Games and Sports, Famous Personalities, Environmental Issues, Flora and Fauna

Part A: Games and Sports

Sports Terminology & Basics

Sport	Players	Key Terms
Cricket	11 per side	Wicket, LBW, Googly, Yorker, Duck, Powerplay
Football	11 per side	Offside, Penalty, Hat-trick, Free kick
Hockey	11 per side	Bully (obsolete), Penalty corner, National sport of India (traditionally regarded, though India has no official national sport)
Badminton	Singles/Doubles	Shuttlecock, Smash, Rally
Tennis	Singles/Doubles	Grand Slam, Ace, Deuce, Love
Chess	2 players	Checkmate, Grandmaster, Stalemate
Kabaddi	7 per side	Raid, Cant (continuous chanting)
Volleyball	6 per side	Spike, Block, Serve

Major Trophies and Cups

• Cricket: ICC Cricket World Cup, T20 World Cup, Ranji Trophy (domestic, India), Duleep Trophy, IPL — Indian Premier League.
• Football: FIFA World Cup, Copa America, UEFA Champions League, Santosh Trophy (India, domestic), Durand Cup (oldest football tournament in Asia, India).
• Hockey: Hockey World Cup, Champions Trophy.
• Tennis Grand Slams: Australian Open, French Open (Roland Garros), Wimbledon, US Open.
• Badminton: Thomas Cup (men's team), Uber Cup (women's team), All England Open.
• Golf: Ryder Cup, US Masters.

Major Sporting Events

• Olympic Games: held every 4 years; Summer and Winter Olympics; first modern Olympics — Athens, 1896, revived by Pierre de Coubertin.
• Asian Games: continental multi-sport event.
• Commonwealth Games: for Commonwealth nations.
• Khelo India Games: national multi-sport event in India.

National/International Sports Awards (India)

• Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award (renamed from Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna in 2021): highest sporting honour in India.
• Arjuna Award: for outstanding achievement in sports.
• Dronacharya Award: for excellence in coaching.
• Padma Awards: Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan, Padma Shri — civilian awards, some given to sportspersons.

Famous Sportspersons (India)

• Cricket: Sachin Tendulkar ("God of Cricket," most international centuries), Virat Kohli, Kapil Dev (1983 World Cup winning captain), MS Dhoni (2007 T20 WC, 2011 ODI WC, 2013 Champions Trophy captain — only captain to win all 3 ICC white-ball trophies).
• Hockey: Major Dhyan Chand ("Wizard of Hockey," 3 Olympic golds).
• Badminton: Saina Nehwal, P.V. Sindhu (first Indian woman with 2 Olympic medals), Prakash Padukone.
• Tennis: Leander Paes, Sania Mirza.
• Chess: Viswanathan Anand (5-time World Chess Champion), R. Praggnanandhaa, D. Gukesh.
• Wrestling/Boxing: Sushil Kumar, Mary Kom (6-time World Champion boxer), Sakshi Malik.
• Shooting: Abhinav Bindra (India's first individual Olympic gold, 2008 Beijing).
• Javelin: Neeraj Chopra (India's first Olympic gold in athletics, Tokyo 2020/2021).

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Part B: Famous Personalities of India and the World

Indian Personalities (beyond freedom struggle, covered in Ch.2)

• Mahatma Gandhi: "Father of the Nation," Satyagraha philosophy.
• Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam: "Missile Man of India," 11th President of India, key figure in India's missile and space programs.
• Mother Teresa: Nobel Peace Prize (1979), founder of Missionaries of Charity.
• C.V. Raman: Nobel Prize in Physics (1930) for "Raman Effect" — first Asian to win a science Nobel.
• Amartya Sen: Nobel Prize in Economics (1998).
• Har Gobind Khorana: Nobel Prize in Medicine (1968, shared).
• Kailash Satyarthi: Nobel Peace Prize (2014), child rights activist.

Nobel Laureates connected to India (know category + year)

C.V. Raman (Physics, 1930), Rabindranath Tagore (Literature, 1913), Mother Teresa (Peace, 1979), Amartya Sen (Economics, 1998), Kailash Satyarthi (Peace, 2014), Abhijit Banerjee (Economics, 2019, Indian-American).

World Personalities

• Nelson Mandela: anti-apartheid leader, first Black President of South Africa, Nobel Peace Prize.
• Martin Luther King Jr.: civil rights leader (USA), Nobel Peace Prize.
• Abraham Lincoln: 16th US President, abolished slavery.
• Albert Einstein: theory of relativity, Nobel Prize in Physics (1921).

Prime Ministers of India (order matters for exams)

Jawaharlal Nehru → Lal Bahadur Shastri → Indira Gandhi → Morarji Desai → Charan Singh → Indira Gandhi (2nd term) → Rajiv Gandhi → V.P. Singh → Chandra Shekhar → P.V. Narasimha Rao → Atal Bihari Vajpayee (multiple terms) → H.D. Deve Gowda → I.K. Gujral → Atal Bihari Vajpayee → Manmohan Singh → Narendra Modi (current, from 2014).

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Part C: Environmental Issues Concerning India and the World

Key Global Concerns

• Global Warming: rise in Earth's average temperature due to greenhouse gases (CO₂, methane, nitrous oxide, CFCs).
• Greenhouse Effect: natural warming process; enhanced by human activity causing climate change.
• Ozone Layer Depletion: caused by CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons); Ozone Hole discovered over Antarctica.
• Acid Rain: caused by sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides from industrial emissions.
• Global agreements:
  • Kyoto Protocol (1997): legally binding emission reduction targets for developed nations.
  • Paris Agreement (2015, COP21): global agreement to limit warming to well below 2°C; India is a signatory.
  • Montreal Protocol (1987): to phase out ozone-depleting substances — considered highly successful.
  • Rio Earth Summit (1992): led to UNFCCC (UN Framework Convention on Climate Change), Convention on Biological Diversity.
  • COP (Conference of Parties): annual UNFCCC summits; COP26 (Glasgow, 2021), COP27 (Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, 2022), COP28 (Dubai, UAE, 2023).

India-specific Environmental Issues & Programs

• National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC): 2008, 8 missions (Solar, Enhanced Energy Efficiency, Sustainable Habitat, Water, Sustaining Himalayan Ecosystem, Green India, Sustainable Agriculture, Strategic Knowledge for Climate Change).
• National Green Tribunal (NGT): 2010, specialised body for environment-related litigation.
• Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB): monitors pollution levels.
• Project Tiger: 1973, tiger conservation program.
• Project Elephant: 1992.
• Major issues: air pollution (Delhi-NCR smog), river pollution (Ganga — addressed via "Namami Gange" programme), deforestation, e-waste, plastic pollution.

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Part D: Flora and Fauna of India

Biodiversity Basics

• India is one of the 17 megadiverse countries in the world.
• Biodiversity Hotspots in India: Western Ghats, Eastern Himalayas, Indo-Burma region, Sundaland (Nicobar Islands).
• National Animal: Bengal Tiger. National Bird: Indian Peacock. National Flower: Lotus. National Tree: Banyan. National Aquatic Animal: Ganges River Dolphin. National Fruit: Mango.

Endangered/Iconic Species and their Habitats

• Asiatic Lion: Gir National Park, Gujarat (only wild population in the world).
• One-horned Rhinoceros: Kaziranga National Park, Assam.
• Royal Bengal Tiger: Sundarbans.
• Snow Leopard: Himalayan region (Ladakh, HP).
• Indian Bison (Gaur): Western Ghats.
• Great Indian Bustard: critically endangered, Rajasthan/Gujarat grasslands.
• Kashmir Stag (Hangul): Jammu & Kashmir.

Conservation Efforts

• Project Tiger (1973): launched at Jim Corbett National Park; India has the largest wild tiger population in the world.
• Wildlife Protection Act, 1972: legal framework for wildlife conservation.
• Biosphere Reserves: India has multiple, including Nilgiri (first, 1986), Sundarbans, Nanda Devi, Gulf of Mannar.
• Ramsar Sites (Wetlands of International Importance): India has a large and growing number, including Chilika Lake (Odisha — largest brackish water lagoon in Asia), Keoladeo National Park (Rajasthan).