LANDMARK QUIZ CHENNAI 2009 PRELIMS

1. TRACK 1 / VIDEO / NATL ANTHEM: Identify the singer

a. DK Pattammal
2. CHENNAI: What does the letter M stand for in MR Radha the actor and ML Vasanthakumari the
singer?
a. Madras
3. NEWS: In the 1960’s Vogue magazine listed the “10 Most Beautiful Women in the World”. Two
Indians were on this list and both died recently. Name them.
a. Leela Naidu, Maharani Gayatri Devi
4. On what poster would you find these lines, “What does it take to find a lost lover? (a) Money (b)
Luck (c) Smarts (d) Destiny”
a. Slumdog Millionaire
5. SCIENCE: During a previous total solar eclipse visible in India, in 1868, a French scientist named
Pierre Jansen travelled to a tobacco field just outside Guntur to observe the spectrum. A resultant
yellow line in the spectrum was a pointer to which new element, which was the first-ever element
to be discovered outside Earth before it was found on Earth?
a. Helium
6. LANGUAGE: By convention what two symbols are traditionally used in publishing to denote the
first and second footnotes to the main text in a book? (Correct spelling please)
a. Asterisk and obelisk
7. BUSINESS: Between which two letters of the Federal Express logo would one find a “hidden
arrow” – a symbol of speed and precision?
a. E and X
8. WORDS: What is a bunch of bananas called?
a. Hand
9. MEDICINE/HEALTH: In which country did the 2009 swine flu pandemic start?
a. Mexico
10. FOOD: What sweet dish made from wheat and ghee is believed to derive its distinctive flavour
from the Tamaraiparani river and was made famous by a Marwari family which settled there more
than 300 years ago and started an eatery named Lakshmi Vilas?
a. Thirunelveli Halva
11. CURRENT AFFAIRS: Which animated member of the porifera species and a resident of Bikini
Bottom is the latest addition to Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum in New York
a. Spongebob Squarepants. The new addition celebrates 10 years of Nickelodeon’s
favourite character
12. HISTORY: Gandhiji was inspired by the simple attire of peasants in this region while on a train
journey. Once he reached his destination, he shaved his head. The next morning, after a bath, he
appeared dressed in a four cubits long khadi cloth, worn as a knee-length half-dhoti. Rajaji and
Dr. T.S.S. Rajan who were present there tried to make Gandhiji change his mind. Gandhiji’s mind
was, however, firmly made up. In which city did this incident occur?
a. Madurai
13. VISUALS: Connect these two pictures.
a. Yeh Dil Maange More. Soon after the success of Point 5140 during the Kargil War,
Captain Vikram Batra radioed his commanding officer and said victoriously “Yeh Dil
Maange More”(The heart wants more). This became the catch line for the war.
14. QUOTATION: George Mallory, the mountaineer who in 1924 disappeared during his last attempt
to climb Mt Everest could have been the first atop the world’s highest peak. He is famously
quoted as giving what reply to the question "why do you want to climb Mt. Everest?" which has
been called "the most famous three words in mountaineering"?
 a. “Because it's there"
15. SPORTS - TECHNOLOGY: Hawk-eye technology is one of the most sophisticated officiating
tools used in sport. It made its debut with cricket and then entered the tennis court. In which other
sport is it being used officially?
a. Snooker. Hawk-Eye first introduced its snooker technology at the Snooker Grand Prix in
Aberdeen. It then progressed to the Masters at Wembley and, most recently, stepped up
to the largest stage in snooker, the renowned Crucible in Sheffield, at the World Snooker
Championships.
16. POLITICS: The rath yatra is now a standard mode of elections campaigns in India with several
leaders choosing this mass contact programme to win over the electorate. Who undertook the
pioneering ‘rath yatra’ which besides catapulting him to power also entered the ‘Guinness Book of
Records’?
a. NT Rama Rao (in 1982)
17. GEOGRAPHY: Which is the largest province of Pakistan comprises almost 48% of the country
and whose capital is Quetta?
a. Balochistan
18. COMP/IT: On the Internet, what does the letter S stand for in https?
a. Secure. HTTPS connections are often used for payment transactions on the Web and
for sensitive transactions in corporate information systems.
19. BUSINESS: Two former employees of the Systems Research Institute in Pune, from the late
1970s, went on to set up their own outfits in the early 1980s. One was this year's Magsaysay
Award winner, who changed the way NGOs worked and recruited in India. The other, had a
similarly titanic effect on the Indian corporate world. Identify both luminaries.
a. Deep Joshi, NR Narayanamurthy
20. MUSIC: Exactly 40 years ago this day, a young university student in New York City named Maya
Kulkarni had to suddenly step in as a replacement tambura player for a concert in the same state.
The concert had two main performers, and they played to an audience of at least a hundred
thousand. Who were the two performers? No part points!
a. Ravi Shankar and Allah Rakha
21. LITERATURE: In HG Wells’ War of the Worlds, Martians were resistant to atom bombs. How did
they finally perish?
a. Cold virus
22. BUSINESS: The original logo of Apple Computers featured which person?
a. Isaac Newton
23. LIFESTYLE: Which organization got its name because its members used to meet at the office of
each member of the group in turns?
a. Rotary Club
24. SPORTS “The French Open” in France refers to the oldest national open golf tournament in
Europe (since 1906). What term do the French use for their premier tennis tournament?
a. The Roland Garros
25. FILM In the Sorcerer’s Apprentice scene in Walt Disney’s Fantasia, the sorcerer’s name was later
given as Yensid Retlaw. Who was he named after?
a. Walt Disney (Walter Disney in reverse is Yensid Retlaw)
26. MYTHOLOGY: In the Mahabharata, when this person was giving away the fruits of his penances
to Brahmins, who arrived late after all the gifts were given away but instead received this person’s
extensive knowledge of combat?
a. Parasuram and Drona
27. HISTORY / WORLD WAR TWO: What weapon was given its unusual name by the Finns when
(following their refusal to surrender some strategic ports) their country was invaded by the Soviets
in November 1939 in what came to be known as the Winter War during World War II?
a. Molotov cocktail. When Soviet People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs Vyacheslav
Molotov claimed in radio broadcasts that the Soviet Union was not dropping bombs but
 rather delivering food to the starving Finns, the Finns started to call the air bombs
Molotov bread baskets. Soon they responded by attacking advancing tanks improvised
incendiary devices which they called "Molotov cocktails".
28. LITERATURE: Who is the only fictional character whose death in a book was announced to the
world in the New York Times?
a. Hercule Poirot in Curtain (1975)
29. CURRENT AFFAIRS: Madras and Bangalore are installing statues of poets from each other's
states as a mutual gesture. In Bangalore, the statue is of Thiruvalluvar. Which Kannada poet's
statue will come up in Chennai?
a. Sarvajna
30. ENVIRONMENT: Scientists reported this year that after Pakistan and Nepal, the vulture
population in India had declined by more than 97% over the past few years due to several
reasons including the veterinary use of the painkiller diclofenac. For social reasons, which
community in India is particularly worried about this trend?
a. Parsi. The Parsi Towers of Silence require scavenging birds to dispose of the mortal
remains of Parsis as per their religious custom.
31. LANGUAGE: In traditional Indian metal work, the shape of many vessels was derived from
nature. In this context what word was derived from the Sanskrit word for “leaf”?
a. Patram from Sanskrit patra
32. VISUAL: Name this building with the same name as a road in Chennai.
a. Pantheon in Rome. It was a temple to “all gods”, and featured recently in the film
Angels and Demons.
33. VISUAL: Who as what in this year’s Lakme India Fashion Week?
a. Katrina Kaif as Barbie Doll. Toymaker Mattell has chosen Katrina Kaif to be the Indian
face of the new Celebrity Barbie Doll in India.
34. VISUAL: Name this popular board game that is also the name of a quiz show.
a. Mastermind
35. VISUAL: This is which American writer’s boyhood home? Clue: look carefully.
a. Mark Twain’s home in Hannibal, Missouri, Note the white painted fence – a tribute to
the famous scene in Tom Sawyer.
36. VISUAL: Name the title character of this classic film played by Nagesh that launched the
directorial career of director K Balachandar.
a. Server Sundaram
37. VISUAL: Who is the white haired gentleman with glasses making a cameo appearance in these
three films?
a. Stan Lee (Stanley Martin Lieber) the American comic book writer, editor, and the former
president and chairman of Marvel Comics. He co-created Spider-Man, the Fantastic
Four, the X-Men, Iron Man, the Hulk, Thor, Daredevil, Doctor Strange, and many other
fictional characters.
38. VISUAL: Name the place and the building whose inauguration is being celebrated.
a. The Palm Jumeirah in Dubai; the opening of Atlantis Hotel was marked by a 15
minute fireworks display that lit up the entire island and Atlantis resort, creating a display
visible from space. The $16m. spectacle used a 100,000 fireworks, (7 times that used for
the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics).
39. AUDIO: Which legend composed this song for a movie he made in 1936, and said to be a
personal favourite of person singing this version?
a. Charles Chaplin (Modern Times) – this version by by Michael Jackson
40. AUDIO: Name the singer.
a. Vikram (Kanthaswamy)