Current Affairs in English – February 18, 19 2023

February 18-19, 2023

National Events:

Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Jayanti: 19 February:

• February 19 is celebrated as the birth anniversary of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, the founder of the Maratha Empire. He was born on February 19, 1630, in Shivneri Fort.
• In 1870, Mahatma Phule started the celebration of Shivaji Jayanti. In 1674, he was formally crowned at Raigad Fort and obtained the Chhatrapati title. His father Shahaji Bhonsle was a Maratha general.

49th meeting of the GST Council:

• The 49th meeting of the GST Council is being held in New Delhi on 18 February 2023. It will be chaired by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
• Along with the Union Finance Minister, Union Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary, Finance Ministers of States & UTS (with legislature) are also attending the meeting. The last GST council meeting was held on 22 December 2022, which was the 48th meeting.

‘Aadhaar Mitra’:

• The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) in February 2023, launched a new chatbot ‘Aadhaar Mitra’ to help people get an answer to their queries related to the Aadhaar card.
• It is Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning (AI/ML)-a based chatbot and can answer queries related to Aadhaar enrolment number, PVC Card order status, and complaint status, among other things.

KTF & Jammu and Kashmir Ghaznavi Force:

• The Home Ministry has declared Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF), and Jammu and Kashmir Ghaznavi Force as terrorist organizations under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.
• The KTF is a militant outfit that aims at reviving terrorism in Punjab. J&K Ghaznavi Force has been found involved in infiltration bids, narcotics and smuggling and carrying out terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir.

Harwinder Singh Sandhu ‘Rinda’:

• Ministry of Home Affairs has declared Harwinder Singh Sandhu ‘Rinda’ as a terrorist on 17 February 2023. He has been associated with the terrorist organization Babbar Khalsa International and is presently based in Lahore, Pakistan.
• He has been found involved in various terrorist activities, particularly in Punjab. He has been declared terrorist under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.

Bharat Gaurav Deluxe AC Tourist Train:

• Indian Railways, on 17 Feb 2023, launched Bharat Gaurav Deluxe AC Tourist Train – Shri Ram-Janaki Yatra: Ayodhya to Janakpur from Safdarjung Railway Station, Delhi.
• The train will cover two most significant pilgrimage sites Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh and Janakpur in Nepal. The train will go through Ayodhya, Nandigram, Sitamarhi, Janakpur, Varanasi and Prayagraj during its seven-day journey.

Ramesh Bais:

• Ramesh Bais took oath as the 22nd Governor of Maharashtra on 18 February 2023. He has replaced Bhagat Singh Koshyari. Previously, he was the Governor of Jharkhand.
• He had earlier served as the Union Minister of State for Steel and Mines, Chemicals and Fertilizers, Information and Broadcasting, and Environment and Forests – independent charge. He was a 7 time BJP MP from Raipur in Chhattisgarh.

JANUS-1:

• World’s first satellite fully conceived, designed, and manufactured using the Antaris company’s end-to-end cloud platform, JANUS-1 has successfully reached orbit.
• JANUS-1 was recently launched on the Indian Space Research Organization’s (ISRO) new mini-rocket SSLV-D2.
• The complete assembly, integration and test for JANUS-1 was done by Indian firm Ananth Technologies, Bengaluru.

C.P. Radhakrishnan:

• C.P. Radhakrishnan was sworn-in as the 11th governor of Jharkhand on 18 February 2023. Acting Chief Justice of Jharkhand High Court Aparesh Kumar Singh administered the oath of office and secrecy to Radhakrishnan.
• He succeeded Ramesh Bais, who served as the Governor of Jharkhand since July 2021. Radhakrishnan is a two-time Lok Sabha member from Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu.

‘Prawn Fair’:

• Punjab’s first state-level ‘Prawn Fair’ began on 17 February 2023 at Enakhera village in Muktsar district.
• This mela is an effort of the state government to create more awareness about shrimp farming and encourage people to participate in it.
• Shrimp farming began in Punjab in 2016-17 with an aim to effectively utilise state’s saline groundwater (which is not suitable for agriculture).

‘Vayulink’:

• The Indian Air Force has developed an innovative solution ‘Vayulink’ that would aid pilots in dealing with bad weather and also provide jammer-proof uninterrupted communication with the base station.
• The data link communication uses the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) that is also known as NAVIC, to send radio communication to the base station when the signals are low.

‘Omorgus Khandesh’:

• A new beetle species ‘Omorgus Khandesh’ was found in western ghats in India, according to a paper published in the New Zealand-based journal Zootaxa in February 2023.
• It belongs to the Trogidae family and is important for forensic science as it helps detect the time of death of an animal or human. Omorgus Khandesh is necrophagous and is also called a keratin beetle.

MV Suchindra Kumar:

• Lt Gen MV Suchindra Kumar has been named as the new Vice Chief of Army Staff, while incumbent Lt Gen B S Raju appointed as South Western Army Commander. He is serving as the Deputy Chief of Army Staff (Strategy) in the Army Headquarters at present.
• Lt Gen Kumar is an alumnus of the National Defence Academy, Khadakwasla. He was commissioned into the 1 Assam Regiment in June 1985.

Technotex 2023:

• Ministry of Textiles is going to organize 10th ‘Technotex 2023: Envisioning Indian Technical Textiles@ 2047’ event, to be held from 22nd to 24th February 2023 in Mumbai, Maharashtra.
• The first edition of Technotex was organized in 2011. Technotex 2023 would comprise of International Exhibition, Conference and Seminars, CEO’s Forum, Investor Discussions, Country and State Sessions.

NMDC:

• India’s largest producer of iron ore, National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) Limited won five awards at the 9th ‘Governance Now PSU Awards’ held in New Delhi on 16 February 2023.
• Chief Guest of the event, Former Chief Justice of India, Dipak Mishra felicitated the winners. The award recognizes the commitment of PSUS in raising the standards in the public sector.

AIIMS:

• ALL India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Rishikesh in Feb 2023, conducted a successful trial for transporting Tuberculosis (TB) medicines with the help of a drone to the district hospital in Tehri Garhwal in Uttarakhand.
• Drone start-up company TechEagle’s ‘Vertiplane X3’ drone model was used in the trial and delivered 3 kg of tuberculosis medicines to the hospital.

B20:

• Manipur is hosting from 17-20 Feb 2023, the first of the four B20 conferences which is the official G20 Dialogue Forum for the global business community.
• Delegates from 23 nations which consisting of 26 overseas business delegates and 24 diplomats including Ambassadors are participating in the session. During the event, delegates will interact with local industries of different sectors.

Nationwide Pension Adalat:

• The Department of Pension and Pensioners Welfare will hold a nationwide Pension Adalat on 17 March’23 through video conferences. Its objective is the resolution of pensioners’ grievances within the framework of extant policy guidelines.
• Through this, the department will focus on speeding the settlement of cases, especially the cases of super Senior Citizens and family pension cases.

International Events:

Qatar:

• Qatar lifted its temporary ban on the import of frozen seafood from India. The ban was imposed in November 2022, just ahead of the FIFA World Cup following alleged detection of Vibrio cholerae from a few consignments from India.
• However, The ban will continue on exports of chilled seafood. Vibrio cholerae is the Bacteria that causes cholera infection.

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel’s bust:

• India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar unveiled Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel’s bust in India House in Fiji’s capital Suva on 17 February 2023. He was in Fiji from 15-17 February 2023, where he participated in the 12th World Hindi Conference.
• He also launched an India-funded project for the Solarisation of the Pacific Heads of State Residences launched by the Pacific Islands Development Forum (PIDF).

UNDP:

• The UN Development Programme (UNDP) in Feb 2023 won Gold and Silver medal at the 2nd Annual Anthem Awards for its ‘Don’t Choose Extinction’ campaign.
• The award was announced by the International Academy of Digital Arts & Science (IADAS), which was launched by the Webby Awards in 2021.
• UNDP’s ‘Don’t Choose Extinction’ campaign is on fossil fuel subsidies and its negative impact on the planet.

Global Labour Resilience Index 2023:

• The White Shield, a policy advisory firm, released the Global Labour Resilience Index 2023 in February 2023. The index measures the capacity of the economy to withstand employment fluctuations and the ability to fight back.
• Denmark was ranked first in the index followed by Switzerland, Germany in second, and third places respectively. India ranked 65th while Pakistan secured 97th position.

Services Trade Restrictiveness Index:

• India in February 2023, ranked 47th position in Services Trade Restrictiveness Index (STRI) 2022 conducted by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
• Russia was in the 48th position due to its war with Ukraine. Japan was ranked first followed by UK, Netherlands, Czech, and Chile in second, third, fourth, and fifth places respectively.

First-ever debate on sea level rise:

• The United Nations Security Council held its first-ever debate on sea level rise in February 2023. The debate was titled “Sea-Level Rise: Implications for International Peace and Security”.
• According to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the rate of sea level rise has doubled since 1993, with a 10-millimeter (0.4 inches) increase since January 2020 to a new record high in 2022.

David Malpass:

• World Bank chief David Malpass announced on 16 Febuary 2023 that he would step down from his post. He was selected as 13th President of the World Bank Group by its Board of Executive Directors on April 5, 2019.
• He served as an economic advisor to Donald Trump in 2017 and also served as Under Secretary of the Treasury for International Affairs at the Treasury Department.

Sports Events:

Chetan Sharma:

• Chetan Sharma, chairman of the senior men’s selection committee, has submitted his resignation to BCCI Secretary Jay Shah. He did this following a sting operation by a private news channel.
• The resignation has been accepted by the Indian cricket board. S Sharath, Subroto Banerjee, Salil Ankola and Shiv Sunder are the other 4 selectors in the 5-member selection committee.