People, places, food and more

1. Which organ comprises just two per cent of the weight of an adult human but accounts for 20 per cent of the entire metabolism (energy usage) by the body?

2. This place between Mysore and Bangalore is famous for a tasty savoury that was born on the tracks of a local railway station in the early 20th century. Madhavachar, a vendor in desperation, instead of attempting to roll dough into balls, flattened and hurriedly fried them. What is this savoury that became a hit with the passengers?

3. The Cauvery river splits twice during its course on the Deccan plateau to form two islands in Karnataka. Name these islands.

4. This distinguished list starts with Sully Prudhomme in 1901 with the latest being Mo Yan in 2012. Whose name figured in 1913?

5. Which World Heritage Site and national park has the largest density of Royal Bengal tigers and reopened recently after its annual closure for the monsoon?

6. Several countries have laws or acts obliging people to give reasonable assistance to those who are injured, ill, in peril, or otherwise incapacitated. These laws also protect people who render help against any legal action. What is the name for such laws, which is derived from the Bible?

7. Who wrote this poem in celebration of a 1989 success… and fill in the blank: Do not look at ____; as an entity directed upward; to deter the ominous; or exhibit your mighty; It is fire; in the heart of an Indian.

8. Which former World No 1 tennis star is Andy Murray’s coach since 2012?

9. The symbol for a biohazard, for labelling biological materials that carry a significant health risk was developed by which company in 1966 for their containment products?

10. Rambha the king of the asuras once fell in love with Princess Shyamala who, under a curse, was existing in an animal form. Which asura was the result of their marriage?

11. TW3 is the popular short form of a satirical comedy on BBC TV in 1962-63. (a) What was the name of this show? (b) Which other show with an almost similar name and idea airs on CNN-IBN and could be called TW2?

12. This king’s advisor fed him small doses of poison to build his immunity against poisoning attempts by enemies. Unaware of this ‘treatment’ the king shared his food with his pregnant queen who died; and the baby was hurriedly delivered alive. However a drop of poison reached the baby causing a permanent blue spot on his forehead. Name the (a) King and the (b) baby.

13. To meet the skills requirement of an industrialised world (reading, writing and arithmetic) in the 18th century, but also provide an education in ethics, discipline and obedience which European country, that no longer exists, pioneered chalk-board teaching, compulsory attendance, specific teacher training, and mandatory kindergarten?

14. ________ v Union of India was a landmark judgment of the Supreme Court. It related to Article 356 of the Constitution and followed a dubious imposition of President’s Rule in a state in 1988. Name the Chief Minister whose government was dismissed.

15. Because it is only 4.4 light years away which system of three stars that orbit each other has been a fertile place in authors’ imaginations, serving as the setting for the Transformer’s home-world of Cybertron as well as the blue-skinned Na’vi’s home-world of Pandora in Avatar?

answers

1. Brain

2. Maddur vade

3. Srirangapatna / Shivanasamudra (One of Asia’s first hydel projects)

4. Rabindranath Tagore (list of Nobel Prize winners for

literature)

5. Kaziranga

6. Good Samaritan laws

7. Dr Abdul Kalam / Agni

8. Ivan Lendl

9. Dow Chemical Company

10. Mahishasura

11. That Was The Week That Was / The Week That Wasn’t

12. Chandragupta Maurya / Bindusara

13. Prussia

14. SR Bommai, the Chief Minister of Karnataka at that time

15. Alpha Centauri