02nd March, 2023

1. Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has launched a nationwide ‘Sarva Dawa Sevan’ or Mass Drug Administration (MDA) campaign to eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis (LF) by 2027, which is three years ahead of the global target.
2. “International Bio-resource Conclave”, along with the 22nd Congress of the International Society for Ethno-pharmacology and the 10th Congress of Society for Ethno-pharmacology (ISE SFEC-2023) was held at the City Convention Centre, Imphal, Manipur.
3. Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the ‘Barisu Kannada Dim Dimava cultural festival’ at Talkatora Stadium in Delhi to celebrate Karnataka’s culture, traditions, and history in line with the Prime Minister’s vision of ‘Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat’.
4. Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare organized a two-day “Chintan Shivir” on “Drugs: Quality regulation and Enforcement” in Hyderabad, Telangana.
5. Australia’s Deakin University and University of Wollongong will become the first foreign universities to set up its campus in India in Gujarat’s GIFT City.
6. Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology launched the Grievance Appellate Committee (GAC) portal under the IT Rules, 2021.
7. India has approved its largest ever hydropower project – Dibang Multipurpose Project (MPP) in Arunachal Pradesh.
8. Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Shri Parshottam Rupala launched three national flagship programmes at ICAR-CIBA campus, Chennai.
9. Chennai-based Global Logistics has operated India’s first coastal container feeder service between Chennai and Puducherry Ports.
10. Union Minister Jitendra Singh launched VAIBHAV Fellowship Scheme for the Indian Diaspora abroad on National Science Day.
11. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma attended the foundation stone laying ceremony of northeast India’s first-ever compressed biogas plant project at Domora Pathar in Sonapur under Kamrup (Metropolitan) district.
12. The foundation stone of the Yadgir multi-village drinking water supply scheme under the Jal Jeevan Mission was laid at Kodekal, Yadgir district, Karnataka.
13. Asian Development Bank (ADB) will provide a funding of Rs 1,311.20 crore to Himachal Pradesh for tourism projects.
14. Uttarakhand has announced to create India’s first government mother milk bank for Orphan children in the state at Amar Ujala’s Emerging Leaders of Garhwal program.
15. National Board of Wildlife has cleared the induction of Indian Air Force’s Mountain Radar in Ladakh.
16. Department of Science and Technology (DST) and Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (Germany) have signed a Letter of Intent for a long-term collaboration focusing on hydrogen technologies.
17. V-Guard Industries Ltd has signed an MoU with ESAF Small Finance Bank to provide financing options to customers looking to install V-Guard’s solar rooftop Power System.
18. Saudi Arabia has announced to develop a new city designed on the concept of sustainability, named “The Murabba”.
19. Brand Finance has released the “Telecom 150” 2023 report.
20. Life Insurance Corporation of India has diluted its stake in Industrial Investment Trust Ltd from 5.433% stake to 3.362%.
21. Bank of Maharashtra (BoM) has partnered with Experian India to provide a comprehensive suite of services such as credit risk, advanced analytics, and fraud prevention.
22. Bharti AXA Life Insurance has entered in a bancassurance partnership with Unity Small Finance Bank to sell its life insurance products through the bank’s network.
23. Aditya Birla Sun Life Insurance has launched “ABSLI Nishchit Aayush Plan”, which is a non-linked non-participating individual savings life insurance plan.
24. RBL Bank and Export Import Bank of India (EXIM) have collaborated to support the cross-border payment transactions under the Trade Assistance Programme (TAP).
25. Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) has set up a subsidiary named Reliance SOU for developing properties for commercial use.
26. National Statistical Office (NSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, has released the 2nd advance estimate of National Income for 2022-23.
27. Angel One (broking firm) has received an in-principle approval from SEBI for sponsoring a mutual fund.
28. Private sector lenders IDFC First and Federal Bank will partner with association of microfinance institutions Sa-Dhan and Delhi-based fintech solutions provider NextGen to promote digital payments by feature phone users.
29. RBI has recently released the Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit – January 2023
30. GST Council has decided to reduce GST rates on pencil sharpeners, jaggery, and examination institutions.
31. Moody’s Investors Services has released the Global Macro Outlook 2023-24.
32. Ranveer Singh has been appointed as the brand ambassador of PepsiCo.
33. Former bureaucrat Shailesh Pathak has been appointed as the new Secretary General of Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI).
34. February 28 – Rare Disease Day; Theme – Share Your Colours
35. Civil Accounts Day (47th edition)
36. 2023 Pen America Literary Awards have been announced in New York.
37. Groupe Speciale Mobile Association (GSMA) has conferred Government Leadership Award 2023 to India for implementing best practices in telecom policy and regulation.

National News

1. Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has launched a nationwide ‘Sarva Dawa Sevan’ or Mass Drug Administration (MDA) campaign to eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis (LF) by 2027, which is three years ahead of the global target.
• The high-burden districts in Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Karnataka, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, and Andhra Pradesh have jointly launched the campaign.

2. “International Bio-resource Conclave”, along with the 22nd Congress of the International Society for Ethno-pharmacology and the 10th Congress of Society for Ethno-pharmacology (ISE SFEC-2023) was held at the City Convention Centre, Imphal, Manipur.
• Theme – “Reimagine Ethnopharmacology: Globalisation of Traditional Medicine”
3. Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the ‘Barisu Kannada Dim Dimava cultural festival’ at Talkatora Stadium in Delhi to celebrate Karnataka’s culture, traditions, and history in line with the Prime Minister’s vision of ‘Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat’.
• The 75th-anniversary celebrations of the Delhi Karnataka Sangh also took place.
4. Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare organized a two-day “Chintan Shivir” on “Drugs: Quality regulation and Enforcement” in Hyderabad, Telangana.
• The objective of the two-day Chintan Shivir is to review processes and implementation of policies and programmes related to drugs quality and enforcement in the country.
• A “Chintan Shivir” was also organized by Union Minister of Ayush Shri Sarbananda Sonowal at Kaziranga National Park, Assam.
5. Australia’s Deakin University and University of Wollongong will become the first foreign universities to set up its campus in India in Gujarat’s GIFT City.
6. Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology launched the Grievance Appellate Committee (GAC) portal under the IT Rules, 2021.
• Purpose – to allow people who are dissatisfied with complaints to social media companies on content takedown requests, to be heard by one of three Committees constituted by the government.
7. India has approved its largest ever hydropower project – Dibang Multipurpose Project (MPP) in Arunachal Pradesh.
• The project will be developed by National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) Limited at a cost of $3.9 billion.
• The 2,880-megawatt Dibang hydropower project is being built in the Lower Dibang Valley District of Arunachal Pradesh on the Dibang River.
8. Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Shri Parshottam Rupala launched three national flagship programmes at ICAR-CIBA campus, Chennai.

9. Chennai-based Global Logistics has operated India’s first coastal container feeder service between Chennai and Puducherry Ports.
10. Union Minister Jitendra Singh launched VAIBHAV Fellowship Scheme for the Indian Diaspora abroad on National Science Day.
    • Purpose – for improving the research ecosystem by facilitating academic and research collaborations between Indian institutions and the best institutions in the world through mobility of faculty/researcher from overseas institutions to India
    • Eligibility – the person should be from overseas and must have a Ph.D. or Masters’ degree

State News

1. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma attended the foundation stone laying ceremony of northeast India’s first-ever compressed biogas plant project at Domora Pathar in Sonapur under Kamrup (Metropolitan) district.
2. The foundation stone of the Yadgir multi-village drinking water supply scheme under the Jal Jeevan Mission was laid at Kodekal, Yadgir district, Karnataka.
   • The foundation stone of the Narayanpur Left Bank Canal – Extension Renovation and Modernisation Project (NLBC – ERM) has also been laid to provide irrigation facility in adjoining areas.
3. Asian Development Bank (ADB) will provide a funding of Rs 1,311.20 crore to Himachal Pradesh for tourism projects.
   • Himachal Pradesh CM – Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu
   • Himachal Pradesh Governor – Shiv Pratap Shukla
4. Uttarakhand has announced to create India’s first government mother milk bank for Orphan children in the state at Amar Ujala’s Emerging Leaders of Garhwal program.
   • Under the scheme, lactating women will be able to donate milk in this bank. Through this milk bank, milk will be made available to those new-borns whose mother dies during delivery.
   • India already has human milk banks at various places but those are private milk banks. This milk bank is the first GOVERNMENT milk bank.

Defence News

1. National Board of Wildlife has cleared the induction of Indian Air Force’s Mountain Radar in Ladakh.
   • The radar is expected to be situated just off the proposed new IAF base which will come up across 500 hectares in the Changsheng sanctuary.

Memorandum of Understand

1. Department of Science and Technology (DST) and Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (Germany) have signed a Letter of Intent for a long-term collaboration focusing on hydrogen technologies.
   • DST will provide the enabling framework for cooperation in the hydrogen valley cluster projects, support activities, and facilitate the resources needed wherever applicable and possible.
2. V-Guard Industries Ltd has signed an MoU with ESAF Small Finance Bank to provide financing options to customers looking to install V-Guard’s solar rooftop Power System.
   • Under the agreement, ESAF Bank will provide various financing options, including loans and attractive instalment payment plans.

International News

1. Saudi Arabia has announced to develop a new city designed on the concept of sustainability, named “The Murabba”.
   • In line with Saudi Vision 2030, the world largest downtown is being developed in Riyadh by New Murabba Development Company (NMDC).
   • Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF) has already announced to invest $48 billion in The Murabba city project.
   • Saudi Arabia is also developing a new smart and sustainable city named NEOM.

Banking and Economy

1. Life Insurance Corporation of India has diluted its stake in Industrial Investment Trust Ltd from 5.433% stake to 3.362%.

2. Bank of Maharashtra (BoM) has partnered with Experian India to provide a comprehensive suite of services such as credit risk, advanced analytics, and fraud prevention.
   • Bank of Maharashtra will gain a better understanding of customers’ needs, analyse their risk behaviour, and efficiently manage the credit portfolio.
3. Bharti AXA Life Insurance has entered in a bancassurance partnership with Unity Small Finance Bank to sell its life insurance products through the bank’s network.
   • Bharti AXA is a joint venture between Bharti Enterprises and global insurance firm AXA (a French multinational insurance company).
4. Aditya Birla Sun Life Insurance has launched “ABSLI Nishchit Aayush Plan”, which is a non-linked non-participating individual savings life insurance plan.
   • The plan offers guaranteed regular income starting as early as end of first policy month along with a lump-sum benefit at maturity.
   • The maximum entry age to avail ABSLI Nishchit Aayush Plan is 55 years, while the minimum age is 30 days (long term income option) and 30 years (whole life income).
   • The minimum annualised premium is ₹30,000.
5. RBL Bank and Export Import Bank of India (EXIM) have collaborated to support the cross-border payment transactions under the Trade Assistance Programme (TAP).
   • Using the TAP, India Exim Bank aims to facilitate and enhance India’s exports globally by providing credit enhancement to trade instruments.
6. Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) has set up a subsidiary named Reliance SOU for developing properties for commercial use.
7. National Statistical Office (NSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, has released the 2nd advance estimate of National Income for 2022-23.
   • NSO has also released the First Revised Estimates of National Income, Consumption Expenditure, Saving and Capital Formation for 2021-22.

8. Angel One (broking firm) has received an in-principle approval from SEBI for sponsoring a mutual fund.
9. Private sector lenders IDFC First and Federal Bank will partner with association of microfinance institutions Sa-Dhan and Delhi-based fintech solutions provider NextGen to promote digital payments by feature phone users.
   • In 2022, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), in collaboration with the National Payments Corporation of India, launched the Unified Payment Interface (UPI) for feature phone users known as UPI123Pay.
10. RBI has recently released the Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit – January 2023
    • Credit growth to agriculture and allied activities improved to 14.4% (y-o-y) in January 2023 from 10.4% a year ago.
    • Credit to industry registered a growth of 8.7% (y-o-y) in January 2023 as compared with 5.9% in January 2022.
    • Credit growth of medium industries was 18.1% as against 52.4% last year. Credit to micro and small industries registered a growth of 15.2% in January 2023 (23.3% a year ago).
    • Credit to services sector rose by 21.5% (y-o-y) in January 2023 as compared with 5.7% a year ago, primarily due to the improved credit offtake to ‘NBFCs’.
    • Personal loans growth accelerated to 20.4% (y-o-y) in January 2023 from 12.8% a year ago, largely driven by ‘housing’ and ‘vehicle loans’.
11. GST Council has decided to reduce GST rates on pencil sharpeners, jaggery, and examination institutions.
    • GST on pencil sharpeners will be 12% from 1 March. Earlier, it used to be 18%.
    • The GST rate on Rab (liquid jaggery) has been slashed from 18% to Nil if sold loosely. And, if pre-packaged and labelled, it will attract 5% GST.

GDP Forecasts

1. Moody’s Investors Services has released the Global Macro Outlook 2023-24.
   • India’s GDP forecast –
     • 2022 – 6.8%
     • 2023 – 5.5%
     • 2024 – 6.5%
   • Global GDP forecast –
   • 2022 – 2.7%
   • 2023 – 2%
   • 2024 – 2.4%

Appointment

1. Ranveer Singh has been appointed as the brand ambassador of PepsiCo.
   • PepsiCo has launched a new campaign called “Rise Up Baby” to target young consumers.
2. Former bureaucrat Shailesh Pathak has been appointed as the new Secretary General of Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI).
   • FICCI President – Sanjiv Mehta (MD of Indian Metals & Ferro Alloys Ltd) for 2022-23

Important Days

1. February 28 – Rare Disease Day; Theme – Share Your Colours
2. March 1 –
   • Civil Accounts Day (47^th edition)
   • World Civil Defence Day; Theme – the role of information technology in risk assessment
   • Zero Discrimination Day; Theme – Save Lives: Decriminalise

Awards

1. 2023 Pen America Literary Awards have been announced in New York.

2. Groupe Speciale Mobile Association (GSMA) has conferred Government Leadership Award 2023 to India for implementing best practices in telecom policy and regulation.
   • The award was given at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain.

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