2. STANDING RULES
• 20 QUESTIONS IN PRELIMS. 1,5,10,15 AND 20 ARE STAR
MARKED. EIGHT TEAMS MAKE IT TO THE FINALS.
• APOLOGIES IN ADVANCE FOR ANY QUESTIONS THAT
COULDN’T RESIST THE INFLUENCE OF THE ESOTERIC.
• INCORRECT ANSWERS WHICH MANAGE TO EXCITE THE
QUIZMASTER’S HIGHLY EVOLVED SENSE OF HUMOUR
SHALL BE REWARDED WITH THE CRUDEST PRIZE OF
THEM ALL: A BANANA.
3. (1)**
A Question from my Old Monks’ for the sake of flimsy
continuity:
A Google search on this person hardly yields any result but
contrary to that, he was quite the politician and was the first
Communications Minister of free India and due to a strange
legal quirk, all the institutes of national importance came
under his direct control. As a result, it came upon him to take
control of our institute when it was formally granted the
University Status in 1948. (Until then, technically, our college
was a part of the Allahabad University.)
How has he been immortalized in the institute?
5. (2)
The name ____ comes from the Italian language
word batacchio or bataccio — called the _____ in
English — a club-like object composed of two
wooden slats used in commedia dell'arte. When
struck, the battacchio produces a loud smacking
noise, though little force transfers from the object
to the person being struck. Actors may thus hit
one another repeatedly with great audible effect
while causing very little actual physical damage.
Along with the inflatable bladder (of which the
whoopee cushion is a modern variant), it was
among the earliest special effects.
8. (3)
______is a former city on the Crimean Peninsula and part of the city
of Sevastopol. It was a city in its own right until 1957 when it was
formally incorporated into the municipal borders of Sevastopol by
the Soviet government. It also is an administrative center of
Bakalava Raion that used to be part of the Crimean Oblast before it
was transferred to Sevastopol Municipality.
The first European to discover ______ was Spanish sea captain
Juan ____ in 1503, after whom the islands are named. He claimed
the apparently uninhabited islands for the Spanish Empire. Although
he paid two visits to the archipelago, _____ never landed on the
islands, because he did not want to risk crossing over the dangerous
reef surrounding them. Subsequent Spanish or other European
parties are believed to have released pigs there, which had become
feral and abundant on the island by the time European settlement
began.
13. (5)**
X (6 October 1820 – 2 November 1887), better known as Y, was a
Swedish opera singer, often known as the "Swedish Nightingale".
One of the most highly regarded singers of the 19th century, she
performed in soprano roles in opera in Sweden and across Europe,
and undertook an extraordinarily popular concert tour of America
beginning in 1850. She was a member of the Royal Swedish
Academy of Music from 1840.
She became famous after her performance in Der Freischütz in
Sweden in 1838. She was in great demand in opera roles throughout
Sweden and northern Europe during the 1840s, and was closely
associated with Felix Mendelssohn. After two acclaimed seasons in
London, she announced her retirement from opera at the age of 29.
Her fame led to many objects in art and architecture being dedicated
to her.
19. (7)
“True love begins from the eyes and then
transcends to the heart. This was the concept
when I wrote the song,” the artist’s only
known take on his magnum opus.
20.
21. (8)
The club was a cricket club when it formed in
1820 as The X Cricket Club headed by Gerald
Hamilton of Leigh, Lancashire. A midweek
meeting on the evening of 4 September 1867 at
the Adelphi Hotel established a footballing
side to keep the team together and fit during
the winter months. They played their first
match against The Mechanics on 19 October
the same year.
26. (10)**
Possible Etymological origins:
• The Roman Law Lex Regia required the child
of the mother dead in childbirth to be cut from
her womb.
• A famous king who apparently lends his name
had his birth related to this term.
32. (13)
Longwood, X was chosen as a site for an
aerial observatory by Edmond Halley due to a
strange combination of it being a desolate spot
but yet being served well by numerous ships
which had it as their compulsory port of call.
Almost all of Halley’s later felicitations were a
direct result of this masterstroke. Although X
later became even more famous for an even
more renowned resident.
43. (18)
In her acceptance speech for her performance
in The New Adventures of Old Christine, she
held up her award and exclaimed, "I'm not
somebody who really believes in curses, but
curse this, baby!"
45. (19)
Some points of interest about the man in question:
During the early 1920s, was a member of various radical right-wing and anti-
Semitic organizations.
In 1921 he joined the Heidelberg branch of the Deutschvölkischer Schutz und
Trutzbund and in 1922 he became a member of the NSDAP, which was banned
soon afterwards. He founded and led youth groups associated with a cover-up
organization of the NSDAP. With them he conducted paramilitary training, scouting
games and night walks.
Whereas his high esteem for technical innovations was not widely shared among
the German Youth Movement, he was offered the opportunity to talk about the issue
of technology and education to Adolf Hitler and other leading National Socialists in
1928.
He never had a driver's license, because he was extremely near-sighted. He was,
however, the owner of an NSU Ro 80 of a special type, which was chauffeured for
him.
He was known for his championing of animal rights and opposition to the use of
animals in testing.
47. (20)**
Sir Thomas Stamford R, FRS (6 July 1781 – 5 July
1826) was a British statesman, Lieutenant-Governor of
British Java (1811 – 1815), Governor-General of
Bencoolen (1817 – 1822), best known for his founding
of the city of Singapore in 1819 (now the city-state of
the Republic of Singapore) and the London Zoo. He is
often described as the "Father of Singapore” and the
"Father of the London Zoo". He was also heavily
involved in the conquest of the Indonesian island of
Java from Dutch and French military forces during the
Napoleonic Wars and contributed to the expansion of
the British Empire. He was also an amateur writer and
wrote a book titled The History of Java (1817).