Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - August, 2017

Notes:
National Handloom Day is celebrated annually on August 7 to honor the handloom weaving community of India and to commemorate the Swadeshi Movement. On this day in 1905, the formal proclamation of the Swadeshi Movement was made in a meeting at the Calcutta Town hall.

Notes:
India’s first helicopter-taxi (heli-taxi) service will be started in Bengaluru, Karnataka for those who cannot afford to spend time battling traffic to travel across the city. The Kempegowda International Airport will become the first airport in India to have this facility. The service will be operated by Thumby Aviation Private Limited and is expected to take off within three months. Initially, the helicopter service will be operated between Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International Airport and the Electronics City area. The travel time will be cut down to 15 minutes instead of the two hours taken by road.

Notes:
The Pampadum Shola National Park (PSNP) is the smallest national park located in the Idukki district of Kerala. It protects a moderate amount of montane evergreen shola forest that is associated with the wildlife rich Eravikulam National Park. Some notable birds found here such as Nilgiri wood-pigeon, white-bellied shortwing, vernal hanging parrot, blue rock-thrush, blue-capped rock-thrush and Nilgiri flycatcher, and black-and-orange flycatchers.

Notes:
Indian shooter Kynan Chenai from Hyderabad has won a bronze in men’s trap event at the 7th Asian Championship Shotgun at Astana, Kazakhstan on August 8, 2017. It was his first international medal at the senior level. So far, India has won two golds and a bronze in the competition. Before Chenai, Indian shooter Ankur Mittal clinched the individual as well as the team gold medal in men’s double trap in the championship. Mittal shot 71 in the six-man final to finish at the top of the podium. With scores of Sangram Dahiya (43) and Mohammad Asab (34) added to Mittal’s final total, India managed to bag the top prize in the team event also.

Notes:
India’s first micro forest will be built in Raipur, Chattisgarh. Approximately, 19 acres of land which housed around 70 government office buildings will be converted into micro forest in order to create an oxy-zone. The micro forest will provide fresh air to Raipur which is the 7th most polluted city in the world. It will reportedly be open to the public in the next 8 months.

Notes:
Rinku Hooda (18) from India has won silver in the F46 javelin throw event at the World U-20 Para Athletics Championships in Nottwil, Switzerland on August 7, 2017. He got disabled as a three-year-old when his left arm got stuck in a paddy-sowing machine. He won his first national level medal in 2013 during a para nationals meet at the Rajiv Gandhi stadium in Rohtak.

Notes:
Yogi Adityanath, the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, has launched a new awareness drive called Namami Gange Jagriti Yatra from his official residence in state capital Lucknow. The drive will be focusing on cleanliness along the banks of Ganga river and maintain hygiene. The yatra will be organized by the Uttar Pradesh Home Guards and will help in spreading awareness in about 25 districts situated on the banks of river Ganga in the state. It will urge people to maintain the cleanliness and hygiene of the Ganga river. The drive will be covering a total area of around 1,025 kms and will conclude on September 6, 2017.

Notes:
The Parliamentary Panel headed by Maj. General (Retired) B C Khanduri has recently tabled its report in Parliament. In the report, the panel has recommended the 100% pension to widow of deceased soldier so that she can take care of her family. The report stated that after the death of a soldier, the pension of the spouse comes down to 60% of his pension. The committee feels that after the death of a soldier, the spouse usually faces severe problems due to the loss of the breadwinner. The committee also recommended that liberalized and special family pensions to be exempted from income tax for the widows of war like counter insurgency situations or on the line of control as is being given to disabled soldiers. The panel also supported the demand of Defence Forces representative should be included in the Central Pay Commission to address the grievances in respect of pay and allowances and their issues.

Notes:
Real Madrid, a professional football club of Spain, has won the 2017 UEFA Super Cup football tournament by defeating Manchester United in the final by 2-1 at the Philip II Arena in Skopje, Macedonia, on August 8, 2017. It is their 4th UEFA Super Cup title.

Notes:
The Oxford University Press (OUP) has recently launched online dictionaries in Tamil and Gujarati languages. The launch is a part of Oxford Global Languages (OGL) initiative with an aim to build dictionaries and lexicographical resources for around 100 of the world’s languages and to make them available online. Before Tamil and Gujarati versions, the Hindi online dictionary was launched in 2016. Thus, the OGL is a bold initiative from OUP for a modern challenge and a huge opportunity.