Daily Current Affairs and GK | 7 February 2023
Main Headlines:
- 1. UNESCO will declare Visva-Bharati world’s first living heritage university very soon.
- 2. “Yuva Sangam” registration portal launched at Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, New Delhi on 06 February 2023.
- 3. Telangana Finance Minister T Harish Rao introduced the Telangana Budget 2023-24 with an expenditure outlay of 2,90,396 crore rupees.
- 4. Yaya Tso has been proposed as Ladakh’s first Biodiversity Heritage Site (BHS) under the Biological Diversity Act.
- 5. India and the EU have announced the setting up of three Working Groups under the India-EU Trade and Technology Council (TTC).
- 6. Two national youth records were created in athletics events at the Khelo India Youth Games on 05 February 2023.
- 7. ITBP won 3rd consecutive title in 12th edition of National Ice Hockey Championship.
- 8. An MoU signed by Agriculture Ministry to develop National Interactive Digital Platform.
- 9. Union Minister Bhupender Yadav launched the ‘Save Wetlands Campaign’ in Goa.
- 10. Government will push primary steel producers to use 50 per cent of their input from recycled steel by 2047.
- 11. CJI D Y Chandrachud administered oath to five new Supreme Court judges on 6 February.
- 12. Meeting of Heads of Supreme Audit Institutes of SCO Member States started in Lucknow on 6 February.
- 13. An earthquake of 7.8 magnitude hit Turkey and Syria.
- 14. Gujarat government signed an agreement with OECD for conducting PISA test of government school students.
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Topic: Art and Culture
1. UNESCO will declare Visva-Bharati world’s first living heritage university very soon.
- Visva-Bharati University will get the ‘heritage’ tag from UNESCO and it will become the world’s first living heritage university.
- Visva-Bharati University was founded by Rabindranath Tagore in 1921.
- It became a Central University in 1951 through a central Act. Its first vice-chancellor was Rathindranath Tagore.
- Rabindranath Tagore believed in open-air education and introduced that system in the University.
- Visva-Bharati was inaugurated as a centre of arts, language, humanities, and music.
- Visva-Bharati University is located in Shantiniketan, West Bengal. It is an Institution of National Importance.
- As of 2022, there are 40 World Heritage Sites in India. Out of which, 32 are cultural, 7 are natural, and one is mixed type.
- India has the sixth-largest number of World Heritage Sites in the world. Dholavira in the Cultural Category is the last added World Heritage Site from India.
Topic: Government Schemes and Initiatives
2. “Yuva Sangam” registration portal launched at Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, New Delhi on 06 February 2023.
- The portal was launched in presence of Minister of Education Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister of Culture and Tourism G. Kishan Reddy, Minister of Law Kiren Rijiju and Minister of Sports & Youth Affairs Anurag Thakur.
- Yuva Sangam is an initiative to build close ties between the youth of the North East Region and the rest of India.
- Under the initiative, over 20,000 youth will travel across India. They will get a unique opportunity for cross-cultural learning.
- Minister of Culture and Tourism G. Kishan Reddy said that the Yuva Sangam program is an opportunity for the youth of the North East to explore the country.
- Yuva Sangam under Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat is an initiative by the Government of India to strengthen people-to-people connect especially between youth belonging to North Eastern India and other states.
(Source: News on AIR)
Topic: State News/Telangana
3. Telangana Finance Minister T Harish Rao introduced the Telangana Budget 2023-24 with an expenditure outlay of 2,90,396 crore rupees.
- This includes 37,525 crore rupees in capital expenditure and 2,11,685 crore rupees in revenue expenditure.
- He said that the state share in the country’s GDP has been recorded at 4.9%.
- Dalit Bandhu scheme has been allotted 17,700 crore rupees. The scheme offers financial assistance of 10 lakh rupees per beneficiary to start any business of their choice.
- The budget also allocated Rs 7,890 crore for the construction of double bed-room houses for the poor and Rs 15,075 crore for Rythu Bandhu.
- The budget proposed to spend Rs. 3,210 crore for flagship schemes of the state government- Kalyana Lakshmi and Shadi Mubarak.
- Rs 2,131 crore is proposed to be allocated to the Women and Child Development department.
- The government allocated Rs. 1,500 crore to Hyderabad Metro Rail.
- Finance Minister also said that it is estimated that the per capita income of Telangana will increase from 1,12,162 in 2013-14 to 3,17,115 in the current fiscal.
- Finance Minister T Harish Rao introduced a tax-free budget with a ₹40,000 crore increase in revenue receipts.
- Telangana government has also made a provision of ₹6,375 crore towards waiver of farm loans up to ₹90,000 in the next fiscal.
- The budget has projected the state to be revenue surplus. The fiscal deficit would be ₹38,234 crore. The primary deficit had been kept at ₹15,827 crore.
Topic: Environment and Ecology
4. Yaya Tso has been proposed as Ladakh’s first Biodiversity Heritage Site (BHS) under the Biological Diversity Act.
- Biodiversity Management Committee, the panchayat of Chumathang village, along with the GoI-UNDP-GEF SECURE Himalaya Project resolved to declare Yaya Tso as Ladakh’s first BHS.
- The proposed Yaya Tso site will have an approximate area of 60 square kilometers. This will also include the lake’s watershed.
- Yaya Tso is located at an altitude of 4,820 metres. It can be reached from Mahe monastery on the way to Tsomoriri Lake.
- Yaya Tso is a nesting habitat for birds such as the bar-headed goose, black-necked crane and brahminy duck.
- It is also one of the highest breeding sites of the black-necked crane in India.
- Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change launched SECURE Himalaya Project in collaboration with United Nations Development Program.
- Securing livelihoods, conservation, sustainable use and restoration of high range Himalayan ecosystems (SECURE) Himalaya Project was started in April 2017. It will end in March 2024.
Topic: Committees/Commissions/Taskforces
5. India and the EU have announced the setting up of three Working Groups under the India-EU Trade and Technology Council (TTC).
- One of these three Working Groups is the working group on Strategic Technologies, Digital Governance and Digital Connectivity.
- The other two Working Groups are the Working Group on Green and Clean Energy Technologies and the Working Group on Trade, Investment and Resilient Value Chains.
- PM Narendra Modi and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen launched the TTC in April 2022.
- The TTC with India is only the second such Council for the EU.
- It will be co-chaired on the Indian side by the Ministers for External Affairs, Commerce and Industry and Communications, Electronics and Information Technology.
Topic: Sports
6. Two national youth records were created in athletics events at the Khelo India Youth Games on 05 February 2023.
- Sonam from Delhi made a new record in 200 metre steeplechase with a timing of 6.45.71 minutes.
- Rajasthan’s Siddharth Chaudhary made a new record of 21.04 meters in the shot put.
- Madhya Pradesh won the overall championship in the boys’ category in athletics.
- Maharashtra won the overall championship in the girls’ category in athletics.
- In the medal tally, Maharashtra is in the first position with 79 medals. Out of these, 26 are gold medals.
- Haryana is in the second position with 53 medals including 22 gold.
- Madhya Pradesh is in the third position with 53 medals including 21 gold medals. Madhya Pradesh is hosting Khelo India Youth Games 2022.
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Topic: Sports
7. ITBP won 3rd consecutive title in 12th edition of National Ice Hockey Championship.
- For the third time in a row, the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) has won the National Ice Hockey Championship 2023.
- On 5 February, they won the 12th edition of the tournament organized by the Ice Hockey Association of India (IHAI).
- ITBP won the championship by defeating Ladakh Scouts in the finals by a score of 1-0.
- Many top teams of the country participated in this national competition held at the Ice Hockey Rink in Ladakh.
- Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP):
- It is one of the seven Central Armed Police Forces of India.
- It was created on 24 October 1962 under the CRPF Act, in the wake of the 1962 Sino-Indian War.
- Its headquarters is located in New Delhi. It guards Indo-China borders.
- It is also deployed in various internal security duties including anti-Naxal operations in Chhattisgarh.
Topic: MoU/Agreements
8. An MoU signed by Agriculture Ministry to develop National Interactive Digital Platform.
- The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare and Digital Green under a public-private partnership framework signed an MoU in New Delhi on 7 February.
- The MoU has been signed to build a national-level digital extension platform.
- The platform will host a digital library of curated multi-format multi-lingual content, which will help the extension workers to reach and distribute the curated content to the farmers on time.
- It will also deliver timely curated content to a vast network of extension functionaries for Agriculture, Horticulture, Fisheries, Livestock and Rural Livelihoods Mission through certified online courses.
- By connecting farmers to the robust ecosystem of the digital agriculture being established by the government, the proposed national digital platform would help make an extension system more effective and efficient.
- The digital capability of this extension system is important with the aim of helping farmers take advantage of digital agriculture.
- There are more than two lakh extension workers in agriculture, livelihood and allied sectors in the country.
(Source: News on Air)
Topic: Government Schemes and Initiatives
9. Union Minister Bhupender Yadav launched the ‘Save Wetlands Campaign’ in Goa.
- The campaign has been launched for wetlands conservation, and affirmative actions for wetlands conservation at all levels of society.
- Under this campaign, citizen partnerships will be built for the conservation of wetlands. The campaign will be conducted over the next one year.
- The campaign will sensitize people about the value of wetlands and increase the coverage of wetland mitras.
- On this occasion, ‘India’s 75 Amrit Dharohar- India’s Ramsar Sites Factbook’ and ‘Managing Climate Risks in Wetlands - A Practitioner’s Guide was released.
- The Factbook has information about 75 Ramsar Sites, including their values, threats they face and management arrangements.
- The practitioner’s Guide on Climate Risk Assessment will provide guidance on assessing the site-level climate risks and mitigation responses for the wetland management plan.
- Union Minister highlighted the role of wetland ecosystems in ecological, economic and climate security.
Topic: Infrastructure and Energy
10. Government will push primary steel producers to use 50 per cent of their input from recycled steel by 2047.
- To achieve the target of circular economy, the government will push primary steel producers to use 50 per cent of their input from scrapped/recycled steel by 2047.
- At present, only around 10 per cent recycled steel is used in primary steel production.
- However, 22.5 per cent of recycled steel contributes to the domestic total steel production of 140 million tonnes.
- In the next five years, scrap usage is the steel industry will increase by 25 percent.
- India currently produces 25 million tonnes of scrap steel and imports 5 million tonne of scrap steel.
- There are more than 25000 recycling units in India and the recycling industry worth is about USD 50 billion.
- Domestic recyclers used to import 25 per cent of their shipments from the EU markets.
- Material Recycling Association of India (MRAI) hosted the 10th edition of the International Indian Material Recycling Conference from 2 - 4 February 2023 in Kochi. It is attended by over 2,000 delegates from 38 countries.
Topic: Indian Polity
11. CJI D Y Chandrachud administered oath to five new Supreme Court judges on 6 February.
- Five new judges - Pankaj Mithal, Sanjay Karol, PV Sanjay Kumar, Ahsanuddin Amanullah and Manoj Misra sworn in during the swearing-in ceremony held at the Supreme Court premises.
- With the appointment of five judges, the total strength of judges in the apex court has increased to 32, which is two judges short of full strength.
- On December 13, 2022, the Supreme Court Collegium recommended their names for elevation as judges of the apex court.
- The sanctioned judge strength of the Supreme Court is 34 (including the Chief Justice of India).
- The recommendations made on January 31 for the elevation of two other judges to the Supreme Court are still pending with the central government.
- Chief Justice of India and the Judges of the Supreme Court are appointed by the President under Article 124 of the Constitution.
- Criteria for judge of Supreme Court are as follows:
- A person must be a citizen of India a
- He/ She must have been a Judge of a High Court for at at least five years; or
- He should have been an advocate of a High Court for at least 10 years; or
- He should be a distinguished jurist in the opinion of the president.
(Source: News on AIR)
Topic: Summits/Conferences/Meetings
12. Meeting of Heads of Supreme Audit Institutes of SCO Member States started in Lucknow on 6 February.
- The 6th Meeting of the Heads of Supreme Audit Institutes (SAIs) of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Member States will take place in Lucknow from February 6-8.
- Governor of Uttar Pradesh Anandiben Patel is the chief guest. She inaugurated the meeting.
- Comptroller and Auditor General of India, Girish Chandra Murmu led the discussion on the theme "Integrating Emerging Technologies in Audit".
- Girish Chandra Murmu has called for global cooperation to protect audit from cyber security threats.
- He said that the use of information technology in the public sector has raised concerns related to cyber security.
- Therefore, it is necessary for the apex audit institutions of the member countries to develop adequate capacity to investigate issues related to cyber security.
- Shri Murmu informed that the Comptroller and Auditor General of India-CAG is using Artificial Intelligence technology in the audit process.
- This provides a more efficient and effective approach to the audit process and improves the overall quality of the audit.
- Heads of top audit institutions and delegations from four of the eight SCO member states - Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan - are participating in the three-day multilateral event.
- India is currently hosting the SCO presidency, which rotates annually among member states.
- Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO):
- On 15 June 2001, SCO was established in Shanghai with the aim of promoting mutual regional cooperation.
- It was established with the declaration of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization by the leaders of China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
- In 2005, India was given 'observer' status in the SCO, and in 2017, India became a full member at the Astana summit.
(Source: News on AIR)
Topic: Geography
13. An earthquake of 7.8 magnitude hit Turkey and Syria.
- An earthquake of 7.8 magnitude hit southeastern Turkey and northwest Syria. It is one of the most deadly earthquakes in the history of Turkey.
- It was followed by 25 aftershocks, with six having magnitudes of more than 5.
- The epicentre of the earthquake was nearly 18 km deep and a few kilometres out from the Turkish city of Gaziantep.
- The tremors were felt also in Cyprus, Egypt and Lebanon.
- Another earthquake of magnitude 7.5 struck the Elbistan district in southern Turkey.
- The Indian government has decided to immediately send search and rescue teams of the National Disaster Response Force to Turkey.
- The reasons of Earthquake in Turkey are as follows:
- Turkey is one of the most earthquake-prone countries in the world.
- The main reason for the earthquake in Turkey is the movement of the tectonic plates.
- Turkey is located between three different tectonic plates. The Eurasian Plate lies to its north while African Plate is in the south and the Arabian plate lies in east.
- The Arabian plate is pushing the Eurasian plate due to which Earthquakes occur in Turkey.
- The earthquake and aftershocks on 6 February occurred near the East Anatolian Fault Zone.
Topic: State News/ Gujarat
14. Gujarat government signed an agreement with OECD for conducting PISA test of government school students.
- The agreement was signed by Samagra Shiksha project director Ratnakanwar Gadhvicharan and Kevin O’Brien from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
- Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) test aims to achieve grade-appropriate learning outcomes in government schools.
- Gujarat becomes the first state to sign such an agreement.
- The PISA test will measure ability of reading, mathematics and science knowledge and skills of 15–year-old students.
- It will also test critical thinking, problem-solving and effective communication skills in students.
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