4th November 2011

1. One of the most eminent physicists ever born in United States this man was the winner of the Nobel prize for physics in 1965. He was a member of the group of the scientists who developed the atomic bomb
in project Manhattan and a researcher at Caltech. Following the Challenger disaster of 1986 he was appointed to the presidential Rogers Commission along with attorney general William Rogers, Neil Armstrong and Sally Ride. He was interested in nanotechnology and was one of the first few people to forsee how influential this branch of science would become in his famous speech 'There's plenty of room at the bottom'. His second wife wrote in her divorce complaint"He begins working calculus problems in his head as soon as he awakens. He did calculus while driving in his car, while sitting in the living room, and while lying in bed at night.". 
Can you identify this prominent scientist?


2.Maldives is an island nation in the Indian Ocean formed by a double chain of twenty-six atolls oriented north-south off India's Lakshadweep islands, about 700 kilometres (430 mi) south-west of Sri Lanka . It is smallest Asian country in both population and land area. Of how many islands do you think this island nation is made of ?



3. Jean Paul Marat Jean-Paul Marat (24 May 1743 – 13 July 1793) was a Swiss-born physician, political theorist, and scientist best known for his career in France as a radical journalist and politician during the French Revolution. He was killed on 13th July 1793 while he was in the bathtub by Charlotte Corday. However a 1963 play by Peter Weiss depicts  takes place on July 13, 1808, after the French Revolution Set in the historical Charenton Asylum where Marquis de Sade an inmate of the asylum with his fellow inmates acts to show how Jean Paul Marat died. This imporatant play was translated into Sinahala and staged in 1987 by Sugathapala de Silva.
What is the name of this play?

4. Recently a London court announced jail terms to three Pakistani cricket players namely, Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and  Mohammad Amir. Along with them the palyers' agent was also found guilty on the spot fixing controversy and has been sentenced to two years and eight months. 
What is the name of this person?


5. A prominent American civil rights activist passed away on 5 October 2011. He was a pastor, a co-founder of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference  Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and several others. He was instrumental in the 1963 Birmingham campaign. There had been several attempts to murder this man including a dynamite blast staged by the Ku Klux Klan. He was a believer of non violence. 
Who was this eminent personality?



6. The newly constructed National Performance Theatre constructed in the old Colombo Municipal Council grounds at Ananda Coomaraswamy Mawatha is expected to present the artistes with an accomplished Art Centre to develop their talents and present their performances. The theatre has seating a capacity for 1,288 spectators. The Chinese engineers carried out the construction and also China has funded for 40% of the cost. This five-storied modern theater is built on a model similar to an ancient structure in Polonnaruwa. What is this famous structure?


7. Othello is one of the most famous plays by Shakespeare. At a certain point in the play a character refers to jealousy saying ' It is the green-ey'd monster which doth mock
The meat it feeds on: that cuckold lives in bliss' Who is this character who can also be considered as the villain of the play?


8.  The US 10 dollar bill depicts the first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury on the obverse of the bill and the US treasury on the reverse. He is one of two non-presidents featured on currently issued U.S. bills. The other is Benjamin Franklin on the 100$ bill. Who is this US secretary of treasury?

9. It is not a much known fact that Steve Jobs who recently passed away was actually adopted by his legal parents. His birth parents later gave birth to another girl who grew up to be a successful novelist. Jobs  met her for the first time in 1985 when she was 25 years old and became close friends. What is the name of this novelist?


10. Who was the first Asian Olympic champion in an individual event. He  main event was triple jump, but he also competed in long jump and high jump, and participated in all three events in the 1924, 1928 and 1932 Summer Olympics. His Olympic gold medal win came in 1928, in Amsterdam. Who was this athlete?


11. This veteran Sri Lankan politician was first elected as a member of the parliament in 1952 and was reelected in 1956 general election and became the Minister of Lands, Land Development and Agriculture in the Cabinet of ministers of the Government of S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike. On many occasions he acted for the Prime Minister. He would have been definitely appointed as the prime minister following Bandaranikes death had he not been flown to England to receive treatment after he mysteriously fell ill during a cabinet meeting. Who was this politician who rendered a valuable service to people of Polonnaruwa and Minneriya?


12. The Penny Black was the world's first adhesive postage stamp used in a public postal system which was issued  the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland on 1 May 1840. Its face value was 1 Penny. However the first The first stamps for Ceylon were issued on 1 April 1857. The stamp features a portrait of Queen Victoria and is brown in colour. What was the face value of this stamp?


13. On 1 July 1997, the transfer of sovereignty to people of Hong Kong from United Kingdom to the Peoples Republic of China  occurred, officially ending 156 years of British colonial rule. Another territory was returned to Chinese sovereignty in 1999 by Portugese. These two territories remain two special administrative regions of  China. What is this other territory?


14. The discovery of this ancient ancient Egyptian granodiorite stele inscribed with a decree issued at Memphis in 196 BC on behalf of King Ptolemy V by a French soldier provided the key to the modern understanding of Egyptian hieroglyphs. on public display at the British Museum since 1802. It is the most-visited object in the British Museum. What is this stone known as?


15. The News of the World  was at one time the biggest selling English language newspaper in the world. The newspaper ceased publication on 10th July 2011 following  allegations of phone hacking. In which year did the News of the World start publishing?