Daily Current Affairs and GK | 9 February 2024

Topic: Awards and Prizes

1. Lakshminarayana International Award has been presented to renowned music composer Pyarelal Sharma.

• L. Subramaniam and Kavita Krishnamurti Subramaniam presented the prestigious Lakshminarayana International Award to Pyarelal Sharma at the Lakshminarayana Global Music Festival.
• Pyarelal Sharma is one of the most successful music composers in Hindi cinema.
• He has composed music for many evergreen songs during his eight-decade career.
• Recently, Pyarelal was announced as a recipient of the Padma Bhushan, India’s third-highest civilian honour.
• The President of India, K. R Narayanan awarded the first Lakshminarayana International Award to Lord Yehudi Menuhin.
• The Lakshminarayana Global Music Festival (LGMF) was started by Dr. L. Subramaniam in 1992.

Topic: Sports

2. Tawangchu Tides International Kayaking Championship-2024 started in Arunachal Pradesh.

• The three-day Tawangchu Tides International Kayaking Championship-2024 started in the Tawang District of Arunachal Pradesh on February 7.
• The Deputy Commissioner of the Tawang District inaugurated the championship at Dongshengmang in Bongleng village.
• The race continued for three days, from February 7 to 9.
• 51 Kayakers from different countries participated in the event.
• This event was organized by an organization called “SWYTCH”.
• The main goal of this event is to make Arunachal Pradesh a global hub for kayaking.
• Kayaking is a fun water sport using a kayak, which is a narrow boat with a double-blade paddle to move on water.

Topic: Awards and Prizes

3. Nima Sarikhani has won the Wildlife Photographer of the Year People's Choice Award.

• A picture of a sleeping polar bear won the Wildlife Photographer of the Year People's Choice Award.
• Nima Sarikhani searched for polar bears for three days on Norwegian islands before taking this photograph.
• This photography competition is organised by the Natural History Museum every year.
• Sarikhani’s picture called the 'Ice Bed' received 75,000 votes in the contest.
• Apart from the sleeping polar bear photo, ‘The Happy Turtle’ by Tzahi Finkelstein and ‘Starling Murmuration’ by Daniel Dencescu were highly commended.

Topic: National Appointment

4. Naveen Tahilyani appointed as CEO and MD of Tata Digital.

• Naveen Tahilyani has been appointed as the new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Managing Director (MD) of Tata Sons' subsidiary Tata Digital.
• On February 19, he will assume the new position.
• Currently, Tahilyani is the CEO and MD of Tata AIA Life Insurance.
• He will replace Pratik Pal, who played a key role in the launch of the company's super app Tata New.
• Earlier, after Tahilyani moved to Tata Digital, Tata AIA's Venkatachalam H was promoted internally and made CEO of the insurance company.
• In March 2019, Tata Digital Pvt. Ltd. was established.

Topic: State News/ Tamil Nadu

5. 'Smart Card' launched by MSME Minister for Startups.

• On February 7, the 'Smart Card' for startups launched by Tamil Nadu Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Minister TM Anbarasan.
• Smart Card offers a wide selection of products and services at discounted rates, specially tailored to meet the needs of startups in their early stages.
• The products and services are broadly classified into six different categories: Legal & Compliance, Marketing/Business Consulting, Finance & Insurance, HR & Smart Workspace, Software, and IT/ITES
• Startups can significantly grow and accelerate their business growth by using products and services at affordable costs.
• During the event, four startups run by entrepreneurs from SC and ST communities were sanctioned ₹9.05 crore as equity investment under the Tamil Nadu SC/ST Startup Fund.
• Products and services of 20 startups run by women entrepreneurs were also launched under the Women Launchpad initiative.
• Launchpad is a platform designed to help startups gain initial offline and online market traction for their new brands and products on a public platform.
• In addition, the Open Innovation Portal was also launched, which aims to connect corporates/government agencies with innovators, startups, and researchers.

Topic: State News/ Uttar Pradesh

6. Uttar Pradesh will become the first state with 21 airports.

• Emphasizing the rapid pace of infrastructure development in the state, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on February 7 announced that UP will soon become the first state to have 21 airports.
• Maharishi Valmiki Airport, Kushinagar Airport, Chaudhary Charan Singh Airport, Noida Airport, and Lal Bahadur Shastri Airport are the international airports in Uttar Pradesh.
• As of now, Lucknow's Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport is the largest in Uttar Pradesh.
• In March 2024, UP will have 5 more airports, one each in Azamgarh, Aligarh, Moradabad, Shravasti and Chitrakoot.
• Apart from this, an international airport will also be ready in Jewar by the end of 2024.
• Under Budget 2024-25, the Uttar Pradesh government allocated Rs 1,150 crore for the upcoming Noida International Airport.
• Infrastructure development in land, water, and air sectors is ongoing in the state.
• Apart from this, the CM announced that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the foundation stone laying ceremony of projects worth Rs 10 lakh crore in Lucknow on February 19.
• Talking about the energy sector, he said that in 2016-17 the total power generation capacity in the state was 5600 MW and now the total generation capacity has reached 8688 MW.
• The state aims to achieve 12800 MW power generation capacity by the end of this year.
• By 2017, the electricity supply had reached a total of 128,494 Majras (villages).

Topic: Government Schemes and Initiatives

7. The sub-plan for PM Matsya Kisan Samriddhi-Yojana approved by the government.

• Pradhan Mantri Matsya Kisan Samriddhi Sah-Yojana, a Central Sector Sub-Scheme under Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada for the fisheries sector, has been approved by the Union Cabinet.
• A total of Rs 6000 crore has been earmarked for this scheme in the next 4 years.
• Out of the total, Rs 3,000 crore will come from public finance, including World Bank and AFD external financing, and the remaining 50% will be contributed by private sector beneficiaries.
• This sub-scheme will help in creating a National Fisheries Digital Platform to provide work-based identification to 40 lakh small and micro enterprises.
• This scheme will be implemented in all states and union territories for 4 years, from FY 2023-24 to FY 2026-27.
• In addition, the extension of the Fisheries Infrastructure Development Fund (FIDF) for another 3 years up to 2025-26 has also been approved by the Cabinet.
• The government approved the fund size of 7522.48 crore rupees and budgetary support of 939.48 crore rupees.
• Apart from this, a proposal from the Department of Telecommunications to conduct a spectrum auction was also approved by the Cabinet.
• The auction will be conducted for spectrum in the 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2300 MHz, 2500 MHz, 3300 MHz, and 26 GHz frequency bands.
• The spectrum will be offered for a validity period of 20 years, valued at Rs 96,317.65 crore.

Topic: Infrastructure and Energy

8. "Doubling of Motumari-Vishnupuram" and "Rail over Rail at Motumari" approved by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on 8 February.

• Both projects have been approved at an estimated cost of around Rs 1,740 crore.
• The projects falling in the states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh are likely to boost the socio-economic development of the region.
• Spanning a distance of 88.81 km, the Motumari-Vishnupuram section connects the Kazipet-Vijayawada high-density network with the Secunderabad-Guntur heavy-density network.
• It is an important rail link connecting Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, and beyond to the states of Telangana, Karnataka, and Maharashtra.
• This important rail line is also the shortest route connecting Secunderabad to Vijayawada.
• The doubling will facilitate faster transportation of agricultural products, cement, coal, and other local products and seamless movement of people.
• Rail over rail at Motumari station will prevent cross movement of trains, prevent blockage of trains, and facilitate uninterrupted movement of trains in the section.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: State News/Odisha

9. The Odisha government presented a Rs 2.55 lakh crore budget for 2024–25.

• Odisha finance minister Bikram Keshari Arukha presented the annual budget for 2024–25 with an outlay of Rs 2.55 lakh crore.
• The budget outlay is 11 percent more than the 2023–24 budget.
• Rs 140000 has been allocated for programme expenditure for FY 24–25. Of this, Rs 63,400 crore has been provided to the Vote-on-Account.
• No new schemes or initiatives have been declared by the government in the budget.
• The highest allocation of Rs 33,865 crore has been proposed for the school and mass education departments.
• It constitutes a 9.71 percent share of the total budget size for the financial year 2024–25.
• 22,543 crore (8.84 percent) has been allocated to the panchayati raj department, while Rs 19,729 crore (7.74 percent) has been allocated to Rs 19,729 crore (7.74 percent).
• Odisha’s economy is likely to register a growth rate of 8.5 percent against the national average of 7.3 percent.
• The state government implemented the KALIA scheme for agricultural development and poverty alleviation.
• 1,858 health centres will be developed in the next 5 years with an outlay of Rs 3,389 crore.
• Rs 28,944 crore has been allocated for agriculture and allied sector, 16.6 per cent higher than the outlay of the previous year.

Topic: International News

10. A health emergency was declared in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, amid a dengue fever surge.

• The Brazilian government declared a health emergency in Rio de Janeiro to control the cases of dengue.
• 10 care centres have been opened, and emergency operation centres have been created.
• The cases of the mosquito-borne disease quadrupled in Brazil in January.
• Rio has registered 10,000 cases so far this year, as compared to 23000 cases in the whole of 2023.
• In January alone, 362 people were hospitalised in Rio due to dengue.
• Rio is one of three states to declare public health emergencies due to the rise in dengue infections.
• Climate change has increased the temperature, and as a result, rainfall has increased. It increases the risk of dengue.

Topic: Summits/ Conferences/Meetings

11. On February 9, the inaugural session of the 7th Indian Ocean Conference was addressed by EAM Dr. S. Jaishankar in Perth, Australia.

• Sri Lanka President Ranil Wickremesinghe, Foreign Affairs Minister of Australia Penny Wong, and Foreign Affairs Minister of Singapore Dr. Vivian Balakrishnan also joined Dr. Jaishankar.
• The conference was organized on 9-10 February in collaboration with the Australian Government's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade as well as the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Singapore, and the Perth-US Asia Center in Australia.
• Ministers from more than 22 countries and senior officials from 16 countries and 6 multilateral organizations attended the conference.
• More than 400 social and corporate leaders, policy practitioners, scholars, professionals, and media persons from around 40 countries also participated.
• The theme of the two-day Indian Ocean Conference was "Towards a Stable and Sustainable Indian Ocean”.
• This conference is a major consultative forum for the countries of the Indian Ocean region.
• It has been organized annually by the Ministry of External Affairs in collaboration with the India Foundation since 2016.
• The Conference endeavors to bring critical states and principal maritime partners of the region together on a common platform to deliberate upon the prospects of regional cooperation for Security And Growth for All in the Region (SAGAR).

Topic: Sports

12. Saurashtra Cricket Association (SCA) Stadium in Rajkot will be renamed as Niranjan Shah Stadium.

• On 6 February, the SCA announced that it would rename its home venue in Khanderi, Rajkot to Niranjan Shah Stadium on 14 February.
• Its name will be changed a day before it takes the field for the third Test of the ongoing five-match series between India and England.
• Shah played 12 first-class cricket for Saurashtra in the 1960s and 70s.
• Shah is more famous for serving as SCA secretary for almost four decades.
• He also held a position in the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).    
• Other BCCI officials named after cricket stadiums are: MA Chidambaram (Chennai), M Chinnaswamy (Bengaluru), IS Bindra (Mohali), and Wankhede (Mumbai).
• There are nine stadiums named after India's first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, across the country– eight of which have hosted domestic or international cricket fixtures.

Topic: National News

13. Government-approved amendments in food safety and standard regulations.

• Now, only one certification from food regulator FSSAI will be required for food products.
• Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) will issue a draft notification in this regard.
• Certifications from the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) and AGMARK will not be required for food products.
• The FSSAI in its 43rd meeting approved various amendments in the food safety and standards regulations.
• It will promote the concept of ‘One Nation, One Commodity, One Regulator'.
• Food businesses will have no to go to different authorities for mandatory certification. Only FSSAI certification has been made mandatory for food products.
• These regulations included the revision of standards of Milk Fat Products.
• As part of the standards for meat products, FSSAI will also set a standard for Haleem.
• A comprehensive manual of methods of analysis for ensuring regulatory compliance of the food products was also approved.

Topic: Reports and Indices

14. By 2030, more than one-third of the increase in global oil demand will be from India: IEA

• International Energy Agency (IEA) said that of the 3.2 million barrels per day (mb/d) increase in oil consumption between 2023 and 2030, more than one-third will come from India.
• It also said that India will surpass China. India is the world’s second-largest crude oil importer.
• India presently consumes approximately 5 million barrels per day (mb/d).
• It is expected to record an increase of 1.2 mb/d in the coming seven years.
• According to an IEA report, from 2023 to 2030, India is expected to be the single biggest contributor to the growth in the world's oil demand.
• According to the IEA, because India's economy is still in initial stages of economic development, it will consume oil at a higher rate than that of other nations.
• The IEA projects that demand will increase from 5.5 mb/d in 2023 to 6.6 mb/d in 2030.
• By 2027, India's demand growth will outpace China's. In absolute terms, China, the world's biggest energy consumer, will still surpass India.
• This quicker increase is also a result of rising living standards, the emergence of a growing middle class, and shifting consumer purchasing patterns.
• Roughly 90% of personal mobility and 70% of freight movement occurs via travel by road.