04th-06th February, 2023

1. Gandhisagar Floating Festival, Asia’s first floating festival, was organized at Mandsaur, Madhya Pradesh from Feb 1 to 4.
2. PVR Cinemas has launched “India’s first multiplex in an airport complex” in Chennai.
3. Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the PM Vishwakarma Kaushal Samman Yojana (PM-VIKAS) for the artisans and craftspeople of India in the annual Union Budget 2023.
4. National Action for Mechanised Sanitation Ecosystem (NAMASTE) was given Rs 100 crores approx. in the Union Budget 2023-24.
5. The first meeting of the Sustainable Finance Working Group was organized in Assam’s Guwahati as part of India’s year-long G20 presidency to mobilise sustainable finance to help ensure global growth and stability and promote the transition towards a greener, more resilient, and inclusive societies and economies.
6. Ministry of Cooperation signed an MoU with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, NABARD and Common Service Centres (CSC) e-Governance Services India Limited to enable thousands of Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) to provide different services to rural population across the country.
7. Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR) launched ‘Bal Mitra’, a WhatsApp Chatbot to provide communication support to children and parents in Delhi.
8. General Atomics, a major American energy and defence corporation, has started three significant projects in India in the field of artificial intelligence, drones and semiconductors.
9. One of India’s leading unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) training and manufacturing groups, Drone Destination (DD), has signed an MoU with IIT Patna to open Bihar’s first government-approved drone training hub.
10. The Paris Club will provide financial assurances to the International Monetary Fund on Sri Lanka’s debt.
11. KFin Technologies Limited (KFintech), a leading technology-driven financial services platform providing comprehensive services and solutions to the capital markets ecosystem across asset classes, has launched its operations in GIFT City.
12. IDFC Ltd is investing Rs 2,200 crore in IDFC First Bank to increase its stake in the bank to 40% from 36.38% currently.
13. Kotak Mahindra Bank has implemented the first phase of the RBI’s Digital Rupee.
14. Indore Municipal Corporation has launched secured redeemable non-convertible debentures (NCDs) up to ₹244 crore.
15. Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced that India will get its first hydrogen train by December 2023 which will be completely indigenously manufactured.
16. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced that Permanent Account Number (PAN) will be used for common identifier for all digital systems of specified government agencies.
17. Angel tax is a term used to refer to the income tax payable on capital raised by unlisted companies via the issue of shares where the share price is seen in excess of the fair market value of the shares sold.
18. Manuela Roka Botey has been appointed as the first female PM of Equitorial Guinea.
19. February 2 – World Wetlands Day; Theme – Revive and restore degraded wetlands
20. Kalinga Literary Festival (KLF) Awards –
21. Parimal Dey (former Indian footballer), also called as “Jangla-Da”, has passed away.
22. P. Sainath has authored “The Last Heroes” book.

National News

1. Gandhisagar Floating Festival, Asia’s first floating festival, was organized at Mandsaur, Madhya Pradesh from Feb 1 to 4.
   • While the floating festival will conclude on February 4, the tent city for tourists will continue for 3 months and the adventure activities will go on for six months.
2. PVR Cinemas has launched “India’s first multiplex in an airport complex” in Chennai.
3. Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the PM Vishwakarma Kaushal Samman Yojana (PM-VIKAS) for the artisans and craftspeople of India in the annual Union Budget 2023.
   • Purpose – to unlock the potential of thousands of artists and craftspeople around the nation, through the provision of skills training, technology, and the opening of credit lines to them
   • Components of the Scheme –
   • Financial aid
   • Advanced skill training
   • Access to the latest technology
   • Integration into the MSMEs
   • Paperless payments
   • Wider reach and introduction to a global market
4. National Action for Mechanised Sanitation Ecosystem (NAMASTE) was given Rs 100 crores approx. in the Union Budget 2023-24.
   • Namaste is a Central Sector Scheme of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, as a joint initiative of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.
   • Union government is looking to enable 100% mechanical desludging of septic tanks and sewers in all cities and towns.
5. The first meeting of the Sustainable Finance Working Group was organized in Assam’s Guwahati as part of India’s year-long G20 presidency to mobilise sustainable finance to help ensure global growth and stability and promote the transition towards a greener, more resilient, and inclusive societies and economies.
6. Ministry of Cooperation signed an MoU with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, NABARD and Common Service Centres (CSC) e-Governance Services India Limited to enable thousands of Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) to provide different services to rural population across the country.
   • Under the MoU, the PACS will now be able to function as CSC to provide all the services listed on the Digital Seva Portal of CSC scheme to citizens, including banking, insurance, Aadhaar enrolment/update, legal services, agri-inputs like farm equipment, PAN card, IRCTC, and rail, bus, and air ticket related services.

State News

1. Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR) launched ‘Bal Mitra’, a WhatsApp Chatbot to provide communication support to children and parents in Delhi.
   • DCPCR, a statuary body under the Delhi government was constituted under the Commission for Protection of Child Rights (CPCR) Act, 2005.
2. In June 2022, the Central Ground Water Board reported the groundwater (in the first 100m reach) of Punjab will be exhausted by 2029.
   • In 2039, the groundwater (in 300m reach) will be exhausted.
   • Punjab has been divided into three zones – Green Zone, Yellow Zone, and Orange Zone – based on the extraction and replenishing time.

Defence News

1. General Atomics, a major American energy and defence corporation, has started three significant projects in India in the field of artificial intelligence, drones and semiconductors.
   • Bharat Forge and General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) partnered to set up aerostructure manufacturing.
   • 114ai, an Indian artificial intelligence (AI) company, and General Atomics partnered for next generation of technologies in artificial intelligence.
   • 3rdiTech, an Indian start-up, and General Atomics partnered in the field of semiconductors.
   • A task force was set up by the US Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) in partnership with the India Electronics Semiconductor Association (IESA) and India Semiconductor Mission (government’s flagship scheme) to develop a readiness assessment to identify near-term industry opportunities and facilitate the longer-term strategic development of complementary semiconductor ecosystems.
   • General Atomics Global Corporation’s CEO – Vivek Lall
2. One of India’s leading unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) training and manufacturing groups, Drone Destination (DD), has signed an MoU with IIT Patna to open Bihar’s first government-approved drone training hub.
   • DD is the state-run Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Udan Academy (IGRUA)’s partner for drone training and has several centres across India.

International News

1. The Paris Club will provide financial assurances to the International Monetary Fund on Sri Lanka’s debt.

Banking and Economy

1. KFin Technologies Limited (KFintech), a leading technology-driven financial services platform providing comprehensive services and solutions to the capital markets ecosystem across asset classes, has launched its operations in GIFT City.
2. IDFC Ltd is investing Rs 2,200 crore in IDFC First Bank to increase its stake in the bank to 40% from 36.38% currently.
3. Kotak Mahindra Bank has implemented the first phase of the RBI’s Digital Rupee.
   • KMBL is among the eight banks shortlisted by RBI to implement a pilot project for issuance of Digital Rupee.
   • Kotal will launch the Digital Rupee pilot in Mumbai, Delhi and Ahmedabad.
   • Reliance Retail has become the first merchant to accept RBI’s Blockchain-based CBDC in-store at its food store Freshpik.
   • To launch in-store support for the digital rupee, Reliance Retail has partnered with ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank and fintech company Innoviti Technologies.
4. Indore Municipal Corporation has launched secured redeemable non-convertible debentures (NCDs) up to ₹244 crore.
   • The issue offers a rate of return of 8.25% per annum payable half-yearly.
5. Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced that India will get its first hydrogen train by December 2023 which will be completely indigenously manufactured.
6. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced that Permanent Account Number (PAN) will be used for common identifier for all digital systems of specified government agencies.
   • PAN is a 10-digit alphanumeric number allotted by the income tax department to a person, firm or entity.
7. Angel tax is a term used to refer to the income tax payable on capital raised by unlisted companies via the issue of shares where the share price is seen in excess of the fair market value of the shares sold.
   • The Finance Bill, 2023 has proposed bringing non-resident investors in unlisted companies under the Income Tax Act, also known as the ‘angel tax’.
   • The changes to the provisions under which angel tax is levied will become effective from April 1, 2024 and will be applicable from assessment year 2024-25 onwards.

Appointments

1. Manuela Roka Botey has been appointed as the first female PM of Equitorial Guinea.

Important Days

1. February 2 – World Wetlands Day; Theme – Revive and restore degraded wetlands

Awards

1. Kalinga Literary Festival (KLF) Awards –

Miscellaneous

1. Parimal Dey (former Indian footballer), also called as “Jangla-Da”, has passed away.
2. Sainath has authored “The Last Heroes” book.

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