ANDHRA PRADESH
- Andhra Pradesh govt moots legislation to make sand smuggling illegal
- The government has mooted a new legislation that would make hoarding, illegal quarrying and blackmarketing of sand a penal offence punishable with a jail term. The government will soon come out with an ordinance which will be replaced by a Bill that will be introduced in the next session of the state assembly.
- Sand price would be fixed district-wise depending on the availability. Mining officials will talk to district collectors and fix sand prices depending on the distance of the sand reach and stock points. Once fixed, the prices should be displayed at all sand reaches, stock points and village secretariats.
INTERNATIONAL
- UNESCO designates Mumbai as member of UCCN in field of Films, Hyderabad in field of Gastronomy
- UNESCO has designated Mumbai as a member of UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN) in the field of Film and Hyderabad in the field of Gastronomy.
- UCCN, created in 2004, is a network of cities which are thriving, active centres of cultural activities in their respective countries.
- The UNESCO Creative Cities Network now counts a total of 246 cities.
- The member cities that form part of the Network come from all continents and regions with different income levels and populations.
- The 7 categories for recognition under UCCN are Crafts and Folk Arts, Design, Film, Gastronomy, Music, Media Arts and Literature.
- Previously, 3 Indian cities were recognized as members of UCCN, namely- Jaipur-Crafts and Folk Arts (2015), Varanasi-Creative city of Music (2015), Chennai-Creative city of Music (2017).
· India, Uzbekistan to sign MoUs for military medicine and military education
- India and Uzbekistan are planning to sign two memorandum of understanding (MOUs) concerning military medicine and military education. The 2 MoUs were signed during the three-day visit of the Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to Uzbekistan, the Central Asian nation.
- Rajnath Singh paid tributes at a memorial of former Indian Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri in Tashkent.
- He represented India at the Council of Heads of Government meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), which was held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
NATIONAL
- Govt to set up anti-human trafficking units in all districts using Nirbhaya Fund
- The government will set up anti-human trafficking units in all districts with the help of the Nirbhaya Fund.
- This initiative will strengthen women safety and instil a greater sense of security among them.
- Mrs Irani expressed her gratitude to Home Minister Amit Shah for speedy intervention and ensuring efficacy in fructifying these initiatives.
- The empowered committee (EC) under the Nirbhaya framework has recommended setting up anti-human trafficking units and women help desks at a cost of 100 crore rupees each to be fully funded by the centre.
- Nirbhaya Fund was announced by the Centre in 2013 to support the initiatives of the government and the NGOs working towards the safety of women.
- Govt releases maps of newly-created UTs of Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh
- The government released the maps of newly created union territories of Jammu-Kashmir and Ladakh and the map of India depicting these union territories.
- The new map shows 28 states and nine union territories after the bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir.
- The new union territories of Ladakh consists of two districts of Kargil and Leh and the rest of the districts of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir are in the newly created union territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
- ‘41% milk samples unfit for consumption’
- In a nation-wide study conducted by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), the apex food regulating body found 41% of the milk samples collected from Maharashtra were unfit for human consumption.
- To evaluate the quality of milk, FSSAI collected 6,432 samples from across 1,103 cities across the country. In Maharashtra, which produces 10,402 tonnes of milk each year, the FSSAI collected 678 samples from 98 towns. Out of these, 276 were found to be non-compliant with respect to quality and safety standards for consumption.
- South Africa defeat England to lift Rugby World Cup
- South Africa lifted the Rugby World Cup a record-equalling third time.
- It won the cup after a convincing 32-12 victory over England.
- Twenty-two points by Handre Pollard and second-half tries from wingers Makazole Mapimpi and Cheslin Kolbe ensured a comfortable win for the Springboks at the International Stadium Yokohama in Japan.
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