Current Affairs Question - 19 May 2020

Explanation :

• Mount Harriet National Park is a national park located in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands union territory of India.
• The park, established in 1969, covers about 4.62 km².
• Mount Harriet (383 metres ), which is part of the park, is the third-highest peak in the Andaman and Nicobar archipelago next to Saddle Peak (732 metres (2,402 ft)) in North Andaman and Mount Thullier (568 metres (1,864 ft)) in Great Nicobar.
• The park is named in commemoration of Harriet C. Tytler, the second wife of Robert Christopher Tytler, a British army officer, an administrator, naturalist and photographer, who were appointed Superintendent of the Convict Settlement at Port Blair in the Andamans from April 1862 to February 1864.
• The park's well-known faunal species are Andaman wild pigs (an endangered species), saltwater crocodiles, turtles and robber crabs. The park is also a butterfly hotspot.
• The park has evergreen primary forests, and at Chiriyatapu the forest type is mixed deciduous, a combination of primary and secondary forests.
• The three types of forests are categorized as tropical evergreen, hilltop tropical evergreen and littoral.
• The tribal community living in the tropical forest of the park is the Negrito people, who are hunter-gatherers.

Explanation :

• Founded in 1865, the International Telecommunication Union (originally the International Telegraph Union), is a specialized agency of the United Nations that is responsible for issues that concern information and communication technologies.
• Headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, it is the oldest global international organization.

Sectors

The ITU consists of three sectors:

• Radiocommunication (ITU-R) — ensures optimal, fair and rational use of the radio frequency (RF) spectrum.
• Telecommunication Standardization (ITU-T) — formulates recommendations for standardizing telecommunication operations worldwide.
• Telecommunication Development (ITU-D) — assists countries in developing and maintaining internal communication operations.

Membership

• There are 193 Member States of the ITU, including all UN member states except the Republic of Palau, plus the Vatican City.
• Membership of ITU is open to only UN members, which may join the Union as Member States, as well as to private organizations like carriers, equipment manufacturers, funding bodies, research and development organizations and international and regional telecommunication organizations, which may join ITU as non-voting Sector Members.

Function

• The ITU sets and publishes regulations and standards relevant to electronic communication and broadcasting technologies of all kinds including radio, television, satellite, telephone and the Internet.

India and ITU

• India has been an active member of the ITU since 1869 and has been a regular member of the ITU Council since 1952.
• In November 2018, India was elected as a Member of the ITU Council for another 4-year term (2019-2022).