01st March, 2023

1. Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways has laid the foundation stone for the world’s largest and unique Divyang Park – Anubhuti Inclusive Park in Nagpur, Maharashtra.
2. Asian Development Bank (ADB) President Masatsugu Asakawa and India Prime Minister Narendra Modi met to discuss the country’s development priorities.
3. Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation has released revised Guidelines on Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS)-2023.
4. Union Cabinet approved the extension of the term of the 22nd Law Commission of India upto 31st August 2024.
5. 18th UIC World Security Congress was organised by the Railway Protection Force (RPF) and the International Union of Railways (based in France).
6. Chief Justice of India (CJI) D Y Chandrachud has launched ‘neutral citations’ to ensure a uniform pattern of citing the decisions of the Supreme Court.
7. Uttar Pradesh government and Tata Technologies signed an MoU to upgrade 150 state- run industrial training institutes (ITIs) in accordance with the requirements of Industry 4.0.
8. Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd has received the Indian Technical Standard Order (ITSO) authorisation from Directorate General of Civil Aviation for its indigenously developed Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) and Flight Data Recorder (FDR) – Black Boxes.
9. INS Nireekshak awarded on-the-spot chief of the naval staff unit citation for deep sea diving & undertaking rescue operations under the most challenging circumstances.
10. Gopalan Aerospace has formed a joint venture with Slovakian companies to manufacture precision drones.
11. Indian firm ICOMM, a group company of Megha Engineering & Infrastructures Ltd (MEIL), has signed the first-ever Transfer of Technology agreement with UAE-based small arms company CARACAL for defence articles.
12. Ministry of Rural Development and Meesho have signed an MOU to onboard rural women entrepreneurs in various states to launch and grow their businesses online.
13. Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) signed MOU with IIT Guwahati, IIT Gandhinagar and NIT Calicut for establishment of ‘BIS Standardization Chair Professor’ at these institutes.
14. India Pulses and Grains Association (IPGA) and IBRAFE, Brazil have signed an MoU at the recently held sixth edition of the Pulses Conclave in Mumbai.
15. CSC Academy, a subsidiary of Common Service Centre e-Governance Services India Limited, and NIELIT (National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology) have signed an MoU to boost digital literacy and skill development in India.
16. Tokamak Energy (a UK based fusion power research company) has developed “Demo4” super magnet to test the nuclear fusion power plants.
17. UK has surpassed India as the world’s sixth-largest equity market for the first time in almost nine months.
18. Sri Lanka has accepted a $442 million wind power project of Adani Green Energy.
19. RBI has released the “Do Bank Mergers Improve Efficiency? The Indian Experience” paper.
20. CarDekho has partnered with Delhi-based Medulence to provide emergency medical services.
21. According to the latest Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade data, the foreign direct investment (FDI) in India declined by 15% to USD 36.75 billion during the April-December 2022.
22. Singapore-based RBB Ship Chartering Pte Ltd (RSCPL) became the first ship leasing operator at India’s first International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) in Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City), Gandhinagar.
23. State Bank of India has integrated its BHIM SBIPay with the new real-time payments system i.e., UPI-PayNow between India and Singapore.
24. Axis Bank has successfully enabled cross border transaction in real time via the UPI Network.
25. Infosys will expand its collaboration with Microsoft to help accelerate enterprise cloud transformation journeys
26. Central Bank of India has entered a co-lending partnership with Moneywise Financial Services Pvt Ltd for lending to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs).
27. Policybazaar has partnered with Niva Bupa Health Insurance and Tata AIA Life Insurance to offer health, wealth, and life
28. Niva Bupa Health Insurance Co Ltd (formerly known as Max Bupa Health Insurance Company Limited) has launched ‘ReAssure 2.0’ to give a premium discount of up to 30% on policy renewal basis health points earned.
29. Paisalo Digital Ltd. was entering into a co-lending loan agreement with Karnataka Bank to meet the funding requirements of priority segments such as agriculture, retail, MSME, and women entrepreneurs.
30. India’s Ola Electric Mobility Pvt. is planning to build world’s largest electric vehicle hub with an investment of Rs 7,610 crore ($920 million) in Tamil Nadu to localize the supply chain for cleaner transport.
31. NSE Indices Ltd, the subsidiary of India’s National Stock Exchange (NSE), has launched the country’s first ever Municipal Bond Index in the backdrop of rising appetite for such instruments among investors.
32. According to Assocham-Crisil Ratings data, the Assets Under Management (AUM) of Asset Reconstruction Companies (ARCs) is expected to grow almost 10% this fiscal to ₹1,19,000 crore after a period of relative stagnation.
33. Union Government has appointed Rajesh Rai as the new Chairman and Managing Director of ITI Limited (Indian Telephone Industries Limited) for a period of five years with effect from February 21, 2023.
34. strong>Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Assocham) has appointed Sanjay Nayar as its new vice-president.
35. Rajeev Raghuvanshi has been appointed as the Drug Controller General of India.
36. strong>Dr K Govindaraj has been unanimously nominated to take over as President of FIBA Asia.
37. February 27 – National Protein Day (4th edition); Theme – Easy Protein for All
38. 13thedition of Sansad Ratna Awards for 2023 have been announced.
39. Sajjan Jindal (Chairman and Managing Director of JSW Group) was named the EY Entrepreneur of the Year™ 2022 and will now represent India at the EY World Entrepreneur of the Year Award (WEOY).
40. S&P Global has released The Commodity Insights Top 250 Global Energy Company Rankings.
41. At the Hollywood Critics Association Film Awards 2023, ‘RRR’ movie won 5 awards.
42. BJP national president J.P. Nadda has launched “Modi: Shaping a Global Order in Flux” book.

National News

1. Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways has laid the foundation stone for the world’s largest and unique Divyang Park – Anubhuti Inclusive Park in Nagpur, Maharashtra.
   • It is the world’s first inclusive disabled park.
2. Asian Development Bank (ADB) President Masatsugu Asakawa and India Prime Minister Narendra Modi met to discuss the country’s development priorities.
   • ADB is planning to provide $20 billion–$25 billion resources over 5 years to advance the country’s aspirations for fast, inclusive, and green growth.
3. Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation has released revised Guidelines on Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS)-2023.
   • Objective – MPLAD scheme aims to enable members of parliament (MPs) to recommend works of developmental nature with emphasis on the creation of durable community assets in their Constituencies.
   • Launch Year – 1993
   • Funding – It is a Central Sector Scheme fully funded by Central Government
   • Under the scheme, MPs have choice to suggest District Collector for works to tune of Rs.5 Crores per annum to be taken up in their constituency.
     • Rajya Sabha MPs can recommend works in one or more districts in the State from where they are elected.
     • Nominated Members of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha may select any one or more Districts from any one State for implementation of their choice of work.
   • Annual fund entitlement per MP constituency – Rs.5 crore.
   • Minimum amount per project – Rs. 2.5 Lakh (earlier the limit was Rs 1 lakh)
4. Union Cabinet approved the extension of the term of the 22nd Law Commission of India upto 31st August 2024.
   • Chairperson of the 22nd Law Commission of India – Justice Rituraj Awasthi (retd.)
5. 18th UIC World Security Congress was organised by the Railway Protection Force (RPF) and the International Union of Railways (based in France).
   • The Congress ended with the adoption of the Jaipur Declaration.
6. Chief Justice of India (CJI) D Y Chandrachud has launched ‘neutral citations’ to ensure a uniform pattern of citing the decisions of the Supreme Court.

State News

1. Uttar Pradesh government and Tata Technologies signed an MoU to upgrade 150 state- run industrial training institutes (ITIs) in accordance with the requirements of Industry 4.0.

Defence News

1. Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd has received the Indian Technical Standard Order (ITSO) authorisation from Directorate General of Civil Aviation for its indigenously developed Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) and Flight Data Recorder (FDR) – Black Boxes.

2. INS Nireekshak awarded on-the-spot chief of the naval staff unit citation for deep sea diving & undertaking rescue operations under the most challenging circumstances.
   • INS Nireekshak is a Dive Support and Submarine Rescue Vessel of Indian Navy.  Built by Mazgaon Dockyard Shipbuilders in 1985. The ship has been in service with the Navy since 1989 and was commissioned in the year 1995.
3. Gopalan Aerospace has formed a joint venture with Slovakian companies to manufacture precision drones.
   • Under the partnership, the companies will work closely to explore opportunities to develop drone-based service applications in the Indian Defence Sector.
   • Gopalan Aerospace signed a joint venture with Omnipol Group (Czech-based company) and a partner of NATO in the field of defence and security, to integrate Passive Radars for the Indian Defence Industry in the border areas.
4. Indian firm ICOMM, a group company of Megha Engineering & Infrastructures Ltd (MEIL), has signed the first-ever Transfer of Technology agreement with UAE-based small arms company CARACAL for defence articles.
   • CARACAL’s complete line of small arms will be produced at the ICOMM’s design, development and manufacturing centre in Hyderabad.

Memorandum of Understand

1. Ministry of Rural Development and Meesho have signed an MOU to onboard rural women entrepreneurs in various states to launch and grow their businesses online.
   • Meesho is an e-commerce platform owned by Bengaluru-based Fashnear Technologies Private Limited.
   • The MOU aims to drive digital inclusion of all women registered under State Rural Livelihood Missions (SRLMs) and enable them to sell online.
2. Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) signed MOU with IIT Guwahati, IIT Gandhinagar and NIT Calicut for establishment of ‘BIS Standardization Chair Professor’ at these institutes.
   • Purpose – research and development, teaching and training in the field of Standardization and Conformity Assessment in the country
   • The chair will focus on the areas of Civil, Electrical, Mechanical, Chemical, Earthquake Engineering, Development and Management of water resources and renewable energy projects, Infrastructure Development, Medical Biotechnology & Nanotechnology, Biomaterials, etc.
   • This will promote excellence and leadership in teaching and research & development in the field of science and various disciplines.
3. India Pulses and Grains Association (IPGA) and IBRAFE, Brazil have signed an MoU at the recently held sixth edition of the Pulses Conclave in
   • Purpose – to establish co-operative actions to contribute to the food security of both countries
   • IBRAFE is the Brazilian Institute of Beans, Pulses and Special Crops.
4. CSC Academy, a subsidiary of Common Service Centre e-Governance Services India Limited, and NIELIT (National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology) have signed an MoU to boost digital literacy and skill development in India.

International News

1. Tokamak Energy (a UK based fusion power research company) has developed “Demo4” super magnet to test the nuclear fusion power plants.
   • It is world-first set of “super” magnets that can be used for testing nuclear fusion power plants.
2. UK has surpassed India as the world’s sixth-largest equity market for the first time in almost nine months.
3. Sri Lanka has accepted a $442 million wind power project of Adani Green Energy.

Banking and Economy

1. RBI has released the “Do Bank Mergers Improve Efficiency? The Indian Experience” paper.
   • Authors – Snehal S. Herwadkar, Shubham Gupta, and Vaishnavi Chavan
   • The paper highlights that the bank mergers are beneficial for the banking ecosystem of India.
2. CarDekho has partnered with Delhi-based Medulence to provide emergency medical services.
3. According to the latest Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade data, the foreign direct investment (FDI) in India declined by 15% to USD 36.75 billion during the April-December 2022.
   • During April-December 2022-23, Singapore emerged as the top investor with USD 13 billion FDI.
   • It was followed by Mauritius (USD 4.7 billion), the US (about USD 5 billion), the UAE (USD 3.1 billion), the Netherlands (USD 2.15 billion), Japan (USD 1.4 billion), and Cyprus (USD 1.15 billion).
   • The computer software and hardware sector attracted the highest inflows of USD 8 billion during the nine-month period of this fiscal.
   • It was followed by services (USD 6.6 billion), trading (USD 4.14 billion), chemicals (USD 1.5 billion), automobile industry (USD 1.27 billion) and construction (infrastructure) activities (USD 1.22 billion).
4. Singapore-based RBB Ship Chartering Pte Ltd (RSCPL) became the first ship leasing operator at India’s first International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) in Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City), Gandhinagar.
5. State Bank of India has integrated its BHIM SBIPay with the new real-time payments system i.e., UPI-PayNow between India and Singapore.
   • It allows peer-to-peer fund transfers through participating banks and other financial institutions.
6. Axis Bank has successfully enabled cross border transaction in real time via the UPI Network.
   • This initiative is a part of the joint initiative between the RBI and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to develop cross-border payments between India and Singapore.
   • The UPI of India and PayNow of Singapore will be linked to enable faster and cost-efficient transfer of cross-border remittances.
7. Infosys will expand its collaboration with Microsoft to help accelerate enterprise cloud transformation journeys
8. Central Bank of India has entered a co-lending partnership with Moneywise Financial Services Pvt Ltd for lending to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs).
9. Policybazaar has partnered with Niva Bupa Health Insurance and Tata AIA Life Insurance to offer health, wealth, and life
10. Niva Bupa Health Insurance Co Ltd (formerly known as Max Bupa Health Insurance Company Limited) has launched ‘ReAssure 2.0’ to give a premium discount of up to 30% on policy renewal basis health points earned.
    • Other benefits include no capping on room rent, any hospitalization of 2 hours and above will be covered, Smart Health + rider – offering unlimited tele consultations – and Day one coverage for diabetes and hypertension.
11. Paisalo Digital Ltd. was entering into a co-lending loan agreement with Karnataka Bank to meet the funding requirements of priority segments such as agriculture, retail, MSME, and women entrepreneurs.
12. India’s Ola Electric Mobility Pvt. is planning to build world’s largest electric vehicle hub with an investment of Rs 7,610 crore ($920 million) in Tamil Nadu to localize the supply chain for cleaner transport.
13. NSE Indices Ltd, the subsidiary of India’s National Stock Exchange (NSE), has launched the country’s first ever Municipal Bond Index in the backdrop of rising appetite for such instruments among investors.
    • The index will track the performance of municipal bonds issued by Indian civic bodies across maturities with an investment-grade credit rating.
    • It currently has 28 municipal bonds issued by 10 issuers rated AA.

GDP Forecast

1. According to Assocham-Crisil Ratings data, the Assets Under Management (AUM) of Asset Reconstruction Companies (ARCs) is expected to grow almost 10% this fiscal to ₹1,19,000 crore after a period of relative stagnation.

Appointment

1. Union Government has appointed Rajesh Rai as the new Chairman and Managing Director of ITI Limited (Indian Telephone Industries Limited) for a period of five years with effect from February 21, 2023
2. Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Assocham) has appointed Sanjay Nayar as its new vice-president.
   • President – Sumant Sinha

3. Rajeev Raghuvanshi has been appointed as the Drug Controller General of India.
   • The DCGI heads the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) which is responsible for ensuring quality drugs supply across the country. It also has authority to give approval to new drugs and regulating clinical trials.
4. Dr K Govindaraj has been unanimously nominated to take over as President of FIBA Asia.
   • FIBA HQ – Switzerland
   • FIBA Asia HQ – Beirut (capital of Lebanon)

Important Days

1. February 27 – National Protein Day (4th edition); Theme – Easy Protein for All

Awards

1. 13th edition of Sansad Ratna Awards for 2023 have been announced.
   • A total of 13 awardees were felicitated.

2. Sajjan Jindal (Chairman and Managing Director of JSW Group) was named the EY Entrepreneur of the Year™ 2022 and will now represent India at the EY World Entrepreneur of the Year Award (WEOY).
3. S&P Global has released The Commodity Insights Top 250 Global Energy Company Rankings.
   • Rank 1 – Saudi Arabian Oil Co.
   • Rank 2 – Petrobras (Brazil)
   • India’s companies – ONGC (at 14^th rank), Reliance Industries (22^nd rank), Indian Oil Corporation (25^th rank)
4. At the Hollywood Critics Association Film Awards 2023, ‘RRR’ movie won 5 awards.
• Awards are Best Action film, Best International Film, Best Original Song, Best Stunts, and cast/crew of RRR won honorary HCA Spotlight Award.

Miscellaneous

1. BJP national president P. Nadda has launched “Modi: Shaping a Global Order in Flux” book.

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