NATIONAL NEWS

Dharmendra Pradhan Inaugurates the New Delhi World Book Fair

Union Minister of Education and Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, Shri Dharmendra Pradhan inaugurated the New Delhi World Book Fair at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi.

Inaugurating the 52nd edition of the New Delhi World Book Fair Shri Pradhan highlighted that this year's theme of the fair ‘Multilingual India: A Living Tradition’ is celebrating India’s linguistic diversity and global literary traditions.

Shri Dharmendra Pradhan launched the app of the National Digital Libraries for All, announced in the Budget 2023-34.

National e-library is a first-of-its-kind digital library for accessing a variety of non-academic books for Children and Adolescents.

It will focus on the history, culture, scientific and other achievements of India to develop a sense of pride amongst young Indiansand shall contain books from all the 23 (twenty-three) languages under the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India, apart from English.

India- Hyperlocal Extreme Weather Forecasting Network

The Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Government of India, has initiated the weather information network and data system (WINDS) to generate long-term, hyper-local weather data.

WINDS Portal is a promising step forward by the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare launched in July 2023.

Under this programme, more than 200,000 ground stations (AWS and ARG) will be installed.

It will help tremendously in enhancing weather data utilisation by generating long-term, hyper-local weather data and thus in improving weather predictions and decision-making.

In India, the Indian Meteorology Department (IMD) is the principal government agency in all matters relating to meteorology.

IMD operates around 800 automatic weather stations (AWS), 1,500 automatic rain gauges (ARG) and 37 doppler weather radars (DWR).

Uttarakhand- India's First State to Implement Uniform Civil Code

The Uttarakhand state Assembly passed the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) Bill, marking it as the first state in India post-independence to adopt a UCC.

The report on the UCC was submitted to the Chief Minister by Ranjana Desai, a retired judge of the Supreme Court and chairperson of the Committee. The UCC is applicable to all persons irrespective of religion.

It offers a succession scheme similar to the Indian Succession Act (ISA), ensuring equal shares for the spouse, children, and parents of a deceased person without a will.

It recognises children from live-in relationships as legitimate with equal rights.

Tamil Nadu- 'Smart Card' Initiative for Startups

Tamil Nadu (TN) Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Minister TM Anbarasan launched the 'Smart Card' initiative for startups.

The Smart Card offers a wide selection of products and services at discounted rates, specifically tailored to meet the needs of startups in their early stages.

The products and services are broadly classified into 6 different categories: Legal and Compliance, Marketing/Business Consulting, Finance and Insurance, HR and Smart Workspace, Software, and IT/ITES.

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.

 

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

UPI Services Started in Sri Lanka and Mauritius

India’s Unified Payment Interface (UPI) services started in Sri Lanka and Mauritius at a virtual ceremony witnessed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the top leadership of the two island nations.

According to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) India’s RuPay card services also launched in Mauritius at the event Mauritian PM Pravind Jugnauth and Sri Lanka’s President Ranil Wickremesinghe joined Modi at the virtual ceremony,

Unified Payments Interface (UPI) is a system that enables users to access multiple bank accounts through a single mobile application offered by any participating bank.

It merges multiple banking features, facilitates seamless fund routing and merchant payments under one roof.

It also allows P2P collection requests, which can be scheduled and paid according to convenience and requirement.

 

SPORTS

Under-19 ICC World Cup One-Day

Australia has won the title by defeating India in the final of the 15th ICC Under-19 ODI World Cup 2024.

The match of the Under-19 World Cup was played on 11 February 2024 at Willowmoore Park, Benoni, South Africa.

Australia defeated India by 79 runs.

In this match, the captain of the Indian team was Uday Saharan, while the Australian team was captained by Hugh Wiebgen.

 

APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNATIONS

Secretary, Department of Health and Family Welfare and Information and Broadcasting Secretary

Information and Broadcasting Secretary Apurva Chandra has been appointed as the Secretary, Department of Health and Family Welfare.

Senior bureaucrat Sanjay Jaju has been appointed as the new Information and Broadcasting Secretary, in place of Apurva Chandra.

Chandra is a 1988-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of Maharashtra cadre.

He has earlier served as Secretary, Ministry of Labour and Employment.

Sanjay Jaju is a 1992-batch IAS officer from Telangana cadre.

He has earlier served as Additional Secretary to Government of India from 2018 to 2023 and Director, National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited from October 2014 to March 2018.

Prime Minister of Kazakhstan

Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev signed a decree appointing Olzhas Bektenov as the new Prime Minister (PM) of Kazakhstan.

Olzhas Bektenov, aged 43, succeeded Alikhan Smailov.

Olzhas Bektenov is the youngest Prime Minister (PM) in the history of Kazakhstan.

In 2023, Olzhas Bektenov was appointed as the Head of the Administration of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Before becoming Prime Minister, he held several positions, including deputy chairman of the Agency for Civil Service Affairs and Anti-Corruption.

Bektenov also served as the Chairman of the Anti-Corruption Agency before his current appointment.

 

DEFENCE

Navy Chief Inaugurates New Defence System

Navy Chief Admiral R Hari Kumar inaugurated a new defence system Precision Approach Radar (PAR) in Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

The Naval Chief inaugurated the PAR at INS Utkrosh located in the South Andaman Islands.

The Naval Chief was on his 3-day visit to the strategic tri-service command to strengthen the Andaman and Nicobar Command (ANC).

The Precision Approach Radar is manufactured by a Chennai company.

PAR will be helpful in safely landing the aircraft in low visibility conditions like heavy rain and fog.

The PAR will provide highly accurate horizontal and vertical guidance even in low visibility.

 

IMPORTANT DAYS

International Day of Women and Girls in Science

International Day of Women and Girls in Science 2024 is observed on 11 February.

The Commission on the Status of Women adopted a report on March 14, 2011, with the goal of encouraging girls and women to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, and math.

Moreover, promoting women's equal access to full employment and respectable jobs should be a priority.

The General Assembly recognized in a resolution on science, technology, and innovation for development that women and girls should have full and equal access to and participation in science, technology, and innovation to achieve gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls.

It is necessary for girls and women of all ages.

National Productivity Day

National Productivity Day 2024 is observed on the 12 February

National Productivity Day is commemorated to promote India's productivity culture.

On February 12, 1958, the National Productivity Council of India was Registered under Societies Registration Act XXI, 1860.

To mark the council's establishment, its members decided to observe National Productivity Day every year on the same day.

National Productivity Day also celebrates the anniversary of the establishment of the National Productivity Council.

International Epilepsy Day

International Epilepsy Day 2024 is observed on the 12th of February 2024.

International Epilepsy Day is the brainchild of the International Bureau for Epilepsy and the International League Against Epilepsy.

The two organizations have put together various events on the day since their inception.

Epilepsy is one of the world’s oldest-known medical conditions, with records dating back to the beginning of recorded history.

International Epilepsy Day is commemorated in more than 120 countries all over the world.