TNPSC Current Affairs March 07, 2018

www.tnpsc.academy – TNPSC Current Affairs March 07, 2018 (07/03/2018)

 

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Topic: General Administration, Latest Diary of Events

Animal Welfare Board of India

The headquarters of the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) has been shifted from Chennai to Haryana’s Ballabhgarh for “better coordination” between the environment ministry and the board.

Rule 3 of the Animal Welfare Board (Administrative) Rules, 1962 reads as — ‘The Headquarter of the Board hall be at New Delhi or at such other place as the central government’.

About Animal Welfare Board of India:

Established in 1962 under Section 4 of The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, the Animal Welfare Board of India is a statutory advisory body advising the Government of India on animal welfare laws, and promotes animal welfare in the country of India.

Animal Welfare Board of India was started under the stewardship of Late Smt. Rukmini Devi Arundale, well known humanitarian.

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Topic : New inventions on Science and Health, Latest Diary of Events

Rare mineral discovered in plants

Scientists have found that the mineral vaterite, a form (polymorph) of calcium carbonate, is a dominant component of the protective silvery-white crust that forms on the leaves of a number of alpine plants.

Significance of this discovery:

Naturally occurring vaterite is rarely found on Earth. Small amounts of vaterite crystals have been found in some sea and freshwater crustaceans, bird eggs, the inner ears of salmon, meteorites and rocks.

This is the first time that the rare and unstable mineral has been found in such a large quantity and the first time it has been found to be associated with plants.

About Vaterite:

Vaterite is a mineral, a polymorph of calcium carbonate (CaCO3).

It was named after the German mineralogist Heinrich Vater. It is also known as mu-calcium carbonate.

Potential uses of vaterite:

Vaterite has special properties that make it a potentially superior carrier for medications due to its high loading capacity, high uptake by cells and its solubility properties that enable it to deliver a sustained and targeted release of therapeutic medicines to patients.

Other potential uses of vaterite include improving the cements used in orthopaedic surgery and as an industrial application improving the quality of papers for inkjet printing by reducing the lateral spread of ink.

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Topic : Latest Diary of Events, India and its Neighbourhood Countries

Sri Lanka declares state of emergency

Sri Lanka has imposed a nationwide state of emergency for the first time since the civil war era in response to days of violent unrest between Sinhalese and Muslim communities.

The special measures permitting soldiers to be deployed in civilian areas will initially apply for 10 days, at which point the deployment would need to be ratified by parliament.

Sinhalese:

They are an Indo-Aryan-speaking ethnic group native to the island of Sri Lanka.

They constitute about 75% of the Sri Lankan population.

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Topic : Latest Diary of Events

Airports Council International (ACI) – ASQ 2017 rankings

Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport has been rated as the world number one among airports handling more than 40 million passengers per annum in a survey by the Airports Council International (ACI).

Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport has been ranked as the World’s Best Airport for customer experience.

About ACI:

ACI is a trade association of 1,953 member airports across 176 countries.

As part of its survey on Airport Service Quality, views of passengers on 34 key performance indicators are measured.

Nearly 74% of the world’s top 100 busiest airports are part of the ASQ network.

Last year, in Airport Service Quality by ACI, South Korea’s Seoul Incheon was ranked number one, followed by Delhi, Mumbai, Singapore in second position and Beijing, Haikou in third position.

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Topic : Environmental and Ecology

World’s last male northern white rhino gravely ill

The health of the rhino named ‘Sudan’ is deteriorating, bringing the subspecies a step closer to extinction caused by poaching.

The 45-year-old male northern white rhino named Sudan lives with the last two female northern white rhinos.

About Sudan:

Sudan was a captive northern white rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum cottoni) who lived at the Czechia from 1975 to 2009, and the rest of his life at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Laikipia, Kenya.