Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - August, 2017

Notes:
The Periyar National Park (PNR) is a protected area near Thekkady in the districts of Idukki, Kottayam and Pathanamthitta in Kerala and covers an area of 925 km2. It is notable as both elephant reserve and tiger reserve. The park is made up of tropical evergreen and moist deciduous forests, grasslands, stands of eucalyptus, and lake and river ecosystems. It is surrounded by agricultural regions such as tea, cardamom, and coffee. It is also home to gaur, sambar, wild pig, Indian giant squirrel, Travancore flying squirrel, jungle cat, sloth bear, Nilgiri tahr, lion-tailed macaque, Nilgiri langur, etc.

Notes:
Rahul Doshi (12), an Indian-origin boy, has been crowned as the UK’s ‘Child Genius’ in a popular television quiz competition, after answering all questions correctly. He won the Channel 4 show ‘Child Genius’ by beating his nine-year-old opponent – Ronan by 10-4 in the programme’s finale on August 20, 2017. In the final, Rahul impressed with knowledge of his chosen subject – Edward Jenner’s medical innovation and methodology in 18th Century England. He clinched the title by answering a question on 19th Century artists William Holman Hunt and John Everett Millais. He has an IQ of 162, which is believed to be higher than the likes of Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking, and qualifies him to be a member of Mensa club – the largest and oldest high IQ society in the world.

Notes:
Para Athlete Devendra Jhajharia and Hockey player Sardar Singh have been selected for the 2017 Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award. Cricketer Cheteshwar Pujara, Women Cricketer Harmanpreet Kaur and shooter P. N. Prakash are among the 17 sportsmen who will be given Arjuna Awards for their outstanding performance. Seven persons have been chosen for Dronacharya Awards for producing medal winners at prestigious International sports events. They include late Dr. R. Gandhi in Athletics, Brij Bhushan Mohanty in Boxing and P.A. Raphel in the field of hockey. Dhyan Chand Award will be given to Bhupender Singh in Athletics, Syed Shahid Hakim in Football and Sumarai Tete in Hockey for their life time contribution to sports development.The awardees will receive their awards from the President Ram Nath Kovind in a special function at Rashtrapati Bhawan on August 29, 2017.

Notes:
Brian Aldiss (92), one of the most prolific and influential science fiction writers of the 20th century, has passed away in Oxford, England. Aldiss served in India and Burma with the British Army during World War II and later became a bookseller, publishing his first stories in a trade magazine. He was the author of science fiction classics including Non-Stop, Hothouse and Greybeard and Helliconia trilogy. His numerous short stories include Super-Toys Last All Summer Long, formed the basis for Steven Spielberg’s 2001 film “AI”, while his Horatio Stubbs saga was based on his time during the war in Burma and the far east.

Notes:
The National Sports Museum will be established in New Delhi that will showcase India’s achievements in sports and also focus on the traditional sports within the country. The purpose of the Museum is to popularise the sports as a way of life within the country. The union Sports Ministry has stated that the proposed Museum would go beyond the classical approach of a collection of memorabilia to become an interactive venue of interest for all age groups. In addition, it will display achievements of the Indian greats in sports and also act as an educational hub and offer opportunity for the young to delve into some sporting activity. The Museum will have audio-visual display of rules and legacy events pertaining to various sports as part of education for the budding sportspersons and a well-equipped library of sports and physical fitness.

Notes:
The Palamau Tiger Reserve (PTR) is located in Latehar District of Jharkhand and covers an area of 1,129.93 square kilometres. Apart from tigers and elephants, leopards, gaurs, sambars and wild dogs live in the reserve. It forms part of Betla National Park and Palamau Wildlife Sanctuary.

Notes:
Nandan Nilekani, the Infosys co-founder and the architect of Aadhaar, has been appointed as the new non-executive chairman of the board of directors of Infosys. The sweeping changes have been made to the board in an attempt to restore stability after the resignation of Vishal Sikka as CEO, and a bitter rift between Narayana Murthy and the board came to the fore. Nilekani’s appointment will allow Infosys to focus on the strategic changes it needs to make in order to capitalize on the attractive opportunities in the years ahead. Nilekani served as Infosys’s CEO from 2002 to 2007.

Notes:
The first edition of Rural Games or Grameen Khel Mahotsav will kick-start from Delhi and will take place between 28th August to 3rd September 2017. The purpose of the Rural Games is to popularize the indigenous games like wrestling and athletics and will also have fun games like Matka Race, Tug of War for senior citizens. In the first stage, the games will be held in Alipur, Mehrauli, Nangloi, Najafgarh and Shahadara where ten thousand youngsters will participate. The Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports will also launch sports talent search portal. The portal will enable any person from across country to upload his information and as per that the Ministry will tap their talent and train them further in their respective disciplines.

Notes:
The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) has recently signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nepal (ICAN) to establish mutual co-operation for the advancement of accounting knowledge, professional and intellectual development, advancing the interests of their respective members and positively contributing to the development of the accounting profession in Nepal and India. ICAI has a membership base of over 5,000 members in Nepal. The ICAI was established on July 1, 1949 as a statutory body under the Chartered Accountants Act, 1949 enacted by the to regulate the profession of Chartered Accountancy in India. Its headquarters is located in New Delhi.

Notes:
Venkaiah Naidu, the Vice President of India, will officially launch the Sports Ministry’s much- awaited National Sports Talent Search Portal at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium in New Delhi on August 28, 2017. The portal will provide a three step simple process for registration, profile creation and upload of achievements. Approx 1000 kids will be selected and they will receive scholarships of Rs 5 lakh per year for eight years. It will be available in English and other regional languages so that it is easier for any boy or girl who is talented in a particular sport to upload his or her achievements from any part of the country. The portal will also be available as App which can be downloaded on smartphones.