15th-16th February, 2024

1. Secretary, Department of Land Resources, Nidhi Khare has rolled out National Generic Document Registration System (NDGRS) throughout Assam along with the launch of Unique Land Parcel Identification Number (ULPIN).
2. India and Russia have signed a protocol to amend the 2008 intergovernmental agreement for Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP) site and nuclear power plants designed by Russia at new sites in India.
3. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced the launch of PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana.
4. NITI Aayog has launched Greening and Restoration of Wasteland with Agroforestry (GROW) report and portal.
5. Odisha government has declared the Gupteswar forest in Koraput district as its fourth Biodiversity Heritage Site (BHS).
6. Assam government on Tuesday declared ‘Kaji Nemu’ (citrus lemon) as the state fruit.
7. Union Minister for Health & Family Welfare, Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya has launched the AIIMS-SBI Smart Payment Card.
8. Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) has decided to extend medical benefits to superannuated insured persons with relaxed norms.
9. Indian Overseas Bank has celebrated its 88th Foundation day on 10th February 2024 in Chennai, Tamil Nadu.
10. Centre for Development of Telematics ( C-DOT) and Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee (IIT-R) have signed an agreement for “Developing a 140GHz Fully Integrated Transmitter & Receiver Module for 6G and Beyond”.
11. Google has introduced a new video generation AI model called Lumiere that uses a new diffusion model called Space-Time-U-Net, or STUNet.
12. Central Government has conferred the Bharat Ratna, highest civilian award of India on former Prime Ministers PV Narasimha Rao and Chaudhary Charan Singh and agricultural scientist MS Swaminathan.
13. ACES Awards 2024 has been held at the Taj Mahal Palace in Mumbai.
14. International Day for the Prevention of Violent Extremism as and When Conducive to Terrorism 2024
15. National Productivity Day 2024
16. International Darwin Day 2024
17. International Epilepsy Day 2024
18. World Radio Day 2024
19. Chess Olympiad torch has been handed off by India to the 2024 host Hungary at the National Stadium.
20. Padma Shri awardee Dr Ishwar Chander Verma, an advisor in the institute of medical genetics and genomics has passed away.

National News

1. Launch of National Generic Document Registration System.
• What❓ Secretary, Department of Land Resources, Nidhi Khare has rolled out National Generic Document Registration System (NDGRS) throughout Assam along with the launch of Unique Land Parcel Identification Number (ULPIN).
• About NGDRS-
  • NGDRS is a project initiated by the Department of Land Resources, Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India.
  • It is a common, generic application developed for registration departments across the country under One Nation One Software initiative.
• About ULPIN-
  • ULPIN can be described as the AADHAR or fingerprint for land.
  • It is a 14-digit alphanumeric identification number allotted to every land parcel.
  • Under ULPIN, land is given with a unique blockchain ID and it is identified by the longitude and latitude of the land parcel using ULPIN from Bhu-naksha.
  • Its objective is to ensure uniqueness in all transactions, maintain spatial records, facilitate linking of property transactions, and eliminate fraudulent activities.

Source: PIB

2. Agreement focusing on cooperation in constructing additional nuclear reactors at the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP).
• What❓India and Russia have signed a protocol to amend the 2008 intergovernmental agreement for Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP) site and nuclear power plants designed by Russia at new sites in India.
• Location of Important Nuclear Power Plant in India-

Source: wnn

3. PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana.
• What ❓Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced the launch of PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana.
• Objective-
  • To provide up to 300 units of free electricity monthly to 1 crore households in the country.
• More about PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana-
  • Investment- more than Rs 75,000 crore
  • Eligibility- All residential households are eligible for subsidies on rooftop solar installations
  • Scheme will improve income levels, reduce power bills, and improve employment opportunities, Modi said.
  • Urban Local Bodies and Panchayats will be incentivised to promote rooftop solar systems in their jurisdictions.

Source: outlook

4. Launch of Greening India’s Wastelands with Agroforestry (GROW) Report and Portal.
• What ❓ NITI Aayog has launched Greening and Restoration of Wasteland with Agroforestry (GROW) report and portal.
• About GROW report-
  • Report provides state-wise and district-wise analysis, supporting government departments and industries for greening and restoration projects.
  • It will utilize remote sensing and GIS to assess agroforestry suitability across all districts in India.
  • GROW initiative aligns with national commitments, which aims to restore 26 million hectares of degraded land by 2030
• About Greening and Restoration of Wasteland with Agroforestry (GROW)-Suitability Mapping portal-
  • It allows universal access to state and district-level data.
  • Agroforestry covers 8.65% of India’s total geographical area, totalling about 28.42 million hectares.

  Source: PIB

State News

1. 4th biodiversity heritage site of Odisha.
• What ❓ Odisha government has declared the Gupteswar forest in Koraput district as its fourth Biodiversity Heritage Site (BHS).
• Key points-
  • Forest is adjacent to the Gupteswar Shiva temple in the Dhondrakhol reserve forest under the Jeypore forest division.
  • Gupteswar forest site spread over 350 hectares of area is having sacred grooves traditionally worshiped by the local community.
  • Other Biodiversity Heritage Site of Odisha-
    • Mandasaru in Kandhamal district
    • Mahendragiri in Gajpati district
    • Gandhamardan in Bargarh and Bolangir districts

Source: The Hindu

2. Assam declares state fruit.
• What ❓ Assam government on Tuesday declared ‘Kaji Nemu’ (citrus lemon) as the state fruit.
• ‘Kaji Nemu’ is known for its unique aroma and health benefits and carries Geographical Indication (GI) tag.

Source: ET

Banking and Economy

1. Launch AIIMS-SBI SMART payment card.
• What ❓ Union Minister for Health & Family Welfare, Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya has launched the AIIMS-SBI Smart Payment Card.
• Key points-
  • AIIMS-SBI Smart Payment Card is referred as ‘One AIIMS, One Card’.
  • Card will ensure hassle free payments for treatment in AIIMS New Delhi.
  • Services of these cards will be extended across all the AIIMS in the country in near future.
• More about the card-
  • SBI-AIIMS Smart card is being provided free of cost to all patients and has no service charges.
  • All patients upon admission will be issued the Smart Card.
  • The card will be linked to the patient’s Unique Hospital Identification (UHID) number & the Ayushman Bharat Health Account (ABHA) ID issued under the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM).
  • Top – up and refunds from the card can be done only upon provision of a One Time Password (OTP) received on the mobile number linked to the patient’s UHID. This will help prevent frauds and theft.

Source: PIB

2. ESIC extends medical benefits to superannuated insured persons with relaxed norms.
• What ❓ Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) has decided to extend medical benefits to superannuated insured persons with relaxed norms.
• Key points-
  • Decision has been taken at the 193rd meeting of ESIC under the chairmanship of Union Minister Bhupender Yadav.
  • Medical benefits has been extended to the insured superannuating workers who went out of the ESI Scheme coverage due to exceeding the wage ceiling.
  • Eligibility-
    • Persons who were in the insurable employment for at least 5 years after April 1, 2012 and superannuated/voluntarily retired on or after April 1, 2017 with wages up to Rs 30,000 per month

Source: IE

3. Indian Overseas Bank celebrates its 88th Foundation Day.
• What ❓ Indian Overseas Bank has celebrated its 88th Foundation day on 10th February 2024 in Chennai, Tamil Nadu.
• Key points-
  • IOB has launched various new products and announced the opening of 88 new branches across India.
  • IOB has launched 3 new RuPay credit card variants: 10B RuPay Classic, IOB RuPay Platinum and IOB RuPay Select.
  • IOB has also launched Freedom Current Account and Saving Account (CASA) variant.

Source: ET

Science and Tech

1. Developing 140GHZ Fully Integrated Transmitter & Receiver Module for 6G and Beyond.
• What ❓ Centre for Development of Telematics ( C-DOT) and Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee (IIT-R) have signed an agreement for “Developing a 140GHz Fully Integrated Transmitter & Receiver Module for 6G and Beyond”.
• Key points-
  • Agreement is signed under the Telecom Technology Development Fund (TTDF).
  • What is TTDF Fund?
    • TTDF has been designed for providing funding support to domestic companies and institutions involved in technology design, development, etc.
    • It was launched on October 1st, 2022

Source: PIB

2. Google has introduced a new video-generation Artificial Intelligence (AI) model ‘Lumiere’.
• What ❓ Google has introduced a new video generation AI model called Lumiere that uses a new diffusion model called Space-Time-U-Net, or STUNet.
• More about Lumiere-
  • Lumiere creates 5-second videos in one process instead of putting smaller still frames together.
  • Lumiere can perform text-to-video generation, convert still images into videos, generate videos in specific styles using a reference image, apply consistent video editing using text-based prompts
  • It can create cinemagraphs by animating specific regions of an image.

Source: ET

Awards

1. Bharat Ratna 2024
• What ❓ Central Government has conferred the Bharat Ratna, highest civilian award of India on former Prime Ministers PV Narasimha Rao and Chaudhary Charan Singh and agricultural scientist MS Swaminathan.
• Key points-
  • Total number of Bharat Ratna recipients in 2024 has become 5.
  • This is the highest number of Bharat Ratnas awarded in a year since its inception in 1954.
  • list of Bharat Ratna awardees this year-
    1. Karpoori Thakur (Posthumous)
    2. Lal Krishna Advani
    3. Chaudhary Charan Singh (Posthumous)
    4. Mankombu Sambasivan Swaminathan (Posthumous)

Source: livemint

2. Sportstar Aces Award 2024
• What ❓ACES Awards 2024 has been held at the Taj Mahal Palace in Mumbai.
• 6th edition of the Sportstar Aces awards were awarded in 24 categories which includes 5 Popular Choice and 16 Jury Awards.
• List of the winners in different categories-

Source: sportstar

Important Days

1. February 12– International Day for the Prevention of Violent Extremism as and When Conducive to Terrorism 2024

Source: unaoc

2. February 12– National Productivity Day 2024; Theme– Artificial Intelligence (AI)- Productivity Engine for Economic Growth

Source: HT

3. February 12– International Darwin Day 2024
• The mission of International Darwin Day is to inspire people throughout the globe to reflect and act on the principles of intellectual bravery, perpetual curiosity, scientific thinking, and hunger for truth as embodied in Charles Darwin.

Source: ncse

4. February 12– International Epilepsy Day 2024; Theme- Milestones on My Epilepsy Journey

Source: ph

5. February 13– World Radio Day 2024; Theme- Radio: A century informing, entertaining and educating

Source: pmal

Sports

1. India hands over Chess Olympiad Torch to Hungary
• What ❓Chess Olympiad torch has been handed off by India to the 2024 host Hungary at the National Stadium.

Source: sportstar

Miscellaneous

1. Padma Shri Prof IC Verma has died.
• What ❓Padma Shri awardee Dr Ishwar Chander Verma, an advisor in the institute of medical genetics and genomics has passed away.
• Key points-
  • He was known for his groundbreaking research contributions in genetics and genomics.
  • He was awarded Padma Shri in 2023 for his groundbreaking research contributions.
  • He was also awarded the BC Roy National Award in 1983.
  • He set up the first Genetic centre in India at AIIMS Delhi in 1968.

Source: TOI

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