KQA Ganesh Nayak Memorial Quiz - Finals
This quiz for individuals was held in November , 1998 at the Canara Union
Quizmaster - Rajiv Rai 

Questions

1. What is common to: Zeenat Aman, Meenakshi Sheshadhri, Poonam Dhillon, Tina Munim and Aishwarya Rai

2.  This French ambassador to the Portuguese court was given a tobacco plant from Florida.  He brought it back to France and went into business with the 'American powder.'  Who?

3.  What change in rules of ODI, did the last ball bowled by Ian Botham to Colin Croft on 28th November 1979, bring about? (incidentally Croft was clean bowled)

4.  The following is a reason for what (give me a 8 word phrase)
'It was the natural and inevitable effect of immoderate greatness; prosperity ripened the principle of decay; the causes of destruction multiplied with the extent of conquest, as soon as time or ccident had removed the artificial supports, the suspended fabric yielded to the pressure of its own weight'

5.  Which rock group gets its name from the fact that leader's father worked for the CIA?

6.  Where will you find the following:
i) John Quincy's struggle with the Federalist Party
ii) Daniel Webster's support on Clay's compromise of north-south position
iii) Edmund Ross of Kansas saving of President Johnson from impeachment
iv) George Norris' (of Nebraska) support in 1928 Al Smith
v) Senator Taft's unpopular stand against the Nurnberg trial

7.  For Aasman, Dalsukh Pancholi introduced a new composer.  Like all composers of that era he wanted Lata to sing his songs, which he had composed keeping her voice in mind.  However, Lata could not make it to the recordings for three days due to other commitments.  What happened as a result?

8.  Which scientist who has a unit of relative speed named after him, ironically scorned the theory of relativity and rejected the existence of atoms as a 'mental artifice' who?

9. Give me the fifth in this series: the devil came at night (Germany), Gates of Paris (France), the Nights of Cabiria (Italy), Nine Lives (Norway)

10. What term which had been used in a derogatory sense, till now, was provided respectability in 1933 by Walt Disney in his acceptance speech when he won the best cartoon award for the "Three Little Pigs"

11.In its formative years Oscars faced lots of teething problems thanks to the overt machinations of Louis B Mayer and MGM.  Weeks before the 1935 Academy Award the directors broke away to form a guild.  There was a call to boycott the Academy Awards.  Membership went down from 600 to 40.  The Academy was left with only one staff.  Ultimately the academy managed to survive and ward off the boycott.  But, tell me who was the only staff left at the academy?

12.  At the 1948 awards ceremony, John Huston went up to accept the best screenplay award for 'The Treasure of Sierra Madre' (that night he would also win the best director and his father the best supporting actor).  The MC Robert Montgomery quipped 'don't worry William Shakespeare was not nominated'.  What was he referring to?

13.  In the history of Academy awards, what was 'an American in Paris' starring Leslie Caron and Gene Kelly, the second film to do.  The first film did it 12 years ago? By the end of the decade every film would be doing it.

14.  By now stories of Robert De Niro's preparation for 'The Raging Bull', are legion.  The special diet to gain weight, the rigorous training.  Under whom did he train for the boxing lessons, this person was one of the advisories for the movie?

15.  When she won the best actress Oscar for 'The Divorcee' in 1930, Joan Crawford remarked, 'What do you expect, she sleeps with the boss'.  Who?

16.  What is common to Paul Revere's ride from Boston to Lexington and Colin Welland (the scripwriter for Chariots of Fire) acceptance speech at the 1981 awards ceremony?

17.  In which language do all nouns end in 'o', all adjectives in 'a', all adverbs n 'e' and all infinitives in 'i'? In Charlie Chaplin's 'The Great Dictator' the signboards in the Jewish quarter of Tomania, were in the same language.

18.  Which tune composed by John Foulds is a melody of 8 seconds duration, repeated with intervals of 10 seconds in between, the instruments used being the violin, viola, cello and the tanpura?

19.  From rock music.  ' sort of went to bed with this guy that i liked and suddenly the next morning, i see these three in-laws standing there' who were the three in-laws?

20.  Of what was Ogden Nash talking when he said - 'candy is dandy, but liquor is quicker'

21.  A lay order of the Roman Catholic Church, devoted to education, the order was founded in France in 1680.  it moved to California in 1880.  they soon started making their own wine for their own table and sacramental use.  today they are making headlines in god's own country - Kerala.  Why?

22.  In the 1930s in Britain, who on what occasion said, "our cock will not fight"?

23.  Stanley Baldwin used the phrase "power without responsibility" to describe the powers of the press barons like Beaverbrook and Rothermere.  However, this phrase was coined by a cousin of Baldwin.  Who?

24.  MF Hussain tries out variations in the way he signs his paintings.  he has done it in various Indian languages.  he has signed it as mcbull.  but how did he sign the Madhuri Dixit series of paintings?

25.  This singer from Trinidad called Williard Harris won the annual singing competition in the West Indies in 1980; later he wrote the following words -
Curtly Ambrose real fast
Curtly Ambrose is class
Curtly Ambrose is unsurpassed
Curtly Ambrose is a gem
Curtly Ambrose is a problem
curtly is too fast for them....
How do we better know him?

26.  Arrows used for hunting animals and hunting people (in wars) differ in what single significant respect?

27.  Microscopic defects in the vitreous humor of the eye gives rise to an abnormality called Musca Volitantes.  90% of human beings suffer from them.  What is ~?

28.  During WWII no church bells rang in britain for 5 years.  why?

29.  On aug 24th 1938, churchbells in England rang out 364 times in celebration. what was the occasion?

30.  Dundrearies are long flowing side whiskers.  these were named after Lord Dundreary who sported these moustaches in a 19th century play by EA. Sothern.  Name the play?

31.  Vasco Da Gama anchored near Calicut on 17 May, 1498, he got a warm reception from the Hindu ruler who had the hereditary title of Zamorin.  Vasco's men surprisingly prayed in a Hindu temple, why did they do so?

32.  "Testing: the quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog's back, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten"  how is this message significant?

33.  On the internet search engine Altavista what is the name of the translating software used to translate documents from one language to another?

34.  Alvin Toffler's 'future shock' initially appeared in serialised form in which magazine?

35.  Percy Holmes and Herbert Sutcliffe had a huge partnership for Yorkshire vs Essex in 1932.  According to legend, what did this give rise to?

36.  In order to prevent the baby Zeus from being swallowed by his father Kronos, the mother Rhea dressed a stone in swaddling clothes.  Raised to manhood in a cave, Zeus came back and made his father disgorge the stone, which was treasured as a relic.  Which relic?

37.  In 18th century England when there was a debate regarding the relative merits of two composers Handel and Bononcini, a person tried to settle the difference through the following doggerel.  give its last line -
'Some say compared to Bonancini
that Mynheer Handel's but a ninny
others aver that he to Handel
is  scarcely fit to hold a candle
strange all this difference should be
___________________________

38.  What famous message was sent to Amintius announcing a victory over Pharnaces, son of Mithridates at Zela in Asia Minor in 47 BC?

39.  What is significant about the name of the heroine of Enid Blyton's Mallory Towers?

40.  Two authors made a deal.  One would write a space travel story and the other would write a time travel story.  The space travel story eventually became CS lewis' 'Perelandra Trilogy'.  What did the time travel story end up as?

41.  In early twentieth century, watches were basically meant waist coat watches which you remove from the coat and use.  One of the aviators of the time, Alberto Santos-Dumont wanted a more accessible watch.   He asked a friend of his to design one and the wristwatch was born.  Who was the friend?

42.  What was the last occasion (and probably only) in history that Austria, France, Britain, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and USA fought on the same side?

43.  What word comes from Irish for a pursuer, first applied to irish robbers around 1680?  It was applied to the most hot-headed supporters of the Royal Prerogative, but now it means something different.

44.  Mythology.  What is an offspring of the union between a God and a Mortal called (example Hercules)?

45.  Who is the only Egyptian national to have won the Singles Wimbledon title?

46.  What is common to the following birds - pigeon, bobwhite, chickadee, chuckwill's widow, cock, hoopoe, whipoorwill and kiwi?

47.  The Aristotle-Ptolemy geocentric model of the universe was challenged by the heliocentric model of Copernicus.  This model did not gain favour (read the sleepwalkers for more details) till Kepler and Galileo started advocating it.  The deathblow was dealt Galileo built his telescope and looked at the heavens.  What did he see in the telescope, that really shook the old theory?

48.  Of what product is the company "Mysore Paints and Varnishes Ltd." the only authorised manufacturer in india?

49.  He played a cameo role in Shyam Benegal's "Bharat Ek Khoj".  He quit acting and plunged into business, sold carpets and worked on an oil rig.  He owes his name to a hit movie.  Who?

50.  We now return our souls to the creator
As we stand on the edge of eternal darkness
Let our chant fill the void
In order that others may know
In the land of the night
The ship of the sun is drawn by the ________ ____

51.  In pre-independence days who was the female model featured in Godrej ads for hair-oil, soap and eau-de-cologne

52.  "The hatch between the two ships opened.  The Commanders stepped out and handed each other a pink carnation."  Description of what event?

53.  Which retail chain gets it name from the Hamburger loving character in Popeye comics?

54.  Between which two persons did the first recorded piece of Anglo-Indian correspondence take place?

55.  How do the people of Pentecoast Island in the South Pacific ensure a good harvest of yam?

56.  This scientist made original contribution to the mathematization of heat and was the first to study the Greenhouse Effect.  We know him for certain results in maths, which he invented while studying the heat problem. Who?

57.  This surgeon had his voice completely disfigured by diptheria, contracted when  he bravely sucked out the poison from a diptheria patient earning a citation from Queen Victoria.  He was interested in crime and helped the police to solve a number of baffling murders including reputedly the identity of Jack the Ripper.
He devoted much of his time to crusading fro nurses and bringing dignity to their profession.  His only published work is 'Notes on surgery for nurses'.  Who?

58. Which river flowing through phrygia is supposed to have given Daedalus his idea for the labyrinth.?

59. When this club was disbanded in 1876, the entire money in the bank was withdrawn in the form of silver coins.  These coins were then melted down and a cup was made.  What is this cup called and for what contest is this cup used today?

60. A good friend of Ronald Reagan, he was the founder of the Diners Club.   Who?

61. Where will you find a representation of Mars with his sword and shield and Venus admiring her beauty in a hand mirror?

62. Raj Kapoor as a matter of principle never lends his songs to Chitrahaar.  He relented on only one occasion.  What?

63. Literature.  ' It lasts all the year round.  one can buy houses, lands, trades, places, honours, preferments, titles, titles, countries, kingdoms, pleasures and delights of all sorts'.  What is being described here?

64. What is the British imprint of Bantam books called? (no additional marks, but can you tell me why?)

65. Dante Gabriel Rossetti broke off relations with the creator of this character because he thought it was a caricature of himself.  Which character?

66. While still in jail awaiting execution, in 1949 this person wrote a book titled "Principles of Successful Administration".  Who?

67. What is the period including christmas and the previous 4 sundays called?

68. Kiran Kher had a credit in "Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge" which is the first of it kinds.  For what?

69. Connect Agatha Christie with Ray Bradbury and Kingsley Amis with PG Wodehouse?

70. Dustin Hoffman was named after his mother's favourite cowboy hero.  But what was the pet name by which she called him as a kid?

71. He was christened 'Eldrick' and has been described by newsweek as one eighth native American, one eighth African American, one quarter Chinese, one quarter White and one quarter Thai.  Who is he?

72. During the exile of Rama who in Ayodhya slept throughout for 14 years and why?

73. Born in 1863, son of a doctor (who wasa amateur phrenologist), he invented anthropometry which was put into practice on Dec. 13th, 1882.  In the Dreyfus case, he was called in to study the handwriting of the treasonable document and unequivocally asserted that it was in Dreyfus’ hand.  He was subsequently proved wrong.

74. Who wrote the following books - - "Absent in Spring", "The Burden", "A Daughter's a Daughter',  "giant's Bread", "The Rose and the Yew Tree", "Unfinished Portrait"

75. Which character in Hindu mythology got his name from his pot shaped head?

76. What is the name of the data access technique that permits sets of records of to accessed very effciently at speeds compared to single record indexed access.  With this technique, some complex data base  operations ran 1000 times faster than before.  The internal research team working on FOXPRO decided upon this name after having watched "North By North West"

77. A printer’s son born in the beginning of the 19th century in Essen, Germany combined his knowledge of bookmaking with his love for fact gathering to create this reference book trusted for its accuracy.  His sons and grandsons followed his precept and bu the decade of the 1940s it was a household name.  During the war, herman goering trusted it more than his costly intelligence reports.  The british, enraged, retaliated and in 1943, the RAF struck at Leipzig unloading tons of bombs on its printing plant.  Name the reference book?

78. In 1856, a British civil servant was entrusted the job of paying Indian Moguls their pensions.  Many undeserving  recipients were known to be collecting under false names.  In one case a pension had been doled out to the same name for the last 200 years.  So what did the civil servant do?
 

About KQA       News        Quizzes        Links        Honours        Main        Home        Back