Friday, September 25, 2009

Tata Crucibles Corporate Edition - Pune 2009 - Main Round


General Questions

1)Donald T. "Don" Valentine is an influential venture capitalist who concentrates mainly on technology companies in the United States. He has been called the "grandfather of Silicon Valley venture capital". He founded which venture capital. This firm also provides venture capital to YouTube, Paypal, Google etc -------- Sequoia Capital

2)Several presidential candidates used this during the elections this year, especially the Nader – Gozalves and the Obama – Biden group. It claimed to have increased its membership by 43% during that period. What???--------- Twitter

3)According to an Atlanta Magazine article published in May 1963, Coca-Cola’s marketing department used its IBM 1401 computer to generate a list of over 250,000 four-letter words with one vowel, adding names suggested by the company's own staff. The list was stripped of any words deemed unpronounceable or too similar to existing trademarks. From a final list of about twenty names, X was chosen, influenced by the possible play on words. What is X? ---------- TaB


Crossword

1)BooProo, Spout, and other such chewing gums. Which company -------- Lotte

2)Le Meridien was established in 1972 by X "to provide a home away from home for its customers." ------Air France

3)It is now the largest e-marketplace for steel in the world, having sold over 4 million tonnes of steel for its clients and currently selling at an average rate of 150,000 tonnes per month. What? ---------Metal Junction

Dry Round

1)Former CEO – Douglas Baillie

New CEO – Nitin Paranjpe

Which company ----------- HUL


2)How did Venture Bay Consultants come in the news recently? -------TechM’s arm which bought Satyam

3)Connect - Ship, Homelites, Tekka, Horsehead, Three Mangoes, Cheeta Fight, -------WIMCO match boxes

4)It is wordplay based on grassroots democracy efforts – truly spontaneous undertakings largely sustained by private persons – as opposed to politicians, governments, corporations, or public relations firms. What? ------------- Astroturf

5)It was designed by Charles Sykes and carries with it a story about a secret passion between John Walter Edward Douglas-Scott-Montagu and his secret love for Lady Eleanor. This resulted in the emblem. What?------Rolls Royce Spirit of Ecstacy


Visuals

1)Identify the ad



Exide Battery


2)Identify him



Harsh Goenka


3)Who is she?


Christie Heffner (Hugh’s daughter, Playboy CEO)



4)Worldwide merchandise which is ‘outside the world’. Who is this for?


Prisoners



5)What is this car’s claim to fame?



Peugot Eclipse. World’s first hard top. When the top went up and down, it resembled an eclipse. Hence the name.


6)Who is she?




Milan Vohra. Mills & Boons first Indian writer



7)Identify him


Jagdish Bhagwati - Indian Economist


World of TATA

Questions on TATA Tele trans India, TATA Tea, and TIS


Different Gears (4questions common to the 6 teams on stage)

1)Connect – Nike, AIG, Budweiser, Hublot Geneve, Betfred (all visual) ------ Man U

2)Connect Phillips, Reebok, Kingston , JJB, Emirates (Ad) ---------- Stadium names

3)Connect K3G ( background music---Karan Johar is what they were looking for), Prachi Desai, Lalit Modi, Pathans --------------all endorse Tata indicom


Final Round - Cruise Control (3 questions, 60 seconds, 3 clues per q. If able to answer in 1st clue – 15pts / -10, 2nd clue 10 pts / -10 and 3rd clue 5pts /-10…all 3 qs common to all teams)

Q1

Clue1—JL Baird TV Demo done here

Clue2 – The customer is always right

Clue3 – Flagship store in London is 2nd biggest in UK after Harrods.

Ans – Selfridge’s Dept store

Q2

Clue1 – Its origins go back to 1863, when a group of New York City businessmen raised $100,000 to found the National Union Life and Limb Insurance Company.

Clue2- It lent money to build the Rockefeller and the Empire State Building

Ans – MetLife

Q3

Clue1 - It was founded by Zavary and his brother in 1966. They sold horses to raise the initial $12,000 needed to start the company. Using the money and a 12-acre (49,000 m2) lot used to bury horses, the brothers founded the company

Clue2 - Because they had no science background, they hired 10 doctors and scientists from the Haffkine Institute of India. After a number of legal hurdles, the company finally received permission to produce vaccines. Sales finally began picking up when the company won contracts to supply state governments and hospitals.

Ans – Serum Institute of India. The other brother being Cyrus Poonawalla

Tata Crucibles Corporate Edition - Pune 2009 - Prelims


It was a well contested Pune edition this year. Some new teams...some familiar faces...all in all a handful of questions came to the audience. Goes to show the level of the teams.

TATA Round - Winners TCS
This was decided after a tiebreak which lasted close to 10 questions

External Round - Winners CTS
Played brilliantly without taking risks...

The following were some of the questions -

Prelims

1)Was the designer for Great Gatsby. Signed with initials RL ---- Ralph Lauren

2)Japan's greatest invention of the 20th century (as voted by the people) ----- Noodles

3)When Pepsi entered India, they introduced their own brand of Bamati Rice. Name ----Mughal Basmati Rice

4)Its first published use is credited to Don Hoefler, a friend of Vaerst's, who used the phrase as the title of a series of articles in the weekly trade newspaper Electronic News. The series began in the paper's issue dated January 11, 1971. What phrase??? ------- Silicon Valley

5)Kunal Lalani started this Ad agency. He had naming issues as it was named after a generic item kids use, even to this day ----- Crayons Ad Agency

6)It means 'a high priest who performs rituals' in Greek ----- hierarchy

7)He is George Gilett. European Club he owns


LIVERPOOL


8)There are certain people (homeless)in Japan who spend their nights at Mc Donalds. Specific name-----Mc Refugees

9)Identify the logo....which bank

J & K Bank


10)Time Magazine recently named two Indian people in its list of most influential people in 2009
One was business background. The other wasn't. Name the former------- Nandan Nilekani

11)Identify him. Hint - Pharma


Khwaja Abdul Hameid --- Founder of CIPLA


12)iMiEV is an electric variant of a car being launched by which company----- Mitsubishi

13)MaxHealthcare in collaboration with which company is starting the Anti Smoking campaign in India ------- Pfizer


14)The word is derived from the french region because this covered compartment physically resembles the cloak hood worn by shepherds in that region------ Limousine

15)Which Bollywood Actor endorses Levi's Signature --------- Shahid Kapur

16)Which Indian Bank recently started the Nav Nirman scheme. They revamped their logo to show interlocking with their customers --------- UNION BANK

17)System S... We have access to Real Time Data....which company -------- IBM

18)Public Investment Corporation (state pension fund) is the primary stakeholder of this company. The Mikati family of Lebanon holds another 10% (2nd largest shareholder). Which 3 letter company--------- MTN

19)Visual AD----- Samsung (Cell tracker)

20)Visual AD------ Surf Excel

Cut - off was approximately 15. TATA teams outscored the external teams. The highest score they had posted in the prelims was 19.

Friday, August 28, 2009

Finally we have the results for Summer Bonanza 2K9

The winner is:
VIVEK NABHI
(240 points)


Others who did really well:

SUMEET NAYAK (210 pts)
RITWIK KALLANDY(100 pts)
BIJEET MUKHERJEE(44 pts)
DEEPU SELVERAJ(40 pts)
SHREY GOYAL(20 pts)
SANJEET DASH(30 pts)
SUDARSHAN NARAYANAN(30 pts)


Congrats Everyone!!!!!!!!!!! And Happy Quizzing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Summer Bonanza #9 and #10 Answers

Summer Bonanza #9:
1. X-James Potter Y-Prongs
2. Sable
3. X-Reebok Y-Adidas
4. Ubuntu
5. Bongo
Connect: They are all types of reindeer!!

Points for this set:
Shrey Goyal: 20
Bijeet Mukherjee: 14


Summer Bonanza #10:
1. The map shows the countries involved in World War II
2. Adolf Hitler
3. Eva Braun
4. Battle of Britain
5. That's a picture of the battle of Britain

Points for this set:
Sanjeet Dash: 30
Sudharsan Narayanan: 30

Summer Bonanza #7 and #8 Answers

Summer Bonanza #7:
1. Blanks: Happiness Factory and the Company is Coca Cola
2. Jeffrey Archer
3. They are the only 5 women to have won both the best actress and the best supporting actress Oscars.
4. Joomla!
5. The Potala Palace
6. Discovery Channel

Points for this set:
Vivek Nabhi: 40


Summer Bonanza #8:
1. Charlie Chaplin
2. MATTHEW Hayden, MARK Waugh, LUKE Kenny and JOHN F Kennedy share their
first names with the 4 gospels in the Bible
3. Tea
4. Ringo Starr
5. The beginning of the partnership between Holmes and Watson
6. Monster.com

Points for this set:
Bijeet Mukherjee: 30

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Summer Bonanza #10

QUESTION 1.


The map above suggests something. What? (I am not looking for a very specific answer!! )

QUESTION 2

Well they say.. ‘looks are deceptive’ and this happens to be no exception.


This cute little kid isn’t so cute after all. He is X. Identify X.

QUESTION 3

"Y,
Don't worry about me. I'm fine though perhaps a little tired. I hope to come home soon and then
I can rest in your arms. I have a great longing for rest, but my duty to the people comes before
everything else. I thank you for the proof of your affection and ask you also to thank your
esteemed father and your most gracious mother for their greetings and good wishes. I am very
proud of the honor - please tell them that - to possess the love of girl who comes from such a
distinguished family.
From my whole heart, your X."

"X,
I am beside myself. I am dying of anxiety now that I know you are in danger. Come back as soon
as possible. I feel as if I am going insane.
The weather is beautiful here and everything seems so peaceful that I am ashamed of myself ...
You know I have always told you that I would die if anything happened to you. From our first
meeting on, I have promised myself to follow you wherever you go, even to death. You know that I live only for your love.
Yours Y"

X and Y are very specially related. Who is Y?

QUESTION 4.

The name derives from a speech made on 18 June, 1940 in the House of Commons. He said, "The Battle of A is over. I expect the Z is about to begin..."
Well if you are utterly confused, let me help you out. A is the name of a country shown in the
1st picture and it happens to be a rival of Z. The battle of Z is actually what I am looking for!

QUESTION 5.

If you get the question above, this should be a piece of cake!!


Now, finally tell me how this date is connected to this entire thing.

Friday, July 3, 2009

Summer Bonanza #9

This is a Long Connect with 5 Questions:---

1) As an only child, X, nicknamed Y, is very pampered as an extra treasure because his parents are already elderly when he is born. At school, X is a brilliant student, appointed as Head Boy without being a prefect, and said to have been a talented player of Quidditch.In the film version, X's name is listed on a plaque as a Seeker on his Quidditch team; however, he was intended in the book to be a Chaser. Y is the connect.

2) It is a small carnivorous mammal.Its range in the wild originally extended through European Russia to Poland and Scandinavia.While hunting of them is still common in Russia, most fur in the market is now commercially farmed. Which mammal?

3) X is a subsidiary of Y, both of which manufactures similar commodities. X was originally named after its founders in 1895 but was renamed in 1958. The company's founders found the name in a dictionary won in a race by one of them as a boy; the dictionary was a South African edition, hence the spelling. X is the connect.

4) Orange uses a variation of a philosophy in their motto, "I am who I am because of everyone". Which philosophy?

5) They are a percussion instrument consisting of the hembra (female) and macho (male) parts. It is associated with a steady patter of eighth-notes known as the hammer. Which instrument?

4 points for each of the questions and 20 points for the connect.