Nalaka Gunawardene and Vindana Ariyawansa

In our very first quiz on January 18, we noted that this year (2011) marks the birth centenary of Ananda Samarakoon, the musician, lyricist and painter who composed Sri Lanka’s national anthem.

A national anthem (known in some countries as national hymn or national song) is a patriotic musical composition that evokes and eulogizes the history, traditions and struggles of its people. Such an anthem is recognized either by the country’s government as the official national song, or by convention through use by the people. Today, we start off with some questions about national anthems in other South Asian countries.

1. Rabindranath Tagore has been called a Renaissance Man, for he excelled and dominated in so many fields of arts and culture in India and in the larger South Asian heritage tradition. Among many other things, he is the only person to have created the national anthems of two different countries (although both nations were officially born after his own death). One is India’s national anthem, “Jana Gana Mana”. What is the other country?

2. ‘Qaumii Salaam’ is the current national anthem of the Maldives. The lyrics were written by the Maldivian political figure and poet Muhammad Jameel Didi in 1948, and until 1972 it was sung to the tune of Auld Lang Syne which he heard on his uncle’s alarm clock! In 1972, a unique melody was composed by a Sri Lankan, who retained the original lyrics with a few changes to emphasize the fact that the Maldives has been a republic since 1968. Name the Sri Lankan musician and vocalist who composed it.

3. ‘Sayaun Thunga Phool Ka’ (which, in the country’s local language, means ‘Made of Hundreds of Flowers’) is the national anthem of a South Asian country which adopted it as recently as August 2007. The new anthem was selected from a total of 1,272 submissions made from across the country as part of the constitutional process of changing from a monarchy to a republic. What is this SAARC country with the newest national anthem?

4. Thor is a newly released Hollywood movie based on a Marvel Comic. The warrior Thor is cast out of the fantastic realm of Asgard (another world altogether) by his father Odin for his arrogance and sent to Earth to live among humans. The role of Thor is played by Chris Hemsworth. Name the accomplished actor, a past winner of an Oscar award, who plays the role of Odin.

5. The actress who won the Oscar for ‘Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role’ in 2010 is playing a lead role in the movie Thor, as a scientist Jane Foster. Who is this actress?

6. A Chronic Kidney Disease of Unknown Aetiology, also known as CKDu, has been spreading in Sri Lanka, and continues to puzzle local and international medical research teams, including experts from the World Health Organisation (WHO).

CKDu is largely concentrated in the North-Central Province, but hospitals remain understaffed to deal with the problem. Hospitals with kidney treatment units are experiencing a shortage of specialised doctors and nursing staff, the media have reported. Which district has so far recorded the highest number of cases, reporting 145 deaths and 18,281 cases of CKDu during the past 15 years?

7. Space travellers have been called different names depending on which nations’ space programmes sent them to space. The Americans and the western world uses astronaut, while the Russians use the term cosmonaut. The word is an anglicisation of the Russian word kosmonavt. Thus it was a cosmonaut who became the first human to travel to Earth orbit in April 1961. Which country’s space travellers are sometimes referred to as Taikonauts?

8. Lester James Peries had two younger brothers, one of who was a talented and accomplished artist who created almost 1,000 paintings, some of which are fetching high prices in international art circuits today. This painter was a member of the famous 43 Group of Lankan painters, but relocated to England in 1953 where he lived until death in 1988. Lester refers to his late brother as “the real great artist in the family”. Who was he?

9. This American agronomist, trained in plant pathology and genetics, introduced high-yielding wheat varieties and modern agricultural production techniques to Mexico, Pakistan, and India. For promoting these technologies worldwide, he has been called “the Father of the Green Revolution”, and is often credited with saving over a billion people worldwide from starvation. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize (1970). He also won the US Presidential Medal of Freedom and the US Congressional Gold Medal, and the Padma Vibhushan, India’s second highest civilian honour. Who is he?

10. Between May 22 and 25, 1997, this Sri Lankan born Tamil Canadian broke the world record for balancing his body on one foot. He achieved this amazing feat at the Vihara Maha Devi Park Open Air Stadium by balancing on one foot for 76 hours and 40 minutes. Who is he?

11. Name the only tennis player (male or female) in the history of the game to have won all four Grand Slam singles titles (which comprise the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open) as well as the Olympic gold medal, all in the same calendar year (1988).

12. “The Stone Age didn’t end because we ran out of stones.” This famous remark was originally uttered in 1973 during the first oil shock, by the then Oil Minister of Saudi Arabia. He was cautioning other oil producing countries not to be too greedy, as higher oil prices would encourage the search for alternative energy sources. Who was he?

13. He is described as the first pure mathematician in history. This Greek philosopher and mathematician, who lived in the 6th Century BC, gave us a theorem in geometry that states that in a right-angled triangle the area of the square on the hypotenuse (the side opposite the right angle) is equal to the sum of the areas of the squares of the other two sides. Who is he?

14. This Lankan engineer, who lived from 1874 to 1953, was a visionary who pioneered hydro electricity generation in Ceylon in the early part of the 20th Century. He became Chief Engineer of the government’s Public Works Department (PWD), in which capacity he pursued the construction of the country’s first hydro electricity generation plant that was finally completed in 1940. Who was this pioneer who persisted amidst much scepticism?

15. This German-born basketball player became the first European player to win the Most Valuable Player award in the National Basketball Association (NBA) of the United States. He also led his team Dallas Mavericks to playoffs in 10 consecutive years, and is currently leading his team in the western conference finals of the NBA after sweeping defending champions Los Angeles Lakers in the semi final. Who is this 7-foot-tall power forward?

Answers will be published next week.