Prelims with answers

Ramesh Natarajan rameshnat27@gmail.com

1.MTV Roadies, one of the longest running

TV reality shows in India, started in the

year 2003.

In the first season, which place was

chosen as the starting point?

Chennai

2.One of the more popularly shared images on

social media recently, the image below is a

satirical take on the reading habits of your

average Indian “voracious” reader. The

blanked out portions are the name of an author

– all the same. Name the author.

Chetan Bhagat

3.A kind of spiked hairstyle – what are these

spikes popularly known as?

Liberty Spikes

4.Who talking about which show?

“I wanted to telecast my show on Sunday

mornings. I want each family to watch the show

and connect with it. We have watched

Ramayana and Mahabarata and it used to come

on Sunday morning. The shows created a

different atmosphere”.

Aamir Khan.

Satyameva Jayate

5.The first ________ were created in

1998/99 by Shigetaka Kurita, who was part

of the team working on NTT DoCoMo's i-

mode mobile Internet program.

The first set of 172 12*12 were created as

a part of i-mode's messaging features to

help facilitate electronic communication,

and to serve as a distinguishing feature

from other services.

FITB.

Emojis/Emoticons.

6.This town is a municipality in the canton of

Graubünden, Switzerland. It has a permanent

population of 11,156 (2012) and is located on

the Landwasser River, in the Swiss Alps. At

1,560 m (5,120 ft), it is the highest city in

Europe.

Every year this town comes into news for one

particular event, familiar to most of you in the

audience.

Name the town.

Davos, where the World Economic Forum

is held.

7.The lead characters in the recently released

Bollywood movie, Total Siyapa, take their names

from a three word people-to-people Indo-Pak

peace initiative undertaken by the Jang

newspaper and Times of India.

Name the characters played by Ali Zafar and

Yami Gautam.

Ali Zafar – Aman

Yami Gautam – Asha

The peace initiative was named Aman Ki

Asha .

8.Symonds, an Australia based bat company,

released a brand of bats in the 1990‟s, with the

title Star __________.

The following image shows a print ad which

was released for promotions. Fill in the blank.

Star Waughs

9.This character was born out of three narrative

stories sent by Sameer Salman from Trichy. The

concept was rendered into comic format with

illustrations by artist Ram Waeerkar and the

character made its debut in the 27th edition of a

still-running Indian magazine in January, 1983.

Also, unlike most others, this character was not

originally conceptualized by the creators of the

magazine.

Name the character.

Suppandi

10.The image below shows the type of

medals that will be received by winning

athletes in the Sochi 2014 Paralympic

Games.

What is special about these medals? One

keyword needed.

The names of the events will be written in

Braille as well on the medals.

11.This is from one of the latest editions of Forbes

India. What is the title “ Can she make the elephant

dance? “ a reference to?

Who Says Elephants Can‟t Dance. IBM‟s

Lou V. Gerstner‟s bestselling book.

12.The brand was so well known in the

refrigeration field in the early 20th

century that many Americans called any

refrigerator, whatever its brand, a

____(X)______.

X may be the actual origin of the slang

term ____(Y)_____, also commonly used in

India.

X and Y. No part-points.

Frigidaire.

Fridge.

13.20 Feet from Stardom is an Oscar-winning

2013 American documentary film directed by

documentary filmmaker Morgan Neville and

produced by Gil Friesen, a music industry

executive whose curiosity to know more about

the lives of a certain group of people inspired

the making of the film.

Which group of people did he make the movie

on?

Background Singers / Chorus Singers

14. A song from the upcoming animated

Rajinikanth movie Kochadaiyaan.

ID the singer.

Latha Rajinikanth.

15.The earliest known appearance of the

phrase is from The Michigan School Moderator,

a journal that provided teachers with

education-related news and suggestions for

lessons.

In an article titled "Interesting Notes" in the

March 14, 1885 issue, the phrase was given as a

suggestion for writing practice: "The following

sentence makes a good copy for

practice,…………………………………”.

What was the phrase/sentence?

A quick brown fox jumps over the lazy

dog/ The quick brown fox jumps over the

lazt dog.

Variations Accepted.

16.These sculptures were chiefly used as

decorative rainwater spouts by builders of

Gothic churches, and allowed the builders to

take their imaginations to full flight as they

were placed so high earth-bound man could

hardly see them.

The best examples of them can be seen on the

top of the Cathedral of Notre Dame.

What are these sculptures known as?

Gargoyles.

17.This is a list of books which were nominated in the „General

Non Fiction‟ category for the National Book Critics Circle

Award, an annual American literary award, in 2009.

• Greg Grandin - Fordlandia : The Rise and Fall of Henry Ford's

Forgotten Jungle City

• Richard Holmes - The Age of Wonder: How the Romantic

Generation Discovered the Beauty and Terror of Science

• William T. Vollmann - Imperial

• Tracy Kidder - Strength in What Remain

Which is the fifth book, now in news, that was nominated?

The Hindus, an Alternative History by

Wendy Doniger

18.Till now, since inception, only one

professional sportsperson has made an

appearance on Koffee With Karan.

Who and with whom did he/she appear?

Mahesh Bhupathi

Lara Dutta

19.There is a section in Wikipedia, which is

used for discussions about Wikipedia itself,

including areas for technical issues and

policies.

The name of the section is based on the

speculation that, like the modern office water

cooler, the __________ __________ (the name of

the section) must have been a gathering place

where dwellers discussed ideas for the

improvement of their locale.

What is the section called?

Village Pump

20.This is the logo of a non-profit organization

based in Netherlands that has put forward

conceptual plans to establish something at a

particular place by 2024. The project is led by

Dutch entrepreneur Bas Landsorp, who

announced this plan in May 2012.

What is the organization trying to achieve (or)

Name the organization?

Human settlement on Mars

Mars One

21.One day Sampat Pal Devi, a simple woman living in a

village in Northern India, saw a man mercilessly beating

his wife. She pleaded with him to stop but he abused her

as well. The next day she returned with a bamboo stick

and five other women and gave the rogue a sound

thrashing.

The news spread like wild fire and soon women started

approaching Sampat Pal Devi in droves requesting similar

interventions. Many women came forward to join her team

and in the year 2006 she decided that the sisterhood

needed a uniform and a name.

What was the uniform chosen and consequently what did

the sisterhood call themselves? (0.5+0.5)

Pink Saree.

Gulaabi Gang

22.A geographical indication (GI) is a name or

sign used on certain products which

corresponds to a specific geographical location

or origin (e.g. a town, region, or country).

Example – Kanchipuram Silk.

From the state of West Bengal, which was the

first GI tagged product in India?

Darjeeling Tea.

23.Planet Money published a series where

economic concepts were shown through

minimalist posters. Which economic concepts

do the following posters depict? (0.5+0.5)

24. “The Doom That Came To ______” is an early

story by horror fiction writer H.P.Lovecraft. It is

written in a mythic/fairy tale style.

________ is also a historical city in India,

associated with Buddhism. Lovecraft didn't

know that though, and claims to have thought

out the name independently.

Fill in the blank.

Sarnath.

25. What is being parodied here?

<< Simpsons‟ parody of Game of Thrones

video>>

Game of Thrones.