Answers to last week's quiz (#437)

1. This ______ was the battle standard of the King of France in the Middle Ages. It was originally the sacred banner of the Abbey of St. Denis, a monastery near Paris. When the ______ was raised in battle by the French royalty during the Middle Ages, no prisoners were to be taken until it was lowered. It was first used by Louis VI in 1124 and was last flown in battle at Agincourt in 1415. Fill in the blank and name an European cosmetics brand /company that is named after it.
   Oriflamme. The Swiss Cosmetics company Oriflame is named after it.
    
2. This bacterium was discovered in 1895. In the 60s-70s a doctor in the US hypothesised that the drug might be an effective therapy for strabismus, a type of "ophthalmic dystonia,"and an alternative to surgery, then the only effective intervention. He discovered that by injecting a small amount of this bacteria into the hyperactive ocular muscles in monkeys. Today it is commercially available and has a highly popular cosmetic use. Name it.
   Botox or Botulinum toxin, a purified protein derived from the bacterium Clostridium botulinum, has been researched for 100 years. Ever since the bacterium was identified in 1895, researchers have been intrigued by its potential therapeutic uses. It is owned by Allergan which recently merged with Pfizer.
    
3. This spice grown in the Southern states of Kerala. Tamil Nadu and Karnataka also grows abundantly in Sri Lanka. When the roman emperor Nero's wife died he had ordered all of this spice available in Rome to be burnt so that the perfumed smoke would accompany his dead wife's corpse on its last rites. Name the spice.
   Cinnamon. The word perfume is derived from Latin "per fumus" meaning through smoke.
    
4. Name the term that originated in the British Civil Service where employees had the right to request special leave for exceptional purposes. It became a euphemism for "suspended" as an employee who was formally suspended pending an investigation into their conduct would often requested to be out of the office on special leave instead. The term came to widespread public attention in 1986 when it was used in the BBC sitcom Yes, Prime Minister.
   Garden Leave or Gardening leave. It describes the practice where an employee leaving a job having resigned or otherwise had their employment terminated - is instructed to stay away from work during the notice period, while still remaining on the payroll. This practice is often used to prevent employees from taking with them up-to-date (and perhaps sensitive) information when they leave their current employer, especially when they are leaving to join a competitor.
    
5. The magazine titled 'Inspire' is aimed at Young British and American readers. Who publishes this magazine?
   The Al Qaeda
    
6. By what term is this proposition generally referred to and also name the term that came about countering it "The Analytical Engine has no pretensions whatever to originate anything. It can do whatever we know how to order it to perform. It can follow analysis; but it has no power of anticipating any analytical relations or truths. It can merely perform as programmed"?
   This statement is referred to as Lady Lovelace's Objection that was countered by Alan Turing in the 1950s whose postulate is called the Turing test, which deals with the question whether machines can think.
    
7. This now very popular logo first appeared in public in 1958 during the Easter weekend in London. It was designed by a person who had worked on a farm in Norfolk during the Second World War who incorporated the semaphore letters for N and D. Name it.
   The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) logo or the peace logo.
    
8. This Nurse approached Boieng Air Transport in the 1930s with the idea of nurses dressed in military uniforms helping serve food and beverages inflight, soothing nervous passengers, loading luggage, helping refuel the plane and even nailing down passergers wicker chairs to the plane's floor when necessary. Name her?
   Ellen Church. The lady who is considered as the world's first Air Hostess.
    
9. Fill in the blank and name the brand from the following ad lines: 'Together. Building the Future. The spine of the most advanced aircraft, _____ made in India.
   787-9 Dreamliner from Boeing.
    
10. Whose logo is this?
    The Spices Board of India. It is headquartered in Kochi.

 

 

There were nine correct entries to quiz No 437. Shivanandini P from Chennai, wins Rs 2000. The winner is based on the first correct entry received.