(Current Affairs questions are from the period March 16th to 31th. Questions 11 to 20 pertain to Chennai and Tamil Nadu.)

1. On March 17th-18th, which new Republic came into being after months of civil war and subsequent secession from the world’s largest country?

2. Prince Muqrin bin Abdulaziz Al Saud was recently confirmed as second-in-line to the throne of which Asian country?

3. According to a study by University of Vienna scientists, which marine predatory creature is, technically, half-plant and half-animal?

4. Which Indian sports-based community project won the Laureus Sport for Good Award on March 26th?

5. According to a recent WHO report, which is the ‘the biggest environmental health problem’ now?

6. Which very popular sitcom, about Ted Mosby and his Manhattan friends, had its final episode on March 31st?

7. Where in Russia did Chennai’s Viswanathan Anand win the Candidates Tournament to become eligible to challenge Magnus Carlsen for the World chess crown in November this year?

8. Japan’s Shigeru Ban has been awarded the ‘Nobel Prize of architecture’ for his unique approach in using materials like paper tubes and bamboo. Name the honour.

9. What is special about the weapon ‘Nirbheek’ launched recently?

10. In which country’s education curriculum was Tamil, along with four more Indian languages, reinstated as official subjects in State-run schools after a gap of 20 years?

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11. Name the author of Kaviri Mainthan, the sequel to Kalki’s acclaimed Ponniyin Selvan.

12. Name the IPS officer who has been appointed by the Election Commission to oversee election work in Tamil Nadu.

13. The Ministry of Shipping has, ......... little regard to environmental concerns, decided to develop which place near Pulicat, as a port and shipbuilding centre spread over 5000 acres?

14. Name the author of Saguna: A Story of Native Christian Life: She is considered the first Indian woman novelist.

15. Which bustling area, named after the practitioners of a certain art/profession, is considered the first planned colony within the bounds of Madras?

16. Which walkway in Fort St. George is also known as ‘Snob’s Alley’?

17. Fill in the missing names in the name for this park in the metropolis: Desodharaka Kasinadhuni ______ ____ Pantulu Park.

18. Which legendary English woman was the moving force behind Madras’s efforts to get a drainage system in the second half of the 19th Century?

19. If R. P. Sethu Pillai was the first recipient in 1954 and Joe D’Cruz the latest, what honour am I talking about?

20. What was the ‘Gold Leaf Agreement’ dated April 1620, now in the possession of the National Archives in Copenhagen, about?