The Hindu Business Line : Investment quiz

1. He is considered to have pioneered low-cost air travel, when he launched his Skytrain service connecting London and New York in 1977. Though his airline shut shop five years later, the low-cost model has been around ever since. He died in Miami last week, aged 83. Whom are we talking about?

2. We'll stick with airlines but move over to India, where Paramount Airways is the latest kid on the block. From which South Indian city did the airline begin its operations and what planes does Paramount operate? (Hint: It is not Boeing or Airbus)

3. In the context of automobile maker Chrysler, what is the significance of the phrase, "I am Chairman of Chrysler Corporation always"?

4. This company carries the tagline, "Where it all comes together", in its advertisements. The services of this outfit cannot be missed when one carries out commercial transaction over the Internet. Which company is being referred to here?

5. A towering personality in the field of economics, he profiled the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, for Time magazine's 2005 list of 100 most influential people in the world. Who is the personality?

6. Known earlier under the codename, `Longhorn', what is the name of the new operating system that Microsoft is set to unveil later this year?

7. A product that is a connoisseur's delight, it has, for years, been manufactured at Lynchburg in Tennessee,US. What is the product in question?

8. This gentleman began franchising his business when he was 65. Since then, the business (now a part of Yum! Brands, Inc) has grown to become one of the larger fast-food service systems in the world, with a presence across more than 80 companies worldwide. Name the person who started it all.

9. This military research group provided the inspiration for Q in James Bond films. The Q branch headed by Quartermaster provides fancy gadgets that are used extensively by James Bond and saves his life many-a-time in the films. This company is also New Labour's first privatisation in the UK. On listing a couple of days ago in London, this R & D outfit had a market cap in excess of $2 billion. Name the research group.

10. The lady in the accompanying picture runs Spatial Access, India's first media audit agency. She's spent several years in the advertising and the media industry, which included a stint at Zee as Managing Director. Identify her.

Answers

1. Sir Freddie Laker

2. Coimbatore; Embraer jets

3. It's a mnemonic to remember the spelling of former Chairman Lee Iacocca.

4. Verisign

5. Nobel Laureate Prof Amartya Sen

6. Vista

7. Jack Daniels Whiskey

8. Colonel Harland Sanders of KFC.

9. QinetiQ

10. Ms Meenakshi Madhvani, Managing Partner, Spatial Access, Mumbai

Compiled by Nath Balakrishnan