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Tuesday, 29 May 2012 |
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The word ‘Monsoon’ comes from the Arabic mawsim, which means season or seasonal winds. The term technically describes an atmospheric phenomenon of seasonal reversals of wind direction. For most people, however, monsoons simply mean torrential seasonal rain that comes at predictable times of the year. Monsoons also happen in other parts of the world - in northern Australia, Africa, South America and the United States (US). But they are especially strong in South Asia, due to the large land mass of South Asia and a large body of water (the Indian Ocean). For six months of the year, winds blow in one direction, from southwest to northeast. It then reverses direction during the other half of the year. As South Asians welcome another Southwest Monsoon, we ask a few questions about all things monsoonal.
1. Every year around the 20th of May, the Indian summer monsoon begins to envelop the country in two great wet arms -- one coming from the east, the other from the west. They are untied over central India around July 10, a date that can be calculated within seven or eight days. In 1991, a travel writer and journalist tried to follow the monsoon, staying sometimes behind it, sometimes in front of it, and everywhere watching the impact of this extraordinary phenomenon. The book, Chasing the Monsoon, has remained a favourite travel and adventure book for over 20 years. Who was its author? 2. A great deal of India’s economy depends on timely and adequate monsoon rains. Sixty per cent of Indian farming is rain-fed, and rainwater still helps generate a significant volume of electricity that drives industry. The current Indian Finance Minister drove home the importance of monsoon rains when he said in 2010 that in India, monsoon is “the real finance minister.” Whose words are these? 3. Mawsynram and Cherrapunji, both in north-eastern India, alternate to be the wettest places on Earth as measured by the quantity of annual rainfall. Each location has recorded more than 10,000mm of rain within a year. The Monsoon of Indian subcontinent is the major contributor of water in this area. In which Indian state are both these wettest places on Earth located?
4. Who was he? Born in 1909 in Kerala, he had a brilliant academic career and worked with Indian Nobel Laureate C V Raman and later obtained his Ph D from the University of California in 1954. He researched on various aspects of the general circulation, monsoon meteorology and climate and authored over 100 publications in national and international journals. One of his most significant contribution was finding that the Indian summer monsoon is a delayed response to the inadequate poleward transport of heat in the northern hemisphere during the antecedent winter and a significant part of the moisture for an active monsoon period arises through evaporation from the Arabian Sea. A distinguished Indian meteorologists of international standing, he is also remembered as the father of Indian remote sensing. 5. In April 2012, the Indian government launched a major new scientific research programme to better understand and anticipate the monsoons. Under this, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) will collaborate with weather research organisations internationally to improve monsoon forecasts. The aim is to develop a dynamic model for monsoon prediction. What is the name of this multi-disciplinary effort, for which India has earmarked INR 4 billion (nearly USD 71 million) over the next five years? 6. Monsoon Wedding is an Indian feature film made in 2001. It was a story about romantic entanglements during a traditional Punjabi wedding taking place in middle class Delhi during the June wedding season which is also the onset of the Monsoon rains. Although it was shot entirely in India, it involved collaboration with companies in India, Italy, France, Germany and the United States. The Indian-born woman filmmaker who directed Monsoon Wedding became the second Indian (after Satyajit Ray) to win the coveted Golden Lion award at Venice Film Festival. Who is she?
7. Empires of the Monsoon: A History of the Indian Ocean and Its Invaders was a 1998 book on the history of Indian Ocean rim countries, peoples and cultures. It was described as a “history of the exploration and exploitation by Chinese and Arab travellers, and by the Portuguese, Dutch and British alike is one of brutality, betrayal and colonial ambition”. Name the British journalist, historian and author who wrote this book. He lived and travelled throughout Africa in the 1950s and 1960s as a reporter and columnist for British newspapers. 8. A new American company has been set up to “expand Earth’s natural resource base” by developing and deploying the technologies for asteroid mining. Its aim is to capture small, water-rich near-Earth asteroids by using specially designed spacecraft, allowing their resources to be extracted. In the short term, the company also plans to develop a market for small (30-50 kg), low-cost space telescopes in orbit for Earth observation and astronomy. What is this company called? 9. On August 7, 1974, a French high-wire artist gained fame for his walk a high wire between the (now destroyed) Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City. For his feat, he used a 200 kg of cable and a custom-made eight metre long, 25 kg heavy balancing pole. Earlier, he had walked between the towers of the Notre Dame de Paris, and on a wire rigged between the two north pylons of the Sydney Harbour Bridge in Australia. Who is this person, who has made dozens of public high-wire performances in his career? 10. Which 20th Century genius, who also won a Nobel Prize in Physics, once remarked in utter exasperation: “The hardest thing in the world to understand is the income tax”? 11. Lankan film director Asoka Handagama’s latest feature film is being showcased at the Cannes 2012 film festival by ACID (Association for the Distribution of Independent Cinema) of France. It is a Tamil language movie, shot exclusively in Jaffna and showcasing life in Jaffna after the long civil war ended. What is the title of this new film, yet to be released theatrically in Sri Lanka?
12. During the 1930s and 1940s, inventor Donald Hings helped develop a two-way radio device called the Walkie-Talkie. It proved to be a major development in the realm of wireless communication and became very useful to soldiers in battle. Hings was born in Britain but grew up in another country. In the 1930s, he created a portable radio signaling system which eventually became known as a “Walkie Talkie.” For which government did he work during the Second World War? 13. In 1970, an engineer named Amos E Joel, Jr. invented a system which allowed mobile phones to travel through several ‘cell’ areas without interruption during a single conversation. This system was an important development in the advancement of cell phone technology. Prior to 1970, early mobile phones had to stay within the area provided by one signal station; mobile phone services could not continue through several cell areas. Joel, an engineer for Bell Labs, created a system whereby a single mobile phone conversation could continue without loss of signal. What was this system called? 14. A hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) is one which combines a conventional internal combustion engine (running on petroleum) with an electric propulsion system. Many types of HEVs are on the market, with varying levels of electricity (battery) use. What is the world’s best selling hybrid car which recorded sales of over 2.5 million worldwide by February 2012? 15. The origins of cricket are a bit hazy, but it is thought the game may have started with bored shepherds defending the wicket gates with their crooks. Stones were used instead of balls. Cricket caught on and became the sport of the English aristocracy well into the 18th Century. In time, the game spread to other countries. Which two teams played the first ever international cricket match in 1844? It was played at the St George’s Club in New York for a wager of USD 1,000. Originally recorded as a club game, it was not regarded as an international match until 1853. Last week’s answers1. Ahas Gawwa (One League of Sky) |
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