1. He is originally from India and received his degree in electrical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay in 1970. He received a Master’s degree in Management (M.B.A.) from the MIT Sloan School of Management in 1972. In the same year, he joined Citicorp in Corporate Banking. Later, he was posted in “practically every continent” — as one bio-sketch put it. Displaying exemplary banking skills throughout, he rose to the post of Chief Financial Officer in 1995. Who is this gentleman who is believed to have played a key role in crafting a $3 billion write-off in Latin American debt in 1987. This helped open the way for Latin American countries to access capital markets while clearing “an ugly mess from the bank’s books”.
2. Ghanashyam Das Birla’s Autobiography is titled “In the Shadow of the ………….” Fill in the blank with one word.
3. Which famous person had a theory which he developed after he was inspired by the behaviours of the monkeys?
4. Companies setting up a toll-free number has become very common these days. Here’s a question on this: What do you call a telephonic scam in which a company establishes a toll-free number that is just one digit different from a popular number so that it gets money when customers (mis) dial the actual number?
5. This word has its origin to the Greek words meaning “light” and “to draw”. It was first used by the scientist Sir John F.W. Herschel in late 1830’s. The word literally stands for recording images by the action of light/ radiation on a sensitive material. Give me the name of the word in question.
6. “Express yourself” – Adline of which Indian state tourisim department?
7. In 1983, who convinced John’s Scully to stop selling sugar water for the rest of his life?
8. Beer Game is a role playing simulation game developed in MIT in 1960’s. This gives us certain aspect of operation in a manufacturing organisation. What is the two word phrase?
9. Which company was up in arms, when a Canadian teenager, Michael Roe, opened his software website?
10. Which industry began in India when in 1886, certain person named gooenough of McKillop Stewart & Co. came across something at Jaypore in upper Assam?
11. In market research what does DKCS stands for?
12. Besides coastal resorts in low-lying islands, which other sport complexes will be affected due to the effect of global warming? (Think LOGICALLY)
13. In 1903, the Lever Brother’s (now Hindustan Unilever) launched their first food product in India. Name the brand?
14. Between 1920 and 1943 Sears owned the sole rights of selling which product?
15. Which concept relating to sequence of activities that any organisation indulges in valuation was promoted by Michael Porter?
16. Which organisation buys 5% of the potatoes and 2% of the chicken raised in USA & UK?(again, think logically)
17. Which 11 letter word connected to retail shopping is applicable to a space of minimum 2500 square meter, one third or more of which is not food items?
18. Which company is listed in NY stock exchange by the ticker PLA & PLAA?
19. Who invented the pioneering Third World prosthesis Jaipur Foot?
20. Who or what is known as The Old Lady Of Threadneedle Street?

1. Let me start with my favourite topic: FOOD. It is the Italian word for hors d’oeuvre, and literally means ‘before the food’. In Italian cuisine, this typically consists of cold foods such as cheeses and raw or marinated vegetables, as well as meats, especially cured meats such as prosciutto. Identify the term?
2. “A worker in _____________ must work 89 minutes for a kilo of rice, while a Swiss needs only five to seven minutes,” the survey from UBS, the Banking group from Switzerland said. Fill the blank.
3. What is unique to Mario Brothers, Mortal Kombat and Tomb Raider?
4. We often hear of the ‘Chancellor of the Exchequer.’ How did the word Exchequer come into use?
5. This film superstar holds a degree in business and finance from the University of Wisconsin, and had earned a small fortune in mail-order and real estate before he launched his career in the film industry. Who?
6. It was once referred to as a “Punjabi newspaper written in the Roman script”. Which newspaper?
7. On 31st October 2000, four centuries after his death, who was declared the patron saint of politicians and statesmen?
8. The name was an acronym for the German text translating to “limited company for dye manufacture”. It was established in 1867 at Rummelsburger near Berlin, and took its name in 1873. After the second world war, the factory was re-established in West Germany, at Leverkusen and Munich. What company?
9. This product came as a result of a research work titled ‘the third browser’. The success of the endeavour led to the formation of a new company. What am I talking about?
10. Record book…. This Indian company started in 1956 with a capacity of 25 units a day. Today they produce them in 100 seconds flat. They are world’s largest. Which company?
11. Son of a London cabbie, he dropped out of school, but eventually mastered degree in fashion design from the prestigious Martins College. Three times winner of ‘ the British designer of the year’, he drew media attention when he impudently dismissed his employer Hubert de Givenchy as ‘irrelevant’. He has a petulant bad boy image and is widely known as ‘L’enfant Terrible’. One of the most controversial but talented fashion designers today, he is currently employed by Gucci. Name him.
12. Irving, Texas is a small-town which has the HQ’s of a Fortune 5 company. Name the company.
13. Expand AIG as in Tata-AIG or ManU shirts AIG?
14. In the 1860s a pharmacist, developed a food for babies who were unable to breastfeed. His first success was a premature infant who could not tolerate his mother’s milk or any of the usual substitutes. People quickly recognized the value of the new product, after his new formula saved the child’s life, and soon, the product was being sold in much of Europe. This was the start of a great multinational. Which one?
15. Name the legendary French New Wave director who made the 1964 movie after which Quentin Tarantino, one of his biggest admirers, named his production company.
16. On which US states’ license plates would you find the slogan “The Spirit of America?”
17. On 9th February 1950 this US senator accused more than 200 staff in the State Department of being members of the Communist Party. He made the startling allegation in a public speech saying the State Department was infested with communists and brandished a sheet of paper which purportedly contained the traitors’ names. Name the senator.
18. The Japanese brand “Canon” is named after?
19. A talented, self-taught artist, he sold his first drawing to Life magazine when he was only 14! He was also a natural athlete who longed for a career in baseball, but his dreams of pitching in the Big Leagues were shattered when he broke his arm while playing his first professional game. He became a sports cartoonist and created a strip called “Champs and Chumps”, which was renamed later. The cartoon was an instant success. Who and what was it renamed as?
20. Frank McNamara went to a New York restaurant to have dinner. On his way out he faced a problem. What problem did he face and how did he resolve the problem?

1. Which major studio was declared bankrupt in 1933 as a result of the losses it suffered from its chain of theatres during the transition to sound?
2. The Kamasutra Brand of condoms is made by a company that makes another range of men’s ACCESORIES albeit in a much more famous brand. Name the other brand?
3. ‘Quality is remembered long after the price is forgotten‘ is the motto of which company?
4. It was being considered to name it Jersey and Highland Milk, the product that was launched to challenge the Swiss domination in this category. What was the product ultimately called?
5. This was first used as cellulose bandage in WW1, what’s the product?
6. Which company is the owner of the Vertu brand of Mobiles that come with a starting price of 2 lakh INR and goes upto 17 lakhs INR?
7. Which company began as Geophysical Service, an oil exploration company founded in 1930 by J.Clarence Karcher and Eugene McDermott pioneering the use of sound-wave technology to locate oil deposits? The current no longer operates in the oil business but is more famous in another completely different field altogether?
8. Which site is the 2nd largest online trading site after icicidirect.com?
9. Which online matrimony site was founded by J. Murugavel, who himself found his wife through the internet?(really good inspiration to start one site )
10. Which Indian company is the largest producer of denim in the world?
11. Which was the first building in the world to have air cooling system & when?
12. Mandira Bedi once approached an Ad agency for career. She was made to write a story on the spot by this famous Ad man. Which company and Ad man/guru am i?
13. Who started the Wall Street Journal and when?
14. Which logo is the most tattooed in the world?
15. This one’s for the pink fans here. Name the first ever brothel to be listed on a Stock Exchange?
16. Which pan-Indian FM channel is backed by the India Today group?
17. “I want _____ to be as well-known around the world as Coca-Cola“, fill the blank & tell who said it? He’s also known to have said “The surest way to become a millionaire is to start as a billionaire and invest in the airline industry”?
18. There are Extra Premium/Power from Indian Oil; Speed/Hi-Speed from BP; Power from HP. Which petroleum company came up with the idea of BRANDED fuels in India for the higher octane and higher cetane number fuels?
19. What’s the name of the 1st Mobile Virus? It hit users in July 2004 with a constant display of the virus’ name on the display screen.
20. In which year was the term ‘Silicon Valley’ first used and when?

The Cerebral Algebra team successfully conducted the ‘???’ quiz at Yagna ‘09 – the intercollegiate technical fest by LBS Institute of Technology for Women at Thiruvananthapuram. It was an astounding success by its own right!

Over 54 teams participated in the quiz, which was super-tough, so to speak. The prelimns had 25 questions covering almost all areas. Five teams were selected for the finals with the highest scorer getting just 8 out of 25. So tough it was! And we had some participants with quite a huge sense of humour. There was a question that went like this:

“Connect Hyderabad, Bikaner, Indore, Jaipur, et al…”

This was the answer a team wrote! We were so happy with their inventive answer that we gave them a special munch for the performance!

The finals of the quiz started at 1.30 PM. There were 6 rounds : A General Round, Reveal the picture round, Audio Round, Video Round, Three Clue round and a Buzzer Round. We followed the prelimns route and the questions again were super tough! Finally, we deliberately had to switch over to easy questions so as to get some answers out of the teams.

After a long-draw two-hour long quiz, Abhilash BS and team from College of Engineering Trivandrum won the first place. Appu and Anand from GEC Barton Hill were crowned the second.

Congratulations, winners!

Yagna ‘09 & Dhruva ‘09 are the intercollegiate technical and cultural festivals (held simultaneously) of LBS Institute of Technology for Women, Trivandrum on March 20, 21 and 22. The reputed institution, as its name inexorably suggests, is  noted for its eclectic student community composed solely of Women. Going by the caliber of the students and sheer sheen eluded by the fete, it will surely be a spectacular event by its own rights.

The credos of the institution being so popular and well-acknowledged, we found their offer too good to resist.

You guessed it, Cerebral Algebra is the official Quizzing Partner of Yagna ‘09! The Cerebral Algebra team will handle and host the entire quiz, including the prelims and finals. Basking in the glory of our  first public appearance at Aagneya ‘09, we plan to make the Yagna quiz, which is inventively titled ‘???” (or Three Q’s as it’s known amongst us! ) bigger, better, flashier, and tougher.

The quiz will be held on 20th March, Friday. The prelimns are at 11 AM and the finals. Contact Shiju  (9447947795) for details.
Yeah, right! With us at the helm, that’s goanna be one tough nut to crack! And, expect a stunning aural and visual experience too! So, be there.