The first recorded signs of X are from the Chinese Han dynasty & are believed to have helped to finance projects like the Great Wall of China.
The first instance in Europe was in the Roman empire, and the funds accrued were used for city repairs.
The word X itself comes from the Dutch word for ‘fate’ and has been described as ‘a form of voluntary tax’.
What am I talking about?
Category: Business
[343]
This river in Milan gets its name from a Greek word that means “light, quick and nimble”.
A brand was launched from a factory next to the river, and named after the river, since the founder wanted his new product to have the same attributes as the name stood for.
Which now-defunct brand once hugely popular in India are we talking about?
Show AnswerLambretta scooters
The name is derived from the word Lambrate, the suburb of Milan named after the river Lambro which flows through the area, and where the factory was located. Lambretta was the name of a mythical water-sprite associated with the river which runs adjacent to the former production site.In 1972, the Indian government bought the machinery of the Milanese factory, creating Scooters India Limited (SIL) in order to produce Lambretta scooters and also Lambro three-wheelers, the latter under the name Vikram for the domestic market.
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In 1969, Dr. Karsanbhai Patel, a chemist at the Gujarat Government’s Department of Mining and Geology manufactured phosphate free synthetic X, and started selling it locally in and around Gujarat. He sold 15-20 packets of this a day through local dealers before his business boomed.
He named his product after his daughter Nirupama Patel.
How do we know this as ?
[329]
X is a type of fund which is usually funded by surplus reserves from state-owned natural resource revenues, money from privatizations, etc.
The largest of its kind is valued at $1.6 trillion & based out of Norway, created through surplus form the country’s oil trade. A few other popular examples of X are Temasek from Singapore & Mubadala from UAE.
What am I talking about?
[326]
When asked why he chose to paint X, the artist offered a deadpan reply: “I used to have the same lunch every day, for twenty years, I guess, the same thing over and over again.”
That daily meal became the subject of this work consisting of 32 individual pieces.
Which artwork am I talking about?
Show AnswerAndy Warhol's Campbell Soup Cans
The art piece was mocked at the time of its release because of its pedestrian nature.
However today, the work has become synonymous with Pop Art & is displayed at the Museum of Modern Art in New York stating "Repeating the nearly identical image, the canvases at once stress the uniformity and ubiquity of the product’s packaging and subvert the idea of painting as a medium of invention and originality".
Watch how Andy Warhol changed the face of Pop Art.
[322]
While this company is a world leader in its category, it also happens to be among the top food chains in the world.
The idea for a food service had come from the founder himself, who said “Hungry customers buy less”. In fact, the company sells a billion meatballs a year.
Which company am I talking about?
[315]
After the resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Muhammad Yunus was nominated to serve as the head of the interim government of Bangladesh.
Yunus is a Nobel Peace Prize awardee known for pioneering the concepts of microfinance through a bank that he founded.
Identify the bank.
[310]
The name of this video game comes from a type of crime committed.
Some of the stories that the games have followed are:
Protagonist returning home after the murder of his mother and finding his friends & family in disarray.
An Eastern European immigrant seeking a fresh start and the American Dream.
A mobster recently released from prison, who’s sent to oversee a drug deal.
Identify the game.
[307]
Tesla posted the following job description on their website. Which division/product is this required for?
Must be able to walk 7+ hours a day while carrying up to 30 lb
Height between 5’7″ and 5’11″
Must have the ability to stand, sit, walk, stoop, bend, reach, crouch, and twist throughout the day
Ability to travel up to 25% of the time and daily regional driving
[304]
Is it ever too late to start? Can you identify these successful people who started late in life.
1 – She wrote her first book at the age of 31 while living on public assistance between stints as a French teacher
2 – At the age of 35, his first idea was to create a platform for experts to write about topics. Seeing this not work, he created a product where anyone could contribute
3 – He created his first hit comic at the age of 39 and went on to have a Marvelous career in the entertainment industry
4 – He was selling milkshake machines, at the age of 52. He became a Founder of one of the most successful fast-food company
5 – He developed a secret recipe at the age of 65 and became a mascot for his own business
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X is a concept makes an act of error impossible to occur, by ensuring a right place for everything. The concept was formalized & adopted, by Shigeo Shingo as part of the Toyota Production System.
Today the concept is widely used in manufacturing, consumer electronics design, safety & many other fields.
Which concept am I talking about?
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The X index is a measure of expected stock market volatility that is calculated with S&P 500 options prices. It often spikes when U.S. stocks tumble. Hence, it is commonly referred to as the ‘fear index‘.
X was in the news after it surged to its highest level since March 2020 amid Monday’s turmoil.
Identify X.
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These type of drugs were originally created to fight Type 2 diabetes, however a happy side effect found was that they helped in reducing obesity. They work by introducing compounds like semaglutide, tirzepatide, etc. which reduce hunger & slow food movement hence making the person feel faster for longer.
Already a $10 billion market, these drugs are expected to become cash cows for their companies in the future.
Can you name the category of these drugs?
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The product X was a collaboration between Nike & X Foundation & became one of the largest social cause campaigns in history.
The idea was based on a similar product that Nike used to market for basketball called ‘baller’. The colour was chosen due to its connection with a certain sport. It ended up being a good selection, as the colour popped when worn by celebrities across the world.
Identify X.
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The word X comes from Old French word meaning leather bag. Over the years, the word X started to mean the contents rather than the bag itself.
In India, X left its etymological roots in 2019 & again in 2021 when it went paperless.
Identify X.
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X is usually encountered when something unexpected occurs. While the origin of the term is unknown, according to one theory – it was because there was no logical option give to the user on encountering X.
Over the years, the company behind X tried to soften impact of X by adding an emoticon.
Can you guess what am I talking about?
Show AnswerBlue Screen of Death
Officially called the stop screen, or stop error, the blue screen of death (BSOD) is a most unwanted error, second only to malware or ransomware in indicating that a user is in for a very bad day. It comes with no warning and all unsaved work is immediately lost. And given what it indicates, that could be the least of a user's problems.
Read More about the outage faced by millions of users recently.
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Connect the following images to a Brand.
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While it started more than 100 years ago, this publication still continues to stay relevant in today’s time.
Over the years, they have popularized words like “socialite”, “guesstimate”, “televangelist”, “pundit”, and “tycoon”.
In fact they’re also credited with introducing the names “World War I” and “World War II”, as opposed to older forms like “First World War” and “World War No. 2”.
Id the publication.
[262]
This method of management has been named after the 34th President of US after he gave a speech about it at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois in 1954.
The exact quote goes on as “I have two kinds of problems, the X and the Y. The X are not Y, and the Y are never X.”
Can you identify the method & name X &Y?
Show AnswerWe're talking about the Eisenhower Matrix, named after Dwight D Eisenhower.
X is Urgent & Y is Important. The quote goes like “I have two kinds of problems, the urgent and the important. The urgent are not important, and the important are never urgent.”
The matrix has been used by many for time management.
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The original names considered for the property were Bombay and Bombay Club. However, the name X was finally chosen to symbolize the attraction in the desert.
It was the first megaresort of its kind and was popular for its ‘volcano’ attraction. X will close down this month and will be taken over by Hard Rock Cafe.
What am I talking about?
Show AnswerThe Mirage at Las Vegas.
The resort will be demolished & a new guitar shaped casino will be constructed over a period of 3 years.
Watch a video on the Battle for Las Vegas Casinos.
