NATIONAL UPDATES:
1. Govt approves procurement of 70
HTT-40 Basic Trainer Aircraft for IAF: The Indian government has approved the procurement of 70
HTT-40 Basic Trainer Aircraft from Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for
the Indian Air Force. Reason: It will meet the shortage of basic
trainer aircraft of IAF for the training of newly inducted pilots. The HTT-40
is a turboprop aircraft designed to have good low-speed handling qualities and
provide better training effectiveness. The aircraft will be supplied over
six years. Cost: 6,828 crore rupees
2. Govt approves contract with L&T
for acquisition of 3 cadet training ships: The Indian govt has approved the signing
contract with Larsen and Toubro Limited for the acquisition of three
Cadet Training Ships. The delivery of these indigenously designed,
developed, and constructed ships are scheduled to commence in 2026. These
ships can use to train the officer cadets at sea and can
be deployed for the evacuation of people. They can also train cadets
from friendly countries to strengthen diplomatic relations. Cost: 3,108 crore
rupees (Overall)
3. Agri Minister Narendra Singh Tomar
inaugurates Pusa Krishi Vigyan Mela: Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Narendra Singh Tomar has
inaugurated the three-day-long Pusa Krishi Vigyan Mela in New Delhi. It is
being organized with the theme Nutrition, Food, and Environmental
Protection with Shree Anna. The event also conducts technical sessions on
contemporary issues in Agriculture, including the development of
Shree Anna-based value chain, Smart Farming Model, Sustainable Agriculture, and
Farmer Producer Organisations.
4. Government e-Marketplace (GeM)
commemorates the success of “SWAYATT”: Government eMarketplace (GeM) has commemorated
the success of “SWAYATT” initiative. This initiative aims to promote
Startups, Women, and Youth Advantage Through eTransactions (SWAYATT) on
GeM. It was established by GeM in February 2019. Goal: To stimulate
the inclusion of diverse categories of sellers and service providers on the
portal. It was achieved by taking aggressive measures to simplify their
training and registrations. GeM CEO: P.K. Singh
5. Hekani Jakhalu becomes first woman
MLA in Nagaland history: Hekani Jakhalu of the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party
(NDPP) has created history by becoming the first woman MLA of the
Nagaland Assembly. She was announced the winner from the Dimapur-III
constituency in the 2023 Nagaland Assembly elections. She defeated
Azheto Zhimomi of LJP (Ram Vilas) by 1,536 votes. Of 31,874 votes counted in
the constituency, she received 45.16% of the votes, just ahead of the LJP
(RV)’s Azheto Zhimomi who received 40.34% votes.
INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:
1. Bola Tinubu wins the Nigeria's
presidential election: The ruling
party candidate, Bola Tinubu (70) has defeated vice president Atiku
Abubakar (opposition People’s Democratic Party) to win the disputed
presidential election in Nigeria. He received 37%, Atiku Abubakar polled 29%,
and Labour's candidate Peter Obi received 25% of the vote. The opposition
parties dismissed the poll as a sham and demanded a rerun. He will
become Nigeria’s fifth elected president since 1999.
Nigeria Capital:
Abuja; Currency: Naira
2. UAE: World’s first free zone for
digital and virtual asset companies: The government of Ras Al Khaimah, one of the seven emirates of
the United Arab Emirates (UAE), plans to establish RAK Digital Assets
Oasis. This announcement was made at the Blockchain Life 2023 conference. It
would be the world's first free zone dedicated to digital and virtual
asset companies. This would be a purpose-built, proper innovation-enabling
free zone for non-regulated activities in the virtual assets sector. UAE
Capital: Abu Dhabi; UAE Currency: Dirham
3. Pakistan PM appoints first
Ambassador for Kartarpur Corridor: Pakistan Prime Minister, Shehbaz Sharif has appointed Sardar
Ramesh Singh Arora as the Ambassador-at-Large for Kartarpur Corridor. This
appointment is part of efforts to attract Sikh pilgrims from across the
world. He hails from Kartarpur in Narowal. He is also the central general
secretary of the Pakistan Muslim League (N) minorities wing. This corridor
links Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistan with the Dera Baba Nanak shrine in
Gurdaspur district, Punjab, India.
4. After Singapore India’s UPI likely
to extend to UAE, Mauritius, Indonesia: After the successful
launch of the cross-border connectivity of real-time digital payment
with Singapore last week, experts believe that India’s UPI likely to
extend to UAE, Mauritius, Indonesia. Singapore is the first country with
which a cross-border Person-to-Person (P2P) payment facility has been launched.
5. Bola Tinubu elected as the new
President of Nigeria: Nigerian electoral
officials announced on 1 March 2023 that the ruling party’s candidate in the
presidential election, Bola Tinubu, has been elected as the country’s new
president. Bola Tinubu has been associated with the ‘All Progressive Congress
Party’ from which he has been winning elections. He will become Nigeria’s fifth
president since the country returned to democratic rule in 1999, emerging as
winner for the country’s top job on his first attempt.
6. st March: Zero Discrimination Day: Zero
Discrimination Day embarks on the first day of March, annually the day aims to
promote equality before the law and in practice throughout all of the member
countries of the UN. Many countries have laws against discrimination but it’s
still a problem in all layers of society in every country in the world.
Countries still use discrimination as a way of governing. Theme
2023: “Save lives: Decriminalise”,.
OTHER UPDATES:
SPORTS
1. Asia's longest ever cycle race
flagged off from Srinagar, J&K: Asia's longest-ever cycle race was flagged off from Bakshi
Stadium in Srinagar (J&K) and will culminate at Kanyakumari
(Tamil Nadu). The race will cover the longest highway, National Highway-44
distance of 3651 kilometers, passing through twelve major states, three
major metropolitan cities, and over twenty major cities of the country. It has
been accorded the status of Asian Ultracycling Championship by
the World Ultracycling Association.
2. India’s Triple-Jumper Aishwarya Babu
Banned by NADA for Four Years: the National Anti-Doping
Agency’s (NADA) disciplinary panel has banned India’s top triple-jumper
Aishwarya Babu for four years for using a prohibited anabolic steroid. Aishwarya
Babu, 25 years old, was dropped from the Birmingham Commonwealth Games in 2022,
along with sprinter S Dhanalakshmi after testing positive for the steroid,
which is on the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) prohibited list.
BANKING AND FINANCE
1. Bajaj Finserv gets nod from Sebi to
launch mutual fund business: Bajaj Finserv
Ltd has received the final registration from SEBI to commence its
mutual fund operations under Bajaj Finserv Mutual Fund.Bajaj Finserv Mutual
Fund, with Bajaj Finserv Asset Management Ltd (BFAML) as the Investment
Manager, will soon offer a range of mutual fund products.The products
include equity, debt, and hybrid funds, both in the active and passive
segments, for investors.
BFAML
CEO: Ganesh Mohan Bajaj Finserv Chairman: Sanjiv Bajaj
2. Moody’s raises GDP growth forecast
for India to 5.5% in 2023: Global rating firm Moody’s Investors Services has raised the growth
projection of India to 5.5% in 2023 from the earlier projection of 4.8
percent in November 2022.Moody's also projected the growth of India at
6.5% in 2024.According to Moody’s projection, India’s growth rate in 2023
is the highest among G20 countries.It is followed by China (5 %) and
Indonesia (4.8%).The US is expected to grow by 0.9%, the Euro area by
0.5%, Japan by 1.5%, and the UK (-0.4%).
3. February GST collection at Rs 1.50
lakh crore, up 12% YoY: According to
the Finance Ministry, the government collected Rs 1,49,577 crore as gross
goods and service tax (GST) revenue in the month of February 2023.This amount
was increased by around 12% on an annual basis (YoY).India's GST revenue
in February 2022 was Rs 1,33,026 crore.Of the total revenue collected,
CGST is Rs 27,662 crore, SGST is Rs 34,915 crore, IGST is Rs 75,069 crore while
cess is Rs 11,931 crore (including Rs 792 crore collected on import of goods).
4. Singapore Airlines to get 25.1%
stake in enlarged Air India group: Singapore Airlines’ deal
with Tata Sons (Tata) will inject a further SGD 360 million (USD 267
million) into Air India.It will give SIA a 25.1 per cent stake in the enlarged
Air India group following its takeover by Tata.
5. India’s February GST collections
rises 12% YoY to Rs 1.50 lakh cr: The gross GST
revenue collected in the month of February 2023 is Rs. 1,49,577 crores. The
revenues for the month of February 2023 are 12% higher than the GST revenues in
the same month last year, which was Rs. 1,33,026 crores.Generally, February
being a 28-day month, witnesses a relatively lower collection of GST revenue.As
per the ministry data, out of the gross GST revenue, Central GST was Rs 27,662
crore, State GST was Rs 34,915 crore, Integrated GST was Rs 75,069 crore
(including Rs 35,689 crore collected on import of goods) and Cess was Rs 11,931
crore (including Rs 792 crore collected on import of goods).
AWARDS AND HONOURS
1. Vinod Kumar Shukla wins PEN/Nabokov Lifetime Achievement Award 2023: Hindi writer Vinod Kumar Shukla (87) has won the 2023 PEN America award for lifetime achievement in literature. It is one of the most coveted literary prizes worldwide.His acclaimed novels like Naukar Ki Kameez (1979) and poetry collections like Sab Kuch Hona Bacha Rahega (1992).He was awarded the Sahitya Akademi award in 1999 for Naukar Ki Kameez, the Atta Galatta-Bangalore Literature Festival Book Prize in 2019, and the Mathrubhumi Book of the Year award in 2020.
No comments:
Post a Comment