Quiz 9 (June 27-July 3, 2005): General
1. The Suez Canal connects the Mediterranean Sea with which water body?

2. At the headquarters of which international body would you find Dag Hammarskjöld Library? [Hint: The Interpreter]

3. Formed by a former professor of engineering named Hafiz Mohammed Saeed at the University of Punjab (Lahore), this organization is the militant wing of the Markaz Dawa-Wal-Irshad (the Centre for Religious Learning and Propagation). It defined its agenda as ‘the restoration of Islamic rule over all parts of India’. What are we talking about?

4. The host city of the 2012 Olympic Games will be announced on July 6, 2005. Which two out of the following cities are not contenders for the Games? Paris, Brussels, London, Madrid, New York, Tokyo and Moscow.

5. Which sprinter broke the world 100m sprint record at Athens two weeks ago to clock in at 9.77 seconds? He had finished fifth in last year’s Athens Olympic Games. Extra credit – which country does he belong to?

6. Which famous Mumbai-born film maker was buried last month at the Bada Kabrestan in Marine Lines, Bombay on 2005-05-28 in keeping with his wishes of resting with his ancestors? He shot to fame as a 25 year old with his short film ‘The Creation of Woman’, which was shown at the Cannes Film Festival and also nominated for an Oscar.

7. Fill in the gaps - The world’s first _______ was produced by NCR in Dundee, Scotland, and installed in Enfield Town in north London on June 27, 1967 by Barclays Bank. These days, it is almost a mandatory requirement to have for any bank to install several of these (in fact, the more the better its viewed by customers).

8. Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) is a fatal, neurodegenerative disease. It spreads not through microbes, but through infectious self-reproducing protein structures called ‘prions’. What is the disease commonly known as?

9. What is diacetylmorphine (the 3,6-diacetyl derivative of the pain killer morphine) more commonly known as? Afghanistan is the world’s largest producer of this substance.

10. Which is the largest financial services company in the world? It had a profit of $17.9B (yes billion!!) in 2003 and its subsidiaries include Smith and Barney, and Diners Club.

11. What is the capital of Uzbekistan?

12. What is Jalal Talabani’s claim to fame?
- posted by Aditya @ 8:10 PM