Thursday, October 9, 2008

Pot Pourri

1.X discovered some funadamental properties of one of the commnest elements we have known.X was appointed as a tax-collector under the french monarchy which eventually cost him his dear life. Identify X.

2. X is the patron saint of the seamen. He has lent his anme to a strange phenomenon Y which occurs in ships, science explaining it as a result of corona discharge. Charles Darwin aboard the Beagle too noted Y as case of "everything in fire....water with luminous particles". The Greeks attributed this to the elements of fire. Identify X and Y.

3.Its the FTSE 100in London, the CAC-40 in Paris and the DAX in Frankfurt. How do we know its avatar in India?

4._______ Clarrisa, Lady Mallowan (nee Miller) was a Dame of the British Empire and assumed the nom de plume of Mary Westmacott for penning romantic novels rather than the genre she is acclaimed for. She got the idea of a character X of her novels during the World War II. X was termed as an 'ego-centric creep' but she decided to continue with it. Fill in the blank and identify X.

5.We will have probably heard of the Oedipus complex where the son harbours an antagonism towards his father and an unusual attachment for his mother. The term was coined by Sigmund Freud. What is the corresponding analogy for a daughter for her father?

6.During the World War II, these two cities were spared in England by Hitler during the London Blitz. History has it that the main reason behind this spare was that Hitler wanted to develop these two cities as seats of academic excellence in his new Germany. Which were these two cities?

7.The Portuguese, when in India, found this type of bread to be very appetizing and just perfect for their culinary desires. The name of this bread hung on and evolved into an Indian 'fast food item' that is invariably associated with the Marathis and synonymous with Maharashtrian culture. Which is this lip-smacking culinary delight I am talking of? (Hope Raj Thackarey is reading....!)

8.X, Fellow of Royal Society, was an English mathematician, philosopher, inventor, mechanical engineer who conceptualized the idea of a programmable computer. His daughter in law Y, too followed in the lines of her father and has a programming language christened after her. X had an equally illustrious son-in-law Z who is a renowned poet but his fame rests not only on his writings but also on his life, which featured extravagant living, numerous love affairs, debts, separation, and marital exploits. Identify X,Y and Z.

9.X is a painting of a member of the Gherardini family of Florence of Florentine silk merchant Francesco del Giocondo. The painting was commissioned for his new home and to celebrate the birth of his second son, Andrea. The painting has been the subject of hot controversies, sometimes due to contention on the subject of the painting and sometimes due to its certain features. The painting has withstood theft and vandalism bit till today is as ambiguous as ever. What is X?

10.This man landed in a hot soup when the President of India visited his corporation's premises and instead of playing the recital version of the Indian national anthem, only the instrumental version was played. This evoked the ire of the nation's politicians who demanded serious action. This man apologised, citing the sensitivity towards his foreign guests who would be embarassed if the anthem was recited. Who am I talking about?

11. The following image shows the cover of this magazine's first edition. It was founded in 1841 by Henry Mayhew and engraver Ebenezeer Landells alongwith Mark Lemon.
The magazine's subtitle 'Charivari' is a satire on the French magazine 'Le Charivari' that had been recently released. The magazine's name too was based on one of the founding members Lemon's comments. It was responsible for the modern use of the word cartoon to refer to a comic drawing. The magazine was forced to shut down in 1992 but was resurrected by a businessman some years later but never regained its initial fame onlt to shut for ever in 2002. Which is this illustrious magazine?

12.The galaxy X is the nearerst spiral galaxy to our very own Milky Way. It's visibility to the naked eye as a faint smudge makes it worthy of notice. The Indian scholars knew this galaxy as Draupadi, the wife of the five Pandavas. Identify X.

13.Who was the first to introduce broadband in India and what is its present avatar known as?

14.Connect the following images:

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

1.
2.Saint Nicholas and St.Elmo's fire
3.Sensex?
4.Agatha Christie
5.Its called The Electra Complex-during the phallic stage, when a girl discovers that she lacks a penis, she becomes libidinally attached to the father figure, and imagines that she will become pregnant by him, all the while becoming more hostile toward her mother.
6.
7.is the bread Pao?as in Pao Bhaji waala Pao
8.Charles Babbage,Lady Ada Lovelace and Lord Byron
9.Monalisa,ofcourse :D
10.?
11.Punch magazine
12.Andromeda
13.Sify I guess.Satyam Infoway?
14.no clue
And BTW,welcome to the club

Arthur Dent said...

1 is Antoine Lavoisier studied oxygen
i think tpm got most of the oters right..

prez said...

14) valmiki(lord ram->ramayana,the termite castle in hindi is acalled a valmiki and the 3rd pic is of sage valmiki)

10)N.R narayan murthy