Have a rice day!
Nalaka
Gunawardene and Vindana Ariyawansa They say that if an alien spaceship
were to land on Earth at a randomly selected place, the chances are that
it will descend on a paddy field - and the first humans they encounter
would be paddy farmers! That's how widespread rice cultivation is in
Asia, as well as in parts of Africa, Latin America and even southern
Europe. So today we pay tribute to this world's most pervasive staple.
1. More than half of the world's population depends on rice as a
staple food and Asian countries produce over 90 per cent of all the rice
in the world. Which two countries in Asia Maccount for over
half of the world's rice production according to 2008 figures? (Sri
Lanka is nowhere in the top 10.)
2. The world's top producers of rice mostly consume their rice within
the country, so the top rice exporting countries are different.
According to 2010 figures, which Southeast Asian country was the
world's largest exporter of rice, selling 8,500 metric tons of rice
overseas that year?
3. The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) is a
non-profit, independent research and training organization based in a
rice growing Asian country. IRRI develops new rice varieties and rice
crop management techniques that help rice farmers everywhere to improve
the yield and quality of their rice in an environmentally sustainable
way. Where is the headquarters of IRRI located?
4. Well known English novelist and futurist Aldous Huxley's final
novel describes the experiences of a cynical journalist who is
shipwrecked on the fictional island of Pala. The culture of Pala
merges the best of the East and West; the Palanese have adopted a
selective attitude towards technology, and practise a restrained form of
industrialization. The novel addresses issues of overpopulation,
ecology, modernity, democracy and mysticism among others. Some call this
Huxley's own vision of a utopia. What was the novel's title?
5.
New Guinea Island is the second largest island in the world by
land area. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it covers an area of
786,000 square kilometres. Politically, the western half of the island
comprises two Indonesian provinces: Papua and West Papua. The eastern
half forms the mainland of which independent country?
6.
Name the influential German language novelist who said: "A book
must be an ice-axe to break the seas frozen inside our soul."
7. The Commonwealth of Nations, normally referred to as the
'Commonwealth' and formerly known as the British Commonwealth, is an
intergovernmental organisation of 54 independent member states. All
except two of these countries were formerly part of the British Empire,
out of which it developed. The head of the Commonwealth is the ruling
British monarch, who at the moment is Queen Elizabeth II. Who is the
Secretary General of the Commonwealth who heads the Commonwealth
Secretariat in London?
8. In June 2011, the American actor, film maker, screenwriter and
film director Sylvester Stallone was inducted in the International
Boxing Hall of Fame for his Rocky movie series. "I've never
pretended to be a boxer. I don't possess those skills," he said in
accepting this honour. What was the full name of the fictional boxer
character that Stallone played in a series of popular films from
1976 to 2006. This character was named the 7th greatest movie hero by
the American Film Institute.
9.
In late June 2011, Thailand announced it was withdrawing from UNESCO'S
World Heritage Convention because of a row with neighbour Cambodia over
a disputed 900-year-old temple, which the Convention was going to
discuss. This temple is at the centre of a border conflict between
the two countries that left 28 people dead earlier in 2011. Cambodia
has also launched a legal bid at the International Court of Justice (ICJ)
seeking to force Thailand to pull troops from disputed land near the
temple ruins. What is this disputed temple's name?
10. HACCP is a systematic preventive approach to food safety and
pharmaceutical safety that addresses physical, chemical, and
biological hazards as a means of prevention rather than finished product
inspection. HACCP is used in the food industry to identify potential
food safety hazards, so that key actions, can be taken to reduce or
eliminate the risk of the hazards being realized. What do the letters
HACCP stand for? 11. Name the playwright, poet and novelist who said:
"Art is the only serious thing in the world. And the artist is the only
person who is never serious"? 12. The Emperor of All Maladies is a
recent book that offers a 'biography' of cancer and of those who have
fought it throughout history. Who is its author, an Indian-born,
US-based cancer specialist currently working at the Herbert Irving
Comprehensive Cancer Centre at Columbia University, New York? The book
won the Pulitzer Prize in the general non-fiction category for 2011.
13. He was the sixth and best known ruler of the first dynasty of
Babylon. He is better known for compiling a code of justice which
demonstrated his desire to be a just ruler. Who was he?
14. This Norwegian Chess Grandmaster recently became the
youngest world number one in FIDE history at the young age of 19.
Who is he?
15. In terms of comparing its length to its width, this Latin
American country is regarded as the narrowest country in the
world. It measures 4,345 km in length and is only 175 km wide at its
widest point. What is this country?
Answers will be published next week.
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