The document discusses various topics including: 1. The 21 districts that make up the National Capital Region of India. 2. Andy Warhol creating a collection of drawings inspired by Marcel Proust's "In Search of Lost Time". 3. The logo of Malaysian Airlines being inspired by the "Wau Kucing" or "Cat Kite". 4. Sufi Mohammed Sa'im al-Dahr cutting off the nose of the Great Sphinx of Giza in 1378. 5. The touch tone keypad design being chosen in 1960 over other alternatives.

1. The Cruellest Month
April Open Quiz
Rajagopal PS
Ashwin Kumar SV
Prelims

2. Prelims
Answers

3. The count was 16 for a long time. In July 2013,
Bhiwani, Bharatpur and Mahendragarh were added
taking the tally to 19. In January this year, the
number increased to 21 with the additions of
Karnal and Jind.
What do these twenty-one things together make
up?
1

5. Bencho.. National Capital Region
(NCR)
1

6. The image shown is one of a collection of 16
drawings from 1955 by this artist with
accompanying poems written by Ralph Pomeroy
and lettering done by the artist’s mother, Julia.
The collection’s name was inspired by one of 20th
Century’s greatest and longest novels.
Id the artist and what was the name of the
collection?
2

7. 2

9. Andy Warhol was the artist.
The name of the collection is À la
recherche du shoe perdu or (In
search of lost shoe)
2

10. Identify the director of this clip.
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<Simpsons – Couch GagVideo>

12. Sylvain Chomet
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13. While the blame has been squarely yet incorrectly placed
on the broad shoulders of gentlemen such as Napoleon
Bonaparte and Obelix, the most believable accounts – of
medieval Arab scholars including Al-Makrizi and Rashidi –
mark the culprit to be an iconoclastic Sufi, Mohammed
Sa’im al-Dahr.
In 1378, the fanatical Sufi rode into town, noticed the
object of the locals’ worship and went about doing his
job. On successful completion, the residents in the
neighborhood promptly lynched him and buried him near
the object of his misplaced attention.
What did Sa’im al-Dahr do?
4

15. He cut off the nose of the Great
Sphinx of Giza
4

16. Wau is a type of intricately designed kite in a
certain country. It is said to get its name from its
resemblance to the arabic letterWau.Wau Bulan
,the most well known, is literally a ‘moon kite’.Wau
Kucing is however the most seen and means ‘cat
kite’ and has inspired the logo of something closely
associated with the country.
What logo has the Wau Kucing inspired?.
5

17. 5

19. The Malaysian Airlines Logo
5

20. In which capital city would you find a
hospital christened
‘Qendra Spitalore Universitare Nene
Tereza’ ?
6

22. Tirana
6

23. What criteria has been used to shape the Periodic Table
of Elements in this fashion?
7

25. Based on the abundance of the
elements on earth
7

26. Paul grumpy Theroux, during his travels in
China, remarks about the English language
capabilities of the locals – ‘Shaansh maarnie?’
being the most common phrase used – be it
Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, Uighur orYunnan.
What were they trying to ask Theroux?
8

28. Change money?
8

29. Photographers call this a monopod.Thanks to a
recent phenomenon, a two word term is also used
for the same contraption. Id the term.
9

31. Selfie Stick
9

32. This dish gets its name from the Urdu
word for acceptance and not from an
Asian capital city. Identify the dish whose
ingredients include a variety of rice
called Sella, lentils, lamb, carrots, Sultana
raisins and almonds.
10

34. Kabuli / Qabli Pulao
10

35. The following were some of the alternatives
considered in a paper published in the July 1960
issue of “The Bell SystemTechnical Journal”What
was chosen?
11

37. The touch tone keypad design
11

38. Which Under-19 Portuguese 100m,
200m and 400m sprint champion was
born in Lourenço Marques, Portuguese
East Africa, in 1942?
12

40. Eusebio
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41. Scene inside a house in Coyoacan in 1940.What
had happened here?
13

43. Trotsky was murdered by Ramon
Mercader
13

44. It was considered the highest sign of respect in
Han Chinese culture - it was shown to elders,
especially the Emperor. It consisted of kneeling on
the ground and knocking the head on the ground
with the arms stretched in front. It was even
performed in the 17th century by the king of a
Korean dynasty to show allegiance to the Manchu
emperor.What traditional Chinese sign of respect
,that is now much maligned, is a borrowed word in
English?
14

46. Kowtow
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47. Created by Stuart Hample, this comic strip
syndicated by King Features ran between 1976 to
1984.The artist pitched it to the person on whom
it is based.The person agreed and provided
dozens of pages of jokes from his standup years.
Who is it based on or what is the name of the
comic strip?
15

48. 15

50. Woody Allen
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51. When a country declared its
independence in 2006, the official
Internet domain changed from what-
sounded-like a pronoun to another.
Identify the country.
16

53. Montenegro.
.yu became .me
16

54. Japanese artist Aki Inomata uses 3D Printing
and creates shelters with inspirations from
architectures of different countries and lets
certain creatures adopt them as their homes.
Identify these naturally homeless creatures.
17

55. 17

57. Hermit Crabs
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58. It was created by artist J Howard Miller for the
Westinghouse Company and was seen for 2 weeks within
the company in February 1943. It was originally called ‘We
can do it’ but when it was rediscovered after almost 40
years in the early 1980s, it was mistakenly given the name
X - X was originally the name of a song written in 1942
by Redd Evans and John Jacob Loeb.
There is some dispute about the inspiration for the song
and Rosalind P Walter is cited as one inspiration.
What is X?
18

60. Rosie the Riveter
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61. This Dutch city, established in the 13th
Century, gets its name from the river on
whose banks it’s located. Shown here is an
eponymous produce that is brought in from
the surrounding areas and traded in this city.
Identify.
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62. 19

64. Gouda
19

65. When the creator of the show learnt that fans
were fast-forwarding their DVRs to the violent
parts, he created plot of movie within the TV
Show,‘Cleaver’.‘Cleaver’ was described by a writer
as a horror movie with all whacking and none of
the Freud. It ultimately became a vital plot point
towards the end of the show.
What show?
20

67. The Sopranos
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68. Mother with her three kids.
a. Give their surname
b.What unique record, to do with ranking, do they
hold?
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70. The Maleeva Sisters
Only instance where three siblings figured in
the Top 10 of the WTA Rankings
21

71. The baby faced chap on the left drifted into public
eye in 2005 and was generally vocal till 2008 when
he disappeared into Greenland for a few years.
There, he immersed himself into the works of
Soren Kierkegaard, Jacques Derrida and Simone
de Beauvoir – to various depths and in 2013,
returned to a reconciliation [of sorts] with the
person on the right.
What did he spearhead in 2005?
22

72. 22

74. Ahmed Akkari led the protests
against the series of ‘Prophet
Mohammed cartoons’ drawn by Kirk
Westergaard and published by
Jyllands-Posten
22

75. The weathering formations shown here are usually
known by two names.
While one name might have its origins in the
Corsican and Sicilian words for windows, the
other name is from an arthropod’s creation –
which it closely resembles.
Identify the latter.
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76. 23

78. HoneycombWeathering
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79. This contestant in the 2014 General Elections was named
after his grandfathers.When they met at a public meeting
in Bombay, once, his paternal grandfather complained to
his counterpart as to how the latter had placed his own
part-name ahead while naming the grandson.
The reply was quick – “No, it is not quite like that. His
name is, and will always be yours – _____ ; ____ will be
merely an adjective’.
Identify him.
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81. Rajmohan Gandhi
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82. In 1916, on the first day of the Battle of Somme,
what did Wilfred Nevill - captain of the East
Surrey Regiment’s B Company - ask his troops to
do in order to keep them organized and advancing
towards the German positions?The four platoons
under him did it continuously for 300 yards.
Unfortunately, thousands including Nevill died that
day.Two of the objects used have been preserved
in Museums in England.
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84. Kept kicking footballs towards
the German trenches
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85. He was a lens grinder by profession and
collaborated with Christiaan Huygens on various
optical investigations including design of a
microscope. He is most well known as a
philosopher though and his Ethics is considered
the last Latin masterpiece.Another book of his
inspired the title ofWittgenstein’s ‘Tractatus Logico
Philosophicus’. Netherland's highest science prize is
named for him.
Who?
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87. Baruch Spinoza
26

88. According to infidels, this new design for a
currency was chosen to reflect the initials of the
not-so-gentleman seen here.Which currency?
27

90. Turkish Lira
27

91. What, from the world of cinema, inspired the title
and the artwork of this Flower Kings' album?
Identify the album.You've to go back in time for
the inspiration, and you have to go back in time for
a similar sounding title as well.
28

92. 28

94. Fritz Lang’s Metropolis
Retropolis
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95. This is a photograph of the Mingun Bell of Burma.
It’s the world’s largest _______ bell.What
common feature, frequently found in similar
objects, is missing? Use that information and fill in
the blank.
29

96. 29

98. Uncracked
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99. Moe’s haircut (as seen here) gets its name from a
common household equipment – since it looks as
if the cut has been effected using it.
Identify.
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101. Pudding Bowl / Bowl Cut
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102. Work is in progress.What was the final result? A
mere description would fetch you ½ a point.
31

104. InVoluptas Mors (Voluptuous Death)
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105. In 1949 Alfred Jones, a sociologist and writer for
Fortune magazine, used his savings and money
borrowed from friends and family to start a
private investment firm. Jones traded on the
margin heavily and to protect against market
losses, also engaged in short selling. He is thus
credited with starting the first X, a phrase he is
also credited with coining.
What is X?
32

107. Hedged Fund is what Alfred Jones
called it.
32

108. Identify the performer and complete the title of the
album whose cover is shown.
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<Cover of ‘Something’>

110. 33

111. It had been suggested by Russian scientistsYuri
Kondratyuk and Friedrich Zander in separate papers on
interplanetary flight as early as 1920s. Michael Minovitch,
a UCLA graduate student working at JPL during summers,
discovered it while working on a problem that eluded the
greatest minds for 300 years, using an IBM 7090
computer. His supervisor dismissed it saying it violated
the conservation of energy. It took many years before it
was accepted and used first in the Mariner 10 trip to
Mercury andVenus.
What?
34

113. Gravitational slingshot / Gravity
Maneuver
34

114. You can’t book a ticket online via IRCTC for
travelling in train numbers 14001, 14002,
13108, 14889 and 13109.
Why?
35

116. These are the ‘International’ trains
14001 & 14002 - Samjhauta Express
13889 - Thar Link Express
13108 & 13109 - Maitree Express
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