Daily Current Affairs March 02 2022

 

CURRENT AFFAIRS: IMPORTANT DAYS

International Women’s Day:

• The Women and Child Development Ministry celebrates the International Women’s Day week from the 1st of March as an Iconic Week as a part of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav.
• As a part of the week-long celebration, the Ministry will organize various events and social media campaigns covering a variety of themes related to women’s safety and empowerment.

Expected Questions:

What was the theme for the celebration?

Women of Tomorrow

A two-day National Workshop with State Commissions for Protection of Child Rights on Contemporary issues pertaining to Child Rights will be organised in which city?

Bhopal

Recent news:

Women and Child Development Ministry allocated Rs 25,172 crore, rise of just 3%:

• The budget allocated to the Women and Child Development Ministry stood at Rs 25,172.28 crore in 2022-23, a slight increase of 3 per cent from Rs 24,435 crore that was given in 2021-22.
• Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, recognising the importance of ‘Nari Shakti’ as the harbinger of India’s bright future and for women-led development during the ‘Amrit Kaal’, the government has comprehensively revamped the schemes of the Ministry of Women & Child Development

Janaushadhi Diwas week – 1st March to 7th March:

• Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers will organize the Janaushadhi Diwas from 1st March to 7th March 2022.
• On 7th March 2022, the 4th Jan Aushadhi Diwas will be celebrated.

Expected Questions:

What was the theme of 4th Janaushadhi Diwas?

Jan Aushadhi-Jan Upyogi”

The Government has set a target to increase the number of  PMBJK to 10,500 by the end of which year?

March 2025

Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana (PMBJP) was launched in which year?

November 2008

Zero Discrimination- 1st March:

• The Zero Discrimination Day is held every year on the 1st of March.
• The day aims to ensure right to equality, inclusion and protection of all people without any discrimination in their law and policies to live a full life with dignity regardless of any barriers.

Expected Questions:

What is the theme of Zero Discrimination Day 2022?

Remove laws that harm, create laws that empower.

When Zero Discrimination Day was first celebrated?

March 1, 2014

Zero Discrimination Day was launched by whom?

UNAIDS Executive Director at Beijing

About United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS)

• Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland
• Executive Director: Winnie Byanyima
• Established: 26 July 1994.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: NATIONAL NEWS

28th DST-CII India- Technology Summit 2022:

• Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), New Delhi in partnership with the Department of Science & Technology (DST), GoI hosted the 28th edition of the DST – CII Technology Summit on 23rd and 24th of February 2022.
• Technology Summit has been very crucial in providing significant opportunities to build and improve bilateral technology partnerships over a period of more than two decades

Expected Questions:

Which is the Partner Country for this year’s Technology Summit?

Singapore

Who is the chairman of the Technology Summit?

Vipin Sondhi

Recent news:

CII-FBN to gather Indian family businesses to spearhead sustainable development

• The Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) along with Family Business Network [FBN International] has started the CII-FBN India chapter to offer business families a safe space to learn, share and inspire each other about how to guide the family involvement in the business, facilitate relationships within the family and raise awareness and importance of the family business models in society.

Government has launched mission named Operation Ganga to evacuate nationals from Ukraine:

• The government of India has launched an evacuation mission named Operation Ganga to evacuate Indian nationals from Ukraine due to the Russia-Ukraine tension.
• Due to the ongoing tension between Ukraine and Russia, Ukraine has been declared as a no-fly zone by the authorities for the safety and security of the nations

Expected Questions:

What is the Capital of Ukraine?

Kyiv or Kiev

What is the Currency of Russia?

Ruble

Recent news:

NATO chief condemns Russia’s ‘reckless and unprovoked attack’ on Ukraine:

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg has denounced Russia’s “reckless and unprovoked attack” on Ukraine, warning it put “countless” lives in jeopardy.

CURRENT AFFAIRS : INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Wildfires will be more frequent, larger and intense due to climate change: UNEP report                        

• The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) released the report titled Frontiers 2022 : Noise, Blazes and Mismatches: Emerging Issues of Environmental Concern.
• According to the report, Wildfires are predicted to worsen in the coming years and decades.
• The report identifies 3 three most important environmental issues ie.
• Wildfires
• Noise pollution
• Shift in biological life cycles of plants and animals
• Urban noise pollution, wildfires and phenological shifts – the three topics of this Frontiers Report.
• Important facts :
• Savannah or the mixed woodland-grassland ecosystem accounted for 77 per cent of the total 13 million individual fires (lasting for 4-5 days) which occurred globally between 2003 and 2016.
• Between 2002 and 2016, an average of about 423 million hectares or 4.23 million square km of the earth’s land surface was burnt every year.
• In fact, 67 per cent of the annual global area burned by all types of fires, including wildfires, was on the African continent & also in 2021, Africa was the most affected region due to wildfires.

Phenology :

• It is the study that deals with the timing of recurrent life cycle stages that are influenced by environmental factors, as well as how species living within an ecosystem react to changing conditions.

Expected Questions :

In 2022 UNEP released which edition of the Frontiers report?

4th edition

The Frontiers report was first published in which year?

2016

Headquarters of UNEP located at?

Nairobi, Kenya

About UNEP :

• Executive Director : Inger Andersen

CURRENT AFFAIRS : BANKING & FINANCE

BoM Partnered with Mahagram to roll out the Bank Sakhi project

• Bank of Maharashtra has tied up with Mahagram to roll out the Bank Sakhi’ project in Odisha.
• The fintech would provide financial technology and infrastructure support to augment rural financial inclusion.
• As part of the Partnership, Mahagram has boarded more than 11,000 bank sakhis (women) on the BharatATM platform to help the rural citizens avail basic banking services at their doorstep or the next door Kirana stores.

Additional Info :

• BharatATM platform is a rural banking platform that offers banking services to small merchants and customers.

Expected Questions :

BharatATM platform was launched by which company?

Mahagram

Headquarters of BoM located at?

Pune, Maharashtra

Mahagram is a well-recognised fintech company located at?

Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Who is the Founder & CEO of mahagram?

Ram Shriram Pathade

Recent News :

• In Dec 2021, Bank of Maharashtra (BoM) partnered with National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to launch its first credit card on card payment network RuPay Titled ‘BOM Platinum RuPay Contactless Credit Card’
• The card also comes with the card liability cover wherein customers will have zero liability post reporting of fraud.

About BoM :

• Founded : 16 September 1935
• MD & CEO : A. S. Rajeev

About Mahagram :

• Established : June 2015

RBI cautions against car pooling app sRide

• The Reserve bank of India cautioned public against car pooling app sRide, citing that the firm was operating a semi-closed prepaid instrument without authorization from the central bank under Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007.

What is sRide?

• sRide app is a carpooling mobile application that connects people within the community to share rides.
• The app helps users in sharing the cost of travel, increasing mobility, reducing travel time, and building communities.

Expected Questions :

Who is the authority for payment and settlement systems in India?

Reserve Bank of India

When did the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007 (PSS Act, 2007) come into effect?

12th August 2008

Registered office of sRide Tech Private Limited located at?

Gurugram, Haryana

About RBI :

• Established : 1 April 1935
• Headquarters : Mumbai, Maharashtra
• Governor : Shaktikanta Das
• Deputy Governors : Mahesh Kumar Jain, M. Rajeshwar Rao, Michael Patra and T. Rabi Shankar.

NSO estimates GDP growth for India in 2021-22 at 8.9%

• The National Statistical Office (NSO)’s second advance estimates of national accounts have been released.
• The GDP growth rate projection as per NSO
• For 2021-22 (FY22)= 8.9% (earlier it was 9.2% in first advance estimates)
• In value terms, GDP stood at Rs 38,22,159 crore in October-December 2021-22, higher than the Rs 36,22,220 crore in the corresponding period of the 2020-21.

Expected Questions :

NSO has estimated what percent contraction in India’s GDP rate for 2020-21?

-6.6% (earlier it was -7.3%)

Headquarters of the National Statistical Commission located at?

New Delhi, Delhi, India

Headquarters of Brickworks Ratings located at?

Bangalore, Karnataka

Recent News :

• In Feb 2022, According to Brickwork Ratings, revised downwards India’s GDP growth forecast to3 percent in the current fiscal 2021-22 (FY22)
• Earlier the ratings agency had given a forecast of 8.5 to 9 per cent for FY22.

About National Statistical Commission :

• Chairperson : Bimal Kumar Roy

Japan & India renews the Bilateral Swap Arrangement (BSA) worth USD 75 billion

• Japan and India have renewed the Bilateral Swap Arrangement (BSA) of up to $75 billion with effect from February 28, 2022.

Aim :

• To strengthen and complement other financial safety nets, will further deepen financial cooperation between the two countries and contribute to regional and global financial stability.
• The Bank of Japan, acting as agent for the Minister of Finance of Japan, and the Reserve Bank of India signed the Amendment and Restatement Agreement of the BSA.

What is BSA ?

• The BSA is a two-way arrangement where both authorities can swap their local currencies in exchange for the US Dollar.
• The interest rate charged in this case is fixed at the time of signing the agreement.

Bilateral Swap Arrangement (BSA) between India and Japan :

• In that, Japan and India can borrow money from each other in either their currency i.e Indian Rupee or Japanese Yen or US Dollar up to the limit of $75 billion.

Expected Questions :

What is the Currency of Japan?

Japanese yen

Recent News :

• Indian Naval Ships Shivalik and Kadmatt undertook a Maritime Partnership Exercise with Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force (JMSDF) Ships Uraga and Hirado in the Bay of Bengal.
• The exercise was aimed at strengthening bilateral relations, promoting defence cooperation, enhancing mutual understanding and interoperability between the two navies and sharing best practices.

About Japan :

• Prime minister: Fumio Kishida
• Capital: Tokyo

CURRENT AFFAIRS: BUSINESS NEWS

Cabinet allows up to 20% FDI in IPO-bound LIC under automatic route:

• The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved a proposal to allow foreign direct investment (FDI) up to 20 per cent in Life Insurance Corporation through the automatic route.

Expected Questions:

The existing FDI policy did not prescribe any specific provision for foreign investment in LIC, which is a statutory corporation established under Which act?

LIC Act, 1956.

Life Insurance Corporation has filed draft papers with capital market regulator SEBI for the sale of how much per cent stake by the government?

5 precent

Recent news:

LIC could make IDBI Bank agent for LIC Housing

• Life Insurance Corp of India (LIC) is weighing the option of making IDBI Bank an agent for sourcing loans for LIC Housing Finance to ensure compliance with central bank rules that limit the rights to mortgage lending to only one entity in a financial group.

NSE, BSE starts T+1 Stock Settlement from February 25:

• India has become the second country after China to implement the T+1 stock settlement mechanism in a phased manner from 25 February.
• The system will be starting with select stocks and then gradually adding others to the fold.

Expected Questions:

Who has introduced the present T+2 settlement?

SEBI

When the present T+2 settlement was introduced?

April 2003.

Recent news:

Sebi further defers new margin rule to May 2:

• Capital market regulator has further extended the day to implement certain frameworks related to segregation and monitoring of collateral at client level to May 2, 2022.
• The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) in July last year came out with guidelines for segregation and monitoring of collateral at the client level amid instances of misuse of client collateral by trading members.

CURRENT AFFAIRS :APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNATIONS

Madhabi Puri Buch Appointed Chairperson Of SEBI               

1. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, headed by the Prime Minister, approved  the appointment of former banker Madhabi Puri Buch as the new chairperson of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for a three-year term from 1st March 2022.
2. She is the youngest Sebi chief & also 1st non IAS to be appointed as the Chairman of SEBI.
3. Madhabi Puri Buch, who will be the 10th chair of the board.
4. She replaces bureaucrat Ajay Tyagi.
5. Tyagi, a 1984-batch IAS officer from Himachal Pradesh cadre, served as chairman for five years.

Expected Questions :

Who is the First woman to be appointed chairperson of Sebi?

Madhabi Puri Buch

Who is the First person from the private sector to become Sebi chief?

Madhabi Puri Buch

Who is the First woman whole-time member of Sebi?

Madhabi Puri Buch (between April 5, 2017 and October 4, 2021)

Headquarters of SEBI located at?

Mumbai, Maharashtra

Recent News :

• On Feb 24, 2022, The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) extended the deadline for implementation of client level segregation of funds and monitoring of collateral at stock brokers to May 2.
• This is the second time SEBI has extended the deadline; earlier it was supposed to be implemented from Dec 01, 2021.

About SEBI :

• Established : 12 April 1988 Powers on 30 January 1992 through the SEBI Act, 1992.

CURRENT AFFAIRS : AWARDS & HONORS

Physicist Deepak Dhar became the First Indian To Be Conferred With Boltzmann Medal

• Professor emeritus in the Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Pune Prof Deepak Dhar will become the first Indian to be conferred the prestigious Boltzmann Medal 2022 for his contribution in the field of statistical physics.
• He shares the prize with John Hopfield, an American scientist.
• The medal presentation ceremony will be held during the StatPhys28 conference scheduled to be held in Tokyo in August 2022.

Note :

• The Boltzmann Medal was first awarded by Kenneth G. Wilson in 1975.

Expected Questions :

Boltzmann Medal named after?

Ludwig Boltzmann (Physicist)

Which is the only global physics organization run by the physics community?

International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP)

Who presents the Boltzmann Medal?

C3 Commission on Statistical Physics of the International Union for Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP)

Headquarters of IUPAP located at?

Singapore

About IUPAP :

• Established : 1922
• President : Michel Spiro
• Secretary General : Kok Khoo Phua

CURRENT AFFAIRS : MOU & AGREEMENTS

Chhattisgarh govt signs MOUs for dung-based power plants, food irradiation facility

• The Chhattisgarh government signed two Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) for the installation of a food irradiator plant, which will keep food and vegetables safe and well-preserved, as well as dung-based power plants.
• For the installation of a food irradiator plant the state’s Seed Corporation has inked a MoU with the Department of Atomic Energy’s Board of Radiation and Isotope Technology.
• For setting up of dung-based power plants in ‘gauthans’, MoU was signed between Chhattisgarh Biofuel Development Authority (CBDA) and Bhabha Atomic Research Center (BARC).

Additional Info :

• Food irradiation is a process that uses radiation to control pests (e.g., microbes and insects) in food and prevent spoilage.

Expected Questions :

Which state has launched a scheme called Godhan Nyay Yojana?

Chhattisgarh

Headquarters of Bhabha Atomic Research Center located at?

Trombay, Mumbai

Recent News :

• In Jan 2022, Report on “Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) Chhattisgarh (Rural) 2021” was released.
• The report highlights the learning crisis created by covid-19 pandemic induced lockdowns, since March 2020 & proportion of primary school children who cannot recognize letters of the alphabet have increased double fold since 2018.

About Chhattisgarh :

• Governor : Anusuiya Uikey
• CM : Bhupesh Baghel

CURRENT AFFAIRS: SPORTS NEWS

IOC Withdraws Top Olympic Honour from Vladimir Putin:

• The International Olympic Committee has stripped Russian President Vladimir Putin of the Olympic Order award in response to the invasion of Ukraine.
• International Olympic Committee urged sports federations and organisers to exclude Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials from international events following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Expected Questions:

Who is the President of International Olympic Committee?

Thomas Bach

When was International Olympic Committee Established?

23 June 1894, Paris, France

Recent news:

• Indian Wushu player Sadia Tariq has won a gold medal in the junior tournament at the Moscow Wushu Stars Championship 2022.
• The 15-year-old Sadia Tariq hails from Srinagar in Jammu & Kashmir.
• The Wushu Stars Championship is being held in Moscow, Russia from February 22 to 28.

Pooja Jatyan became 1st Indian to win a silver in Para Archery World Championships:

• Para-archer, Pooja Jatyan has scripted history as she became the first Indian to win a silver in an individual section of the Para World Championships in Dubai, UAE.
• India ended its campaign with two silver medals, a first for the country.

Expected Questions:

Pooja Jatyan lost to whom in the final to be content with the silver medal?

Patrilli Vincenza

Patrilli Vincenza hails from which country?

Italy.

Recent news:

• Indian weightlifter and 2020 Tokyo Olympics silver-medallist, Mirabai Chanu has won the gold medal in the 55kg weight category at the Singapore Weightlifting International 2022 on February 25^th.
• Mirabai Chanu lifted 191kg to stand on top of the podium.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: OBITUARIES

Legendary West Indies spinner Sonny Ramadhin has passed away:

• West Indies spin legend, Sonny Ramadhin has passed away
• He was 92.

Expected Questions:

Sonny Ramadhin was a part of the side that won its first away series in which country in 1950?

England

Recent news:

• Senior journalist, Ravish Tiwari has passed away.
• He was the national bureau chief of Indian Express.
• He was popular for his political news reporting. Before this, he had also served as Senior Assistant Editor at Economic Times, Associate Editor at India Today and Senior Assistant Editor at the Indian Express.

Daily CA on Mar 02 :

• The Women and Child Development Ministry celebrates the International Women’s Day week from the 1st of March as an Iconic Week as a part of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav.
• Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers will organize the Janaushadhi Diwas from 1st March to 7th March 2022.
• The Zero Discrimination Day is held every year on the 1st of March.
• Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), New Delhi in partnership with the Department of Science & Technology (DST), GoI hosted the 28th edition of the DST – CII Technology Summit on 23rd and 24th of February 2022.
• The government of India has launched an evacuation mission named Operation Ganga to evacuate Indian nationals from Ukraine due to the Russia-Ukraine tension.
• The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) released the report titled Frontiers 2022 : Noise, Blazes and Mismatches: Emerging Issues of Environmental Concern.
• Bank of Maharashtra has tied up with Mahagram to roll out the Bank Sakhi’ project in Odisha.
• The Reserve bank of India cautioned public against car pooling app sRide, citing that the firm was operating a semi-closed prepaid instrument without authorization from the central bank under Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007.
• The National Statistical Office (NSO)’s second advance estimates of national accounts have been released, The GDP growth rate projection as per NSO for 2021-22 (FY22)= 8.9% (earlier it was 9.2% in first advance estimates)
• The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved a proposal to allow foreign direct investment (FDI) up to 20 per cent in Life Insurance Corporation through the automatic route.
• India has become the second country after China to implement the T+1 stock settlement mechanism in a phased manner from 25 February.
• Japan and India have renewed the Bilateral Swap Arrangement (BSA) of up to $75 billion with effect from February 28, 2022.
• The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, headed by the Prime Minister, approved the appointment of former banker Madhabi Puri Buch as the new chairperson of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for a three-year term from 1st March 2022.
• Professor emeritus in the Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Pune Prof Deepak Dhar will become the first Indian to be conferred the prestigious Boltzmann Medal 2022 for his contribution in the field of statistical physics.
• The Chhattisgarh government signed two Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) for the installation of a food irradiator plant, which will keep food and vegetables safe and well-preserved, as well as dung-based power plants.
• The International Olympic Committee has stripped Russian President Vladimir Putin of the Olympic Order award in response to the invasion of Ukraine.
• Para-archer, Pooja Jatyan has scripted history as she became the first Indian to win a silver in an individual section of the Para World Championships in Dubai, UAE.
• West Indies spin legend, Sonny Ramadhin has passed away