Q1. The Big Short was a 2015 biographical dramedy film about the financial crisis of 2007-08 which was triggered by the US Housing bubble. It used unconventional methods to explain complex financial terms to lay-people. One such concept was Collateralised Debt Obligation (CDOs), which was explained by a celebrity cameo using seafood stew. Who is the celebrity, who would’ve turned 62 today, if not for his tragic death a few weeks ago?
Q2. The shrike thrush, the blue capped ifrit, and the Pitohui are birds endemic to New Guinea and other surrounding areas. Their steady diet of blister beetles has given them a characteristic usually found in certain reptiles but previously unheard of in birds. Blister beetles, true to their name, use a chemical to defend themselves when threatened, causing blisters on the skin of their victims. What characteristic did these birds get as a result of feeding on blister beetles?
Q3. For the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, all medals were inlaid with a particular substance, something intrinsically linked to China’s culture and wealth. The raw material sourced for this purpose was taken from the Kunlun Mountains, famous for different coloured versions of the substance. It is the primary substance used in Chinese sculpture. What substance was used for this modification?
Q4.. This term (the _____ effect) was coined by Galai and Sade. The effect states that when investors hear potential bad news about a situation, they will ignore it and bury their heads in the sand, hoping not to be affected by it. This effect is named after a myth surrounding a particular animal. What is the effect called?
Q5. In the book Asterix and Cleopatra which is set in Egypt, Obelix climbs and steps on a part of a monument and modifies it to how we know it today. In real life, the ‘modification’ is allegedly attributed to a Sufi Muslim Sa’im Al-Dahr, who was angry at the devotion shown by villagers to that monument. What are we talking about?
Q6. Perarivalan, known to most of Tamil Nadu as ‘Arivu’, recently completed 27 years in prison. He was only nineteen years old when he was detained, charged, and imprisoned. He was charged based on circumstantial evidence for purchasing a 9-volt battery, which was a key component used in a national tragedy. Which tragedy did he allegedly contribute to?
Answers
A1. Anthony Bourdain.
A2. They are poisonous birds.
A3. Jade.
A4. The Ostrich Effect.
A5. The Sphinx missing its nose.
A6. Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination.
