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Vol. XXX No. No. 15, December 1-15, 2020
Quizzin’ with Ramanan
Quizmaster V.V. Ramanan’s first 10 questions are on current affairs and next on natural wonders and phenomena.
1. Who are the partners of Oxford and Pfizer involved in developing a COVID-19 vaccine?
2. Apart from Virat Kohli, which Indian has been nominated for the coveted ICC Men’s Player of the Decade Award?
3. The largest trade agreement was recently agreed upon by the member states of ASEAN and its free trade agreement (FTA) partners (excluding India). What is it called?
4. Name the Dadasaheb Phakle award-winning thespian, who acted in 14 Satyajit Ray films and passed away recently.
5. According to Bloomberg Billionaires Index, who has become the world’s second-richest person, overtaking Bill Gates, and now just behind Jeff Bezos?
6. What number should subscribers prefix for making calls from landlines to mobile phones within the country with the DoT asking telcos to make the arrangements by January 1 to
implement the new system?
7. To which city did the new Air India One-B777 aircraft carrying President Ram Nath Kovind make its first flight on November 24?
8. Name the Harry Potter star who by posting a picture with her/his daughter on Instagram broke Sir David Attenborough’s record for being the person to accrue a million followers in the shortest time.
9. Whose record did Lewis Hamilton equal by winning his seventh Formula One World title?
10. Fast-food giant McDonald’s has said it would sell a line of plant-based meat alternatives in 2021. What will it be called?
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11. Which country suggested the name Nivar for the cyclone that hit us recently?
12. Which natural feature has the lowest elevation and is the lowest body of water on the surface of the Earth?
13. The Mercalli and Moment Magnitude are two of the three commonly used scales to measure what phenomena? What is the most famous one?
14. Which is the highest mountain outside of Asia (at 189th) measuring 6,961m?
15. Volutus, Asperitas, Fluctus are all types of which natural formation?
16. In the context of volcanoes, what is the basic difference between a crater and a caldera?
17. The deepest known point in the Earth’s seabed hydrosphere (the oceans), with a depth of 10,902 to 10,929m, is named after a sea-going vessel. What is it called?
18. The five great North American lakes can be remembered with the mnemonic HOMES. Name them.
19. What is unusual about the names Dal lake, Sahara desert and Mississippi river?
20. Which beautiful, sweeping phenomena are a result of magnetic storms caused by solar winds?
Answers to Quiz* * *
11. Iran, 12. Dead Sea, 13. Earthquakes and Richter, 14. Aconcagua, 15. Clouds, 16. Craters are formed by the outward explosion of rocks, while calderas are formed by the inward collapse of a volcano, 17. Challenger Deep (after HMS Challenger), 18. Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie and Superior, 19. They are all tautological names i.e. the given name means the natural feature in a language of that region, 20. Auroras seen at the poles.
