On the screen is a video clip of an international football match. "A massacre of
a former world champion team. Bolivia beat Argentina 6 goals to 1 in a match played
in Bolivia. An year earlier, the FIFA had come down heavily on the venue and had
in fact banned the venue from conducting international football matches. This particular
world cup qualifier was played in 2009 after the ban was lifted. Why was FIFA unhappy
with the venue"
This was the first question in the Audio Visual Round "Spectrum" of the National
Finals of Aqua Regia - The Science Quiz 2009. On the stage were the top six teams
that had reached that stage after getting ahead of tens of thousands of teams across
India. All Saints School from Hyderabad, last years runners up at the same venue,
were determined this time not to let the national title slip away. A. Krishna Akhil
and P. Rohan Naidu had literally had the proverbial slip between the cup and the
lip last year.
"The match was played in La Paz stadium Bolivia. The venue was the highest football
ground in the world. In that altitude, the players find it difficult to breath as
the oxygen content in the air is relatively much lesser than at sea level. The Bolivian
players, used to playing at high altitude could cope with such a situation, but
the Argentinian players could not and that showed in the result. For pretty much
the same reason, FIFA had earlier banned international football at this venue" -
The duo from All Saints were actually competing with each other to roll out this
answer. So electrifying was the ambiance, so high was the tension that it appeared
that the students had forgotten that they were in the same team.
Backed by a vociferous support of the home crowd, the duo went on to win the National
title in Aqua Regia - The Science Quiz 2009.
From Trivandrum to New Delhi, from Mumbai to Kolkata, students from the 8th, 9th
and 10th Std had been preparing for months for the "Biggest Quiz in the World".
This years edition of this most popular quiz was also significant, as the event
was featured in the latest editions of Guinness Book of World Records 2010 - The
Book of the Decade and the LIMCA Book of National Records.
The Aqua Regia team at T.I.M.E. had been getting several emails from students across
India to suggest how they should prepare for the quiz. Well, that was understandable,
as the questions in this quiz were not sourced out from any published material.
Only application and general science knowledge would help. Very unique in its format,
style of quizzing and the manner in which points are awarded, the quiz has become
immensely popular with more than 7 lakh students having competed in Aqua Regia -
The Science Quiz since its inception in 2006.
In 2006, Loyola School from Trivandrum was crowned champions. In 2007, on the last
day of the national circuit which covered 25 cities and spanned 3 months which saw
T.I.M.E. create a new Guinness World Record
TM for the Largest Quiz, Smt Sulochanadevi Singhania
School, Mumbai carried home (school) the National Title of this All India Inter-School
Science Quiz . In 2008, it was Akhilandeshwari Vidyalaya, Trichy’s turn to win the
most coveted science quiz trophy in the country.
SRM University, One of the leading Universities offering courses in Engineering,
Medicine, Management, Science and Humanities was the National Presenting Sponsor
for the Event in 2009.
Other sponsors were DELL, BSA Motors and PEARSON.
Click here for the Reports and Results of the Aqua Regia -
The Science Quiz 2009 National Circuit
View details from the Official Site of Guinness World Records
(TM)
