NATIONAL NEWS

AMRPTEX 2023

• The Minister for Communications, Electronics and Information Technology and Railways, Ashwini Vaishnaw inaugurated AMRITPEX 2023 - National Philatelic Exhibition on 11 February 2023 in New Delhi.
• The themes of the exhibition include Amrit Mahotsav of Independence and New India, women power, youth power, nature and wildlife and culture and history of India.
• The Department of Posts also released a commemorative postage stamp on the Amrit Mahotsav of Independence.
• This stamp has been prepared from the best entries of the National Comprehensive Design Competition in which more than 4 lakh students participated.
• The competition was organised on an all-India basis in collaboration with the Department of School Education and Ministry of Culture, Government of India.

India's First Drone-Air Traffic Management System

• The Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari unveiled the country's first drone-air traffic management system ‘Sky UTM’.

• It is developed by ‘Sky Air’.

• Sky UTM is a cloud-based air traffic management system that integrates unmanned air traffic with manned aviation airspace.

• The system is capable of handling 4,000 flights per hour and 96,000 flights per day.
• Sky UTM is designed to provide situational awareness, autonomous navigation, risk assessment and traffic management to all drone/other aerial moving operators in the airspace.

India’s First Glass Igloo Restaurant

• India’s first glass igloo restaurant in the middle of the snow-covered mountains in Gulmarg has become the centre of attraction for tourists in the hill station in Kashmir.
• This unique glass igloo restaurant is developed by Kolahoi Green Heights hotel of Gulmarg in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district.
• In 2021, the same hotel built a snow igloo in Gulmarg which was the biggest snow igloo in Asia that also attracted tourists.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

12th World Hindi Conference

• The three-day 12th World Hindi Conference will be held in Fiji from 15 February 2023.
• The conference is being organised by the Ministry of External Affairs of India in collaboration with the Government of Fiji.
• The main theme of the conference is ‘Hindi - Traditional Knowledge to Artificial Intelligence'.
• The Conference will be inaugurated by Fiji's Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka along with External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar.
• Representatives of 50 countries are likely to participate in the World Hindi Conference.
• The event will be used to promote Hindi as a global language.

BANKING

ADB Approves Loan to Promote Horticulture in HP

• The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a $130 million (over Rs 1,072 crore) loan.
• It is to enhance agricultural productivity and farmers' income in Himachal Pradesh and promote horticulture agribusiness.
• Through this, improving subtropical horticulture in the state will create a lot of economic opportunities for the farming families.
• Supporting horticulture value chains will also enhance the contribution of this sub-sector to the development and food security of the country.

RBI to Launch QR Code Based Coin Vending Machine

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is preparing a pilot project on QR code-based coin vending machines (QCVM).

• The announcement was made by RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das during the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting.

• The aim is to promote distribution of coins, and enhance the accessibility to coins.

• The pilot project will roll out in 19 locations in 12 cities across the country.

• These vending machines are planned to be installed at public places such as railway stations, shopping mall and marketplaces to enhance ease and accessibility.

• The QCVM is a cashless coin dispensation machine which will dispense coins against debit to the customer’s bank account using Unified Payments Interface (UPI).

SPORTS

Hyderabad E-Prix

• Jean Eric Vergne of DS Penske automobiles won an action-packed Formula E Prix in Hyderabad on 11 February.

• The fourth leg of the Formula E season of the year 2022-23 was held in Hyderabad.

• This is the first Formula E race held in India.

• The Formula E race marked the successful return of top-level motorsport competition to India.

• The winner's trophy was presented by the Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports, Anurag Thakur.

• Nick Cassidy (Envision Racing) and Antonio Félix da Costa (TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team) finished second and third respectively.

RANKS, INDICES & REPORTS

Global Quality Infrastructure Index (GQII) 2021

• India's overall QI system ranking stood at 10th position in the released Global Quality Infrastructure Index (GQII) 2021.

• India's national accreditation system under the Quality Council of India (QCI) has been ranked 5th.

• It has been ranked 9th in the standardisation system and 21st in the world in the metrology system (under NPL-CSIR).

• The GQII lists 184 countries in the world based on the Quality of Infrastructure (QI).

• Germany has topped the list.

• It was followed by China, USA, UK, Japan and France at the second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth places respectively.

• The Quality Council of India (QCI) was established in 1996 as a national body for accreditation.

BOOKS & AUTHORS

A New Book Titled ‘Best of Satyajit Ray’

• A new book titled ‘Best of Satyajit Ray’ has been released by Penguin India on Satyajit Ray

• The ‘Best of Satyajit Ray’ has 21 best short stories of Satyajit Ray.

• It also has all eight stories that Satyajit Ray translated himself into English.

• Satyajit Ray was one of the most eminent film directors.

• He was the recipient of 36 National Film Awards.

• He received many national awards including the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, Padma Bhushan and the Bharat Ratna.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Key Trials for Gaganyaan Mission

• The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), along with the Indian Navy has conducted an important trial for the Gaganyaan, human space flight mission.
• The trials were performed in the Indian Navy’s Water Survival Test Facility (WSTF) located in Kochi, Kerala
• The first trial (uncrewed flight) for Gaganyaan is planned by the end of 2023 or early 2024, followed by sending Vyom Mitra,a humanoid and then with the crew onboard.
• The Gaganyaan project envisages demonstration of human spaceflight capability of India.
• Gaganyaan will be launching a crew of 3 members for a 3-day mission.
• The members will be launched to an orbit of 400 km and bring them back safely to earth, by landing in Indian sea waters.

IMPORTANT DAYS

World Unani Day

• World Unani Day is celebrated every year on 11 February.
• It is celebrated with the aim of spreading public awareness about health care through Unani medicines.
• The theme for World Unani Day 2023 is ‘Unani Medicine for Public Health’.
• The first World Unani Day was celebrated by the Ministry of AYUSH, Government of India, in 2017 at the Central Research Institute of Unani Medicine (CRIUM), Hyderabad.
• The purpose of this day is to spread public awareness about healthcare through Unani medicines.
• The day is celebrated on the birth anniversary of Hakim Ajmal Khan, a social reformer and great Indian Unani physician.

International Day for Women and Girls in Science

• International Day of Women and Girls in Science is observed every year on 11 February.

• It was announced by the United Nations General Assembly to celebrate this day on 22 December 2015.

• It is celebrated to ensure the strong role of women in the field of science and technology as well as to increase gender empowerment.

• This day is celebrated jointly by UNESCO and the United Nations Women's Association (UN Women).

• Vigyan Jyoti Yojana has been launched by the Department of Science and Technology (DST).

• The scheme aims to increase the percentage of women in the STEM education sector.