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:
MK Damodaran (77), the veteran lawyer and former Advocate General of Kerala, has passed away in Kochi, Kerala. He was one of the most popular figures at the Kerala High Court and was well known for defending the Naxalites during the late ‘60s and early ‘70s. He was expert in both criminal and civil cases and was jailed during the Emergency period 1975-77.

Notes:
The World Mosquito Day (WMD) is observed every year on August 20 is to raise awareness about the threat of malaria and other diseases transmitted by one of the world’s deadliest killers – the mosquito. The day also marks the historic discovery by British doctor Sir Ronald Ross in 1897 that female Anopheles mosquitoes transmit malaria between humans and that laid foundations for scientists across the world to better understand the deadly role of mosquitoes in disease transmission and come up with effective innovative interventions.

Notes:
The Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry has recently constituted a 40-member ‘preview committee’ with filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri as its convenor to select movies for the 2017 International Film Festival of India (IFFI). The other members of the new committee include Pallavi Joshi, Narendra Kohli, Hrishitaa Bhatt, Aarti Bajaj, Khalid Mohamed, and film director Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury. The 2017 IFFI will be held in Panaji, Goa from November 20 to 28. Earlier, the I & B Ministry had constituted the steering committee and the technical committee for the IFFI.

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 2017 International Military Music Festival “Spasskaya Tower” has started in Moscow, Russia on August 24 and will continue till September 3, 2017. The Indian Navy Band “Tri- Services” is participating in the fest. It is the parade of the best military music bands of Russia and other countries that takes place every year at Red Square in Moscow. This Music Festival is a mega event, where military musicians represent the variety of national, artistic and military traditions of the world. Every year about 1500 musicians, military men and other artists from around 40 countries perform at the “Spasskaya Tower”. The Festival is duly considered one of the largest international events in Russia and attracts tremendous response of the general public.

Notes:
Sushma Swaraj, the Union External Affairs Minister, will inaugurate India’s first Videsh Bhavan on August 27, 2017 at the Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) in Mumbai, Maharashtra. As a first pilot project, four offices of MEA – Regional Passport Office (RPO), Protector of Emigrants (PoE) office, Branch Secretariat and Regional Office of ICCR – have been assimilated and brought under one roof at the state-of-art office. The pilot project of the Videsh Bhavan of Mumbai is part of the Centre’s policy to bring together different offices of the MEA under a single roof and work closely with states as more and more Indians are going abroad for employment, education, business and tourism. In other words, the “Videsh Bhavan” at Mumbai is the first integrated office complex of the Ministry of External Affairs established in any State of India.

Notes:
Andhra Pradesh’s Eastern Power Distribution Company Ltd (EPDCL) and the Southern Power Distribution Corporation of AP Ltd. (SPDCL) have become the India’s first state-owned distribution companies to accept payments through Bharat QR. The Bharat QR is the world’s first interoperable quick response code acceptance solution launched by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). It is secure, network-agnostic interface that enables customers to use their smartphones to make payments without divulging information like card numbers and CVV. To pay power bills via Bharat QR, customers must log in to their bank’s app and scan the QR code on their electricity bill for instant payment. Alternatively, they may enter their unique customer IDs online and generate a QR code that can be scanned using their bank’s app.

Notes:
Tony de Brum (72), the former Marshall Islands foreign, has passed away in Majuro, Marshall Islands on August 22, 2017. He was the leading advocate for the landmark Paris Agreement and an internationally recognised voice in the fight against climate change. de Brum also fought against nuclear weapons and for his nation’s independence.

Notes:
Indian football team has won the 2017 South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) under-15 football Championship by defeating Nepal by 2-1 in the final at Kathmandu in Nepal on August 27. Vikram Pratap Singh was declared best player of the championship. India won all four matches in the championship. In the league matches, India beat Maldives by 9-0 and host Nepal by 2-1. In the semifinal India defeated Bhutan by 3-0. India scored 16 goals and conceded just two.