General Knowledge TimesUPDATE

Issue 17 : August 2016 www.goyalsgktimes.com info@goyal-books.com/goyalbrothers@gmail.com

CURRENT AFFAIRS : INDIA AND THE WORLD

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National Sports Day celebrated on 29 August29 August 2016

National Sports Day was observed

across India. The day is celebrated to mark the birth anniversary of the legendary hockey player Dhyan Chand who was born on 29 August 1905.On this occasion, President Pranab Mukherjee conferred National Sports and adventure awards on sports persons at the Rashtrapati Bhawan, New Delhi.

NATIONAL SPORTS DAY

MASTERS GAMES

Man Kaur, 100 years old athlete from India won Gold Medal at the Masters Games30 August 2016

India’s 100 years old athlete, Man Kaur won Gold medal at

the American Masters Games in the 100 meters dash. She took a minute and a half to cross the finish line in Vancouver.Kaur from Chandigarh was the only female competitor in her age category at the competition for older athletes.

SCRAMJET ROCKET ENGINE

ISRO successfully test-fires Scramjet Rocket Engine28 August 2016

The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) successfully launched the Supersonic Combustion Ramjet engine, called

Scramjet, from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.The experimental mission aimed at realisation of an Air Breathing Propulsion System (ABPS) uses hydrogen as fuel and oxygen from the atmosphere air as the oxidiser.

CRPF TO APPOINT P V SINDHU

CRPF decides to appoint PV Sindhu as Commandant and Brand Ambassador29 August 2016

Central Reserve Police Force

(CRPF), India’s largest paramilitary force, decided to appoint ace badminton player PV Sindhu as its brand ambassador.CRPF will also bestow the honorary rank of Commandant to the Olympic silver medallist.

SARASWATI SAMMAN

Padma Sachdev gets Saraswati Samman for the year 201529 August 2016

Eminent author Padma Sachdev was awarded the prestigious

Saraswati Samman for the year 2015 for her autobiography ‘Chitt-Chete’ written in Dogri language. She was felicitated by Delhi’s Lt. Governor Najeeb Jung in New Delhi.

Wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt’s London Olympics Bronze Medal upgraded to Silver30 August 2016

Indian wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt’s Bronze Medal from the 2012

London Olympics was upgraded to Silver. The medal was upgraded after second-place finisher Besik Kudukhov of Russia failed in a dope test.

MEDAL UPGRADED

CRORE LED BULBSGujarat becomes First State to distribute 2 crore LED Bulbs Last week of August 2016

Gujarat has become the first state to

distribute 2 crore LED bulbs under the Unnat Jyoti by Affordable LEDs for All (UJALA) scheme.The state achieved the milestone in only 96 days. Over 42 lakh households have benefitted from the scheme.

WEST BENGAL TO BE RENAMED

West Bengal to be renamed as Bangal in Hindi and Bengal in English29 August 2016

The West Bengal State Assembly

passed a resolution to change the name of the state from West Bengal to Bangla in Bengali, Bengal in English and Bangal in Hindi.

PM Modi launches first phase of SAUNI project in Jamnagar, Gujarat30 August 2016

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the first phase of SAUNI (Saurashtra Narmada Avataran Irrigation)

project at Sanodara of Jamnagar district of Gujarat. Modi released water from AJI-3 Dam.SAUNI is a project that aims to solve the water problems of a parched Saurashtra.

SAUNI PROJECT

BELGIAN GRAND PRIX

Nico Rosberg wins 2016 Belgian Grand Prix28 August 2016

Nico Rosberg of Mercedes won the 2016 Belgian Grand Prix of Formula One (F1).

It was Rosberg’s first ever win at Spa and sixth of the 2016 season. This win has narrowed the gap between Hamilton and him to nine points in the championship standings.

South India’s first Children’s Court inaugurated in Hyderabad 25 August 2016

First Children’s Court was inaugurated in Hyderabad. Moreover, it was also the first Children Court in

South India. However, two other states Goa and Delhi have already got their child friendly court.The court was jointly inaugurated by acting High Court Chief Justice Ramesh Ranganathan and Director General of Police Anurag Sharma. It was presided by T

Rajani, Metropolitan Sessions judge, and Dr Soumya Misra, Inspector General of Police (IG), Crime Investigation Department.

GLOBAL WARMING

Humans have been causing global warming for almost two centuries 24 August 2016

A new study suggests that

man-made global warming has been around for nearly two centuries. The study was published in the journal Nature. The results of the study suggest that global warming began during the early stages of the Industrial Revolution. The warming was first detectable in the Arctic and tropical oceans around the 1830s.

COMMUNICATION EXPRESSWAY

Mumbai-Nagpur Super Communication Expressway Project 27 August 2016Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis unveiled the 46000-crore rupee, ambitious Mumbai-Nagpur Super Communication Expressway project in Mumbai.The project, to be implemented by the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation, will create state-of-the art road connectivity within a period of three years and give a fillip to investment.

US Postal Service honours Diwali Festival with a Forever Stamp23 August 2016

The United States Postal Service (USPS) announced to commemorate

the joyous Hindu festival of Diwali with the launch of Forever Stamp.The Diwali stamp will be issued as a Forever Stamp. This Forever Stamp will also be equal in value to the current First Class Mail 1-ounce price.The stamp design is a photograph featuring a traditional diya oil lamp beautifully lit, sitting on a sparkling gold background.

US POSTAL SERVICE

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World’s first self-driving taxis launched in Singapore 25 August 2016

World’s first self-driving taxi service was launched in

Singapore. With this, Singapore became the first country in the world to launch such service.

SELF DRIVING TAXI

REGIONAL CONNECTIVITY SCHEMEUnion Government, Maharashtra Government and AAI sign MoU on Regional Connectivity Scheme23 August 2016

The Union Ministry of Civil Aviation, Maharashtra Government and Airports Authority of India (AAI)

signed a tri-partite Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for successful launch of the Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS). The agreement was signed by Chairman of Airports Authority of India, Principal Secretary Civil Aviation (Maharashtra) and Joint Secretary (Ministry of Civil Aviation). With this MoU, the Maharashtra Government formally agreed to provide the concessions required from the State Governments in the Regional Connectivity Scheme, thereby becoming the first state in the country to do so.

CRICKET

Sri Lankan cricketer Tillakaratne Dilshan announced retirement 25 August 2016

Veteran Sri Lankan batsman Tillakaratne Dilshan announced his retirement

from international cricket.He played his last ODI in Dambulla against Australia. He played his last T20 international in Colombo in September 2016.Dilshan, who is famous for inventing the Dilscoop (a process of hitting the ball behind the keeper), had already retired from Test cricket in 2013. He also was a Test wicket-keeper.

CHILDREN’S COURT

HIGHEST-PAID ACTRESSES

Forbes releases list of The World’s Highest-Paid Actresses 201623 August 2016

Forbes released the list of The

World’s Highest-Paid Actresses 2016. Jennifer Lawrence topped the Forbes magazine list for the second straight year with earnings of 46 million US dollars.Indian actress Deepika Padukone is the only newcomer in the World’s Highest-Paid Actresses list and the only Indian star to make the cut.

Union Government launches ‘Sugamya Pustakalaya’ an e-Library for Persons with print Disabilities 24 August 2016

Union Govt. launched the Accessible E-Library

‘Sugamya Pustakalaya’ for Divyang under Prime Minister’s Accessible India Campaign (Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan). The e-library was jointly launched by Union Ministers Ravi Shankar Prasad, Prakash Javadekar and Thawar Chand Gehlot.

Sugamya Pustakalaya is an online platform that makes accessible content available to print-disabled people. It houses more than 2 lakh books in diverse subjects and languages and multiple accessible formats.

The e-library was created by Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (Divyangjan), Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment in collaboration with member organizations of Daisy Forum of India and powered by TCS Access.

SUGAMYA PUSTAKALAYA

Sakshi Malik named Brand Ambassador for Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao campaign in Haryana24 August 2016

Sakshi Malik, the woman wrestler who

won the bronze medal in the 2016 Rio Olympics in the 58 kg category, was named as Haryana’s brand ambassador for Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao campaign.Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar made this announcement at Bahadurgarh where he awarded Malik with a cheque of 2.5 crore rupees and a Commendation Certificate. He also offered her a class two level job in the state government.

BETI BACHAO, BETI PADHAO

WORLD NO. 1 IN ATP

Sania Mirza became World No. 1 in ATP Women’s Doubles Tennis rankings22 August 2016

India’s ace tennis player Sania Mirza topped the

ATP Women’s Doubles Tennis rankings.She topped the list after teaming up with new partner, Barbora Strycova of Czech Republic.The new ranking also follows the victory of the pair in the Cincinnati final. To win the title, the Sania-Barbora duo defeated Martina Hingis and Coco Vandeweghe 7-5, 6-4.

SELLAPAN RAMANATHAN DIED

Singapore’s longest serving President Sellapan Ramanathan died22 August 2016

Singapore’s former president Sellapan Ramanathan died at

the age of 92.SR Nathan was of Indian-origin and the sixth longest-serving President of Singapore. He was closely associated with the country’s founding leader Lee Kuan Yew.

Urjit R Patel appointed as the 24th Governor of Reserve Bank of India20 August 2016

Union Government appointed Dr. Urjit R Patel as the 24th governor

of Reserve Bank of India (RBI). He will be having a tenure of three years with effect from 4 September 2016.He will succeed the present RBI Governor Dr. Raghuram Rajan, the former International Monetary Fund chief economist.

Telangana Government proposed to create 17 new districts22 August 2016

The Government of Telangana on 22 August 2016 issued a draft notification for the creation of 17 new districts.

After the proposed rearrangement of the existing districts, the total number of districts in the State will increase to 27 from the existing 10 districts.Further, the draft notification also proposed for increase in the number of mandals by 31 and revenue division by 14.The proposed districts are – 1. Acharya Jayashankar

District 2. Hanamkonda

3. Jagtial 4. Kamareddy 5. Komaram Bheem 6. Kothagudem 7. Mahabubabad 8. Malkajgiri 9. Nagarkurnool 10. Nirmal 11. Peddapally 12. Sangareddy 13. Shamshabad 14. Siddipet 15. Suryapet 16. Wanaparthy 17. Yadadri

17 NEW DISTRICTS Page 3

National Sports Awards 201622 August 2016

National Sports Awards are given every year to recognize and reward excellence in sports.

Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna - P.V. Sindhu for Badminton, Dipa Karmakar for Gymnastics, Jitu Rai for Shooting and Sakshi Malik for Wrestling.

Dronacharya Awards - Nagapuri Ramesh for Athletics, Sagar Mal Dhayal for Boxing, Raj Kumar Sharma for Cricket, Bishweshwar Nandi for Gymnastics, S Pradeep Kumar for Swimming (Lifetime) and Mahabir Singh for Wrestling (Lifetime). Dipa Karmakar’s coach Bishweshwar Nandi will receive the award for Gymnastics.

Arjuna Awards - Rajat Chauhan for Archery, Lalita Babar for Athletics, Sourav Kothari for Billiards & Snooker, Shiva Thapa for Boxing, Ajinkya Rahane for Cricket, Subrata Paul for Football, Rani for Hockey, Raghunath VR for Hockey, Gurpreet Singh for Shooting, Apurvi Chandela for Shooting, Soumyajit Ghosh for Table Tennis, Vinesh for Wrestling, Amit Kumar for Wrestling, Sandeep Singh Mann for Para-Athletics and Virender Singh for Wrestling (Deaf).

Dhyan Chand Award 2015 - Athlete Satti Geetha, hockey player Sylvanus Dung Dung and Rower Rajendra Pralhad Shelke.

Rashtriya Khel Protsahana Purushkar - Reserve Bank of India (Employment to sportspersons and other welfare measures), India Infrastructure Finance Corporate Limited (Encouragement to sports through corporate social responsibility), and Subroto Mukherjee Sports Education Society (Sports for Development). Four organisation who were chosen for the award for identification and nurturing of budding and young talent includes Hockey Citizen Group, Dadar Parsee Zorostrian cricket club, Usha School of Athletics and STAIRS.

Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy: Punjabi University, Patiala.

NATIONAL SPORTS AWARDS

VYAS SAMMAN AWARD

Hindi author Sunita Jain conferred with Vyas Samman Award 201517 August 2016

Hindi scholar and writer Sunita Jain was awarded

with the prestigious 25th Vyas Samman 2015 for her poetry collection ‘Kshama’. She received the award by the West Bengal Governor KN Tripathi. The award instituted by the KK Birla Foundation carries a cash prize of 2.50 lakh rupees. It is given annually to the outstanding literary work in Hindi authored by an Indian citizen.

KABADDI WORLD CUP

Gujarat to host 2016 Kabaddi World Cup22 August 2016

The International Kabaddi Federation (IKF)

announced that the 2016 Kabaddi World Cup will be hosted in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. The tournament will take place from 7th October 2016 and will conclude on 22nd October 2016. Gujarat will play host to 12 Kabaddi teams from around the world including India, USA, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, Iran, Poland, Pakistan, and others. The Kabaddi World Cup matches will be held in The Arena by TransStadia, upcoming state-of-the-art stadium in Ahmedabad.

UMPIRE SUBRATA BANERJEE DIES

Former international umpire Subrata Banerjee dies19 August 2016

Subrata Banerjee, the former international umpire, passed away in Kolkata. He was 71.

Banerjee had a 15 years long career at the international level, where he officiated in 13 ODIs.

VOCATIONAL TRAINING

India, Germany sign agreement on Vocational Training22 August 2016

India and Germany signed an agreement

to foster conditions that will help create and improve workplace-based vocational training in India’s industrial clusters.The agreement was signed between the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) and German International Cooperation (GIZ).

Aug. 2016

TEST SERIES

India wins four-match Test Series against West Indies, 2-022 August 2016

India won the four-match test series against West Indies 2-0. Fifth day’s play in the fourth test in Port of Spain

was called off due to rain.West Indies were 62-2 in its first innings with only 22 over bowled in the entire match.

KAMAL HASSAN

Kamal Haasan chosen for France’s Chevalier de l’ordre arts et lettres21 August 2016

The Minister of Culture and Communication,

France, selected Kamal Haasan for the Chevalier de l’ordre arts et lettres (Knight in the National Order Arts and Letters).The distinction is in recognition of his high level of artistic excellence and his distinguished career achievements.Haasan is the second Tamil star after thespian Sivaji Ganesan to be honoured with the prestigious French award.

RBI GOVERNOR

WOMEN’S FOOTBALL

Germany wins gold in women’s football event at Rio Olympics19 August 2016

Germany defeated Sweden by 2-1 to win their first ever

Olympic gold medal in women’s football.Germany is now one of the only three women’s teams to win both the Olympics and the World Cup. Canada won the bronze medal in the event.

FIRST IRANIAN WOMAN

Kimia Alizadeh Zenoorin becomes the first Iranian woman to win an Olympic Medal18 August 2016

Kimia Alizadeh Zenoorin became the first Iranian woman to win

an Olympic medal. She claimed the bronze in the taekwondo event in the 57kg category.Alizadeh defeated Nikita Glasnovic of Sweden by a score of 5-1 at the Carioca Arena 3, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.Great Britain’s Jade Jones won the gold and Spain’s Eva Calvo Gomez settled for the silver.

ART & CRAFT CORNER

WORLD HUMANITARIAN DAYWorld Humanitarian Day observed with the theme One Humanity19 August 2016

World Humanitarian Day was observed with the

theme One Humanity.The theme explains how our shared human experiences bind us across divides, and create a common responsibility to demand action for the most vulnerable and at risk of being left behind.The digital campaign for the World Humanitarian Day 2016 was The World You’d Rather. The day is dedicated to recognize humanitarian personnel and those who have lost their lives working for humanitarian causes. It also celebrates the spirit that inspires humanitarian work around the globe.

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RIO 2016 WORLD BIO-FUEL DAY

Andy Murray of Great Britain won gold in Rio 2016 Olympic Games14 August 2016

Andy Murray of Great Britain

won the gold medal in men’s singles tennis category in Rio 2016 Olympic Games.To win the title, he defeated Argentina’s Juan Martin Del Potro 7-5 4-6 6-2 7-5 in the final match held at the Olympic Tennis Centre in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

World Bio-Fuel Day observed10 August 2016

The World Bio-Fuel Day was observed across

the world on 10 August 2016. The day is observed every year with an aim to create awareness about non fossil-fuels (Green Fuels).World Bio-Fuel Day in IndiaOn this occasion, the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan inaugurated a national-level conference in New Delhi.In this conference, he estimated that the bio-fuel industry could grow from the current 6500 crore rupees to 1 lakh crore rupees in the next 10 years.

USAIN BOLT

Usain Bolt wins ninth Olympic gold as Jamaica wins 4x100m relay19 August 2016

Jamaican sprinter won gold in 4x100m relay final at the Rio Olympics. He combined with

Asafa Powell, Yohan Blake and Nickel Ashmeade to finish in 37.27 seconds.With this, Bolt obtained three sprinting gold medals in three consecutive Olympics and finished his Olympic career with a 100% win record in finals.Earlier on 14 August 2016, Bolt clinched gold in the 100-m final at the Olympics to become the first man to win the event three times at consecutive Olympic Games. He followed the win with a gold medal in the 200 m, which also makes him the first athlete to win the 200 m three times at the Olympic Games.

RIO 2016Indian badminton player PV Sindhu won the silver medal in the Women’s Singles Badminton Event at Rio Olympics18 August 2016

Badminton player PV Sindhu won a historic silver medal in the women’s singles badminton event at Rio Olympics.

With this, Sindhu became the first Indian woman to clinch a silver medal in Olympics. She also became the fourth Indian to win a silver at the Olympics after shooters Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore (2004, Athens) and Vijay Kumar (2012, London) and wrestler Sushil Kumar (2012, London). Moreover, she became the fifth woman player from India to win a medal in Olympics.Sindhu lost to Carolina Marín of Spain in the final by a score of 19-21, 21-12, 21-15.In her quarterfinal match, Sindhu defeated World No.2 Wang Yihan by 22-20, 21-19.

RIO 2016

Sakshi Malik became India’s first female wrestler to win an Olympic medal17 August 2016

Indian wrestler Sakshi Malik won the bronze medal in the 58 kg category

at the Olympic Games in Rio.Malik won the bronze medal after an 8–5 victory over the reigning Asian champion Aisuluu Tynybekova of Kyrgyzstan, despite trailing 0–5 at one stage, in the repechage medal playoff.With this, Malik brought home India’s first medal of the competition. With the win, she became India’s first female wrestler and the fourth female athlete ever to win an Olympic medal.

INDIA’S FIRST BIO-CNG PLANTIndia’s first bio-CNG plant inaugurated in Pune13 August 2016

India’s first bio-CNG plant was inaugurated in Pune, Maharashtra.The plant was jointly inaugurated by Union Minister of Transport

Nitin Gadkari and Union Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar.

DIPA KARMAKAR

Dipa Karmakar missed the Bronze Medal14 August 2016

Dipa Karmakar is an artistic gymnast. She represented India at the 2016 Summer

Olympics. She is the first Indian female gymnast ever to compete in the Olympics, and the first Indian gymnast to do so in 52 years. She attained 4th position in Women’s Vault Gymnastics event of Rio Olympics 2016 with an overall score of 15.066.

Aug. 2016