Feb 16 To 22 2022

16th – 22nd
February
2022
1|P a g e W WW. E D U T AP . CO . I N QUERY? HELLO@EDUTAP.CO.IN/ 8146207241

Contents
1 GA in News: ................................................................................................................................................................ 8
National News ................................................................................................................................................................ 8
1.1 Vigyan Sarvatra Pujyate ....................................................................................................................................... 8
1.2 NHPC sets up a new subsidiary “NREL” ................................................................................................................ 8
1.3 Webinar on blockchain technology ...................................................................................................................... 9
1.4 Wego to acquire Cleartrip’s West Asia business................................................................................................... 9
1.5 OCEANS 2022 conference .................................................................................................................................... 9
1.6 Apps, website and social media accounts linked to ‘Sikhs for Justice’ blocked ..................................................... 9
1.7 5th Global Bhagavad Gita Convention ................................................................................................................. 9
1.8 Smartphone users in India to reach 1 billion by 2026 ........................................................................................... 9
1.9 Cairn Vedanta discovers oil in Barmer ................................................................................................................. 9
1.10 SEBI approves three new IPOs ........................................................................................................................... 10
1.11 Khajuraho Dance Festival .................................................................................................................................. 10
1.12 Conference on Indian Temple Architecture ....................................................................................................... 10
1.13 Edelweiss General Insurance partners with Ashv Finance for MSME loan protection plans ................................ 10
1.14 AIGF launches intelligence services portal ......................................................................................................... 10
1.15 Delhi CM Kejriwal inaugurates 12,430 smart classrooms in 240 Government Schools ........................................ 10
1.16 Taj Mahotsav to begin from March 20 in Agra ................................................................................................... 10
1.17 PM inaugurates 2 new railway lines between Thane and Diva in Maharashtra................................................... 10
International News ....................................................................................................................................................... 11
1.18 Truth Social tops the chart of most downloaded apps ....................................................................................... 11
1.19 Japan unveils first hydrogen-powered train ....................................................................................................... 11
1.20 Pakistan President signs ordinance amending Electronic Crimes Act .................................................................. 11
1.21 Germany halts Nord Stream 2 approval ............................................................................................................. 11
1.22 Malawi finds wild polio case; first in Africa in five years ..................................................................................... 11
1.23 58th Munich Security Conference held in Germany ........................................................................................... 12
1.24 UK closes 'golden visa' route for investors over security concerns ..................................................................... 12
Banking ........................................................................................................................................................................ 12
1.25 RBI warns against prepaid payment instruments issued by unauthorized entities .............................................. 12
1.26 BOB Financial and IRCTC launch RuPay contactless credit card .......................................................................... 12
1.27 Kotak Mahindra Bank partners Ezetap for PoS solutions .................................................................................... 12
Science and Technology ................................................................................................................................................ 12
1.28 Research finds efficient way of detecting food contamination using Gold Nano rods ......................................... 12
1.29 Indian Scientist develops technology for the repair and restoration of high-value components ......................... 12
Defence in News ........................................................................................................................................................... 13
1.30 President’s Naval Fleet review 2022 .................................................................................................................. 13
1.31 Eastern Bridge-VI exercise ................................................................................................................................. 13

1.32 DefExpo 2022 .................................................................................................................................................... 13
1.33 Navy gets 12th P-8I aircraft ............................................................................................................................... 13
1.34 ‘EX DHARMA GUARDIAN-2022’ military exercise ............................................................................................... 13
1.35 Indian Navy and HAL sign a 'Mutual Expression of Interest' ............................................................................... 13
1.36 Ministry of Defence organizes a webinar on the announcements made in Union budget................................... 14
1.37 Indian Navy to get first batch of 3 MH-60R Multi-Role Helicopters in July 2022 ................................................. 14
1.38 Indian Air Force to participate in ‘Ex Cobra Warrior 22' in the UK ...................................................................... 14
Environment ................................................................................................................................................................. 14
1.39 Storm Eunice hits England ................................................................................................................................. 14
1.40 Army’s Bent Toed Gecko: A New Lizard Species from Meghalaya Named in Honor of Indian army ..................... 15
Awards ......................................................................................................................................................................... 15
1.41 Annual Banking Technology Awards 2021 ......................................................................................................... 15
1.42 Dadasaheb Phalke Awards 2022 ........................................................................................................................ 16
1.43 Assam CM confers state’s highest civilian award to Ratan Tata in Mumbai ........................................................ 16
1.44 Bill Gates conferred Hilal-e-Pakistan honour on first-ever visit to Pakistan ........................................................ 16
Sports ........................................................................................................................................................................... 17
1.45 2022 Bengaluru Open II ..................................................................................................................................... 17
1.46 Yash Dhull makes record ................................................................................................................................... 17
1.47 Mumbai to host the 2023 International Olympic Committee Session ................................................................. 17
1.48 Tamil Nadu teenager shines in Airthings Masters rapid tournament .................................................................. 17
1.49 Beijing Winter Olympic Games 2022.................................................................................................................. 17
1.50 Malayali cricket team to play in Ottawa............................................................................................................. 17
1.51 Ireland and UAE qualify for T20 World Cup ........................................................................................................ 17
1.52 Djokovic loses world No 1 ranking to Medvedev ................................................................................................ 17
1.53 42nd National Cycle Polo Championship............................................................................................................ 18
1.54 Mumbai to host International Olympic Committee session in 2023 after 40 years ............................................. 18
1.55 Norway tops Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics Medal Table ................................................................................... 18
1.56 Bihar's Sakibul Gani Creates World Record With Triple Century On First-Class Debut ........................................ 18
Appointments............................................................................................................................................................... 18
Obituaries..................................................................................................................................................................... 19
Persons in News ........................................................................................................................................................... 19
Days in News ................................................................................................................................................................ 20
2 GA + ESI in News ....................................................................................................................................................... 20
Social Sectors in India- Health ....................................................................................................................................... 20
2.1 Grant released to States for Urban Local Bodies ................................................................................................ 20
2.2 DCGI grants EUA to Covid vaccine Corbevax for children between 12-18 years of age ....................................... 21
2.3 Central govt, Panacea Biotec to jointly develop new Covid-19 vaccines ............................................................. 21
2.4 Four police stations declared ‘Eat Right campus’ by FSSAI ................................................................................. 21

2.5 Union Health Minister launches reports of Institute for Competitiveness highlighting India’s COVID-19
Vaccination Programme................................................................................................................................................ 22
2.6 India’s first Biosafety Level 3 Mobile Laboratory inaugurated in Nashik ............................................................. 22
2.7 Union Health Minister inaugurates two new departments and Centres at the IIPS Mumbai .............................. 23
2.8 Canada clears world's first plant-based vaccine against Covid-19....................................................................... 23
Social Sectors in India – Education ................................................................................................................................ 23
2.9 Career counseling workshop 'Pramarsh 2022' ................................................................................................... 23
2.10 Parliamentary Standing Committee recommendations on art education ........................................................... 24
2.11 Supreme Court rejects plea to include religious schools under RTE, 2009 .......................................................... 24
2.12 Admission to 100 new Sainik Schools through e-Counselling ............................................................................. 25
2.13 J&K delimitation commission Interim Report ..................................................................................................... 25
2.14 Tamil Nadu re-adopts Bill against NEET ............................................................................................................. 26
2.15 Ministry of Education organizes brainstorming webinar on implementation of Union Budget 2022
announcements ............................................................................................................................................................ 26
2.16 Delhi govt. adds 11 new Schools of Specialized Excellence................................................................................. 27
Employment Generation in India .................................................................................................................................. 27
2.17 Women MSMEs Entrepreneurs ......................................................................................................................... 27
2.18 Shyama Prasad Mukherji Rurban Mission .......................................................................................................... 28
2.19 Snow Sculpture & Leh Berry .............................................................................................................................. 28
2.20 J&K on boarded National Single Window System............................................................................................... 29
Employment Generation in India .................................................................................................................................. 29
2.21 EPFO Payroll data: 14.60 lakh net subscribers added during the month of December, 2021 .............................. 29
2.22 Union Minister for DoNER addresses the ‘North East MSME Conclave: Building Competitiveness for Leveraging
Opportunities’ .............................................................................................................................................................. 30
2.23 Assam government to launch 'Project Arohan' to hone students' skills .............................................................. 30
2.24 Delhi Cabinet approves Delhi Film Policy 2022................................................................................................... 30
Sustainable Development and Environmental Issues..................................................................................................... 31
2.25 India, Australia ink letter of intent on Renewable Energy Technology ................................................................ 31
2.26 Guidelines on Extended Producers Responsibility on plastic packaging .............................................................. 31
2.27 Andhra Pradesh’s CLAP campaign...................................................................................................................... 32
2.28 World Sustainable Development Summit 2022 .................................................................................................. 33
2.29 Udhampur's River Devika project ...................................................................................................................... 33
2.30 National Centre of Excellence in Carbon Capture and Utilization (NCoE-CCU) .................................................... 33
2.31 One Ocean Summit ........................................................................................................................................... 34
2.32 Govt. of India, World Bank sign loan agreement of $115 million ........................................................................ 34
2.33 PM inaugurates Asia's biggest Bio-CNG plant 'Gobar-Dhan' in Indore ................................................................ 35
2.34 MNRE and FICCI organize Chintan Baithak on “Roadmap to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2070” as a part
of “New Frontiers: A Programme on Renewable Energy” .............................................................................................. 35
2.35 NITI Aayog, WRI India Conduct Consultation Workshop on ‘Financing for Decarbonization of Transport’ .......... 35

2.36 Vice President inaugurates National WASH Conclave-2022 ................................................................. 36
2.37 NHPC sets up subsidiary for development of RE, Small Hydro and Green Hydrogen Projects ............................. 36
2.38 Delhi cabinet approves India's first e-waste eco-park ........................................................................................ 37
Social Justice................................................................................................................................................................. 37
2.39 Supreme Court on OROP ................................................................................................................................... 37
2.40 Railway Protection Force Rescued 1,045 Kids .................................................................................................... 37
2.41 Safety measures for children below four years of age ........................................................................................ 38
2.42 DGCA Child Restraint System ............................................................................................................................. 38
2.43 World Day of Social Justice 2022 ....................................................................................................................... 39
Globalization ................................................................................................................................................................ 39
2.44 UNCTAD on Global Trade in 2021 ...................................................................................................................... 39
2.45 World Bank fund to fight future pandemics ....................................................................................................... 39
2.46 India, France Adopt Blue Economy Plan............................................................................................................. 40
2.47 India – UAE Economic Partnership Agreement .................................................................................................. 41
2.48 ‘Food, Agriculture and Livelihood’ fortnight at, EXPO2020 Dubai ....................................................................... 41
2.49 Work Plan 2022 signed between India and Germany ......................................................................................... 42
2.50 Japanese Industrial Townships (JITs).................................................................................................................. 42
2.51 India and Russia agree to deepen cooperation at the UNSC............................................................................... 42
2.52 4th Quad ministerial meeting ............................................................................................................................ 43
2.53 DST-CII India-Singapore Technology Summit ..................................................................................................... 43
2.54 Gems & Jewellery sector is expected to achieve export target of $40 Billion this year: Piyush Goyal .................. 44
Growth and Development ............................................................................................................................................ 44
2.55 India to grow at 8.4% in FY23: Moody’s ............................................................................................................. 44
2.56 India Ratings pegs India’s FY22 GDP growth at 8.6% .......................................................................................... 45
Measurement of Growth .............................................................................................................................................. 45
2.57 AICP Index Numbers for Agricultural and Rural Laborers, January, 2022 ............................................................ 45
2.58 NSO, Consumer price Index Numbers January, 2022 ......................................................................................... 46
2.59 DPIIT, Wholesale Price Index data for Jan, 2022................................................................................................. 46
Indian Agriculture ......................................................................................................................................................... 47
2.60 Upper Bhadra gets national project status ......................................................................................................... 47
2.61 APEDA’s 36th Foundation Day ........................................................................................................................... 47
2.62 Prime Minister flags off 100 ‘kisan drones’ ........................................................................................................ 47
2.63 ‘Lavender Cultivation’ under Aroma Mission to be started in Ramban as a part of Purple Revolution ................ 48
2.64 Seminar organized as a part of ‘Food, Agriculture and Livelihood’ fortnight at EXPO2020 .................................. 48
Industrial Development in India .................................................................................................................................... 49
2.65 National Strategy on Additive Manufacturing .................................................................................................... 49
2.66 Council for Leather Exports data on Leather, Footwear Exports ......................................................................... 49
2.67 ICCR Indian Crafts Fair ....................................................................................................................................... 50

2.68 Guidelines and Standards for EV charging infrastructure ................................................................................... 50
2.69 Applications for Semiconductor and Display Fabs .............................................................................................. 51
2.70 MIC Provisional data, on coal production in January, 2022 ................................................................................ 51
2.71 National Super Computing Mission.................................................................................................................... 52
2.72 EGI seeks withdrawal of new Central Media Accreditation Guidelines ............................................................... 53
2.73 Bharat New Car Assessment Programme (NCAP) ............................................................................................... 53
Regional Economic Cooperation ................................................................................................................................... 54
Human Development.................................................................................................................................................... 54
2.74 Centre of Excellence in Maritime and Shipbuilding (CEMS) ................................................................................ 54
2.75 SBI-NCF-IGNCA sign MoU for Development of Atmanirbhar Bharat Centre for Design ....................................... 54
2.76 India First Tech Start-up Conclave & Awards...................................................................................................... 55
Indian Political System .................................................................................................................................................. 55
2.77 Draft India Data Accessibility and Use Policy 2022 ............................................................................................. 55
2.78 Kerala’s proposal to limit Lokayukta’s powers ................................................................................................... 56
2.79 Revamping of the Department of Commerce .................................................................................................... 56
Union Budget................................................................................................................................................................ 57
2.80 Prime Minister addresses ‘Leaving No Citizen Behind’ webinar on post-Budget announcements ....................... 57
Recommendations of Finance Commission ................................................................................................................... 59
2.81 Grant of Rs. 1348.10 crore released to Six States for Urban Local Bodies ........................................................... 59
Regional Economic Cooperation ................................................................................................................................... 59
2.82 India sends first shipment of wheat to Afghanistan via Pakistan ........................................................................ 59
Multiculturalism ........................................................................................................................................................... 60
2.83 MoU signed between NTRI and BAJSS to establish BAJSS as resource center of NTRI ......................................... 60
2.84 Ministry of Education launches Bhasha Certifiate Selfie campaign ..................................................................... 60
3 GA + Finance in News................................................................................................................................................ 61
Primary and Secondary Markets ................................................................................................................................... 61
3.1 $3 trillion vanishes from negative-yielding bond universe ................................................................................. 61
3.2 RBI to enter into sell-buy swaps worth $5 billion ............................................................................................... 61
3.3 SEBI proposes rules on pricing of IPOs ............................................................................................................... 61
3.4 India to move to T+1 settlement cycle ............................................................................................................... 62
3.5 India's forex reserves down by $1.763 billion to $630.19 billion ........................................................................ 62
Banking System in India ................................................................................................................................................ 63
3.6 First Foreign Country to adopt India's UPI system .............................................................................................. 63
FinTech ......................................................................................................................................................................... 63
3.7 Fintech Open Hackathon ................................................................................................................................... 63
3.8 What are NFTs? How is it different from cryptocurrency? ................................................................................. 64
Recent Development in Financial Sector ....................................................................................................................... 65
3.9 Core Financial Services Solution (CFSS) for NBFCs .............................................................................................. 65

3.10 SEBI update for listed companies to separate roles of CMD ............................................................................... 66
3.11 RBI’s Regulations Review Authority (RRA) recommendations on regulated entities ........................................... 66
3.12 SEBI advisory committee on alternative investment policy ................................................................................ 66
3.13 Centre rejects Finance Commission’s recommendations ................................................................................... 67
3.14 25th Meeting of Financial Stability and Development Council ........................................................................... 67
3.15 Finance Minister chairs post-Budget meeting with heads of Banks, NBFCs and Financial Institutions ................. 68
4 Static ........................................................................................................................................................................ 68
4.1 List of Important Organizations with Headquarters ........................................................................................... 68
4.2 Countries in News ............................................................................................................................................. 68
4.3 Banks in News ................................................................................................................................................... 69
## Note: We are introducing the YouTube icons ( )“ in the title of some of the news articles which
will take you to the You Tube session. Happy Learning!!

1 GA in News:
National News
1.1 Vigyan Sarvatra Pujyate
• Vigyan Sarvatra Pujyate (science is revered all over) is a nationwide week-long programme being
organized to mark the National Science Week.
• It is being organized under the leadership of Principal Scientific Officer (Government of India) and the
Ministry of Culture by:
o Department of Science and Technology (DST)
o Department of Biotechnology
o Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)
o Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO)
o Ministry of Earth Sciences
o Department of Atomic Energy
o Department of Space
o Indian Council of Medical Research
o All India Council for Technical Education
• Aim: To attract students towards scientific knowledge of articles of daily use and propagating
scientific theories.
• Themes: The programme is being organized under four themes.
o From the annals of the history of S&T
o Milestones of Modern S&T
o Swadeshi Paramparik Inventions and Innovations
o Transforming India
• Vigyan Prasar, an autonomous organization of DST is the coordinating agency of the programme.
Important Programmes in the event
• A mega expo and science literature festival has been organized at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in
Delhi.
• The literature festival aims to communicate science through theatre, poems, various folk forms and
cultural events.
• The Ministry of Culture has organized a series of lecture demonstrations under the theme “Dhara-
an Ode to Indian Knowledge System”.
• The first event under this series is dedicated to ‘India’s Contribution to Mathematics through Ages’.
• The DRDO has organized exhibitions on the theme ‘Amrit Mahotsav Science Showcase: Roadmap to
2047’ at 16 cities of the country.
1.2 NHPC sets up a new subsidiary “NREL”

• National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) has set up a new wholly owned subsidiary
company “NHPC Renewable Energy Ltd. (NREL)”.
• NREL will work for development of Renewable Energy, Small Hydro and Green Hydrogen based
business of NHPC Ltd.

1.3 Webinar on blockchain technology
• The Hindu and Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Academy, Kerala have jointly
organized the webinar on ‘Blockchain: The New Technology of Trust and Future Prospects’.
• Aim: to discuss the advancements and the future course in the field of Block Chain Technology.
1.4 Wego to acquire Cleartrip’s West Asia business

• Wego has acquired the West Asia business of Cleartrip, an online travel portal owned by Flipkart.
• Wego is an online travel marketplace in the Middle East and North Africa region.
1.5 OCEANS 2022 conference

• The bi-annual event of global marine researchers, “OCEANS 2022” conference has been jointly hosted
for the first time in India by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras and the National Institute
of Ocean Technology.
• Theme of the conference: ‘Inspire-Innovate-Sustain’.
• Aim: to learn, innovate, and lead in the protection and utilization of the world’s largest natural
resource Oceans.
• The Department of Ocean Engineering (IIT Madras) is coordinating the event on behalf of the
Institution of Electrical and Electronics Engineering Ocean Engineering Society and Marine
Technology Society.
1.6 Apps, website and social media accounts linked to ‘Sikhs for Justice’ blocked
• The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting has blocked the apps, website, and social media accounts
of foreign-based “Punjab Politics TV” for being detrimental to the sovereignty and integrity of India.
• ‘Punjab Politics TV’ has been found to have links with banned organization “Sikhs for Justice” (SFJ).
1.7 5th Global Bhagavad Gita Convention

• The Vice President has inaugurated the 5th Global Bhagavad Gita Convention virtually from Chennai,
Tamil Nadu.
• Organized by: Centre for Inner Resources Development (CIRD), North America.
• Theme: ‘Mental Harmony’.
1.8 Smartphone users in India to reach 1 billion by 2026

• According to India edition of Deloitte’s Technology, Media, and Telecommunications (TMT)
predictions, the number of Smartphone users in India is going to reach the 1 billion mark by 2026.
• As per the report; India is going to be the second largest smartphone manufacturer in the next five
years.
• India has reported 1.2 billion mobile subscribers in 2021, with 750 million smartphone users.
1.9 Cairn Vedanta discovers oil in Barmer

• Vedanta group subsidiary, Cairn Oil and Gas has announced an oil discovery in an open acreage
licensing policy (OALP) block of Barmer, Rajasthan.
• This is the third hydrocarbon discovery notified by the company under the OALP portfolio and has
been named 'Durga'.

1.10 SEBI approves three new IPOs
• Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has approved the initial public offering (IPO) of
Wellness Forever Medicare, metal recycling firm CMR Green Technologies and API Holdings (parent
of PharmEasy).
1.11 Khajuraho Dance Festival

• The 48th Khajuraho Dance Festival has commenced in Khajuraho, Madhya Pradesh.
• Organized by: Madhya Pradesh Kala Parishad.
• It highlights the richness of the Indian classical dance styles with performances of the best exponents
in the field.
1.12 Conference on Indian Temple Architecture

• The Union Minister for Culture has inaugurated the conference on Indian Temple Architecture titled
"DEVAYATANAM – An Odyssey of Indian Temple Architecture", at Hampi, Karnataka.
• Organized by: the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).
Additional Information
• The Union Government has proposed Hoysala temples of Belur and Somnathpur to the UNESCO
World Heritage List.
• The Ministry of Tourism has introduced the PRASHAD and Swadesh Darshan Scheme to facilitate
tourism in the country.
1.13 Edelweiss General Insurance partners with Ashv Finance for MSME loan protection plans
• Edelweiss General Insurance (EGI) has partnered with Ashv Finance, to provide financial protection
to small businesses and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) loan borrowers by offering
health insurance cover.
1.14 AIGF launches intelligence services portal

• All India Gaming Federation (AIGF) has launched an intelligence services portal.
• Aim: to monitor, track and give the latest updates on the developments in the sector related to court
cases, regulations and policy developments both at the Center and states.
• The new portal is supported by India’s gaming focused online news portal g2g.news (Gateway to
Gaming) of G2G Technologies.
1.15 Delhi CM Kejriwal inaugurates 12,430 smart classrooms in 240 Government Schools
• Recently, the Chief Minister of Delhi has inaugurated over 12,430 new smart classrooms in 240
government schools in New Delhi.
1.16 Taj Mahotsav to begin from March 20 in Agra

• Taj Mahotsav 2022, an annual cultural festival will be organized by the Uttar Pradesh Tourism for ten
days from March 20 to March 29, 20222.
• Theme for Taj Mahotsav 2022: Aazadi ke Amrit Mahotsav sang, Taj ke rang
• Venue of the event: Shilpgram, a well-known crafts village in Agra.
1.17 PM inaugurates 2 new railway lines between Thane and Diva in Maharashtra
• Recently, the Prime Minister of India has virtually inaugurated two new railway lines connecting
Thane and Diva in Maharashtra.
• Estimated cost of setting up two new railway lines: Rs 620 crores.
10 | P a g e W W W . E D U T A P . C O . I N QUERY? HELLO@EDUTAP.CO.IN/ 8146207241
• He also flagged off two suburban trains of the Mumbai Suburban Railway.
International News
1.18 Truth Social tops the chart of most downloaded apps
• Former U.S. President Donald Trump’s new social media app “Truth Social” has topped the list of the
most downloaded apps in Apple’s U.S. App Store.
• The app was introduced by Trump after he was banned by Facebook, Twitter and YouTube in 2021.
1.19 Japan unveils first hydrogen-powered train

• Japan has unveiled its first hydrogen-powered train which will be put to testing in March, 2022.
• The “Hybari" train can travel up to 140 kilometers at a top speed of 100 km/h on a single filling of
hydrogen.
• Developed by: East Japan Railway Co, Toyota Motor Corp. and Hitachi Ltd.
• World’s first Hydrogen train was unveiled by Germany in 2018 which was built by Alstom SA.
1.20 Pakistan President signs ordinance amending Electronic Crimes Act

• Pakistan President has signed an ordinance amending the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, 2016.
• The new ordinance brings fake news or ridiculing any person on television under the category of
electronic crime.
• This is being seen as a step to suppress the freedom of media, freedom of speech and dissenting
voices.
1.21 Germany halts Nord Stream 2 approval

• Germany has suspended the process of certifying the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia.
• The announcement comes after Russia declared two separatist regions Donetsk and Luhansk of
Ukraine as Independent.
About the pipeline
• It is a 1,230 km long natural gas pipeline under the Baltic Sea, running from Russia to Germany's
Baltic coast.
• It runs parallel to Nord Stream pipeline 1 and is aimed to double its capacity, to 110 billion cubic
meters of gas per year.
• The pipeline has been completed but awaits approval from Germany and the European Union.
1.22 Malawi finds wild polio case; first in Africa in five years
• Recently, Malawi has declared an outbreak of wild polio as a case was identified in a child in
Lilongwe.
• It is the first case of the wild polio virus in Africa in more than five years.
• The African Continent was declared free of all forms of wild polio in 2020.
• According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the strain identified in the child has been linked
to the strain circulating in Pakistan.
• Wild polio remains endemic in only two countries viz, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

1.23 58th Munich Security Conference held in Germany
• Recently, the 58th Munich Security Conference (MSC 2022) was held in Hotel Bayerischer Hof,
Munich, Germany.
• It is an annual conference on international security policy.
• Chairman of Munich Security Conference: Dr. Christoph Heusgen.
• Union Minister for External Affairs represented India at the event.
1.24 UK closes 'golden visa' route for investors over security concerns
• Recently, the United Kingdom (UK), has closed the Tier 1 Investor visa (Golden Visa) route to all new
applicants from all nationalities with immediate effect over security concerns.
• The decision is aimed to provide opportunities for UK citizens & stop corrupt elites who threaten
national security & induce dirty money in the UK.
Banking
1.25 RBI warns against prepaid payment instruments issued by unauthorized entities
• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has cautioned the public against a pre-paid instrument (wallet)
operated by car-pooling app ‘sRide’ over failure to obtain the required permissions.
• sRide is owned by Gurugram based Ride Tech Private Ltd.
1.26 BOB Financial and IRCTC launch RuPay contactless credit card
• BOB Financial Solutions Limited (BFSL), and the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation
(IRCTC) have launched the IRCTC BoB RuPay contactless credit card.
• BFSL is a wholly owned subsidiary of Bank of Baroda (BoB).
1.27 Kotak Mahindra Bank partners Ezetap for PoS solutions

• Recently, Kotak Mahindra Bank has partnered with Ezetap to provide integrated point of sale (PoS)
solutions across 4,000 locations in India.
Science and Technology

1.28 Research finds efficient way of detecting food contamination using Gold Nano rods
• A team of Indian researchers has found a more efficient way of detecting food contamination.
• This can be done by tuning the properties of Gold-Nano rods by applying a DC electric field (external
forces) for developing sensors that can detect trace amounts of molecules.
• The study has been conducted by W. Zaibudeen and Ranjini Bandyopadhyay of the Raman Research
Institute, Bangalore.
• It has been published in the journal ‘Soft Matter’.
1.29 Indian Scientist develops technology for the repair and restoration of high-value components
• Professor Ramesh Kumar Singh of IIT Bombay has developed an autonomous technology for repair
and restoration of high-value components such as moulds, turbine blades, and other aerospace
components with enhanced quality and repeatability.
• The laser-directed energy deposition (LDED) technique has been developed with support from the
Advanced Manufacturing Technologies Program of the Department of Science and Technology
(Government of India).
• Professor Ramesh has partnered with Bharat Forge, Aditya Birla Science and Technology Company
and Interface Design Associates for the commercialization of the new technology.
Defence in News
1.30 President’s Naval Fleet review 2022
• The 12th edition of the President’s Fleet Review has been conducted at Visakhapatnam, Andhra
Pradesh.
• Theme: ‘75 years in Service of the Nation’.
• President of India (the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces) has reviewed the Naval Fleet
embarked on the Presidential Yacht “Indian Navy Ship (INS) Sumitra”.
• The fleet comprised of over 60 ships and submarines, and 55 aircraft.
1.31 Eastern Bridge-VI exercise

• The 6th edition of the bilateral exercise “Eastern Bridge-VI” between Indian Air Force (IAF) and Royal
Air Force of Oman (RAFO) has been held at Air Force Station Jodhpur.
• Aim: to enhance operational capability and interoperability between the two Air Forces.
1.32 DefExpo 2022

• The 12th edition of the Asia's largest exhibition on land, naval and homeland security systems
“DefExpo 2022” is going to be held in Gandhinagar, Gujarat in March, 2022.
• Theme of the event: ‘Path to Pride’.
• The Defence Minister has launched a DefExpo-2022 mobile app for all issues related to the event.
1.33 Navy gets 12th P-8I aircraft

• The Indian Navy has received the 12th P-8I patrol aircraft from the US-based aerospace company
Boeing.
• The Navy had signed a contract to procure four additional P-8I aircraft in 2016 after procuring eight
P-8Is in 2009.
About P-8I
• It is a long-range maritime reconnaissance and Anti-Submarine Warfare Aircraft.
• India was the first international customer of Boeing for this aircraft.
• The first aircraft was inducted by the Navy in 2013.
1.34 ‘EX DHARMA GUARDIAN-2022’ military exercise

• The 3rd edition of the joint military exercise “EX DHARMA GUARDIAN-2022” between India and
Japan is going to be conducted, at Belagavi (Belgaum), Karnataka from 27 February to 10 March
2022.
• Aim: enhancing inter-operability and foster mutual understanding.
• The 15th Battalion the Maratha Light Infantry Regiment will represent the Indian Army.
1.35 Indian Navy and HAL sign a 'Mutual Expression of Interest'

• Indian Navy (IN) and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) have signed a 'Mutual Expression of
Interest' to facilitate Faculty Exchange Program between Naval Institute of Aeronautical Technology,
Kochi (Kerala) and HAL Management Academy, Bengaluru.

• Aim: to create awareness among trainees for latest aviation technologies and Maintenance, Repair &
Overhaul (MRO) management through courses, guest lectures, workshops and conferences.
• The agreement has been signed during the 3rd IN-HAL Apex Level Meeting.
1.36 Ministry of Defence organizes a webinar on the announcements made in Union budget
• Ministry of Defence has organized a post budget webinar on the announcements made in Union
budget 2022-23.
• Theme: ‘Aatmanirbharta in Defence - Call to Action’.
• On the occasion, the Defence Minister has made multiple announcements to encourage the industry
and the startups.
o At least five projects to be sanctioned under Make-I during Financial Year 2022-23 to promote
research and development.
o Creation of a monitoring mechanism under Director General (DG)-Acquisition.
o Reformation of Quality Assurance (QA) process.
o iDEX-Prime to support projects to help growing startups in the defence sector.
About Make- I Projects
• These are Government funded (90%) projects to enhance indigenous capabilities of developing
defence equipment by both public and private sector industry in a faster time frame.
About iDEX
• The scheme Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) was launched in April 2018.
• Aim: to achieve self-reliance, innovation and technology development in the field of Defence and
Aerospace.
1.37 Indian Navy to get first batch of 3 MH-60R Multi-Role Helicopters in July 2022
• The first batch of 3 MH-60 Romeo (R) Multi-Role Helicopters from U.S are going to arrive in India by
July, 2022.
• Built by: Lockheed Martin.
• The three helicopters were delivered to the Indian Navy in July, 2021 in the U.S. and are being used
for training Indian pilots at Pensacola, Florida and San Diego.
• India had signed a USD 2.2 billion deal for 24 MH-60R helicopters in February 2020.
1.38 Indian Air Force to participate in ‘Ex Cobra Warrior 22' in the UK
• The Indian Air Force (IAF) will participate in a multi-nation air exercise named 'Ex Cobra Warrior 22'
at Waddington, United Kingdom in March 2022.
• IAF Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas will represent India in the exercise.
Environment
1.39 Storm Eunice hits England
• Storm Eunice has made its landfall in London resulting in the Britain's meteorological service to issue
its first ever "danger to life” Red weather warning.
• The storm has caused a huge amount of damage in parts of Western, Central and Northern Europe.
• It has been named Storm Zeynep in Germany and Storm Nora in Denmark.

1.40 Army’s Bent Toed Gecko: A New Lizard Species from Meghalaya Named in Honor of Indian army
• Recently, a new species of Gecko was recorded from the Umroi Military Station, Ri-Bhoi district in
Meghalaya by researchers.
o The Gecko has been scientifically named as Cyrtodactylus exercitus.
o The Gecko has been given the English name Indian Army’s bent-toed gecko to honour the
contribution of Indian Army.
• Another new species of Gecko Cyrtodactylus siahaensis has been discovered in Mizoram.
o It has been named after, after Mizoram’s Siaha district where it was found.
• The discovery has been published in European Journal of Taxonomy.
• Additional Information: In a separate study researchers have discovered Cyrtodactylus lungleiensis,
a new species of bent-toed gecko named after Mizoram’s Lunglei town.
Awards
1.41 Annual Banking Technology Awards 2021
• Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) has announced the IBA’s 17th Annual Banking Technology Awards
2021 in 7 categories;
o Best Technology Bank of the Year
S. No. Segment Winner
1 Large Banks Bank of Baroda
2 Small Banks South Indian Bank
3 Foreign Banks Citibank
4 Regional Rural Banks (RRB) Baroda Rajasthan Kshetriya Gramin Bank (BRKGB)
o Best Use of Artificial Intelligence & Data Analytics
1 Large Banks ICICI Bank
2 Small Banks The South Indian Bank and Karur Vyasa Bank
3 RRB Telangana Grameena Bank (TGB)
o Best IT Risk & Cyber Security Initiatives
1 Large Banks Union Bank of India
2 Medium Banks Yes Bank
3 Small Banks The South Indian Bank
4 Foreign Banks The Hongkong & Shanghai Banking Corporation
5 RRB BRKGB and TGB
6 Co-operative Banks The Saraswat Cooperative bank
7 Small Finance Banks Ujjivan Small Finance Bank
o Best Digital Financial Inclusion Initiatives
1 Large Banks State Bank of India
2 Small Banks The Jammu & Kashmir Bank
3 RRB BRKGB
o Best Payments Initiatives
1 Public Banks State Bank of India
2 Private Banks ICICI Bank
o Best Fintech Adoption

1 Large Banks ICICI Bank
2 Medium Banks Federal Bank
3 Small Banks South Indian Bank
4 RRB BRKGB
o Cloud Adoption
1 Large Banks Union Bank of India
2 Medium Banks Yes Bank
3 Small Banks Karur Vysya Bank
4 Foreign Banks Citibank
5 RRB BRKGB
1.42 Dadasaheb Phalke Awards 2022

• India's highest award in the field of cinema; the Dadasaheb Phalke Awards have been presented by
the Directorate of Film Festivals (Ministry of Information and Broadcasting) in Mumbai.
• The major awardees include:
S. No. Category Winner

1 Film of the Year Pushpa: The Rise
2 Best Film Shershaah
3 Best Actor Ranveer Singh for film 83
4 Best Actress Kriti Sanon for film Mimi
5 Outstanding Contribution to Films Asha Parekh
6 Critics Best Actor Sidharth Malhotra
7 Critics Best Actress Kiara Advani
8 People’s Choice Best Actor Abhimanyu Dasani
9 People’s Choice Best Actress Radhika Madan
10 Best Debut Ahan Shetty for film Tadap
11 Best Playback Singer Male Vishal Mishra
12 Best Playback Singer Female Kanika Kapoor
13 Critics Best Film Sardar Udham Singh
14 Best Director Ken Ghosh for State of Siege: Temple Attack
15 Best Actor in Web Series Manoj Bajpayee for The Family Man 2
16 Best Actress in Web Series Raveena Tandon for Aranyak
17 Best Web Series Candy
18 Best International Feature Film Another Round
1.43 Assam CM confers state’s highest civilian award to Ratan Tata in Mumbai
• Recently, the Chief Minister of Assam has conferred the ‘Assam Baibhav’ award to industrialist and
philanthropist Ratan Tata in Mumbai for his contribution towards furthering cancer care in Assam.
• Assam Baibhav is Assam’s highest civilian award.
• Assam Government earlier conferred the
1.44 Bill Gates conferred Hilal-e-Pakistan honour on first-ever visit to Pakistan

• Recently, the Government of Pakistan has conferred the award of Hilal-e-Pakistan to American
Philanthropist & Microsoft founder Bill Gates for his efforts to eradicate Polio in Pakistan.
• Hilal-e-Pakistan is Pakistan’s second highest civilian award.

Sports
1.45 2022 Bengaluru Open II
• The 5th edition of the Bengaluru Open II tournament has taken place in Bangaluru, Karnataka.
• It was a part of the 2022 Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) Challenger Tour.
S. No. Category Winners

1 Singles Aleksandar Vukic (Australia)
2 Doubles Alexander Erler (Austria) and Arjun Kadhe (India)
1.46 Yash Dhull makes record

• Yash Dhull (Delhi) has made history by becoming only the third Indian batter to score a hundred in
each innings on Ranji Trophy debut.
• Earlier, Nari Contractor for Gujarat and Virag Awate for Maharashtra have achieved this feat.
1.47 Mumbai to host the 2023 International Olympic Committee Session

• Mumbai has been officially elected as the host for the 2023 International Olympic Committee (IOC)
session.
• The session will possibly see the election for the host country for the 2030 Winter Olympics and sports
programme for Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.
• India hosted the last IOC session in 1983.
1.48 Tamil Nadu teenager shines in Airthings Masters rapid tournament

• Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa has become the third Indian player (behind Viswanathan Anand and
Harikrishna) to win a game against World Champion Magnus Carlsen (Norway) in the online Airthings
Masters rapid tournament of the Champions Chess Tour 2022.
1.49 Beijing Winter Olympic Games 2022

• The 2022 edition of the Winter Olympic Games being held in Beijing, China have ended with the
message “One World, One Family.”
• Beijing has become the first city in the world to host both the summer and the winter Olympics.
• Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo in Italy will host the 2026 Winter Games.
• In the Medal’s tally, Norway topped the list with a total of 37 medals followed by Russia (32 medals)
and Germany (27 medals).
1.50 Malayali cricket team to play in Ottawa

• Ottawa Tuskers; the only all-Malayali team is going to play in the second division cricket league to
be held in Ottawa, Canada in May, 2022.
1.51 Ireland and UAE qualify for T20 World Cup

• Ireland and United Arab emirates (UAE) have qualified for the International Cricket Council (ICC) T-
20 World Cup 2022 going to be held in Australia.
1.52 Djokovic loses world No 1 ranking to Medvedev

• Daniil Medvedev (Russia) has attained the World Number 1 rank in the Men’s tennis by the
Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP); replacing Novak Djokovic (Serbia).
• He is only the 5th player to attain the top ranking after Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic
and Andy Murray since 2004.
1.53 42nd National Cycle Polo Championship
• The 42nd Senior National Cycle Polo Championship has been held at Mysore, Karnataka.
• Air Force Cycle Polo team (AFCPT) emerged as the National Champions by beating Territorial Army
in the finals.
1.54 Mumbai to host International Olympic Committee session in 2023 after 40 years
• Recently, India has been announced as the host of the 2023 International Olympic Committee's (IOC)
session after winning the bid at the 139th IOC session in Beijing, China
• India will be hosting the event at the Jio Convention Centre, Mumbai.
• India has previously hosted the event once in 1983 at New Delhi.
• Nita Ambani was the Indian Representative in the IOC session.
About IOC Session
• It is an annual meeting of the IOC members, comprising 101 voting members and 45 honorary
members.
1.55 Norway tops Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics Medal Table

• Recently, the 24th edition of Winter Olympics (Beijing 2022) was concluded in Beijing, China.
Top 3 countries that topped Beijing 2022 Medal Table
Rank Country Gold Silver Bronze Total

1 Norway 16 8 13 37
2 Germany 12 10 5 27
3 China 9 4 2 15
1.56 Bihar's Sakibul Gani Creates World Record With Triple Century On First-Class Debut
• Recently, Bihar’s Sakibul Gani has become the first cricket player in the history to score a triple
century on his first-class debut.
• He scored 341 runs off 405 balls in the Plate Group Ranji Trophy fixture against Mizoram at the
Jadavpur University, Bengal.
Appointments
S. Person Position Organization/ Country/ Outgoing Miscellaneous
No. Company Person
1 Vipula Chief Jet Airways --
Gunatilleka Financial
Officer (CFO)
2 Susanne First Woman IKEA India Peter Betzel --
Pulverer Chief
Executive
Officer (CEO)
and Chief
Sustainability
Officer (CSO)
3 Chetan Ghate Director Institute of Economic Ajit Mishra --
Growth
4 K.N. Raghavan Chairman International Rubber Study -- --
Group (IRSG)
5 Pralay Mondal Deputy CSB Bank -- Reserve Bank
Managing of India has
Director approved the
appointment
under
Selection 35 B
of the Banking
Regulation
Act, 1949.
6 Rahul Bhatia Managing IndiGo -- He is the Co-
Director founder and
Promoter of
IndiGo.
7 Rakesh Sharma Managing IDBI Bank - He has been
Director and reappointment
Chief to the role for
Executive a period of
Officer three years.
(MD&CEO)
8 Anna Shotbolt British Deputy She will represent United Jeremy --
High Kingdom in Karnataka and Pilmore-
Commissioner Kerala Bedford
Obituaries
S. No. Name of Deceased Country/ State Field Miscellaneous
1 Ravish Tiwari Uttar Pradesh Journalist --
2 Maheshwari Amma Kerala Actor Her stage name was K.P.A.C. Lalitha.
Winner of two national awards and
Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award.
3 Mekapati Goutham Andhra Politician He was the Andhra Pradesh Information
Reddy Pradesh Technology and Industries Minister.
4 Pratap Bordoloi Assam Journalism A pioneer in Television Journalism
5 Sadhan Pande West Bengal Politics He served as the Minister of Consumer
Affairs in the West Bengal government
Persons in News
S. No. Name About Miscellaneous
1 U. V. Swaminatha Iyer Birth anniversary Tamil scholar and researcher.
2 Kili Paul Felicitated by Indian High He is a Tanzanian social media
Commission in Tanzania star known for his lip-syncing
videos on Bollywood songs
3 Srimad Bhakti President has inaugurated He was the founder of Gaudiya
Siddhanta Saraswati three-year long celebrations Math and Mission in Puri.
Goswami Prabhupad of his 150th birth anniversary.
4 Sabitha Koraga First woman from the Koraga Koragas are a tribal community
community to obtain found in Karnataka and Kerala.
doctoral degree.

5 Srikanth Nadhamuni He has resigned as the non-
executive director of HDFC
Bank
6 Sanjay Malhotra He has been nominated by The Government of India has
the Reserve Bank of India also nominated him as the
(RBI) as a Director in its Director in the Central Board of
Central Board. State Bank of India (SBI) in
exercise of the powers
conferred by clause (e) of
Section 19 of the State Bank of
India Act, 1955.
He is currently serving as the
secretary of the department of
financial services
7 Rakesh Gangwal He resigned from InterGlobe
Aviation (IndiGO) board.
He is the co-founder & promoter
of IndiGo
Days in News
S. No. Days Date Theme & Misc.
1 International Mother February 21 Theme: “Using technology for multilingual
Language Day learning: Challenges and opportunities”.
On the occasion, Ministry of Culture has
organized an event ‘Ekam Bharatam’ in
collaboration with Indira Gandhi National
Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) and UNESCO New
Delhi Cluster Office.
Minister of State for Culture has released the
‘Vande Bharatam’ song created by Grammy
Award winner Ricky Kej and 20able maestro
Bikram Ghosh.
2 Birth anniversary of U. V. February 19 He was a Tamil scholar and researcher. He is
Swaminatha Iyer also called Tamil Thatha (Tamil grandfather).
He was awarded the title of
‘Mahamahopadhya (Great Teacher)’ and
‘Dakshina Kalanidhi’.
3 National Science Week February To commemorate Science and scientific
22-28, 2022 inventions in the country.
4 World Day of Social Justice February 20 Theme: 'Achieving Social Justice through
Formal Employment'.
2 GA + ESI in News
Social Sectors in India- Health

2.1 Grant released to States for Urban Local Bodies
• Recently, the Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance has released an amount of Rs.
1154.90 crore to 4 States for providing grants to Urban Local Bodies.

o The grants released are meant for Non-Million Plus cities (NMPCs) including Cantonment
Boards.
Key Details
• The States to which grants were released are Andhra Pradesh (Rs. 225.60 crore), Bihar (Rs. 769 crore),
Gujarat (Rs. 165.30 crore) and Sikkim (Rs.5 crore).
• This grant has been released for supporting and strengthening the delivery of basic services. Out of
the total released grant.
o 50% is earmarked for ‘Sanitation Solid Waste Management and attainment of star ratings as
developed by the Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs (MOH&UA).
o The remaining 50% is tied to ‘Drinking water, rainwater harvesting and water recycling’.
• In State/UTs, amount of ULB grant released in 2021-22, Uttar Pradesh (Rs. 1592 crore) received the
highest funds followed by Andhra Pradesh (Rs. 873 crore) and Bihar (Rs. 759 crore).
• The 15th Finance Commission in its report for the period from 2021-22 to 2025-26 has divided the
Urban Local Bodies into two categories:
o Million-Plus urban agglomerations/cities (excluding Delhi and Srinagar),
o And all other cities and towns with less than one million population (Non-Million Plus cities).
o It has also recommended separate grants for Non-Million Plus cities, 40% is basic (untied)
grant and the remaining 60% is tied grant.
2.2 DCGI grants EUA to Covid vaccine Corbevax for children between 12-18 years of age
• Recently, the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) has granted Emergency Use Authorisation
(EUA) to COVID-19 vaccine Corbevax for children aged between 12-18 years.
• With this, India now has two Covid-19 vaccines for children including Covaxin (administered for the
children aged 15 to 18 years).
About Corbevax
• Highlight: India’s first indigenously developed Receptor Binding Domain protein sub-unit COVID-19
vaccine.
• Manufacturer: Biological E Ltd, Hyderabad.
• Administration: It is administered through an intramuscular route with two doses scheduled 28 days.
2.3 Central govt, Panacea Biotec to jointly develop new Covid-19 vaccines
• Recently, the Translational Health Science and Technology Institute (THSTI) has announced a
partnership with pharma company Panacea Biotec and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness
Innovations (CEPI).
• Partnership Objective: to develop vaccine candidates to provide broad protection against SARS-COV-
2 variants and other betacoronaviruses.
• As a part of the initiative, CEPI will provide funding of up to USD 12 million to support the
development of multi-epitope, nanoparticle-based vaccine candidates and advance the
manufacturing process.
2.4 Four police stations declared ‘Eat Right campus’ by FSSAI

• Recently, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has certified four police stations
of New Delhi district as ‘Eat Right Campus’ for implementing ‘Sehatmand Delhi’ programme.
• These four police stations are the first and only ones to receive such certification.

• All four police stations have been certified with Five Star Category for implementing & meeting
benchmarks under ‘Sehatmand Delhi’ programme.
• It is for the first time such an initiative has been taken for the health and nutrition of police personnel
in India.
About Sehatmand
Delhi’ programme
• It is an initiative
launched under
Eat Right India.
• Initiative of:
Department of
Food Safety,
Delhi
Government.
• Objective: to
identify
premises that
can be
recognised as Eat Right Campus
2.5 Union Health Minister launches reports of Institute for Competitiveness highlighting India’s COVID-
19 Vaccination Programme
• Recently, the Union Minister for Health & Family Welfare has released two reports of the Institute
for Competitiveness titled ‘COVID-19-India’s Vaccine Development Story’ and ‘India's COVID – 19
Vaccination Administration Journey’ in New Delhi.
• The report highlights the crucial aspects that have contributed to the success of India's COVID-19
vaccine development and administration efforts.
• The reports acknowledge the challenges faced by the Government of India to vaccinate 1.3 billion
people of India against COVID-19.
2.6 India’s first Biosafety Level 3 Mobile Laboratory inaugurated in Nashik

• Recently, the Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare has inaugurated South Asia and
India’s first Biosafety level-3 (BSL-3) containment Mobile Laboratory- BioKlenz in Nasik district,
Maharashtra.
• It is a part of Government of India’s efforts to strengthen healthcare infrastructure through the
Pradhan Mantri Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission.
• BioKlenz has been designed and built by Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) in collaboration
with Mumbai based bio-safety equipment maker Klenzaids.
• Estimated Cost: Rs. 25 crores
• Purpose: It will investigate newly emerging and re-emerging viral infections that are highly infectious
and of lethal potential to human beings.

2.7 Union Health Minister inaugurates two new departments and Centres at the IIPS Mumbai
• Recently, the Union Minister for Health & Family Welfare has inaugurated two new Departments
and two new Research Centres at International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS) in Deonar,
Mumbai, viz,
o Department of Survey Research and Data Analytics and the Department of Family and
Generations.
o Centre of Demography of Gender and Centre for Ageing Studies.
• Focus Areas of the new departments & Centres at IIPS: well-being of girl-children, women and the
elderly population.
• The new departments and centres will work in line with the vision of taking Indian institutions to
global level and making the country self-reliant.
Background
• Union Ministry of Health & Family Welfare has approved these new departments & centres of IIPS in
October 2021.
About IIPS
• It is an autonomous organization under the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
• It is the nodal agency that conducted all the five rounds of National Family Health Survey.
2.8 Canada clears world's first plant-based vaccine against Covid-19

• Recently, the world’s first plant-derived Covid-19 vaccine named Covifenz was cleared for use in
adults aged 18 to 64 in Canada.
• It is also the first authorized COVID-19 vaccine developed by a Canadian-based company
• Developers of Covifenz: Quebec based biopharma company Medicago Inc. (owned by Mitsubishi
Chemical), Philip Morris & GlaxoSmithKline Plc.
• It is a two dose vaccine developed from plant protein that looks like the virus that causes Covid-19
to the human immune system.
• It also uses GlaxoSmithKline’s pandemic adjuvant, a substance that boosts the immune system’s
response.
Social Sectors in India – Education

2.9 Career counseling workshop 'Pramarsh 2022'
• Recently, the Minister of State for Culture & Parliamentary Affairs has launched the career
counseling workshop 'Pramarsh 2022' for the students of the Bikaner District region.
o In this workshop 1 lakh students participated from more than thousands schools of Bikaner
district mainly from rural area.
Key Details of the Workshop
• The workshop was organized with the help of the Ministry of Labour & Employment’s, National
Institute of Career Services (NICS) and Edumilestone’s, an educational start-up.
• The workshop will include not just teacher training and career workshops for students, but also an
online and offline career evaluation.
o This workshop will also provide access to Edumilestone’s digital career library for all
participating students.

• Students from both government and private schools got advice from professionals in a variety of
fields, including policy planning, business, art, industry associations etc.
2.10 Parliamentary Standing Committee recommendations on art education

• Recently, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education, Women, Children, Youth and Sports
submitted its report titled “Reforms in the education of performing and fine arts” in Parliament.
o The committee recommended various reforms in line with the National Education Policy
(NEP) 2020 that advocates integrating arts with the education system.
Key Recommendations
• The government should make art education a “compulsory subject up to Class 10”.
o This art education should include music, dance, visual arts and theatre with special emphasis
on Indian traditional and folk arts.
• “Massive public campaigns” is required to change the mindset of parents, guardians, school
authorities, even policy makers towards incorporating arts in the education system.
• Establishment of a Central University like Rashtriya Kala Vishwa Vidyalaya (National University of
Arts) through an Act of Parliament.
o Establishment of dedicated departments with latest facilities, including well-equipped studios,
in existing universities in the county.
• Creation of a regulatory body in line with the technical education regulator AICTE to take care of the
need for a regulatory mechanism for higher education as well as research in performing, fine and
visual arts.
• Union ministries of education and culture jointly appoint a task force to identify sectors and
institutions where students of performing/fine arts can find viable career opportunities.
• The education ministry confers the status of Institute of National Importance (INI) to institutes such
as Film and Television Institute of India (FTTI), Pune and National School of Drama (NSD).
2.11 Supreme Court rejects plea to include religious schools under RTE, 2009
• Recently, the Supreme Court has refused to intervene in a petition challenging sections of the Right
to Education Act of 2009.
Background
• In past, a plea has been filled which challenged the constitutional validity of Sections 1(4) and 1(5)
of the Right to Education Act, 2009 which contained this exclusion.
o These sections exclude vedic pathsalas, madrasas and institutions imparting religious
education from its ambit.
• The plea stated that these sections are causing infringements of Article 29 and 30, thus needs to be
repealed.
Supreme Court Stand:
• The Court observed that the exclusion of these institutions was specifically inserted into the 2009
Act by an amendment of August 2012.
• It also allowed the petition to be withdrawn by granting petitioner the liberty to approach the high
court.
What is Article 29 and 30?
• Article 29 mandates that no discrimination would be done on the ground of religion, race, caste,
language or any of them.

• Article 30 mandates that all minorities, whether based on religion or language, shall have the right
to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice.
2.12 Admission to 100 new Sainik Schools through e-Counselling

• Recently, the Sainik School Society (SSS) is in the process of developing an automated system for
conduct of e-Counseling for seeking admissions in new Sanik Schools.
Key Details of the e-Counseling System
• This automated system for e-Counselling will ensure complete transparency in the admission
process.
• It will publicize widely to intimate students to apply for e-Counselling along with timelines.
• It will also provide access for real-time monitoring of the entire process, and necessary action, as
required at each stage.
• The allocation of schools to students based on their rank and results will be declared through e-
Counseling portal.
Background
• In past, the Defense Minister has announced that the government has decided to set up 100 new
Sainik schools.
2.13 J&K delimitation commission Interim Report

• Recently, the three-member J&K delimitation commission has submitted its interim report to its five
associate members.
o This J&K delimitation commission has been headed by the retired Supreme Court (SC) judge
Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai.
Key Details of the Interim Report
• It has proposed changes in Baramulla, Kupwara, Srinagar, Kulgam and Anantnag districts of the
Kashmir division.
• The Commission has proposed reserving nine seats for Scheduled Tribes (STs) on the basis of
population.
o While, seven seats were proposed for the Scheduled Castes (SCs).
• Of the seven additional Assembly constituencies in the UT.
o One each has been proposed in the districts of Kathua, Samba, Rajouri, Reasi, Doda and
Kishtwar in Jammu division, and Kupwara in the Kashmir Valley.
• Once these proposed additions are effected, the total number of Assembly constituencies in J&K will
rise to 90.
o In Jammu, the number of seats will go up to 43 from 37, and in Kashmir, by one seat to 47.
• An additional 24 seats are proposed to be reserved for Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).
What is Delimitation?
• It is the process of fixing limits or boundaries of territorial constituencies in a country to represent
changes in population.
o The redrawing of boundaries is based on a recent census.
o The body that does the delimitation exercise is called the Delimitation Commission
What is Delimitation Commission?
• It is appointed by the President of India and works in collaboration with the Election Commission of
India.
• Delimitation Commission Members includes:
o A retired judge of the Supreme Court
o The Chief Election Commissioner
o State Election Commissioners (of the respective states).
• It is appointed for the purpose of drawing up the boundaries of constituencies all over the country.
2.14 Tamil Nadu re-adopts Bill against NEET

• Recently, the Tamil Nadu Assembly has re-adopted the Anti-National Eligibility Entrance Test (NEET)
Bill.
Background
• In past, the governor of Tamil Nadu has returned the bill for reconsideration as in his opinion, bill
was against interests of students especially the rural and economically poor students.
o He had also disagreed with the remarks of a state-appointed expert committee led by Justice
A K Rajan, about NEET.
What is Anti-NEET Bill?
• The Bill seeks to dispense with NEET, for admission in undergraduate medical degree courses in Tamil
Nadu.
• It provides for admission to undergraduate courses in dentistry, medicine, Indian medicine and
homeopathy, based on marks obtained in qualifying examination.
• It also provides 7.5% horizontal quota in medical admission for students of government schools.
2.15 Ministry of Education organizes brainstorming webinar on implementation of Union Budget 2022
announcements
• The Government of India is organizing a series of webinars across various key sectors to facilitate
efficient and speedy implementation of Union Budget 2022 announcements.
• As a part of this series, the Union Ministry of Education has recently organized a webinar titled
Achieving Atmanirbharta through the Amrit Mantra of Digital Education and Dynamic Skilling:
Webinar on Implementation of Budget 2022 Education.
• The webinar highlighted the positive impact of Union Budget 2022 on the education and skill sector.
• Seven thematic breakout sessions were organized as a part of the webinar by the Education Ministry
along with other Ministries.
Session Theme Chaired/ Co-chaired by
No.
1 Digital University: Making World Class Higher Education Sanjay Murthy
Accessible for All. K. Rajaraman,
2 The Digital Teacher: Creating quality e-content and Virtual A.P. Sawhney
Labs for Inclusivity, Better Learning Outcomes and Skilling Anita Karwal
3 Widening Reach of One Class One Channel: Reaching Quality Prof. Nageshwar Rao
Digital Education to the Farthest Corner Dr T. P. Singh
4 India Specific Knowledge in Urban Planning and Design Manoj Joshi
5 Towards Fostering Stronger Industry-Skill Linkage Rajesh Aggrawal
G. Kamala Vardhana Rao
Anurag Jain
6 Developing Educational Institutions in Gujarat International Injeti Srinivas (Chair)
Finance Tec-City (GIFT City) Sudhir Mankad (Co-
chair)
7 Strengthening Industry-Skill Linkage in animation, visual Apurva Chandra
effects, gaming and comics (AVGC). Atul Tiwari.
Key Highlights
• Inaugural session on Digital University addressed by the Prime Minister of India
o During his address, he elaborated on five aspects highlighted in the Budget 2022, viz,
✓ Universalization of quality education
✓ Skill development
✓ Inclusion of India’s ancient experience and knowledge of urban planning and designing
into education
✓ Internationalization
✓ Focus on Animation Visual Effects Gaming Comic
• Session on ‘Towards Fostering Stronger Industry-Skill Linkage’.
o It is a Skill India session
o Organized by: Ministry of Education, Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship
(MSDE) & other Ministries.
2.16 Delhi govt. adds 11 new Schools of Specialized Excellence

• Recently, the Government of Delhi has added 11 new Schools of Specialized Excellence (SoSE).
• With the new addition, the total number of SoSEs in Delhi has increased to 31.
About Schools of Specialized Excellence
• Initiative of: Delhi Government; Launch Year: 2021
• Objective: to provide specialized education in students from classes 9 to 12 in the following five areas:
o Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM)
o Humanities
o Performing and visual arts
o High-end 21st century skills
o Armed forces preparatory school (included in 2022).
• Target: to set up 100 SoSEs in Delhi.
Employment Generation in India

2.17 Women MSMEs Entrepreneurs
• Recently, the Ministry of Micro,Small & Medium Enterprises has shared data regarding the number
of women entrepreneurs registered under different portals and governments initiatives for women
entrepreneurs.
Key Information Shared
• Under Udyog Aadhaar Memorandum (UAM) number of women entrepreneurs registered is as
following:
o From 01/04/2019 to 31/03/2020 it was 5,50,739.
o From 01/04/2020 to 30/06/2020 it was 1,81,822.
• Under Udyam Registration (UR) portal number of women entrepreneurs registered is as following:
o From 01/07/2020 to 31/03/2021 it was 4,91,069.
o From 01/04/2021 to 02/02/2022 it was 7,08,656.
• The Government has mandated that all Central Ministries/ Departments and PSU’s should procure
at least 3% of their annual procurement from women owned micro and small enterprises.

• The Ministry also implements several other schemes for promotion and development of MSMEs,
including women owned MSMEs, it includes:
o Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP),
o Micro and Small Enterprises Cluster Development Programme (MSE-CDP),
o Scheme of Fund for Regeneration of Traditional Industries (SFURTI),
o Procurement and marketing Support Scheme,
o Entrepreneurship and Skill Development Programme (ESDP), Credit Linked Capital Subsidy and
Technology Upgradation Scheme (CLCS-TUS) etc.
About Udyam Sakhi Portal
• It was launched by the Ministry of Micro,Small & Medium Enterprises for women entrepreneurs.
• The portal is network to nurture entrepreneurship and create business models for low cost products
and services in order to empower women and make them self-sufficient.
• It will provide assistance to women entrepreneurs through its platform for entrepreneurship
learning tools, incubation facility, one-on-one investor meet, technical assistance etc.
2.18 Shyama Prasad Mukherji Rurban Mission

• Recently, on 21st Feb, 2022, 6th anniversary of the launch of Shyama Prasad Mukherji Rurban Mission
(SPMRM) is being observed.
About Shyama Prasad Mukherji Rurban Mission
• It was launched by the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) in 2016.
• The main aim of the mission is to bridge the gap between rural and urban population by providing
equal facilities, technology, social-economic development
• The objective Mission is to stimulate local economic development, enhance basic services, and create
well planned Rurban clusters.
o In terms of SPMRM, Rurban areas refer to a cluster (Non-Tribal and Tribal) of 15-20 villages
having about 30 to 40 lakh population
o The clusters will be geographically contiguous Gram Panchayats with a population of about
25000 to 50000 in plain and coastal areas and a population of 5000 to 15000 in desert, hilly
or tribal areas.
• The mission is a centrally sponsored scheme and has two fund streams:
o Convergence through various Central sector schemes, centrally sponsored schemes, State
sector/ sponsored schemes/ programmes, CSR funds
o Critical Gap Funds (CGF)
• The State Government identifies the clusters in accordance with the Framework for
Implementation prepared by the MoRD.
• Under the mission 300 Rurban clusters are envisaged to be developed in a time bound manner.
o Of these 296 clusters have been selected and Integrated Cluster Action Plans (ICAPs) has been
approved for them.
2.19 Snow Sculpture & Leh Berry

• Recently, the Lt. Governor of Ladakh concluded the first-ever ‘Ice & Snow Sculpture Workshop’ 2022
and announced various proposal for the state.
o The workshop was organized by Kangsing Snow and Ice Sculpture Association in association
with Ladakh Police.
• Ladakh Governor announced that a Snow Sculpture will be introduced in Ladakh in a big way from
winter season as a tourist attraction.
• Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) under the aegis of Union Ministry of Science &
Technology is also promoting plantation of ‘Leh Berry’.
o Leh berry is an exclusive food product of the cold desert and is also a means of wide-ranging
entrepreneurship as well as self-livelihood.
• CSIR will also develop harvesting machinery to be used by local farmers and self-help groups, as
currently only 10% of berry is being extracted from the wild sea buckthorn plant.
• The Department of Atomic Energy will set up facilities in Ladakh for ‘Gamma Irradiation Technology’
for preservation/shelf life extension of fruits and vegetables.
• The local entrepreneurs will be provided meaningful employment in various domains like farming,
processing, and marketing of approx 100 odd products in an entirely organic manner.
2.20 J&K on boarded National Single Window System

• Recently, the Jammu & Kashmir has become the first Union Territory to be on boarded on the
National Single Window System (NSWS).
o This will help in improving Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) in the Union Territory.
About NSWS
• The platform was soft launched in September 2021 and has been developed by DPIIT (Department
for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade) in association with Invest India.
• It is a one-stop digital platform that aims at allowing investors to apply for various pre-operations
approvals required for commencing a business in the country.
o It allows businesses to apply for clearances, track progress and respond to queries on a single
dashboard.
o It also offer a Know Your Approvals service to inform businesses of the details of all the
approvals they need to obtain
• This portal helps in bringing Transparency; Accountability & Responsiveness in the ecosystem.
• Currently, As many as 20 ministries/departments and 14 states/UTs have been integrated on NSWS.
Employment Generation in India

2.21 EPFO Payroll data: 14.60 lakh net subscribers added during the month of December, 2021
• Recently, the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has released the provisional payroll
data for December 2021.
• EPFO has added 14.60 lakh net subscribers during December 2021.
o Of the total net subscribers, 9.11 lakh new members have been enrolled under Employees'
Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act (EPF & MP Act) 1952 for the first time.
o Approximately 5.49 lakh net subscribers exited but rejoined EPFO.
• Age-wise comparison of payroll data
o Top 2 age group with highest number of enrollments in December 2021: 22-25 years & 18-21
years.
o Age-groups of 18-25 years have contributed around 46.89% of total net subscriber additions
in December, 2021.
• State-wise comparison of payroll data
o Maharashtra, Haryana, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka have together contributed around
61.44 % of total net payroll addition across all age groups in December 2021.
• Gender-wise analysis
o Share of female enrollment of the total net subscribers in December 2021: 20.52% (approx.)
o Net female payroll addition in December 2021: 3 lakh (approx.).
• Industry-wise analysis
o ‘Expert services’ category constituted 40.24% of total subscriber addition during December
2021.
About Payroll data
• Released by EPFO from May 2018.
• The payroll data covers the period December 2017 onwards.
About EPFO
• EPFO is India’s principal organization responsible for providing social security benefits to the
organized/semi-organized sector workforce covered under EPF & MP Act, 1952.
2.22 Union Minister for DoNER addresses the ‘North East MSME Conclave: Building Competitiveness for
Leveraging Opportunities’
• Recently, the Union Minister of Development of North East Region (DoNER) has addressed the ‘North
East MSME (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises) Conclave: Building Competitiveness for
Leveraging Opportunities’.
The conclave was organized by the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII).
2.23 Assam government to launch 'Project Arohan' to hone students' skills

• Recently, the Government of Assam has made an announcement to launch a four year mentorship
programme called Project Arohan.
• In this regard, the Chief Minister of Assam has met the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Tata STRIVE,
to seek cooperation on Project Arohan.
• Project Aim: to provide guidance to students and hone their skills.
2.24 Delhi Cabinet approves Delhi Film Policy 2022

• Recently, the Delhi Cabinet has approved India’s most progress state film policy-Delhi Film Policy
2022.
• Four Objectives of the Delhi Film Policy 2022:
o Association of the people of Delhi with the policy
o Making the national capital a brand for shooting location
o Turning the city into a hub for the production of domestic as well as international films
o Creating jobs for the people.
Key Highlights of the policy
• Delhi Government will provide a subsidy of up to Rs 3 crore for film production in Delhi.
• Creation of Rs 50 crore Delhi film fund to support film producers.
• Delhi Government will set up a e-Film Clearance Portal
o Through this portal, 25 Delhi agencies will be put together, including the Delhi Police.
o Single window clearance will be granted in 15 days for shooting in Delhi.
• Provision of incentives for hiring locals in the cinema industry.

• Annual scholarship or stipend will be provided to Delhi students studying in recognized film training
institutes across India.
Sustainable Development and Environmental Issues

2.25 India, Australia ink letter of intent on Renewable Energy Technology
• Recently, the India and Australia inked a letter of intent (LoI) for working together on new
and renewable energy technologies.
o The letter of intent (LoI) was signed at the 4th India Australia Energy Dialogue.
Key Details of the LoI
• This LoI will pave the way for working towards reducing the cost of new and renewable
energy technologies and scaling up their deployment in order to accelerate global emissions
reduction
• The focus of this LoI will be scaling up manufacture and deployment of ultra low-cost solar and clean
hydrogen.
About 4th India Australia Energy Dialogue
• Recently, it was co-chaired by Union Minister for Power and New & Renewable Energy.
• Energy Transition was a major area of discussion in the dialogue and the need of Climate Finance
was also highlighted by India.
• There are many desirable areas of cooperation agreed under the other JWGs like reducing costs of
Green Hydrogen; cooperation in the sphere of coal-based energy security and resource deployment
etc.
2.26 Guidelines on Extended Producers Responsibility on plastic packaging

• Recently, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has notified the Guidelines on
Extended Producers Responsibility (EPR) on plastic packaging under Plastic Waste Management
Rules, 2016.
Key Details of the Guidelines
• It provide framework to strengthen circular economy of plastic packaging waste, promote
development of new alternatives to plastics and provide further next steps for moving towards
sustainable plastic packaging.
• It allows for sale and purchase of surplus extended producer responsibility certificates, thus setting
up a market mechanism for plastic waste management.
• The implementation of EPR will be done through a customized online platform which will act as digital
backbone of the system.
• In order to ensure monitoring on fulfillment of EPR obligations, the guidelines have prescribed a
system of verification and audit of enterprises.
• It also prescribes a framework for levy of environmental compensation.
o This is based upon polluter pays principle, with respect to non-fulfillment of extended
producer responsibility targets by producers, importers & brand owner.
✓ The funds collected shall be utilized for collection, recycling and end of life disposal of
uncollected plastic waste in an environmentally sound manner.
• Under these producers, importers & brand owners may operate schemes such as deposit refund
system or buy back or any other model, in order to prevent mixing of plastic packaging waste with
solid waste.
About Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016
• It was notified by the Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
• It aims to:
o Increase minimum thickness of plastic carry bags from 40 to 50 microns and stipulate
minimum thickness of 50 micron for plastic sheets also to facilitate collection and recycle of
plastic waste,
o Expand the jurisdiction of applicability from the municipal area to rural areas, because plastic
has reached rural areas also;
o To bring in the responsibilities of producers and generators, both in plastic waste
management system and to introduce collect back system of plastic waste by the
producers/brand owners.
o To introduce collection of plastic waste management fee through pre-registration of the
producers, importers of plastic carry bags/multilayered packaging and vendors selling the
same for establishing the waste management system;
o To promote
✓ Use of plastic waste for road construction as per Indian Road Congress guidelines or
energy recovery, or waste to oil etc.
✓ Gainful utilization of waste and also address the waste disposal issue;
✓ To entrust more responsibility on waste generators namely payment of user charge
as prescribed by local authority, collection and handing over of waste by the
institutional generator, event organizers.
2.27 Andhra Pradesh’s CLAP campaign

• The Andhra Pradesh Government had started the “Clean Andhra Pradesh (CLAP)- Jagananna
Swachha Sankalpam Programme, on October 2, 2021.
• It has an aim of segregating liquid and solid waste, encouraging home composting and onsite waste
treatment, apart from door-to-door collection of garbage.
o It also seeks to make the rural areas free of open defecation.
Key Details of the CLAP Campaign
• It was launched for cleaning rural areas, improving sanitation conditions and waste management with
public participation.
• Under the campaign, rural households are advised not to dispose of garbage on streets and instead
hand it over to garbage collector.
• More than 13,000 sarpanches have been instructed strictly to lead Open Defecation Free (ODF)
campaign from the front as well as ensure that their villages are ODF.
o Andhra Pradesh government wants the state to become litter-free and garbage-free, by the
end of 2022.
• Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh had flagged off 4,097 garbage collecting vehicles to start the
campaign.
• By November 2021, garbage collection from rural households was at 22% and by January 2022, it
had reached to 61.50%.
What is ODF?
• Open defecation is the human practice of defecating outside ("in the open") rather than into a toilet.

o On the other hand, ‘Open defecation free' (ODF) is a term used to describe communities that
have shifted to using toilets instead of open defecation.
2.28 World Sustainable Development Summit 2022

• Recently, the Prime Minister of India delivered the inaugural address at The Energy and Resources
Institute’s (TERI), World Sustainable Development Summit (WSDS), 2022.
About World Sustainable Development Summit
• It is the annual flagship event of TERI.
o It was earlier known as Delhi Sustainable Development Summit. Instituted in 2000.
• It has following Objectives:
o It has been conceptualized as a single platform to accelerate action towards sustainable
development and climate change.
o It also aims to bring together global leaders and thinkers in the fields of sustainable
development, energy and environment sectors on a common platform.
About World Sustainable Development Summit, 2022
• It is being held in a hybrid format in New Delhi, India.
• Theme: ‘Towards a Resilient Planet: Ensuring a Sustainable and Equitable Future’.
• President of the Dominican Republic, President of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana and Deputy
Secretary General of the United Nations are scheduled to attend the summit along with.
About TERI
• It is a research institute in New Delhi that specializes in the fields of energy, environment and
sustainable development.
o Established in 1974, it was formerly known as the Tata Energy Research Institute.
• TERI’s work is focused on following areas:
o Promoting efficient use of resources,
o Increasing access and uptake of sustainable inputs and practices,
o Reducing negative impact on environment and climate.
2.29 Udhampur's River Devika project

• Recently, the Minister of state (independent charge) ministry of earth science has stated that historic
River Devika project, built at the cost of over Rs 190 crore, will be complete by June, 2022.
About River Devika Project
• The work on the project was started in March 2019 under the National River Conservation Plan
(NRCP).
• It is North India's first river rejuvenation project.
o It will offer a unique destination both for pilgrim tourists as well as recreation tourists.
o On completion of the project, the rivers will see reduction in pollution and improvement in
water quality.
• The project includes the construction of sewage treatment plants, sewerage network, development
of cremation ghats, small hydropower plants and three solar power plants.
2.30 National Centre of Excellence in Carbon Capture and Utilization (NCoE-CCU)

• Recently, with the help of Department of Science & Technology, two new NCoE-CCU is getting
established in India.
Key Details of the NCoE-CCU

• The two centers includes:
o National Centre of Excellence in Carbon Capture and Utilization (NCoE-CCU) at Indian
Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay, Mumbai.
o National Centre in Carbon Capture and Utilization (NCCCU) at Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for
Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR), Bangalore.
• The Centers will act as multi-disciplinary, long-term research, design development, collaborative and
capacity-building hubs for research and application-oriented initiatives in the field of CCU.
• These CoEs will facilitate capturing & mapping of current R&D and innovation activities in the domain
and also develop networks of researchers, industries and stakeholders.
What are Carbon Capture and Utilization (CCU)?
• It is a process that captures carbon dioxide emissions from sources like coal-fired power plants and
either reuses or stores it so that, it will not enter the atmosphere.
o It is a crucial emission reduction technology that can be applied across the energy system.
• This technology is meant to play an essential role in meeting net-zero targets, including as one of
few solutions to tackle emissions from heavy industry.
2.31 One Ocean Summit

• Recently, the Prime Minister will address the high-level segment of One Ocean Summit on 11th
February.
o The summit will also be addressed by several other heads of states and governments from the
United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, South Korea, and Canada.
About One Ocean Summit
• It is being organized by France from 9-11 February, in Brest, France, in cooperation with the United
Nations and the World Bank.
o It will be held in light of French Presidency of the Council of European Union.
• The objective of the Summit is to mobilize the international community to take tangible action
towards preserving and supporting healthy and sustainable ocean ecosystems.
• It will provide an opportunity for gathering political leaders and stakeholders to make a decisive
contribution with initiatives and commitments dedicated to oceans.
2.32 Govt. of India, World Bank sign loan agreement of $115 million
• Recently, the Government of India, Karnataka and Odisha and the World Bank has signed $115
million loan agreement.
o This has been signed to implement, Rejuvenating Watersheds for Agricultural Resilience
through Innovative Development (REWARD) Programme.
Key Details of the Loan Agreement
• World Bank’s lending arm, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) will
provide financial support of USD 115 million to this project.
o The loan has a 15 years maturity period with 4.5 years grace period.
• Karnataka will receive USD 60 million, Odisha will receive USD 49 million while the remaining USD 6
million will be utilized by the Indian government’s Department of Land Resources.
About REWARD Programme
• It is a project which is being implemented in three-four Indian states as a six-year project and is one
of the largest water management programs around the world.

• This project is a joint initiative of the Department of Land Resources, Ministry of Rural
Development in association with the World Bank.
• The objective of this program is to improve water and land conservations as well as preventing soil
run-off, harvesting rainwater, regenerating natural vegetation, and replenishing the groundwater
table.
• The project also aims to improve the capacities of the state and the central institutions so that they
can develop and deliver better watershed management and development programs.
2.33 PM inaugurates Asia's biggest Bio-CNG plant 'Gobar-Dhan' in Indore

• Recently, the Prime Minister of India has virtually inaugurated ‘Gobar-Dhan’- Asia’s biggest bio-
compressed natural gas (CNG) plant in Indore, Madhya Pradesh.
• The Prime Minister has also made an announcement that in the coming two years, Gobar Dhan Bio
CNG plants will be established in 75 big Municipal bodies.
Key details of Gobar-Dhan Plant
• Project Implemented by: Indore Clean Energy Pvt Ltd.

o Indore Clean Energy Pvt Ltd is a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) setup by Indore Municipal
Corporation (IMC) and Indo Enviro Integrated Solutions Ltd. (IEISL) under a Public Private
Partnership (PPP) model.
• Total Cost of the project: Rs 150 crores (completely borne by IEISL)
• Waste Treatment Capacity: The plant can treat 550 tonnes per day of segregated wet organic waste.
• Production Capacity: It can produce around 17,000 kg per day of CNG, and 100 tonnes per day of
organic compost.
• Plant Model: The plant is based on zero landfill models, whereby no rejects would be generated.
• Plant Benefits:
o IMC will purchase a minimum 50% of CNG produced by the plant.
o In a first of its kind initiative, IMC will run 400 city buses on the CNG.
Relevance
• The Gobar Dhan Bio CNG plant in Indore has been set up in line with the Swachh Bharat Mission
Urban 2.0, with the overall vision of creating “Garbage Free Cities”.
2.34 MNRE and FICCI organize Chintan Baithak on “Roadmap to achieve net zero carbon emissions by
2070” as a part of “New Frontiers: A Programme on Renewable Energy”
• Recently, the Union Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE) & Federation of Indian Chambers
of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) jointly organized a Chintan Baithak on "Roadmap to achieve net
zero carbon emissions by 2070”.
• Chaired by: Indu Shekhar Chaturvedi, Secretary, MNRE
• The Chintan Baithak was organized as a part of MNRE’s “New Frontiers: A Programme on Renewable
Energy”, organized under Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav.
2.35 NITI Aayog, WRI India Conduct Consultation Workshop on ‘Financing for Decarbonization of
Transport’
• Recently, NITI Aayog and World Resources Institute (WRI), India has conducted a virtual consultation
workshop on ‘Financing for Decarbonization of Transport’, as a part of the Nationally Determined
Contributions - Transport Initiative for Asia (NDC-TIA) project
• The workshop has been organized with the support of GIZ India.
• Aim: to identify actionable strategies and bring together financing institutions and transport
organizations to collectively work towards furthering innovative financing policies for the
decarbonization of transport.
About NDC-TIA project
• It is a joint program of seven organizations.

• It engages India, China and Vietnam in promoting a comprehensive approach to decarbonizing
transport in their respective countries.
• Project Funded & Supported by:  International Climate Initiative (IKI) of the German Ministry for the
Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU).
• Implementing partner for India Component: NITI Aayog.
2.36 Vice President inaugurates National WASH Conclave-2022

• Recently, the
Vice President of
India has
virtually
inaugurated the
three day virtual
conclave-
‘National WASH
(Water,
Sanitation and
Hygiene)
Conclave-2022’.
• He also released
the booklet of the conclave.
• Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG-6) deals with "clean water and sanitation for all".
2.37 NHPC sets up subsidiary for development of RE, Small Hydro and Green Hydrogen Projects
• Recently, NHPC Limited has set up a new wholly owned subsidiary company - “NHPC Renewable
Energy Limited (NREL).
• NREL has been set up for the development of renewable energy (RE), Small Hydro and Green
Hydrogen based business of NHPC Ltd.
• The decision is line with Government of India’s target to achieve 500 GW of clean energy by 2030
• NREL has been incorporated with the Registrar of Companies, National Capital Territory (NCT) of
Delhi & Haryana.
• The Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) and NITI Aayog have earlier
given the approval for NHPC to set up a separate unit for RE.
Total Installed Capacity of NHPC
• At present, NHPCs total installed generation capacity stands at 7071 MW.
• It includes 100 MW of Solar/ Wind energy-based plants.
• NHPC has recently signed a Letter of Intent (LoI) with Rajasthan Renewable Energy Corporation
Limited (RRECL) for the development of 10000 MW Renewable Energy Projects / Parks in Rajasthan.
2.38 Delhi cabinet approves India's first e-waste eco-park

• Recently, the Delhi Cabinet has approved the construction of India's first 'e-waste eco park' in New
Delhi for effective management of increasing e-waste.
• It will recycle, refurbish and dismantle waste in a scientific and environmentally safe manner.
Social Justice
2.39 Supreme Court on OROP
• Recently, the Supreme Court (SC) has asked Central Government to place before it details on:
o How many persons in the armed forces have received the modified assured career
progression (MACP),
o How many are in assured career progression (ACP) and what would be the financial outlay, if
MACP also be factored in for the OROP.
Background:
• The SC ordered this while looking into a petition filled by the proposed beneficiaries of OROP scheme
that there is a discrepancy between OROP presented in Parliament and the policy which ultimately
came.
o It also has been alleged that MACP is becoming a barrier to OROP.
What is OROP?
• It implies the payment of the same pension to armed forces personnel for the same rank and the
same length of service, irrespective of the date of retirement.
o Before this system, the prevailing system for calculating the personnel’s pension was based on
the last salary drawn.
What is MACP?
• It is the modified version of Assured Career Progression (ACP) Scheme which was recommended by
5th Pay Commission and existed till 2009.
o In ACP Scheme, Basic Pay of Central Government Employees was upgraded as though the
employee concerned was promoted to next higher post.
• Unlike ACP, MACP is applicable for Central Government Employees in Group “A” Services also.
o It reduced career progression in 10 years compared to 12 years in ACP.
o It provides for three financial up-gradation in the place of two provided by ACP.
o It envisages pay fixation to next Grade Pay in the Grade Pay hierarchy along with 3%
increment in pay in pay band and grade pay received prior to up-gradation.
2.40 Railway Protection Force Rescued 1,045 Kids

• Recently, the Railway Protection Force (RPF) has rescued over 1,000 kids from Railway stations
across the country under ‘Operation Nanhe Farishte’ in the month of January.
o Out of all rescued children, 701 were boys and 344 were girls who were protected by the
forces.
What is Operation Nanhe Farishte
• It is the operation launched by the RPF to reunite lost or lonely children with their families at railway
and railway stations and protecting them from smugglers.
Other Key Initiatives by Railways
• Under operation "Mahila Suraksha", Railways is guaranteeing enhanced security for female
travelers.
• The RPF deployed "Meri Saheli" squads at key railway stations with the goal of providing security to
woman passengers, particularly those travelling alone.
• Under "Operation Matrishakti," ladies RPF personnel went beyond the call of duty to assist pregnant
women who were in labour during their train rides.
• Under "Mission Jeewan Raksha,” RPF personnel saved 42 persons, 20 males and 22 ladies on duty in
the last month.
• The RPF also supports state police in the fight against passenger crime through "Operation Yatri
Suraksha."
o During the month of January, RPF arrested over 300 criminals involved in 254 passenger-
related offences.
• RPF is available on call (Toll-Free 139 and other social media forums likeTwitter, Facebook, Instagram
etc.) round the clock to receive and resolve security and other grievances of passengers.
2.41 Safety measures for children below four years of age

• Recently, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has prescribed norms related to safety
measures for children below four years of age, riding or being carried on a motorcycle.
o For this the ministry has amended the Central Motor Vehicle Rules, 1989.
Key Details of the Notifications
• This has been notified under Section 129 of the Motor Vehicles Act as its mandates the Central
Government to make rules to provide for measures for the safety of children below four years of age.
• Further, it specifies use of a safety harness and crash helmet and also restricts speed of such motor
cycles to 40 kmph.
2.42 DGCA Child Restraint System
• Recently, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has sent an advisory to all airline operators
to implement a Child Restraint System.
o This system specifically has been designed to protect and restrain an infant or child during all
phases of flight.
• Airlines have been asked to encourage and increase the usage of the system by passengers carrying
children or infants.
• Airlines have been instructed to make rules, implement Standard Operating Procedures, and
guidelines as well as training programmes for the implementation of thorough safety management
systems.
Background
• The DGCA has decided to include this system as part of the air safety management protocol.
o This protocol is based on the suggestions of a sub-committee that was formed after the Air
India Express accident in Kozhikode.
About Child Restraint System
• This system has a combination of a belt and an internal harness.
• This device must be attached to the aero plane seat and also includes devices that can be attached
with the belt of the aero plane seat so that it can be secure.

2.43 World Day of Social Justice 2022
• World Day of Social Justice is observed every year on 20th February to raise voice against social
injustice happening across the world
• Theme for 2022: Achieving Social Justice through Formal Employment.
Globalization
2.44 UNCTAD on Global Trade in 2021
• Recently, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTD) has released its report
on global trade for 2021.
Key Details of the Report
• Global trade in goods continued strong in 2021, and trade in services finally returned to the levels of
pre-COVID-19.
• Global trade touched $28.5 trillion which is a record level in 2021, according to the research.
o This shows a 25% increase over 2020 and a 13% increase over 2019 before the COVID-19
pandemic started.
• Imports and exports in all major trade economies rose sharply over pre-pandemic levels in the fourth
quarter of 2021.
o However, goods trade increased more quickly in developing countries than in developed
countries.
• Exports of underdeveloped countries increased by roughly 30% compared to the same period in
2020, compared to 15% for wealthy nations.
• As commodity prices rose, growth was faster in commodity-exporting regions. Also, with a 32% year-
on-year gain, trade grew faster than the global average.
• The global shortage of semiconductors slowed the growth of trade in communication equipment,
automobiles, and precision instruments.
• According to the UNCTAD report, growth in trade will slow down in the first quarter of 2022.
About UNCTD
• It was established in 1964 as an intergovernmental organization intended to promote the interests
of developing states in world trade.
• It is the part of the United Nations Secretariat dealing with trade, investment, and development
issues.
o The primary objective of UNCTAD is to formulate policies relating to all aspects of
development including trade, aid, transport, finance and technology.
2.45 World Bank fund to fight future pandemics

• Recently, the US treasury secretary has urged from leading industrialized countries to support the
establishment of a new World Bank fund.
o It will be a new “financial intermediary fund" under the auspices of the World Bank.
• This fund has intended to help address gaps in preparedness, particularly among low-income
countries for future global health crises.
What is Financial Intermediary Fund?
• These are financial arrangements that typically leverage a variety of public and private resources in
support of international initiatives.

o Thus enabling the international community to provide a direct and coordinated response to
global priorities.
About World Bank
• It is an international financial institution with 189 member countries that
provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries.
o It was founded along with the International Monetary Fund at the 1944, Bretton Woods
Conference.
o Head Quarter: Washington DC, President: David Malpass, MD and CFO: Anshula Kant
• It is the collective name for the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and
the International Development Association (IDA).
2.46 India, France Adopt Blue Economy Plan

• Recently, the India and France have adopted a road map on the blue economy and ocean
governance.
o This has been adopted to enhance their partnership for the exploitation and preservation of
marine resources through economic, infrastructure and scientific cooperation.
Key Details of the Road Map
• Both the countries agreed on this roadmap which seeks to ensure that the ocean remains a global
common, on the basis of rule of law.
• It scope will encompass maritime trade, fisheries, ocean observation, marine biodiversity, marine
protected areas, renewable marine energy, etc.
• As part of this, India and France plan to organise an annual bilateral dialogue on the blue economy
and ocean governance.
o The dialogue will play a driving role in the formulation, organisation and follow-up of
cooperation projects in the four pillars of the partnership:
✓ Institutional,
✓ Economic,
✓ Infrastructures,
✓ Scientific and academic.
• Both countries will prioritize the blue economy in the expansion of their economic exchanges.
o They will facilitate contacts between economic actors, business leaders, and maritime clusters
in the two countries, as well as cross-border investments and visa issuance to blue economy
entrepreneurs.
• India will develop its ports, with a focus on environmentally friendly infrastructure, such as eco-
fishing ports. In this regard, both sides will encourage knowledge and methodology sharing.
• Both sides will enhance their scientific cooperation as well as exchanges of students and researchers
in the area of research in marine science and technology.
What is Blue Economy?
• The concept of Blue Economy was introduced by Gunter Pauli in his 2010 book titled “The Blue
Economy: 10 years, 100 innovations, 100 million jobs”.
• It is the integration of ocean economy development with values of social inclusion and
environmental sustainability, along with dynamic and innovative business models.

2.47 India – UAE Economic Partnership Agreement
• Recently, the India and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has inked a trade pact called as
Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA).
Key Details of the Agreement
• It is a bilateral trade pact that will cover over a period of time 90% of India’s exports in goods sector.
o It will attract zero duty for around 90% of products exported from India to UAE and will reduce
tariffs for 80% of goods exports.
• Apart from the goods sector, this agreement also includes the services sector.
• It provides for automatic registration and marketing authorization of Indian generic medicines in 90
days.
• It has anti-dumping measures to prevent any country from dumping its products into the Indian
market by using the route of the UAE.
• It also has very strong rules of origin clauses that will disallow any country to export goods to India
taking advantage of relaxed tariff on the Indian side.
• It provides a permanent safeguard mechanism to protect businesses in both countries to prevent
“any unnecessary or unwarranted surge in volumes of (imports) any particular product.
• This agreement also focuses on Technology, digital trade and sustainability.
Benefits of the Agreement
• It will boost annual bilateral trade to $100 billion within 5 years of its adoption, up from about $60
billion currently.
• India-UAE CEPA is likely to create an estimated 10 lakh jobs in India.
• It will open many new opportunities for Indians in UAE, including in fintech, ed-tech, green tech,
automation and Artificial Intelligence.
• It will also help in providing market entry points to Africa, Middle East and Europe
2.48 ‘Food, Agriculture and Livelihood’ fortnight at, EXPO2020 Dubai

• Recently, the Additional Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, has inaugurated the
‘Food, Agriculture and Livelihood’ fortnight at the India Pavilion in EXPO2020, Dubai.
Key Details of the Fortnight
• It will showcase India’s prowess in sectors like food processing, horticulture, dairy, fisheries, and
organic farming and the vast investment opportunities that it offers.
• The fortnight will witness the millets food festival, the launch of Millets Book, and various seminars
focusing on its health and nutritional benefits.
About EXPO2020
• It has been organized at Dubai in the United Arab Emirates from 1 October 2021 to 31 March 2022.
• It will provide a platform to showcase the greatest innovations that have shaped the world we live
in today.
• The main theme of the Dubai Expo 2020 is “Connecting Minds, Creating the Future”.
o It also has three new themes such as; Opportunity, Mobility and Sustainability.
• There are 192 countries are participating and each country will showcase the future through
innovation and world-class expertise.
o Every participating country will also have its own pavilion.

2.49 Work Plan 2022 signed between India and Germany
• Recently, the India and Germany have signed a Work Plan 2022 during the virtually held 8th meeting
of the Indo-German Working Group on Quality Infrastructure.
Key Details Work Plan 2022
• India and Germany have signed a Work Plan 2022.
• It aims to cooperate in strengthening quality infrastructure, reducing technical barriers to trade,
enhancing product safety and strengthening consumer protection.
• The areas identified for collaboration includes:
o Mobility, energy, circular economy, smart farming/ agriculture, medical devices, digitalization
(artificial intelligence, Industry 4.0 and other new technology areas), machinery safety, medical
devices and equipment and market surveillance.
About Indo-German Working Group on Quality Infrastructure
• The Group was established in 2013.
• It meets annually to identify areas of cooperation to support and strengthen quality infrastructure
in the both countries.
• A Global Quality Infrastructure Index (GQII) study conducted by the German side was also shared
during the group meeting.
o As per the study, India is placed at the 7th position on standardization aspect, 9th for
accreditation activities and 19th for metrology related activities.
o India scored 95.6 out of 100 and is ranked at 10th place in the world for the overall quality
infrastructure environment in the country.
• The meeting also included:
o A panel discussion on “digitalization and sustainability: key factors for an effective and
modern Quality Infrastructure”
o A session on “Focus areas for cooperation within the Indo-German Working Group in 2022”.
2.50 Japanese Industrial Townships (JITs)

• Recently, Department for Promotion of Industry & Internal Trade (DPIIT) of India and Ministry of
Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) of Japan held annual meeting to review the progress under
Japanese Industrial Townships (JITs) in India.
o DPIIT and the States presented the developed land and infrastructure readily available for
Japanese investors in these townships.
About JITs
• These townships were set up in accordance with “Action Agenda for India-Japan Investment & Trade
Promotion and Asia-Pacific Economic Integration”.
o It was signed between METI (Japan) and DPIIT (India) in April 2015.
• This action agenda was signed to take steps for developing “JITs” in India, specifically in Delhi Mumbai
Industrial Corridor (DMIC) and Chennai Bengaluru Industrial Corridor (CBIC) regions, with the
objective of increasing Japanese investment to India.
• Presently, there are 114 Japanese companies across JITs.
2.51 India and Russia agree to deepen cooperation at the UNSC

• Recently, the India and Russia held bilateral consultations on United Nations Security Council (UNSC)
agenda and related developments at a meeting in Delhi.
o In that meeting, both countries agreed to deepen cooperation on issues of mutual interest at
UNSC.
About UNSC
• It was established by the UN Charter in 1945 and is one of the six principal organs of the United
Nations (UN).
• It has been 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.
• The council has 15 members: the five permanent members and ten non-permanent
members elected for two-year terms.
o The five permanent members are the United States, the Russian Federation, France, China
and the United Kingdom.
• Russia will assume the presidency of the UN Security Council in February, 2022.
• Recently, UNSC has got five new non permanent members (Albania, Brazil, Gabon, Ghana and the
United Arab Emirates).
• India, for the eighth time, has entered the UNSC as a non-permanent member last year (2021) and
will stay on the council for two years (2021-22).
2.52 4th Quad ministerial meeting

• Recently, the Foreign Ministers of Australia, India and Japan participated in the 4th QUAD ministerial
meeting in Melbourne, Australia.
Key Details of the Meeting
• They noted that, QUAD is cooperating on sharing intelligence information on threats in the Indo-
Pacific region.
• Ministers called for justice for the 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai (2008) as well as Pathankot
airbase attack in 2016.
• They also resolved to boost up delivery of more than billion Covid vaccines to be manufactured in
India, step efforts to ensure maritime security in the region and to hold a special meet on climate
change in 2022.
• They also announced plans for a Quad summit including India, Japan and USA presidents.
o It would be hosted in first half of 2022, by Japan in Tokyo.
What is QUAD?
• It is the informal strategic grouping between India, Japan, USA, and Australia with a shared objective
of ensuring and supporting a “free, open and prosperous” Indo-Pacific region.
o These counties also do strategic security dialogue.
• It aims to counter China’s aggressive behavior in Indo-Pacific region and also resolve to expand
cooperation for upholding a rules-based order and respect for international law in the region.
2.53 DST-CII India-Singapore Technology Summit

• Recently, the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology has delivered an
inaugural speech and shared information at 8th edition of DST-CII India-Singapore Technology
Summit.
• India is placed 3rd among countries in scientific publication as per National Science Foundation (NSF)
database.
• India has featured within the top 50 innovative economies globally (at 46th rank), as per Global
Innovation Index (GII).
• Singapore is India’s largest trade partner in ASEAN and it is the leading source of Foreign Direct
Investment.
o About 9000 Indian companies are registered in Singapore and more than 440 companies from
Singapore are registered in India.
• Bi-lateral Trade between India and Singapore increased by 35% from 19.8 billion dollars to 26.8 billion
dollars from 2020 to 2021.
• Singapore will set up more Global Innovation Alliance (GIA) Nodes in Indian Cities after Bangalore.
About DST-CII India-Singapore Technology Summit
• It has been organized by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) in collaboration with
Confederation of Indian industry (CII).
• Theme: “Building Economies for the future”.
• This summit will provide a high profile and wide-ranging platform for businesses, knowledge
institutions and government agencies to forge partnerships and boost innovation, investment and
trade.
• The summits focus sector includes:
o Climate and Sustainable green technologies, Industry 4.0 and advance engineering, Space-tech
leadership, Green Mobility, Health Care technology and precision medicines, etc.
2.54 Gems & Jewellery sector is expected to achieve export target of $40 Billion this year: Piyush Goyal
• Recently, the Union Minister for Commerce & Industry has virtually addressed the inaugural
ceremony of India International Jewellery Show (IIJS) Signature 2022.
• IIJS Signature 2022 was organised by the Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) at
Bombay Exhibition Centre, Mumbai.
• Gems & Jewellery (G&J) sector is expected to achieve an export target of USD 40 Billion in 2021-22.
• G&J Sector is expected to register growth of 6.5% over the pre-Covid levels.
• G&J exports stood at USD 32 billion in 2021-22 till January 2021.
• Gold and Diamond trade contributes about 7% of India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
Initiatives to promote G&J Sector
• GJEPC, with the support of the Ministry of Commerce & Industry, has been setting up Common
Facility Centres (CFCs) to improve the quality and productivity of G&J products.
• CFCs are at present operational in Amreli, Palanpur, Junagadh, Visnagar, Coimbatore, Kolkata,
Hyderabad and Rajkot.
Growth and Development

2.55 India to grow at 8.4% in FY23: Moody’s
• Recently, the Moody’s Investors Service on its Global Macro Outlook report has raised India’s gross
domestic product (GDP) growth forecast to 8.4% for 2022-23 from 7.9%.
Reason behind Forecast Increase
• Stronger than expected post-pandemic economic recovery, supportive monetary policy, and a
growth-oriented budget are the reasons behind forecast increase.
Key Details of the Report Data
• For 2022 calendar year growth forecasts for India has been raised to 9.5% from 7% and growth for
2023 has been maintained at 5.5%.
o This translates into GDP growth at 8.4% and 6.5% in fiscal years 2022-23 and 2023-24,
respectively.
• The agency has estimated the Indian economy to clock a 6.4% growth in 2023-24.
• The G-20 economies will collectively expand by 4.3% in 2022, down from 5.9% in 2021.
2.56 India Ratings pegs India’s FY22 GDP growth at 8.6%

• Recently, the India Ratings has revised downwards its gross domestic product (GDP) growth
forecast for 2021-22 to 8.6% from the consensus 9.2% projected earlier.
Reason behind Forecast Increase
• The major reason for the likely downward revision is the upward revision of FY21 GDP to ₹135.6 lakh
crore in the first revised estimate of national income for FY21.
Other Key Details
• A GDP growth of 6.6% for the quarter ended December, 2021 (Q3FY22) and 10% growth for the full
financial year 2021-22 has been estimated.
• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), in its latest monetary policy, pegged India's GDP growth rate for
the FY 2021-22 at 9.2%.
• Economic Survey has projected a growth rate of 9.2% for the current FY 2022-23.
o 11.2% growth in industrial sector, 8.2% growth in services sector and the agriculture sector
growth are seen at 3.9% in FY22.
Measurement of Growth
2.57 AICP Index Numbers for Agricultural and Rural Laborers, January, 2022
• Recently, the Ministry of Labor and Employment has released the All-India Consumer Price Index
(AICP) numbers for agricultural laborers and rural laborers for January, 2022.
Key Details of the Index Numbers
• For agricultural laborers and rural laborers in January, AICP index numbers decreased by 2 points and
1 point to stand at 1095 and 1105 points respectively.
o The major contribution towards the fall in the general index of agricultural laborers and rural
laborers came from food group to the extent of 4.65 and 4.17 points respectively.
• In the case of rural laborers, it recorded a decrease of 1 to 9 points in 10 states and an increase of 2
to 8 points in 8 States while it remained stationary for Madhya Pradesh and the Orissa.
o Tamil Nadu with 1278 points topped the index table whereas Himachal Pradesh with 917
points stood at the bottom.
• Amongst states, the maximum decrease in the Consumer Price Index Numbers for Agricultural and
Rural Laborers was experienced by Uttar Pradesh State.
• The maximum increase in the Consumer Price Index Numbers for Agricultural Laborers was
experienced by Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan States and for rural laborers by Jammu & Kashmir.
• Point to point rate of inflation based on the CPI-AL and CPI-RL stood at 5.49% and 5.74% in January,
2022.
• The food inflation based on the CPI-AL and CPI-RL stood at 4.15% and 4.33% in January, 2022.

2.58 NSO, Consumer price Index Numbers January, 2022
• Recently, the National Statistical Office (NSO) has released All India Consumer Price Index (CPI) on
corresponding Consumer Food Price Index (CFPI) for Rural (R), Urban (U) and Combined (C) for the
month of January 2022 (Provisional).
Key Details of the Index
• All India Inflation rates (%) based on CPI (General) and CFPI for Jan, 2022.
o In terms of CPI (General), Rural 6.12%, Urban 5.91%, Combined 6.01%.
o In terms of CFPI, Rural 5.18%, Urban 5.88%, Combined 5.43%.
• Monthly changes (%) in All India CPI (General) and CFPI: January,2022 over December,2021
o In terms of CPI (General), for Rural it is -0.36%, Urban it is -0.12%, Combined it is -0.30%.
o In terms of CFPI, for Rural it is -1.22%, Urban it is -1.46%, Combined it is -1.32%.
What is CFPI?
• It is a measure of change in retail prices of food items consumed by the population.
• The index gives food price level changes for rural, urban and all India basis.
What is CPI?
• It is a comprehensive measure used for estimation of price changes in a basket of goods and services
representative of consumption expenditure in an economy.
• Inflation is measured using CPI and the percentage change in this index over a period of time gives
the amount of inflation over that specific period.
2.59 DPIIT, Wholesale Price Index data for Jan, 2022

• Recently, the Office of the Economic Adviser, has released index numbers of wholesale price in India
(Base Year: 2011-12) for the month of January, 2022 (Provisional) and for November, 2021 (Final).
Key Details of the Index
• The annual rate of inflation is 12.96% (Provisional) for the month of January, 2022 (over January,
2021),
o It shows a continuous decline from 14.87% in November, 2021 and 13.56% in December,
2021.
• Reason Behind the high rate of inflation in January, 2022:
o It is primarily due to rise in prices of mineral oils, crude petroleum & natural gas, basic metals,
chemicals and chemical products, food articles etc.
• The WPI for January, 2022 have been compiled at a weighted response rate 75.4%, while for
November, 2021 is based on the weighted response rate of 94.0%.
• The month over month change in WPI index for the month of January, 2022 stood at 0.35 % as
compared to December, 2021 (-0.90%).
o The index for Primary Articles group declined by (-1.67%) to 165.0 (provisional) in January,
2022 from 167.8 (provisional) for the month of December, 2021
o The index for Fuel & Power group increased by (3.90%) to 133.2 (provisional) in January, 2022
from 128.2 (provisional) for the month of December, 2021.
o The index for Manufactured Products group increased by (0.51%) to 137.1 (provisional) in
January, 2022 from 136.4 (provisional) for the month of December, 2021.

Indian Agriculture
2.60 Upper Bhadra gets national project status
• Recently, the Chief Minister of Karnataka has announced that the high-powered committee of
central government gave national project status to “Upper Bhadra Project”.
• This status of national project will change irrigation scenario of central Karnataka and will help the
state in getting Rs 12,500 crore from the Centre.
About Upper Bhadra Project
• This worth Rs 16,125 crore project was launched with the aim of irrigating 2,25,515 hectares by
means of micro-irrigation in drought-prone districts of Chitradurga, Chikkamagaluru, Davangere and
Tumakuru.
o It is being undertaken by Visvesvaraya Jala Nigam Ltd.
o In this project, two tributary rivers of River Krishna, Tunga and Bhadra will be utilized.
• This project was launched with the objective of providing sustainable irrigation facility to selected
districts in Kharif season.
• Its other objectives include recharging groundwater table and diluting chemical contaminants of
which Fluoride is predominant.
2.61 APEDA’s 36th Foundation Day

• Recently, the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA)
celebrated its 36th Foundation Day on 13th February 2022.
About APEDA
• It is an Indian Apex-Export Trade Promotion Active government body.
o Its vision is to "create a world class organization dedicated to promote India as the ‘supplier
of choice’ of agro and value added food products in the global markets".
• It was set up by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry under the APEDA, Act and was passed by
Parliament in December 1985.
o The Act came into effect on 13th February 1986.
Key Details of the APEDA Exports data
• It has actively supported the Government in taking the export of agricultural products to USD 20.67
billion in 2020-21 from USD 0.6 billion in 1986.
• The share of APEDA exports (USD 20.67 billion) constituted 49% of overall agri- product exports in
2020-21.
• The target given to APEDA in the current FY22 is USD 23.7 billion.
o Out of this, more than 70%, USD 17.20 billion has been achieved till January 2022, and the
remaining target is expected to be completed within the stipulated time period.
• Exports of agricultural and processed food products under APEDA basket rose to USD 20.67 billion
during 2020-21, from USD 9.31 billion in 2010-11.
• In the current FY22 (April-December), APEDA has exported agricultural and processed food products
worth USD 17,465 million.
2.62 Prime Minister flags off 100 ‘kisan drones’

• Recently, the Prime Minister of India has virtually inaugurated the Kisan Drone Yatra at Manesar,
Haryana.
• Kisan Drone Yatra is an initiative of Garuda Aerospace

• As a part of the initiative, 100 Kisan drones have been flagged off across India to spray pesticides &
other farm materials.
• Kisan Drones are promoted by the Government of India for crop assessment, digitization of land
records and spraying of insecticides and nutrients
• Garuda Aerospace has targeted to manufacture 1 lakh Made-in-India drones in the next 2 years.
• At present, there are more than 200 drone start-ups operating in India.
2.63 ‘Lavender Cultivation’ under Aroma Mission to be started in Ramban as a part of Purple Revolution
• Recently, Dr. Jitendra Singh, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology,
has chaired the District Development Coordination & Monitoring Committee (DISHA) Meeting for
Ramban District at Convention Centre Jammu.
o He highlighted that Lavender is designated as Doda brand product
o Key decision of the meeting: to start Purple Revolution in Ramban District, Jammu & Kashmir
by encouraging Lavender Cultivation under the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research–
Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine (CSIR–IIIM)’s Aroma Mission through Ministry of
Science and Technology.
✓ Lavender cultivation will be started in Ramban District, on the similar lines with
Baderwah and Khilani in Doda District and Reasi District.
• He also chaired the DISHA Meeting for Kishtwar District, J&K.
Key Announcements
• 850 MW Ratle Hydro Electric Project has been revived by the Government of India.
o Location: River Chenab, in Kishtwar district.
o Implemented by: a Joint Venture (JV) between National Hydroelectric Power Corporation
(NHPC) and Jammu & Kashmir State Power Development Corporation Ltd (JKSPDC).
• Khilani - Goha - Sudhmahadev National highway & National High Altitude Medicinal Plant
Bhaderwah will become functional in Doda District in 2023.
What is Purple Revolution?
• Purple or Lavender Revolution was launched by the Union Ministry of Science & Technology through
CSIR Aroma Mission.
• Aim: increasing lavender cultivation in Jammu and Kashmir.
• Doda is the birthplace of India's Purple Revolution.
• Lok Sabha Constituency of Dr. Jitendra Singh: Udhampur, JK.
Note: CSIR Aroma Mission covered in January 2022 Schemes Tap Part -2 document.
2.64 Seminar organized as a part of ‘Food, Agriculture and Livelihood’ fortnight at EXPO2020
• Recently, the India Pavilion at EXPO2020 Dubai UAE has hosted a seminar – ‘India: Millets
production and upscaling value chain’.
o Theme of India Pavilion at EXPO2020: India@75: Openness. Opportunities. Growth.
• The seminar was organized as a part of the ongoing ‘Food, Agriculture and Livelihood’ fortnight (17th
February to 2nd March, 2022).
About ‘Food, Agriculture and Livelihood’ fortnight

• It was inaugurated by the Indian Delegation led by Dr Abhilaksh Likhi, Additional Secretary, Ministry
of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare at the India Pavilion.
• 'Millet' is a theme launched as a part of the 'Food, Agriculture and Livelihood' fortnight.
• A millet and food festival has been organized during the fortnight as a part of the UN International
Year of Millets 2023.
• A millet book has also been released during the fortnight.
About EXPO2020 Dubai
• It is a world expo, hosted by Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
• Theme: Connecting Minds, Creating the Future
• Duration: 182 days (1 October 2021 – 31 March 2022).
• Mascots: Latifa and Rashid (intrepid Emirati siblings); Salama the Ghaf tree; Alif - Mobility Pavilion
guardian; Opti - Opportunity Pavilion guardian; Terra - Sustainability Pavilion guardian.
Industrial Development in India

2.65 National Strategy on Additive Manufacturing
• Recently, the Union Minister of Electronics & Information Technology has released “National
Strategy on Additive Manufacturing (NSAM)”.
o It has been released to cater to the next-generation digital manufacturing and aiming to
mitigate immediate disabilities of local industries.
Key Details of the NSAM
• It aims to inspire maximum economic benefits from the future growth opportunities, while
minimizing risks and mitigating associated challenges with Additive Manufacturing (AM).
• The Key goals envisaged are to:
o Position India as a global hub for AM development and deployment.
o Create and protect the integrity of India’s AM intellectual property.
• The NSAM mission is to:
o Ensure creation of a sustainable ecosystem for the AM industry to compete globally.
o Encourage AM transformation and driving capabilities in the country for developing core
capabilities.
o Position India as a global hub innovation and research hub for AM.
o Ensure AM manufactured end-user functional components for domestic and export markets.
o Ensure adequate measures for the protection of AM technology.
• It also envisage establishment of “National Centre for AM” for harnessing AM transformation and
driving capabilities by continuously engaging all key stakeholders.
2.66 Council for Leather Exports data on Leather, Footwear Exports

• Recently, the Council for Leather Exports has shared data regarding the Leather and Footwear
exports of the country.
Key Details of the Data
• The country's leather and footwear exports are expected cross USD 6 billion (about Rs 44,800 crore)
in 2022-23.
• During April-January this fiscal, leather and leather products exports rose by 33 per cent to USD 3.6
billion.

o The exports stood at USD 3.3 billion in 2020-21 and USD 4.7 billion in 2019-20.
• The sector has the potential to reach a total turnover of USD 30 billion in next five years.
o It includes the domestic turnover of USD 20 billion and export turnover of USD 10 billion.
✓ It will also generate additional employment for 15 lakh more people.
• The government has recently approved the Indian Footwear and Leather Development
Programme (IFLDP) for continuation from 2021-22 with an approved financial outlay of Rs 1,700
crore.
2.67 ICCR Indian Crafts Fair

• Recently, the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) is organizing a crafts exhibition-cum-fair in
Delhi with the aim of popularizing traditional Indian crafts among the diplomatic community.
Key Details of the Fair
• It is being held at Bikaner House, and has been named ‘Coalescence: Craft-Culture-Community-
Climate.’
o It has been curated by Jaya Jaitly of Dastkari Haat Samiti.
• This three-day fair will provide an experience of India’s cultural history and craft techniques that
contribute to the planet’s ecological balance.
• It will have 22 craft persons from 11 states under five categories — crafts, textiles, traditional and
folk art, beauty aromatics and recycled products.
o All these products are made using natural, organic material, and produced with non-polluting
methods.
• This fair is being organized so that not only India’s dance and music be showcased as part of the
country’s culture, but other traditions like crafts, cuisine, and literature should also be highlighted.
About ICCR
• It functions under the Ministry of External Affairs.
• It was founded on 9th April 1950 with the aim of promoting the culture of the nation globally as well
as to involve in cultural exchanges with other nations and their people.
• It is headquartered in New Delhi and Vinay Sahasrabuddhe is the current president.
2.68 Guidelines and Standards for EV charging infrastructure

• Recently, the Ministry of Power has issued the revised consolidated Guidelines and Standards for
Electric Vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure.
Background:
• The Ministry of Power has issued "Charging Infrastructure for Electric Vehicles—Guidelines and
Standards".
o This has been issued to describe the roles and responsibilities of various stakeholders at the
Central and State level for deployment of public EV charging infrastructure.
Key Details of the Revised Guidelines
• It envisages provisions to provide an affordable tariff chargeable by public EV charging station
operators and owners and Electric Vehicle (EV) owners.
• Enabling owners of electric vehicles to charge EVs at their residences or offices using their existing
electricity connections.
• A revenue sharing model has been suggested for land use to make a public charging station financially
viable from an operational perspective.
• Timelines have been prescribed for providing connectivity to the Public Charging Station (PCS) for
faster rollout of EV public charging.
• Technical requirements for public charging stations have been elaborated.
Other Government Initiatives for EV charging infrastructure
• The Government has made 360-degree efforts to enhance public charging infrastructure by involving
private and public agencies.
• The Government has increased its focus initially on 9 mega cities (with population of over 4 million).
o These 9 cities (Surat, Pune, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, and
Chennai) account for approximately 940 stations.
• The Oil Marketing Companies have announced the setting up of 22,000 EV charging stations in
prominent cities and on national highways across the country.
• The Department of Heavy Industry has recently sanctioned 1576 no. of Public Charging Stations for
25 Highways & Expressways.
2.69 Applications for Semiconductor and Display Fabs

• Recently, under the India Semiconductor Mission, government has received 5 applications for
Semiconductor and Display Fabrication (fab) with total investment to the tune of USD 20.5 Bn (INR
153,750 crore).
About Semicon India Programme
• This scheme was notified by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, with an outlay
of INR 76,000 crore.
• India Semiconductor Mission (ISM) has been set up as an independent institution to spearhead the
Semicon India programme.
About India Semiconductor Mission (ISM)
• ISM is a specialized and independent business division of Digital India Corporation.
• The mission has been set up with the objective of building a vibrant semiconductor besides
displaying ecosystem in order for India to emergence as a global hub in electronics manufacturing
and design.
• It is authorised to negotiate with applicants under semiconductor fab scheme and display fab scheme.
• It has also been given autonomy to decide appropriate technology mix, node generation,
applications, capacity etc.
• The scheme was launched with the aim of attracting large investments in manufacturing AMOLED-
based display panels or TFT LCD.
• Indian semiconductor market stands at USD 15 Bn in 2020 and is estimated to reach USD 63 Bn by
2026.
• India’s display panel market is estimated to be ~USD 7 Bn and is expected to grow to ~USD 15 Bn by
2025.
2.70 MIC Provisional data, on coal production in January, 2022

• Recently, the Ministry of Coal, has released its provisional data on coal production during January,
2022.
Key Details of the Data
• India’s coal production increased by 6.13 % to 79.60 Million Ton (MT) from 75 MT during Jan 2022
as compared to the Jan, 2020.
• Out of the total production during Jan, 2022 Coal India Ltd (CIL) achieved a growth of 2.35% by
producing 64.50 MT of Coal.
o Singareni Collieries Ltd (SCCL) registered a growth of 5.42% by producing 6.03 MT and captive
blocks achieved a growth of 44.91% by producing 9.07 MT of coal during the period.
• Coal dispatch increased by 10.80 % to 75.55 MT from 68.19 MT during Jan, 2022.
o Out of the total production during Jan 2022, Coal India Ltd (CIL) achieved a growth of 7.71%
by dispatching 60.85 MT of Coal.
o While, Singareni Collieries Ltd (SCCL) achieved a growth of 6.45% by dispatching 5.99 MT.
• Of the top 35 mines producing coal, 14 mines performed more than 100% and another six mines’
production stood between 80 and 100%.
• Power utilities dispatch has grown by 18.70 % to 63.22 MT of coal in the month of Jan, 2022 as
compared to 53.26 MT in Jan, 2020.
• The Overall power generation in Jan, 2022 has been 6.69% higher than in Jan, 2020.
o Further, coal based power generation in Jan, 2022 has been 88642 Million Units (MU) in
comparison to 85579 MU in Dec, 2021 and registered a growth of 3.58 %.
2.71 National Super Computing Mission

• Recently, it has been seen that India is evolving rapidly as a frontrunner in high power computing
through the National Super Computing Mission (NSM).
About NSM
• It was announced in 2015, with an aim to connect national academic and R&D institutions with a
grid of more than 70 high-performance computing (HPC) facilities at an estimated cost of Rs. 4,500
crores.
o These HPC facilities will be established over the period of seven years by 2022.
• It is jointly steered by the Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) and Department of Science and
Technology.
o While it implemented by the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), Pune
and the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru.
Development under NSM
• Till now, supercomputing infrastructure already installed in 10 premier institutions like IITs, IISc, IISER
Pune, JNCASR Bengaluru, various C-DACs, NABI Mohali.
o The final stage installation work is being carried out in 5 more institutions.
• IISc, Bengaluru has installed Param Pravega, one of the most powerful Indian supercomputers.
• Design and development of indigenous server nodes, storage, and system software stack for next
generation of High-Performance Computing (HPC) systems has been initiated with 85% indigenous
manufacturing. This includes:
o India’s first indigenous server platform called ‘Rudra’.
o A next-generation indigenous HPC interconnect called “Trinetra”.
• PARAM Shivay, the first supercomputer assembled indigenously, was installed in IIT (BHU).
o This is followed by PARAM Shakti, PARAM Brahma, PARAM Yukti, PARAM Sanganak got
installed in different institutions and research facilities.
• To expand the activities of the HPC training, four NSM Nodal Centres for training in HPC and AI have
been established at IIT Kharagpur, IIT Madras, IIT Goa, and IIT Palakkad.
• Till now, training of more than 11,000 HPC aware manpower and faculties has been done.

2.72 EGI seeks withdrawal of new Central Media Accreditation Guidelines
• Recently, the Editors Guild of India (EGI) sought withdrawal of the Central Media Accreditation
Guidelines released by Press Information Bureau (PIB).
Key Details of the New Guidelines
• These guidelines are announced by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
• As per the guidelines, Accreditation is only available for journalists living in the Delhi NCR region.
• The guidelines contained various conditions under which license could be cancelled if:
o A journalist acts in a manner prejudicial to the country’s security, sovereignty and integrity,
friendly relations with foreign states, public order.
o Charged with a serious cognisable offense.
o On the ground of decency or morality.
o In relation to contempt of court, defamation or Provocated to an offense.
• Authorized media persons are prohibited from using the words ``Accredited to the government of
India” on public platforms, social media profiles, visiting cards, etc.
• The Government shall continue a 25 members ‘’Central Media Accreditation Committee’ under the
Press Information Bureau (PIB), to ensure implementation of the guidelines.
• Eligibility for accreditation under the guidelines:
o Any journalist working with a newspaper which has a daily circulation of 10,000, news
agencies with at least 100 subscribers and digital news platforms with 10 lakh unique visitors
can apply.
o A full-time working journalist with a minimum of five years experience can apply for
accreditation.
✓ The licensing process involving a mandatory security check from the Ministry of Home
Affairs.
o Journalists, with over 30 years of experience, and who are older than 65 years of age, are also
eligible.
o Digital newspapers should have a registered office in India and the Editor of the digital news
portal must be an Indian citizen.
o No accreditation for freelance journalists working for foreign news media organizations.
What are the concerns with this Guideline?
• Some clauses have been included with an intention to restrict criticism and investigative reporting
of government affairs.
o The conditions mentioned serve more as censorship rules rather than guidelines.
• These guidelines have been announced without any prior consultation with Media houses or
Journalists associations.
• Merely being charged has been mentioned as a ground for cancellation while the Journalists
concerned have not been given an opportunity to be heard.
• Any report critical to the Government could now be seen as prejudicial to the interests of the country
and it will be left to the discretion of the Central Media Accreditation Committee.
2.73 Bharat New Car Assessment Programme (NCAP)

• Recently, the Minister for Road Transport & Highways has shared that the government is planning
to roll out its vehicle safety standards, mirroring similar programmes globally.

o This new safety standard has been termed as Bharat New Car Assessment Programme
(NCAP).
Key Features of the NCAP
• It will look at the safety of new vehicles and assign star ratings on their safety and sturdiness, in line
with Global NCAP and European NCAP car safety programmes.
• It will make at least six airbags mandatory for all new vehicles that can carry up to eight passengers.
o Other features such as a three-point seat belt and automatic emergency braking system
(AEBS) will also be made mandatory for new passenger vehicles.
o It will also constitute regulations based on global standards to induce noise in electric
vehicles and warn road users such as pedestrians and cyclists of the presence of EVs.
Regional Economic Cooperation
Human Development
2.74 Centre of Excellence in Maritime and Shipbuilding (CEMS)
• Recently, the Union Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways have inaugurated the Centre of
Excellence in Maritime and Shipbuilding (CEMS) facility in Visakhapatnam.
o It was developed as a special purpose vehicle, in association with the Ministry of Ports,
Shipping and Waterways and Indian Register of Shipping.
Key Details of the Facility
• This centre has an objective to bridge the skill gap, up-skilling and re-skilling of the current workforce.
• The centre will offer a wide variety of industry-relevant skill development programmes, to equip
students with employable engineering and technical skills in the areas of:
o Ship Hull Design, Ship Detailed Design, Shipbuilding & Maintenance, Repair & Overhaul (MRO),
etc.
• It has 18 state-of-the-art labs, covering every aspect of manufacturing from design, simulation,
analysis and production.
Benefit of the Centre:
• It will provide opportunities for the youth to enhance their skills thereby improving employability
and be industry-ready.
• This skill development initiative for enabling seamless transition towards Industry 4.0.
2.75 SBI-NCF-IGNCA sign MoU for Development of Atmanirbhar Bharat Centre for Design
• Recently, the State Bank of India (SBI) has signed a tripartite Memorandum of Understanding
(MoU) with the Indira Gandhi Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) and National Culture Fund (NCF).
o This MoU has been sighed for Development of Atmanirbhar Bharat Centre for Design (ABCD)
at Red Fort, in Delhi.
What is Atmanirbhar Bharat Centre for Design (ABCD) Project?
• The ABCD project is being implemented by IGNCA.
• The project aims to highlight, promote and celebrate the products that have the Geographical
Indication sign as well as Economic Value Addition to GI products.
• This Centre will provide a collaborative space between the karigars and the designers, to enable
design interventions in sync with an exclusive and niche market for the artifacts.
What is Geographical Indication?

• It is a sign used on products that have a specific geographical origin and possess qualities or a
reputation that are due to that origin.
• It acts as a certification that the product possesses certain qualities, is made according to traditional
methods, or enjoys a good reputation due to its geographical origin.
About National Culture Fund
• It is a trust notified, under charitable Endowments Acts, 1890 and comes under the Ministry of
Culture.
• It has a primary mandate to nurture & establish partnerships in the field of heritage and mobilize
resources for the restoration and protection of tangible and intangible heritage.
About IGNCA
• Launched in 1985, it is a premier government-funded arts organization in India and is an autonomous
institute under the Union Ministry of Culture.
2.76 India First Tech Start-up Conclave & Awards

• The All India Council for Robotics and Automation is hosting the ‘India First tech startup conclave &
awards 2022’ with the support from Department of electronics and information technology.
Key Details of the Event
• The event aims to provide a unique platform for young innovators, entrepreneurs, industry experts,
professionals, policymakers, investors, and exhibitors.
o This platform will facilitate exchange of innovative ideas, knowledge base, and showcase
products/services in order to revitalize various research and development opportunities.
• The event will provide a venue for aspiring entrepreneurs to present their innovative ideas, network
with angel investors, and collaborate with them.
• The event will cover several key interactions on topics related to tech startups as well as an award
ceremony for recognizing and honoring innovative startup ecosystem enablers in various categories.
Indian Political System

2.77 Draft India Data Accessibility and Use Policy 2022
• Recently, the Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) has published a Draft India Data Accessibility and
Use Policy 2022.
o It envisage that all data collected, generated, and stored by every government ministry and
department will be open and shareable barring certain exceptions.
Key Details of the Policy
• A regulatory authority called the Indian Data Council (IDC) and an agency by the name India Data
Office (IDO) will oversee framing metadata standards and enforcement, respectively.
o The IDC will comprise the IDO and data officers of five government departments.
✓ The IDO will be constituted by MeitY to streamline and consolidate data access and
sharing public data repositories across the government and other stakeholders.
• The nomination of departments and state governments in the IDC will be by rotation with tenure
of two years for one department.
• IDC will be tasked with defining frameworks for defining high-value datasets, finalizing data
standards and metadata standards, and reviewing the implementation of the policy.
• Stakeholders like start-ups, individuals and researchers will be able to access enriched data through
data licensing, sharing, and valuation within the frameworks of data security and privacy.
• The draft paper proposes that each central ministry/department will adopt and publish its domain-
specific metadata and data standards.
o These standards would be compliant with the interoperability framework, policy on open
standards, institutional mechanisms for formulation of domain-specific metadata and other
relevant guidelines.
Concerns related to the Policy
• It has been seen that the core objective of this policy seems to be purely revenue generation.
• It lacks clarity on a number of things such as how a high-value dataset will be defined.
• The draft policy doesn’t clearly state how areas of it overlap, like how the consent and anonymisation
of an individual’s data that resides with the government will be dealt with.
• The government’s efforts are towards monetization, which itself follows from the NITI Aayog’s
thinking that all non-personal data is national resource.
2.78 Kerala’s proposal to limit Lokayukta’s powers

• Recently, the Kerala government has proposed to amend the Kerala Lokayukta Act, 1999.
o The Kerala cabinet has recommended to the Governor to promulgate the ordinance.
Proposed Changes:
• The proposal sought to give the government powers to “either accept or reject the verdict of the
Lokayukta, after giving an opportunity of being heard”.
o Currently, under Section 14 of the Act, a public servant is required to vacate office if directed
by the Lokayukta.
• By this ordinance, the quasi-judicial institution orders will no longer be binding on the government.
What are Lokpal and Lokayukat?
• The Lokpal and Lokayukta Act, 2013 provides for the establishment of Lokpal for the Union and
Lokayukta for States.
o The Act provides for establishing a Lokpal in centre headed by a Chairperson, and of its other
members, not exceeding eight.
o The Section 63 of the act, provides for establish a body to be known as the Lokayukta for
the State, if not so established, constituted or appointed, by a law made by the State
Legislature”.
• These institutions are statutory bodies without any constitutional status.
• They perform the function of an "ombudsman” and inquire into allegations of corruption against
certain public functionaries and for related matters.
o Lokpal functions in Centre while the Lokayukat’s functions in their respective states.
• The First Lokpal was appointed in March 2019 and it started functioning since March 2020 when its
rules were framed.
o The Lokpal is at present headed by former Supreme Court Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose.
2.79 Revamping of the Department of Commerce

• Recently, the Central Government has planned to revamp and fortification of the Department of
Commerce to make it future ready.
o The revamping is aimed at further building on its strategic direction and aspirations for the
next decade and scaling up and re-engineering the operation model with enhanced 'new-age'
capabilities.
Key Features of the Revamping Program
• The Revamping envisages the Department with:
o More coherent trade promotion strategy with clear targets and execution accountabilities.
o Strengthened negotiation ecosystem with right expertise and robust end-to-end
processes with clearly defined focus areas and institutions.
o An optimal mix of talent with specialists and generalists sourced from across private and
government sectors.
o An agile setup responsive to market opportunities and exporter needs via inter linkages
across bodies.
• A dedicated 'Trade Promotion Body' to drive overall promotion strategy, export targets and
execution is proposed to be set up.
• To set up a 'Trade Remedies Review Committee' Including Ministry of Commerce and Industry,
Ministry of Finance and line ministries for transparency in investigations outcomes.
• Centralization and digitization of trade facilitation processes to drive ease of compliance and scheme
administration.
• Strengthening of various other trade bodies, including the Directorate General of Foreign Trade
(DGFT).
Union Budget
2.80 Prime Minister addresses ‘Leaving No Citizen Behind’ webinar on post-Budget announcements
• The Government of India has organized the second of the webinar series on the implementation of
Union Budget 2022 announcements.
• Overall theme of the webinar series: Leaving no citizen behind.
• The webinar was coordinated by the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD).
• 10 participating Ministries/ Departments of the webinar: Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD),
Ministry of Panchayati Raj (MoPR), Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs (MoHUA), Ministry of
Petroleum & Natural Gas (MoPG), Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeITY), Ministry
of Development of North Eastern Region (MoDONER), Department of Drinking Water & Sanitation
(DDWS), Department of Border Management (DoBM), Department of Posts (DoP), Department of
Telecommunication & Department of Land Resources (DoLR).
• The Prime Minister of India has addressed the webinar.
• Six breakout sessions on domains related to rural and urban development were organized.
S.No. Session Title Key Details
1 Realizing Housing for all in • Sub themes: (i) Facilitating universal coverage of
AmritKaal affordable housing (ii) Convergence with other
schemes, urban planning and infrastructure strategies
for enhancing delivery of affordable housing and (iii)
Enhancing private participation in affordable housing
sector.
2 HarGharJal and • Session Chair: Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Union
HarGharUjjwala Minister Jal Shakti
3 Road and Infoway(internet) • Sub themes:
connectivity to all rural o Enabling use of Bharatnet by rural users and
habitations effective utilization of e-services.

o Strategies especially using technology for
accelerating building high quality roads
4 Assuring all rural poor • Sub theme: Anytime Anywhere Banking Services and
especially women access to Interoperable Services through India Post
livelihood options and • Chair: Giriraj Singh, Minister of Rural Development
financial services and Panchayati Raj.
5 Easing Land Governance • Session Chair: Faggan Singh Kulaste, Minister of State
Through End-To-End for Steel & Rural Development.
Digitisation • Sub Themes:
o Unique Land Parcel Identification Number
(ULPIN) to facilitate IT-based management of
records
o National Generic Document Registration
System (NGDRS) with `One-Nation One-
Registration Software` will reduce the cost,
time and number of visits required for the
execution of the Registration of documents
o Transliteration of Land Records in all Schedule
VIII languages to be rolled out in the States/UTs
o Survey of Villages Abadi and Mapping with
Improvised
o Technology in Village Areas (SVAMITVA)
• Key announcements:
o Department of Land Resources aims to
complete the work of core and basic
computerization and digitization of land
records by March 2023.
o Complete rollout of Transliteration of Land
Records in all languages of Schedule VIII in all
States/UTs during 2023-24.
o ULPIN to be rolled out Pan India by March,
2023.
o Final rollout of NGDRS pan India by March,
2023
6 Saturation of Development --
Schemes in Remote &
Backward Areas
List of schemes highlighted in the webinar
• Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana – Gramin (PMAY-G), PMAY Urban,
• Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT), Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM)
• Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana,
• Bharat Net, Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Rural Livelihood Mission,
• India Post (providing banking services in rural areas), ULPIN, NGDRS,
• SVAMITVA (Survey of villages and mapping with improvised technology in village areas),
• Vibrant Villages Programme
• Prime Minister’s Development Initiative for North East Region (PM-DevINE).

Recommendations of Finance Commission
2.81 Grant of Rs. 1348.10 crore released to Six States for Urban Local Bodies
• Recently, the Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance has released Rs. 1348.10 crore to 6
States, viz, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Odisha, Tamil Nadu and Tripura for providing grants to
Urban Local Bodies (ULBs).
• Out of these six states, the maximum and minimum amount were received by Odisha (Rs.411 crore)
& Tripura (Rs.14 crore) respectively.
• The grants are meant for Non-Million Plus cities (NMPCs) including Cantonment Boards.
Details of funds released by Government of India to the NMPCs in 2021-22
• The Government of India, as per the recommendations of Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs
(MOH&UA), has so far released a total amount of Rs.10,699.33 crores in 2021-22 to 23 states as
grants to NMPCs.
• Out of the total amount, the maximum and minimum amount was released to Uttar Pradesh (Rs
1592.00 crores) & Sikkim (Rs 10.00 crores) respectively.
Finance Commission Recommendations on ULB Grants
• The 15th Finance Commission in its report for the period from 2021-22 to 2025-26 has divided the
ULBs into two categories, viz,
o Million-Plus urban agglomerations/cities (excluding Delhi and Srinagar)
o All other cities and towns with less than one million population (Non-Million Plus cities).
• Out of the total recommended grants for NMPCs, 40% is basic (untied) grant and the remaining 60%
is tied grant.
o United grants are utilized for location specific felt needs, except for payment of salary and
incurring other establishment expenditure.
o Tied grants are released to support and strengthen the delivery of basic services.
✓ Out of the total tied grant, 50% is earmarked for Sanitation Solid Waste Management
and attainment of star ratings as developed by the (MOH&UA).
✓ The remaining 50% is tied to drinking water, rainwater harvesting and water recycling.
✓ Tied grants are released over and above the funds allocated by the Centre and the
State for sanitation and drinking water under various Centrally Sponsored Schemes to
ULBs.
Regional Economic Cooperation

2.82 India sends first shipment of wheat to Afghanistan via Pakistan
• Recently, Foreign Secretary Harsh Shringla flagged off the first shipment of 2,500 tonnes of wheat
from Amritsar to Afghanistan via the Pakistani land route.
• The shipment is part of the commitment made by the Government of India to supply 50,000 metric
tonnes of wheat to Afghanistan.
• Government of India has signed an agreement with the United Nations World Food Program (WFP)
to distribute 50,000 MT of wheat within Afghanistan
• The shipments will be handed over to the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) in Jalalabad,
Afghanistan.

• India has already supplied 5,00,000 doses of Covaxin, 13 tonnes of essential lifesaving medicines and
500 units of winter clothing to Afghanistan.
• The vaccine and medical supplies were handed over to the World Health Organisation (WHO) at the
Indira Gandhi Hospital, Kabul.
Multiculturalism
2.83 MoU signed between NTRI and BAJSS to establish BAJSS as resource center of NTRI
• Recently, the National Tribal Research Institute (NTRI), New Delhi, under the mentorship of TRI
Uttarakhand, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Bharatiya Adim Janajati
Seva Sangathan (BAJSS), New Delhi.
• Objective: to preserve, protect and digitise rare books on tribe groups, and renovate and digitise a
tribal museum.
Key Highlights
• Under the MoU, a digital library with a repository of rare books on tribals will be established with
BAJSS building at Jhandewala, New Delhi as a resource centre at NTRI.
• The Ministry of Tribal affairs has sanctioned Rs.150 Lakhs to-
o To preserve and digitize rare books in BAJSS Library.
o to develop it into an E-Library and for revamping of the tribal Museum, digitization of artefacts
and making interactive kiosks so as to preserve the unique cultural heritage.
2.84 Ministry of Education launches Bhasha Certifiate Selfie campaign

• Recently, the Union Ministry of Education has launched Bhasha Certifiate Selfie campaign to
commemorate International Mother Language Day.
• The campaign
encourage
cultural diversity,
promote
mulitlinguism
and, foster the
spirit of Ek Bharat
Shreshtha
Bharat.
• Under the
campaign, people
are encourages to upload their selfie with the certificate from their social media accounts using the
hashtag #BhashaCertificateSelfie.
• Aim of the campaign: to promote Bhasha Sangam mobile app

3 GA + Finance in News
Primary and Secondary Markets
3.1 $3 trillion vanishes from negative-yielding bond universe
• Recently, according to Bloomberg index data, the global stockpile of negative-yielding bonds has
dropped to the lowest level in more than six years with almost $3 trillion.
o Now it stands at about $4.9 trillion, the lowest since December, 2015.
Negative Yielding Bonds
• These are bonds in which an investor receives less money at the bond's maturity than the original
purchase price for the bond.
o Even when factoring in the coupon rate or interest rate paid by the bond, a negative-yielding
bond means the investor lost money at maturity.
o Negative-yielding bonds are purchased as safe-haven assets in times of turmoil and by
pension and hedge fund managers for asset allocation.
3.2 RBI to enter into sell-buy swaps worth $5 billion

• Recently, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has announced that it will enter into sell-buy swaps worth
$5 billion.
o The 2-year USD/INR sell-buy swap auction will be held on March 8, 2022 and the RBI will
make a forward purchase from the banks in two years on March 11, 2024.
Key Details
• The move will suck out rupee liquidity and potentially create space for open-market bond purchases
by the RBI.
o As currently, the banking system has a surplus cash of Rs 6.96 lakh crore.
• This step has comes ahead of the mega Life Insurance Corp. of India share sale, which is expected to
see major inflows of US dollar.
What is Sell-Buy Swap Auction?
• Under the swap, a bank shall buy U.S. dollars from the RBI and simultaneously agree to sell the same
amount of dollars at the end of the swap period.
• In swap transaction only authorized dealers are allowed to deposit US dollars in exchange for rupees.
• It has been done with the objective of meeting durable liquidity needs of the system.
• It injects rupee liquidity for longer duration by means of long-term foreign exchange Buy/Sell swap.
3.3 SEBI proposes rules on pricing of IPOs

• Recently, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has proposed a discussion paper.
o This paper is focused on seeking more justification and transparency from new-age
technology companies when it comes to pricing their share in initial public offerings (IPOs).
Key Details of the Paper
• Now, new-age technology companies will have to provide a relatively detailed explanation of how
they have priced their issue, compare that to pre-IPO share sales.
o They would also be needed to disclose all the presentations made to pre-IPO investors.
• The disclosures made under the ‘Basis of Issue Price’ section in an offer document need to be
“supplemented with non-traditional parameters” and other key performance indicators (KPIs).
o KPIs could be metrics, such as subscriber addition, market share, and long-term growth targets.
• Before filing offer documents, New-age startups companies should disclose valuations based on new
share issuance and acquisitions during the preceding 18 months.
o Disclosure of relevant KPIs made before pre-IPO investors during the three years prior to the
IPO.
✓ As well as explanation of how these KPIs contribute to form the basis for issue price.
• KPIs that the issuer company deems not relevant for a proposed IPO, the issuer shall provide
sufficient explanation for considering those KPIs as not relevant.
• KPIs stated should be defined clearly, consistently and precisely and should not be misleading in any
way.
o Additionally, these KPIs have to be certified or audited by statutory auditors.
o IPO-bound companies will be mandated to report in their draft prospectus the cost at which
shares were sold in secondary and primary agreements in the previous 18 months if it has
resulted in the dilution of over 5% stake.
3.4 India to move to T+1 settlement cycle
• Recently, the new T+1 Stock Settlement Rules will be implemented in a phased manner starting
from, 25th February, 2022.
o Currently, Indian stock exchanges follow T+2 days settlement.
✓ Settlement of funds & securities happens on two business days after the day the order
executes, or T+2 (trade date plus two days).
What are T+1 Stock Settlement Rule?
• T+1 means that trade-related settlements must be done within one day of the transaction's
completion.
o For example, if you buy shares on Wednesday, they will be credited to your Demat account by
the next day.
Benefits of the Settlement Rule:
• It will shorten the settlement cycle which will reduce the risk of default and will increase the liquidity
in the market with availability of funds.
• It will also increase the trading volume as the funds will be free within one day.
3.5 India's forex reserves down by $1.763 billion to $630.19 billion

• Recently, as per the RBI data, India’s foreign exchange reserves declined by USD 1.763 billion to USD
630.19 billion in the week ended on February 11.
Reason behind the fall: This fall has been seen on account of a decline in the foreign currency assets (FCA),
a major component of the overall reserves.
Key Details of the RBI data
• FCA dipped by USD 2.764 billion to USD 565.565 billion.
• Gold reserves increased by USD 952 million to USD 40.235 billion.
• The special drawing rights (SDRs) with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) increased by USD 65
million to USD 19.173 billion.
• The country's reserve position with the IMF decreased by USD 16 million to USD 5.217 billion.
What is SDR’s?
• Created in 1969, these are supplementary foreign exchange reserve assets defined and maintained
by the IMF.

• The SDR is neither a currency nor a claim on the IMF. Rather, it is a potential claim on the freely
usable currencies of IMF members.
o SDRs can be exchanged for these currencies.
o The value of a SDR is based on a basket of key international currencies the U.S. dollar, the
euro, the Chinese renminbi, the Japanese yen, and the British pound sterling, reviewed by IMF
every 5 years.
Banking System in India

3.6 First Foreign Country to adopt India's UPI system
• Recently, the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has announced that the Nepal will be
the first foreign country to adopt India's Unified Payment Interface (UPI) system.
o NPCI International Payments Ltd (NIPL) has joined hands with Gateway Payments Service
(GPS) and Manam Infotech to provide the services in Nepal.
• This collaboration will help in financial inclusion, modernizing Nepal's digital payment infrastructure,
convenience of digital payments, and digitalization of cash transactions in Nepal.
About UPI
• It is an advanced version of Immediate Payment Service (IMPS), round–the-clock funds transfer
service to make cashless payments faster, easier and smoother.
• It is a system that powers multiple bank accounts into a single mobile application.
o Therefore it merges several banking features, seamless fund routing & merchant payments
under a single platform.
• Currently, it is the biggest among the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) operated
systems.
o The top UPI apps today include PhonePe, Paytm, Google Pay, Amazon Pay and BHIM.
About NPCI
• It is the specialized division of Reserve Bank of India (RBI), under the jurisdiction of Ministry of
Finance.
• It founded in 2008 as not-for-profit organization by the RBI and Indian Banks' Association for
operating retail payments and settlement systems in India.
FinTech
3.7 Fintech Open Hackathon
• Recently, as a part of the Fintech Open Month, NITI Aayog in association with PhonePe launches the
Fintech Open Hackathon.
o It is first-ever open-to-all Hackathon event for ideating and coming up with the most creative
solutions for the FinTech space.
About Hackathon
• It will provide an opportunity for innovators, digital creators and developers from all over India to
think, ideate and code.
o Winning teams stand to win exciting cash prizes worth Rs 5 lakhs.
• Participants at the hackathon need to use any open-data APIs (Application Programme Interface) like
PhonePe Pulse along with frameworks such as Account Aggregator as a foundation to power the
following use cases:
o Alternate risk models for Lending, Insurance or Investments with focus on financial Inclusion.

o Innovative Products that use the power data signals for various demographics and Geos for
broader adoption of financial services.
o Improved Visualization and Derived intelligence based on the Digital payments data.
o The final app that participants come up with must incorporate one of the above.
• Participants can use data sources like PhonePe Pulse, the Open Government Data Platform and RBI
(Reserve Bank of India) reports on payments to build on their submission.
• In addition, they can access any other open data platforms that they are aware of along with the
Setu AA Sandbox or the Setu Payments Sandbox to develop their hacks.
• By the end of the event, participants will be required to present a working prototype of their hack
to the judges, post which each hack will be judged based on certain parameters.
What is API’s?
• It is a software intermediary that allows two applications to talk to each other.
o For example, each time you use an app like Facebook, send an instant message, or check the
weather on your phone, you’re using an API.
What is Account Aggregator?
• The Account Aggregator framework, introduced by the RBI.
o It aims to make financial data more accessible by creating data intermediaries called Account
Aggregators (AA).
• These AA collect and share the user’s financial information from a range of entities that hold
consumer data called Financial Information Providers (FIPs) to a range of entities that are
requesting consumer data called Financial Information Users (FIUs) after obtaining the consent of
the consumer.
3.8 What are NFTs? How is it different from cryptocurrency?

• According to data released by market data tracker Dapp Radar data analytics, the sale of Non fungible
tokens (NFTs) increased USD 25 billion in 2021.
What are NFTs?
• A NFT is a unit of data stored on a blockchain (digital ledger) that certifies a digital asset to be unique.
• NFTs are one-of-a-kind digital assets that represent real-world items viz, photos, videos, drawings,
audio, artworks, tweets, animated GIFs, songs, games and other types of digital files.
• It provides users complete ownership of a digital asset.
History of NFTs
• Kevin McCoy and Anil Dash created the first NFT – Quantum in 2014.
• Terra Nullius is the first NFT on the Ethereum blockchain, launched in 2015.
How Does NFT Work?
• When a person wants to list a NFT on a marketplace, gas fee or transaction fee has to be paid to use
Blockchain (mostly Ethereum Blockchain).
• A digital art is then recorded on blockchain, stating the respective person who listed the NFT as the
owner of the NFT.
• The ownership cannot be edited or modified by anyone, including the marketplace owner.
• An NFT is thus created or minted.
• NFTs can have only one owner at a time.
• Apart from exclusive ownership, NFT owners can also digitally sign their artwork and store specific
information in their NFTs metadata, which can be viewed only by the NFT buyer.

• NFT transactions are transparent.
• Any person who holds a cryptocurrency wallet powered by Metamask, can buy an NFT.
• KYC documents are not required to purchase an art.
Famous NFT Marketplaces: OpenSea (largest NFT Marketplace), Rarible & Foundation
Difference between NFT and Cryptocurrency
• Although both NFT and cryptocurrency are built on Blockchain, they are not the same.
S.No. NFT Cryptocurrency
1 It is non-fungible i.e. not It is fungible i.e. interchangeable
interchangeable
2 NFTs cannot be traded for each Cryptocurrencies can be traded for each
other as each NFT is unique other.
Recent Development in Financial Sector

3.9 Core Financial Services Solution (CFSS) for NBFCs
• Recently, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has asked certain class of Non-Banking Financial Companies
(NBFC) to mandatorily implement 'Core Financial Services Solution (CFSS)' by September 30, 2025.
Key Details
• This mandatory implementation circular is for NBFCs - Middle Layer and NBFCs - Upper Layer which
has 10 and more 'fixed point service delivery units' as on October 1.
o CFSS is similar to the Core Banking Solution (CBS) adopted by banks.
• NBFC-Upper Layer shall ensure that the CFSS is implemented at least in 70% of 'Fixed point service
delivery units' on or before September 30, 2024.
• In the case of NBFC-Base Layer and NBFC-Middle and Upper Layers with fewer than 10 'Fixed point
service delivery units', implementation of CFSS is not mandatory.
• A quarterly progress report on implementation of CFSS, along with various milestones shall be
furnished by the NBFCs concerned to RBI starting from the quarter ending March 31, 2023.
Benefits of implementing CFSS:
• CFSS shall provide for seamless customer interface in digital offerings and transactions relating to
products and services with anywhere/ anytime facility.
• CFSS will also enable integration of NBFCs' functions, provide centralized database and accounting
records, and be able to generate suitable Management Information System (MIS).
What is Fixed Point Service Delivery Unit?
• It is a place of operation from where the business activity of non-banking financial intermediation is
carried out by a NBFC.
• These units are manned either by its own staff or outsourced agents and carries uniform signage with
name of NBFC and functions under administrative control of the NBFC concerned.
About Middle and Upper layer NBFCs?
Middle Layer NBFCs:
• The Middle Layer consists of all deposit taking NBFCs (NBFC-Ds), irrespective of asset size; non-deposit
taking NBFCs with asset size of Rs 1,000 crore and above.
• NBFCs undertaking activities, like standalone primary dealers, infrastructure debt fund - NBFCs, core
investment companies, housing finance companies, infrastructure finance companies, too fall in the
Middle Layer.

Upper Layer NBFCs:
• It comprises those NBFCs which are specifically identified by RBI as warranting enhanced regulatory
requirement based on a set of parameters and scoring methodology.
3.10 SEBI update for listed companies to separate roles of CMD

• Recently, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has changed the requirement for top
500 listed companies to separate roles of chairperson and MD & CEO from mandatory to voluntary.
o The decision has been taken after considering rather unsatisfactory level of compliance
achieved so far.
Background
• The regulator had earlier mandated the separation of the role of chairperson and MD/CEO of listed
companies to be applicable from 01 April, 2022.
• This was proposed to provide a better and more balanced governance structure by enabling more
effective and objective supervision of the management.
3.11 RBI’s Regulations Review Authority (RRA) recommendations on regulated entities

• Recently, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Regulations Review Authority (RRA) has released various
recommendations to reduce compliance burden on Regulated Entities (REs).
Key Recommendations of Authority
• RRA has recommended withdrawal of additional 100 circulars in the second tranche of
recommendations.
• Elimination of paper-based returns and has identified 65 regulatory returns which would either be
discontinued/ merged with other returns or would be converted into online returns.
o Regulated entities would be notified of the discontinuation/ merger and online filing of
returns, separately.
• Creation of a separate web page “regulatory reporting" in the RBI website.
o This is to consolidate information relating to regulatory reporting and return submission by
the regulated entities at a single source.
Objective of the Recommendations
• These are aimed to ease regulatory compliance for the REs while improving the accuracy, speed and
quality of data submission.
About RRA
• The RBI has set up a RRA 2.0 with an objective to reduce the compliance burden on Regulated
Entities (REs).
3.12 SEBI advisory committee on alternative investment policy

• Recently, the Security & Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has reconstituted its alternative investment
policy advisory committee.
o This 20 members committee advises SEBI on a range of issues that impact further
development of the Alternative Investment Fund space.
Background
• The panel, which was constituted by SEBI in 2015, earlier had 22 members.
• Till now, the committee has submitted three reports on the AIF (Alternative Investment Fund)
industry.
Key Details of the Committee

• The committee is chaired by Infosys co-founder N R Narayana Murthy.
• It is mandated to advice on any hurdles that might hinder the development of the alternative
investment industry and any other item relevant to the segment.
• It has also been entrusted with the task of advising on any issues which need to be taken up with
other regulators for development of the alternative investment industry (AII).
What is an Alternate Investment Fund ("AIF")?
• These are privately pooled investment vehicle which collects funds from sophisticated investors,
whether Indian or foreign, for investing it in accordance with a defined investment policy for the
benefit of its investors.
• It does not include funds covered under the SEBI (Mutual Funds) Regulations, 1996 or any other
regulations of the Board to regulate fund management activities.
3.13 Centre rejects Finance Commission’s recommendations

• Recently, the Central Government has pushed back on the 15th Finance Commission’s
recommendation to give special grants worth ₹6,764 crore to States in 2020-21
o This grant has been recommended to ensure that no State receives less than the previous
year (2019-20).
• The Central Government has accepted following recommendations of the Commission’s:
o 41% share for States out of the divisible pool of tax collections, the suggested grants-in-aid
and post-devolution revenue deficit grants of ₹74,340 crore for 14 States.
o Grants to local bodies, disaster-related grants and sectoral grants.
• In regard to additional grants for nutrition worth ₹ 7,735 crore, the Centre would review the
recommendation as part of its overall proposal of measurable performance-based incentives for
States.
About 15th Finance Commission
• The 15th Finance Commission is an Indian Finance Commission constituted in November 2017.
o It has been tasked to give recommendations for devolution of taxes and other fiscal matters
for five fiscal years, commencing 1st April, 2020.
• The commission's chairman is Nand Kishore Singh with three full time and two part time members.
3.14 25th Meeting of Financial Stability and Development Council

• Recently, the 25th meeting of the Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC) was held in
Mumbai.
• Meeting chaired by: Nirmala Sitharaman, Union Minister of Finance.
Key Highlights of the meeting
• FSDC discussed operational issues relating to currency management.
• FSDC noted the activities undertaken by the FSDC Sub-Committee.
o Chair of FSDC Sub-Committee: Governor of the Reserve Bank of India.
About Financial Stability and Development Council
• Set up by: the Government of India in consultation with financial regulators
• Constituted in: 30th December, 2010; Chairperson: Union Minister for Finance
• Role: FSDC deals with issues relating to financial stability, financial sector development, inter–
regulatory coordination, financial literacy, financial inclusion and macro prudential supervision of the
economy.
3.15 Finance Minister chairs post-Budget meeting with heads of Banks, NBFCs and Financial Institutions
• Recently, Nirmala Sitharaman, Union Minister for Finance chaired a post-budget meeting with heads
of Banks, Non-Banking Financial Institutions (NBFCs) and Financial Institutions in Mumbai.
• She insisted that all banks to sign up to Account Aggregator Framework, in order to improve credit
flow and promote digital lending.
• She directed that pilots for Account Aggregator model and cash flow-based lending may be
replicated in different regions around India, on the lines of the initiative by two banks in Varanasi
district.
Key information shared
• Banks in India reaped a record profit of Rs. 1.22 lakh crore in FY 20-21 and Rs. 0.79 lakh crore in HY
21-22.
• Gross non-performing assets (NPAs) declined to 6.90% (as on September 2021) from all-time high
of 11.20% (as on March 2018).
• Capital to Risk Weighted Assets Ratio (CRAR) of banks stood at an all-time high of 16.5% (as of
September 2021) against the regulatory mandate of 11.5%.
4 Static
4.1 List of Important Organizations with Headquarters
S.No Organization Name Headquarters Establishment Head
Year
1 EPFO New Delhi 1952 Neelam Shami Rao
2 FICCI New Delhi 1927 Sanjiv Mehta
(President);
Arun Chawla
(Director General)
3 CEPI Oslo, Norway 2016 --
4 CII New Delhi 1895 T V Narendran (
President)
5 WFP Rome 1961 David Beasley
(Executive
Director)
6 IOC Lausanne, Switzerland 1894 Thomas Bach
(President)
7 IRSG Singapore -- --
8 IIPS Mumbai 1956
4.2 Countries in News

S.No Country Currency Capital
1 Pakistan Pakistani rupee Islamabad

2 Germany Euro Berlin
3 Japan Japanese yen Tokyo
4 Afghanistan Afghan afghani Kabul

5 Pakistan Pakistani rupee Islamabad
6 Malawi Malawian Lilongwe
kwacha
7 Canada Canadian Ottawa
Dollar
4.3 Banks in News

S.No Bank Headquarters Tagline
1 RBI Mumbai Developing Bank
2 BOB Vadodara India's International Bank
3 Kotak Mahindra Bank Mumbai Lets make money simple.
4 CSB Bank Thrissur --
5 IDBI Bank Mumbai --


Feb 16 To 22 2022

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1|P a g e W WW. E D U T AP . CO . I N QUERY? HELLO@EDUTAP.CO.IN/ 8146207241

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4|P a g e W WW. E D U T AP . CO . I N QUERY? HELLO@EDUTAP.CO.IN/ 8146207241

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1.2 NHPC sets up a new subsidiary “NREL”

8|P a g e W WW. E D U T AP . CO . I N QUERY? HELLO@EDUTAP.CO.IN/ 8146207241

1.4 Wego to acquire Cleartrip’s West Asia business

1.5 OCEANS 2022 conference

1.7 5th Global Bhagavad Gita Convention

1.8 Smartphone users in India to reach 1 billion by 2026

1.9 Cairn Vedanta discovers oil in Barmer

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1.11 Khajuraho Dance Festival

1.12 Conference on Indian Temple Architecture

1.14 AIGF launches intelligence services portal

1.16 Taj Mahotsav to begin from March 20 in Agra

1.19 Japan unveils first hydrogen-powered train

1.20 Pakistan President signs ordinance amending Electronic Crimes Act

1.21 Germany halts Nord Stream 2 approval

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1.27 Kotak Mahindra Bank partners Ezetap for PoS solutions

Science and Technology

1.31 Eastern Bridge-VI exercise

1.32 DefExpo 2022

1.33 Navy gets 12th P-8I aircraft

1.34 ‘EX DHARMA GUARDIAN-2022’ military exercise

1.35 Indian Navy and HAL sign a 'Mutual Expression of Interest'

13 | P a g e W W W . E D U T A P . C O . I N QUERY? HELLO@EDUTAP.CO.IN/ 8146207241

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1.42 Dadasaheb Phalke Awards 2022

S. No. Category Winner

1.44 Bill Gates conferred Hilal-e-Pakistan honour on first-ever visit to Pakistan

16 | P a g e W W W . E D U T A P . C O . I N QUERY? HELLO@EDUTAP.CO.IN/ 8146207241

S. No. Category Winners

1.46 Yash Dhull makes record

1.47 Mumbai to host the 2023 International Olympic Committee Session

1.48 Tamil Nadu teenager shines in Airthings Masters rapid tournament

1.49 Beijing Winter Olympic Games 2022

1.50 Malayali cricket team to play in Ottawa

1.51 Ireland and UAE qualify for T20 World Cup

1.52 Djokovic loses world No 1 ranking to Medvedev

1.55 Norway tops Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics Medal Table

Rank Country Gold Silver Bronze Total

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Social Sectors in India- Health

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2.4 Four police stations declared ‘Eat Right campus’ by FSSAI

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2.6 India’s first Biosafety Level 3 Mobile Laboratory inaugurated in Nashik

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2.8 Canada clears world's first plant-based vaccine against Covid-19

Social Sectors in India – Education

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2.10 Parliamentary Standing Committee recommendations on art education

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2.12 Admission to 100 new Sainik Schools through e-Counselling

2.13 J&K delimitation commission Interim Report