24th November 2011

1. The Mars Science Laboratory( MSL) which is due to be launched on 26th of November
this year delivers a rover to Mars. This rover is expected to reach Mars by August 2012 to land at Gale Crater on Mars after which it will continue to explore the red planet. What is the name of this rover?

2. 
 This iconic photograph of Gandhi sitting by his spinning wheel and reading was photographed by one of the most talented photographers ever. She photographed Gandhi many times. Her last photo of Gandhi was taken hours before he was assassinated. She was the first female war correspondent.During world war 2 she captured the images of war battered Soviet Russia, North Africa, Italy and traveled through the collapsing Germany with George S. Patton. She was also the first female photographer for Life magazine. Who was this renowned photographer?

3. The Human Development Index is a comparative measure of life expectancy, literacy, education and standards of living for countries worldwide. The list is published annually in the annual UNDP Human development report. According to the human development report which was released on 2nd of Novemeber    this year Sri Lanka is ranked 97 among 187 countries in the HDI. What is the country ranked no.1 in this index. This country tops the list since 2009?

4. A South African born English cricketer passed away on 19th November this year at the age of 80. He played for England in 44 test matches and 4 ODIs. He emigrated to England because he was barred from playing first class cricket by the apartheid rulers of South Africa. In 1968 he was included in the English cricket team's tour of South Africa. However the government of SA objected to his inclusion in the team because he was not White.This action led to expulsion of SA from international cricket. What was the name of this cricketer?


5. This disease is an anxiety disorder characterized by repetitive behaviour aimed at reducing anxiety. Most famous symptoms of the disorder include excessive or repetitive hand washing, repeated checking and nervous rituals such as opening or closing a door a certain number of times before entering or leaving a room. Many famous individuals including British lexicographer Samuel Johnson, American aviator and filmmaker Howard Hughes and English Footballer David Beckham were diagnosed with this this disorder. Can you name it?

6. A controversial radio drama which was aired on on October 30 1938 based on H.G. Wells's novel 'The War of the Worlds' caused the public to panic as the listeners thought an actual alien invasion by Martians was taking place. The drama was aired over the Columbia Broadcasting System radio network. The director and narrator of this radio play was a well known actor and a film maker. He directed and played the main character of the 1941 movie Citizen Kane. Can you identify him?


7. The first phase of Southern expressway, Sri Lanka's first highway is scheduled to be opened to public on 27th this Month. The 8 km long motorway joins Kottawa and Galle and includes eight interchanges. The construction work costed 600 million US $ funded by Asian Development Bank(ADB)  and Japan Bank of International Cooperation(JBIC). What was the Chinese company which undertook the construction work?

8. This Hungarian born Jewish American won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986. He was a survivor of holocaust. He had written 57 books including the famous book 'Night' which based on his experiences of concentration camps in Auschwitz, Buna and Buchenwald. Can you identify him?

9. SAM is a type of missiles designed to be launched from the ground to destroy aircraft or other missiles. These missiles were extensively used by LTTE in years of war. What does SAM stand for?

10. According to mythology to abduct which human woman did Zeus adopted the form of a White Bull?

11. 
  Can you identify this famous painting by the Spanish artist Salvador Dali?

12. Facebook is the most widely used social networking website with more than 800 million active users. The creator of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg was charged by the Harvard University administration for  breach of security, violating copyrights and violating individual privacy while he was a student there for creating a certain website which allowed the users to rate the 'Hotness' of individual photographs. What is the name of this network which laid the founding stone for Facebook?

13. Which country has the world's longest coastline nealy four times long than that of second place Indonesia?

14. This American biologist and university professor who passed away on 22nd November this year was best known for her contributions for the endosymbiotic theory. She was also associated with the Gaia hypothesis. Who was this biologist?

15. John F. Kennedy was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald on 22nd November 1963 at Dallas. But who assassinated his younger brother Robert F. Kennedy in 1968 at Los Angeles?

Last week's Answers

1.Delrene Boyd
2.1976
3.Bangkok declaration or the ASEAN declaration
4.Papua New Guinea and Timore
5.Black Panther party
6.Andy Serkis
7. Hamlet
8. Florence, Italy
9.Kazakaztan
10. The Birth of Venus
11.Faroe Islands
12. Mensa international
13.Deep Blue
14. ABBA
15.Billie Jean King