World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC)
- WTTC, a forum for the travel and tourism industry, is made up of members from the global business community and works with governments to raise awareness about the industry.
- It is headquartered in London and it organises global summit every year.
- It is known for being the only forum to represent the private sector in all parts of the travel and tourism industry worldwide.
- It publishes research in conjunction with Oxford Economics on the economic and social impact of the industry.
- In its recent report on the Caribbean region, it states that the hurricanes Irma and Maria which struck Dominica, Puerto Rico has caused widespread devastation in its tourism potential.
- In the Caribbean region, travel and tourism account for a higher share of the GDP than in any other region of the world.
Mount Agung Volcano
- The volcano is located in Bali, Indonesia.
- It is threatening to erupt for the first time since 1963.
- Experts are saying that an eruption by the volcano is imminent. There has been evidence of hundreds of tremor being recorded at the site.
- There is a very good indication that magma is moving up to the surface since the seismic tremors beneath the volcano are increasing in number, intensity and there is a reduction in the depth.
- This has caused mass evacuation and local authorities announced state of emergency.
Impact of Volcano eruption
- The most deadly feature of the volcano were the devastating pyroclastic flows which are waves of superheated gas, ash and rock that can travel hundreds of kilometres an hour.
- The pyroclastic flows caused thousands of death in its last eruption.
- When volcanoes erupt, the Earth actually gets cooler.
- When it erupted in 1963, global temperatures dropped by between 0.1C and 0.4C.
- But volcanoes also contribute to global warming by releasing CO2.
- Underwater and land-based volcanoes are estimated to release between 100m–300m tonnes of CO2 each year.
City of Alexander
- Archaeologists in Iraq have discovered a 2,000 years old city which is thought to have been founded by Alexander the great.
- Qalatga Darband, a fortified settlement in northern Iraq is believed to have been founded in 331 BC after the battle against the Persian king Darius III in Mesopotamia.
5G 2020 Forum
- Government has constituted High Level 5G India 2020 Forum with Secretaries of Ministries of Telecom, Information Technology and Science and Technology.
- The primary goal of the forum is to achieve early deployment of 5G in India.
- It aims to strengthen domestic telecommunication equipment manufacturing and promote manufacturing ecosystem targeting 50% of India market and 10% of global market over next 5 to 7 years.
- Under the 5G technology, the government aims to deliver about 10,000 megabit per second (10 gbps) in urban areas and 1 gbps in rural areas.
- The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) will finalise the standards of 5G technology.
Deendayal Port
- The Kandla Port, one of the top 12 major ports in the country, has been rechristened as Deendayal Port.
- The port is located on the Gulf of Kutch and it is one of major ports on west coast.
- It is the largest port of India by volume of cargo handled.
- Ministry of Shipping in exercise of powers conferred on it under Indian Ports Act, 1908 made this amendment.
International Financial Service Centre (IFSC)
- The RBI had recommended to the finance ministry to consider one common regulator to issue approvals required for doing business in the IFSC.
- The country’s first International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) is located at the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT), Gandhinagar.
- The proposed name for the regulator is the GIFT Financial Sector Regulatory Authority, which will have all the powers to regulate Banking, Insurance and Capital Markets in IFSC.
- RBI also highlighted the model of successful Asian IFSCs such as Hong Kong, Dubai, and Singapore having unified regulator.
- Special Economic Zones Act, 2005 provides for the setting up of an International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) in a Special Economic Zone (SEZ).
- Businesses setup in IFSC comes under guidelines and regulations of Ministry of Corporate Affairs, RBI, SEBI and IRDAI.
Source: PIB, The Hindu.
