Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - August, 2017

Notes:
Noted economist Dr. Rajiv Kumar will be the new Vice-Chairman of NITI Aayog, which is a think-tank that replaced the Planning Commission. He will succeed Arvind Panagariya, who will leave the government think tank on August 31, 2017 and return to Columbia University. Currently, Rajiv Kumar is a senior fellow at the Centre for Policy Research, a non-governmental think tank on public policy based out of New Delhi. He had also been part of a Government appointed high-level search Panel that went into the appointment of regulators in the Indian financial sector. Meanwhile, the Centre has also appointed Vinod Paul, a Paediatrician at AIIMS, as a member of NITI Aayog.

Notes:
Prabhat Kumar, the IFS officer of 1991 batch, has been appointed as the next Ambassador of India to the Republic of Kazakhstan. Presently, he is Ambassador of India to Colombia. He is expected to take up the assignment shortly. 

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:
The Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar has been appointed as the brand ambassador for Swachh Bharat Mission in Uttar Pradesh. It was recently announced by Yogi Adityanath, the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. Apart from this, Yogi Adityanath has also made Kumar’s upcoming film “Toilet: Ek Prem Katha” tax free. The movie stresses on the importance of building toilets and ending open defecation in the country.

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 ISRO and NASA are jointly working on the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) mission to co-develop and launch a dual frequency (L & S Band) synthetic aperture radar satellite. This earth monitoring satellite is scheduled to be launched in 2021. In this joint mission, NASA will be responsible for design and development of L-band SAR, 12m un-furlable antenna, GPS system and data recorder. ISRO will be responsible for design and development of S-band SAR, Spacecraft Bus, data transmission system, Spacecraft integration and testing, launch using GSLV and on-orbit operations. It is the first big collaboration between NASA and ISRO.

Notes:
The 8th edition of Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES)-2017 will be hosted by India and is scheduled to be held on November 28, 2017. The NITI Aayog in association with the Ministry of External Affairs and the Andhra Pradesh government have been assigned with organising the event. The GES brings together investors and entrepreneurs from around the world to create new opportunities for collaboration. The summit will promote economic growth, inclusion and opportunities among entrepreneurs from across the world, with a special focus on emerging nations from Africa and Asia. The summit was started in 2010 under the leadership of then US President Barack Obama at Washington DC to bring entrepreneurs from across the globe on one platform.

Notes:
Narendra Singh Tomar, the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, has recently launched a Swachh Survekshan (Gramin)-2017 in New Delhi to encourage states and districts to improve their sanitation coverage and Solid Liquid Waste Management (SLWM). Under the Swachh Survekshan Gramin, all districts of the country will be ranked on the basis of performance, sustainability and transparency. So far, 4,600 villages and 1.4 lakh households have been covered under Swachh Sarvekshan (Gramin) Survey. The Union Rural Development Minister Narendra Singh Tomar has stated that toilet usage have increased to 91% in the country whereas overall toilet coverage in rural India has reached to 66%.

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 Mandla Plant Fossils National Park (MPNP) is located in Mandla district of Madhya Pradesh and covers an area of 274,100 square metres. This national park has plants in fossil form that existed in India anywhere between 40 million and 150 million years ago spread over seven villages of Mandla District viz. Ghuguwa, Umaria, Deorakhurd, Barbaspur, Chanti-hills, Chargaon and Deori Kohani.