A quizzing pot pourri

1. Which famous medical textbook on anatomy was first published in 1858? It inspired the title of a popular TV show aired on weekdays on Star World.

2. What is the name of the fourth most populous city in India (2011 data) that shares its name with the sixth most populous city in neighbouring Pakistan?

3. Maharashtra, Odisha, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka are four of five states that border Andhra Pradesh. Which is the fifth?

4. The March of the Volunteers was the second most played tune at what recent event?

5. The actors of BBC TV series Sherlock will be seen together in an eagerly awaited film to release later this year. Which characters will they be playing?

6. PV Narasimha Rao is the only Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh who went on to become Prime Minister. Who is the only Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh who later became President of India?

7. What word comes from Greek for ‘out of centre’, a word used in Ptolemaic astronomy to mean ‘circle or orbit not having the Earth precisely at its centre’?

8. Treasure maps in literature and film are typically depicted as a tattered chart with an ‘X’ marking the spot. This depiction was first made popular in an 1883 book that was serialised a year before as The Mutiny of the Hispaniola by a certain Captain George North. How is this classic better known?

9. What term is used in Hindu mythology to describe Vishnu (or other gods and goddesses) when they are shown with four hands?

10. This creature was given a hybridised name by its creators — a cross between a land and sea animal due to its strength and watery origin. However Americans distorted its name and gave it the appearance of famous ‘American’ movie monster. Which fictional animal is this?

11. The roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa) is a species of tropical Hibiscus used for the production of bast fibre and as an infusion. By what common name are the leaves of this plant better known in Andhra Pradesh?

12. The logo of the National Dairy Development Board is based on which iconic Indian cultural artefact?

13. What word did the American Dialect Society and the Global Language Monitor both vote as the Word of the Year in 2011? Ben Zimmer, chair of the New Words Committee of the ADS said, “It is a very old word, but over the course of just a few months it took on another life and moved in new and unexpected directions, thanks to a national and global movement.”

14. If India’s highest honour is the Bharat Ratna (the Jewel of India), Egypt’s highest honour bears the name of a prominent feature of that country. What is it called?

15. This telescope and its founder were almost doomed when in 1957 the Soviets launched two Sputnik satellites by ballistic missiles. The project was saved because it was (with some hurried adaptations) the only place in the world that could track Soviet ballistic missiles. In recent times it is the nerve centre of what will be the Square Kilometre Array — the largest of its kind in the world. Name this telescope.

ANSWERS

1. Grey’s Anatomy

2. Hyderabad

3. Chattisgarh

4. London Olympic Games. It is the national anthem of The People’s Republic of China.

5. Martin Freeman plays Bilbo Baggins and Benedict Cumberbatch will play Smaug the dragon in Tolkein’s The Hobbit.

6. Dr Neelam Sanjiva Reddy

7. Eccentric

8. Treasure Island by RL Stevenson

9. Chaturbhuja

10. Godzilla (designed after King Kong). In the original Japanese version of the film it was called gojira from “gorira”  (gorilla) and “kujira” (whale).

11. Gongura (of chutney fame)

12. The Harappan bull seal of the Indus Valley civilisation

13. Occupy. The word was made famous by the Occupy Wall Street movement.

14. Order (or Collar) of the Nile

15. Jodrell Bank Radio Telescope in England.