prelude  On the occasion of India’s Independence Day celebrations recently, PRERANA, an association of the wives of IAS Officers of the State of Assam, in collaboration with Oil India Limited, had organised an inter- school/college quiz competition of students from the 8th to 12th standards of Assam on the theme of India’s freedom struggle. The quiz competition was held at Srimanta Sankaradeva Kalakshetra, Guwahati and was conducted by the renowned educationist and quiz master Prof. Dilip Kr. Barua. In the modern scenario, when children are increasingly getting disengaged from our glorious history of sacrifices laid down by our forefathers during the freedom movement, PRERANA had organised this quiz competition with the noble motive of promoting knowledge and spreading the feeling of patriotism among the upcoming generation. 143 teams, comprising two students from each institution from all over Assam, participated in the quiz. The first prize went to Simanta Das and Tridip Chandra Goswami of K.C.Das Commerce College, Guwahati. The first runners up were Amlan Jyoti Das and Pallab Saikia of Srimanta Sankardev Academy, Dispur and the second runners up were Rajdeep Barman and Suman Paul of Darrang College, Tezpur. The three other finalist teams were Army Public School, Narengi and two teams from Singri HS School, Sonitpur. The first prize, second prize and third prize winning teams received Rs.25,000/-, Rs.15,000/- and Rs.10,000/- respectively. E-mail your questions with answers at: only4_pol@yahoo.co.uk or post at: THE COLOSSEUM, Mosaic, Friday Supplement, The Assam Tribune, Guwahati-781003 or SMS at: 9864102417. Send your name in each SMS.

side screen  1) Picture Clue: This painting, by a not so famous painter, was up for auction in September, 2009. Can you name the painter? (Deepjyoti Deka, Nalbari)

harmonisers  From Dr. Amrita Sarkar, AMCH, Dibrugarh – 2) If Veda is to “knowledge”, Quran is to? 3) He was the posthumous child of Abdullah of the Qureish tribe. Who was he? 4) King Ram had only one sister. Name her. 5) The Muslim calendar is called Hijri. What is the origin of the word “Hijri”?

unities  From Md. Asif Sarwar Choudhry, J.B. Law College, Guwahati – 6) Which famous duo first appeared in Puss in Boots in 1942? 7) Which was the last animated film on which Walt Disney worked? 8) Which group starred in the movie Rock Around the Clock?

do-re-me  9) In which cartoon series, instead of the creator’s name, you get the name as ‘Board of Recreation’? (Kamal Medhi, Mathghoria, Guwahati) 10) Which of V. S. Naipaul’s books has this opening sentence: “The world is what it is; men who are nothing, who allow themselves to become nothing, have no place in it.”? (Kritartha Sarma, Milanpur, Nalbari) 11) The words Ich Dien in German in the Prince of Wales’ crest indicates the Prince’s loyalty to the King or Queen. What does it mean in English? (Abhijit D. Bharali) 12) On what condition did Ganesha agree to transcribe the dictation of Mahabharata by Ved Vyasa? (Munmi Debi, Gauhati Medical College) 13) Which emperor of India issued edicts as a gesture to protect animals and forests and also made laws for games and fishery? (Jahnabi Goswami, Handique Girls’ College, Guwahati) 14) Which Indian recently won a Grammy in the Contemporary World Music Album category for his collaborative album Global Drum Project? (Amlan Saikia, Don Bosco School, Tezpur)

crescendo  15) In this film, Nicole Kidman’s character wore the costliest ever diamond necklace designed by Stefano Canturi, which consisted of 1308 diamonds of 134 carat. Name the film. (Diksharani Baruah, Hengrabari, Guwahati)

Answers  1) Adolf Hitler 2) Recital 3) Prophet Mohammed 4) Santa 5) Hijrat, meaning migration 6) Tom and Jerry 7) The Jungle Book 8) Bill Haley and His Comets 9) Dennis the Menace 10) A Bend in the River 11) ‘I Serve’ 12) Non-stop dictation 13) Ashoka 14) Ustad Zakir Hussain 15) Moulin Rouge