Daily Current Affairs and GK | 22 February 2023

Topic: National News

1. TRAI released its recommendations on ‘Rating of Buildings or Areas for Digital Connectivity’.

• In recent years, the demand for digital connectivity has increased many folds times across all segments.
• TRAI and the government have started various policy initiatives to fulfil the demands of telecom connectivity.
• The rating by TRAI will push property managers to improve the quality of digital connectivity.
• TRAI assessed the quality of connectivity and identify challenges by conducting many studies.
• TRAI published a Monograph on “Quest for a Good Quality Network inside Multi-Storey Residential Apartments: Reimagining ways to improve quality”.
• TRAI issued Consultation Paper (CP) on “Rating of Buildings or Areas for Digital Connectivity” on 25th March 2022.
• Based on the comments on Consultation Paper, TRAI has released the "Rating of Buildings or Areas for Digital Connectivity".
• The main focus of the recommendations is on providing a framework for the creation of an ecosystem for Digital Connectivity Infrastructure (DCI) to be an intrinsic part of the building development plan.
• The DCI is to be co-designed and co-constructed along with the building development through collaboration between various stakeholders including Property Managers, service providers, infrastructure providers, DCI professionals and officials of various urban/local bodies.
• TRAI has also proposed to include a new chapter on ‘Digital Connectivity Infrastructures in Buildings’ in the Model Building Bye Laws 2016.
• TRAI emphasized that DCI developed in the Buildings should be accessible to all service providers in a fair, transparent, non-discriminatory and non-chargeable basis.

Topic: Important Days

2. World Thinking Day: 22 February

• World Thinking Day is observed every year on 22 February.
• The theme for World Thinking Day 2023 is "Our World, Our Thriving Future: The environment and global poverty".
• World Thinking Day was earlier known as Thinking Day.
• Thinking Day was named World Thinking Day during the Dubai Conference in 1999.
• Girl Guides and Girl Scouts, as well as Scout and Guide organizations all over the world, celebrate it.
• 22 February is the birthday of Lord Baden Powell and his wife Lady Olave Baden Powell. Lord Baden Powell was the founder of the Scout Movement.

Topic: Personality in News

3. Former Gujarat governor Om Prakash Kohli passed away on 20 February 2023.

• O P Kohli was the 19th governor of Gujarat from 2014 to 2019.
• He also held additional charge of the governor of Madhya Pradesh and Goa.
• He was a veteran Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader. He was a leading academician and ex-president of BJP in Delhi.
• He was a former Rajya Sabha member. He was a member of the Rajya Sabha from 1994 to 2000.

Topic: Agriculture and allied sectors

4. India’s first AI chatbot for the agriculture sector - Ama KrushAI launched.

• Governor Prof Ganeshi Lal launched it at the valedictory session of ‘Krushi Odisha 2023’.
• Ama KrushAI chatbot will help farmers to adopt the best agronomic practices.
• It will also help farmers with government schemes and loan products from over 40 commercial and cooperative banks.
• It will be run under a pilot project involving more than 10,000 farmers.
• It will be implemented in full-fledged in the next two months.
• Odisha’s Minister for Agriculture and Farmers’ Empowerment Ranendra Pratap Swain said that Odisha is the fourth largest rice producer in the country.
• Over 20,000 farmers and agri-entrepreneurs from across the state took part in the three-day event.
• The event was organised by the Agriculture and Farmers’ Empowerment department in collaboration with FICCI.
• The event was organised to promote farm mechanisation and enhancement in farmers’ income.
• Krushi Odisha 2023 was held from 16-18 February 2023 at Bhubaneswar, Odisha.

Topic: State News/ Maharashtra

5. Maharashtra's CM Eknath Shinde has been declared Shiv Sena chief.

• On 21 February, Maharashtra's Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has been declared the chief leader of the party after the party's national executive meeting.
• The Shinde-led Sena faction has been allotted the ‘Shiv Sena’ name and the 'bow and arrow' symbol by the Election Commission (EC).
• This was the first meeting of the National Executive after Eknath Shinde got the name and symbol of the party.
• Many important proposals were presented in this meeting, in which the proposal to give Bharat Ratna to Veer Savarkar was included.
• Apart from this, a proposal was also submitted to give more employment opportunities to the local youth in all the projects in the state and also to give the status of special language to Marathi language.
• Several MLAs, MPs and other leaders working with Eknath Shinde since the time the Shiv Sena parted ways with the Uddhav-led party also attended the meeting.
• Shiv Sena was founded in 1966 by Balasaheb Thackeray. Its election symbol for Maharashtra is the Bow and Arrow.

Topic: International News

6. Gas and Diesel car sales banned by EU from 2035 to boost EV transition.

• To promote the transition of electric vehicles (EVS), the European Parliament has approved the law to ban the sale of new gas and diesel cars in the European Union from 2035.
• The new law will determine the route towards zero CO₂ emissions for new passenger cars and light commercial vehicles from 2035.
• The European Commission by 2025 will present a methodology to assess and report data on CO₂ emissions of cars and vans sold in the EU market by 2025.
• This regulation encourages the production of zero and low emission vehicles.
• This includes amendment in targets for 2030 and a zero-emission target for 2035, which is important to reach the climate neutrality by 2050.
• Manufacturers with low annual production volumes (1,000 to 10,000 new cars or 1,000 to 22 000 new vans) may be granted an exception until the end of 2035.
• The Commission will publish a report every two years from the end of 2025 to evaluate the progress towards zero-emission road mobility.
• In October 2021, the negotiaters of the European Union countries, the European Parliament, and the European Commission accepted the law for the first time.

Topic: Sports

7. Tilottama Sen has won the bronze medal in the women’s 10m Air Rifle event at ISSF World Cup at Cairo in Egypt.

• Tilottama Sen won the second bronze for India. She missed the gold medal match by the narrowest possible margin of 0.1.
• Great Britain’s Seonaid Mcintosh won gold. Switzerland’s Olympic Champion Nina Christen won silver.
• Rudrankksh Patil earlier won gold in the men’s Air Rifle.
• India is on the top of the medal tally with three golds. Hungary, Britain and Slovakia won the other three golds.
• ISSF World Cup was introduced by the International Shooting Sport Federation in 1986.
• It was introduced to provide a homogeneous system for qualification to the Olympic shooting competitions.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: Awards and Prizes

8. Dr. Mahendra Mishra was conferred the International Mother Language Award by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in Dhaka.

• Dr. Mahendra Mishra is an Indian educationist and social worker for the promotion of indigenous languages in Odisha.
• Dr. Mishra is the first Indian to receive this award. He has worked on the language, culture and education of the marginalised languages of Odisha.
• The award was instituted in 2021 by UNESCO. It is given in recognition of the extraordinary contribution to the preservation, revitalization and development of mother languages.
• PM Hasina conferred two international awards and two national awards to four recipients in Dhaka.
• Bangladeshi nationals Habibur Rahman and Ranjit Singha were given the national awards.
• Mahendra Kumar Mishra and Mother Language Lovers of World Society, Vancouver, Canada were conferred with international awards.
• International Mother Language Day has been celebrated on 21 February in 2023.

Topic: State News/ Madhya Pradesh

9. MP government approved the new excise policy to discourage liquor consumption.

• The Madhya Pradesh cabinet has approved the new excise policy.
• Under this new excise policy, ‘ahatas’ or areas for drinking attached to liquor outlets, and shop bars will be closed.
• The new excise policy is designed to discourage liquor consumption.
• Uma Bharti had launched a campaign for a “controlled liquor policy” in MP.
• Liquor will be sold only at the shops and the place of drinking will not be allowed.
• The distance of liquor shops from educational institutions, girls’ hostels and religious places has been increased from 50 metres to 100 metres.
• The laws to cancel the driving licenses in cases of drunk driving will be made more stringent.
• Earlier, the Madhya Pradesh government had slashed liquor prices in January 2022 and had allowed the sale of liquor at all airports and select supermarkets in the four biggest cities of the state.

Topic: Awards and Prizes

10. Jnanappana Award for 2023 went to V. Madhusoodanan Nair.

• A renowned Poet V. Madhusoodanan Nair has been selected for the Jnanappana Award 2023.
• Jnanappana Award carries a cash prize ₹50,001, a gold locket of Guruvayurappan and a citation.
• The award will be presented by Higher Education Minister R Bindhu to the poet at Melpathur Auditorium, Guruvayur on 24 February.
• Madhusoodanan has been selected for the award for her contribution to the literature.
• Jnanappana Award was instituted by the Guruvayur Devaswom in memory of ‘Poonthanam Namboothiri’.

Topic: Awards and Prizes

11. Kashmir Files won the Best Film Award at the Dadasaheb International Film Festival in Mumbai.

• Vivek Agnihotri directed "The Kashmir Files" won the Dadasaheb International Film Festival Award at a grand function of the Dadasaheb Phalke International Film Festival- 2023 in Mumbai.
• The film RRR, directed by SS Rajamouli, won the International Film of the Year award.
• Actress Alia Bhatt won the best actress award for the film Gangubai Kathiawadi while Ranbir Kapoor won the best actor award for the film Brahmastra.
• Veteran actress Rekha has been honored for her outstanding contribution to the film industry.
• Here is the full list of winners:

(Source: News on Air)

Topic: Summits/Conferences/Meetings

12. India as Chair of G-20 will host Permanent Mission Round Table at UN Headquarters.

• India, as Chair of the G-20, will host the Permanent Mission Round Table at the UN Headquarters ahead of the Sustainable Development Goals Summit to be held in New York later this year.
• During the event, India will focus on its growth story and achievements, as well as its goals to reap the potential benefits of the Global South.
• On 23rd February, a roundtable titled 'Gandhian Trusteeship: A panel discussion on Sustainable Lifestyles and Enduring Pace' will be organized.
• There will be several round table conferences in the next few months.
• On March 9, a roundtable on 'A world we women and girls want: Technology enabled social and economic advancement' will be organized.
• On March 16, a roundtable on 'Grassroots leadership and transformation: Charting the path of empowerment through technology and skill development' will be organized.

(Source: News on Air)

Topic: Government Schemes and Initiatives

13. Sagar Parikrama Phase III Program to be hosted by Department of Fisheries from Gujarat to Maharashtra.

• Union Minister Parshottam Rupala launched ‘Sagar Parikrama’ Phase III from Gujarat on 19th February.
• Sagar Parikrama program passed through a pre-decided sea route from Gujarat, Diu, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, West Bengal, Andaman & Nicobar, and Lakshadweep Islands.
• The program ended on February 21, 2023, at Sasson Dock, Mumbai after covering 720km.
• Sagar Parikrama Phase III journey was started with the participation of State Fisheries officials, Fishermen representatives, Fish-Farmers, entrepreneurs, etc.
• The phase-I of “Sagar Parikrama” was started with the theme of “KRANTI se SHANTI” on 5th March 2022.
• Sagar Parikrama is an initiative of the government to resolve issues related to fishers and other stakeholders.
• It aims for economic upliftment through various fisheries schemes and programs.
• Sagar Parikrama focuses on the balance between the sustainable use of marine fisheries resources and livelihoods of coastal fisher communities and the protection of marine ecosystems.
• The Department of Fisheries organized Campaign for the promotion of KCC in Maharashtra and Gujarat on the 16th and 17th February 2023.
• The Indian Ocean is very important for the economy and livelihoods of the coastal states.
• India has a coastline of 8118km. About 2.8 million people are dependent on the fisheries sector for their livelihood in India.

Topic: Sports

14. Indian team wins Bronze at Badminton Asia Mixed Team Championship in Dubai.

• Indian team led by P.V. Sindhu won the bronze medal at Badminton Asia Mixed Team Championship.
• Indian Team faced a 2-3 defeat against China in the semifinals.
• Prannoy and Sindhu lost their respective singles contest. Men’s doubles pair Dhruv Kapila and Chirag Shetty won their contest.
• Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand also won their match in Women’s Doubles.
• Ishaan Bhatnagar and Tanisha Crasto faced defeat in the Mixed Doubles event.
• China wins the Gold medal while the Silver medal was won by the South Korean team.
• The third edition of the Badminton Asia Mixed Team Championship was held from 14-19 February 2023.

(Source: News on AIR)