The document discusses various topics including: 1. The 2010 eruption of the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajökull which disrupted air travel in Europe by creating an abrasive ash cloud. 2. Famous Indian director Balu Mahendra being inspired by the film "The Bridge on the River Kwai" to make successful films in South India. 3. The quadripoint in southern Africa known as Kazungula which is shared by Zimbabwe, Zambia, Botswana, and Namibia.

1. By Devananth Somasundaram

2. 1Q) A natural calamity happened in 2010
in Europe affected most of the air
transportation for almost a week’s time
whole of Europe especially the western
part. Explain the incident and particularly
why it affected the air transportation?

3. 1A) Eruption of the volcano Eyjafjallajökull in
Iceland in 2010 which is covered under the
glaciers, post which it became dangerous to air
travel because the resulting meltwater reacted
with erupting lava cooling it very fast created a
cloud of highly abrasive, glass-rich ash which can
cause damages to air plane window screens.

4. 2Q) After watching the shooting of the epic movie
‘The bridge on the river Kwai’ directed by iconic
director David Lean in Sri Lanka as a small boy,
having inspired by it he went onto make
successful films in South India and attained
legendary status in Kollywood’s all-time directors
list. Who is he?

5. 2A) Balu Mahendra

6. 3Q) Kazungula is a place in southern part of Africa
known as the only quadripoint in the world where
it is shared by four nations which includes
Zimbabwe and Zambia. Name the other two.

7. 3A) Botswana and Namibia.

8. •4Q) Inspired by the famous American criminal
Gary Gilmore’s last words ‘Let’s do it’ before his
death penalty execution, the founder of the
advertising agency which specifically works for
one of the world’s leading sporting brands
coined the slogan for the company’s products
from his last words which played a crucial role in
increasing the profit from $877 million to $9.2
billion in worldwide sales. Name the company
and the slogan.

9. •4A) Nike, “Just do it”

10. 5Q) Explain the picture.

11. 5A)The nail scratches of Auschwitz Concentration
camp inmates.

12. •6Q) After uttering the words ‘The Terrorist has
got another wicket’ on the air during his
commentary in a test match between Sri Lanka
and South Africa in 2006, the former famous
Australian batsman(X) was immediately sacked
by Ten Sports after subjected to heavy public
criticism. Who was the commentator and whom
he described about with those words? (Y) Hint: Y
is not a bowler.

13. 6A) X – Dean Jones.
Y – Hashim Amla (when he took the catch to
dismiss Kumara Sangakkara).

14. 7Q) An Indian research firm played a key role in
Alan Eustace’s (now retired famous Google
computer scientist) record for highest freefall
jump from the space to the Earth in 2014,
breaking the previous record by the famous
Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner in 2012 in
the same altitude category. Name the firm and
their involvement in the feat.

15. 7A) The balloon used for the feat was
manufactured by the Balloon Facility of the Tata
Institute of Fundamental Research, Hyderabad,
India.

16. 8Q) A Tunisian PhD student in 2016 submitted a
thesis after his 5 years of work that stirred
controversy which adds more solidarity to the
regaining controversial theory about Earth’s
nature (also rejecting the physics of Newton and
Einstein) which results in Tunisian Educational
Ministry opening an investigation against it
eventually. What was the theory about?

17. 8A) Flat Earth theory.

18. 9Q) Codex Leicester is a collection of famous
scientific writings by X, which was bought by Bill
Gates in an auction in 1994 for US$30,802,500. ID
X.

19. 9A) Leonardo Da Vinci.

20. 10Q) No.404 is famous for one of the most
common online errors that implies ‘Page Not
Found’. Not only 404, but No.4004 is also very
significant especially in electronics since it acted
as the pioneer for the subsequent growth in that
sector. Its commonly called ____ 4004. What is it?
What is its significance?

21. 10A) Intel 4004 - First Commercial
Microprocessor.

22. •11Q) “The war ended on August 15. Come down
from the mountains!” – Who, What is this
phrase associated with?

23. •11A) Hiroo Onoda - Japanese Army intelligence
officer who fought in World War II and was
a Japanese holdout who did not surrender in
August 1945. After the war ended Onoda spent
29 years holding out in the mountains
in Philippines until his former commander
traveled from Japan to informally relieve him
from duty in 1974.

24. •12Q) Connect these four cities on an historical
incident in the early 20th century – Liverpool,
New York, Belfast, Southampton. Explain the
events associated with each city related to the
same incident in chronological order (Hint: A
tragic one).

25. •12A) RMS Titanic and her tragic maiden voyage
Belfast – Ship was built
Liverpool – Port of Registry
Southampton – Starting point of the voyage
New York – Voyage Destination

26. •13Q) The largest state of Mexico is also the
name of a breed of the dog. What's the name?

27. •13A) Chihuahua.

28. •14Q) A huge milestone was certainly achieved
when the Great Indian Peninsula Railway(now –
the central railway) opened a series of railway
lines in 1870 which connects Bombay to Calcutta
directly. It actually lead to a part of an inspiration
for a French Novelist to write a new book about
going for an adventure. Name the book.

29. •14A) Around the world in Eighty Days(1873) by
Jules Verne.

30. •15Q) Upon its release, Grand Theft Auto IV not
only generated industry sales records and
became the fastest-selling entertainment
product in history at that time but also caused
controversy for player’s ability to do one
particular infamous activity as part of the game.
What's that?

31. •15A) Ability to drive under the influence of
alcohol.

32. •16Q)

33. •16A) The world on time. (FEDEX)

34. •17Q)

35. •17A) It’s finger lickin’ good! (KFC)

36. •18Q) The origin of this word is related to the
Sun. It is also an Unix based operating system
developed and released by Sun Microsystems in
1992. Furthermore, it is an American science
fiction drama directed by Steven Soderbergh.
What is it?

37. •18A) Solaris.

38. •19Q) Where and by whom was the 2018 FIFA
world cup logo was unveiled?

39. •19A) In International Space Station by Russian
Cosmonauts in 2014.

40. •20Q) Modeled on the human eye blink, once this
was invented, it effectively replaced the much
complicated version of the same product.

42. •20A) Windshield Wiper.