FUNDAMENTALS
SENJAM RAJ SEKHAR
Three days from now, Chennai will celebrate its 379th birthday. August 22 is commemorated as Madras Day. On this day in 1639, the land where Fort St. George stands today was bought by the East India company from the Nayak rulers. Today’s quiz is on the city sometimes known as Gateway of South India and Detroit of India. Write in with your suggestions, questions (with answers) to senjam@gmail.com
MADRAS DAY
1. A former Governor of Fort St. George made a generous endowment to what was then known as Collegiate School and the institution was named after him. Which institution? 2. Sowcarpet in Chennai where you would go to buy clothes is not named after carpets which are also sold here in some shops. What is the origin of the name of this place? 3. IIT Madras is jokingly referred to as the land of moving mountains and stationary rivers. Why? 4. This place in Chennai was originally known for housing a palace that was the official residence of Nawab of Arcot from 1768 to 1855. While the palace still exists, people across the world associate this place with something else. What? 5. The only part of Indian territory that came under attack from the German forces in the first World War was Chennai. Name the German cruiser that bombarded Madras on 22 September, 1914. 6. The volcanic eruption of Mount Tambora in Indonesia in 1815 led to an unexpected fallout in Madras. What did Madras witness on April 28, 1815 because of the volcano? 7. Madras Bashai is a dialect popular in Chennai. It is primarily Tamil but with heavy influences of other languages like English, Hindi, Telugu, Kannada, Urdu. What does the word
Dubakoor mean in the Madras Bashai tongue? 8. Which brand that has Madras in its name was founded by K.M. Mammen Mappillai as a toy balloon making unit in 1946? 9. What exercise, the first of its kind in India, started on 10 April 1802 from St. Thomas Mount in Madras by a Britisher named Colonel William Lambton? 10. In the 1940s, Raghunandan Saran got together all the importers of Austin cars to form a company to manufacture Austin cars in India. They acquired land in Ennore in Madras for their factory. What company came about because of this initiative?
ANYTHING GOES
1. The world’s only ‘Partition Museum’ is housed in a Town hall in which Indian city? (Muhammed Arif, Mumbai) 2. What distinction does the book Leaving Microsoft to Change the World by John Wood have in the Indian ecommerce world? (Commander G.R. Balakrishnan (Retd), Chennai) 3. Which acid cannot be stored in a glass container because silicates in the glass are attacked by the acid? (V. Siddhu, Hyderabad) 4. From 1921 until 1949, Jordan was known by a different name — a four letter English prefix was added to the name of the country. What name? (S. Miracle, Secunderabad) 5. This former cricketer made his Test debut on 12 December 1947 and made his farewell appearance in a Test exactly five years later on 12 December 1952. Which cricketer are we talking about? (B.K. Harinath, Mysuru) 6. How is the Pythagoras’ constant connected with the modern day paper sizes like A0, A1, A2, A3, A4 etc? (Partha Sarkar, Kolkata) 7. “Make Everyday Brighter”... is the tagline of a company which has restaurants attached to all its shops worldwide. Name the company. (Philip Joshua, Secunderabad) 8. What term is given to the state where the temperature and pressure of all three phases (gas, solid and liquid) of a substance (e.g, water) coexist in a thermodynamic equilibrium? (Vasudev Prakash, Mysuru)