10Q (January 6, 2018)

[For most of the images, larger versions can be viewed by clicking on them]

1. The snark mark is a new-age punctuation mark that indicates that there's another layer of meaning in a sentence, usually a sarcastic or ironic one. What two standard keyboard characters, meant to represent an eye and a raised eyebrow next to it, make up the snark mark? [You can just type the relevant characters for the answer.]

2. Identify the man in this photo, the only American to become a member of the All India Congress Committee (AICC), the only non-Indian to sign the Congress manifesto in 1921, and the only American to become a political prisoner of Great Britain in the Indian freedom struggle (he was jailed for sedition).

3. Some of you will hopefully remember this ad from the early 2000s. What was it an advertisement for?

If you have any problem viewing the YouTube video above, you can access the clip here.

4. Infrastructure projects in Iceland — such as a 2015 highway project building a direct route from the Alftanes peninsula, where the president has a home, to the Reykjavik suburb of Gardabaer — often come up against protests not just by environmental activists but also people protesting on behalf of 'Huldufolk' (Icelandic for 'hidden folk'). Because of the cultural significance of this 'community', these protests do get taken seriously, and can lead to delays or even cancellations. Who are the Huldufolk?

5. Identify this young man who, among other achievements, won the National Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer in 1984 for 'Ankahee' and has sung or composed for films in Hindi, Marathi, Kannada and Bengali. (It would help to imagine him older.)

6. What connects the stellar Test cricket careers of Andy Sandham (1921-30), Bill Ponsford (1924-34), Seymour Nurse (1960-69), Aravinda de Silva (1984-2002), and Jason Gillespie (1996-2006)? In this context, what distinguishes (a) Andy Sandham and (b) Jason Gillespie [two separate answers required]?

7. The ATS, a treaty system that entered into force in 1961 and which currently has 53 signatory nations, was the first arms control agreement established during the Cold War, banning military activity where?

8. The Insight Meditation Movement refers to a number of branches of modern Theravâda Buddhism which stress insight into the three marks of existence as the main means to attain awakening and reach Nirvana. It finds its origins in modernist influences on the traditions of Myanmar, Laos, Thailand and Sri Lanka, and the innovations and popularisations by Theravâda teachers such as Mahasi Sayadaw, Ledi Sayadaw, Anagarika Munindra and Pa Auk Sayadaw. The Indian branch primarily follows the teachings of S.N. Goenka and his co-teacher wife Illaichi Devi. By what name are we familiar with this movement?

9. While you are probably more familiar with his spy novels, this author also has a range of historical novels such as this trilogy of books, published between 2010 and 2014, which follow the fates of five inter-related families through the events of the 20th century. Name him. 

10. These are, respectively, Hon. Joan Barbara Yarde-Buller, the eldest daughter of the 3rd Baron Churston; Hollywood actress Rita Hayworth; and Kendra Spears, an American fashion model. They have all been married, at different points of time, to different persons holding a certain hereditary title. The current holder of the title – the fourth to do so – is Shah Karim Al Hussaini, a French-British business magnate, racehorse owner and breeder, who has some 15 million followers. Spears, now known as Salwa, is married to Karim's son and heir apparent Rahim. What title?

Answers

1. A period and a tilde

2. Satyananda Stokes

3. Visa

4. Elves

5. Pandit Bhimsen Joshi

6. They all hit double centuries in their final Tests. 

(a) Sandham's was a triple, the first ever in Test cricket. 

(b) Gillespie's was also his maiden century, and the only one he ever scored in any form of the game!

7. Antarctica

8. Vipassana

9. Ken Follett

You might remember this one

10. The Aga Khan