Current Affairs 28th October 2017

Current Affairs 28th October 2017 - Important Points

• Jacinda Ardern elected Prime Minister of New Zealand on - 26th October 2017
• Vrindavan, Barsana declared as Sacred Sites on - 27th October 2017
• World Day for Audiovisual Heritage 2017 observed globally on -  27th October 2017
• Researchers discover Ichthyosaur fossil in  - India

   Current Affairs 28th October 2017 - Details

Jacinda Ardern elected Prime Minister of New Zealand on - 26th October 2017

Jacinda Ardern was elected in as the New Prime Minister of New Zealand on 26th October 2017. New Zealand’s Labor cheif Jacinda Ardern became Prime Minister after Winston Peters leader of New Zealand First and Greens supported her Party to form a coalition government.
With this victory, the 37 year old Jacinda became the youngest New Zealand female minister in 150 years.
National party chief Bill English had to accept defeat in spite of a winning 44.4% of the vote, higher than Labour’s 36%. It won 56 seats out of 120 in the parliament house and is seen as the powerful opposition in New Zealand. This was the very first time since New Zealand accepted proportional voting since 1996.
More about Jacinda Ardern

• When leader of the New Zealand Labour party Andrew Little stepped down, Jacinda Ardern who was serving as deputy leader took responsibility as the leader of the party.
• Jacinda Ardern’s popularity gave rise to a situation called Jacindamania in New Zealand.
• At an age of 37, Ardern became New Zealand’s youngest leader since 1856 and only the 3rd female Prime Minister.
• Dame Jenny Shipley was the 1st woman Prime Minister followed by Helen Clark.
• She has worked as researcher for former PM Helen Clark and later on worked in the UK as a policy adviser to Tony Blair, during he was PM.
• In 2008, she became a list MP (in New Zealand politics where anyone is selected from a party list rather than a geographical constituency. Their presence in Parliament is due to the number of votes that their party won and not by votes sustained by the MP personally).
• In year 2013, she voted in approval of the 2013 Marriage Equality Act which legalised same-sex couples to get marry in New Zealand.

Vrindavan, Barsana declared as Sacred Sites on - 27th October 2017

The UP government on 27th October 2017 released an order notifying Vrindavan and Barsana towns in Mathura district as 'sacred pilgrimage sites'.  Thus, Vrindavan and Barsana became the 1st two places to be treated as teerth sthal in government registers. No meat and liquor shops will be allowed in these towns furthermore.
According to the state government, the main idea behind declaring Vrindavan and Barsana as pilgrimage sites is to honour the sentiments of followers, who are hurt by the liquor and meat shops there. Thus this move will help in restoring the age-old traditions of such places.
The government also instructed the different departments including departments of Urban Development, Excise, General Administration, Food and Drug Administration and Home to take urgent steps for this order within 3 months.
Important Points

• The UP government recently collaborated Vrindavan, a former nagar palika parishad, with the Mathura MC board to form Mathura Nagar Nigam. While, Barsana is a Nagar Panchayat.
• Both Mathura Nagar Nigam as well as Barsana Nagar Panchayat will go to polls in coming November 2017.

World Day for Audiovisual Heritage 2017 observed globally on -  27th October 2017

World Audiovisual day for Heritage was celebrated across the world on 27th October 2017 with the slogan 'Discover, remember and share'. On this day, the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization appreciateed audiovisual archives across the world to celebrate 27th October by showcasing their priceless collections to promote their value.
As per UNESCO, audiovisual documents including films, radio and television programmes are basic heritage and contain the primary records of the past of the 20th and 21st centuries. In order to save this audiovisual heritage, the World Day for Audiovisual Heritage is celebrated every year.
More about World Day for Audiovisual Heritage

• The World Day for Audiovisual Heritage is a commemoration of the accepting of the 'Recommendation for Saving and Preserving the Moving Images' in year 1980 by the 21st General body Conference.
• The Day gives an instance to spread general awareness of the need to take necessary measures and to admit the importance of audiovisual documentations.

Researchers discover Ichthyosaur fossil in  - India

A team of researchers including researchers from India and Germany have discovered a 152 million-year-old remain of an ichthyosaur - an extinct seawater reptile in the Kutch area of Gujarat.
The fossil was discovered in the chest of rocks from the Mesozoic Era, which ran between 252- 66 million years ago. The researchs have been published in the science journal.
Key Highlights

• The scientists believe that the sample belongs to Ophthalmosauridae member of ichthyosaurs that found in oceans between 165 and 90 million years ago.
• This is the first ichthyosaur fossil that has been found in India.
• The detailed study of the fossil’s teeth explained that it was a top-tier carnivorous predator in the ecosystem.
• The 5.5 m long sample was incomplete, with skull and tail bones were found to be missing.
• As per Prof Guntupalli VR Prasad, the discovery is remarkable discovery it is the first Jurassic ichthyosaur record from India and also due to the reason it throws light on the evolution and variety of ichthyosaurs in the Indo-Madagascan region and India's biological connection with other areas in the Jurassic.
  Ichthyosaurs
• The species are huge seawater reptiles, belonging to the class Ichthyosauria or Ichthyopterygia.
• The Fossil verification explains that the species first appeared approximately 250 million years ago and at least single species survived until 90 million years ago.
• They were particularly plentiful in the later Triassic and early Jurassic time, until they were substituted as the top aquatic predators by other seawater reptilian group, the Plesiosauria, in the older Jurassic and Cretaceous periods.
• The species became extinct for unknown reasons during 90 million years ago.
• The existence and complete skelton of the species was first ever known to the world in the early 19th century in England.
• In 1834, the Ichthyosauria was classified and in the late 19th century, many well-preserved, including soft-tissue remains of ichthyosaur were found in Germany.
  Main features of the species
• They resemble some how, modern fish and dolphins.
• Their limbs had been fully converted into flippers, that however, contained a very large number of digits and phalanges. Some other species also beared a dorsal fin.
• Their neck was short While their eyes were very large.
• Their heads were pointed and teeth mostly conical and sharp.
• In the last, the species were air-breathing, warm-blooded.