Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - August, 2017

Notes:
Sohail Mahmoodm, the senior diplomat, has taken charge as the new Pakistan’s high commissioner to India. He succeeded Abdul Basit. The High Commission of Pakistan in New Delhi is the diplomatic mission of Pakistan in India. Prior to this, Mahmood served as Pakistan’s ambassador in Turkey.

Notes:
The World Photography Day (WPD) is observed every year on August 19 to inspire photographers across the planet to share a single photo with a simple purpose: to share their world with the world. The date of August 19 was chosen to commemorate the invention of the Daguerreotype, a photographic process developed by Frenchmen Louis Daguerre and Joseph Nicephore Niepce in 1837. On January 9, 1839, the French Academy of Sciences announced the Daguerreotype process. On August 19 that same year, the French government purchased the patent and announced Daguerreotype free to the world as a gift. This event was an important step in the development of modern-day photography.

Notes:
The Parambikulam Tiger Reserve (PTR) is a protected area located in Chittur taluk in Palakkad district of Kerala and covers an area of 391 square kilometers. It is alos home to lion-tailed macaques, Nilgiri tahr, elephants, Bengal tigers, Indian leopards, Nilgiri marten small Travancore flying squirrel, etc. According to recently conducted tiger census at the regional level in 2016, there are 33 tigers in Periyar reserve and 25 in Parambikulam reserve respectively, which is informed by the Forest Minister K Raju in the state assembly on August 18, 2017. It must be noted that as per a tiger census conducted at the national level in 2010, considered as authoritative figure, there were 38 tigers in Parambikulam spread over 643 sq feet area and 34 in Periyar that covers an area of 925 sq feet.

Notes:
The two-day Chief Electoral Officers’ Conference of all States and Union Territories has been inaugurated by Chief Election Commissioner Achal Kumar Joti and Election Commissioner OP Rawat in New Delhi on August 18, 2017. The event is being organised by the Election Commission of India (ECI) to review performance as well as to explore new initiatives and improve the election management and voter experience. The conference stressed on the need of providing E-services to stakeholders and emphasised the requirement to develop E-Payment gateways for various election services of Election commission. It also stressed the need for extensive training programmes on Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) as the ECI has decided to conduct all future elections using it along with Electronic Voting Machines.

Notes:
The Telangana government has recently launched an exclusive 24×7 helpline ‘181’ for women welfare. The helpline will respond to calls on dowry harassment cases, stalking, domestic violence, sale of girl child and immoral trafficking. Women with suicidal tendencies or those who are mentally disturbed can also contact the helpline. Apart from contacting police, the helpline can also be used to seek medical help, ambulance and other emergency services. The helpline will work 24X7 on all 365 days. It is funded by Centre & supported by GVK EMRI.

Notes:
Jerry Lewis (91), the famous comedian and Filmmaker, has passed away in Las Vegas, United States. He was one of the most popular comic actors of the 1950s and ’60s’ and was known for his slapstick humor in film, television, stage and radio. He perfected not only the role of the quirky clown but also won acclaim as a writer, actor and philanthropist in a career spanning six decades. He became the highest-paid actor in Hollywood, chalking up hits such as The Bell Boy, Cinderfella and The Nutty Professor.

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:
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:
The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the Union Ministry of Health has inked a pact with the International Vaccine Institute (IVI) to collaborate on vaccine research and development. With this partnership, India will commit an annual contribution of $5,00,000 to IVI and joins Sweden and South Korea as financially contributing signatories to IVI. In addition, ICMR will be focussed on research and development of vaccines combatting various infectious diseases. As per official statement, the IVI has 35 signatory countries and India officially became a signatory in 2012. The IVI is an international nonprofit organization i.e. devoted to developing and introducing new and improved vaccine to protect the people, especially children, against deadly infectious diseases. The headquarters of IVI is located in Seoul, South Korea. The ICMR is the apex body in the country for the formulation, coordination and promotion of biomedical research.

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.