21 February 2023 CURRENT AFFAIRS.pptx

www.indopraba.blogspot.com
CURRENT AFFAIRS
21 February 2023
Dr. A. PRABAHARAN
Research Director, Public Action

 India and Singapore have launched a joint digital payment mechanism
enabling residents of both the countries to make easy and faster cross-
border transactions.
 Unified Payments Interface (UPI) of India and PayNow of Singapore have
made a tie-up to facilitate these transactions.
The facility was jointly launched by Reserve Bank of India Governor
Shaktikanta Das and Managing Director of the Monetary Authority of
Singapore Ravi Menon today.
Terming this launch a gift for the residents of both the countries, Prime
Minister Narendra Modi said, this will add a new chapter in fintech
connectivity.
 He said, now people can transfer money with their mobile phones in a
cost effective, swift and faster manner.
India and Singapore launch joint digital payment

Arunachal Pradesh has capability to become Natural
Fruit Bowl of country, said President Droupadi Murmu
 President Droupadi Murmu said that Arunachal Pradesh is an
important part of India and is a major stakeholder in the central
government’s Act East Policy.
The President said this while addressing the special session of the
Arunachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly in Itanagar today.
 She said that North-Eastern Region has long been deprived of the
benefits of economic development due to a lack of road, rail and air
connectivity.
 She added that the Union Government is giving top priority to
connectivity and development in the Northeast.
She said that with rich natural resources and quality human
resources, Arunachal Pradesh has full potential to become an
attractive investment destination and the state has the capability to
become Natural Fruit Bowl of the country.

Online registration begins for Char Dham Yatra
 Online registration of pilgrims for Char Dham Yatra has started from
Tuesday.
 The portal of the tourism department opened at seven in the morning.
Pilgrims will be able to register for Badrinath and Kedarnath Dham till
the formal announcement of the opening date of Gangotri and
Yamunotri Dham.
 This will not only help tourists in getting the registration done at home
but they would also get complete information about the opening time
of temple.
There are four holy shrines in Uttarakhand dedicated to Hindu Gods and
holy rivers of India.
 The four shrines are situated within the Garhwal Region.
These are collectively referred as "Char Dhaam of Uttarakhand" .

Pangong Tso lake marathon in Ladakh registered as
world's highest Frozen Lake Marathon in the
Guinness Book
 In Ladakh, country's first ever Frozen Lake Marathon on Pangong Tso has been
officially registered in the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's
highest Frozen Lake marathon.
It was held on Monday at the world-famous Pangong lake at an altitude of
4,350 meters above the mean sea level.
Our Leh Correspondent also reports that the Frozen Lake Marathon is first of its
kind held in the country on Frozen Pangong Lake and is also considered as the
toughest due to high altitude and freezing temperatures.
The theme of the marathon is The Last Run and is organised with an aim to
promote winter as well as border tourism in Ladakh while creating awareness of
climate change.
 It was organised as part of vibrant village Program to accelerate the pace of
development in border villages.

 Vivek Agnihotri's 'The Kashmir Files' bagged the Dadasaheb
International Film Festival Awards and SS Rajamouli's 'RRR' received
the International Film of the Year.
 The grand celebration of Dadasaheb Phalke International Film Festival
(DPIFF) 2023 took place in Mumbai.
The Kashmir Files Director Vivek, in his Tweet, said that "he dedicates
the award to "all the victims of terrorism and to all the people of India
for the blessings.".
 Alia Bhatt won the Award for Best Actress for Gangubai Kathiawadi.
Ranbir Kapoor collected the Best Actor award for his performance in
Brahmastra.
 Veteran actor Rekha was honoured for her Outstanding Contribution
To The Film Industry.
Kashmir Files bags best film award at Dadasaheb
International Film Festival in Mumbai; RRR
International Film of the Year

PM Modi urges citizens to take part in Best
Tourism Village Competition
 Prime Minister Narendra Modi has urged the citizens, particularly the
youngsters, to take part in the Best Tourism Village Competition.
 In a tweet on Tuesday, the Prime Minister has asked them to showcase
the country's great tourism potential.
 The core aim of this competition is to honour villages that preserve and
promote the local art, culture and lifestyle.
It will also evaluate several other areas including economic,
environmental and social sustainability, infrastructure and connectivity,
health and security.
 The competition will be organised at district, State and national levels.

Centre announces release of 20 lakh tonnes of
wheat from FCI in open market for sale
through E-auction
 The Centre has announced the release of 20 lakh tonnes of wheat from
the Food Corporation of India in the open market for sale through E-
auction.
 The reduction in reserve price along with the additional offloading of 20
lakh tonnes of wheat will collectively help in reducing the market price of
wheat and wheat products for consumers.
Earlier, the Committee of Ministers under the chairmanship of Home
Minister Amit Shah had decided to release 30 lakh tonnes of wheat for
sale through E-auction to flour mills, private traders, buyers and
manufacturers of wheat products.
 The Consumer Affairs Ministry said, so far, 50 lakh tonnes of wheat have
been decided to offload under Open Market Sale Scheme- 2023.
 The Ministry said, after the announcement of the Open Market Sale
Scheme Policy 2023, the prices of wheat and atta have come down.

Digital University to reduce cost of higher
education & skill education, says Union
Minister Dharmendra Pradhan
 Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Minister Dharmendra
Pradhan has said that India is setting up a Digital University which
will drastically reduce the cost of higher education and skill
education.
 He said, this will also increase accessibility to a wide variety of
education and skill programmes.
 Mr Pradhan said this while addressing the Shanghai Cooperation
Organisation (SCO) Summit virtually on Tuesday.
 The Minister said, the Government is creating multiple entry and
exit points in the education system which will provide youth
horizontal and vertical mobility across disciplines in general
education and skill education.
 Mr Pradhan also highlighted the role of open-source digital tools
that have helped India realise its ambition in the education and
skill sector.

Railways to launch Guru Kirpa Yatra with Bharat
Gaurav Tourist Train from April 5
 Indian Railways is set to launch Guru Kirpa Yatra from 5th April this
year from Lucknow with its exclusive Bharat Gaurav Tourist Train.
During the eleven-day holy tour, the pilgrims will visit the most
prominent revered sites of Sikhism which includes the five Holy
Takhts.
The tour will include a visit to Sri Kesgarh Sahib Gurudwara and
Virasat-e-khalsa at Anandpur Sahib, Gurudwara Sri Patalpuri Sahib
at Kiratpur Sahib, Gurudwara Sri Fatehgarh Sahib at Sirhind, Sri Akal
Takht Sahib and Sri Harmandir Sahib at Amritsar, Sri Damdama
Sahib at Bathinda, Takht Sachkhand Sri Hazur Sahib at Nanded,
Gurudwara Sri Guru Nanak Jhira Sahib at Bidar and Gurudwara Sri
Harmandarji Sahib at Patna.

EAM S Jaishankar meets Guyana Vice
President Dr Bharrat Jagdeo in New Delhi
 External Affairs Minister Dr. S Jaishankar on Tuesday met Vice
President of Guyana Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo in New Delhi.
 In a series of tweet, Dr. Jaishankar said, both the countries
discussed their historical relationship and greater opportunities
in trade, energy, agriculture and skills.
He said, both the nations also agreed that greater frequency of
India-CARICOM contacts will further galvanize ties.
 Dr. Jaishankar assured Dr. Jagdeo that concerns of the Global
South will be strongly represented during India’s G20
Presidency.

Death toll rises to 8 from fresh Turkey-Syria
earthquake, nearly 300 injured
 The death toll in the fresh earthquake that struck Turkey's
southern province of Hatay and northern Syria has risen to eight.
Nearly 300 people are injured.
 Turkey’s disaster management authority said, nearly 300 people
were injured after a 6.4-magnitude earthquake struck the region
again on Monday.
The earthquake was reported just a few weeks after a strong
quake of 7.8 magnitude claimed lives of over 45,000 people in
both countries.
 The recent tremors were centred near the southern Turkish city of
Antakya and were felt in Jordan, Cyprus, Israel, Lebanon and as far
away as Egypt, and followed by a second, magnitude 5.8 temblor,
and dozens of aftershocks.
 Hatay was the hardest hit among other regions as rescuers
struggled to find survivors in bad weather conditions.

MoU signed between APEDA, Ministry of
Commerce and Lulu
 On February 21, 2023, Agricultural and Processed Food
Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) signed
a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) at Dubai, with
Lulu Hypermarket LLC for the promotion of millets in
GCC countries.
 The MoU was signed In the presence of Ambassador of
India to UAE.
H. E. Sunjay Sudhir, Dr. M Angamuthu, Chairman, APEDA,
Dr. Aman Puri, Consul General of India, Mr. M. A. Yusuff
Ali, Chairman & Managing Director of LuLu Group
International (LLC), and other officers of the Mission, CGI
& APEDA,
 The MoU was signed by Dr. Tarun Bajaj, Director, APEDA
and Mr. Saleem for Lulu group.In order to p

Manipur hosts B20 Conference

On the sidelines of the G20 summit, the State of Manipur
hosted the B20 conference.
 The theme of the conference was Sustainable Growth and
Development.
 It was in line with the theme of the G20 summit, which is One
Earth One Family One Future.
 More than 23 countries attended the conference. Union
Ministers for State for Commerce, External Affairs, etc
attended the conference.
 B20 means Business 20.
 It is one of the engagement groups of G20.

One Year of India-UAE CEPA
 India and UAE signed the Comprehensive Economic Partnership
Agreement in 2022.
 In 2023, the countries celebrated one year of signing the agreement
recently.
 CEPA is a Free Trade Agreement.
 With UAE, India signed CEPA on agriculture, taxation, customs valuation,
trade in goods, import licensing, export subsidies, non-tariff measures,
intellectual property, dispute settlement, MSME, digital trade, etc.
 The countries signed the agreement on February 18, 2022, during a
virtual summit held between Indian PM Modi and the UAE President
Zayed Al Nahyan.

 In 2023, World Pangolin Day is celebrated on February 18.
Every year the day is celebrated on the third Saturday of
February month.
 The main objective of the celebration is to create awareness
about the Pangolin population decline.
 The population of Pangolin are decreasing rapidly in Africa
and Asia.
 The main reason for the decline is their medicinal value.
 Pangolin scales have several medicinal properties.
World Pangolin Day: Data on Pangolin poaching in India

Qatar lifts temporary ban on Indian Frozen
Seafood

In November 2022, Qatar detected Vibrio Cholera in Indian
consignments.
 Following this, the country banned seafood from India. This was
done just before the FIFA world cup.
 Qatar hosted the 2022 FIFA and testing laboratories were
occupied with FIFA-related assignments.
 Due to a lack of testing laboratories, Qatar banned seafood from
India.
 Recently, China too lifted its ban on Indian sea foods.
 China banned seafood imports from India in 2020.
 According to China, there were COVID traces on the seafood
from India.

NASSCOM Report on AI skill penetration
 The National Association of Software and Services Companies,
NASSCOM released a report on “Artificial Intelligence
Penetration”.
 The report was launched along with DRAUP and SALESFORCE.
 According to the report, the AI penetration of India is 3.09.
This is the highest among all G20 countries and OECD
countries.
 The report also says India will have more than one million AI
professionals by 2024.

Ethanol interest subvention scheme- Updates
 The Government of India recently approved nine ethanol
blending projects.
 These projects are to be implemented under the Ethanol
Interest Subvention Scheme.
 The newly added projects are expected to produce 35 crore
litres of ethanol.
 Of these nine, three are molasses based and five are grain
based.
 Around Rs, 1,034 crores of investments are expected on these
projects.
 Also, the projects will create hundreds of employment
opportunities.

BEL and Israel Aerospace to form JV
 The Bharat Electronics Limited operating under the
defence ministry recently signed a Memorandum of
Understanding with the Israel Aerospace Industries
(IAI) at the Aero India Air Show.
 According to the agreement, BEL and IAI will
establish a joint venture. The JV will provide support
to the missile defence system of the country.
 The JV will produce advanced phased array radar,
interceptors, launchers, etc.
 These are all the supporting systems of a missile. The
JV will mainly focus on MRSAM.

Bangladesh: Tributes paid to language martyrs
on ‘Amar Ekushey’ and the International
Mother Language Day
 Exactly at one minute past midnight on Tuesday, President M Abdul
Hamid, followed by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina paid their homage
to the martyrs of the language movement by placing wreaths at the
Central Shaheed Minar in Dhaka.
While they placed the wreath, the song ‘Amar Bhayer Rokto
Rangano Ekushey February…Ami Ki Bhulitey Pari’ (21 February was
smeared with the blood of our brothers….can we ever forget their
sacrifice) played in the background remembering the supreme
sacrifice of the martyrs of 21 February 1952 who were killed by the
bullets of Pakistani forces for demanding the rightful place for
Bangla in the then East Pakistan.

Union Minister of Food Processing Industry
inaugurates India Pavillion at Dubai
 India Pavilion’ at Gulfood, Dubai was inaugurated by Shri
Pashupati Kumar Paras, Minister of Food Processing Industries,
Government of India in the presence of Shri Sunjay Sudhir,
Ambassador of India to the UAE on February 20th.
‘India Pavilion’ is the largest pavilion at the Gulfood 2023. 306
companies, comprising of leading players, SMEs and Startups
are participating under one umbrella at ‘India Pavilion’.
The Indian companies are exhibiting in all segments of the
Gulfood viz. Beverages, Pulses, Grains, Cereals, World Food,
Meat and Poultry, Dairy, Fats & Oils, etc.
 The leading Indian companies participating include Amul, MDH,
Parle, Rasna, Bikanerwala, Bikaji, Everest Foods, Markfed, Safal
and Lal Quilla.

India-Bangladesh cycle rally participants pay
tribute to Language Martyrs in Dhaka
 The 15-member team of the international Cycle expedition
‘India-Bangladesh peace and Friendship bicycle rally’ paid
tribute to the Language Martyrs at the Central Shaheed
Minar in Dhaka on Tuesday on the occasion of the
International Mother Language Day.
The group of cyclists had started from Kolkata on February
14.
After arriving in Dhaka on 19 February, they visited the
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Memorial to pay respect to the
Father of the nation Sheikh Mujib.
 Later, they visited some of the prominent cultural groups in
Dhaka and performed songs of love and language solidarity
on Monday.

India's young shooter Rudrankksh Balasaheb
Patil wins gold medal at ISSF Shooting World
Cup
 Young Indian shooter Rudrankksh Balasaheb Patil won the gold
medal in the 10m Air Rifle individual event at the ongoing ISSF
Shooting World Cup at Cairo in Egypt on Tuesday.
 The 19-year-old Rudrankksh defeated Maximilian Ulbrich from
Germany with a score of 16-8 in the final.
Croatia's Miran Maricic took the bronze medal.
 This was Patil's second gold at the ongoing competition, having won
the yellow metal in the 10m rifle mixed team event with Narmada
Raju. Earlier, Rudrankksh qualified for the Ranking matches after
finishing 7th in the qualification round with a score of 629.3.
 After finishing in the first position in ranking matches, Rudrankksh
qualified for the gold medal match.

21 February 2023 CURRENT AFFAIRS.pptx

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

Similar to 21 February 2023 CURRENT AFFAIRS.pptx

Similar to 21 February 2023 CURRENT AFFAIRS.pptx (20)

More from Dr.A.Prabaharan Professor & Research Director, Public Action

More from Dr.A.Prabaharan Professor & Research Director, Public Action (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

21 February 2023 CURRENT AFFAIRS.pptx