Daily Current Affairs February 11 2023

 

CURRENT AFFAIRS : BANKING & FINANCE 

RBI to allow lending and borrowing of G-Secs & raises market trading hours       

• Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das proposed to permit the lending and borrowing of government securities (G-Secs) to further develop the government securities market.
• This will provide investors with an avenue to deploy their idle securities, enhance portfolio returns and facilitate wider participation.

Key Highlights : 

• The market hours for the government securities market were restored to pre-pandemic timing of 9 am – 5 pm (from the current 9 am to 3.30 pm) to move towards normalising liquidity and market operations.

About G-Sec :

• As per the RBI, a G-Sec is a tradable instrument issued by the Central Government or the State Governments and acknowledges the Government’s debt obligation.
• Such securities are short term (usually called treasury bills, with original maturities of less than one year) or long term (usually called Government bonds or dated securities with original maturity of one year or more).
• In India, the Central Government issues both, treasury bills and bonds or dated securities while the State Governments issue only bonds or dated securities, which are called the State Development Loans (SDLs).
• G-Secs carry practically no risk of default and, hence, are called risk-free gilt-edged instruments.

About RBI :

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

RBI to launch QR code based coin vending machine to improve the distribution of coins

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is preparing a pilot project on QR code-based coin vending machines (QCVM). 
• The announcement was made by RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das during the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting.

Aim : 

• To promote distribution of coins, and enhance the accessibility to coins.
• The pilot project will roll out in 19 locations in 12 cities across the country.
• These vending machines are planned to be installed at public places such as railway stations, shopping malls, and marketplaces to enhance ease and accessibility.

About QCVM : 

• The QCVM is a cashless coin dispensation machine which will dispense coins against debit to the customer’s bank account using Unified Payments Interface (UPI).
• Unlike cash-based traditional Coin Vending Machines, the QCVM would eliminate the need for physical tendering of banknotes and their authentication.

MobiKwik becomes India’s first app to offer RuPay Credit Cards on UPI                                                        

• India’s leading fintech company, MobiKwik, has become the first fintech app to support RuPay Credit Cards on Unified Payment Interface (UPI).

Key Highlights : 

• Customers of MobiKwik can quickly make payments to merchants by scanning the UPI QR code and using the UPI PIN for payment authentication now that RuPay Credit Cards are directly linked to UPI IDs.
• RuPay credit cards are issued by all major banks (private and public sector) for both commercial and retail use.
• The integration of RuPay Credit Card with UPI is in line with the vision of National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) and RBI.
• RuPay Credit Card promotes credit card acceptance in India for merchants who are not part of the credit ecosystem.
• Recently, PhonePe has become the first fintech company in India to allow UPI payments abroad.

About UPI : 

• Launched : 2016.
• It is developed by National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).
• UPI is an instant real-time payment system for transferring money in bank accounts.

About MobiKwik : 

• Founded : 2009
• Headquarters : Gurgaon, Haryana, India
• Founders : Bipin Preet Singh, Upasana Taku
• MobiKwik is an Indian payment service provider 

RBI to extend UPI access for Retail Payments to inbound travellers in India

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has proposed to extend the UPI facility to inbound travellers (those who come to visit the country for travelling purpose) for merchant payments; initially to travellers from G20 countries.

Key Highlights : 

• The new facility will help travellers coming to India to be able to use UPI for retail payments conveniently.
• Initially, the UPI facility will be available to travellers from G-20 countries that include Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia,  Turkiye, United Kingdom, and United States and European Union (EU).
• UPI has become a ubiquitous payment instrument for retail electronic payments in India.
• Recently, the NPCI allowed UPI platforms to onboard non-resident account holders (NRE/NRO accounts) from 10 countries with international mobile numbers with certain conditions.

RBI plans to widen the scope of TReDS to improve cash flows for MSMEs

• At the Monetary Policy Committee announcement, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das has announced the expansion of the scope of Trade Receivables Discounting System (TReDs).
• Under the expansion, insurance facilities will be provided for invoice financing.
• It will also permit rediscounting of invoices, that is, developing a secondary market in TReDS.
• The RBI has also decided to permit all entities/institutions undertaking factoring business to participate as financiers in TReDS.
• These measures are expected to improve the cash flows of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).
• Under this mechanism, invoice discounting involves 3 participants:

1. MSME Supplier
2. Corporate Buyer
3. Financier.

About TReDS : 

• The RBI had introduced a framework in December 2014.
• TReDS is an electronic platform for facilitating the financing/discounting of trade receivables of MSMEs through multiple financiers.
• These receivables can be due from corporates and other buyers, including Government Departments and Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs).
• It is now proposed to expand the scope of TReDs by

• providing insurance facility for invoice financing
• permitting all entities/institutions undertaking factoring business to participate as financiers in TReDS
• permitting re- discounting of invoices (that is, developing a secondary market in TReDS).

Cashfree Payments introduces India’s 1st automated escrow management solution – ‘Co-lend’    

• India’s leading payments and API banking solutions company,  Cashfree Payments, launched ‘Co-lend’, India’s first fully automated escrow management solution for co-lending.
• It has been developed in line with the digital lending guidelines announced by the RBI.

Key Highlights : 

• It facilitates instant disbursal with auto reconciliation and a dashboard for managing multiple partnerships.
• It requires no manual intervention, automatically notifies the loan management system, and eliminates reconciliation efforts.
• Currently, in co-lending partnerships, the reconciliation of funding to the escrow accounts for disbursement and repayments is done manually, resulting in errors and delays.
• It provides a robust platform for co-lending originators and lenders with high volumes of loans, where real-time disbursement, repayment and reconciliation are primary requirements

About Cashfree Payments :

• CEO : Akash Sinha
• Apart from India, Cashfree Payments products are used in 8 other countries including the US, Canada and the UAE.
• Recently, India’s largest lender, SBI invested in Cash Free Payments, underscoring the company’s role in building a robust payments ecosystem.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: NATIONAL NEWS

PMMY helped in generating 1.12 crore net additional employment:

• The Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY) helped in generating 1.12 crore net additional employment during 2015-2018, Union Minister of State for Finance Bhagwat Karad said in a written reply in Lok Sabha.
• Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana, an important aspect of financial inclusion, is enabling the flow of credit to small businesses.
• In pursuance of the announcement in the Union Budget 2015-16, the Micro Units Development Finance Agency (MUDRA) Ltd was established as a wholly owned subsidiary of Small Industries Development bank of India (SIDBI).

About PMMY

• The Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY) was launched on April 8, 2015 for providing loans up to Rs 10 lakh to any individual including women, proprietary concern, partnership firm, private limited company or any other entity.
• These loans are given by commercial banks, regional rural banks (RRBs), Small Finance Banks, Micro Finance Institutions (MFIs) and Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs).
• Under the aegis of PMMY, MUDRA has created three products namely, ‘Shishu’, ‘Kishore’ and ‘Tarun’ to signify the stage of growth or development and funding needs of the beneficiary micro unit or entrepreneur.
• Shishu: covering loans up to Rs 50,000.
• Kishor: covering loans above Rs 50,000 and up to Rs 5 lakh.
• Tarun: covering loans above Rs 5 lakh and up to Rs 10 lakh.
• Implementation of financial inclusion programme in the country is based on three pillars — ‘Banking the Unbanked’, ‘Securing the Unsecured’ and ‘Funding the Unfunded’.
• ‘Funding the Unfunded’, is reflected in the financial inclusion programme through Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY), which is being implemented with the objective to provide access to credit for small entrepreneurs.
• PMMY focuses on the financial needs of all stakeholders, ranging from budding entrepreneurs to the hard-working farmers, through various initiatives of the scheme.

PM has launched three initiatives in the green energy sector

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched three initiatives in the green energy sector during the inaugural India Energy Week in Bengaluru.
• The first was the ‘Unbottled’ project of the Indian Oil Corporation Ltd, under which Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) bottles are recycled to produce yarn to knit fabric.
• Under this brand, IndianOil targets to meet the requirement of uniforms for the customer attendants of other Oil Marketing Companies, non-combat uniforms for Army, uniforms/ dresses for Institutions & sales to retail customers.
• The other two were a solar cooking system and E20, an ethanol-blended fuel, which will be available in select cities before being supplied across the country.
• ‘Unbottled’ project aims at recycling 100 million PET bottles annually and will be the largest project in the world to reuse and recycle such bottles.
• The commercial rollout of Indian Oil’s Solar Cooking System was also launched during the event.
• The system will allow people to cook using solar energy, and is equipped to be run on electricity when solar power is inadequate to operate the system.
• It is headquartered in New Delhi. Chairperson: Shrikant Madhav Vaidya.

Ashwini Vaishnaw will launch ‘Digital Payments Utsav’ in New Delhi.

• Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw will launch ‘Digital Payments Utsav’ in New Delhi.
• The main of the ‘Digital Payments Utsav’ is to promote Digital Payments across the country.
• “Digital Payments Utsav” has been planned with a focus on G-20 Digital Economy Working Group event cities.
• “Digital Payments Utsav” will be organized from February 9 to October 9, 2023, in association with different stakeholders.
• G-20 co-branded QR code and a Coffee Table Book will be also released.
• Digital Payment Sandesh Yatra will be also flagged off.
• Its main aim is to make people aware of the various digital payments solution and the security and safety of digital payments.
• DigiDhan awards for top-performing banks in the digital payments space will be also given during the event.
• Digital payments will ensure financial inclusion and empower small merchants and street vendors in the country.
• The event will conclude with the presentation of awards to bankers and fintech companies in different categories.

NITI Aayog recently launched a report titled “Transforming Industrial Training Institutes

• NITI Aayog recently launched a report titled “Transforming Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs)”.
• On the lines of education boards such as the central board of secondary education, NITI Aayog has proposed setting up a separate central board for vocational education.
• NITI Aayog also suggested conducting of national centralised examinations for admission to Industrial Training Institute (ITIs).
• NITI Aayog proposed a seven-pronged strategy to transform more than 15,000 ITIs in India.
• ITIs are the backbone of vocational training in India.
• So far, revamping of ITIs have been attempted through various interventions.
• The capacity utilization remains low in ITIs.
• The quality of instructors is one of the main factors which influences the output of the trained candidates.
• Around 78.40% of all ITIs are operated by private entities while 21.59% of ITIs are government institutions.
• Uttar Pradesh has the highest number of ITIs.
• 66% of the total ITIs are in 5 states i.e. Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, and Maharashtra.
• The Directorate General of Training (DGT) is the apex organization for the development & coordination of vocational training activities in India.

CURRENT AFFAIRS : STATE NEWS

India’s first glass igloo restaurant opens in Gulmarg, J&K

• India’s first glass igloo restaurant in the middle of the snow-covered mountains in Gulmarg has become the centre of attraction for tourists in the hill station in Kashmir.
• This unique glass igloo restaurant is developed by Kolahoi Green Heights hotel of Gulmarg in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district.
• In 2021, the same hotel built a snow igloo in Gulmarg which was the biggest snow igloo in Asia that also attracted tourists.

About J&K :

• Lieutenant Governor : Manoj Sinha
• Capital : Srinagar, Jammu
• National Park : Kishtwar High Altitude National Park, Kazinag National Park, Dachigam National Park
• Wildlife Sanctuaries : Ramnagar Wildlife Sanctuary, Gulmarg Wildlife Sanctuary

CURRENT AFFAIRS : ACQUISITIONS & MERGERS

Carlsberg’s India & Nepal partner to sell entire 33% stake at ₹6,155 cr to brewer

• Danish brewer Carlsberg has stated that the Khetan Group which owns 33% shares in the holding company which manages businesses in India and Nepal has put a formal notice to sell its entire stake to the brewer for $744 million (₹6,155 crore).

Key Highlights : 

• Carlsberg is the third largest brewer globally and Carlsberg South Asia Pte Ltd (CSAPL) is the holding company for India businesses (100%) and Nepal (90%).
• The transaction (buyout of India partner) could potentially be completed in 2023 and subject to the clarification of any disputes raised by the shareholders and timelines for any regulatory approvals.
• Danish brewer – best known for beer brands like Tuborg, Carlsberg, Brooklyn and Blanc.

BSE to divest 2.5% stake in CDSL via OFS route 

• India’s oldest stock exchange, Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), has approved divestment of 2.5% stake in Central Depository Services (India) Ltd (CDSL) through an Offer for Sale (OFS) route.

About CDSL :

• CDSL is one of the two depositories in India and the only listed one in the country, the other being National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL).
• It facilitates holding and transacting in securities in the electronic form and facilitates settlement of trades on stock exchanges.
• BSE for Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) is India’s largest SME platform, which has listed over 250 companies and continues to grow at a steady pace.
• Meanwhile, BSE StAR MF-Mutual Fund Platform is India’s largest online mutual fund platform which processes over 27 lakh transactions per month and adds almost 2 lakh new SIPs every month.

About BSE : 

• Established : 9 July 1875
• Location : Mumbai, Maharashtra
• MD & CEO : Sundararaman Ramamurthy
• BSE is the oldest and India’s first equity index launched in the country.

CURRENT AFFAIRS : DEFENCE NEWS

MoD signs contract worth Rs 2,585 crore with L&T for procurement of 41 indigenous modular bridges          

• The Ministry of Defence (MoD) signed a contract with Larsen & Toubro (L&T) for the procurement of 41 indigenous modular bridges worth over Rs 2,585 crore for the Indian Army’s Corps of Engineers.

Aim : 

• To provide increased mobility on the western front and is in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision for an ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’.

Key Highlights : 

• The bridges have been designed and developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and shall be produced by Larsen & Toubro (L&T) as a DRDO-nominated production agency.
• 7 carrier vehicles based on 8×8 Heavy Mobility Vehicles (HMV) and two launcher vehicles based on 10×10 HMV are required for each set of modular bridges.
• Each set will be able to mechanically launch a single-span fully decked 46-metre assault bridge.
• The modular bridges will replace the manually-launched Medium Girder Bridges (MGB) that are currently being used in the Indian Army.
• The Modular bridges shall have many advantages over the MGB such as increased span, less time for construction and mechanical launching with retrieval capability.

About MoD : 

• Union Minister : Rajnath Singh
• Minister of State : Ajay Bhatt
• Defence Secretary : Giridhar Aramane

About L&T : 

• Founded : 7 February 1946
• Headquarters : Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
• Chairman : Anil Manibhai Naik
• MD & CEO : S. N. Subrahmanyan

CURRENT AFFAIRS : SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

ISRO & Indian Navy conducts key trials for Gaganyaan mission      

• The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), along with the Indian Navy, has conducted an important trial for the Gaganyaan, human space flight mission.
• The trials were performed in the Indian Navy’s Water Survival Test Facility (WSTF) located in Kochi, Kerala
• The first trial (uncrewed flight) for Gaganyaan is planned by the end of 2023 or early 2024, followed by sending Vyom Mitra,a humanoid and then with the crew onboard.

Key Highlights : 

• The Gaganyaan project envisages demonstration of human spaceflight capability of India.
• Gaganyaan will be launching a crew of 3 members for a 3 day mission.
• The members will be launched to an orbit of 400 km and bring them back safely to earth, by landing in Indian sea waters.
• Vikas engine and Launch Vehicle Mark-3 (LVM-3) will be used in this mission.
• A Crew Module Recovery Model (CMRM) was used for the trials.

• The CMRM simulates the mass, centre of gravity, outer dimensions, and externals of the actual Crew Module at touchdown.
• The safe recovery of the crew is the final step for a successful human spaceflight.
• It has to be carried out with the minimum lapse of time.

Skye Air launches India’s first traffic management system for drones – Skye UTM                           

• Skye Air, a Gurugram (Haryana) based drone solutions provider, launched India’s first traffic management system for drones called Skye UTM in India.
• It was launched in the presence of Minister of Road Transport and Highways of India Shri Nitin Gadkari.
• The software will allow drone operators to plan routes, make flight plans and assess risks before running drone-based operations in India.

Key Highlights : 

• Unmanned traffic management systems will play a key role in how airspace will be managed, allowing multiple beyond visual line-of-sight (BVLOS) drone operations to be run by different firms at the same time.
• Globally, several companies, such as US-based AirMap and Netherlands-based Airbus, offer such solutions.
• The software imports data from the government’s Digital Sky platform, which has been created to help drone operators plan flights in Indian airspace.
• The platform was first launched in 2018.
• It offers operators essential information for running drone missions in the country.
• It is run by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
• Skye UTM will allow operators a “better understanding” of where they can fly.
• India’s Drone Rules 2021 set restrictions on where private entities can fly zones by designating red, green and yellow zones.
• The Skye UTM will also offer latitude and longitude data, which is unavailable on Digital Sky.
• To track drones, Skye Air is also offering remote ID services, which is a piece of hardware that needs to be installed on drones to communicate real-time information on its location.

About BVLOS : 

• BVLOS refers to drone flights where the pilot cannot see the drone.
• They allow firms to run drone missions over greater distances, required for logistics, medicine delivery and more.

About Skye Air : 

• CEO : Ankit Kumar

CURRENT AFFAIRS: AWARDS AND HONOURS

NTPC has bagged “ATD Best Awards 2023”:

• NTPC has bagged “ATD Best Awards 2023” for the sixth consecutive year.
• NTPC has been awarded by the Association for Talent Development (ATD), USA.
• NTPC has won this award for demonstrating enterprise success in the field of talent development.

About ATD

• The Association for Talent Development, USA is the world’s largest association in the field of talent development.
• ATD Best Award is the most prestigious recognition in Learning and Development.

About NTPC:

• NTPC is the largest power generating company in India.
• It is a PSU founded in 1975.
• It is headquartered in New Delhi.

Rakhi Kapoor has won the Golden Book Awards 2023 in the category Powerful Relationship Guide

• Rakhi Kapoor has won the award for her book “Now You Breathe – Overcoming Toxic Relationships and Abuse” in the category Powerful Relationship Guide.
• Now You Breathe is author Rakhi Kapoor’s twenty-fifth book.
• The Golden Book Awards is one of Asia’s prestigious award programs that celebrates the best works on literature.
• Over 75,000 books were published in India and the nominees cover a diverse mix of literary genres including fiction, non-fiction, poetry and children’s books.
• The winners have been selected by a panel of literary experts, including Dr Kailash Pinjani (President of the Indian Authors Association), Dr Deepak Parbat (Founder of Superfast Author), and Murali Sundaram (Founder of TLC).
• The winners are selected based on factors such as originality, creativity, and impact on the literary world.

The winners of Golden Book Awards 2023 are-

• K. Rowling – Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, Gaur Gopal Das – Energize Your Mind: A Monk’s Guide To Mindful Living
• Ruskin Bond – How To Live Your Life
• Namita Thapar – The Dolphin And The Shark: Stories On Entrepreneurship.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: BUSINESS NEWS

TCS has secured its largest UK deal in three years with a new agreement

• Tata Consultancy Services Ltd has secured its largest UK deal in three years with a new agreement with an insurance services provider.
• London-based Phoenix Group Holdings Plc has agreed to a contract worth more than £600 million ($723 million) to digitally transform its product offering.
• As part of the deal, Asia’s biggest outsourcer will integrate Phoenix-owned life and pensions provider ReAssure’s heritage business on its core financial services platform.
• A TCS unit in the UK will also manage customer administration and servicing of ReAssure’s 3 million policies.

About TCS:

• Tata Consultancy Services is an Indian multinational information technology services and consulting company
• Its headquarters is in Mumbai.
• Rajesh Gopinathan is the CEO and Managing Director of Tata Consultancy Services.

Net inflows under non-resident deposits have grown to $3.6 billion:

• Net inflows under non-resident deposits have grown to $3.6 billion during April-November 2022 from $2.6 billion a year ago.
• As per RBI governor, net inflows under non-resident deposits have been boosted by the Reserve Bank’s July 6th measures.
• Under measures to attract NRI deposits, RBI had exempted incremental FCNR (B) deposits and NRE term deposits mobilised by banks (with reference to base date of July 1, 2022) from maintenance of reserves (CRR and SLR).
• The exemptions became effective from the reporting fortnight beginning July 30, 2022.
• These are valid for deposits raised till November 04, 2022.
• Banks should keep a certain percentage of deposits as cash reserves with RBI.
• This is known as Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR).
• Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR) refers to reserves that the bank should have with them in liquid form in the short term.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: MOUS AND AGREEMNT

Airtel has entered a strategic partnership with Vultr to deliver cloud solutions to enterprises in India.

• Bharti Airtel has entered a strategic partnership with Vultr, world’s largest privately-held cloud computing company, to deliver cloud solutions to enterprises in India.
• Airtel will offer Vultr’s extensive suite of cloud solutions to its enterprise customers.
• Vultr is on a mission to make high-performance cloud infrastructure easy to use, affordable, and locally accessible for businesses and developers around the world.
• The cloud solutions will be hosted in Airtel’s data centers across Bangalore, Mumbai and Delhi-NCR, enabling businesses to scale their digital operations globally.
• The telecom major had previously partnered with Tech Mahindra to deploy captive private network at the automobile maker’s Chakan facility, making it the first 5G enabled auto manufacturing unit in India.

About Airtel

• Founder: Sunil Bharti Mittal
• Founded: 7 July 1995, India
• Headquarters: New Delhi

Polycab has announced an official partnership with ICC.

• Polycab India Limited. (Polycab), India’s leading electrical goods company with a consolidated turnover of INR 122+ billion in FY22, announced an official partnership with the International Cricket Council (ICC).
• The partnership will include Polycab’s sponsorship of all major men’s and women’s ICC global events scheduled until the end of 2023, including the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in South Africa, the ICC World Test Championship Final in the United Kingdom and the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 scheduled in India.
• Through this partnership, Polycab will aim to deepen its engagement with their existing and future customer’s and drive the message – ‘We Innovate for a Brighter Living’.
• Inder T. Jaisinghani, Chairman and Managing Director.

About ICC

• Headquarters: Dubai, United Arab Emirates
• Founded: 15 June 1909
• Chairman: Greg Barclay
• General Manager: Wasim Khan

SIPL has entered into a partnership with IoTechWorld Avigation for the introduction of drone spraying in the agriculture sector:

• Syngenta India Pvt. Ltd. (SIPL) has entered into a partnership with IoTechWorld Avigation for the introduction of drone spraying in the agriculture sector across the country.
• Under this agreement, both will work on creating employment opportunities for rural youth by training and preparing them for using drones on farmlands.
• The companies have agreed, through a three-year memorandum of understanding (MoU), to promote the spraying of Syngenta-approved chemicals using the drone technology of IoTechWorld in different territories of India.
• In the first phase, 200 rural youth will be trained and employed for spraying. Large-scale trials over 400 acres were conducted and data was submitted to regulators for 20 crops.
• IoTech’s drone, Agribot, will be used across all of Syngenta’s spray services and products.
• Syngenta and IoTech will work together to encourage 200 agri-entrepreneurs and village-level entrepreneurs developed by Syngenta Foundation India to partner in this project.
• Syngenta is the first private company to get approval from the Central Insecticides Board and the government to use drones for spraying its product Amistar on paddy to protect the crop against fungal infections such as blast and sheath blight.
• Syngenta will also work closely with IoTech to promote drone spray technology in all educational and promotional campaigns and to support the deployment of at least 2,000 drones under the micro- and village-level agri-entrepreneur programme.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: BOOKS AND AUTHOR

A new book titled ‘Best of Satyajit Ray’ has been released by Penguin India

• A new book titled ‘Best of Satyajit Ray’ has been released by Penguin India on Satyajit Ray
• The ‘Best of Satyajit Ray’ has 21 best short stories of Satyajit Ray.
• It also has all eight stories that Satyajit Ray translated himself into English.

About Satyajit Ray

• Satyajit Ray was one of the most eminent film directors.
• He was the recipient of 36 National Film Awards.
• He received many national awards including the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, Padma Bhushan, and the Bharat Ratna.
• He received the Honorary Oscar for Lifetime Achievement from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in 1992.
• He was honoured with the Bharat Ratna in 1992.
• He was also a brilliant music composer and illustrator.

Daily CA One-Liners: Feb 11

• The Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY) helped in generating 1.12 crore net additional employment during 2015-2018, Union Minister of State for Finance Bhagwat Karad
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched three initiatives in the green energy sector during the inaugural India Energy Week in Bengaluru.
• Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw will launch ‘Digital Payments Utsav’ in New Delhi.
• NITI Aayog recently launched a report titled “Transforming Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs)”.
• NTPC has bagged “ATD Best Awards 2023” for the sixth consecutive year.
• Rakhi Kapoor has won the award for her book “Now You Breathe – Overcoming Toxic Relationships and Abuse” in the category Powerful Relationship Guide
• Tata Consultancy Services Ltd has secured its largest UK deal in three years with a new agreement with an insurance services provider
• Net inflows under non-resident deposits have grown to $3.6 billion during April-November 2022 from $2.6 billion a year ago.
• Bharti Airtel has entered a strategic partnership with Vultr, world’s largest privately-held cloud computing company, to deliver cloud solutions to enterprises in India
• Polycab India Limited. (Polycab), India’s leading electrical goods company with a consolidated turnover of INR 122+ billion in FY22, announced an official partnership with the International Cricket Council (ICC).
• Syngenta India Pvt. Ltd. (SIPL) has entered into a partnership with IoTechWorld Avigation for the introduction of drone spraying in the agriculture sector across the country
• A new book titled ‘Best of Satyajit Ray’ has been released by Penguin India on Satyajit Ray

• Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das proposed to permit the lending and borrowing of government securities (G-Secs) to further develop the government securities market.
• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is preparing a pilot project on QR code-based coin vending machines (QCVM). 
• India’s leading fintech company, MobiKwik, has become the first fintech app to support RuPay Credit Cards on Unified Payment Interface (UPI).
• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has proposed to extend the UPI facility to inbound travellers (those who come to visit the country for travelling purpose) for merchant payments; initially to travellers from G20 countries.
• At the Monetary Policy Committee announcement, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das has announced the expansion of the scope of Trade Receivables Discounting System (TReDs).
• India’s leading payments and API banking solutions company,  Cashfree Payments, launched ‘Co-lend’, India’s first fully automated escrow management solution for co-lending.
• India’s first glass igloo restaurant in the middle of the snow-covered mountains in Gulmarg has become the centre of attraction for tourists in the hill station in Kashmir.
• Danish brewer Carlsberg has stated that the Khetan Group which owns 33% shares in the holding company which manages businesses in India and Nepal has put a formal notice to sell its entire stake to the brewer for $744 million (₹6,155 crore).
• India’s oldest stock exchange, Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), has approved divestment of 2.5% stake in Central Depository Services (India) Ltd (CDSL) through an Offer for Sale (OFS) route.
• The Ministry of Defence (MoD) signed a contract with Larsen & Toubro (L&T) for the procurement of 41 indigenous modular bridges worth over Rs 2,585 crore for the Indian Army’s Corps of Engineers.
• The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), along with the Indian Navy, has conducted an important trial for the Gaganyaan, human space flight mission.
• Skye Air, a Gurugram (Haryana) based drone solutions provider, launched India’s first traffic management system for drones called Skye UTM in India.