Current Affairs 8th March 2016

Important Points : 

• Who has won 2016 WGC-Cadillac Championship - Golfer Adam Scott
• Which tennis player has been provisionally suspended after failing drug test at Australian Open - Maria Sharapova
• Who has been awarded with Mahindra Samriddhi Krishi Shiromani Samman - Amrita Patel 
• The largest ever military exercises began between - South Korea and US
• Name the online marketing platform launched by Union Government - Mahila e-Haat
• Which day is observed on 8th March - International Women's Day
• Which renowned Malayalam actor has passed away - Kalabhavan Mani
• Name the panel constituted by Sri Lanka Cricket Board - Arvinda de Silva-led National Cricket Selection Panel
• Which team has won the 2016 Pro Kabaddi League title - Patna Pirates
• Re-classification of industries on four-colour scheme based on pollution potential
• Where did the new species of burrowing snake discovered - Western Ghats

Details : 

Who has won 2016 WGC-Cadillac Championship - Golfer Adam Scott

Among the important Sports Current Affairs, On 6th March 2016, the 2016 WGC-Cadillac Championship was won by Australian golfer Adam Scott at Doral, Florida, U.S.

Earlier, in February 2016, he has won The Honda Classic.

About Adam Scott

• From mid-May to August 2014, he was the World No. 1 ranked golfer.
• He has won a total of 29 professional tournaments around the world.

Do You Know : 

• The WGC-Cadillac Championship is one of the four annual World Golf Championships and a professional golf tournament.
• International Federation of PGA Tours organizes and sanctions the tours.

Which tennis player has been provisionally suspended after failing drug test at Australian Open - Maria Sharapova

Among the important Sports Current Affairs, On 7th March 2016, Former world number one Maria Sharapova failed a drug test at the Australian Open and was provisionally suspended from Tennis.

On 2nd March 2016, after testing positive for meldonium, she was charged with an Anti-Doping Rule Violation.

She has been taking meldonium since 2006 for health issues. On 1st January 2016, World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) included meldonium in its forbidden list.

Who has been awarded with Mahindra Samriddhi Krishi Shiromani Samman - Amrita Patel 

Among the important National Current Affairs, On 3rd March 2016, the prestigious Mahindra Samriddhi Krishi Shiromani Samman (Lifetime Achievement Award) was conferred to chairman of Charutar Arogya Mandal and former chairman of the National Dairy Development Board, Amrita Patel.

The award was presented to her for her contribution that made a difference in the field of agriculture to increase productivity and rural prosperity by Radha Mohan Singh, Union Minister of Agriculture.

Other winners of the Mahindra Samriddhi India Agri Awards (MSIAA) 2016 are:

Do You Know : 

The Mahindra Samriddhi India Agri Awards were instituted in the year 2011 and are presented to the farmers and institutions to mark their remarkable and purposeful contribution to the field of agriculture.

 The largest ever military exercises began between - South Korea and US

Among the important International Current Affairs, On 7th March 2016, the largest ever military exercises began by the US and South Korean troops off the coast of the Korean peninsula. 

The exercise will last upto 8-week and will see the involvement of about 15000 US personnel and 300000 South Korean troops. 

Apart from the computer-simulated training, the drills will include ground, air, naval and Special Operations components.

Name the online marketing platform launched by Union Government - Mahila e-Haat

Among the important National Current Affairs, On 7th March 2016, an online marketing platform, Mahila e-Haat portal was launched by the Union Minister for Women and Child Development Maneka Sanjay Gandhi in New Delhi.

The platform will provide access to markets to women who make products.

Features of Mahila e-Haat

• This is for the first time that government will help women to sell products online.
• It is the first stage towards achieving the objective of women empowerment.
• Mahila E-Haat will be integrated with e-commerce portals to provide a larger platform for selling and buying in the second stage.
• In third and final stage, it will culminate into Women’s Entrepreneurs Council.

 Which day is observed on 8th March - International Women's Day

Among the important International Current Affairs, On 8th March 2016, International Women's Day was observed across the world with the theme “Planet 50-50 by 2030: Step It Up for Gender Equality”. The campaign theme for the day is #PledgeForParity.

Some key targets of the 2030 Agenda

• End all forms of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere.
• To ensure complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education of all the boys and girls till 2030.
• To ensure access to quality early childhood development, care and preprimary education to all the girls and boys till 2030 so that they are ready for primary education.

Celebrations of IWD in India

The Nari Shakti Awards were presented by President Pranab Mukherjee on the occasion of 2016 International Women's Day (IWD) at Rashtrapati Bhawan. Apart from this, Uttar Pradesh government presented Rani Laxmi Bai award and provided financial assistance to 40 acid attack survivors.

Also, a special eating joint ''Café Sheroes'', was inaugurated for acid attack survivors.

 Which renowned Malayalam actor has passed away - Kalabhavan Mani

On 6th March 2016, Popular Malayalam actor and folk singer Kalabhavan Mani passed away in Kochi at the age of 45.

In the year 2000, he won National Special Jury Award for his performance in Malayalam film Vasanthiyum Lakshmiyum Pinne Njaanum.

About Kalabhavan Mani

• He started his career as a mimicry artist with the Kalabhavan troupe.
• He is renowned for his villain roles, comedy and character.
• In the year 1999, he won the National Film Award and Kerala State Film Award.

 Name the panel constituted by Sri Lanka Cricket Board - Arvinda de Silva-led National Cricket Selection Panel

Among the important Sports Current Affairs, On 8th March 2016, a new National Cricket Selection Panel headed by former cricketer Arvinda de Silva was constituted by Sri Lankan Cricket Board (SLCB). Some other members of the panel are : Ranjith Madurasinghe, Kumar Sangakkara, Lalith Kaluperuma and Romesh Kaluwitharana.

Apart from this, the Board also announced that Dinesh Chandimal will be the Vice Captain of the team and Angelo Mathews will be the captain for the T-20 Cricket World Cup.

 Which team has won the 2016 Pro Kabaddi League title - Patna Pirates

Among the important Sports Current Affairs, On 5th March 2016, Pro Kabaddi League trophy was won by the Patna Pirates after defeating U Mumba in the final played in New Delhi.

The prize for Best Raider was awarded to Rohit Kumar of Patna Pirates and the Best Defender of the Match was awarded to Mohit Chillar of U Mumba.

The Most Successful Raider was awarded to U Mumba’s Rishank Devadiga with 106 points.

About Pro Kabaddi League

• It is a professional kabaddi league in India.
• In the year 2014, the first edition of the tournament was played.
• Star India and Mashal Sports in association with the the Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India, International Kabaddi Federation and Asian Kabaddi Federation organized the Star Sports Pro Kabaddi.

 Re-classification of industries on four-colour scheme based on pollution potential

Among the important National Current Affairs, On 5th March 2016, Prakash Javadekar, the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) of Environment, Forest and Climate Change released the list of re-classified industries based on pollution levels.

The re-classification of industries is based on the Pollution Index (PI) scores and the new categories are as follows –

Where did the new species of burrowing snake discovered - Western Ghats

Among the important Discoveries, A new species of burrowing snake was discovered by a group of Indian and British researchers in the Western Ghats.

The snake has been named as Melanophidium Khairei after well known herpetologist from Maharashtra, Neelam Kumar Khaire.

In the first week of March 2016, the research paper about it has been published in the scientific journal, Zootaxa.

Since 2001, researchers were studying the species.

Key facts related to Melanophidium Khairei

• The genus Melanophidium, is endemic to the Western Ghats, commonly referred to as Black shieldtail.
• Melanophidium khairei is a highly iridescent burrowing snake that inhabits evergreen forests.
• It is non-venomous.
• It eats earthworms and is believed to bear young as mammals.
• It is a small snake. The largest known specimen is 550 mm in length.