GOA
- NIO to study sand mining impact on rivers
- The state government on Thursday decided to conduct a study to assess the environmental damage due to sand mining in Goa’s rivers before allowing further sand extraction. The National Institute of Oceanography (NIO) has been selected for carrying out the impact assessment.
- NIO, which will conducted the study phase-wise, will first assess the Mandovi, Zuari, Chapora and Tiracol. Based on the study, the state government will decide in which rivers to allow sand mining.
- As per environmental clearance (EC) norms, the state has to conduct a study of rivers to assess the impact of sand mining activities.
- For sand extraction, the state government had created five clusters comprising the Chapora, Mandovi and Tiracol in North Goa and the Xelvona and Macazana in South Goa.
INTERNATIONAL
- World Refugee Day: 20 June
- World Refugee Day is observed on the 20th of June every year.
- The day celebrates the stories and contributions of refugees.
- The theme this year is Step with Refugees – Take a Step on World Refugee Day.
- According to the latest UN study, 70.8 million children women and men were forcibly displaced at the end of last year.
- This is the highest number in the organization’s almost 70-year history.
- Bangladesh has emerged as the fastest growing economy among 45 countries of the Asia-Pacific region: ADB
- Bangladesh has emerged as the fastest growing economy among the 45 countries of the Asia-Pacific region according to the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
- In the financial year, 2018-19 Bangladesh attained a growth rate of 7.9 % which is its fastest rate since 1974.
- The bank predicted that the growth will be 8% in the next financial year.
- The bank said that higher public sector investment, stronger consumption demand, revival in exports, improved power supply and higher growth in private sector credit were the key factors of the high growth performance of Bangladesh.
- PM Modi to set up a committee to examine the issue of one nation one election
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a meeting of Presidents of all political parties having representation in Parliament on the issue of One Nation One Election.
- Prime Minister will form a committee to look into the various aspects of One Nation One Election in the country.
- “One Nation, One Election” envisages a system where elections to all states and the Lok Sabha will have to be held simultaneously.
- This would mean that the voters will cast their vote for electing members of the LS and the state assemblies on a single day, at the same time.
NATIONAL
- Govt set to roll out IMEI database to help people track stolen mobile phones
- The Telecom Ministry is set to roll out a Central Equipment Identity Register(CEIR), a database of International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) to help people track their stolen mobile phones.
- People can inform the Department of Telecom (DoT) on losing their phones, which will, in turn, blacklist their IMEI numbers.
- DoT had declared its plan to implement this project in July 2017 and a pilot was conducted in
- According to TRAI data, there are 1.16 billion wireless subscribers in India as of March 2019.
- In the interim budget for 2019-20, the government allocated Rs 15 croreto the DoT for the CEIR project.
- IMEI is a 15-digit number that uniquely identifies each mobile device.
In line with global practices, DoT’s identity register will be a database of IMEI numbers that will consist of three lists – white, grey and black. Mobile phones with IMEI numbers in the white list will be permitted for use, while those in the blacklist will be the ones that are reported stolen or lost and will not be allowed to access the network. Devices with IMEI numbers in the greylist will be the ones that do not conform to standards but will be permitted to connect under supervision.
- India has the highest data usage per smartphone in the World: Report
- According to the Ericsson Mobility Report, monthly data usage per smartphone in India rose to 8 gigabytes(GB) at the end of 2018, the highest in the world.
It is expected that, Monthly data usage per smartphone would grow at 11 percent to reach 18 GB by 2024 from 9.8 GB in 2018. - The report also projects that total mobile data usage per month in the country will go up 23 per cent in the coming five years, rising from 6 exabytes(EB) presently to 16 EB. One EB equals one billion GB.
- At the end of 2018, there were 5.1 billion smartphone subscribers globally, 99 percent of which were for 3G and 4G.
- North East Asia comes second with 7.1GB per month.
- Namma Kolhapuri chappal got GI tag
- The controller general of patents, designs and trademarks has granted the GI (Geographical Indications) tag to Kolhapuri chappalfrom Kolhapur, Sangli, Satara and Solapur districts of Maharashtra and Dharwad, Belgaum, Bagalkot and Bijapur of Karnataka.
- Getting GI tag for Kolhapuri means that footwear produced only in these 8 districts will qualify to carry tag of being Kolhapuris.
- Darjeeling teabecame the first GI tagged product in India, in 2004-05, since then by october 2018, 321 had been added to the list.
- The GI tag is valid for a period of 10 years. Further it can be renewed.