Daily Current Affairs February 15 2023

 

CURRENT AFFAIRS : BANKING & FINANCE

RBI’s financial literacy week starts from Feb 13 to Feb 17, 2023

• Financial Literacy Week (FLW) is being organised by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) from February 13 to February 17, 2023.
• The theme selected for current year Financial Literacy Week (FLW) is “Good Financial Behaviour – Your Saviour”.
• In 2022, RBI observed ‘financial literacy week’ from February 14 to February 18, 2022 with the theme “Go Digital – Go Secure“.
• Since 2016, the RBI has been organising Financial Literacy Week (FLW) every year to disseminate financial education messages on a particular theme among the public across the country.

About FLW 2023 : 

• The 2023 theme aligns with the overall strategic objectives of the National Strategy for Financial Education: 2020-2025 which aims at building financial resilience and well-being while creating awareness among members of the public.
• Focus will be on creating awareness about savings, planning and budgeting, and prudent use of digital financial services
• In February 2023, the RBI will undertake a centralised mass media campaign to disseminate financial awareness messages
• Banks have also been advised to disseminate information and create awareness among their customers.

About Financial Literacy : 

• Financial literacy refers to the ability to understand and apply different financial skills effectively, including personal financial management, budgeting, and saving.
• Only 27% of Indian adults & 24% of women meet the minimum level of financial literacy as defined by the RBI.

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

CURRENT AFFAIRS: NATIONAL NEWS

45,180 Indian villages are still deprived of 4G network

• According to the Ministry of Communications, 7% of Indian villages do not have a 4G mobile network.
• Out of 6.44 lakh Indian villages, 45,180 villages lack 4G connectivity nearly 7 years after launch of 4G services in India.
• Central government has kept around ₹48,000 crore to bring 4G mobile coverage to the unconnected villages.
• States and UTs like Andaman and Nicobar, Arunachal Pradesh, Ladakh, and Sikkim do not have 4G connectivity in over 50% of villages.
• Odisha (7592) is the state, which has the highest number of unconnected villages followed by Maharashtra (3,793), Rajasthan (3,734).
• One in six Indian villages that are unconnected with the 4G network are in Odisha. India still has over 350 million 2G users.

Centre to overcome SC ruling restricting anti-trust penalties to ‘relevant turnover’

• Supreme Court had ruled that Competition Commission of India (CCI) can impose penalty only on the basis of relevant turnover of specific product or service.
• It ruled that CCI cannot impose penalty on ‘total average turnover’ of the entire company.
• Under the amendments to the Competition (amendment) Bill 2022, the centre proposes to introduce global turnover from ‘all products and services’ as a base for the imposition of monetary penalties by CCI.
• Presently, Competition Commission of India (CCI) can impose penalties as much as 10% of a firm’s turnover.
• This is restricted to the firm’s turnover recorded within India.
• This is also restricted to the specific good or service where anti-competitive conduct has been proven.
• According to the proposed amendment to the Competition (amendment) Bill, an explanation will be added to Section 27 of the Competition Act, 2002.
• Section 27 of the Competition Act, 2002 enables CCI to impose monetary penalties.
• For the purpose of imposing penalties, turnover would mean global turnover derived from all the services and products by an enterprise or person, both outside and within India.
• In Excel Crop Care Ltd. Vs Competition Commission of India (2017), Supreme Court upheld a decision of the Competition Appellate Tribunal.
• It ruled that the turnover for penalty in Section 27(b) of the Act means ‘relevant turnover’.

About CCI:

• The Competition Commission of India is the chief national competition regulator in India.
• It is a statutory body within the Ministry of Corporate Affairs and is responsible for enforcing the Competition
• Founded: 14 October 2003
• Headquarters: New Delhi
• First executive: Dhanendra Kumar

Union Minister Giriraj Singh inaugurates Mission Antyodaya Survey 2022-23 in New Delhi

• Union Minister for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Shri Giriraj Singh inaugurated the Mission Antyodaya Survekshan (MAS) 2022-23 at a function in New Delhi, which also included the launch of its portal and mobile application.
• The Rural Development Department is conducting Mission Antyodaya survey in all the Gram Panchayats of India since 2017-18.
• The objective of this survey is to assess the outcomes of change in people’s lives and livelihood through convergence of different schemes.
• The aim of the survey is to increase participation in the process of participatory planning for Gram Panchayat Development Planning.
• The survey will improve the delivery of services, enhance citizenship, create pace for an alliance of people’s institutions, and groups and better governance at the local level.
• The village-wise survey is expected to be conducted over a period of one month involving Community Resource Persons (CRPs).
• The purpose of the survey is to collect data at the village level on 183 indicators under 216 data points of 21 sectors.

PM inaugurates Uttar Pradesh Global Investors Summit 2023

• PM Modi inaugurated Uttar Pradesh Global Investors Summit 2023 in Lucknow.
• He also inaugurated Global Trade Show and launched Invest UP 2.0.
• Global Investors Summit brings together policymakers, industry leaders, think tanks, and leaders from across the world to explore business opportunities and forge partnerships.
• Around 10,000 delegates are expected to attend the three-day summit.
• They include more than 400 participants from 41 countries , diplomats from 10 partner countries, and CEOs of leading companies.
• It is the flagship investment summit of the Government of Uttar Pradesh.
• First time, district-level investor summits were organized to attract local businessmen and entrepreneurs.
• Barabanki was the first district to organize a district-level investor summit.
• Jhansi came in first position.
• It brought in an investment of Rs 1.84 lakh crore, the highest among districts.
• Kanpur came in second position. ‘
• Lucknow came in third position with investments of Rs 56,299 crore.

The National Philatelic Exhibition – AMRITPEX 2023 was inaugurated by Shri Ashwini Vaishnav

• The National Philatelic Exhibition – AMRITPEX 2023 was inaugurated by Union Minister of Communications Ashwini Vaishnav at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi.
• The event will be held from 11-15 February 2023 at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi.
• The five-day event has been organized by the Department of Posts under the Ministry of Communications.
• It will showcase India’s rich culture, heritage and history through postage stamps.
• As part of the Amrit Mahotsav celebrations of Independence, AMRITPEX 2023 is one of the biggest initiatives to comprehensively document and showcase the story of India from various aspects.
• It will be an exciting and engaging celebration of Indian culture, arts, freedom movement and rich heritage.
• The exhibition on the transformational journey of India Post will showcase the emerging role of post offices in digitizing the postal system and enriching the lives of citizens till the last mile.

PM inaugurates 14 th edition of Aero India 2023 in Bengaluru

• 14th edition of Aero India Show has been inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Bengaluru.
• ‘The Runway to a Billion Opportunities’ is the theme of the five-day event.
• The exhibition will showcase indigenous defense equipment, technology and fighter aircraft.
• Defense Ministers’ Conference, CEOs’ Round Table Meeting, Manthan Startup Event, Bandhan Ceremony will also be held.
• The India and Karnataka pavilions are the main attractions of the Aero India show, which is considered to be the largest such event in Asia.
• The objective of the program is to promote indigenous production and air events and measures to attract foreign investment.
• 98 foreign countries are participating in this programme.
• MoUs worth Rs 75 thousand crore are likely to be signed during the event.
• In the India Pavilion section, 115 companies will display 227 products made in India.
• The fully configured LCA Tejas Mark-1 is the main attraction of these products.
• Made in India, Tejas Light Combat aircraft, Advanced Light Helicopter Dhruv Mark III and IV, Light Combat Helicopter Prachand, HTT 40 trainer aircraft of HAL will take part in the air show.

DHARA – Annual Meeting Of Members Of The River Cities Alliance To Be Held In Pune

• The yearly meeting of members of River Cities Alliance (RCA), DHARA was organised in Pune.
• DHARA stands for Driving Holistic Action for Urban Rivers.
• It was organised by National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) and National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA).

About DHARA:

• DHARA 2023 provided a platform for senior officials of the 95-member river cities in India to co-learn and discuss solutions for managing local water bodies.
• DHARA has strong synergies with Urban20 initiative under the ambit of India’s G20 presidency.

About River Cities Alliance (RCA)

• River Cities Alliance (RCA) was launched by Minister of Jal Shakti Gajendra Singh Shekhawat in November 2021.
• It started with 30 cities and now has 95 cities as members.
• It is launched as dedicated platform for river cities in India to ideate, discuss and exchange information for sustainable management of urban rivers.
• It is a first of its kind alliance in the world.
• It is the successful partnership between two ministries- Ministry of Jal Shakti and Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.
• It focuses on three broad themes: Networking, Capacity Building, Technical Support.

India’s first frozen lake marathon at Ladakh’s Pangong Tso

• India’s first frozen lake marathon is set to be held on February 20, with the Indian Army and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) tasked with executing a “proper action plan” for the event in Ladakh’s Pangong Tso.
• The frozen lake marathon will take place at an altitude of 13,862 feet.
• 75 selected athletes from India and abroad will be participating in the event, giving them an opportunity to set their names in the Guinness world record for the world’s highest “frozen-lake marathon”.
• The 21km run will start from Lukung and end at Maan village.
• The marathon has been titled “Last Run” to highlight the issue of climate change.
• Adventure Sports Foundation of Ladakh (ASFL) will be organizing the event in collaboration with the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council-Leh, the Tourism Department, and the Leh district administration.

About Pangong Lake

• Pangong Lake or Pangong Tso is a long narrow, endorheic (landlocked) lake situated at a height of more than 14,000 ft (4,350 meters) in the Ladakh Himalayas.
• It is also known to change colors, appearing blue, green, and red at different times.

CURRENT AFFAIRS : INTERNATIONAL NEWS

India & US to jointly develop UAVs and share IP rights                            

• India and the United States (US) have moved ahead to jointly develop air-launched unmanned aerial vehicles (ALUAV) that will be used for surveillance missions, in a massive boost to Indo-US defence ties
• This is the first UAV project under which common intellectual property (IP) rights will be generated, giving the Indian ecosystem a significant technology boost.
• A Project Agreement (PA) for this was inked by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and US Department of Defence under the Joint Working Group Air Systems in the Defence Technology and Trade Initiative (DTTI) on July 30, 2021.

About ALUAV : 

• The ALUAV prototype, being jointly developed by India and the US, could enter the flight testing phase by September 2023.
• It is being developed to be launched from an aircraft (C130J aircraft)
• The ALUAV program is taking place under the DTTI and a critical factor is that the IP rights for the new system will be jointly shared by the two sides.

About DTTI : 

• Under DTTI, Joint Working Groups on land, naval, air, and aircraft carrier technologies have been established to focus on mutually agreed projects in respective domains.
• Aim : To bring sustained leadership focus to promote collaborative technology exchange and create opportunities for co-production and co-development of future technologies for Indian and US military forces.
• The PA for co-development of ALUAV has been overseen by the Joint Working Group on Air Systems and is a major accomplishment for DTTI.

About US : 

• President : Joe Biden
• Capital : Washington, D.C
• Currency : U.S. dollar ($) (USD)

CURRENT AFFAIRS : APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNATIONS

Centre notifies appointment of Chief Justices for 4 high courts of Gujarat, Tripura, Gauhati, J-K and Ladakh

• The Ministry of Law and Justice, Government of India (GoI) notified the appointment of Chief Justices (CJ) in 4 High Courts namely, Gujarat High Court, Tripura High Court, Gauhati High Court and Jammu-Kashmir and Ladakh High Court.
• They are appointed in exercise of the powers conferred by clause(1) of Article 217 of the Constitution of India.

List of 4 Chief Justices : 

Justice Name & Current High Court	Appointed as CJ to
Ms Sonia Giridhar Gokani, Judge, Gujarat High Court	Chief Justice of Gujarat High Court
Shri Justice Jaswant Singh, Judge, Orissa High Court	Chief Justice of Tripura High Court
Shri Justice N. Kotiswar Singh, Judge, Gauhati High Court	Chief Justice of the High Court of J & K and Ladakh.
Shri Justice Sandeep Mehta, Judge, Rajasthan High Court	Chief Justice of Gauhati High Court

Key Highlights : 

• Justice Giridhar would be the first woman to head the Gujarat High Court.
• India has 25 high courts.
• Also, the Union of India notified the appointments of 2 more judges to the Supreme Court of India.
• The Government issued a notification of the appointment of Justice Rajesh Bindal and Justice Aravind Kumar as Judges of the Supreme Court.
• With their appointment, the apex court will have a full working strength of 34 judges.

About Ministry of Law and Justice : 

• Cabinet Minister :  Kiren Rijiju
• Minister of State :  S. P. Singh Baghel

Former foreign minister Nikos Christodoulides elected as President of Cyprus 

• Former foreign minister, Nikos Christodoulides, has been elected the 8th president of Cyprus, beating the career diplomat Andreas Mavroyiannis.
• He will take up his new role on March 1, 2023.
• He will Succeed Nicos Anastasiades.
• Christodoulides (49) won 51.92% of the vote compared with 48.09% for his opponent.

About Nikos Christodoulides : 

• He served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2018 to 2022 and Spokesman of the Government from 2014 to 2018.
• In 2021, he was awarded the Order of Serbian Flag by the president of Serbia Aleksandar Vučić.

About Cyprus : 

• President: Nikos Christodoulides
• Capital: Nicosia
• Currency : Euro (€) (EUR)

Mohd Shahabuddin Chuppu set to become 22nd President of Bangladesh

• A former judge and freedom fighter, Mohammad Shahabuddin Chuppu, has been declared as the next president-elect of Bangladesh by the country’s Election Commission.
• He will be the 22nd President of Bangladesh
• He was nominated for the post by the ruling Awami League, (AL) party with all necessary seats, 302 out of 350 seats, in the national parliament.

Key Highlights : 

• Chuppu, 74, will replace the the longest-serving President of Bangladesh Mohammad Abdul Hamid, whose tenure ends on April 24, 2023.
• Abdul Hamid served as the President of Bangladesh for two consecutive terms.
• The Constitution of Bangladesh does not allow any person to hold the presidency for more than two terms.
• According to Bangladesh’s Constitution, the Presidential election must be held 90 to 60 days before the incumbent’s five-year term ends.

About Mohammad Shahabuddin Chuppu : 

• He was born in 1949 in East Pakistan (present-day Bangladesh).
• He took part in the Liberation War of Bangladesh in 1971 & he was imprisoned for waging a protest after the assassination of Bangladesh’s founder Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman
• In 1982, he was inducted into the country’s judicial service.
• He was inducted into the Awami League Advisory Council in January 2020.

About Bangladesh : 

• Prime Minister: Sheikh Hasina Wazed
• President: Mohammad Shahabuddin
• Capital : Dhaka
• Currency: Taka

CURRENT AFFAIRS : ACQUISITIONS & MERGERS

Tata Steel to merge 7 firms by FY24

• Tata Steel Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and managing director (MD) TV Narendran stated that the merger of 7 subsidiary companies with Tata Steel is expected to be completed in 2023-24 fiscal year (FY24).
• The plans were announced earlier in September, 2022.
• The 7 subsidiaries to be merged with Tata Steel : Angul Energy, Tata Steel Long Products, The Tinplate Company of India, Tata Metaliks, TRF, Indian Steel & Wire Products and Tata Steel Mining and S&T Mining Company.

Key Highlights : 

• The completion of the merger will depend on regulatory approvals, including that from the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) clearances.
• Tata Steel has no plans to merge the recently acquired Neelachal Ispat Nigam Ltd (NINL), which it acquired last year for about Rs 12,000 crore.
• According to the terms of purchase with the government, a new asset has to be run as a separate legal entity for 3 years.
• Tata Steel will also continue to invest Rs 10,000-13,000 crore a year going forward as it looks to double steel production to about 40 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) in India by 2030.

About Tata Steel : 

• Founded : 26 August 1907
• Headquarters : Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
• Chairperson : Natarajan Chandrasekaran
• MD & CEO : T. V. Narendran

CURRENT AFFAIRS : SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

AIIMS Delhi named as Centre of Excellence for artificial intelligence in healthcare

• The Centre has designated All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, also known as AIIMS Delhi as the centre of excellence (CoE) for Artificial Intelligence (AI) in healthcare.
• It was announced by the Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya to the Lok Sabha.

Key Highlights : 

• AI tools can support monitoring of physical and financial aspects of programmes including fraud detection, effective disease management, identifying early warning signals as part of surveillance, development of clinical decision support system (CDSS) supporting practitioners in providing quality care, etc
• To detect suspicious transactions/potential frauds in Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri – Jan Arogya Yojna (ABPM – JAY) the National Health Authority, has been using AI technologies.
• One of the challenges faced in the healthcare sector in the country is shortage of doctors, especially in rural areas.
• There is one doctor per 1,511 population against the WHO norm of 1:1,000.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: AWARDS AND HONOURS

Egyptian President bestows Global Best M-GOV Awards on IIT Indore students

• Egyptian President Abel Fattah Al-Sisi presented Niyati Totala and Neel Kapeshkumar Parikh of IIT Indore Global Best M-Gov Award.
• The students won AED 1 million by winning the gold medal at the World Government Summit 2023 in Dubai.
• These students created “Blockbill” app.
• Blockbill is a blockchain based receipt generation app that creates digital receipts for all transactions of users.
• “M-Gov Award” and “GovTech Award” are annual awards organised by the UAE government.
• They are presented as part of the World Government Summit.
• These are given to encourage students, researchers, government agencies and institutions, private companies and startups to create innovative solutions using next-gen technologies to solve evolving local and global challenges.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: SPORTS NEWS

Oval to host ICC World Test Championship 2021-23 final

• The International Cricket Council announced that the ICC World Test Championship 2021-23 final will take place at The Oval, London from June 7 to 11.
• The reserve day is scheduled on June 12.
• New Zealand had won the inaugural edition, defeating India by eight wickets in the 2021 final in Southampton.
• Australia leads the nine-team points table for the ongoing cycle with a healthy points percentage of 75.56, followed by India at 58.93.

About ICC:

• Headquarters: Dubai, United Arab Emirates
• Motto: Cricket for good.
• Founded: 15 June 1909
• Chairman: Greg Barclay
• General Manager: Wasim Khan

CURRENT AFFAIRS: BOOKS AND AUTHOR

Superstar Sridevi’s official biography to hit the shelves this year

• Westland Books announced the publishing of the official biography of superstar Sridevi.
• Titled “Sridevi: The Life of a Legend“, the book draws a complete portrait of the actor, who ruled the commercial cinema space in the ’80s and ’90s.
• It is written by debutant author Dhiraj Kumar and will be released this year.

About Sridevi:

• Sridevi, who died at the age of 54 in 2018, has been conferred with several awards, including the Padma Shri, National Film Award and Filmfare awards.

Daily CA One- Liner: Feb 15

• According to the Ministry of Communications, 7% of Indian villages do not have a 4G mobile network
• Supreme Court had ruled that Competition Commission of India (CCI) can impose penalty only on the basis of relevant turnover of specific product or service
• Union Minister for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Shri Giriraj Singh inaugurated the Mission Antyodaya Survekshan (MAS) 2022-23 at a function in New Delhi, which also included the launch of its portal and mobile application
• PM Modi inaugurated Uttar Pradesh Global Investors Summit 2023 in Lucknow.
• The National Philatelic Exhibition – AMRITPEX 2023 was inaugurated by Union Minister of Communications Ashwini Vaishnav at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi.
• 14th edition of Aero India Show has been inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Bengaluru
• The yearly meeting of members of River Cities Alliance (RCA), DHARA was organised in Pune.
• India’s first frozen lake marathon is set to be held on February 20, with the Indian Army and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) tasked with executing a “proper action plan” for the event in Ladakh’s Pangong Tso
• Egyptian President Abel Fattah Al-Sisi presented Niyati Totala and Neel Kapeshkumar Parikh of IIT Indore Global Best M-Gov Award.
• The International Cricket Council announced that the ICC World Test Championship 2021-23 final will take place at The Oval, London from June 7 to 11.
• Westland Books announced the publishing of the official biography of superstar Sridevi.

• Financial Literacy Week (FLW) is being organised by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) from February 13 to February 17, 2023 with the theme of “Good Financial Behaviour – Your Saviour”.
• India and the United States (US) have moved ahead to jointly develop air-launched unmanned aerial vehicles (ALUAV) that will be used for surveillance missions, in a massive boost to Indo-US defence ties
• The Ministry of Law and Justice, Government of India (GoI) notified the appointment of Chief Justices (CJ) in 4 High Courts namely, Gujarat High Court, Tripura High Court, Gauhati High Court and Jammu-Kashmir and Ladakh High Court.
• Former foreign minister, Nikos Christodoulides, has been elected the 8th president of Cyprus, beating the career diplomat Andreas Mavroyiannis & he will Succeed Nicos Anastasiades.
• A former judge and freedom fighter, Mohammad Shahabuddin Chuppu, has been declared as the next president-elect of Bangladesh by the country’s Election Commission.
• Tata Steel Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and managing director (MD) TV Narendran stated that the merger of 7 subsidiary companies with Tata Steel is expected to be completed in 2023-24 fiscal year (FY24).

• The Centre has designated All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, also known as AIIMS Delhi as the centre of excellence (CoE) for Artificial Intelligence (AI) in healthcare.