich , Middlewich, Nantwich etc refer to the prevalence in these places of mines of what commodity? Many of these – wich towns were established as settlements in Anglo-Saxon England and were characterized by extensive artisanal activity and trade. These settlements were also known by another 8 lettered word. This word also appears in the names of several small shops in India and defined in dictionary as “a store carrying many different kinds of merchandise”. Which word? 41

127. Answer follows…

128. SALT, EMPORIUM

129. Which country’s currency is named “Balboa” in the honor of the Spanish explorer Vasco De Balboa? Its neighboring country, Costa Rica has a currency called colón . What is the origin of the word “ colón ”? 42

130. Answer follows…

131. PANAMA Cristóbal Colón, Spanish name of CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS