Question for September 5, 2011

Connect the following:

• Cooch-Behar (India) – Bangladesh
• Baarle Nassau (The Netherlands) – Belgium
• Nahwa (UAE) – Madha (Oman)
• Puducherry (India) – Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh (all India)
• Liberty Island, Ellis Island (New York, USA) – New Jersey (USA)
• Dadra (Dadra and Nagar Haveli, India) – Gujarat (India)

Obviously, the list is not exhaustive. However, there is something special about the first three entries in the list. Bonus points for identifying it.

Question for July 19, 2011

A's invasion on the territory B held by C was used as a precedent for X's similar invasion on territory Y, also held by C, almost 15 years later. There were some similarities to both invasions, with both A and X claiming that the territories were historically connected to them, and C claiming that the military action was an assault on their soverignity. Both invasions earned condemnations from other parts of the world, and resolutions were tabled at the United Nations Security Council demanding withdrawal of troops from B and Y respectively.

The differences were in the nature of support obtained for the actions from other countries. The Soviet Union vetoed the UNSC resolution against A, effectively offering support for A's action. The United States was one of the nations that tabled the resolution against A; however, it did not speak out against X as it considered the nation as the most important ally in the region. Where the two invasions differed dramatically was in the aftermath. While B was successfully integrated as part of A, Y was mired in a long and protracted bloody war with X, which eventually ended with Y gaining independence from X more than 25 years later.

Identify (A, B); (X, Y); and C.

Hint: C is a former colonial power. Y obtained independence from X in the 2000s.

Question for Jul 12

What does the visual depict?

Dewan > Maharaja

C. P. Ramaswamy Iyer, or Sir CP as he was called, served as the dewan to the maharaja of X from 1936 to 1947. He was instrumental in X's resistance to assimilation in the Indian Union and it was believed that the he had the Maharaja under his thumb. After an attempt on CP's life, X did eventually agree to join independent India. X was joined with another princely state (Y) and a part (Z) of the Madras province of British India to form a new state which united areas that spoke a common language. Identify X. Bonus points for Y and Z.

Question for June 22, 2011

X is an organism organized in a hexagonal crystal shaped structure. It requires pure energy for growth which it uses with high efficiency, producing no excretory waste. While green in colour under normal circumstances, it changes to a purplish colour during mitotic division. X can grow only under a highly specific set of conditions. The pH range required for its growth is 7.39 to 7.43. The best conditions are under ultra-violet light with the air rich in carbon dioxide while the worst conditions are under infra-red light with the air rich in oxygen.

When introduced in the human body it immediately coagulates the entire blood stream resulting in near instant death. In certain cases it attacks the brain resulting in insanity leading to death. While extremely deadly at the time it was discovered, it has since mutated into a relatively harmless organism with the ability to "eat" through rubber, and is believed to have migrated to upper space.

Identify X.

Question for Jun 14

Who employs the ladies shown in the visual?

One for the monsoon!

X is an Arabic name for a country (called Y today) derived from the Persian work "The three princes of ____" which involves a country in the east whose princes by accidents and sagacity discern the nature of a lost camel.

An English word Z also originates from X and X's connotations in the Persian work above. A certain amount of Z would seem to have stood medieval Arab dhows and Chinese junks docking on the shores of Y in good stead until they learned to count on the regular reversals of monsoon winds to propel their sails beyond that way-stop. There are many celebrated examples of Z in science (unconnected to X and Y) including that of Alexander Fleming and Penicillin.

Identify X, Y and Z.

Question for June 9, 2011

This is an attempt to revive the blog. Questions will be posted spradically. Hopefully we will not see more than a week go by without a new question.

A is a film company founded in 1961 by X and Y. While X produced most of the films, Y directed them and Z wrote the script. The stories were based on novels or short stories, such as those written by Henry James and E. M. Forster. While the initial aim of the company was to make English language movies set in India, it ended up making films set in England and America as well. X once remarked on this collaboration, "It is a strange marriage we have at A... I am an Indian Muslim, Z is a German Jew, and Y is a Protestant American. Someone once described us as a three-headed god. Maybe they should have called us a three-headed monster!"

Identify A, X and Y. Bonus points if you can identify Z as well.

Highlight the text in quotes for a hint.

"Some of the movies made by A include Shakespeare Wallah and Bombay Talkie. A recent movie from 2008 named Before the Rains was directed by Santosh Sivan"

"Is That All, Folks?" Question for Tuesday Apr 5, 2011

An easy-breezy, just cause its Tuesday!

Connect:

Question for Firday Mar 18th

Connect:

"You again?" Question for Fri, Mar 4, 2011.

2011 set the record with 27 X this year. The previous record holder was 2003 with 24. Last year we had 19 X.

There is almost unanimous agreement that X are inferior in quality and content. It is a rare event when X surpasses Y. But even then year after year, we see several X being churned out. Brand recognition, previous success etc are obviously the factors that make X so popular. The trend has also caught on India recently with several X coming in 2011 alone.

"Ladaiya re" Question for Wednesday, Feb 23

The following are four Asian languages depicting the same word. Identify:

"You talking to me?" Question for Wednesday, Feb 9th

An easy one.

Identify:

• This auteur was famously snubbed by the Academy awards 5 times before finally winning in 2006.
• Several of his films are set in New York and have Italian American characters. 
• He has famously collaborated in 8 films with  X, but has recently been casting this boyish actor Y as the protagonist. 
• He is widely acclaimed as one of the best directors in America with his films appearing in several "All time favorites" lists. 
• Apart from films he is also known for his documentary films on famous Rock Bands and singers

Qn. for Jan 28th

Sorry for the late post...

What separates Group A from Group B?

Group A:

Grateful Dead
Creedence Clearwater Revival
The Who
Jimi Hendrix

Group B:

Led Zeppelin
The Beatles
The Doors
Bob Dylan

Question for Wednesday Jan 26, 2011

Happy Republic Day folks!! And I welcome myself to the more juicy weekday slot!


Decipher

Question for Jan 24

Identify the blacked out word.

Identify X, 21st Jan 2011

X was created originally by The Martin Agency and most recently generated in CGI by Framestore CFC. X first appeared in 1999 during the Screen Actors Guild strike that prevented the use of live actors. The original commercial features X pleading for people to stop calling him in error as he is X, not to be confused with the company name. Later "wrong number" ads used Dave Kelly as the voice of X. In the subsequent commercials with Jake Wood, X speaks with a Cockney accent, because it would be unexpected, according to Martin Agency's Steve Bassett. In current commercials the X's accent is more working-class, perhaps in an effort to further "humanize" him. "As computer animation got better and as we got to know the character better, we did a few things," says Steve Bassett, creative director at The Martin Agency. "We wanted to make him a little more guy-next-door. And he looks a lot more real than he's looked before."

X = ?

Intro to the charmed wood- January 19th 2010

"If you happen to have read another book about __ __, you may remember t hat he once had a swan (or the swan had __ __, I don't know which) and that he used to call this swan __. That was a long time ago, and when we said goodbye, we took the name with us, as we didn't think the swan would want it anymore. Well, when Edward Bear said that he would like an exciting name all to himself, __ __ said at once, without stopping to think, that he was __-__-__. And he was. So I have explained the __ part. Now I will explain the rest of it."

Identify the extract above; and the blanks for bonus points!

Qn. for Jan 14th

Water memory is a conjecture that water is capable of retaining a "memory" of substances once dissolved in it to arbitrary dilution. Shaking the water at each stage of a serial dilution is claimed to be necessary for an effect to occur. The concept was proposed by Jacques Benveniste to explain the purported powers of X, where solutions are diluted to such a high degree that not even a single molecule of the original substance remains in most final preparations.

Benveniste published a paper in 1988 in the prestigious scientific journal Nature describing the action of very high dilutions of an antibody on the degranulation of human basophils. He concluded that the configuration of molecules in water was biologically active. Subsequent investigations have not supported Benveniste's findings,
which are now cited as an example of pathological science.

Identify X.

Question for 4th Jan 2010

What's this series about? I have not included the 1st 11 entries.

..........
12: 1334-1342
13: 1724-1730
14: 1740-1758
15: 1914-1922
16: 2005-now.

"Happy New Year" Question for Sunday, Jan 2, 2011

Connect:

PS: Click on Image 2 for an enlarged view.