Current Affairs 21st October 2017

Current Affairs 21st October 2017 - Important Points

• Police Commemoration Day celebrated on - 21st October 2017
• Planet Nine exists in solar system stated by - NASA
• Lake Baikal under threat!, according to - Scientists
• World’s oldest warship sailing again on - 20th October 2017
• ISKCON's Govardhan Eco Village awarded with Green Platinum Award on - 18th October 2017

Current Affairs 21st October 2017 - Details

Police Commemoration Day celebrated on - 21st October 2017

The Police Commemoration Day is observed annually on 21st October.
The Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh paid homage to the Police Martyrs at the Police Memorial Ground in Delhi. This day pays the tribute to the sacrifices of ten policemen who defended India’s borders with China in 1959.
The Indian police personnel guarded the 2,500 mile lborder of India with Tibet until the 1959 autumn.

Key Highlights

• On October 20th, 1959, three reconnaissance parties were launched from Hot Springs in North Eastern Ladakh.
• It was found that two parties of the three returned to Hot Springs by the afternoon of that day, the third one comprising of two Police Constables and a Porter didn't come back.
• To search mising officials, Deputy Central Intelligence Officer Karam Singh led some 20 Police personnel went ahead on horseback while others followed on foot.
• Taking advantage of that situation, Chinese Army personnel opened fire and threw grenades at the Indian party from hillock.
• Ten of the brave Police Personnel attained martyrdom and seven others sustained injuries during that fight.
• The Chinese took seven of the injured to prison and the bodies of the ten personnel were returned by the Chinese after a full three weeks.
• It was decided to observe ‘Commemoration Day’ in all Police Lines throughout India on 21st October to mark the memory of the brave personnel killed in 1959.
• A memorial for the martyr's honour is also built at Hot Springs.
• The Police Commemoration Day Parade is also held at the National level at the Police Memorial in New Delhi.

Planet Nine exists in solar system stated by - NASA

International space agency NASA in October 2017 has revealed that a mysterious world called Planet Nine exists in the solar system.

The Planet Nine might be lingering on the icy outer edges of the solar system hidden in the dark, but stretching out the orbits of distant bodies. It is extremely distant and is ten times the Earth mass and 20 times farther from the sun than Neptune.

Lake Baikal under threat!, according to - Scientists

Lake Baikal, the world’s deepest lake is uunder deepest threat, according to experts. Having one-fifth of the world's unfrozen fresh water, the lake situated in Russia's Siberia region is a natural wonder of exceptional value to evolutionary science. It comes under World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
The lake’s rich biodiversity includes more than 3,600 plant and animal species, most of which are endemic to the lake. Since the past few years, the lake, which is a major international tourist attraction, has been crippled by a series of damaging phenomena such as disappearance of the omul fish,
fast growth of putrid algae and the death of endemic species of sponges across its vast 3.2 million-hectare area.

More on Omul fish

• Omul is a species of fish belonging to the salmon family, which is only found in Baikal.
• The Russian government introduced a ban on all commercial fishing of omul, fearing irreversible consequences for its population in October 2017.
• The total biomass of omul fish in the lake has nearly become half since 15 years ago, from 25 million tonnes to just 10 million.
• The vast reduction according to experts is likely to be a result of uncontrollable fish poaching, with an extra pressure coming from the climate.
• UNESCO recently noted with concern that the ecosystem of the lake is reported to be under significant stress and a reductions in fish stocks is just one observable effect.
• The Baikal omul, a well-known speciality, was for centuries the main local source of the food, especially important since the region has no farming.

World’s oldest warship sailing again on - 20th October 2017

USS Constitution, the world’s oldest warship took off on its first sail since three years on 20th October 2017. The newly refurbished ship had been moved to dry dock for major restoration recently.
The ship sailed from Charlestown Navy Yard in Boston to Fort Independence on Castle Island to celebrate 242nd birthday of US Navy and the 220th anniversary of the iconic vessel's maiden voyage.
Important Details

• The warship fired a salute of 21 guns in the waters off the fort Independence and fired another 17 times when it passed the US Coast Guard Station.
• The former site of the shipyard was the US Coast Guard where the iconic ship was built and launched in 1797.
• Since October 2014, This was the warship’s first sail.
• During the War of 1812 against Britain, the ship earned its nickname "Old Ironsides".

ISKCON's Govardhan Eco Village awarded with Green Platinum Award on - 18th October 2017

The Govardhan Eco Village, set up by the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) in Palghar district won the ‘Green Platinum Award’ on 18th October 2017 by Indian Green Building Council (IGBC) of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). The director Gauranga Das of the village received the award by IGBC. Das was presented with the award during Green Building Congress 2017 at Jaipur in Rajasthan.

More about Govardhan Eco Village

• It is a self-sustained farm community.
• A retreat center and farm community, this village is spread over a scenic landscape of 100 acres at Galtare in Wada taluka.
• Since its starting in 2003, the village has made steady progress in organic farming, cow protection, rural education & development, alternative energy and eco-friendly constructions etc..