Current Affairs in English – February 17 2023

February 17, 2023

National Events:

Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar:

• The Union Minister for Culture and Tourism G. Kishan Reddy presented the Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar 2019, 2020, and 2021 to 102 artists (including three joint awards) of India on 15th February 2023.
• Starting in 2006, the award is given to artists up to the age of 40 years with the objective of encouraging outstanding young talents in diverse fields of the performing arts.

Tourism Ministry:

• The Tourism Ministry announced that it will organise the 1st Global Tourism Investors’ Summit for promotion of tourism sector. It will be organised from 17 to 19 May 2023 in New Delhi.
• The Summit will deliberate on potential opportunities for investment across tourism segments including hotels and restaurants, adventure and eco-tourism, cruise and other related tourism sectors.

Divya Kala Mela 2023:

• Divya Kala Mela 2023 is being organised in Mumbai. It is being organised from 16 to 25 Feb 23 in Mumbai’s MMRDA Grounds. Divyangjan Empowerment Dept. and National Handicapped Finance and Development Corporation are organising it.
• It is an unique exhibition cum sale of products made by divyang entrepreneurs and artisans. It is showcasing products made by around 200 divyang artisans from 24 States and Union Territories.

Jal Jan Abhiyan:

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually inaugurated the Jal Jan Abhiyan in Abu Road in Sirohi district of Rajasthan on 16 Feb 23. The main objective of this campaign is to plant trees along with water harvesting and motivate people for water conservation.
• This campaign has been started by the Brahma Kumaris organisation and the Ministry of Jal Shakti.

First waste-to-hydrogen plant:

• The Government of India is to set up the first waste-to-hydrogen plant at a cost of Rs 430 crores in Pune. The plant will be built by a private company Green Billion Limited.
• The company has signed an agreement with the Pune Municipal Corporation for 30 years. The objective of the plant is to treat 350 tonnes of solid waste daily. From this, it will produce ten tonnes of Hydrogen every day.

‘Harbinger 2023’:

• The Reserve Bank of India, on 14 Feb 23, announced its 2nd global hackathon called ‘Harbinger 2023 – Innovation for Transformation’. The theme of the hackathon is ‘Inclusive Digital Services’.
• It will be conducted in 4 segments namely Digital Banking, regulations, transactions, and the use of blockchain in transactions. The winner will get Rs 40 lakhs and the runner-up will get Rs 20 lakhs.

e-BG (Electronic Bank Guarantee):

• The Indian Overseas Bank has launched the facility of issuance of e-BG (Electronic Bank Guarantee) scheme. The IOB has launched the e-BG in association with the National e-Governance Services Ltd.
• The e-BG is an instrument issued by the city-headquartered bank in which the bank undertakes to guarantee a specific amount against the non-fulfillment of some action/ performance of the applicant.

Pangong Tso Lake:

• The Pangong Tso Lake in Ladakh will host the first-ever frozen lake marathon on 20 Feb 23. The marathon will occur at a height of 13,862 feet and it will be the first of its kind to ever take place in the globe at this altitude.
• It is being organised by Adventure Sports foundation of Ladakh in collaboration with Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council Leh and Ladakh Tourism Department.

Sujalam-Sufalam Jal Abhiyan:

• Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel launched 6th phase of Sujalam-Sufalam Jal Abhiyan at Khoraj in Gandhinagar on 17 Feb 23. It aims to raise groundwater level and maximize rainwater use. It will be held for 104 days till 31 May 23.
• Under this various developmental works for the deepening of lakes, construction of check dams and ponds, and cleaning of canals will be carried out.

Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar:

• Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar was sworn in as the 41st Governor of Bihar on 17 Feb 2023.
• He had served as the Speaker of Goa legislative assembly and the minister of forest, environment and panchayat in the Goa government before being appointed as the governor of Himachal Pradesh in July 2021. Mr Arlekar succeeded Phagu Chauhan who is now the Governor of Meghalaya.

Slowest cities in the world:

• Bengaluru has ranked high among the slowest cities in the world when it comes to moving in traffic. It time takes to drive in as one can cover just 10 km in 29 minutes and 10 seconds in the city.
• The findings were shared by a report by TomTom, a Dutch multinational developer of location tech. The top rank went to London with 36 minutes and 20 seconds.

AICTE & BPRD:

• All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPRD) jointly launched a national-level hackathon, KAVACH-2023, to tackle cyber threats and provide effective solutions.
• It is being held to identify innovative ideas and technological solutions for addressing the cyber security and cybercrime challenges of the 21st century.

Economic Times Global Business Summit:

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the Economic Times Global Business Summit hosted annually by The Times Group on 17 February 2023. The theme of the Global Business Summit 2023 is “Resilience, Influence, Dominance”.
• It will bring together thought leaders, policymakers, academicians, and corporate heads on a common platform, seeking to provide solutions to key economic challenges.

IETF:

• President Droupadi Murmu on 16 February 2023, inaugurated the International Engineering and Technology Fair (IETF) 2023 in New Delhi.
• It is organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). IETF-2023 covers 11 areas of emerging technologies that would have a profound impact on India’s economy. IETF-2023 is a business platform for Engineering and related products and services.

‘Prathista Puraskar’:

• Karnataka Bank has been awarded ‘Prathista Puraskar’ under ‘Digidhan Awards 2021-22’ by the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology for achieving the target with the highest percentage in BHIM-UPI transactions in the private sector bank category.
• The bank is currently undertaking an accelerated digital drive ‘KBL-NXT’ under its transformation journey ‘KBL VIKAAS 2.0’.

SPMCIL & TERI:

• The Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India Limited (SPMCIL) and the Energy Resources Institute (TERI) have signed an MoU for the integrated development of village Model in February 2023.
• The MoU is for the integrated development of village for Social Development, Model Village Siroliya, Dewas, Madhya Pradesh. TERI was set up as a Tata Energy Research Institute in 1974.

Kaiwalya Trivikram Parnaik:

• Lieutenant General (Retd) Kaiwalya Trivikram Parnaik took oath as the 20th Governor of Arunachal Pradesh on 16 Feb 2023.
• He was administered the oath of office by the Judge of Gauhati High Court, Justice Nani Tagia in a ceremony held at Raj Bhavan in Itanagar. Chief Minister Pema Khandu and Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein were among the dignitaries who attended the swearing-in ceremony.

SIC:

• Former West Bengal DGP Virendra was appointed as the State Information Commissioner(SIC) of West Bengal in February 2023.
• SIC is appointed by the Governor on the recommendation of the committee consisting of the Chief Minister as Chairperson, the Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly, and a state Cabinet Minister nominated by the Chief Minister.

International Events:

Paid medical leave:

• The Spanish government approved a law granting paid medical leave to women suffering from severe menstrual pain-a first for any European country. Such facilities are presently available in countries like Japan, Indonesia and Zambia.
• The law allows employees experiencing period pain to as much time off as they need. The state social security system will compensate for the sick leave.

European Parliament:

• The European Parliament has approved the law to ban the sale of new gas and diesel cars in the EU. The ban will come into effect in 2035. The decision was made to increase the use of Electric Vehicles.
• The main objective of it is to achieve zero emissions. To execute the plan successfully, the European Commission will prepare a report on the progress every two years starting from 2025.

Neal Mohan:

• Indian-American Neal Mohan appointed new CEO of YouTube. YouTube Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Susan Wojcicki stepped from her post on 16 Feb 2023 and will be replaced by Neal Mohan.
• She was previously senior vice president for ad products at Google and became the CEO of YouTube in 2014. Mohan, a Stanford graduate, joined Google in 2008 and is the chief product officer at YouTube, where he has been focusing on building YouTube Shorts and Music.

“EX Dharma Guardians”:

• The 4th edition of the joint military exercise between India and Japan, “EX Dharma Guardians” will be conducted from 17 February to 2 March 2023 at Camp Imazu, Shiga Prefecture, Japan.
• Soldiers from the Garhwal Rifles Regiment of the Indian Army and an infantry regiment from the Japan Ground Self Defense Force (JGSDF) are participating in the exercise.