Q1. Considered an archetypal Renaissance artist, this man (pictured) was also favoured by the Medici family, like his fellow Florentine frenemy. He had an unparalleled influence on western art, and was a master of all three principal arts — poetry, sculpture and painting. Often called ‘Il Divino’ or ‘The Divine One’, he was the first western artist, whose biography was published when he was alive.
Who is this artist, whose defining work was a statue of a Biblical hero, and died on this day in 1564?
Q2. This event was first organised by the Louisville Courier-Journal in 1925, and has been continuously held since then till date, except in the years 1943-45, because of World War II. In 1941, the E.W.S company acquired the rights to the event, and has been closely associated with it for 70+ years. Although the event’s logo features an insect in it, it is unrelated, and the name refers to ‘a gathering, where people join in an activity.’ Interestingly, since 2008, an Indian-origin person has won the event every year.
Which event is this?
Q3. Australian player Thanasi Kokkinakis (pictured) was involved in a legal battle with a food giant, for using his nickname in clothing lines and his brand. The company claimed that their brand, also his nickname, is iconic in Australia, and that they wouldn’t want any misrepresentation. He got the nickname because of his talent, and defeating Top-10 ranked players despite being in his early 20s. Nick Kyrgios, also an Australian, has also been called by this nickname.
What is his nickname, based on his last name, that is also a healthy variant of an iconic breakfast cereal brand?
Q4. In October 2013, Swiss activists organised a performance in Bern, in which approximately eight million coins, each coin representing each citizen in Switzerland, were dumped in a public square. It was done in an effort to demonstrate how powerful even one coin per capita could be.
Which related economic policy were they organising this performance for, that was also recently proposed as an experiment in Sikkim?
Q5. This is a French term that describes the feeling that one has lived through the present situation before. Scientists reject the idea that it could be a premonition or precognition, and instead explain it as an anomaly of memory, whereby the memory itself is forgotten, and the idea of it remains in the mind.
What is this feeling?
Q6. In the late 1980s, India was looking to purchase supercomputers from the U.S. to use, primarily for weather forecasting. Though the U.S. had agreed to sell us an older model initially, they backed out over concerns that India could use it for nuclear warfare purposes. So, India’s Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) took up the challenge, headed by Vijay Bhatkar. After three years and funding of ₹30 crores, which is what it would have cost for the US’ older model, India managed to build our own supercomputer. After testing, it turned out that then, that India was second in terms of speed and capacity, putting us ahead of the Germans, Russian, Anglo-French and Japan.
What was this series of supercomputers called, which is the Sanskrit word for ‘supreme’?
Answers
A1. Michelangelo
A2. Scripps’ National Spelling Bee
A3. Special K
A4. Universal Basic Income
A5. Déjà vu
A6. PARAM
