Knowledge base
Q1 Auguste Rodin was a French sculptor and artist who was born on this day in 1840. He was a master of technique in sculpting, choosing somewhat unconsciously, to rebel against contemporary norms. He admired Dante, the Poet, and depicted him and his work in many of his sculptures. Rodin’s most famous statue, ‘Le Penseur’, known to us all by a different name, is also supposedly modelled on Dante. Rodin said about the statue, “What makes my _____ ____ is that he _____ not only with his brain, with his knitted brow, his distended nostrils and compressed lips, but with every muscle of his arms, back, and legs, with his clenched fist and gripping toes.” What is the name of this world-famous statue?
Q2 Sticky Rice mortar was invented using organic materials in inorganic mortar. Sticky rice soup was mixed with slaked lime to create a mixture that had high adhesive strength and waterproofing capacity and prevented weeds from growing through, and rivals modern cement. This application was used in the construction (around 500 CE) and renovation (around 1400-1600 AD) of a very famous monument. Which monument?
Q3 This footwear brand, using durable pigskin, was originally conceived for the U.S. Military, and later made footwear with ‘casual’ pigskin for the public. It was a hit in the 1960s and 1970s as a leisure staple. One possibly apocryphal story of the origin of this company’s name goes as follows: when a sales manager of the company was at a customer’s house, he wondered aloud as to why fried corn dough balls were called by a certain name. The customer responded that they were called so as they were fed to barking dogs to get them to keep quiet. The manager felt it would be a perfect name for the product he was selling, as hurting feet were as annoying like barking dogs. Which brand was thus born?
Q4 “Road to Sangam” is a 2010 Bollywood film which follows Hasmat, a mechanic, who is entrusted by the UP Government to repair a truck’s V8 Engine. He realises through a series of events, that the truck he is repairing was used for a purpose of national significance roughly 60 years prior, and had made its journey to the Triveni Sangam. For what purpose was the truck used?
Q5 A staple of Indian physics and chemistry textbooks, this scientist won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1906 and is well-known for his discovery of an electron being a particle. His son won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1937, for showing that the electron was a wave, and could be diffracted. Although these proofs were initially considered contradictory, it is now well accepted that electrons have a particle-wave duality. Name the father-son duo.
Q6 The Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) has been working on a product line which recently came into the limelight because of a Supreme Court order on October 23, 2018. This line of products is claimed to be less dangerous and less harmful than the conventional product. It is supposed to reduce emission levels and absorb dust. CSIR worked to replace lithium, mercury, arsenic, lead, and other sub-standard components, with eco-friendly substitutes. What in-the-news product are we talking about?
Answers
A1. The Thinker.
A2. The Great Wall of China.
A3. Hush Puppies.
A4. It was used to carry the ashes of Mahatma Gandhi.
A5. JJ and GP Thomson.
A6. Green Diwali Crackers
*************************************
