Notes

>The Sepahijala Wildlife Sanctuary is located in Tripura.
>The Mrugavani National Park is located at Chilkur in Hyderabad, Telangana State.
>The Periyar National Park is a protected area near Thekkady in the districts of Idukki, Kottayam and Pathanamthitta in Kerala.
> Parambikulam Tiger Reserve is a protected area located in Chittur taluk in Palakkad district of Kerala.
>Orang National Park is located on the north bank of the Brahmaputra River in the Darrang and Sonitpur districts of Assam.
>The Chimmini Wildlife Sanctuary is located along the Western Ghats in Kerala.
>Grizzled Squirrel Wildlife Sanctuary is located in Tamil Nadu.
> Vansda National Park :Gujarat.
>The Mandla Plant Fossils National Park is located in Mandla district of Madhya Pradesh
> Pampadum Shola National Park is the smallest national park located in the Idukki district of Kerala.
>Pushpagiri Wildlife Sanctuary is located in Karnataka.
>The Sahyadri Tiger Reserve is located in the Sahyadri ranges of the Western Ghats of Maharashtra. It is in news because the Maharashtra government is planning to relocate tigers from Vidarbha region to the sanctuaries elsewhere where their population is smaller, including the Sahyadri Tiger Reserve. At present, STR has only seven tigers.
>The Gangotri National Park is located in the upper catchment of Bhagirathi river in the Uttarkashi District of Uttrakhand .
>The 8th World Renewable Energy Technology Congress & Expo-2017 has started in New Delhi from August 21, 2017. The theme of the 3-day annual conference is “Renewable Energy: What Works”, which focuses on new Green Technologies to ensure clean, reliable and affordable Renewable Energy supplies.
>The 2017 India-ASEAN Youth Summit has started in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh on August 14, 2017 with theme of “Shared Values, Common Destiny”. The event is being organised by Foreign Ministry, Madhya Pradesh government and India Foundation.
>The Indian duo of Mairaj Ahmad Khan and Rashmmi Rathore has won a gold medal in the skeet mixed team event at the 7th Asian Championship Shotgun in Astana, Kazakhstan on August 13, 2017. With this, India finished the championship with a total of 8 medals. Earlier, Ankur Mittal had won a gold in the men’s double trap and had also helped India bag the team gold in the event. Kynan Chenai won a bronze in the men’s trap and also partnered Shreyasi Singh to claim the trap mixed team bronze. Maheshwari Chauhan clinched a bronze in the women’s skeet, along with team silver in the event before the men’s skeet team picked up another bronze.
>Indian shuttler Rahul Yadav Chittaboina has won the men’s singles title by defeating his compatriot Karan Rajan Rajarajan in the summit clash at the 2017 Lagos International Badminton Classics in Lagos, Nigeria.
>Veteran journalist T J S George has been chosen for the first Kesari Media Award, instituted by the Kesari Memorial Journalist Trust (KMJT). The award consists of a purse of Rs 50,000, citation and a statuette designed by renowned artist Bhatathiri. The award would be given away at a function in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, which is scheduled to be held on August 13, 2017.
>Former Indian hockey captain Dhanraj Pillay has been honored with the East Bengal football club’s highest honour “Bharat Gaurav” on its foundation day on August 1, 2017.
>Gerish Khemani and Akshat Nigam have won The Hindu Playwright Award 2017 for their play ‘In Search of Dariya Sagar’ at the 13th edition of The Hindu Theatre Fest in Mumbai. ‘In Search of Dariya Sagar’ is a play that brings together public events and private lives, political history and personal memory, in a manner that resonates both the real and the magical. The Rs 2 lakh award, instituted in 2008 to reward the best new unpublished and unperformed play-script in English.
>Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao has been selected for the prestigious National Agriculture Leadership Award-2017 by the Indian Council of Food and Agriculture (ICFA) under the chairmanship of well known agriculture scientist Prof MS Swaminathan. Rao. The Chief Minister has been selected for the award for his innovative services rendered to the welfare of farmers and the farm sector.
> Lakshya Sen has clinched the 2017 Bulgaria Open International Series title after defeating Croatia’s Zvonimir Durkinjak in the men’s singles final .
>Sebastian Vettel, a German racing driver currently driving in Formula One for Scuderia Ferrari, has won the 2017 Formula One Hungarian Grand Prix tournament.
>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.
>Real Madrid, a professional football club of Spain, has won the 2017 UEFA Super Cup football tournament by defeating Manchester United.
>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.
>The book “I am HIV positive, so what?” has been authored by journalist Jayanta Kalita and published by Bloomsbury. The book is based on the life of Manipur’s acclaimed bodybuilder Khundrakpam Pradip kumar Singh.
>The book “The Adivasi Will Not Dance” has been authored by Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar. It is a mature, passionate, intensely political book of stories, made up of the very stuff of life. Recently, the book is in news because the Jharkhand government has banned the book on the grounds that it portrayed the Santhal women in a bad light. The writer himself belongs to the Santhal adivasi community, which is numerically among the largest indigenous groups.
>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.
>The World Humanitarian Day (WHD) is observed every year on August 19 to pay tribute to aid workers who risk their lives in humanitarian service, and to rally support for people affected by crises around the world. The 2017 WHD campaign “#NotATarget” follows the UN Secretary-General’s report on the protection of civilians in armed conflict, which was launched recently. Through a global online campaign, United Nations (UN) in partnership with Facebook Live will raise voices to advocate for the most vulnerable people in war zones, and demand that world leaders do everything in their power to protect civilians in conflict.
>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.
>The World Elephant Day (WED) is observed every year on August 12 to focus the attention of various stakeholders in supporting various conservation policies to protect elephants, including improving enforcement policies to prevent illegal poaching and trade in ivory. On the occasion of 2017 WED, Dr. Harsh Vardhan, the Union Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister, has launched a nationwide campaign “Gaj Yatra” in New Delhi to protect elephants in the country. The campaign is planned to cover 12 elephant range states.
>The International Youth Day (IYD) is observed every year on August 12 to draw attention to a given set of cultural and legal issues surrounding youth. The 2017 theme is “Youth Building Peace”, which recognizes the contributions of young people to preventing conflict, supporting inclusion, social justice, and sustainable peace.
>The International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples is observed every year on August 9 to promote and protect the rights of the world’s indigenous population. This event also recognizes the achievements and contributions that indigenous people make to improve world issues such as environmental protection.
>The International Biodiesel Day (IBD) is celebrated every year on August 10 with an aim to turn the focus to non-fossil fuels. The day also honours the research experiments by Sir Rudolf Diesel who ran an engine with peanut oil in the year of 1893. The Biodiesel is an alternative fuel which can be used in place of fossil fuels. It is manufactured from vegetable oils, recycled grease, algae, and animal fat.
>The World Breastfeeding Week (WBW) is observed every year from August 1st to 7th to focus attention on the important aspect of promotion and support of breastfeeding. The 2017 theme is “Sustaining Breastfeeding Together”. To intensify the efforts for promotion of breastfeeding in India, the Union Health Ministry has initiated a nationwide programme called “MAA-Mother’s Absolute Affection’’
>The 2017 FIFA Under-17 World Cup will be held in India from October 6 to 28, which is first-ever FIFA tournament in India. It is in news because the curtain raiser function for FIFA U-17 World Cup was held in Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium in New Delhi on August 19, 2017. The trophy for FIFA World Cup was also displayed at the stadium. The objective of the programme was to promote football in India, especially among children and youth.
>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.
>Preethi Srinivasan, the former State under-19 cricket captain, has bestowed with the 2017 Kalpana Chawla Award for courage and daring enterprise from Chief Minister E.K. Palaniswami during the 71st Independence Day celebrations at Fort St. George in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Beside her, the Government of Tamil Nadu has also awarded S.P. Thyagarajan with the APJ Abdul Kalam award for discovering a patented drug to treat hepatitis B.
>Sharada, the veteran actress and national award winner, has been selected for the prestigious Prem Nazir Award for the year 2017.
>Indian-origin actor Dev Patel will be honoured with the Asian Game Changer award for 2017 by the Asia Society for making a transformative and positive difference for the future of Asia and the world. He will be felicitated with the award at a ceremony to be held at the United Nations, New York, in November, 2017. The Asia Society has stated that Patel has turned his attention and star power to philanthropy. His “#lionheart” campaign raised over $2,50,000 in support of India’s millions of homeless children.
>India has been ranked 53rd among 60 countries in the 2017 Digital Evolution Index (DEI). The list is topped by Norway, followed by Sweden, Switzerland, Denmark and Finland. The Fletcher School at Tufts University, in partnership with Mastercard, presented the Digital Evolution Index (DEI) 2017.
>The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has recently announced that the 2024 Summer Olympics will be hosted by Paris in France, which is scheduled to be held from August 8-18.