Latest Current Affairs For Wednesday 2nd March, 2022

Janaushadhi Diwas week to be observed from 1st March to 7th March

Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers will organize the Janaushadhi Diwas from 1st March to 7th March 2022. On 7th March 2022, the 4th Jan Aushadhi Diwas will be celebrated. The theme of 4th Janaushadhi Diwas: “Jan Aushadhi-Jan Upyogi”.

The Government has set a target to increase the number of Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Kendras (PMBJKs) to 10,500 by the end of March 2025.

To create awareness about the usages of generic medicines and the benefits of Jan Aushadhi Pariyojana. Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana (PMBJP) was launched by the Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers, Government of India in November 2008 to provide quality generic medicines available at affordable prices to all.

International Women’s Day Week begins

The Women and Child Development Ministry celebrates the International Women’s Day week from the 1st of March as an Iconic Week as a part of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, till the 8th of March.

As a part of the week-long celebration, the Ministry will organize various events and social media campaigns covering a variety of themes related to women’s safety and empowerment.

This will mark an occasion to celebrate the progress made towards achieving gender equity and women’s empowerment but also to critically reflect on accomplishments and strive for a greater momentum towards gender equality.

It will kick off tomorrow in collaboration with the Bureau of Police Research and Development to raise awareness on the safety and security of women.

Zero Discrimination Day observed on 01st March

The Zero Discrimination Day is held every year on the 1st of March. The day aims to ensure right to equality, inclusion and protection of all people without any discrimination in their law and policies to live a full life with dignity regardless of any barriers.

Zero Discrimination Day highlights how people can become informed about and promote inclusion, compassion, peace and, above all, a movement for change.

Zero Discrimination Day is helping to create a global movement of solidarity to end all forms of discrimination. The theme of Zero Discrimination Day 2022: “Remove laws that harm, create laws that empower”, UNAIDS is highlighting the urgent need to take action against discriminatory laws.

Zero Discrimination Day was first celebrated on March 1, 2014, and was launched by UNAIDS Executive Director at Beijing after UNAIDS launched its Zero Discrimination Campaign on World AIDS Day in December 2013.

Important For All Exam 2022:

United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland;

UNAIDS Executive Director: Winnie Byanyima;

UNAIDS Founded: 26 July 1994.

“Industry Connect 2022” inaugurated by Union Minister Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya

Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya, Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare, Chemicals & Fertilizers has inaugurated the seminar on “Industry Connect 2022”: Industry and Academia Synergy.

The stress is on the importance of innovation & technology for the progress of the country and it is for the greater industry-academia partnerships. The innovative zeal and manufacturing quality products at scale will help the Prime Minister’s vision of Make in India and Make for the World.

OBJECTIVES OF THE SEMINAR:

The first objective is to focus on R&D – Laboratory to Industry.

The second objective is to do the Skill Gap Analysis for the Human Capital in Petrochemicals Sector.

Another objective is to Support Aatmanirbhar Bharat by providing the Indigenous Technology and Aatmanirbhar CIPET with the assistance of the Industry Connect.

The final objective is for the Support of Technology with the assistance of the Technology Development Board to establish coordination between industry and academia for this sector.

28th DST-CII India- Singapore Technology Summit 2022

Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), New Delhi in partnership with the Department of Science & Technology (DST), GoI hosted the 28th edition of the DST – CII Technology Summit on 23rd and 24th of February 2022. The Summit was held virtually. Singapore is the Partner Country for this year’s Technology Summit.

Technology Summit has been very crucial in providing significant opportunities to build and improve bilateral technology partnerships over a period of more than two decades. Dr Jitendra Singh, Hon’ble Union Minister of State, Ministry of Science and Technology, GoI.

Quantum Key Distribution tech tested by DRDO successfully between Vindhyachal & Prayagraj

A team of scientists, for the first time in the country, from the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi successfully demonstrated a Quantum Key Distribution link between Prayagraj and Vindhyachal in Uttar Pradesh, spanning over 100 kilometres.

This technological breakthrough was accomplished using a commercial-grade optical fibre that was already on the market. The country has shown domestic safe key transfer technology for bootstrapping military-grade communication security key hierarchy, according to the DRDO.

This technological advance was made possible by the use of commercially available optical fibre. According to the DRDO, the country has shown a domestic secure key transfer technique for bootstrapping military-grade communication security key hierarchy.

Quantum key distribution is a secure communication tech method that uses quantum physics to construct a cryptographic protocol. It allows two parties to generate a shared secret key that is only known to them and can be used to encrypt and decrypt messages.

NSO projects GDP growth for India in 2021-22 at 8.9%

National Statistical Office (NSO) has released the second advance estimates of national accounts. The GDP growth rate projection as per NSO for 2021-22 (FY22) and 2020-21 (FY21) is given: For 2021-22 (FY22)= 8.9% (earlier it was 9.2% in first advance estimates); For 2020-21 (FY21)= -6.6% (earlier it was -7.3%)

According to NSO data, Gross Value Added (GVA) growth in the manufacturing sector growth remained almost flat at 0.2 per cent in the third quarter of 2021-22, compared to a growth of 8.4 per cent a year ago.

Bank of Maharashtra launches “Project Banksakhi” in Odisha

Public sector lender, Bank of Maharashtra (BoM) has announced the launch of “Project Banksakhi” in Odisha in collaboration with Mahagram & Sunivesh India Finance Services Pvt. Ltd. for Online Bank Account opening. It will provide doorstep and hassle-free access to the people of Odisha for opening bank accounts.

The people of Odisha using our innovative customer-friendly financial services and best in class customer experience across digital and physical touchpoints.

Bank of Maharashtra has been catering to the banking needs of customers offering a spectrum of banking products and financial services covering Retail, Agri and MSME sectors to its more than 2 crore customers.

Apart from its physical delivery channels, the bank offers various digital platforms like mobile banking, internet banking, AEPS, ATM-Debit Card, 24×7 customer care centre for accessing uninterrupted banking services to its customers.

Important For All Exam 2022:

Bank of Maharashtra Headquarters: Pune;

Bank of Maharashtra CEO: A. S. Rajeev (2 Dec 2018);

Bank of Maharashtra Founded: 16 September 1935.

Prof Bhushan Patwardhan named as chairman of NAAC

The University Grants Commission (UGC) has appointed educationist and research scientist Professor Bhushan Patwardhan as chairman, of the executive committee of the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC), Bengaluru.

The position was vacant after Prof Jagadish Kumar was appointed as chairman of UGC. Prof Patwardhan is currently a national research professor designated by the Ministry of Ayush, Government of India, and a distinguished professor at the Interdisciplinary School of Health Sciences, Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU).

IOC Withdraws Top Olympic Honour From Vladimir Putin

The International Olympic Committee has stripped Russian President Vladimir Putin of the Olympic Order award in response to the invasion of Ukraine. International Olympic Committee urged sports federations and organisers to exclude Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials from international events following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Russia’s participation in the World Cup play-offs next month is also in doubt after FIFA plans to allow them to play on neutral territory were dismissed as “unacceptable” by rivals. The IOC last week urged all international sports federations to cancel forthcoming events in Russia, angry at Moscow violating an “Olympic Truce” with its attack on Ukraine.

Important For All Exam 2022:

International Olympic CommitteeHeadquarters: Lausanne, Switzerland;

International Olympic Committee President: Thomas Bach;

International Olympic Committee Founded: 23 June 1894, Paris, France.

Russia destroyed the largest plane in the world ‘Mriya’

Russian invasion to Ukraine, Russia destroyed the largest plane in the world called “Ukraine’s Antonov-225 cargo plane”.

The plane was destroyed outside Kyiv. According to weapons manufacturer Ukroboronprom, restoring “AN-225 Mriya” would cost over USD 3 billion and could take over five years.

The aircraft was unique to the world. The An-225 aircraft was located at Hostomel Airport when Russia launched an attack on the Ukrainian airport on February 24, 2022. It was destroyed on February 27.

The aircraft was designed to airlift Energia rocket’s boosters and Buran-class orbiters for Soviet space program. It was developed to replace the Myasishchev VM-T.

The original mission and objectives of An-225 are almost similar to that of the United States’ Shuttle Carrier Aircraft. The lead designer of the An-225 was Viktor Tolmachev.

It was 84 meters long and could transport up to 250 tonnes of cargo at a speed of 850 kilometres per hour.

PM Narendra Modi to be awarded prestigious Lokmanya Tilak Award 2023

The Tilak Smarak Mandir Trust (Hind Swaraj Sangh) would confer the prestigious Lokmanya Tilak National Award 2023 to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Pune on August 1, 2023.

Reason: This award recognizes PM Modi's supreme leadership under which India has climbed the ladder of progress

It is presented annually on the occasion of Lokmanya Tilak's death anniversary.

Other awardees: Indira Gandhi, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Sharad Pawar, Cyrus Poonawalla, and Manmohan Singh. 

J&K Bank wins award for Best Performance in CASA

Jammu & Kashmir Bank has been felicitated for the Best Performance in CASA-India (1st Runner up in Small Bank Category) at ICC Emerging Asia Banking Conclave & Awards 2022.

The event was participated by banks from India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka & Myanmar.

The function was organized by the Indian Chamber of Commerce in Goa.

Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) is a non-governmental trade association and advocacy group headquartered in Calcutta.

India poised to become world’s 2nd-largest economy by 2075: Goldman Sachs

According to the Investment Bank Goldman Sachs, India is poised to become the world’s second-largest economy by 2075.

As per the report, India would cross Japan, Germany, and the US With a population of 1.4 billion people.

India’s GDP is estimated to expand remarkably, reaching 52.5 trillion dollars surpassing the US GDP projection.

The labour force participation set to make India the second-largest economy in the world by 2075.

L&T and Spain's Navantia sign agreement for submarine project

L&T has signed a teaming agreement with Spanish-based Navantia for the submission of a techno-commercial bid for the Indian Navy’s prestigious P75 (India) submarine program.

P75 (India) Submarine Project is expected to be valued at €4.8 billion.

Navantia would carry out the design of P75(I) submarines based on its S80 class of submarines.

The first S80 class submarine was launched in 2021 and is undergoing sea trials prior to its delivery to Spanish Navy. 

India overtakes China as most attractive emerging market for investing

According to a study by Invesco Global Sovereign Asset Management, India has overtaken China to become the most attractive emerging market for investing in sovereign wealth funds this year.

Reason: This is due to its solid demographics, political stability, and proactive regulation. 

Positives for the nation also include the rapidly expanding demography, strong regulatory actions, and a welcoming climate for sovereign investors.

World Population Day 2023: 11 July

World Population Day is observed every year on July 11 in order to raise awareness about global population issues, including population control.

2023 theme: Unleashing the power of gender equality: Uplifting the voices of women and girls to unlock our world’s infinite possibilities. 

It was established by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in 1989, after the day the world approximately reached a population of five billion, which was observed on 11 July 1987.

MoHUA conducts SBM-U 2.0 Planning & Implementation Review-cum-Workshop

The Housing Ministry organized a review-cum-workshop to evaluate and accelerate the planning and implementation of the SBM-Urban 2.0.

PM Modi launched the 2.0 versions of SBM-U and AMRUT on October 1, 2021.

SBM-U 2.0: Achieving 100% waste segregation in all households and premises and 100% door-to-door collection of segregated waste from each. 

AMRUT 2.0: To provide complete coverage of water supply to all households and sewerage and septage in 500 AMRUT cities. 

Gujarat CM launches pilot project of ‘Antyodaya Shramik Suraksha Yojana’

Gujarat CM Bhupendra Patel launched the Antyodaya Shram Suraksha Accident Insurance Scheme from Kheda

All those registered under the e-Shram portal from Nadiad will benefit from the scheme.

It is being implemented through the Indian Postal Department, the IPPB, and the Ministry of Labour and Employment.

Under this scheme, insurance with a premium of Rs. 289 and Rs. 499 per year will be a big support to workers in the event of death or partial disability.

OCA elects Sheikh Talal as the new President

Kuwait’s Sheikh Talal Fahad Al Ahmad Al Sabah has been elected as the new President of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA).

He replaced his older brother Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah, who led the OCA for 30 years until 2021.

The OCA was founded in 1982 by his father Fahad Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, who led it until 1990.

The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) is a governing body of sports in Asia, currently with 45 member National Olympic Committees.

Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance wins Insurer Innovation Award 2023

Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance has won the Insurer Innovation Award 2023 for the APAC region at the 8th World Digital Insurance Awards, hosted by TDI - The Digital Insurer.

Recognition: Bajaj Allianz Life's ground-breaking WhatsApp Conversational Platform - empowering customers to digitally services their policies seamlessly. 

The award entries were shortlisted by industry experts and the winner was selected by the community through pre-voting and live event voting.