A general quiz conducted at the Madras School of Economics.

1. Prelims
with answers
Ramesh Natarajan
rameshnat27@gmail.com

2. 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?

4. Chennai

5. 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.

8. Chetan Bhagat

9. 3.A kind of spiked hairstyle – what are these
spikes popularly known as?

11. Liberty Spikes

12. 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”.

14. Aamir Khan.
Satyameva Jayate

15. 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.

17. Emojis/Emoticons.

18. 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.

20. Davos, where the World Economic Forum
is held.

21. 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.

23. Ali Zafar – Aman
Yami Gautam – Asha
The peace initiative was named Aman Ki
Asha .

24. 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.

27. Star Waughs

28. 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.

30. Suppandi

31. 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.

34. The names of the events will be written in
Braille as well on the medals.

35. 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?

37. Who Says Elephants Can‟t Dance. IBM‟s
Lou V. Gerstner‟s bestselling book.

38. 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.

40. Frigidaire.
Fridge.

41. 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?

43. Background Singers / Chorus Singers

44. 14. A song from the upcoming animated
Rajinikanth movie Kochadaiyaan.
ID the singer.

46. Latha Rajinikanth.

47. 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?

49. A quick brown fox jumps over the lazy
dog/ The quick brown fox jumps over the
lazt dog.
Variations Accepted.

50. 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?

52. Gargoyles.

53. 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?

55. The Hindus, an Alternative History by
Wendy Doniger

56. 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?

58. Mahesh Bhupathi
Lara Dutta

59. 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?

61. Village Pump

62. 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?

65. Human settlement on Mars
Mars One

66. 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)

68. Pink Saree.
Gulaabi Gang

69. 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?

71. Darjeeling Tea.

72. 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)

76. 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.

78. Sarnath.

79. 25.What is being parodied here?
<< Simpsons‟ parody of Game of Thrones
video>>

81. Game of Thrones.