Daily Current Affairs – March 01, 2024
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Daily Current Affairs - Banking - March 01, 2024
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National News
Cabinet Approval
- The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi had given approval for:
- The establishment of International Big Cat Alliance (IBCA) with headquarters in India with a one-time budgetary support of ₹150 crore for a period of five years from 2023-24 to 2027-28.
- Seven big cats include Tiger, Lion, Leopard, Snow Leopard, Puma, Jaguar and the Cheetah out of these five big cats viz. Tiger, Lion, Leopard, Snow Leopard and Cheetah are found in India.
- The proposal of creation of one post at the level of Scientist H (in the pay level 15) as Director of National Institute of One Health, Nagpur who will also serve as the Mission Director for the multi-Ministerial and multi-sectoral National One Health Mission for integrated disease control and pandemic preparedness, by bringing human, animal, plant and environmental sectors together.
- The creation of one post of Director of National Institute of One Health at the level of Scientist ‘H’ in the pay level 15 (₹1,82,000 – ₹2,24,100) will have the annual financial implications of approx. ₹35.59 lakhs.
- The proposal of the Department of Fertilizers for fixing the Nutrient Based Subsidy (NBS) rates for KHARIF Season, 2024 (from 01.04.2024 to 30.09.2024) on Phosphatic and Potassic (P&K) fertilizers and inclusion of 3 new fertilizer grades under NBS scheme.
- The tentative budgetary requirement for Kharif season 2024 would be approximately ₹24,420 crores.
- the amendment of Second Schedule to the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 (‘MMDR Act’) for specifying rate of royalty in respect of 12 critical and strategic minerals, viz., Beryllium, Cadmium, Cobalt, Gallium, Indium, Rhenium, Selenium, Tantalum, Tellurium, Titanium, Tungsten and Vanadium.
- This completes the exercise of the rationalisation of royalty rates for all 24 critical and strategic minerals.
- It may be noted that the Government had notified the royalty rate of 4 critical minerals, viz., Glauconite, Potash, Molybdenum and Platinum Group of Minerals on March 15 2022 and of 3 critical minerals, viz., Lithium, Niobium and Rare Earth Elements on 12th October, 2023.
- PM-Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana with a total outlay of ₹75,021 crore for installing rooftop solar and providing free electricity up to 300 units every month for One Crore households.
International News
Prime Ministers of India and Mauritius jointly inaugurate new Airstrip and a Jetty at Agalega Island in Mauritius
- The Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Prime Minister of Mauritius, H.E. Mr Pravind Jugnauth jointly inaugurated the new Airstrip and St. James Jetty along with 6 community development projects at the Agalega Island in Mauritius via video conferencing.
- The inauguration of these projects is a testimony to the robust and decades-old development partnership between India and Mauritius and will fulfil the demand for better connectivity between mainland Mauritius and Agalega, strengthen maritime security and foster socio-economic development.
- Mauritius – Port Louis (Capital) –Mauritian rupee (Currency) – Prithvirajsing Roopun (President) – Pravind Jugnauth (Prime Minister) – English & French (Official Language)
State News
Union Road Transport Minister approved various road projects
- Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari has approved ₹3549.48 crore for construction and strengthening of various National Highways projects in Madhya Pradesh and ₹6728.33 crore has been granted for constructing 8 stretches on NH-913 (Froniter Highway) as Intermediate Lane Road, spanning 305.50 Km on EPC mode in Arunachal Pradesh.
Prime Minister laid various projects in Jharkhand
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated and laid the foundation stone for projects worth ₹35,700 crores in Jharkhand.
- Among various projects, he dedicated to the nation the ₹8,900-crore fertiliser plant of Hindustan Urvarak & Rasayan Ltd in Sindri in Dhanbad district.
- He also launched rail, power and coal projects worth over ₹26,000 crore in Jharkhand.
Schemes
Jagananna Vidya Deevena
- The Andhra Pradesh State government will release ₹708 crores under the Jagananna Vidya Deevena scheme.
- Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy will deposit the money directly into the joint bank accounts of 9,44,666 mothers and students for the quarter of October-December 2023, with the click of a button at Pamarru in Krishna district.
- With the ₹708 crore released the total disbursement of financial aid under the Jagananna Vidya Deevena and Vasathi Deevena schemes will go up to ₹18,000 crore.
- The scheme Jagananna Vidya Deevena is to encourage students hailing from poor economic backgrounds to pursue higher education by reimbursing full fee which includes the tuition, special and examination fee and the government deposits money into the accounts of beneficiary’s mother every three months.
Banking and Finance
UPI transactions decline marginally in February to Rs 18.28 trillion
- The Unified Payment Interface (UPI) transactions in India saw a marginal dip in value and volume in February, falling 7 per cent and 0.8 per cent respectively, compared to January.
- In value terms, transactions were seen at ₹18.28 trillion, compared to ₹18.41 trillion in January.
- In volume terms, transactions were seen at 10 billion, compared to 12.20 billion in January.
- In December 2023, this was ₹18.23 trillion in value and 02 billion in volume.
- The numbers were 61 per cent higher in volume and 48 per cent in value, compared to the same month in 2023.
Union Government releases another additional installment of tax devolution of ₹1,42,122 crore to strengthen hands of State Governments
- The Union Government has authorised the release of two installments of tax devolution amounting to ₹1.42 lakh crore to strengthen the hands of State Governments for financing various social welfare measures and infrastructure development schemes.
- This release is in addition to the tax devolution of an instalment of ₹71,061 crores already made on February 12 2024.
- With this release, States have received total of three installments of tax devolution in February 2024.
NPCI International ties up with Greece’s Eurobank for cross-border UPI payments
- NPCI International Payments Ltd (NIPL), a subsidiary of National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), has signed an MoU with Greece-based Eurobank S.A. to enhance cross-border UPI payments.
- The agreement is aimed at revolutionising the process of international money transfers, with a specific focus on streamlining remittances from Greece to India,
- This will make Greece one of the first European countries to enable the Indian diaspora residing in the country to undertake quick and seamless remittances using UPI rails.
- The agreement will enable Foreign Inward Remittance transactions from Greece to India, and will help manage fund settlement, reconciliation, and dispute resolutions in the respective jurisdictions.
- Eurobank Ergasias Services and Holdings S.A. (Eurobank Holdings) is the parent company of Eurobank Group, which also has a presence in Cyprus, Bulgaria, Luxembourg and the UK (London).
Policybazaar now a composite insurance broker after IRDAI final nod
- Policybazaar Insurance Brokers, a wholly owned subsidiary of PB Fintech, has now become a composite insurance broker with the insurance regulator IRDAI handing over the certificate of registration to the company.
- This latest upgrade from earlier category of direct insurance broker (general and life insurance) to a composite insurance broker will allow Policybazaar to enter reinsurance products selling.
- This will allow Policybazaar to deepen the insurance penetration in the country by bringing more technology, process control and data analytics based innovation into re-insurance capacity.
- Policybazaar – July 2008 (Founded) – Gurgaon, Haryana (HQ) – Yashish Dahiya (CEO)
Business and Economy
Oct-Dec GDP growth surges to 8.4%
- Strong growth in manufacturing and good performance of mining and construction pushed the economic growth in October-December quarter (Q3) of Fiscal Year 2023-24 to 4 per cent, defying all the expectations.
- Also, growth rate for full fiscal of 2023-24 upped to 6 per cent from earlier projection of 7.3 per cent.
SBI Ecowrap: India’s FY24 GDP growth could be within striking distance of 8%
- According to SBI’s economic research department, India’s FY24 GDP growth could be within striking distance of 8 per cent even as the per capita GDP at current prices crossed ₹2 lakh mark in FY24 for the first time.
Agreements and MoUs signed
C-DOT sign MoU with Qualcomm towards Atmanirbhar Bharat and driving Design and Make in India vision
- Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT), a public funded research institution focused on telecom technology by the Government of India had signed with Qualcomm Technologies Inc, a subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated, to establish a strategic partnership that will foster innovation in India and support India based developers and start-ups working on innovative products and use cases.
- Qualcomm Technologies will support C-DOT with expertise and best practices, state-of-the-art technology, intellectual property training and tools, for enabling Indian startups, academia, and OEMs, and fast tracking the development and commercialization of indigenous telecom products utilizing Qualcomm wireless solutions and technologies.
- Through this collaboration, C-DOT and Qualcomm Technologies will work towards the following broad objectives:
- Facilitate access for the startups, OEMs and academia with foundational chip technologies and domain experts that will stimulate innovation and help them scale up their R&D efforts
- Accelerate the pace of commercialization and business development of Indian startups engaged in building indigenous telecom products and solutions
NSSO (FOD) signs MoU with ISRO on Urban Frame Survey
- The NSSO (FOD) under Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) under the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) to facilitate Urban Frame Survey (UFS) in a digital mode using the state-of-the-art Geo ICT tools and techniques using Bhuvan Platform.
- UFS is conducted in five-year phases to prepare and maintain a frame of compact urban geographical units, which serve as sampling frame in urban sector, mainly for NSSO large scale Socio-Economic Surveys.
- The UFS in digital form was carried out for the first time during Phase 2017-22 using Bhuvan platform covering more than 5300 towns.
- In the current phase (2022 – 2027), survey works of around 8134 towns are planned with improved and robust versions of Mobile, Desktop and Web Based GIS solutions built on Bhuvan Platform.
- The MoU Covers development / improvement of mobile application for Geo-tagging of NSSO Urban Frame Survey data, Web portal for visualization, system generated scrutiny, editing, etc. of data submitted through mobile application, QGIS plug-in for accessing the polygons captured through mobile application and fine-tuning of Block, IV-unit, Ward and Town boundaries of UFS using High Resolution Satellite Imagery; and Capacity building of NSSO officials by NRSC.
Appointments
RBI clears appointment of S Ravindran as part-time chairman of TMB
- The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has approved the appointment of S Ravindran as the part-time chairman of Tuticorin-based Tamilnad Mercantile Bank (TMB), effective February 29, 2024.
- The approval is subject to Ravindran, stepping down from his directorships in Shriram Finance and Bandhan AMC, before assuming charge as the part-time chairman of the bank.
- He served as the executive director at Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) from August 2011 to May 2022 and also served in various capacities – as chief general manager, general manager, and deputy general manager – at SEBI from March 1993 to January 2005.
- Tamilnad Mercantile Bank (TMB) – 11/05/1921 (Founded) – Tuticorin, Tamil Nadu (HQ) – S. Krishnan (MD & CEO)
IPS officer Daljit Singh Chaudhary appointed as new director general of NSG
- The Centre had appointed 1990 batch IPS officer, Daljit Singh Chaudhary as the director general (DG) of National Security Guard (NSG).
- He is currently the DG of Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), has been given the additional charge of heading the NSG.
- National Security Guard (NSG) – 22/09/1986 (Founded) – New Delhi (HQ)
Important Days
NITI Aayog member launches National Birth Defects Awareness Month 2024 in New Delhi
- NITI Aayog Member Dr V K Paul launched the National Birth Defects Awareness Month 2024 at a function in New Delhi.
- The theme of National Birth Defect Awareness Month 2024 is “Breaking barriers: inclusive support for children with birth defects”.
- Under the Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram (National Child Health Programme) of the Health Ministry, various activities for nationwide awareness of birth defect prevention, early identification, timely management, and psychosocial impact will take place throughout the month.
Zero Discrimination Day 2024
- Zero Discrimination Day is annually observed on March 1.
- The Day is celebrated to promote equality, inclusion, and tolerance across the globe.
- The day was first celebrated on March 1, 2014 after UNAIDS, a joint United Nations program on Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), launched its Zero Discrimination Campaign on ‘World AIDS Day’ in December 2013.
- The then-Executive Director of UNAIDS Michel Sidibé launched the day in 2014 with a major event in Beijing.
- Theme – “To protect everyone’s health, protect everyone’s rights.”
- Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS) – 26/07/1994 (Founded) – Geneva, Switzerland (HQ) – Winnie Byanyima (Executive Director)
World Seagrass Day 2024
- World Seagrass Day is annually observed on March 1.
- Seagrasses are marine flowering plants that are found in shallow waters in many parts of the world, from the tropics to the Arctic circle.
- They form extensive underwater meadows, creating complex, highly productive and biologically rich habitats.
- In May 2022, the General Assembly adopted A/RES/76/265 proclaiming 1 March as World Seagrass Day.
- Theme – Healthy seagrass, healthy planet
World Civil Defence Day 2024
- World Civil Defence Day is annually observed on March 1.
- The day raises awareness on the importance of safeguarding people and their properties from unforeseen emergencies and also helps in celebrating the heroes who consistently demonstrate commitment to saving lives.
- In December 6 1990, World Civil Defence Day was announced by International Civil Defence Organisation.
- Theme – “Honor Heroes and Promote Safety Skills.”
Defence
Indian Navy launches LSAM 18, its fourth auxiliary ammunition barge
- The Indian Navy has launched another ‘Ammunition Cum Torpedo Cum Missile’ (ACTCM) barge; the 4th of 11 units to be delivered to the service.
- Designated ‘LSAM 18’, the barge will serve as an auxiliary vessel for the transportation, embarkation and disembarkation of ammunition articles to Indian Navy warships, alongside jetties and at outer harbours due to the nature of the ordnance.
- The model testing of the barge during its design stage was undertaken at Naval Science and Technological Laboratory, Visakhapatnam.
- A framework contract was initially signed on March 5 2021 with a domestic supplier, a small shipyard enterprise named M/s Suryadipta Projects Pvt Limited, based in Thane, Maharashtra.
- Its last barge, LSAM 17, was delivered to the Navy on November 2023 in Mumbai.
- Indian Navy – 26/01/1950 (Founded) – New Delhi (HQ) – Navy Day (December 4) – Admiral R. Hari Kumar (Chief of Naval Staff) – ‘May the Lord of Water be auspicious unto us’ (Motto)
Daily Current Affairs - March 01, 2024 - Consolidated
- Cabinet Approval
- Prime Ministers of India and Mauritius jointly inaugurate new Airstrip and a Jetty at Agalega Island in Mauritius
- Union Road Transport Minister approved various road projects
- Prime Minister laid various projects in Jharkhand
- Jagananna Vidya Deevena
- UPI transactions decline marginally in February to Rs 18.28 trillion
- Union Government releases another additional installment of tax devolution of ₹1,42,122 crore to strengthen hands of State Governments
- NPCI International ties up with Greece’s Eurobank for cross-border UPI payments
- Policybazaar now a composite insurance broker after IRDAI final nod
- Oct-Dec GDP growth surges to 8.4%
- SBI Ecowrap: India’s FY24 GDP growth could be within striking distance of 8%
- C-DOT sign MoU with Qualcomm towards Atmanirbhar Bharat and driving Design and Make in India vision
- NSSO (FOD) signs MoU with ISRO on Urban Frame Survey
- RBI clears appointment of S Ravindran as part-time chairman of TMB
- IPS officer Daljit Singh Chaudhary appointed as new director general of NSG
- NITI Aayog member launches National Birth Defects Awareness Month 2024 in New Delhi
- Zero Discrimination Day 2024
- World Seagrass Day 2024
- World Civil Defence Day 2024
- Indian Navy launches LSAM 18, its fourth auxiliary ammunition barge
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