[34]

The coining of the name of X is credited to an actor, who ordered it at an eatery in Macau during his appearance on a TV show. He remarked that X tasted like a particular candy from his native country, and well the rest is history.
What is X?

Show Answer
Dalgona coffee
The coining of the name is credited to the South Korean actor Jung Il-woo, who ordered a whipped coffee at an eatery in Macau during his appearance on a TV show called Stars' Top Recipe at Fun-Staurant (신상출시 편스토랑). He likened the taste to that of dalgona, a type of Korean honeycomb toffee.

[31]

X is a music composer born in 1928 and is considered one of the greatest of all time. His collaboration with a director/producer of his time has laid the foundation of an entire genre of feature films.
Such is X’s following, that Metallica opens their concerts covering the song Y composed by X.
Give me X & Y.

Show Answer
X is Ennio Morricone
Y is Ecstasy of Gold
Give it a listen

[30]

X released his first music album in 2000 in a band with his brother. In 2007, he released a single alongside the legendary singer Asha Bhosle. His media career progressed further with the release of a movie with Tannishtha Chatterjee in 2016.
Identify X.

Show Answer
Brett Lee
Watch the video

[29]

This drink was first introduced in 2003 and became an instant hit. In the first 10 years it sold 200 million cups. In 2022, the namesake ingredient was added in Merriam-Webster dictionary.
Name the company & the drink they created.

Show Answer
Starbucks & Pumpkin Spiced Latte
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[28]

In May 2023, 92,000 people came to witness a couple of events in Stockholm. Due to the increased spending on restaurants and hotels, Sweden’s inflation rate is estimated to have increased by 0.3%.
What event(s) are we talking about?

Show Answer
Beyonce's Renaissance tour in Stockholm
Read More

[27]

According to Uttara Ramayanam, the last chapter of Ramayana, Lava & Kusha were the offspring of Rama & Sita. Both the brothers went on to found their own cities and became rulers.
Which modern day city is Lava is believed to have founded?

Show Answer
Lahore, originating from Lavpur or Lavapuri ("City of Lava")
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[25]

Last week, we saw two two beams of light project 4 miles into the sky in Lower Manhattan.  On a clear night, these shafts of light—the most powerful ever projected from Earth – can be seen from 60 miles away.
Which event do these lights mark?
lights

Show Answer
9/11 attacks. Called a 'Tribute in Light', the lights are supposed to represent the twin towers.
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[24]

In early 2003, this company launched a marketing campaign in Germany by the name “ich liebe es”.  Later that year, they tied with music star Justin Timberlake to launch a song by the same name. The song topped the charts at the time, and helped the company create a rememberable jingle before their campaign launch in the US.
Name the campaign and the company.

Show Answer
I'm lovin' it by McDonalds.
Listen to the song

[23]

In its latest environmental report, Microsoft disclosed that its global water consumption spiked 34% from 2021 to 2022 (to nearly 1.7 billion gallons, or more than 2,500 Olympic-sized swimming pools), a sharp increase compared to previous years.
Google reported a 20% growth in water use in the same period.
What is the cause of this sudden spike in water consumption for these tech companies?

Show Answer
Generative AI
In a paper due to be published later this year, a research team is estimating that ChatGPT gulps up 500 milliliters of water  every time you ask it a series of between 5 to 50 prompts or questions. The range varies depending on where its servers are located and the season. The estimate includes indirect water usage that the companies don’t measure — such as to cool power plants that supply the data centers with electricity.
Read More

 

[22]

X originated in 1810, with a royal wedding celebration. The festivities were revived the next year, with the introduction of a show in the year 1811. The tradition grew year after year from there; with horse races, tree climbing, bowling alleys, swings, a carnival and many more activities added in the subsequent years.
Beginning from mid-or late-September, what is X? 

Show Answer
Oktoberfest (and it's starting today)
The festival is scheduled from 16th September to 3rd October.
Since its foundation, there have been only 26 years in which it has been cancelled.
Read more

[21]

Some people trace back the origin of this movement to the movie Jurassic Park (1993), which showed that movies (or media in general) can have a huge potential, even more than the sales of a large car company.
This prompted the government of the time to invest in cultural exports. 30 years later, this has translated one of the most popular YouTube videos of all times, a barrage of TV shows and world famous music bands.
What is the name of the movement/country it is associated with?

Show Answer
Hallyu or the Korean Wave
Read more

[20]

Connect the following figures. Who’s the latest one to join them?

figures

Show Answer
Walter Isaacson has written biographies on all of them. The latest person to join them is Elon Musk.
From top left the figures are - Leonardo da Vinci, Benjamin Franklin, Albert Einstein, Steve Jobs & Jennifer Doudna.
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[19]

Prior to the American Civil War, US accounted for 77% of the cotton consumed in Great Britain. Since majority of this was produced in the Southern states,  The Confederacy tried to use this to their advantage. The plan was to blockage cotton shipments to get Britain to side with the Southern states in the war.
However, the plan backfired when Britain turn to another country for their supplies, developing railway lines, industries and uplifting the fortune of a particular port city in the country (which is now known for its ‘mills’).
Guess the country which supplied cotton to Britain. Bonus points for guessing the port city.

Show Answer
India and the city of Bombay. This is thought to be one of the first instances of Globalization.
Countries like Egypt & Brazil were also beneficiaries of this.
Read More

[18]

John Ray III is a lawyer by profession and has 40 years of experience in legal restructuring. His typical clients are companies which have gone bankrupt, where he steps in as the new CEO to salve whatever obligations that can still be met.
His claim to fame was the Enron case where the lawyer was hired to oversee the liquidation after an accounting scandal at the energy giant drove share prices from $90.75 to less than $1.
Late last year, he stepped in as the CEO of a high profile tech company involved in fraud, which he called ‘worse than Enron’.
Which company is he the current CEO of?

Show Answer
FTX, replacing Sam Bankman-Fried
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[17]

This company started as a loom machine manufacturing company in 1924, but then transitioned into an automobiles in 1934. The company’s current logo is perhaps a nod to this heritage, with it showing a thread being threaded through the eye of a needle.
Name the company.
Hint: The logo also seems to spells out all the alphabets in the company’s name.

Show Answer
Toyota

tologo

[16]

There is an urban legend related to the political leadership of Russia. It has been followed from 1825, since the time of Nicholas I. Its latest occurrence can be seen in the last 4 leaders as well.
What am I talking about?
Russian leaders

Show Answer
Bald-hairy, referring to the empirical rule of the state leaders' succession defined as a change of a bald or balding leader to a hairy one and vice versa.
Read more

[15]

6 cities in the USA have sued Kia & Hyundai for a trend which has gone viral on TikTok. The graph below shows a statistic from The Economist which highlights the problem.
Hyundai KiaWhat’s the funda?

Show Answer
The companies are being sued for how susceptible their cars are to theft.
As per the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's (IIHS) Highway Data Loss Institute, immobilizing anti-theft devices were standard on 96% of all US vehicles in 2015, but were standard on only 26% Hyundai & Kia vehicles.