Quiz – Week Seven

Question 1

When Australian athlete Peter Norman passed away in 2006, two of his pall-bearers were American athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos. Their association goes back to the Olympics of 1968 and something that happened there. What happened?

Question 2

Mancherjee Bhownagree and Shapurji Saklatvala were the second and third Members of the British Parliament of Indian origin. Who was the first? He was also known as the ‘Grand Old Man of India’.

Question 3

What distinction connects President George Weah and Prime Minister Imran Khan?

Question 4

Which South East Asian capital city’s former name was Batavia? This city faces a very real threat from rising sea levels, causing the government to look for a second capital to ease pressure on its resources.

Question 5

The Santiago International Airport (Arturo Merino Benitez Airport) was to be renamed after which Nobel Prize winning poet? The renaming has not happened because there was intense backlash against doing so by feminist groups in Chile.

Question 6

The films Seven Beauties (1975), The Piano (1993), Lost in Translation (2003), The Hurt Locker (2008), and Lady Bird (2017) all have something in common – tied to the history of the Oscars. What?

Question 7

In 1886, King Thibaw Min of Burma (Myanmar) and his family were exiled to which city on the Konkan Coast? He passed away in 1916 and is buried there, making him the last King of Burma (Myanmar). This city, in present day Maharashtra is famous for a much loved summer fruit.

Question 8

Goalpara, a district in Assam is home to India’s biggest what? Currently, 10 of these are operational in the country. Bengaluru is also set to have its own, while the current Government of Maharashtra has put construction on hold in Nerul.

Question 9

In 1973, who beat Bobby Riggs, an Australian tennis player in the Battle of the Sexes? He believed that women did not belong on the court, and said that they did not have the ’emotional stability’ to be atheletes. After her win, she said, ‘had I lost, women’s tennis would have suffered’.

Question 10

Paul Ince and Michael Owen are the only two players to have done what they did in the English Premier League era. Instances of this happening are few and far between. What did they do?

Answers

1. They used the winners’ podium to protest against racism, racial injustice and inequality. Smith, Norman, and Carlos won gold, silver, and bronze, respectively. They were all immediately suspended from the remainder of the Games, and extensively vilified. Though Smith and Carlos competed again, Norman never did, with Australian officials apologising for their treatment of Norman only in 2012.
2. Dadabhai Naoroji. The three represented different positions on the ideological spectrum too. Naoroji was elected as a member of the Liberal Party, Bhownagree was a Conservative, and Saklatvala was a member of the Communist Party of Great Britain.
3. Weah, a former footballer is the current President of Liberia, while Khan, a former cricketer is the current Prime Minister of Pakistan. The two are among a select few sportspersons who went on to lead/are leading their respective countries.
4. Jakarta, Indonesia.
5. Pablo Neruda.
6. All their directors were women who were subsequently nominated in the Best Director category. In 1977, Lina Wertmuller (Seven Beauties) became the first woman to be nominated followed by Jane Campion (The Piano) in 1994. Sofia Coppola (Lost in Translation) was nominated in 2004 and Greta Gerwig (Lady Bird) in 2018. Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker) became the first woman to win the Award in 2010. Till date, these five have been the only women to be nominated.
7. Ratnagiri. Interestingly, Bahadur Shah Zafar, the last Mughal King, was exiled to Burma (Myanmar) and after his death in 1862, was buried in Rangoon (Yangon).
8. Detention Centre. One can read more about where these detention centres are – here.
9. Billie Jean King. She founded the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) later that year. Emma Stone and Steve Carell played King and Riggs in the 2017 film, Battle of the Sexes.
10. They have played for both Manchester United and Liverpool. In the Premier League era, there have been no direct transfers between the clubs. The last direct transfer of players happened in 1964.