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Vol. XXX No. 17, January 1-15, 2021
Quizzin’ with Ram’nan
Quizmaster V.V. Ramanan’s first 10 questions are on current affairs and next on the month of January.
1. What is ‘Variant of Concern 202012/01’?
2. In a rare instance, which famous European Capital city was fined 90,000 euros for breaking a law ‘aimed at correcting gender imbalances in government service’?
3. Best-selling author born David John Moore Cornwell, known for his cold war spy thrillers, passed away recently. Under what name did he write?
4. Which ‘Royal’ couple has launched an audio production company called ‘Archewell Audio’?
5. India recently achieved the dubious distinction of recording its lowest Test score (36) at Adelaide. What was its previous lowest total and against whom?
6. What was the ‘Great Conjunction’ that was seen in the night sky on December 21/22?
7. ‘DakPay’ was launched recently. What is it?
8. Tso Kar Wetland Complex in Ladakh has become India’s 42nd Ramsar site, making our country the one with the most such sites in Asia. What are Ramsar sites?
9. Name the military award of the United States bestowed recently on PM Modi for his steadfast leadership and vision for India’s emergence as a global power.
10. According to a status report released recently by the Union Ministry of Environment, the population of which vulnerable carnivore has increased by 60% since 2014 to 12,852?
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11. What is special about the appearance of Janus after whom the month is named?
12. January, which replaced March as the first month of the Roman year no later than 153 BCE, initially had 30 days. Which famous king added the extra day?
13. Name the two zodiac signs that feature in the first month of the Gregorian calendar?
14. Which date in the month is traditionally observed as the day when the Magi visited the infant Jesus?
15. Whose birthday on January 12 is celebrated in India as National Youth Day?
16. Why was January 26 chosen as Republic Day?
17. One for Shakespeare lovers. Name the only two plays that mention the month.
18. Except for leap years, January always begins on the same day as which other month?
19. Legendary cricketer Kapil Dev, music maestro A.R. Rahman, and fabled detective (according to experts) Sherlock Holmes share their birthday on which date of the month?
20. Simple one to round it off. Who assassinated Mahatma Gandhi on January 30, 1948?
Answers to Quiz1. It is the name given to the variant of COVID-19 virus that was recently discovered in the UK, 2. Paris after women were appointed to fill 11 of the 16 open top city jobs, 3. John le Carré, 4. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, 5. 42 against England in 1974, 6. After 400 years, Jupiter and Saturn came closest to each other from Earth’s point of view, 7. It is the Department of Posts and India Post Payments Bank’s new digital payment app, 8. A Ramsar site is a wetland site designated to be of international importance, 9. Legion of Merit, 10. Leopards.
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11. He is two-faced, 12. Julius Caesar, 13. Capricorn and Aquarius, 14. January 6, 15. Swami Vivekananda, 16. It was on that date in 1929 that declaration of ‘Purna Swaraj’ was made, 17. ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ and ‘Winter’s Tale’, 18. October, 19. January 6, 20. Nathuram Godse.
