Daily Current Affairs for SSC, Potal: September 7, 2016

Ecologist Bibhuti Lakhar wins IUCN's Heritage Heroes Award 2016

Assam-based ecologist and conservation activist Bibhuti Lahkar has won the prestigious ‘Heritage Heroes Award’ of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). With this, he became the first Asian to win this prestigious environmental award.

• He was presented this award at the IUCN’s ongoing World Conservation Congress in Honolulu, Hawaii.
• From past two decades Lahkar, has been working to save the grasslands, flora and fauna of Manas National Park area. Currently, he is engaged as Manas Landscape Administrator for Aaranyak, an NGO working for biodiversity conservation in northeast India. He has intensively studied grasslands of Manas and is globally recognised as an expert in threatened flora and fauna of the Terai region along southern foothills of the Himalayas. He was also instrumental in connecting Manas Wildlife Sanctuary with the Royal Manas National Park in Bhutan. Connecting them had led to a system of trans-boundary wildlife monitoring which now supports management in entire Manas natural area that spreads across India and Bhutan.
• He also had conducted the first GIS survey of the Manas and his research findings and recommendations were critical component in the Manas Tiger Conservation Plan. IUCN’s Heritage Heroes Award: It aims at recognising “outstanding efforts” of persons around the world in making a difference in the conservation of World Heritage sites in challenging situat.

Sri Lanka declared Malaria free by WHO

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has officially declared Sri Lanka a malaria-free country, after certifying that the life-threatening disease had been completely eliminated in the island.

• With this, Sri Lanka became second country in the South-East Asia Region declared as malaria-free after Maldives.
• The announcement in this regard was made at the 69th Session of the WHO Regional Committee for South-East Asia Region held in Colombo, capital of Sri Lanka. Besides, Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena and the Ministry of Public Health of South Korea were conferred the ‘Excellence in Public Health’ awards for “their remarkable and sustained role in the public health gains” of their countries by the WHO South-East Asia Region.
• Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease most commonly transmitted by an infected female Anopheles mosquito. It is caused by parasitic protozoans (a group of single-celled microorganisms) belonging to the Plasmodium type.

N Sikki Reddy, Pranaav Chopra wins Brazil Open Grand Prix mixed doubles title

Indian pair of Pranaav Jerry Chopra and N Sikki Reddy have won the 2016 Brazil Open Grand Prix title of Badminton in the mixed doubles category. It was their maiden Grand Prix title.

• The Indian pair (World no. 65) defeated Canadian pair of Toby Ng and Rachel Honderich by 21-15, 21-16 score held at Costa Cavalcante. In 2015, N Sikki Reddy had won as many as five international challenger titles, which includes two mixed doubles and three women’s doubles crowns. Besides, she was also a part of the bronze medal winning Indian team at the 2014 and 2016 Uber Cup.

• So far, she played mixed doubles with six different partners, including Alwin Francis, V Diju, Manu Attri, Tarun Kona, and K Nandagopal. Pranaav Jerry Chopra was part of the Indian team that had won a bronze medal in the Asia Badminton Team Championships.

Indian Film Thithi wins best film title at BRICS film festival

Indian film Thithi has won the best film award at the first BRICS Film Festivalconcluded in New Delhi. The film festival had opened in New Delhi on 2nd September 2016. Thithi is a dramatic comedy Kannada film co-written and directed by Raam Reddy. It is about how three generations of sons react to the death of the oldest man in their clan, named Century Gowda who is a locally renowned, highly cantankerous 101-year-old man. Other Awards Best film award: Thithi (India). Best Director Award: Huo Jianqi (China). Best Actor Award: Thabo Rametsi (South Africa). Best Actress Award: Yulia Peresild (Russia). Special jury award: Brazil’s Phillipe Barcinski for “Between Valleys”.

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Jackie Chan to receive honorary Oscar

Action movie star, writer, director and martial artist Jackie Chan will be given an honorary Academy (Oscar) Award for his extraordinary achievements in the movies. Chan will receive an honorary Oscar statuette at the Academy's 8th Annual Governors Awards to be held on 12 November 2016.

Academy Honorary Award

• The Academy Honorary Award was instituted in 1948 for the 21st Academy Awards (previously called the Special Award). It is given by the discretion of the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) to celebrate motion picture achievements that are not covered by existing Academy Awards.
• Prior winners of competitive Academy Awards are not excluded from receiving the Honorary Award. The Honorary Award is presented at the annual Governors Awards.

GRSE hands over fast attack craft TIHAYU to Indian Navy

The Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Limited (GRSE) of Kolkata on 30 August 2016 handed over TIHAYU, the Water Jet Fast Attack Craft (WJFAC) to the Indian Navy. The warship was handed over by Rear Admiral (Retd) AK Verma, CMD of GRSE to the Commanding Officer Cdr Ajay Kash

• Named after an island in the Andaman, Tihayu is fitted with three water jet propulsion systems powered by marine diesel engines generating 2720 KW of power.
• This Follow-on WJFAC ship is a further improved version of Fast Attack Crafts earlier built by GRSE for Indian Navy. The ship has an efficient hull form developed by the in-house Design Centre of GRSE and proved by extensive model testing to achieve speeds in excess of 35 knots.
• This warship measuring 48 X 7.5 M with a displacement of around 315 Tons, has an endurance of around 2000 nautical miles at 12-14 knots speed. It also boasts of modern habitability conditions with accommodation for 29 personnel.
• It is also fitted with CRN-91 indigenous 30mm Gun, to provide Artillery fire support during attack missions.

Newly discovered fish of genus Tosanoides named after Barack Obama

A newly discovered fish of the genus Tosanoides was in September 2016 named after the US president Barack Obama for his commitment to protect nature through the expansion of the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument. 

• The fish is found only within the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument, a World Heritage site encompassing 1510000 square kilometres of ocean waters, including ten islands and atolls of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.
• The site is the largest swath of protected land or water on Earth and is home to millions of seabirds, endangered turtles, endangered monk seals, and more than 7000 species.