(Current Affairs questions are from the period April 16th to 30th. Questions 11 to 20 pertain to Chennai and Tamil Nadu.)

1. Which former Union Finance Minister and veteran BJP leader was recently conferred with the ‘Officer of the Legion of Honour’ by France?

2. What was ‘Operation Maitri’ that was undertaken in the latter half of April?

3. Marathi litterateur Bhalchandra Nemade is the 50th recipient of which coveted award?

4. Which European country has topped the World Happiness Report 2015, published by a UN agency, where India is placed 117th among 158 countries?

5. Dr. Vivek Murthy has become the highest ranking Indian-American in the Obama Administration. To what post has he been appointed?

6. The Indian Navy’s new stealth destroyer, the largest destroyer commissioned in India, was launched on April 20th. After which Indian naval port-city is it named?

7. Which high-profile Indian cricketer is to set up ‘Chisel’, a chain of gyms and fitness centres, with an investment of Rs. 90 crore?

8. Name the first human-made object to go into orbit around Mercury which recently crashed into the planet after a successful four-year mission.

9. Name the high-profile MP who was recently unanimously elected the new general secretary of the CPI(M).

10. Who is the only Indian woman in Time magazine’s latest list of ‘100 Most Influential People’?

* * *

11. Name the Rajya Sabha MP from Tamil Nadu who was responsible for the passing of the Rights of Transgender Persons Bill recently.

12. What is the Indian Railways’ newly-launched mobile app for paperless unreserved ticketing for commuters in the Egmore and Tambaram suburban sections in Chennai called?

13. The 375th birthday of which landmark Chennai edifice was celebrated on April 23rd?

14. Which place in Chennai opened its doors to worshippers 200 years ago, on April 30, 1815?

15. Which 18th Century Governor of Madras was responsible for developing the Esplanade, building the new Black Town and proposed the tax that gave Wall Tax Road its name?

16. Which Danish settlement was sold to the English for 1,125,000 Rigsdaler?

17. Name the American all-rounder who played for Madras in Ranji Trophy matches in the 1940s and was in the list of all-time Madras XI compiled for the MCC’s 150th anniversary?

18. With which film-making legend would you associate Pragati Pictures?

19. Another on films. Which 1954 production was the first songless, danceless Tamil feature film?

20. What is the full name of the pioneering woman author-composer-editor known by her initials VaiMuKo?