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NATIONAL NEWS

PM NarendraModi announces 'Cleanliness is Service' campaign

  • Prime Minister NarendraModi on 27 August 2017 announced the launching of 15-days 'Cleanliness is Service' campaign.
  • PM Modi asked people to undertake the 'Cleanliness is Service' or 'Swachchta Hi Seva' campaign to promote the creation of an environment of cleanliness while marking the third anniversary of 'Swachch Bharat' programme that was launched on 2 October 2014.

India’s first Partition Museum opens after 70 years of Independence

India’s first Partition Museum

  • A new museum on the Partition of the Indian subcontinent was inaugurated in the third week of August 2017(17 August, 2017) after 70 years of tragedy that had split British India into India and Pakistan in 1947.

Venkaiah Naidu sworn in as 13th Vice President of the country

  • Former Union Minister MuppavarapuVenkaiah Naidu has sworn in as the 13th Vice President of India on 11 August 2017.
  • He has been administered the oath of office and secrecy by President Ram NathKovind at a special function at RashtrapatiBhavan.
  • Naidu was elected as the Vice President on 5 August 2017 by defeating opposition candidate Gopal Krishna Gandhi.

Ram NathKovind elected as 14th President of India

  • NDA Presidential candidate Ram NathKovind on 20 July 2017 won the Presidential elections.
  • With this, he became the 14th President (in person) of India.
  • He won the presidential election by defeating the opposition candidate MeiraKumari.
  • President elect Ram NathKovind was administered oath of office by Chief Justice of India on 25 July 2017 in a special function at the Central hall of Parliament.

Union Environment Ministry launches Harit Diwali, Swasth Diwali Campaign

  • Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Dr. Harsh Vardhan on 17 August, 2017 launched the “Harit Diwali, Swasth Diwali” campaign.
  • A pledge for a green and healthy Diwali was taken by the gathering of students.
  • The pledge will also be circulated to the schools, colleges and educational institutions of the country.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

World Health Organisation declares Somalia free of polio

  • The World Health Organisation (WHO) on 13 August 2017 declared Somalia free of polio.
  • The UN health agency announced that it had not recorded any case of polio disease in Somalia in the last three years.
  • Afghanistan, Nigeria and Pakistan are the remaining countries where polio is still being recorded.

Citizens of 80 countries including India can now enter Qatar without visa

  • The Qatari government on 9 August 2017 announced that citizens belonging to 80 countries including India, Canada, US and UK can now enter Qatar without the need of applying for a visa.

Switzerland launches world's longest pedestrian suspension bridge

  • Switzerland is now home to the world's longest suspension footbridge that was inaugurated on 29 July 2017.TheCharles Kuonen Suspension Bridgeis now the longest in the world.

UK’s first woman Sikh MP PreetKaur Gill elected to Home Affairs Select Committee

  • Britain’s first woman Sikh Member of Parliament on July 9, 2017 was elected to an influential cross-party panel in the UK Parliament that examines the workings of the Home Office.
  • PreetKaur Gill, who won the seat for the Labour party in the 8 June 2017 election, was elected to the Home Affairs Select Committee in the UK Parliament.
  • She will be one of 11 MPs on the cross-party home affairs committee.

India, Israel signed seven Agreements including National Campaign for Water Conservation in India

  • India and Israel on 5 July 2017 signed seven agreements in different areas of mutual benefit including agriculture, technology and space.
  • NarendraModiis the first Prime Minister of India to visit Israel in 70 years.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY NEWS

New typeof MRI scan to accurately predict strokerisk

  • At University of Oxford, Scientists have developed a new type of MRI scan
  • It can accurately predict the risk of life-threatening strokes.
  • The new magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technique was developed to differentiate between the risky plaques, and those that are more stable.

ISRO to launch a new navigation satellite on August31

The IRNSS-1H, which will replace the IRNSS-1A, will be launched on board ISRO's work horse rocket the PSLV-C39

The new satellite will augment the existing seven satellites of NavIC constellation

Cyborg bacteria can harvest solar energy to producefuel

Photosynthesis provides energy for the vast majority of life on Earth. However, chlorophyll, the green pigment that plants use to harvest sunlight, is relatively inefficient.

 Scientists from University of California have created cyborg bacteria – microbes covered with tiny, highly efficient solar panels – that are better than plants at harvesting the Sun’s energy to produce fuel from carbon dioxide and water.

 “Rather than rely on inefficient chlorophyll to harvest sunlight, I have taught bacteria how to grow and cover their bodies with tiny semiconductor nano crystals,” said Kelsey K Sakimoto, from University of California, Berkeley in the US.

Scientists use supercomputers to visualise the total solareclipse

  • Scientists have used supercomputers to predict how solar corona - the aura of plasma that surrounds the Sun and extends millions of kilometres into space on August 21
  • . The solar eclipse was visible across much of the US, tracing a 112-kilometre-wide band across 14 states, researchers said.

Novel plant-based polio vaccinedeveloped

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  • Scientists have developed a new polio vaccine using plants, a breakthrough which can pave the way for global eradication of the age-old viral disease.
  • Researchers from John Innes Centre, Norwich in the UK produced the novel vaccine with a method that uses virus-like particles (VLPs) – non-pathogenic mimics of polio virus which are grown in plants.

Scientists discover the largest volcanic region on Earth, and it’s underAntarctica

Researchers at Edinburgh University in the UK revealed a staggering 91 volcanoes, adding to the 47 others that had been discovered previously under the Antarctic ice sheet.

The newly discovered volcanoes range in height from 100 to 3,850 metres. All of them are covered in thick layers of ice.

These active peaks are concentrated in a region known as the west Antarctic rift system, which stretches 3,500 km from Antarctica's Ross ice shelf to the Antarctic peninsula.

Scientists just created a flexible bio-glue for healingwounds

Scientists have developed a super strong, flexible adhesive material inspired by the glue secreted by slugs that sticks to biological tissues - even when wet - without causing toxicity.

 The "tough adhesive" is biocompatible and binds to tissues with a strength.

“The key feature of our material is the combination of a very strong adhesive force and the ability to transfer and dissipate stress, which have historically not been integrated into a single adhesive,” said Dave Mooney, professor at Harvard University’s Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) in the US.

SPORTS NEWS

Government to establish first National Sports Museum in New Delhi

  • The Union Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs is going to establish National Sports Museum at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, New Delhi.
  • It will be first of its kind sports museum in India. The aim of the sports museum is to popularise the sports as a way of life within the country.
  • It will showcase the India’s achievements in sports and also focus on the traditional sports within the country.

Ajay Singh wins bronze medal in Asian Youth and Junior Weightlifting Championships

  • India’s Ajay Singh has won bronze medal in the 2017 Asian Youth and Junior Weightlifting Championships held at Kathmandu, Nepal.
  • He got third place in 77 kgs men’s junior category by lifting 143 kgs in snatch and 172 kgs in clean and jerk.
  • His win takes India’s medal tally to three in the championship.

H S Prannoy wins US Open Grand Prix Gold badminton title

  • Ace Indian Shuttler H S Prannoy won the 2017 Yonex US Open Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament title.
  • It was his third grand prix gold title of badminton.
  • In the final match held at Anaheim, California, Prannoy defeated his compatriot ParupalliKashyap by 21-15, 20-22, 21-12.

England wins 2017 ICC Women’s World Cup

  • England’s women’s cricket team won 2017 ICC World Cup title by defeating India by 9 runs at Lord’s Cricket Ground in London
  • . It was England’s fourth Women’s World Cup title. Besides the inaugural edition in 1973, England had won the World Cup in 1993 and 2009 as well.

India’s Harinder Pal Sandhu wins Victorian Open squash tournament

  • India’s Harinder Pal Sandhu (28) won the Victorian Open squash tournament held in Melbourne, Australia.
  • In the final he defeated Rex Hedrick of Australia by 12-14, 11-3, 11-4 score.
  • It was Sandhu’s ninth title at the PSA level and the fourth of this season after winning two in Malaysia.
  • It was his second title in two weeks after he had won South Australian Open by defeating Rhys Dowling of Australia by 11-8 12-10 11-4 score.

India’s Sundar Singh Gurjar wins gold medal at World Para Athletics

  • India’s Sundar Singh Gurjar (21) won gold medal in the men’s javelin throw event at World Para Athletics Championships held in London, United Kingdom.
  • In the F46 category, Sundar recorded his personal best effort of 60.36m ahead of DineshPriyanthaHerath (Sri Lanka) who emerged second with 57.93m, followed by defending champion GuoChunliang (China) with 56.14m.

BCCI appoints Ravi Shastri as new head coach of Indian cricket team

  • The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has named former Indian all-rounder and captain Ravi Shastri as the new chief coach of the Indian cricket team till ICC World Cup 2019.
  • He will succeed Anil Kumble who had resigned from the post after the ICC Champions Trophy 2017.
  • The decision was announced after the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) zeroed in on his name ahead of other strong contenders, including VirenderSehwag and Tom Moody.

PV Sindhulost in the BadmintonWorld Championships final to NozomiOkuhara(August 27,2017)

  • World no. 4 champion PV Sindhu and NozomiOkuhara will be remembered for ages.
  • It was the second longest matchin the history of Women’s Singles.
  • PV Sindhu played very well and bagged silver medal. For Okuhara it was a historic gold, the first for Japan in 40 years.