(Current Affairs questions are from the period January 1st to 15th. Questions 11 to 20 pertain to Chennai and Tamil Nadu.)

1. How many teams are taking part in the inaugural Hockey India League?

2. What once-in-12-years congregation started on January 14th and will go on till March 10th in Uttar Pradesh?

3. Name the MIM legislator, who was recently arrested for sedition and criminal conspiracy after a 'hate speech' that caused a nation-wide outburst.

4. Who on January 7th became the first player to win four straight 'Ballon d'Or' awards from FIFA, having been declared the best player in the world?

5. In which South Indian city was the 11th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas held during early January?

6. What first-ever feat of its magnitude on Indian TV was recently achieved by Sunmeet Kaur Sawhney?

7. In which part of India is the Government planning to build at the end of this year the Rs. 300-crore National Large Solar Telescope, touted as the world's largest solar telescope?

8. Who on January 3rd achieved the highest-ever FIDE official rating (2861), breaking Garry Kasparov's 13-year record?

9. Name the former RBI Governor who was appointed the Chairman of the 14th Finance Commission constituted on January 2nd.

10. Name the famed actor, known for playing Obelix, who was granted Russian citizenship by President Vladimir Putin after he threatened to give up his French passport protesting a proposed tax hike on the rich.

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11. Name the cricket club in Chennai whose founding in 1888, thanks to the efforts of Buchi Babu Naidu, resulted in the birth of Indian cricket as an institution.

12. Whose name would connect the theatres Gaiety, Roxy, Crown (all in Madras) and Imperial (in Madurai)?

13. The licence for the second oldest business house now in India was registered in Madras on February 12, 1789. Who was behind it?

14. Who was the first woman to earn a University of Madras doctorate?

15. After whom is the headquarters of the Bharat Scouts and Girl Guides in Chennai named?

16. What important post does Elipe Dharma Rao hold in the city?

17. Which Tamil cinema legend's first role was that of Inspector Rangaiah Naidu in a film based on S.S. Vasan's writings?

18. Name the first Tamil Nadu player to score a century on Test debut.

19. Sangoli is the mouthpiece of which political party?

20. What claim to fame does the book Thambiraan Vanakkam have?