AptiDose 1.0 - Vol II
Fortnightly dose of aptitude questions, logical challenges and essential prep tips!
Brain Booster
Each symbol in the addition below represents one of the digits 1, 2, 3, and 9. To make the addition problem work, replace the four symbols (#, ×, Ø, and ▲) with respective digits.
Logic Lane
A survey rated five soaps: two (A and B) are bar soaps, and three (C, D, and E) are body washes, each of which is a different brand. Each soap has a distinct scent, one of which is blueberry. Each of the five soaps received one of the ratings in ascending order: alpha, beta, gamma, delta, and zeta (where alpha is the lowest and zeta is the highest). From the information provided, determine each soap’s brand (one is P), scent, and rating.
Brand M received a higher score than brand N (a body wash) but a lower
score than the mint-scented brand.
The orange-scented brand (which isn’t soap B) received a score of either
delta or zeta.
Soap D (which does not have an apple smell) received a lower score than the
strawberry-scented soap.
The soap of brand R (which isn’t soap E) isn’t the one that received the lowest
score (which is a bar soap).
The soap of brand S received the gamma rating.
Quotable Quotes
Negotiation
"The most difficult thing in any negotiation, almost, is making sure that you strip it of the emotion and deal with the facts."
― Howard Baker
“The negotiations must address all aspects, both peace and withdrawal.”
― Yitzhak Rabin
“Diplomacy is the art of letting someone else have your way”
― Sir David Frost
The Syrian Negotiation Game
The most important negotiations in the seven year Syrian civil war with about half a million death lasted one and a half hours and took place in Damascus. The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a US-backed alliance of Arab and Kurdish fighters had their first round of negotiations with Bashar al Assad’s government. According to the SDF: "roadmap to a democratic and decentralized Syria" was discussed.
When the Kurdish-dominated SDF fought ISIS, they were heavily backed by the USA. With the help of the USA, the SDF now controls about 25 percent of Syria. Trump’s announcement to remove the 2000 troops severely weakened the SDF.
But US support for SDF was never reliable. When Turkey took over the Kurdish city of Afrin earlier this year, the US did nothing to stop them. The US is unlikely to risk ruining relationships with Turkey over Kurdish independence (they also opposed Kurdish autonomy in Iraq). After all, the Kurds worship PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan, the proponent of a socialist nationalist state, who has been incarcerated in Turkey since 1999.
The Syrian Kurds have thus become humble, not asking for independence anymore but for “autonomy”. But things became complex, being a struggle between the USA, Turkey, Russia and Iran. Turkey supports rebels to weaken the Kurds. But so does Iran. Shia Iran also wants to prevent a strengthening of Saudi and Wahabi Sunni influence in Syria’s north. Also, Iran wants access to Syria’s Golan heights, controlled by Israel, as Hisbollah’s short-range missiles would be capable of hitting Israel from there – something the US wants to prevent. Russia wants a presence in the Tartus port to provide a cost-effective way to project power into the Mediterranean.
Therefore, another negotiation without Assad was as important, namely the meeting between Russia’s Vladimir Putin, Iran’s Hassan Rouhani and Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Teheran– the third meeting of the trio to discuss Syria in less than a year.
Many of their interests are, in fact, aligned. One of the main issues is the city of Idlib, close to the Turkish border, controlled by the Nusra Front, which was once al-Qaeda’s affiliate in Syria. Turkey is afraid of waves of refugees crossing the border and therefore demanded a ceasefire. Russia and Iran, however, want to gain full military control of the city. A position heavily criticized by Western countries that fear a humanitarian disaster.
But the relations among the trio are good, with vital co-operations, such as Russia building Turkey’s first nuclear power plant and Erdogan purchasing the Russian S-400 air missile defence system.
Assad’s negotiation power is growing and growing. The US troops were a vague insurance for the SDF, which is why they hurried to the negotiation table. Assad wasn’t rushing, as he is regaining territories with the help of his allies Russia and Iran. With the US gone and Iran and Russia by his side and Turkey fighting the Kurds and closing the borders, he will most likely prevail. The other Arab leaders have just welcomed him back into the Arab League after eight years.
Answers:
Brain Booster
Upon hit and trial, the four symbols take the following values:
# is 1
× is 9
Ø is 3
▲ is 2
The addition is shown below:
Logic Lane
Brand S received a gamma rating (5). The score given to the body wash of brand N (1) wasn’t delta or zeta (1), or alpha, which was the score given to a bar soap (4); it was beta. The rating given to brand M wasn’t alpha or zeta (1); it was delta, so the mint-scented soap got a zeta rating (1), and the orange-scented soap received a rating of delta (2). The ranking given to brand R wasn’t alpha (4); it was zeta. Brand P received a rating of alpha. The orange-scented soap of brand M (1) isn’t soap B (2); it is soap A. The bar soap given a rating of alpha(4) is soap B. The rating given to the strawberry-scented wasn’t alpha or beta (3); it was gamma, so soap D received a beta rating (3). The apple-scented soap isn’t D, which got a beta rating(3); it got an alpha rating. The blueberry-scented soap received a beta rating. Brand R isn’t soap E (4); its soap C. Brand S is soap E.
Following is the summary:
