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Highlights:

• Oscar winner and multiple Emmy-winning actor Cloris Leachman has passed away.
• Leachman, best remembered for playing Phyllis Lindstrom on 'The Mary Tyler Moore Show', died of natural causes on Tuesday in Encinitas, California, reported Variety.

• The late star was known as one of Hollywood's most prolific performers having won an Academy Award, a Golden Globe, and eight Primetime Emmy Awards.
• Leachman's character Phyllis in 'The Mary Tyler Moore Show', which she claimed was close to her own persona, brought the actress two Emmys as a featured actress in a series during the mid-'70s and made Leachman a household name.
• Leachman also won a supporting actress Oscar for a far different character, an embittered small-town housewife in Peter Bogdanovich's 'The Last Picture Show'. 
• She later reprised the role in the film's less successful sequel 'Texasville'. 
• Both films were based on the writings of Larry McMurtry.
• Her other high-profile television credits include 'The Facts of Life' portraying Beverly Ann Stickle, Grandma Ida on 'Malcolm in the Middle' and a recent role in the rebooted 'Mad About You'.
• Leachman, who appeared in three of Mel Brooks' comedy movies, kept acting regularly well into her 90s. 
• She was a contestant on 'Dancing With the Stars' at the age of 82 and featured in the 2019 reboot of the comedy series 'Mad About You'.
• However, two of her films made in 2019 and 2020 are yet to be released. 
• She will appear in two projects that are currently in post-production or awaiting release, 'High Holiday' and 'Not to Forget'.

• Born in Des Moines, Iowa, Leachman received working experience as a child at the Des Moines Little Theater, as per Variety. By the age of 15, she was appearing on local radio stations.
• She also bagged a special scholarship to study broadcast drama at Northwestern, where she stayed for a while before returning to Des Moines to finish high school. 
• She returned to Northwestern with a theatre scholarship this time but dropped out and entered a beauty contest, eventually finding her way to the 1946 Miss America pageant.
• Moving to New York, she landed a role in the movie 'Carnegie Hall'. She studied at the Actors Studio and made her Broadway debut in 1948 in the short-lived production 'Sundown Beach'. 
• She attracted many eyeballs as Cecilia in a Theater Guild production of 'As You Like It' with Katharine Hepburn that ran for six months.

Highlights:

• India's most prestigious space institution ISRO's chairman K Sivan is likely to inaugurate the ‘SriShakthiSat’ ground station at Sri Shakthi Institute of Engineering and Technology in Coimbatore.
• The station will help monitor the satellite developed by the institute, which is set to be launched by the ISRO. 
• A satellite communication lab was established in the college in 2010.
• The satellite can detect fire and leaks on underground pipelines and collect info on bank thefts. 
• ISRO is expected to launch this satellite, along with two other satellites built by JPR Institute, Chennai & GH Raisoni College of Engineering, Maharashtra.
• Indian space Research Organisation (ISRO) was established on 15 August 1969.
• It's Headquarters located at Bengaluru, Karnataka. 
• Presently ISRO's Chairman is K.Sivan.

Highlights:

• Lieutenant General Chandi Prasad Mohanty has been appointed as the new Vice-chief of Army staff. 
• He would assume the office on February 1, 2021, from Lt General SK Saini, who is superannuating on 31 January 2021.
• Lt General CP Mohanty is an alumnus of Rashtriya Indian Military College, Dehradun, and National Defence Academy. 
• He is a June 1982 batch Infantry Officer from the Rajput Regiment.
• Vice-Chief of Army Staff is the deputy head and the second-highest-ranking officer of the Indian Army. The position is held by the senior officer in the rank of Lt-General, of the Commander in Chief grade.
• 28th Chief of Army Staff: General Manoj Mukund Naravane.
• The motto of Indian Army: “Service Before Self”.
• It's Headquarters located in New Delhi.

Highlights:

• Bharti AXA General Insurance has launched Krishi Sakha App, a one-stop-shop for Indian farmers that offers them relevant information to cater to their daily farming needs. 
• It also provides guidance to farmers to adopt best farming practices and enhance their productivity.
• The farmers through this app will also have access to the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) portal for crop insurance-related information.
• Bharti AXA ‘Krishi Sakha’ aims at helping Indian farmers make informed decisions through customized information related to their farming requirements.
• It shares relevant information about the scientific way of farming, crop cultivation, sowing, or harvesting of major crops. 
• It guides the farmers about weather forecasting, market and crop prices and government schemes related to insurance and agriculture.
• Bharti AXA General Insurance established in 2008.
• It's Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra.

Highlights:

• On the eve of the Polio National Immunization Day, President Ram Nath Kovind  launched the first round of the Pulse Polio Programme for 2021 by administering polio drops to children less than five years of age at the Rashtrapati Bhawan.
• Currently, Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan and Minister of State for Health Ashwini Kumar Choubey.
• Polio National Immunization Day will be observed on January 31, also popularly known as Polio Ravivar. Polio drops are administered to children in the age group of 0 to 5 years.
• Around 17 crore children of less than 5 years of age will be given polio drops as part of the drive of the Central government to sustain the polio-free status of the country,
• The countrywide drive will be supported by about 24 lakh volunteers, 1.5 lakh supervisors, and many Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF), and Rotary.
• Healthcare workers will be visiting as many as 2 crore households to ensure that no child is left without the protection of the polio vaccine.
• Before the start of the program, India had 60 per cent caseload of Polio worldwide. With the last case of Polio reported in Howrah on January 13, 2011, the country has been free of Polio for a decade now.
• Polio-free certification' of the entire South-East Asia Region of WHO including India on the March 27 of 2014 was a huge accomplishment in the history of India and Global Public Health.

Highlights:

• The Fifteenth Finance Commission of India have submitted its final report fir a five-year duration. 
• The report has been submitted with the objective of transforming the financial governance of India’s municipalities.
• The interim report for Financial Year 2020-21 was tabled in Parliament along with Budget 2020-21.
• The final report for Financial Year 2021-22 to Financial Year 2025-26 was tabled along with the Budget 2021-22.
• The 15th FC has significantly raised its bar on financial governance of the India’s municipalities in the interim report.
• The final report also maintains these four specific agendas.

• The 15th FC has tried to increase the overall outlay for municipalities. 
• It has set 29,000 crores for FY 2020-21. 
• It has also indicated the intent to raise the share of municipalities in the total grants of local bodies from 30 % to 40 %.
• Two entry conditions have been set for any municipality in India to receive FC grants namely, the publication of audited annual accounts that would help in boosting the financial accountability and notification of floor rates for property tax that would help in raising the revenue enhancement.
• The 15th finance commission has adopted the approach of distinguishing between million-plus urban agglomerations and other cities.
• It also recommends a common digital platform for municipal accounts, a consolidated view of municipal finances and the sectoral outlays at the state level apart from digital footprint of individual transactions at source.
• These four aspects of the interim report highlight that the 15th finance commission aims to bring the logical culmination municipal finance reforms. 
• However, the foundation for bringing about these reforms were also laid by thirteenth and fourteenth finance commission.

Highlights:

• The urban water supply mission announced in the Budget ,it would include rejuvenation of water bodies as well as 20% of supply from reused water.
• There was an estimated gap of 2.68 crore urban household tap connections that the Jal Jeevan Mission (Urban) [JJMU] would seek to bridge in all 4,378 statutory towns.
• The Mission would also aim to bridge the gap of 2.64 crore sewer connections in the 500 cities under the existing Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT).
• The mission would include rejuvenation of water bodies to boost the sustainable freshwater supply and creation of green spaces.
• JJM(U) will promote circular economy of water through development of city water balance plan for each city focusing on recycle/reuse of treated sewage, rejuvenation of water bodies and water conservation.
• 20% of the water demand would be met with reused water.
• The total expenditure on the mission would be Rs.2.87 lakh crore over five years.
• The MetroNeo and MetroLite technologies, which are cheaper than conventional Metros, mentioned in the Budget were already being considered.
• Some of the Tier-2 cities like Gorakhpur, Allahabad, Jammu, Srinagar, Rajkot, Baroda, Dehradun, Coimbatore, Bhiwadi-Daruhera etc. are making proposals under Metro Lite/Metro Neo and Nashik has already sent a proposal for MetroNeo, which is under consideration.
• Apart from the Budget announcements, there had been an increase in the funds allocated to urban local bodies (ULBs) as per the 15th Finance Commission’s report.  
• There had been a 78% increase, from Rs.87,143 crore in the 14th Finance Commission period to Rs.1,55,628 crore in the 15th Finance Commission’s period                                                                            

Highlights:

• MHA sent a letter to the parliamentary committee on subordinate legislation seeking three-months extension that expired in November.

• The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) informed the Lok Sabha that a parliamentary committee on subordinate legislation had granted it extension till April 9 to frame the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), 2019 rules.
• Without the rules being notified, the Act remains ineffective. 
• The BJP promoted CAA as one of its major poll promises in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
• The  CAA rules would be framed after the COVID-19 vaccination drive ends.Tthe Citizenship [Amendment] Act, 2019 [CAA] has been notified on 12.12.2019 and has come into force w.e.f. 10.01.2020.
• The Rules under The Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 (CAA) are under preparation.
• The Committees on Subordinate Legislation, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha have granted extension of time up to 09.04.2021 and 09.07.2021 respectively to frame these rules under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 (CAA).
• The CAA provides citizenship on the basis of religion to six undocumented non-Muslim communities from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh who entered India on or before December 31, 2014.
• The  the MHA was yet to inform Parliament regarding the delay in framing rules, to be done if the rules are not framed within six months of the legislation being passed by Parliament.
• Following the report, the MHA sent a letter to the parliamentary committee on subordinate legislation seeking three-months extension that expired in November.
• The MHA sought further extension.
• As per the Manual on Parliamentary Work, in case the ministries/departments are not able to frame the rules within the prescribed period of six months, “they should seek extension of time from the Committee on Subordinate Legislation stating reasons for such extension”, which cannot be more than for a period of three months at a time.

Highlights:

• The National Statistical Office (NSO) released revised estimates of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) data on January 29, 2020. This data has been revised for the 2017-18 to 2019-20 fiscal year.
• The first revised estimate shows a 4% increase in GDP in the 2019-20 fiscal year. 
• This is 20 basis points lower than the 4.2% growth in provisional estimate released in 2020.
• This highlights that GDP is expected to shrink by 7.7% in 2020-21 and will grow to 7.8%.
• The second revised estimate of GPD for 2018-19 is 6.5%, while the third revised estimate of 2017-18 GDP is 6.8%.
• Previously, GDP growth in 2018-19 and 2017-18 was 6.1% and 7%, respectively.
• In addition, the revised estimates for 2019-20 have reduced the growth of the primary and secondary sectors. 
• However, it expects a positive growth trajectory in the tertiary sector.
• The Gross Value Added (GVA) of the secondary sector shrank by 1.1% in 2019-20, while the GVA of the tertiary sector will increase by 7.2% in the revised estimate.

• It is the nodal agency for the planned and organized development of the statistical system in the country.The National Statistics Office came into being in March 1947.
• It coordinates the statistical work in respect of the Ministries/Departments of the Government of India and State Statistical Bureaus (SSBs), advises the Ministries/Departments of the Government of India on statistical methodology and on statistical analysis of data.
• The National Statistical Office (NSO), which is a wing of Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, has conducted the first Time Use Survey (TUS) in India during January to December 2019. 
• The primary objective is to measure participation of men and women in paid and unpaid activities.
• Earlier, the government has decided to merge the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO) and the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO).
• The merged entity to be called National Statistical Office (NSO) according to an order passed on May 23.
• The main aim is to streamline and strengthen the statistical system.

Highlights:

• Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) and the World Bank signed a financial support agreement for the STARS project.
• The Department of Economic Affairs (DEA), the World Bank and the Ministry of Education signed a financial support agreement for the implementation of the Ministry of Education's "Strengthening Teaching-Learning and Results for States (STARS)" project.

• The STARS project will be implemented as a new Centrally Sponsored Scheme under the Department of School Education and Literacy (DoSEL), MOE.
• The project involves six states, namely Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala and Orissa. 
• Various interventions will be provided to the identified states to improve the quality of education.
• The total project cost of STARS project is Rs. 5718 crore with the financial support of World Bank amounting to US $ 500 million (approximately Rs. 3700 crore) and rest coming as State share from the participating States, over a period of 5 years.
• STARS project would be implemented as a new Centrally Sponsored Scheme under Department of School Education and Literacy (DoSEL), MOE. 
• Earlier, Union Cabinet has approved the proposal of STARS project on 14th Oct 2020.
• The Program envisions improving the overall monitoring and measurement activities in the Indian school education system through interventions in selected states. 
• STARS will draw on existing structure under Samagra Shiksha with the DoSEL, MoE as the main implementing agency at the national level. 
• At the State level, the project will be implemented through the integrated State Implementation Society (SIS) for Samagra Shiksha.
• The proposed World Bank support under STARS is primarily in the form of a results-based financing instrument called Program for Results (PforR).
• This will ensure major reforms at the State level through a set of disbursement-linked indicators (DLIs). 
• A State Incentive Grant (SIG) will be used to encourage States to meet desired project outcomes. 
• The SIG matrix has been aligned with the intermediate outcome indicators as per the requirement of PforR instrument. 
• An independent Verification agency (IVA) will verify each result before disbursement of funds.
• STARS project will be instrumental in the implementation of various recommendations of National Education Policy 2020 i.e. Strengthening Early Childhood Education and Foundational Learning, Improving Learning Assessment System, ICT-enabled approaches in education, Teachers Development and Vocational education etc.

Highlights:

• The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) recently released the Asia-Pacific Personalized Health Index. 
• The index measures the readiness for personalized medicine in the Asia-Pacific region to adopt 11 medical systems.
• The Asia Pacific Personalized Health Index is a newly released index. 
• It measures the progress of the health system towards personalized medicine. It evaluated 11 health systems in the Asia-Pacific region.
• The health systems evaluated include India, China, Singapore, Australia, Malaysia, Taiwan, Japan, Thailand, Indonesia, South Korea and New Zealand. 
• It measures the performance of 27 personalized health indicators in 4 categories called "vital signs".
• The four important signs include policy background, health information, personalized technology and health services. 
• The report emphasizes that Singapore is the best-performing country in all 11 health systems.
• Taiwan ranked second, Japan and Australia ranked third and fourth respectively. Among 11 health systems, India ranks tenth. Indonesia ranked 11th
• However, India ranks 10th overall. But among the four important categories, India ranks 10th in health information indicators, 11th in health services, 9th in personalized technical indicators, and 5th in policy background indicators.
• The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) is the research and analysis department of The Economist Group. 
• It provides forecasting and consulting services by conducting research and analysis. 
• It provides five-year national economic forecasts, monthly national reports, national risk service reports and industry reports. 
• It has multiple offices around the world, including two offices in China and one office in Hong Kong.
• The Asia-Pacific region is part of the Western Pacific region. 
• This part of the content varies according to the context, but usually includes Oceania, East Asia, South Asia and Southeast Asia.

Highlights:

• According to The Economist Intelligence Unit , India slipped two places to 53rd position in the 2020 Democracy Index’s global ranking.
• However, India is ranked higher than most of its neighbouring countries.

• India’s overall score fell from 6.9 in 2019 to 6.61 in the Index that provides a snapshot of the current state of democracy worldwide for 167 countries.
• With mounting pressure on India’s democratic norms, India’s score fell from a peak of 7.92 in 2014 to 6.61 in 2020 and its global ranking slipped from 27th (in 2014) to 53rd as a result of democratic backsliding" under the current regime.
• Norway topped The Economist Intelligence Unit’s latest Democracy Index report titled "Democracy in sickness and in health", with Iceland, Sweden, New Zealand and Canada making up the top five.
• Out of 167 countries, the Democracy Index classifies 23 countries as full democracies, 52 as flawed democracies, 35 as hybrid regimes, and 57 as authoritarian regimes. India has been classified as a ''flawed democracy'' along with countries such as the US, France, Belgium, and Brazil.
• In India and Thailand, "democratic backsliding by the authorities and crackdowns on civil liberties led to a further decline in their global rankings".
• It further alleged that the Narendra Modi-led government has "introduced a religious element to the conceptualisation of Indian citizenship, a step that many critics see as undermining the secular basis of the Indian state".
• The authorities’ handling of the coronavirus pandemic led to a further erosion of civil liberties in 2020.
• Earlier, India was ranked 51st in the 2019 Democracy Index.
• Among India’s neighbours, while Sri Lanka, at 68th rank, is classified as a flawed democracy, Bangladesh (76), Bhutan (84), and Pakistan (105) are classified in the ''hybrid regime'' category. Afghanistan is ranked 139th and classified as an ''authoritarian regime'' in the index.
• The EIU report looks at the impact of the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic on freedom and democracy around the world.
• The Asia and Australasia region includes top-scoring New Zealand, which retained its fourth position in the global ranking (out of 167 countries), and persistent laggard North Korea at the bottom of the global ranking in 167th place. 
• The region’s overall score fell in 2020, but it now has five “full democracies” with Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan moving up the rankings compared with 2019.
• Australia retains its “full democracy” status and high ranking (9th).
• Japan and South Korea both returned to the “full democracy” fold for the first time since 2014. 
• Taiwan attained “full democracy” status for the first time following a spectacular jump up the rankings.
• Despite these upgrades, Asia’s average regional score deteriorated to its lowest level since 2013 as official measures taken to combat the coronavirus pandemic led to some of the most severe constraints on individual freedoms and civil liberties in the world.
• China, Singapore, and others went much further than the rest of the world in tracking and policing their citizens and locking them down in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
• It is noted that,The Economist Intelligence Unit (The EIU) is the world’s leading resource for economic and business research, forecasting and analysis.

Highlights:

• Gujarat cadre IPS officer Praveen Sinha, currently Additional Director of the CBI, was appointed as its interim chief as current chief R.K Shukla’s two-year tenure ended.
• Mr. Shukla, a 1983 batch Madhya Pradesh cadre IPS officer, who was appointed in January 2019.
• The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) issued a notification appointing Mr. Sinha, a 1988 batch Gujarat cadre IPS, to take over as the CBI’s interim chief till the appointment of a regulator director.
• Mr. Sinha will officiate as CBI chief for a couple of weeks.
• The Centre has initiated the process of new appointment. 
• It has drawn a panel of eligible officers belonging to 1984 to 1986 batches.
• The panel include BSF chief and Gujarat cadre IPS officer Rakesh Asthana, NIA chief Y.C. Mody, CISF chief Subodh Jaiswal and Kerala DGP Loknath Behera.
• Mr. Asthana, Mr. Mody and Mr. Behera had served in the agency handling sensitive cases.
• The government will soon call a meeting of the high-powered committee - comprising the Prime Minister, the Chief Justice of India and the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha - to pick the new CIA Director.
• It may be noted that Mr. Asthana was earlier No. 2 in the agency when Alok Verma was the director. 
• However, an open and ugly fight between the two pushed the government to remove them both at midnight and install Nageshwar Rao as in charge director in 2018.
• The post is a tenured one, meaning any officer who is selected for the job is at the helm for two years irrespective of the superannuation.

Highlights:

• The SpaceX of Elon Musk has recently announced to launch its first all civilian mission to space.
• SpaceX is planning to launch Inspiration4 on Falcon 9.
• This will be the world's first fully commercial astronaut mission.
• The spacecraft will begin orbiting in the fourth quarter of this year.
• The mission will be launched from the 39A Launch Complex at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
• The mission is named Inspiration4.
• The name is in recognition of the four crew members mission that inspired support for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
• It also seeks the possibility of sending humanitarian messages.
• Jude's multi-billion dollar expansion plan aims to accelerate research progress and save children around the world.
• SpaceX will provide commercial astronaut training for the Inspiration4 crew on the Falcon 9 launch vehicle.
• It will also provide training for the Dragon spacecraft through orbital mechanics, zero gravity, microgravity operation and other stress tests.
• The mission will orbit the earth along a customized flight path every 90 minutes.

Highlights:

• World Wetlands Day is observed every year on February 2. 
• It is celebrated to raise global awareness about the vital role of wetlands for people and our planet. 
• This day also marks the date of the adoption of the Convention on Wetlands on February 2, 1971, in the Iranian city of Ramsar on the shores of the Caspian Sea.
• The theme for World Wetland 2021 is " Wetlands and Water". 

• Wetlands are ecosystems that are seasonally or permanently filled with water. 
• These include mangroves, swamps, rivers, lakes, deltas, floodplains and flooded forests, rice fields, coral reefs, marine areas with a depth of no more than 6 meters at low tide, and constructed wetlands such as wastewater treatment ponds and reservoirs.
• Although they cover only about 6% of the earth's land surface, 40% of all animal and plant species live or reproduce in wetlands.
• Wetlands are an important part of our natural environment.
• They alleviate floods, protect coastlines and enhance community resilience, reduce the impact of floods, absorb pollutants and improve water quality.
• Wetlands are vital to humans and life on earth. 
• More than 1 billion people depend on them for their livelihoods, and 40% of the world’s species live and reproduce in wetlands.
• Wetlands are an important source of food, raw materials, pharmaceutical genetic resources and hydroelectric power. 30% of terrestrial carbon is stored in peatlands. 
• They play an important role in transportation, tourism, and the cultural and spiritual well-being of the people. Many wetlands are natural beauty, and many are important to indigenous people.
• According to the IPBES (Intergovernmental Scientific Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services), wetlands are the most threatened ecosystem.
• Due to human activities and global warming, the rate of disappearance of wetlands is three times that of forests.
• According to UNESCO, the threat to wetlands will adversely affect 40% of the animals and plants that live or reproduce in wetlands.
• Major threats: agriculture, development, pollution and climate change.
• IPBES: A Fact File 
• IPBES is an independent intergovernmental organization that aims to strengthen the scientific-policy interaction mechanism of biodiversity and ecosystem services in order to protect and sustainably use biodiversity for long-term human well-being and sustainable development. 
• It was established in Panama City, USA in April 2012. 

Highlights:

• Corruption Perception Index 2020 has been released is prepared by Transparency International. It is a comprehensive index from 12 surveys that rank countries around the world.
• It has become a benchmark for measuring corrupt perceptions and is used by analysts and investors.
• The index is also based on expert opinions on corruption in the public sector and takes into account a series of factors, such as whether government leaders are responsible or unpunished for corruption, the prevalence of bribery, and whether public institutions respond to citizens’ needs.
•  According to experts and businessmen, it ranks public sector corruption in 180 countries and regions.
• It uses a scale from 0 to 100, where 0 is badly damaged and 100 is very clean.
• India has slipped 6 places this year, ranking 86th.
• India’s score is lower than the average score of the Asia-Pacific region (31 countries) and the global average.
• India's overall score is also 2 points lower than China, and China ranks 78th. 
• The first place on the list is New Zealand and Denmark (88 each).
• South Sudan and Somalia rank the lowest in the global rankings, each with a score of 12.

Highlights:

• Two executives in the automotive industry recently emphasized that Maruti Suzuki India Co., Ltd. would benefit most from the government's proposed green tax on gasoline and diesel vehicles.
• Maruti is India's top car manufacturer and has the largest compressed natural gas (CNG) car product portfolio among all domestic car manufacturers.
• Suzuki Motor Company also plans to increase its annual sales of CNG cars to 200,000 or more by 2022.
• In fiscal year 2020, Maruti sold a record 106,443 CNG vehicles.
• Sales of this type of vehicles are increasing by 15.5% annually on average. Compared with diesel, Maruti further promotes CNG vehicles as an environmentally friendly option.
• Maruti has stopped selling diesel vehicles and has formulated ambitious plans to expand its CNG model portfolio.
• Maruti has decided to cooperate with South Korean Hyundai Motor Company, which also sells CNG cars.
• Nitin Gadkari, Minister of Road Transport and Highways, announced that from April 1, 2022, a green tax will be imposed on certain types of vehicles.
• The government proposes to impose a green tax on personal vehicles when the registration certificate is renewed.
• It will be levied 15 years later, equivalent to 10% to 25% of the road tax on gasoline or diesel vehicles. 
• When renewing the registration certificate and fitness certificate, similar taxes will also be levied on transportation vehicles or commercial vehicles over eight years old.
• According to the green tax guidelines, hybrid vehicles, electric vehicles and vehicles running on clean alternative fuels (such as CNG, ethanol and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG)) will be exempt from green tax. 
• Gasoline or diesel vehicles will be subject to higher taxes.
• Higher taxes on gasoline and diesel cars will force people to switch to CNG. 
• In turn, this will benefit companies such as Maruti and Hyundai.
• In addition, companies and dealers can use green transactions and increased purchase costs as marketing strategies to induce customers to buy CNG vehicles.

Highlights:

• Army Dental Corps celebrated its 80th Raising Day on February 1, 2021.
• Army Dental Corps will celebrate its 80th Raising day on February 1, 2021.
•  The regiment was resurrected on this day in 1941.
• The Indian Army Dental Corps (IADC) is a professional corps of the Indian Army, which mainly provides medical services for all Army personnel, active soldiers and veterans and their families.
• It was beginning in 1941 with eight Dental Officers.
• The Army Dental Corps is now an elite service of the Indian Armed Forces with 725 officers and nearly two thousand other ranks dedicated to looking after the oral health requirements of our soldiers, their dependents and Ex Servicemen.
• The dental treatment facilities of the Corps are based on a model where prevention of oral and dental disease is given top most priority.
• In sync with the structure of the Armed Forces, the Army Dental Corps too is a multi-cultural society with the largest proportion of lady officers adding value to the profession.
• The Corps has carved a niche in the field of Military Dentistry and has undergone rapid transformation in technology, training and physical infrastructure in consonance with the evolving requirements of the patients as well as the changing operational scenario.
• Army Dental Corps is working in unison with the primary mission being to excel in treatment delivery and complementary mission to foster creativity, innovation and leadership qualities.
• The Corps has always followed the motto of "Service Before Self" thus ensuring best oral health care to the troops, their families and dependents in both peace time as well as the operational scenario.

Highlights:

• The government announced the launch of the Mega Investment Textiles Parks (MITRA) scheme in the 2021-22 Union Budget to make the Indian textile industry globally competitive

• The goal of the scheme is to make the textile industry globally competitive, attract large amounts of investment, and promote job opportunities and exports.
• This scheme is a supplement to the PLI scheme.
• FM announced that it will establish seven textile parks within three years.
• Such parks have appeared in countries such as China and Vietnam, which help promote the development of the textile industry.
• India has been losing its competitive advantage in Bangladesh and Vietnam due to its lower labor costs, wider business scale, and the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) advantage enjoyed by them.
• The textile industry is the country’s second largest employment opportunity after agriculture, so the budget announcement means that the industry has taken an important step forward.
• Following a turbulent year in the textile and clothing industry in 2020, the industry has experienced a series of job losses, cancellation of orders and severe financial resource constraints.
• According to data from the National Investment Promotion and Facilitation Agency for Investment in India, by 2024-25, exports of the textile and apparel industry are expected to reach 300 billion U.S. dollars, and India’s market share will triple from 5% to 15%.
• It is estimated that by 2025-26, the scale of the industry will double to US$300 billion. For this purpose, 7 mega textile parks have been planned.

Highlights:

• International Day of Human Fraternity is scheduled to be held on February 4.
• The International Humanity Day aims to emphasize the importance of raising awareness of different cultures and religions or beliefs and promoting tolerance.
• It also aims to educate people about tolerance, diverse traditions, mutual respect, and diversity of religions and beliefs to promote human fraternity.
• The theme of this year's 2021 International Humanity Day is The Pathway to the future.
• On December 21, the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution proclaiming February 4 as International Humanity Day. Beginning in 2021, this day will be commemorated every year.

• The designation of 4 February as the International Day of Human Fraternity is the result of a UN General Assembly resolution adopted in December, which was co-sponsored by Egypt and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). 
• The Secretary-General applauded all UN Member States who supported the resolution, while also acknowledging a 2019 declaration by head of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis and the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Egyptian Islamic scholar Sheikh Ahmed Al-Tayeb, on “human fraternity for world peace”.   
• Promoting peace, love and fraternity has been a consistent message from religious figures throughout history.
• The antidote or best antibodies to hate is human fraternity, which embodies compassion, solidarity, unity and mutual respect.

• Relatedly, the UN Secretary-General is co-recipient of an award inspired by the 2019 declaration signed by Pope Francis and the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar. 
• Mr. Guterres and Moroccan-French activist Latifa ibn Ziaten, were joint recipients of the Zayed Award for Human Fraternity, awarded during a separate virtual event held earlier on Thursday, from Abu Dabhi, UAE. 

Highlights:

• The Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibet, released his new book "Little Book of Encouragement". 
• This book contains 130 citations.
• The book was edited by Renuka Singh and published by Penguin Random House.
• When writing this book, the Dalai Lama emphasized that he is one of the 7 billion people in the current COVID-19 pandemic.
• Therefore, he is committed to promoting human happiness.
• He further emphasized this point; we believe that happiness comes from money and power. But we rarely know the role of the mind, or the key to happiness is inner peace.
• He asks readers to discuss the ideas in the book with friends and use these ideas in daily life practice. 
• In addition to the Covid-19 pandemic, he also called climate change and global warming a very serious problem.
• He wrote on China-India relations that India and China have recently developed a sense of competition. 
• These countries have large populations and are powerful countries.
• However, they cannot destroy each other and must live side by side. 
• In addition, on the Tibet issue, he suggested that Tibetans treat the Chinese as brothers and sisters, not enemies.
• The Tibetan people awarded the title of Dalai Lama to the chief spiritual leader of the Gelug or "yellow hat" school of Tibetan Buddhism.
• Tenzin Gyatso is the 14th Dalai Lama and he is Dalai Lama at present. 
• He lives in India as a refugee.
• The Dalai Lama’s ID card is believed to be Turkus’ successor.
• Turkus is considered to be the incarnation of Avalokiteshvara.

• He is also known as Tenzin Gyatso.
• He was born on July 6, 1935. 
• He is considered to be a living bodhisattva, the birthplace of Guanyin Bodhisattva. 
• He is the current Dalai Lama.

Highlights:

• The Maritime body MUI urged the government to take cognizance of the” Neptune Declaration on Seafarer Wellbeing and Crew Change” in order to formulate the Maritime India Vision 2030.
• The “Maritime India Vision 2030” will be formulated by the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways of India.

• The Neptune Declaration was signed by more than 450 organizations.
• The declaration highlights the main actions that are required to be taken in order to resolve the crew change crisis.
• The daily lives and wellbeing of seafarers were highly impacted due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• It led to a humanitarian crisis at sea.
• This declaration has mentioned four main actions that is needful to address the crew change crisis:
• To recognize the seafarers as the key workers and provide them priority access to Covid-19 vaccines.
• To establish and implement the gold standard health protocols which are based on the existing best practice.
• To increase the collaboration between the ship operators and charterers so as to facilitate the crew changes.
• To ensure the air connectivity between the key maritime hubs for seafarers.

• The Marine Union of India is the oldest marine office. 
• It represents the Merchant Navy Officers who are its members.
• The office is affiliated with the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF), London, United Kingdom.
• It has around 700 unions that represent over 4.5 million transport workers from150 countries.
• The office is also affiliated with the Hind Mazdoor Sabha (HMS), New Delhi.
• The main purpose of office work is to work hard for the members and ensure the fairness of work and wage conditions.
• It also has branches in Kolkata, Chandigarh, Chennai, Visakhapatnam and Tuticorin.
• The office is also responsible for the implementation of international regulations, such as the 2006 Maritime Labour Convention (MLC).

Highlights:

• The government has taken various steps to educate/train farmers across the country to learn about the latest machinery and technology so as to improve the quality of crops and increase yield and income by adopting the latest farming technology.
• It is a Centrally-Sponsored Scheme is being implemented, that is, " Support to State Extension Programs for Extension Reforms", popularly called ATMA Scheme.
• ATMA stands for Agricultural Technology Management Agency.
• It is being implemented in 691 districts in 28 states and 5 UTs in the country.
• This scheme promotes a decentralized farmer-friendly extension system in the country.
• Under the scheme, grants were issued to the State Government to support the state Government’s efforts to provide farmers with the latest agricultural technology and good agricultural practices in different agricultural thematic areas and related fields.
• Agricultural Technology Management Agency (ATMA) scheme is benefitting the majority of farmers in overcoming the technological gaps in the industry. 
• The scheme aims at centralising the management of agricultural technology transfer by making organisational arrangements and deploying innovative technologies. 
• ATMA acts a registered society in the respective States and encourages the farmers, farmer groups, Panchayat Raj Institutes, NGOs, Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) and other stakeholders at the district and village levels to be a part of this farmer-centred extension system. 
• It offers technical advice and training on new practices and technologies to the farmers.

• The ATMA aims at accomplishing the following objectives:
• Establishing new, structured and centralised institutions at the state, district and village level.
• Strengthening the already existing extension system with innovative and effective operational procedures.
• Simplifying and de-centralising the decision-making to the district and block levels.
• Accelerating towards the viability of the extension services.
• Encouraging the farmers to take part in the programme planning, coordination and resource sharing and grow their responsibility.
• Strengthening the linkages between the key line Government departments, research organisations and the stakeholders.
• Offering a structural mechanism for the coordination and supervision of upgradation activities of several institutions involved in technology modification and distribution at the district and village levels.
• Enhancing the quality and sort of technology that is distributed.
• Building partnership with the third party institutions such as NGOs, Panchayat Raj Institutions etc.
• Implementing the farming system innovations and farmer organisation to overcome the technological differences and improper management of natural resources.
• Tackling the issue of gender concerns by collecting and clustering women farmers into groups and offer them with the advanced training.
• The availability of technical advice to farmers on new practices and technologies under ATMA has led to higher/rational use of new practices and technologies.
• ATMA provides an institutional mechanism for coordination and management of Agricultural Extension System in the district.

• ATMA was initially implemented in seven states – Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Orissa, Punjab, Jharkhand and Maharashtra. Subsequent to its successful outcome, the scheme is now being implemented in 676 districts of 29 States & 3 Union Territories in the country. 
• It executes the following activities in accomplishing its objectives in benefitting the farmers.

• The Central Government allocates 90% of the fund, as a grant-in-aid, to all the States/UTs and the State Governments allocate 10% of the fund. The 10% share from the State Government is input from the cash contribution of the state or the contribution from other beneficiaries and non-government organisations.
• A total amount of Rs.226.07 Crores are sanctioned under the scheme. 
• The funds are allocated and shared between the Centre, State and District on an agreed ratio.

• The scheme is implemented through inter-institutional procedures, and they are as follows:

• The State Level Sanctioning Committee (SLSC) established under the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) is the supreme authority to evaluate and sanction the State Extension Work Plan (SEWP).
• Approve and supervise the implementation of these work plans by setting up the following committees:
• Inter-Departmental Working Group (IDWG)
• SAMETI Executive Committee
• State Farmers Advisory Committee (SFAC)

• A District Farmers Advisory Committee (DFAC) is constituted at the district levels to provide feedback to the farmers for the district level planning and implementation of ATMA. 
• The responsibilities of the committee include:
• Managing the overall activities of the agricultural extension system in the districts
• Drafting Strategic Research and Extension Plan (SREP) and constituting the following committees to carry out the operational activities:
• ATMA Governing Board
• ATMA Management Committee
• District Farmers Advisory Committee (DFAC)

• The Block Farmers’ Advisory Committee (BFAC) is being formed at every block levels by clustering a group of selected farmers in every block to draft the Block Action Plan (BAP).
• The Block Technology Team (BTT) is formed to provide required assistance in the execution and implementation of the plans in every Block ATMA cells. 
• The BTT includes Agricultural Officers and other associated departments in the block.
• Village Level:
• The Farmer Friend (FF) is being formed at the village levels to serve as a bond between the farmers and the extension systems.
• Entrepreneurs in the field of agriculture, Input dealers, staff in nongovernmental institutions and Diploma holders in Agricultural Extension Services for Input Dealers (DAESI) are clustered together to support the activities of the extension officials.
• Commodity Interest Groups (CIGs), Farmer Interest Groups (FIGs) and Food Security Groups at the village levels act as a focal point in the dissemination of information & technology amidst its members.

Highlights:

• The central government announced that it will soon establish a new wetland protection and management center in Chennai. 
• The purpose of establishing the wetland protection and management center is to solve the knowledge gaps and specific research needs in wetland protection and management.

• The Wetland Conservation and Management Centre (CWCM) will be established by the central government in Chennai, Tamil Nadu.
• The conservation center will become part of the national sustainable coastal management center. 
• This national center is an agency under the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change.
• CWCM will play an important role in designing and implementing regulatory frameworks and policies. 
• It will also facilitate monitoring, management planning, and targeted research to protect wetlands. 
• The protection center will also act as a knowledge center.
• It will enable communication among wetland authorities, managers, wetland researchers, practitioners, policymakers, and users in each state or Union territory. 
• The center will further help establish networks and relevant international and national institutions.
• Wetland is a unique ecosystem submerged by water. 
• They are inundated permanently or seasonally. In such an ecosystem, anaerobic processes dominate.
• Wetlands contribute to water purification, water storage, carbon treatment, and coastline stability. 
• It also provides support for plants and animals. 
• They are the most biologically diverse of all ecosystems. 
• They naturally exist on every continent, and the water in the tank can be freshwater, brackish water, or saltwater.
• India has 42 Ramsar wetlands that have been designated as internationally important wetlands. 
• They account for approximately 4.6% of India's land area.
• In order to protect the wetlands, February 2 is designated as World Wetland Day. 
• In 2021, this day marks the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands. 
• The convention was signed in Ramsar, Iran in 1971.

Highlights:

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February  4 virtually  inaugurated  the centenary celebrations of the historic Chauri Chaura incident, a landmark event in the country's fight for Independence.
• Mr. Modi also released a postage stamp to mark the beginning of the centenary celebrations.
• A group of freedom fighters participating in the non-cooperation movement launched by Mahatma Gandhi in 1922 were fired upon by police, leading to death of many of them.
• In retaliation, protestors attacked and set fire to the Chauri Chaura police station, killing many of its occupants.
• Gandhi had called off the movement due to the violence.
• The killing of the Chauri Chaura policemen had resulted in arrest of hundreds of protesters with 228 of them being put on trial, six of them dying during it and 172 ordered to be hanged to death with the remaining sentenced to long-term imprisonments after a hasty eight-month trial.
• Reviewing the death sentences, the Allahabad High Court finally in April 1923 confirmed it for 19 convicts and sentenced 110 of them to life imprisonments in Port Blair and long jail terms to others.
• Those chosen to be honoured on the occasion include 72-year-old Kamla Prasad of Dumri Khurd, a grandson of Chinugi who was sent to the Cellular Jail in Port Blair.
• The year-long commemoration of the Chauri Chaura incident's centenary began in all 75 districts of the state with 'Prabhat Pheris' (early morning rounds) and other programmes that will continue till February 4, 2022.
• Besides the beautification of the Chauri Chaura Shaheed Sthal in Gorakhpur, the area is also being developed as a tourist spot on the lines of India Gate,  Jallianwala Bagh and Cellular Jail.

Highlights:

• The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has begun to organize the national level hackathon KRITAGYA in August 2020 to promote innovation in the country's agriculture and related sectors.
• The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has planned the Kritagya Agricultural Technology Hackathon under the National Agricultural Higher Education Project (NAHEP).
• The plan aims to promote potential technological solutions to enhance farm mechanization, with special emphasis on women-friendly equipment.
• Students, faculty, and innovators/entrepreneurs from any university/technical institution across the country can apply for and participate in activities as a group.
• They can propose solutions for farm mechanization.
• Students participating in the program can collaborate with local start-ups, students from technology institutes, and can win Rs. 5 lakhs, Rs 3 lakhs, and Rs.1 lakh as first, second and third prizes.
• KRITAGYA is the abbreviation of KRI of Krishi (Agriculture), TA of Taknik (Technology) and GYA of Gyan (Knowledge).
• Through innovative technology solutions and the right collaborations with stakeholders, the development and promotion of equipment that is beneficial to women will play an important role in increasing farm productivity and profitability.

Highlights: 

• In its first mission in 2021, India’s space agency ISRO planned to launch on February 28 Brazilian satellite Amazonia-1 and three Indian payloads, including one built by a home-grown start-up.
• The satellites are slated to be launched onboard the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) C-51 at 10.24 am from the Sriharikota spaceport, over 100 km from Chennai.
• Amazonia-1, reportedly the first earth observation satellite entirely developed by Brazil, is the primary payload. ‘Anand’, ‘Satish Dhawan’ satellite and ‘UNITYsat’ will be the co-passengers.
• ‘Anand’ is built by Indian space startup, Pixxel, and ‘Satish Dhawan Satellite’ by Chennai-based Space Kidz India.
• UNITYsat is a combination of three satellites designed and built as a joint development by Jeppiaar Institute of Technology, Sriperumpudur (JITsat), G. H. Raisoni College of Engineering, Nagpur (GHRCEsat) and Sri Shakthi Institute of Engineering and Technology, Coimbatore (Sri Shakthi Sat).
• “PSLV-C51 marks the launch of the countrys first commercial private remote-sensing satellite (Anand) on an ISRO PSLV rocket”.
• Mr. Sivan had earlier described the upcoming mission as “special for us, special for the entire country” and beginning of a “new era of space (sector) reforms”.
• Pixxel CEO, Awais Ahmed had said: “We are elated with the fact that India's first commercial private satellite will now launch on an Indian rocket.This is not only a proud moment for us as an organisation but also as citizens to work with our nations capabilities”.
• Bengaluru-based Pixxel has said it plans to build a constellation of 30 satellites by 2023. The company inaugurated it’s new facility here last month.
• According to Space Kidz India, Satish Dhawan satellite (SD SAT), named after former ISRO chairman Satish Dhawan, aimed to study space radiation and Magnetosphere and demonstrate the indigenously designed and developed nanosatellite components.
• The satellite also tests the capabilities of LoRa technology in Space which could be helpful for many applications in the future in short and M2M communication.

Highlights:

• The RBI monetary policy announced by RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das ,recently.

• Interest rates left unchanged for 4th time in a row;
• Short-term lending rate (repo) stands at 4 pc;
• RBI decides to continue with accommodative stance as long as necessary;
• RBI Guv says Indian economy is poised to move in only one direction and that is upwards;
• RBI projects GDP growth at 10.5 pc for 2021-22;
•  RBI revises retail inflation outlook; 5.2 pc for Q4:2020-21, 5 pc in H1:2021-22 & 4.3 pc for Q3:2021-22;
•  Guv Das says Union Budget has provided strong impetus for revival of sectors like health, infrastructure;
• Salesforce customers report 37% more sales revenue, 45% higher customer satisfaction, 43% better marketing ROI.
• Know more about what a CRM is and how Salesforce can help you.
• RBI to restore CRR to 4 pc in two phases beginning March 2021;
• RBI proposes to provide funds from banks under TLTRO on Tap scheme to NBFCs for incremental lending;
• RBI announces new scheme to incentivise new credit flow to MSME;
• RBI to set up panel to provide a medium term road map for strengthening of Primary (Urban) Co-operative Banks;
• Retail investors to get direct access to government securities market; with this India will join select countries providing such facility;
• Round-the-clock helpline for digital payment services to be set-up for grievance redressal;
• RBI will integrate all Ombudsman schemes & introduce centralised processing of grievances;
• Next meeting of the RBI Guv headed rate-setting panel MPC to take place during April 5 to 7.

Highlights:

• According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), Odisha’s Balasore will get the country’s first thunderstorm research testbed.
• The objective of setting up the thunderstorm testbed is to minimize human fatalities and loss of property due to lightning strikes.
• IMD Director-General Dr. Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, also revealed that a first-of-its-kind monsoon testbed is also being planned near Bhopal.
• Both the projects are in the planning stage and detailed project reports are being made, he said.
• The  thunderstorm testbed will be established in a collaboration between the Ministry of Earth Sciences, IMD, Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
• The IMD, ISRO and DRDO already have their units in Balasore.
• Observatories will be set up to cater to nearby areas and studies on thunderstorms will be conducted on the testbed.
• Mr. Mohapatra, often referred to as the ‘Cyclone Man of India’ for his accurate prediction of cyclones in the Indian subcontinent, pointed out that many lives are lost in Odisha, West Bengal, Bihar and Jharkhand due to lightning strikes every year between April and June.
• The State has lost 3,218 lives to lightning strikes in nine years till 2019-20.

Highlights:

• The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has sanctioned Rs 30,200 crore and disbursed Rs.16,500 crore for various rural infrastructure projects across the country under the Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF) in the first 10 months of the current financial year.
• The RIDF, which was set up in 1995, is a dedicated fund to create social assets in rural India.
• In F.Y-2021, the sanctions to the RIDF stood at Rs. 30,200 crore as against the corpus of Rs 30,000 crore.
• The disbursement for the current financial year as on January 31, 2021 stands at Rs 16,500 crore.
• Since the inception of the fund, NABARD has disbursed Rs. 3.11 lakh crore for different rural infrastructure projects.
• this fund has constituted around 10 %of gross capital formation in rural areas.
• Over the years, the RIDF has become a dependable source of funding for states and union territories for building, strengthening rural infrastructure in critical areas like agriculture and irrigation, rural connectivity and social sector, including drinking water, primary health and education.
• It could be noted that in the Union Budget 2021-22, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced to enhance the allocation to the RIDF to Rs 40,000 crore from Rs 30,000 crore.
• She also increased the corpus of the Micro Irrigation Fund by Rs 5,000 crore to Rs 10,000 crore.
• The increased allocations to both the funds will help push rural infrastructure projects across states.
• The Union Budget has accelerated sustainable agriculture sector’s growth by pegging an agriculture credit target of Rs 16.5 lakh crore.
• The recapitalization of Rs 2,000 crore to NABARD and that of Rs 1,200 crore to regional rural banks will help achieve the target of agriculture credit,

Highlights:

• International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation  is observed globally on 6 February.
• International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation is a United Nations-sponsored annual awareness day as part of the UN's efforts to eradicate female genital mutilation. 
• This day is sponsored by the United Nations for their efforts to eradicate female genital mutilation. 
• It was first introduced in 2003.
• Theme: "No Time for Global Inaction: Unite, Fund, and Act to End Female Genital Mutilation".
• Female genital mutilation (FGM) comprises all procedures that involve altering or injuring the female genitalia for non-medical reasons and is recognized internationally as a violation of the human rights, the health and the integrity of girls and women.
• Girls who undergo female genital mutilation face short-term complications such as severe pain, shock, excessive bleeding, infections, and difficulty in passing urine, as well as long-term consequences for their sexual and reproductive health and mental health.

Highlights:

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will set up an expert committee on Urban Co-operative Banks (UCBs). The committee, involving all stakeholders, will provide a medium-term road map for strengthening the sector, enable faster resolution/rehabilitation of UCBs.
• Along with enabling faster resolution of UCBs, the committee will also examine critical aspects related to the urban co-op banks.
• The provisions of the Banking Regulation (Amendment) Act, 2020 have become applicable to Primary (Urban) Co-operative Banks (UCBs) from June 26, 2020.
• The amendments have brought near parity in supervisory and regulatory powers between UCBs and commercial banks in respect of regulatory powers, including those related to governance, audit, and resolution.
• The constitution of the committee as well as the terms of reference will be notified separately by the RBI.

Highlights:

• In the ongoing Kharif Marketing Season (KMS) 2020-21, Government continues to procure Kharif 2020-21 crops at MSP from farmers as per existing MSP Schemes, as was done in previous seasons.

• Paddy procurement at MSP up 18% at 614 lakh tonnes valuing nearly Rs 1.16 lakh crore
• The Centre procures wheat and rice to meet its requirement under the National Food Security Act and other welfare schemes.
• It procures other crops like pulses, oilseeds, coarse cereals and cotton, if market prices fall below MSP.
• Paddy procurement at MSP has risen by 18 %  so far this kharif marketing season to 614.27 lakh tonnes, valuing nearly Rs 1.16 lakh crore, amid farmers protest at Delhi-borders against three new agri marketing reform laws.
• In the ongoing Kharif Marketing Season (KMS) 2020-21, Government continues to procure Kharif 2020-21 crops at MSP from farmers as per existing MSP Schemes, as was done in previous seasons.
• Kharif marketing season starts from October.
• The government has procured 614.27 lakh tonnes of paddy up to February 5, up 17.69 per cent from 521.93 lakh tonnes in the corresponding period of the previous year.
• About 85.67 lakh farmers have already been benefitted from the ongoing KMS procurement Operations with MSP value of Rs 1,15,974.36 crore.
• Of the total purchase of 614.27 lakh tonnes, Punjab alone has contributed 202.82 lakh tonnes which is 33.01 per cent of total procurement.
• The Centre procures wheat and rice to meet its requirement under the National Food Security Act and other welfare schemes. It procures other crops like pulses, oilseeds, coarse cereals and cotton, if market prices fall below MSP.
• Thousands of farmers, mainly from Punjab, Haryana and Western Uttar Pradesh, have been protesting at Delhi-borders for over two-months now, seeking repeal of three laws that were enacted in September last year.
• Farmer unions are also demanding a legal guarantee of the minimum support price (MSP).
• Eleven rounds of talks have been held between the Government and 41 farmer unions to break the deadlock but stalemate continues.
• The Unions have rejected the government’s offer to suspend the laws for 1-1.5 years and form a joint committee to find solutions.
• These laws have already been stayed for implementation till further order by the Supreme Court.
• World’s First ‘Energy Island’ to be built by Denmark
• The Government of Denmark has approved a project to build the world’s first energy island, in the North Sea that will produce and store enough green energy to meet the electricity needs of three million households in European countries.
• The hub will strengthen the integration of Europe’s power grids and increase renewable electricity production necessary for a climate-neutral Europe.
• The energy hub will serve as an offshore power plant gathering and distributing green electricity from hundreds of wind turbines surrounding the island directly to consumers in countries surrounding the North Sea. It is the long-term ambition to be able to store green electricity on the island, convert it to liquid green fuel, and send it via subsea cables to Denmark and neighbouring countries.

Highlights:

• The first India-Bahrain Joint Working Group meeting in the field of Renewable Energy was held in a virtual format on February 04, 2021, for promoting bilateral cooperation in the field of Renewable Energy.
• The Indian delegation was led by Dinesh Dayanand Jagdale, Joint Secretary, Ministry of New & Renewable Energy. 
• Abdul Hussain bin Ali Mirza, President of Sustainable Energy Authority led the Bahraini delegation.
• Both sides also agreed to forge deeper engagement in capacity building and focused cooperation between concerned agencies as well as the private sector of the two countries in this sector, particularly in the field of solar, wind and clean hydrogen.
• Current King of Bahrain is Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa.

Highlights:         

• The Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) is developing a futuristic high altitude pseudo satellite with a start-up company, to strengthen the country’s military strike capabilities.
• It is a first of its kind project in the world, where a manned aircraft will operate within the boundary and the unmanned aircraft will enter the enemy zone and can carry out strikes deep inside the enemy territory.
• Capable of autonomous functions, these unmanned aerial vehicles will also have all the manoeuvring capabilities. 
• It can straightway hit the target at a distance of 700 kilometres or can go to 350 kilometres and come back. 
• It carries ammunition, missiles if needed CATS Alpha.
• The technology has been named Combined Air Teaming System (CATS). 
• It will have a manned aircraft (will be known as mother ship), operating from far away, and four autonomous unmanned aerial vehicles known as CATS Warrior.
• The satellite will be solar energised and become a big asset flying unmanned around 70,000 ft for 2-3 months and taking information.

Highlights: 

• A historic tripartite agreement for establishing India’s first-ever geothermal field development project here has been signed, with Ladakh Lieutenant Governor R K Mathur terming it a step towards achieving the goal of carbon-neutral Ladakh.
• The pact was signed between Union Territory Administration Ladakh, Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC)-Leh and Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) Energy Centre in presence of Mr. Mathur and MP Jamyang Tsering Namgyal on the sidelines of the first developmental conclave.
• Ladakh Power Development Department Administrative Secretary Ravinder Kumar and LAHDC Chief Executive Officer Sachin Kumar Vaishya signed the memorandum of understanding (MoU) with ONGC Energy Centre.
• In Phase-1 of this pilot project, 1 megawatt (MW) power generation capacity shall be generated and 100 per cent free power shall be supplied to the general public, the spokesperson said adding that ONGC Energy Centre is the implementing agency for this pilot project.
• The Phase-2 shall involve deeper and lateral exploration of geothermal reservoir by drilling optimal number of wells and setting up of a higher capacity demo plant in Ladakh, while Phase-3 shall be a commercial project as per discovered capacity, the spokesperson said.
• The signing of the MoU with ONGC for the first geothermal project in India is a promising initiative towards innovative and sustainable development of Ladakh and also a step towards achieving the goal of carbon-neutral Ladakh.
• It to execute the project at the earliest and ramp it up to 200 MW capacity for greater benefit.
• The energy from this project will give round-the-clock power supplies, and the hot water from the spring could be used for space-heating and establishing hot swimming pools to attract tourists.

Highlights:

• India's apex financial institution ,the Reserve Bank of India projected India’s GDP growth rate at 10.5 % for the fiscal year 2021-22.
• It was published in it's last bi-monthly monetary policy meet. 
• The growth outlook has improved significantly, and the vaccination drive will further boost the economic rebound.
• The apex bank expects the Indian economy to grow in the range of 8.3 % to 26.2 % in the first half of FY-2022, followed by a 6 % growth in Q3 of FY-2022. 
• The central bank’s projection is lower than that of the Economic Survey that projected India to grow at a rate of 11% in the coming fiscal.

Highlights:

• The 15th Finance Commission has recommended a grant of around Rs.1.56 lakh crore to urban local bodies, a 78 % increase, an official said on February 2.
• Rs 12,139 crore has been set aside to improve ambient air quality, and Rs 26,057 crore for drinking water, sanitation and solid waste management.
• urban local bodies will have to notify property tax in line with the state GDP to avail the grant recommended by the 15th Finance Commission.
• These bodies will also have to make public their audited and unaudited annual accounts.
• 'Pey Jal Survekshan' will be conducted in cities to ascertain equitable distribution of water, reuse of wastewater and mapping of water bodies with respect to quantity and quality of water through a challenge process.
• The Mission has a reform agenda with focus on strengthening of urban local bodies and water security of cities.

Highlights:

• South Korea has unveiled plans to invest $43.2 billion (31.4bn pound) in building what is claimed to be the world's largest offshore wind farm. 
• The project, constructed off the coast of the southwestern town of Sinan, is predicted to be seven times larger than the current largest offshore wind plant.
• President Moon Jae-in-led, South Korea Government has approved a plan to build the world’s largest wind power plant in the country by 2030.
• Currently, the world’s largest offshore wind farm is Hornsea 1 in Britain, which has 1.12 GW capacity.
• The project will help to foster an environmentally-friendly recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and fasten the step to achieve the target of becoming carbon neutral by 2050.
• The estimated cost of the project is 48.5 trillion won ($43.2 billion).
• The Windpower Plant will be located in the southwestern coastal town of Sinan. It will have a maximum capacity of 8.2 gigawatts.

Highlights:

• Nigerian economist Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has been chosen as the next Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO).
• She would be the first woman as well as the first African nation to lead the organization. Okonjo-Iweala, the former finance minister of Nigeria, will succeed Roberto Azevedo, who stepped down in August 2020.
• As director-general, a position that wields limited formal power, Okonjo-Iweala, 66, will need to broker international trade talks in the face of persistent U.S.-China conflict; respond to pressure to reform trade rules; and counter protectionism heightened by the COVID-19 pandemic.
• A 25-year veteran of the World Bank, where she oversaw an $81 billion portfolio, Okonjo-Iweala ran against seven other candidates by espousing a belief in trade’s ability to lift people out of poverty.
• She studied development economics at Harvard after experiencing civil war in Nigeria as a teenager. 
• She returned to the country in 2003 to serve as finance minister and backers point to her hard-nose negotiating skills that helped seal a deal to cancel billions of dollars of Nigerian debt with the Paris Club of creditor nations in 2005.
• World Trade Organization Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland.
• World Trade Organization Founded: 1 January 1995.

Highlights:

• Joe Root, the England captain, sent India on a leather hunt, becoming the first player in history to score a double century in his 100th Test match.
• In the process, Root also surpassed former Pakistan captain Inzamam-Ul-Haq as the player with the highest individual score playing the 100th Test match of his career.  
• Inzamam had hit 184 against India in a Test match in Bengaluru in 2005, which Pakistan had won by 168 runs.
• His record stood for 15 years before being broken by Root.

• Joseph Edward Root is an English international cricketer who is the current captain of England in Test cricket. 
• He also represents Yorkshire domestically. 
• As of August 2020 he is ranked in the top ten in both Test and ODI batting in the ICC Player Rankings.
• He started his Test debut on13 December 2012 also against India.

Highlights:

• Oscar-winning actor Christopher Plummer, who rose to prominence for his critically-acclaimed film ‘Sound of Music’, has passed away at the age of 91. 
• He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor at the age of 82 for Beginners (2010), becoming the oldest person to win an acting award.
• The prolific and versatile Canadian-born actor has received various awards for his work, which includes Academy Award, two Primetime Emmy Awards, two Tony Awards, a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and a British Academy Film Award.
• Plummer starred as the aristocratic widower Captain Georg von Trapp opposite Julie Andrews in "The Sound of Music," the beloved 1965 cinematic tale of a musical family and their mischievous governess in Austria on the eve of World War II.
• Despite its enormous worldwide success, Plummer publicly despised the film, calling his role "gooey" in The Hollywood Reporter in 2011.

• Plummer was one of the most recognizable and admired character actors in Hollywood, with some 100 films under his belt and dozens of television roles.
• His first Academy Award nomination came in 2010 for "The Last Station," for his portrayal of Russian author Leo Tolstoy.
• He finally took home the golden statuette two years later, becoming - at the age of 82 - the oldest actor to win an Oscar, for his supporting role in "Beginners" as a man who openly embraces his homosexuality only after his wife dies.

• Born on December 13, 1929 in Toronto, Plummer made his professional theater debut in Ottawa in "The Rivals" in 1950.
• He took to Broadway in 1954 with "Starcross Story" and broke into film in 1958 with "Stage Struck," before crossing the Atlantic in the early 1960s to work in London theater.
• Plummer was dynamic on stage, earning praise as one of the premier Shakespearean actors to come out of North America in the 20th century.

Highlights:

• Tennis legend Akhtar Ali, a father figure in Indian tennis, passed away following prolonged health issues at the age of 81.
• Akhtar is survived by his son, current India Davis Cup coach Zeeshan Ali, and two daughters.
• He represented India in eight Davis Cup ties against Pakistan, Malaysia, Iran, Mexico, Japan and Monaco between 1958 and 1964.

• Born on July 5, 1939, Akhtar made his mark in 1955 when he became the National junior champion and reached the junior Wimbledon semifinals. 
• Akhtar, who was groomed by former Australian Davis Cup coach Harry Hopman, also played in the Wimbledon and French Open grand slam events. 
• He was the winner of the Asian mixed doubles championship.
• His last ATP tour outing was against Vijay Amritraj in a clay court match in Bombay on November 11, 1974.
• He became the coach of the National team from 1966 to 1993. 
• Under his guidance, the Indian team - consisting of Krishnan, Mukerjea, Premjit and S.P. Misra-reached the Davis Cup finals in 1966. 
• India repeated its feat in 1974 with a team comprising Vijay and Anand Amritraj, Shashi Menon and Jasjit Singh.
• Akhtar’s coaching influenced many famous players including Vijay Amritraj, Anand Amritraj, Ramesh Krishnan, Enrico Piperno, Leander Paes and Somdev Devvarman. 
• He was an advisor to Sania Mirza.
• He also coached the national teams of Malaysia (1968-70 and 1991-93) and Belgium (1980-84).
• Akhtar was passionately involved in coaching and organising events for grassroots players throughout his life. 
• For several decades he was associated with coaching at the South Club here.
• Akhtar was conferred the Arjuna Award in 2000 for his lifetime contribution to tennis.

Highlights:

• Padma Bhushan and senior Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) worker Darshan Lal Jain of Jain Nagar, Jagadhri in Yamunanagar district, passed away at the age of about 94 years.
• Former Haryana prant sangh sarchalak Darshan Lal Jain dedicated his life in social service, and made significant contributions in the freedom, education, social activities, restoration of Saraswati river.”
• His personality was full of simplicity and public service.
• His most important contribution is the restoration work of Saraswati’s origin site and it was only due his efforts that efforts were made to revive the river on the ground.

• Darshan Lal Jain was born on December 12, 1927 and received his schooling from the Government High School, Jagadhri and a bachelor  degree from the Panjab University, Chandigarh.
• He participated in the Quit India Movement in the year 1942 and on October 2, 1942, on Gandhi Jayanti Day got a strike organized at the school.
• Darshan Lal Jain joined RSS in the year 1944 and decided to serve the Sangh as a lifelong pracharak (preacher) from the year 1946 and in 1954 refused to take the Jan Sangh ticket to the winning seat of the MLC.
• He was arrested in 1975 in emergency and remained in jail till 1977 and refused to be released on any condition.
• He voluntarily relinquished the post at the age of 80 after being the RSS province director of Haryana for nearly 40 years.
• He remained secretary of Vivekananda Rock Memorial Society, Conservator of India Development Council, Guardian of Gau Raksha Samiti, founder member of Saraswati Vidya Mandir Jagadhri, founder minister of DAV Women  College Yamunanagar, chairman of Hindu Shiksha Samiti, founder secretary of Geeta Niketan Residential School, and was the founding member of the Nand Lal Geeta Vidya Mandir Tepla.
• Darshan Lal Jain extended Swastik Metal Industry, the family business activities of the metal industry from the year 1964 and succeeded in making India’s largest industrial unit of brassware.
• Launched the first metal-based zinc oxide industrial unit in Haryana and based on his experience, he remained a founding member of Federation of Association of Small Industries of India and an executive member of MMTC (Minerals and Metals Trading Corporation) advisory committee sharing the stage with former Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. 
• Apart from this, he continued to play an active role in various educational, social, religious activities.

Highlights:

• The Centre asked state governments to submit their proposals seeking additional funds for the ration card portability scheme, called ‘One Nation-One Ration Card’ (ONORC), by February 15.
• Under the ONORC plan, beneficiaries can lift their entitled foodgrains from any electronic point of sale device (ePoS)-enabled fair price shops of their choice by using their existing ration cards with biometric authentication.
• Currently, this system is enabled in 32 states and Union Territories covering about 69 crore beneficiaries.
• The states to deepen the progress about installation of ePoS devices, Aadhaar seeding of all beneficiaries, biometric authentication of public distribution system (PDS) transactions and portability transactions (both inter-state and intra-state).
• The status of their proposals to claim the additional borrowing of 0.25% of gross state domestic product (GSDP) against the state-specific reform i.e. implementation of ONORC plan.
• ONORC is an ambitious plan of the government to introduce the nationwide portability of ration cards under the National Food Security Act, 2013 (NFSA). 
• This aims to empower all migrant beneficiaries to seamlessly access their NFSA foodgrains anywhere in the country.

Highlights:

• UN rights experts urged 57 states to repatriate nearly 10,000 of their citizens - women and children associated with Islamic State fighters - held in camps in northeast Syria in "sub-human" conditions without legal process.
• Under international law, these states have a duty to repatriate their citizens and, if there is evidence, to prosecute adults for war crimes or other offences at fair trials in their domestic courts.
• Some 9,462 foreign women and children are among more than 64,600 people detained at al-Hol and Roj camps, run by Syrian Kurdish authorities, where the majority of residents are Iraqi and Syrian nationals.
• These women and children are living in what can only be described as horrific and sub-human conditions.
• Some women had been "groomed online" as brides of Islamic State fighters, while children "had no say in what brought them there.
• The United Nations said last month it had received reports of 12 Syrian and Iraqi nationals being murdered in the first half of January at al-Hol camp, which holds internal refugees and families of Islamic State fighters.
• Canada, Finland and Kazakhstan have repatriated some nationals.

Highlights:

• UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has welcomed the decision of the United States to re-engage with the United Nations Human Rights Council.
• Details Analysis:
• The Human Rights Council is the world’s leading forum for addressing the full range of human rights challenges. 
• The Council’s mechanisms and special procedures are vital tools for ensuring action and accountability.
• Under the Trump administration, the US had withdrawn from the United Nations Human Rights Council, condemning the "hypocrisy" of its members and its alleged "unrelenting bias" against Israel.
• The Human Rights Council was created by the United Nations General Assembly March 2006.
• The Council is made of 47 Member States, which are elected by the majority of members of the General Assembly of the United Nations through direct and secret ballot.
• Members of the Council serve for a period of three years and are not eligible for immediate re-election after serving two consecutive terms.

Highlights:

• According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), India will make up the biggest share of energy demand growth at 25% over the next two decades, as it overtakes the European Union as the world's third-biggest energy consumer by 2030.

• India's energy consumption is expected to nearly double as the nation's gross domestic product (GDP) expands to an estimated $8.6 trillion by 2040 under its current national policy scenario.
• Recently, The IEA published  in its India Energy Outlook 2021.
• This is underpinned by a rate of GDP growth that adds the equivalent of another Japan to the world economy by 2040.
• The  IEA, the energy agency and policy adviser  is known for members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
• India's growing energy needs will make it more reliant on fossil fuel imports as its domestic oil and gas production has been stagnant for years despite government policies to promote petroleum exploration and production and renewable energy.
• India's oil demand is expected to rise to 8.7 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2040 from about 5 million bpd in 2019, the IEA said, while its refining capacity will reach 6.4 million bpd by 2030 and 7.7 million bpd by 2040, from 5 million bpd.
• The world's second-biggest net oil importer after China currently imports about 76% of its crude oil needs. 
• That reliance on overseas oil is expected to rise to 90% by 2030 and 92% by 2040.
• Rising oil demand could double India's oil import bill to about $181 billion by 2030 and nearly treble it to $255 billion by 2040 compared with 2019.
• The world's fourth-largest LNG importer, which ships in about half of its natural gas needs by tanker currently, is spending billions of dollars to build infrastructure to boost use of the cleaner fuel.
• Liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports are expected to quadruple to 124 billion cubic metres (bcm), or about 61% of overall gas demand by 2040. 
• That would be up from imports of 76 bcm, or about 58% of gas consumption by 2030.

Highlights:

• In its first mission of 2021, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will launch Brazilian satellite Amazonia-1 as main payload and 20 other satellites from Sriharikota.

• The launch of PSLV-C51 is the first dedicated commercial mission of NewSpace India Ltd (NSIL), a PSU under the Department of Space.
• The 20 co-passenger satellites include one nano satellite (INS-2TD) from ISRO, four commercial satellites booked via recently-formed space facilitator Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) and 15 satellites commercially arranged by NSIL itself.
• The four satellites being launched via IN-SPACe are three UNITYsats from a consortium of three Indian academic institutes and one Satish Dhawan satellite from startup Space Kidz 
• Satish Dhawan satellite, named after former Isro chairman Satish Dhawan, is aimed at studying space radiation and magnetosphere.
• This will be their second satellite after Kalamsat to be launched by Isro. 
• UNITYsat is a combination of three satellites designed and built as a joint development by Jeppiaar Institute of Technology, Sriperumbudur (JITsat), G H Raisoni College of Engineering, Nagpur, (GHRCEsat) and Sri Shakthi Institute of Engineering and Technology, Coimbatore (Sri Shakthi Sat).
• A satellite,Anand built by Indian space startup Pixxel, is also part of the launch.
• ‘Anand’ is the first in a series of constellation of earth observation satellites that aims at monitoring the planet 24x7 and provide data to detect, monitor and predict global phenomena in real time.
• The data from satellite will be used for detecting forest fires early, oil spills and gas leaks, tackling air and water pollution levels, and solving problems of pest infestations and crop diseases on time.
• NSIL is undertaking this PSLV-C51/Amazonia-1 mission under a commercial arrangement with Spaceflight Inc, US. 

• Amazonia-1 is the optical earth observation satellite of Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research (INPE), which took eight years to develop it. 
• This satellite would strengthen the existing structure by providing remote sensing data to users for monitoring deforestation in the Amazon region and analysis of diversified agriculture across the Brazilian territory. 
• Isro chairman K Sivan had earlier called the upcoming PSLV-C51 launch, dedicated to private satellites, “as part of space reforms, which are aimed at increasing the participation of private companies in the space sector.

Highlights:

• India’s first-ever geothermal power project will be implemented by state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) at Puga village of eastern Ladakh. 
• The project, known as Geothermal Field Development Project, will be implemented in three phases and is planned to commission by the end of 2022.
• A tripartite agreement for this historic geothermal project was signed between Union Territory Administration Ladakh, Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC)-Leh and Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) Energy Centre on February 08, 2021.
• Energy from the project will be used for giving round-the-clock power supplies to neighbouring villages
• Hot Water from the springs will be used for space-heating.
• Constructing hot swimming pools to attract tourists.
• The development of geothermal potential will be useful during winter months, as Ladakh’s hydropower stations are shut or work at lower efficiencies due to low flow rates.
• ONGC Headquarters : New Delhi.

Highlights:

• The health department in Madhya Pradesh has launched the Social Awareness and Action to Neutralise Pneumonia Successfully (SAANS) campaign.
• The main purpose of the campaign is to reduce the death rate due to pneumonia among infants a strategy is being chalked out under the Social awareness campaign in which medical staff is being trained.
• Training will be imparted at the community and primary health centres.
• Around 4,000 Health and Wellness Centres have been set up in Madhya Pradesh for this purpose.
• The State government has also developed training modules in partnership with PGIMER, Chandigarh, and UNICEF.
• It will be used to enhance the skills of health workers, including doctors and paramedical staff.

Highlights:

• According to the India Hypertension Control Initiative (IHCI), Punjab has seen improvement in controlling prevalence of high blood pressure.
• It continues to have one of the poorest control rates combined with one of the highest prevalence in the country.
• India Hypertension Control Initiative (IHCI), an initiative led by the Indian Council of Research (ICMR).
• The study is based on patients who visited IHCI sites in 4 states and were observed for 6 months. 
• Overall, 64 % of patients had various stages of uncontrolled hypertension when they registered.
• In Punjab 89 % of patients who registered at selected IHCI sites had raised blood pressure and only 30% of them had been previously diagnosed.
• The study found that treatment adherence is currently one of the biggest problem areas in arresting the hypertension epidemic.
• Nearly half of the patients registered in the IHCI sentinel sites did not return for a scheduled follow-up visit.
• Follow up visits were one of the lowest in Punjab, and in the patient population that did adhere to treatment, BP control was only about 54.7%.
• In the state of Punjab more than 35.7% of the population has high blood pressure, which is much higher than the national average of 25.3%.
• Most people are unaware of their blood pressure levels, particularly the younger population.

Highlights:

• India is now conducting its largest-ever naval combat exercise, with warships, submarines, fighter jets, maritime patrol aircraft and helicopters, to test the Navy’s operational preparedness in the wider Indian Ocean Region (IOR).

• The mammoth Tropex, or the "theatre level operational readiness exercise" that is held biennially, has brought the country’s western and eastern fleets together to validate the Navy’s “offensive-defence capabilities” towards safeguarding national interests in the maritime domain and promoting peace and stability in the IOR.
• The exercise, which also includes units from the Army, IAF and Coast Guard, will culminate in the third week of February.
• Tropex is being progressed over distinct phases that also test the Navy's transition from peacetime to hostilities.
• In the first phase, the Navy had conducted coastal defence exercise ‘Sea Vigil’ along the entire coastline and island territories on January 12-13.
• It was aimed to validate the country’s coastal defence setup, which was entirely revamped after the 26/11 terror attacks at Mumbai.
• Sea Vigil was followed by a large-scale tri-Service joint amphibious exercise called “Amphex-21”, which was conducted in the Andaman and Nicobar islands from January 21 to 25.
• It was aimed at validating India’s capabilities to safeguard the territorial integrity of its island territories and enhance operational synergy and joint warfighting capabilities amongst the three Services.
• And now, major combat drills are being conducted under Tropex, which include “multiple on-target ordnance deliveries” including missiles, torpedoes and rockets being fired from frontline warships, aircraft and submarines.
• This demonstration of the Navy’s lethal firepower reaffirms the capability to carry out long range maritime strikes in the IOR.
• This is central to meeting operational challenges and ensuring safe seas and secure coasts.
• Tropex puts to test the Navy’s concept of operations in various conflict scenarios, hones its warfighting skills, bolsters its role towards maritime security in the wider IOR and is in keeping with the theme of being a ‘combat ready, credible and cohesive force’.

Highlights:

• One of the rarest fossils in the world have been discovered in the fascinating Bhimbetka rock shelters, a UNESCO site about 40km from Bhopal.

• Fossils were found in the roof of Auditorium Cave at Bhimbetka Rock Shelters, Madhya Pradesh.
• Researchers believe they have found the first ever fossil in India of a Dickinsonia -the Earth’s 'oldest animal', dating back 570 million years - on the roof of what’s called the ‘Auditorium Cave’ at Bhimbetka.
• The find has been published in the February edition of Gondwana Research, an international journal. 
• Dickinsonia fossils have shown they could exceed four feet in length but the one found in Bhimbetka is 17 inches long.
• Like the awe-inspiring rock shelters themselves, this fossil was discovered by chance.
• Two experts from Geological Survey of India (GSI) were on a sightseeing tour of Bhimbetka ahead of the 36th International Geological Congress, which was scheduled for March 2020 but was postponed twice due to the pandemic, when they spotted the leaf-like impression.
• Eleven feet above the ground, almost blending with the rock and easily mistaken by laymen for prehistoric rock art, they found imprints of the Dickinsonia, believed to be one of the key links between the early, simple organisms and the explosion of life in the Cambrian Period, about 541 million years ago.
• The fossils were found in the roof of Auditorium Cave at Bhimbetka Rock Shelters, a Unesco World Heritage Site for Paleolithic and Mesolithic cave art, near Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh.
• They are identical with Dickinsonia tenuis from the Ediacara member of the Rawnsley Quartzite in South Australia.
• The writeup is attributed to Gregory J Retallack, Neffra A Matthews, Sharad Master, Ranjit G Khangar and Merajuddin Khan.
• The discovery of Dickinsonia in India allows assessment of biogeographic provinces and plate tectonic reconstructions for the late Ediacaran.
• This new occurrence confirms assembly of Gondwanaland by 550 Ma, but not reconstructions adjusted for true polar wander.
• Cloudina and other small shelly marine fossils were low latitude, but vendobionts such as Dickinsonia were at temperate to subtropical latitudes.
• ASI deals in geologic time scale, quaternary period, that began 2.6 million years ago and extends into the present. 
• Anything before the beginnings of human evolution is not covered.
• It is on a deposit on sedimentary rock. A paleobotanist could determine its genesis.
• A GSI team had conducted extensive work in the Vindhyan Hills some 20-years ago to meet operational guidelines of Unesco before Bhimbetka was declared a world heritage site.
• GSI mapped the area and since then the number of rock shelters has increased from 400 to 1000.
• Vindhyan Hills, where these rock paintings are located is an area of massively sculpted sandstone rock formations clustered around cave-art rich Bhimbetka Hill.
• Suddenly, time lapse has a whole new meaning at Bhimbetka.
• The ancient cave art is young, compared to Dickinsonia.
• According to UNESCO, the Bhimbetka rock art is believed to date from the Mesolithic period (around 10,000 years ago), through the Chalcolithic (Microlithic) and right into the historic, medieval and recent historic periods.
• Cosmogenic nuclide dating is being deployed to determine time of earliest human culture. India's oldest stone-age tools, up to 1.5 million years old, are at a prehistoric site near Chennai.

Highlights:

• India and Afghanistan signed an MoU for construction of the proposed Shatoot dam that India will build to provide safe drinking and irrigation water to Kabul residents.
• Both India and Afghanistan want to see the region free of extremism and terrorism.
• The MoU for Shatoot dam was signed by foreign minister S Jaishankar and his counterpart Hanif Atmar. 
• The project was a part of the New Development Partnership between India and Afghanistan.
• The Lalandar (Shatoot) dam would meet the safe drinking water needs of Kabul city, provide irrigation water to nearby areas, rehabilitate the existing irrigation and drainage network, aid in flood protection and management efforts in the area, and also provide electricity to the region.
• This is the second major dam being built by India in Afghanistan, after the India-Afghanistan Friendship Dam [Salma Dam], which was inaugurated by Modi and Ghani in June 2016.

Highlights:

• The “World Pulses Day” is observed on February 10 every year since 2018. 
• This day is dedicated to the importance of pulses. 

• On this occasion, big event was held virtually in New York.
• The event was held with main focus on raising the awareness and recognizing the contribution of pulses in maintaining the sustainable food systems and healthy diets.
• The day comes under the second goal of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal which is “Zero Hunger.”
• The day also includes the objectives of the United Nations Agenda 2030.
• The day is observed to urge the people to grow the pulses besides its consumption.

• Pulses are highly nutritious and it plays a very important part in making the diet healthy for humans. 
• But there are sections of people who do not have access to pulses and there are some people who do not know the nutritional value and health benefits of the pulses. 
• Thus, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations established and dedicated this day in the year 2018 with the aim of increasing the awareness as well as access to pulses.

Highlights:

• Bollywood actor and Raj Kapoor’s son Rajiv Kapoor passed away at the age of  58. 
• He made his acting debut with 1983 movie Ek Jaan Hain Hum. 
• He gained recognition with his father’s last directorial Ram Teri Ganga Maili (1985).
• Some of his other memorable films include Aasmaan (1984), Lover Boy (1985), Zabardast (1985) and Hum To Chale Pardes (1988). 
• But soon Rajiv also addressed as Chimpu, moved to film direction and production.

• Born to Bollywood legend Raj Kapoor and wife Krishna Kapoor on August 25, 1962, Rajiv Kapoor made his acting debut with 1983 movie Ek Jaan Hain Hum. 
• In 1996, Rajiv directed Prem Granth which featured his elder brother Rishi Kapoor in the lead role along with Madhuri Dixit. 
• He ventured into production with brother Randhir Kapoor’s directorial Henna in 1991 and also produced Aa Ab Laut Chalen (1999). 
• But after this, Rajiv took a break from Bollywood, and it was only last year that his comeback to the movies was announced.

Highlights:

• China, which has been blocking India's efforts to become a permanent member of the UN Security Council, reiterated its stand on New Delhi's bid, and called for evolving a "package solution" that is acceptable to all to reform the top organ of the global body.
• China is a permanent member of the UNSC while India began its two-year tenure as a non-permanent member on January 1.
• China supports UNSC reforms in a manner that increases the authority and efficacy of the UNSC, increases the representation and voice of developing countries so that small and medium-sized countries have a greater opportunity to participate in the decision making of the UNSC.
• China is part of the permanent five (P5) of the UNSC with veto power has been stonewalling India's efforts to become member of UN's powerful body for years pointing to lack of consensus even though the other four, US, UK, France and Russia have expressed backing for New Delhi's membership.
• Beijing's all-weather ally Pakistan is also opposed to India becoming a permanent member of the UNSC.

Highlights:

• India is going to launch its first-ever diesel tractor that has been converted to Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) on February 12, 2021.
• The CNG Tractor will be formally launched by Nitin Gadkari, the Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways.
• The conversion of the Diesel tractor into the CNG tractor was carried out jointly by Rawmatt Techno Solutions and Tomasetto Achille India.
• The conversion of the diesel to CNG will help the farmers to increase their income.
• It will lower the costs and help to create job opportunities for the people living in rural India.
• The CNG tractor will also help the farmer to save more than one lakh rupees on the costs of fuel annually.
• This in turn will help the farmers to improve their livelihood.

• The benefits of converting the tractor to CNG with respect to farmers are:
• This retrofitted CNG tractor produces more power or equal when compared to the diesel-run engine.
• The CNG tractor will reduce the overall emissions by 70 % as compared to the emission by the diesel tractors.
• CNG tractor would also help farmers to save up to 50 % of the fuel cost.

• CNG is a clean fuel. 
• The carbon content in the CNG is the lowest among all the fuels.
• It is economical because of zero lead in it. 
• It is non-corrosive, non-dilutive and non-contaminating in nature. 
• These properties help to increase the life of the engine.
• Further, the fuel requires less regular maintenance.

Highlights:

• The world celebrates the International Day of Women and Girls in Science every year on the 11th day of February.  
• The year 2021 marked the 6th International Day of Women and Girls in Science. 
• The day was celebrated under the theme "Women Scientists at the forefront of the fight against COVID-19".
• The event was held at the United Nations Headquarters through video conferencing.
• The event marked the role of women who were at the frontline in the fight against COVID-19.
• The event also marked the discussion on the important part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development namely the gender equality and science.
• The International Day of Women and Girls in was started being observed by the United Nations through a resolution of the United Nations General Assembly that was passed on December 22, 2015.
• The day is celebrated to recognise the critical role that women and girls play in the field of science and technology.
• This day is implemented by UNESCO and UN Women.
• Various intergovernmental agencies, institutions and civil society partners collaborates with the UNESCO and UN Women.
• The day is observed with the aim to promote women and girls in science.
• It seeks to promote full and equal access to women and girls for participation in science.

• The UNESCO data for the year 2014-2016 states that, only around 30% of all female students select the STEM-related fields for the higher education. 
• Enrolment of female students is lower in natural sciences, mathematics and statistics across the world when compared with the men. 
• Women are unable to move ahead in the science and technology sector due to gender biases and lack of representation.

Highlights:

• The New Development Bank (NDB) has announced to invest $100 million into the NIIF Fund of Funds (FoF).
• With the NDB’s investment of $100 million, the NIIF FoF has now secured $800 million in commitments.
• NDB has joined the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), Government of India (GoI) and Asian Development Bank (ADB) as an investor in the NIIF FoF.
• The investment by the NDB is the first equity investment by it into India. It is also the first-ever investment into a Fund of Funds by the NDB.

• The FoF was established in the year 2018. It was established with the objective of providing the access of the homegrown Indian private equity fund managers to the institutional investor that operates at scale with focus on India. 
• The FOF has made commitments to four funds till date. The aggregate commitment stands over Rs.2,750 crore.
• National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF): A Fact File
• It is India’s first infrastructure specific investment fund. 
• It is also called as a sovereign wealth fund. 
• This fund was set up by the Government of India in February 2015. 
• It was set up with the objective of maximizing the economic impact through infrastructure investment in both Greenfield and Brownfield projects which are commercially viable.

• It was earlier known as the BRICS Development Bank. 
• NDB is a multilateral development bank that was established by the BRICS nations namely, Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. 
• The bank supports the public or private projects through loans, guarantees and equity participation.

Highlights:

• China has been blocking India's efforts to become a permanent member of the UN Security Council.
• It reiterated its stand on New Delhi's bid, and called for evolving a "package solution" that is acceptable to all to reform the top organ of the global body.
• China is a permanent member of the UNSC while India began its two-year tenure as a non-permanent member on January 1.
• China supports UNSC reforms in a manner that increases the authority and efficacy of the UNSC, increases the representation and voice of developing countries so that small and medium-sized countries have a greater opportunity to participate in the decision making of the UNSC.
• China is part of the permanent five (P5) of the UNSC with veto power has been stonewalling India's efforts to become member of UN's powerful body for years pointing to lack of consensus even though the other four, US, UK, France and Russia have expressed backing for New Delhi's membership.
• Beijing's all-weather ally Pakistan is also opposed to India becoming a permanent member of the UNSC.

• The United Nations Security Council is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations, charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, and approving any changes to the UN Charter. 
• It's Headquarters located in New York, New York, United States
• It was founded on 24 October 1945.

Highlights:

• Goa has become the 6th State in the country that have successfully completed the Urban Local Bodies reforms.
• These Urban Local Bodies reforms were set up by the Department of Expenditure.
• Finance Ministry highlighted that the state of Goa will now eligible to mobilise the additional financial resources of 223 crore rupees with the help of Open Market Borrowings.
• Apart from Goa, five other states namely Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Manipur and Telangana have already completed the Urban Local Bodies reforms.
• These five states have also been granted a total additional borrowing permission of ten thousand 435 crore rupees.

• Under the reforms, the states are required to notify floor rates of property tax in ULBs in accordance with the guideline rates for property transactions.
• The states are also required to notify the floor rates of user charges with respect to the provision of water-supply, drainage and sewerage.
• State will also launch a system of periodic increase in the floor rates of property tax or the user charges with respect to the price increases.
• Apart from these reforms, the centre has also identified four citizen centric areas for reforms namely, the Implementation of One Nation One Ration Card, Urban Local body or utility reform, Ease of doing business reform and Power Sector reforms.
• What are the implications?
• After undertaking the reforms, Goa has become eligible to get the additional reform linked borrowing.
• It will now be granted permission to mobilise financial resource of RS 2,731 by the Department of Expenditure.
• Reforms in Urban Local Bodies and the urban utilities reforms are being undertaken with the aim of strengthening the finance of the Urban Local Bodies in States. 
• These reforms would enable the ULBs to provide better public health and sanitation services to its citizens.

Highlights:

• The Reserve Bank of India has announced that the Export-Import Bank of India (Exim Bank) will provide USD 400 million to Maldives project. 
• It will provide the fund for the Greater Male Connectivity Project.
• The Exim Bank had signed an agreement with the Maldives government to provide the supported Line of Credit of USD 400 million on October 12, 2020.
• The Greater Male Connectivity project is the Male to Thilafushi Link project in Maldives.
• The agreement under the Line of Credit is effective from January 28, 2021.
• The utilisation period of the terminal is 60 months after the completion date of the project.
• The GMCP project was the election promise by the current President of Maldives, Ibrahim Mohamed Solih.
• This project will connect the Gulhifalhu Port and Thilafushi industrial zone with a 6.7-kilometre-long bridge.
• This is a landmark project that will streamline the connectivity between the four islands namely, Maldives, Villingili, Gulhifahu and Thilafushi.
• It would help in boosting the economic activity and would also generate employment.
• It will also promote a holistic urban development in Male region of Maldives.

• The relation of India with Maldives was established in the year 1966. 
• India is among those countries that recognized the Maldives after it gained its independence in 1965.  
• Both the countries share an ethnic, linguistic, religious, cultural and commercial links. 
• Currently, the Maldives is home to 25,000 Indian nationals. 
• Both the countries are the founding members of SAARC. 
• India also consider Maldives a part of its ‘Neighbourhood First’ Policy. 
• In the line, India is a part of ‘India First’ policy of Maldives.
• The economic relation between both the countries have strengthened significantly after the success of Operation Cactus. 
• India has always provided extensive economic aid for developing infrastructure, health, telecommunications in the country.  
• India also established the Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital in Male.

Highlights:

• The Karnataka Government recently notified that, the Vijayanagara has become the 31st district of Karnataka officially.  
• The district has its headquarter at Hosapete.
• Vijayanagara is located in Hyderabad-Karnataka region.
• The district also be the home to UNESCO World Heritage sites namely the Hampi and Virupaksha Temple.
• Vijayanagara district has been named after the capital of the Vijayanagar Empire.
• The district was established out of the ore-rich Ballari district in accordance with the Karnataka Land Revenue Act, 1964.
• The district will comprise of six taluks namely the Hosapete, kotturu, Kudligi, Hagaribommanahalli, Harapanahalli and Hoovina Hadagali.
• Earlier, the Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa had announced his plan of creating a new Vijayanagara district in the month of September, 2019. 
• The Chief Minister had cited it is required to create a new district for the administrative reasons. 
• Creation of the new district will help in promoting the tourism to the places like Hampi temple. 
• The Karnataka Cabinet formally approved the creation of a new vijayanagara district on November 18, 2020.

Highlights:

• The ministry of  Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions enhances the upper ceiling for family pension from Rs 45,000 to Rs 1,25,000 per month.
• The Union Minister of State for Prime Minister’s Office and Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Dr. Jitendra Singh, stated on February 12, 2021.
• This decision was taken in order to bring Ease of Living for the family members of the deceased employees.
• It would help in providing adequate financial security to the family members.
• The Department of Pension & Pensioners’ Welfare (DoPPW) has also clarified the amount admissible when child is eligible to draw two family pensions after death of parents.
• The notification says that the amount of both the family pensions will be restricted to Rs 1,25,000 per month. 
• This amounts to two and half times more than the earlier limit.
• Further the sub-rule (11) of rule 54 under the Central Civil Services (Pension) Rules 1972 states that if both wife and husband are Government servants and are governed by the provisions of that rule, then, on their death the surviving child will be eligible for two family pensions.
• This commission was set up by Government of India in order to provide recommendations with respect to the changes in salary structure of the employees.
• The 1st pay commission was set in the year 1947.
• Since then, seven pay commissions have been set up on a regular basis to review and recommend on the work and pay structure.
• It is headquartered in Delhi.
• The pay commission is given a time limit of 18 months after its constitution to make any recommendation.

• The 7th pay commission was set up in September 2013.
• The pay commission submitted its recommendations with its implementation effect from 1 January 2016.
• It was headed by Justice A.K Mathur.

Highlights:

• The second phase of Vigyan Jyoti programme was started on February 11, 221. 
• It was started on the occasion of International Day of Women and Girls in Science
• The Vigyan Jyoti Programme will spread the programme to encourage the girls to take interest in science.
• It would also encourage them to build a career in STEM.
• The programme would spread to 50 more districts in addition to the 50 more districts across India.
• It would improve by learnings of the past one year and will be expanded to more districts in country in order to empower the women.
• The programme was started because women are under-represented and is a multi-dimensional problem. 
• This problem is needed to be seen from all the angles.
• In the line, the New Education Policy and the Science, Technology and Innovation Policy would also help in removing the constraints.
• These policies would also help in making best use of the demographic dividend so as to progress long in a short time. 
• This in turn would help in increasing the number of women in science.

• It is a new initiative that seeks to encourage girls to take interest in science and build career in this field. 
• The programme was launched by the Department of Science & Technology (DST) in December 2019. 
• It was launched with the objective of creating a level-playing field for the meritorious girls who wants to pursue STEM. 
• The programme is currently running successfully in 50 Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas (JNV).  
• In the year 2021-22 it will be expanded to 50 more JNVs. 
• It addresses the underrepresentation of women in various areas of STEM. 
• The programme at first cater to the girls at school level of Class IX to Class XII in order to encourage and empower them to pursue STEM courses.

Highlights:

• The World Radio Day (WRD) is being celebrated across the world on February 13, 2021.
• This year, the marks the 10th anniversary of the proclamation of the world radio day and more than 110 years of radio.
• The day will be observed under the theme, “New World, New Radio”. 
• The theme highlights the services provided by the radio amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
• The day was proclaimed by the members of UNESCO in 2011.
• The day was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in the year 2012 as an International Day.

• The UNESCO highlights that, the radio is a powerful medium to celebrate humanity.
• It constitutes a platform for democratic discourse.
• Radio is one of the most widely consumed medium in the world. It has the ability to reach to a wide audience.
• It also has the ability to shape the society’s experience of diversity. 
• Thus, to mark the significance of the Radio, World Radio Day is observed.

• The agenda of observing the World radio day was first put forward by a Spanish Radio Academy on September 20, 2010.
• Spain proposed that UNESCO Executive Board should include an agenda item to proclaim the day.  
• Following the request, UNESCO’s Executive Board added the agenda item in its provisional agenda to proclaim the day on September 29, 2011.
• Then it carried out a wide consultation in 2011 in which 91% people were in favour of the project.
• The move was also supported by Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU), Arab States Broadcasting Union (ASBU), Caribbean Broadcasting Union (CBU), African Union of Broadcasting (AUB), European Broadcasting Union (EBU), and the International Association of Broadcasting (IAB).
• Thus, the executive board recommended UNESCO to proclaim a World Radio Day at the 36th session.

Highlights:

• National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) has assigned Kjell Lindgren and Bob Hines as commander and pilot, respectively, for the SpaceX Crew-4 mission or the fourth crew rotation flight of the Crew Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS).
• The station is a critical testbed for Nasa to understand and overcome the challenges of long-duration spaceflight and to expand commercial opportunities in low-Earth orbit.
• Additional crew members for the project will be assigned as mission specialists in the future by Nasa's international partners.
• Lindgren and Hines along with international crew members will join an expedition crew aboard the space station for a long stay.
• Taiwan-born Lindgren is part of an Air Force family and this mission will be his second trip into space after a 141-day stay at the space station in 2015 for Expeditions 44 and 45.
• Before he became an astronaut, Lindgren was a flight surgeon supporting space station missions and space shuttle.
• He was named as one of the Artemis Team of astronauts in December 2020.
• This team is for the agency's upcoming lunar missions.
• Hines became an astronaut in 2017 and this will be his first trip into space.
• A lieutenant colonel in the US Air Force, Hines supported multiple military deployments in the Middle East, Africa and Europe.
• His flying included test pilot for the Federal Aviation Administration and research pilot at Nasa's Johnson Space Center located in Houston
• The mission, which is part of the Commercial Crew Program, is expected to launch in 2022 on a SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at the agency's Kennedy Space Centre in Florida.
• The agency's Commercial Crew Program is collaborating with the American aerospace industry to develop human space transportation service.

Highlights:

• An Indian-origin employee at the UN has announced her candidacy to be its next Secretary-General.
• She will be  the first person to throw her hat in the ring against incumbent Antonio Guterres, who is seeking a second five-year term beginning January 2022 as chief of the world organisation.

• The 34 year old Arora Akanksha , working as an audit coordinator for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
• She will run for the post of the world’s top diplomat and launched her campaign #AroraForSG this month.
• For 75 years, the UN has not fulfilled its promise to the world - refugees haven’t been protected, humanitarian aid has been minimal, and technology and innovation has been on the back-burner. We deserve a UN that leads progress.
• Last month Guterres, 71 had confirmed that he will seek a second five-year term as chief of the world organisation.
• Guterres’s  first term ends on December 31 this year and the term of the next Secretary-General will begin on January 1, 2022.
• Guterres assumed office on January 1, 2017 after a reformed selection process that included a public informal dialogue session in the General Assembly.
• Guterres is the 9th Secretary-General of the United Nations and no woman has held the position of the world’s top diplomat in the 75-year history of the United Nations.
• The Secretary-General is appointed by the General Assembly, on the recommendation of the Security Council, making the Secretary-General's selection subject to the veto of any of the five permanent members of the Council.
• The UN General Assembly President Volkan Bozkir, Brenden Varma was asked at the press briefing whether Akanksha had written to the President on her candidacy.
• According to her profile on her website UNOW.org, Akanksha  graduated from York University, Toronto with a Bachelor of Administrative Studies.
• She received her Master in Public Administration from Columbia University.
• She was recruited at the UN to “help with the financial reforms of the organisation” and her work included updating financial regulations and rules of the UN and managing the internal and external audits at UNDP.
• India-born Akanksha has an Overseas Citizenship of India and a Canadian passport.

Highlights:

• The Italian president swore in the former chief of the European Central Bank, Mario Draghi, as prime minister at the head of a unity government called on to confront the coronavirus crisis and economic slump.
• All but one of Italy's major parties have rallied to his side and his cabinet includes lawmakers from across the political spectrum, as well as technocrats in key posts, including the finance ministry and a new green transition portfolio.
• He is tasked with plotting Italy's recovery from the pandemic and must immediately set to work on plans for how to spend more than 200 billion euros ($240 billion) in European Union funds aimed at rebuilding the recession-bound economy.
• If he prevails, Draghi will likely bolster the entire eurozone, which has long fretted over Italy's perennial problems. Success would also prove to Italy's sceptical northern allies that by offering funds to the poorer south, they will fortify the entire bloc.
• But he faces enormous challenges. Italy is mired in its worst downturn since World War Two, hundreds of people are still dying of COVID-19 each day, the vaccination campaign is going slowly and he only has limited time to sort things out.
• Italy is due to return to the polls in two years time, but it is far from certain that Draghi will be able to survive that long at the head of a coalition that includes parties with radically opposing views on issues such as immigration, justice, infrastructure development and welfare.
• Draghi's government is the 67th to take office since 1946 and the seventh in the last decade alone.

Highlights:

• Karim Khan, a United Kingdom barrister, has been elected in the second round as the next chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC).
• The ICC elected Khan as the new prosecutor for a nine-year term at the United Nations (UN) in New York.
• Karim will replace Fatou Bensouda from the Gambia, later in the month of June.
• Khan secured 72 votes and won on the second ballot of the 123 parties.
• He finished ahead of Fergal Gaynor of Ireland with 42 votes and two other candidates.

• He is a barrister and Queen's Counsel in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, with more than 25 years of professional experience as an international criminal law and human rights lawyer.
• Previously, Karim has served as the head of the investigative team, which was established pursuant to Security Council resolution 2379 (2017), to support domestic efforts to hold Islamic State accountable in Iraq, for acts that may amount to war crimes.
• According to the UN data, Khan has extensive experience in acting as prosecutor, victim's counsel and defence lawyer in domestic and international criminal tribunals, including, but not limited to, the International Criminal Court.
• Khan holds an LLB (Hons) in law from King's College, University of London, and various other degrees and qualifications.
• Khan has studied and lectured on Islamic law and has published extensively in the area of international criminal justice and human rights.

Highlights:

• According to NHK World, China and Russia pulled out from a United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) resolution on the situation in Myanmar following the military coup on February 1.
• The resolution calls for the release of detained persons including State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint.
• It was approved by consensus during a special session in Geneva.
• Earlier, UN Special Rapporteur Thomas Andrews had condemned the arbitrary detention of government officials and human rights leaders in Myanmar.
• The UNHRC resolution stressed the need to refrain from violence and fully respect human rights, fundamental freedoms and the rule of law.
• On February 1, Myanmar's military staged a coup and overthrew the democratically elected government of the National League for Democracy (NLD), alleging voter fraud in November 2020 elections that saw the NLD securing a resounding victory.
• Meanwhile, Nepal, Hong Kong and other countries have protested against China for bringing civil unrest to Myanmar.

Highlights:

• Kerala, which is home to India’s biggest art event called Kochi-Muziris Biennale, is now aspiring to become a museum hub in the country.
• The museums should be able to converse with the visitors specially with the youngsters.
• In order to comply with the objectives, the Kerala government has launched an initiative which aims to establish and promote mini museums in state.

• The new museum movement has been started by Keralam Museum. 
• It is an organisation that build and modernise the museums.
• The new museum movement has been started to challenge the old-fashioned norms regarding the conservation of cultures.
• It seeks to replace the revolutionary concepts which is gaining momentum across the world.
• Keralam Museum has also completed several other assignments namely, Koyikkal Palace Folklore Museum at Nedumangad in Thiruvananthapuram,Gandhi Smriti Museum at Payyanur and Vaikom Satyagraha Memorial Gandhi Museum in Kottayam.
• Apart from that, around 20 District Heritage Museums are under process.

• The government has also decided that the Bastion Bungalow at Fort Kochi will function as the Ernakulam District Heritage Museum. 
• The galleries of this museum visually explain the interventions of Portuguese, Dutch and the British powers into the political domain kingdoms of Kerala. 
• Apart from that, Kerala recently opened District Heritage Museum in Palakkad. 
• It is situated 150 km north of Kochi. This museum focuses on the agriculture, arts and music of the region.

Highlights:

• In India, the National Women’s Day is observed every year on 13 February to commemorate the birth anniversary of Sarojini Naidu. 
• This year Nation celebrates its 142nd Birth Anniversary.
• She was born on February 13, 1879. 
• She was famous for her nickname ‘Nightingale of India’ or ‘Bharat Kokila’ because of her poems.
• Sarojini Naidu was not only a freedom fighter, but she also became the first woman governor of the United Provinces, the present Uttar Pradesh.
• She was one of the forefront leaders who led the Civil Disobedience Movement and the Quit India Movement. 
• She was an important figure in India’s struggle for independence from colonial rule.

Highlights:

• National Productivity Day is observed every year in India on February 12. 
• The objective of National Productivity Council is stimulating and promoting productivity and quality consciousness across all sectors in the country.
• The main observance of the day is to encourage all stakeholders in the implementation of productivity tools and techniques with contemporary relevant themes.
• The day is celebrated by the National Productivity Council (NPC) to promote productivity culture in India.
• National Productivity Council (NPC) under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry Government of India is a premier institution for propagating productivity movement in India. 
• NPC works for providing solutions towards accelerating productivity, enhancing competitiveness, increasing productivity.
• National Productivity Council of India established in 1958.
• It's headquarters located at New Delhi.

Highlights:

• Indian Govt and Chhattisgarh Govt has signed a $100 million for CHIRAAG (Chhattisgarh Inclusive Rural and Accelerated Agriculture Growth) project with the World bank.
• The main purpose is to develop sustainable production systems that allow tribal households in remote areas of Chhattisgarh to practice round-the-year production of diversified and nutritious food.
• The project will be implemented in the southern tribal-majority region of the state where a large population is undernourished and poor. Over 180,000 households from about 1,000 villages in eight districts of Chhattisgarh, will be benefited from this project.
• World Bank Headquarters: Washington DC, United States.
• World Bank President: David Malpass.
• World Bank Founded: July 1944.
• Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh: Bhupesh Baghel; Governor: Anusuiya Uikey.
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Highlights:

• Private general insurer ICICI Lombard has launched the ‘Corporate India Risk Index’. 
• India risk index, an indicator of a company's risk exposure and preparedness. 
• It spans across 15 sectors of the economy and has 150 companies under it, currently.
• This is intended to be a unified, standardised corporate risk index that spans industries and companies.
• This will help companies understand the level of risk that their business is facing and also assist in developing a successful risk aversion plan. 
• It has worked with consulting firm Frost and Sullivan to develop the risk measurement tool.
• ICICI Lombard Founded in the year 2001.
• ICICI Lombard Headquarters located in Mumbai.

Highlights:

• The Health and Family Welfare Department of Odisha has announced recently to established a COVID-19 Warrior Memorial in Bhubaneshwar.
• The memorial will be set to recognize and honour the sacrifice and services provided by the COVID-19 warriors.
• The memorial will be set in the Biju Patnaik Park in Bhubaneshwar.
• This memorial will be inaugurated August 15, 2021 as the Odisha Government has planned.
• The works department of the Odisha Government have been tasked with the architect to finalise the structure and design of the memorial.
• The memorial will also honour the sacrifices made by the frontline warriors who lost their lives while fighting with the pandemic. 
• In Odisha, around 60 Covid-19 warriors and health workers died amid the pandemic.
• The COVID-19 war memorial is being constructed in the backdrop of announcement made by the Chief Minister of Odisha, Naveen Patnaik in 2020. 
• The government had also announced Rs.50 lakh ex-gratia to all the public and private health personnel and the members of all the support services who died while providing services amid the pandemic.

Highlights:

• Google has agreed to pay a fine of 1.1 million euros ($1.3 million) after French authorities concluded the search engine displayed “misleading” rankings for French hotels.
• Previously, Google used the official source Atout France as well as input from other hotel-industry websites in its algorithm to rank hotels from one to five stars.
• After receiving complaints from hoteliers about Google's rankings, the French government's fraud and competition agency launched an investigation in 2019 and 2020.
• It  was to monitor “the nature and fairness of the information provided by the platform” across 7,500 establishments.
• It has now made the “necessary changes to only reflect the official French star rating for hotels on Google Maps and Search.

Highlights:

• Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan inaugurated the Gender Park campus in Kozhikode.
• It is an initiative to work towards gender equality and empowerment in the state.
• The Gender Park drives policy, research, economic and social initiatives that work for a just and equal society.
• It found standing under the Department of Social Justice and is the first space of its kind in the world. 
• Currently working under the Department of Women and Child Development, it aims to become a premier convergence point for gender-related activities.
• The Gender Park campus is a 24-acre space that will act as a convergence centre for various projects, cultural and academic engagements.
• The park includes a gender museum, library, convention centre and amphitheater.
• Vijayan also inaugurated the International Women's Trade Centre to promote women's entrepreneurs.
• Minister for Health, Social Justice and Women and Child Development KK Shailaja chaired the ceremony.

Highlights:

• The telecom ministry will set up an intelligence unit and a consumer protection system as part of continuing efforts to tackle the menace of pesky calls as well as to take strict action against financial frauds perpetrated using telecom resources.

• The telecom minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, who chaired a high level meeting to look at ways to address rising concerns of consumers over unsolicited messages on mobile phones, repeated harassment through SMSes promising loan transactions through fraudulent ways.
• It is also aimed at making digital transactions more safe and secure.
• The Minister of Communication directed officials to take strict action against erring telemarketers and individuals involved in harassment of telecom subscribers.
• Further, the minister observed that telecom resources are also being used to carry out financial frauds and dupe the common man of his hard-earned money.
• The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) already has regulations in place to check pesky calls. However, several unregistered telemarketers still make calls to people which often also leads to fraudulent incidents.
• On February 3, the Delhi High Court directed Trai to ensure "complete and strict" implementation of the regulation issued by it in 2018 for curbing Unsolicited Commercial Communications (UCC).
• The officials apprised the minister that for UCC and financial fraud-related complaints, time is of utmost essence and a quick time-bound action will help in reducing such menaces.
• Accordingly, a nodal agency named as Digital Intelligence Unit (DIU) will be set up.  
• The main function of the DIU will be to coordinate with various LEAs (Law Enforcement Agencies), financial institutions and telecom service providers in investigating any fraudulent activity involving telecom resources.
• At the license service area level, Telecom Analytics for Fraud Management and Consumer Protection (TAFCOP) system will also be created.
• The system will strengthen the trust of people in the digital ecosystem and will make financial digital transactions primarily through mobile more secure and reliable, which will result in promotion of Digital India.
• In case of any violation, imposing financial penalty on telemarketers and disconnecting resources in case of repetitive violations have also been proposed, as per the statement.
• The minister also directed to devise special strategies, including blocking of telecom operations due to rising concern in Jamtara (Jharkhand) and Mewat (Haryana) regions for curbing fraudulent activities involving usage of telecom resources.

Highlights:

• The government has announced liberalisation of policies governing the acquisition and production of geo-spatial data.
• It will help in boosting innovation in the sector and create a level playing field for public and private entities.

• Under the new guidelines, the sector will be deregulated and aspects like approvals have been done away with.
• For Indian entities, there will be complete deregulation with no prior approvals, security clearances, licenses, for acquisition and production of geospatial data and geospatial data services, including maps, he said.
• The liberalisation of policies governing the acquisition and production of geospatial data is a "massive step in government's vision for an Aatmanirbhar Bharat".
• The reform will benefit country's farmers, start-ups, private sector, public sector and research institutions to drive innovations and build scalable solutions.
• The easing of norms will greatly help in several sectors that were suffering because of non-availability of maps.
• Earlier even the Survey of India, the agency entrusted with making maps, had to seek permission for mapping, thus delaying its work by at least 3-6 months.
• The move will unlock tremendous opportunities for the country's start-ups, private sector, public sector and research institutions to drive innovations and build scalable solutions.
• This will also generate employment and accelerate economic growth, he stressed.
• India's farmers will also be benefited by leveraging the potential of geo-spatial and remote sensing data. 
• Democratising data will enable the rise of new technologies and platforms that will drive efficiencies in agriculture and allied sectors.

HIghlights:

• FASTags have been made mandatory from February 15 midnight and vehicles not fitted with them will be charged double the toll at electronic toll plazas across the country.
• This has been done to promote fee payment through digital mode, reduce waiting time and fuel consumption, and provide for a seamless passage through the fee plazas,

• Beginning February 15 midnight, all lanes in the toll plazas on National Highways shall be declared FASTag lanes.
• This has been done to promote fee payment through digital mode, reduce waiting time and fuel consumption, and provide for a seamless passage through the fee plazas.
• the government has already extended the FASTag registration deadline a few times and would not be extend it any further.
• The ministry of road transport and highways had mandated FASTag for M&N categories of motor vehicles with effect from January 1 this year; it was extended to February 15 later.
• Category ‘M’ is for a motor vehicle with at least four wheels used for carrying passengers.
• Category ‘N’ stands for a motor vehicle with at least four wheels used for carrying goods though it may also carry people.
• FASTag is a sticker attached to the windshield of your vehicle. It has a radio-frequency identification barcode that is linked to registration details of the vehicle.
• It is valid for five years.
• On passing a toll plaza, FASTag readers installed there will automatically deduct the required toll.
• To buy a FASTag, you need to furnish vehicle registration documents, and personal ID for the KYC process. If you do it through the bank, you only need your registration certificate.
• It can be bought via banks or e-commerce channels. 
• It can also be purchased at some toll plazas across the country.
• If you have bought it through a bank, the e-commerce partner would create an e-wallet. 
• All you need to do is add money to the e-wallet. Likewise, for mobile payment banks, you can recharge using your debit/credit card, UPI or other payment options.
• Those exempt from paying toll don’t need to use FASTag either. 
• This includes judges, bureaucrats, lawmakers, ministers and emergency service workers.
• As per the ministry, FASTag registration has reached 90%; only 10% people still need to get it.

Highlights:

• Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath inaugurated the Abhyudaya scheme via video conferencing.
• The scheme will aid holistic development by providing coaching facilities similar to that of Kota and Prayagraj to the interested candidates in other parts of the state who are not able to avail those services.

• Abhyudaya Yojana is a 'path pradarshak' (guiding light) for holistic development.
• When about 30,000 competitive exam prospects were stuck in Kota and Prayagraj due to Covid, we decided to have similar coaching facilities in the state.
• Under the Abhyudaya scheme, free of cost coaching centres for the preparation of competitive government exams will be provided by the UP government.
• The coaching institutions are especially aimed at providing assistance to those candidates who are not able to take coaching for the exams due to their financial problems.
• The free-of-cost coaching institutes will be starting from tomorrow.
• Students can avail offline coaching and study material too.
• Free guidance and teaching by senior IAS, IPS and PCS officers will also be provided to the aspirants.
• The coaching centre will provide every kind of facility from virtual doubt clarifying sessions, interview calls, career counselling to subject matter expertise.
• The free training centres will be set up in each district and will be operated under the chairmanship of respective Mandalayukta at each divisional headquarter of the state.
• The state government scheme is aimed at ensuring quality exam preparation for all talented and hard working aspirants coming from diverse backgrounds like rural areas, families of poor income class and marginalized section, who are not able to afford and avail coaching services in private sector.

Highlights:

• Maharashtra government was planning to obtain loans to the tune of Rs. 15,000 crore from the Asian Development Bank at a nominal rate to build roads and clear the work backlog in the state.
• The backlog in road work had gone up and the funds required would be more than what the state budget has allocated.
• The government is planning to take a loan of Rs 15,000 crore from the Asian Development Bank at a nominal rate of interest ranging between 1 % and 1.5 %.
• The process of getting cabinet sanction for this loan application is underway. We are also planning to raise funds through asset monetization.
• Last year, fund allocation for road works was 30-40 % due to the coronavirus outbreak.
• The restrictions placed on the Shiv Jayanti celebrations, scheduled for February 19, were due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Highlights:

• The Indian Navy got its third Scorpene submarine, which will be commissioned as INS Karanj, of Project P-75 in Mumbai.
• The acceptance document was signed by Vice Admiral (Retd) Narayan Prasad, Chairman and Managing Director of Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited, and Rear Admiral B Sivakumar, Chief of Staff Officer (Tech) of Western Naval Command.
• With the delivery of Karanj, India further cemented its position as a submarine building nation.
• MDL, one of the India's leading shipyards with the capacity and the capability to meet the requirements and aspirations of the Indian Navy, has delivered three Scorpene submarines named Khanderi, Kalvari and now Karanj.
• The fourth submarine, Vela, launched on May 6 2019, has commenced sea trials, the fifth submarine Vagir, was launched on November 12, 2020 and has commenced harbour sea trials whilst the sixth submarine is presently in an advanced stage of outfitting.
• All the six submarines are being constructed under Project 75. 
• The number 75 in Project 75 refers to a unique identifier which was assigned to a programme for series production of submarines.
• Two SSK submarines built by MDL in 1992 and 1994 are still in service today, after more than 25 years.
• MDL also achieved expertise in submarine refits by successfully executing the medium refit-cum-upgradation of all the four SSK class submarines of the Indian Navy.
• It is presently carrying out the Medium Refit and Life Certification of INS Shishumar, the first SSK submarine.
• With the construction of the Leander and Godavari class frigates, Khukri class Corvettes, Missile Boats, Delhi and Kolkata class Destroyers, Shivalik class Stealth Frigates, the SSK submarines and the Scorpene submarines under its belt, MDL has almost mapped the history of indigenous warship building in India.

Highlights: