- National:
- The Adani Group inaugurated India’s first and South Asia’s largest ammunition twin-facility complex in Kanpur on February 26, 2024. The complex, spread across 500 hectares, will manufacture a wide range of ammunition for the Indian Armed Forces, contributing to India’s self-reliance in the defence sector. The facility is expected to generate nearly 4000 jobs and will start production from March onwards.
- The Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi, inaugurated and laid the foundation stone for multiple development projects worth about Rs 17,000 crores in Madhya Pradesh. These projects span various sectors including irrigation, power, road, rail, water supply, coal, and industry. He also launched the Cyber Tehsil project. The projects are expected to boost the state’s infrastructure and contribute to its overall development.
- The ‘Tawi Festival’ is a four-day event that started on March 1, 2024, in Jammu & Kashmir. It showcases the region’s cultural legacy through arts, cuisine, literature, and folk traditions. The festival includes performances, literary and cultural events, a food festival, and exhibitions. It aims to nurture local talent, promote cultural tourism, and highlight Jammu’s distinct ethos.
- Reliance Industries and Reliance Foundation launched an animal welfare initiative called ‘Vantara’ on February 26, 2024. Led by Anant Ambani, ‘Vantara’ focuses on the rescue, treatment, care, and rehabilitation of injured and threatened animals. The initiative is spread over 3,000 acres within the Green Belt of Reliance’s Jamnagar Refinery Complex and has rescued thousands of animals so far.
- Uttarakhand’s budget for 2024-25, presented by Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, is Rs 89,230 crore. The focus areas are welfare of the poor, disaster mitigation, infrastructure development, and improving air connectivity. The total receipts are estimated at Rs 88,597.11 crore, with revenue receipts of Rs 60,552.90 crore and capital receipts of Rs 28,044.21 crore.
- A government committee led by Finance Secretary TV Somanathan has been formed to establish uniform Know Your Customer (KYC) rules. This is in response to the ongoing Paytm Payment Bank crisis and non-compliance issues. The committee aims to propose strategies for implementing a uniform KYC mechanism.
- Banking:
- The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has granted Amazon Pay a Payment Aggregator (PA) license. This allows Amazon Pay to operate as an intermediary between merchants and payment processors or banks, offering online merchant payment services to customers across India. This strengthens Amazon Pay’s merchant payments business and enables it to provide secure and convenient digital payment experiences.
- ICICI Bank has acquired an additional 1.41% stake in ICICI Lombard General Insurance Co. through an open market transaction. This acquisition, worth Rs 431 crore, makes ICICI Lombard a subsidiary of ICICI Bank. The bank now holds a 49.5% stake in the company. The shares of ICICI Lombard fell by 0.26% to close at Rs 1,724.45 on the day of the announcement.
- The Trilateral Development Cooperation (TDC) Fund was launched by SBICAP Ventures in partnership with India’s Ministry of External Affairs on February 28, 2024. The fund, with a corpus of ₹700 crore and a green shoe option of ₹300 crore, aims to promote Indian innovations globally.
- Mous:
- The Ministry of Ayush and Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS) signed an MoU on February 27, 2024 in New Delhi. This MoU aims to enhance cooperation and research in Indian Traditional Medicine and provide an overview of the Ayush Service sector. The MoU was signed by Secretary Vaidya Rajesh Kotecha and Director General Prof Sachin Chaturvedi.
- The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) and the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on February 27, 2024 at NABARD’s Head Office in Mumbai. This alliance aims to support rural women's Self-Help Groups (SHGs) through financial support, capacity building, sustainable economic activities, and entrepreneurship development.
- Science & Technology:
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently laid the foundation stone for a new launch complex of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in Tamil Nadu. The new complex, located at Kulasekarapattinam, is worth about Rs 986 crore and is set to accommodate 24 launches per year. The Prime Minister also inaugurated new projects in Tamil Nadu, totally worth over Rs 17,000 crore.
- Defence:
- The TU-142M Naval Aircraft Museum in Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh was inaugurated on February 26, 2024. The museum showcases the decommissioned TU-142M aircraft of the Indian Navy and aims to inspire the youth to join the defence forces.
- The Indian Army has indeed inducted a 46-metre modular bridge developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and produced by Larsen & Toubro (L&T). This bridge is described as a "mechanically-launched single-span, fully-decked 46-metre assault bridge," and it equips the Army to surmount obstacles like canals and ditches with unparalleled ease.
- Appointments:
- Renu Sud Karnad, former Managing Director of HDFC, has been appointed as the Chairperson and Independent Director of PayU Payments on February 28, 2024. She brings over four decades of experience in the financial services sector. The company also announced the appointment of four other new members to its Board of Directors.
- Ravindra Kumar, a mechanical engineer from BIT Sindri, took charge as the Director (Operations) of NTPC Limited on February 24, 2024. He has over 34 years of experience in the power sector and has held various roles in NTPC, including being the CEO of Patratu Vidyut Utpadan Nigam Limited.
- Awards & Honours:
- The Sangeet Natak Akademi announced the Akademi Ratnas and Akademi Puraskar for 2022-2023 on February 28, 2024. Six eminent personalities were elected as Akademi Fellows (Akademi Ratna). Ninety-two artists were selected for the Akademi Puraskar, and 80 young artists were chosen for the Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar. Notable awardee includes sitar maestro Niladri Kumar.
- The Bengali translation of ‘Stalin’s Couch’ by Jean-Daniel Baltassat, translated by Pankaj Kumar Chatterjee, won the Romain Rolland Book Prize 2024 on February 29, 2024. This prestigious literary award celebrates outstanding works of fiction that promote understanding and empathy across cultures.
- Acharya Lokesh Muni was honored as the ‘Global Jain Peace Ambassador’ on February 28, 2024, in recognition of his contributions to promoting global peace and harmony. The event took place in Karnataka and was organized by the Jain pilgrim center, Navagraha Tirtha Kshetra. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar conferred the honor.
- Books:
- The book “Basic Structure and Republic” Written by Governor P. S. Sreedharan Pillai was released on February 27, 2024. It’s based on the Golden Jubilee speeches, particularly on the Kesavananda Bharati V/S Sanyasi case. The first copy was received by Subhash Shirodkar.
Questions:
Q.1 Who was honored as the ‘Global Jain Peace Ambassador’ on February 28, 2024?a. S Jaishankar
b. Acharya Lokesh Muni
c. Navagraha Tirtha Kshetra
d. None of the above
Q.2 Who is the author of the book “Basic Structure and Republic”?
a. Kesavananda Bharati
b. Subhash Shirodkar
c. P. S. Sreedharan Pillai
d. Sanyasi
