Which Indian American schoolgirl won the 2017 Young Scientist Challenge for inventing a device to detect water contamination?

Introduction / Context:
Science and technology current affairs questions often highlight young innovators who receive international recognition. In two thousand seventeen, an Indian American middle school student won the Discovery Education three M Young Scientist Challenge in the United States by creating a device to detect contamination in drinking water. Her achievement received wide media coverage and is now a favourite topic in general knowledge questions.

Given Data / Assumptions:
- The competition mentioned is the two thousand seventeen Young Scientist Challenge.- The innovation involved a device for detecting water contamination.- The options list several Indian sounding names, but only one matches the real award winner.

Concept / Approach:
The key is recognising the link between the name and the specific invention. The student created a portable sensor based system to test for contaminants like lead in drinking water, inspired partly by the water crisis in Flint, Michigan. Remembering that this student was Gitanjali Rao, who later continued to receive honours for innovation, leads directly to the correct answer.

Step-by-Step Solution:
- Step 1: Note the details: Indian American girl, year two thousand seventeen, Young Scientist Challenge and water contamination detection device.- Step 2: Recall that the winning student designed a low cost device often referred to as Tethys to detect lead in water.- Step 3: Remember that her name is Gitanjali Rao, widely reported in science news and general knowledge sources.- Step 4: Compare options. Only Gitanjali Rao matches that widely publicised story.- Step 5: Therefore, mark Gitanjali Rao as the correct option.

Verification / Alternative check:
To verify, aspirants can recall that major newspapers and magazines highlighted Gitanjali Rao as a very young innovator who wanted to help communities facing dirty water problems. In later years, she was also featured in lists such as Time Kid of the Year, further reinforcing name recognition. None of the other names provided in the options are linked with a United States based young scientist award for water testing.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Kavita Kumari is not the winner of the two thousand seventeen Young Scientist Challenge and is not associated with this particular device.Hetal Rao may sound similar, but it does not correspond to the widely reported innovator in this case.Savita Sharma is not recorded as receiving this award or inventing the water contamination detection device mentioned.Anushka Naik is also not related to this specific challenge and innovation, and appears as a distractor option.

Common Pitfalls:
Students sometimes skip current affairs sections on science and technology or confuse different competitions and years. Another issue is mixing up names when many Indian origin students win overseas science contests. The safest strategy is to maintain concise notes of year wise major youth awards and their winners, especially when there is a strong social relevance such as water safety.

Final Answer:
The Indian American girl who won the two thousand seventeen Young Scientist Challenge for her water contamination detection device is Gitanjali Rao.