NATIONAL NEWS

4th India - Australia Energy Dialogue

• On 15^th February 2022, the 4^th edition of India – Australia Energy Dialogue was held.

• The Ministry of Power and New & Renewable Energy, Mr. R.K. Singh, India and Ministry of Energy and Emissions Reduction, Mr. Angus Taylor, Australia co-chaired the meeting.

• During the meeting a Letter of Intent (LoI) signed on New and Renewable Energy Technology to focus on advancing technology and clean energy transition.
• They signed agreement on five projects. They are Power, New & Renewable Energy, Coal & Mines, Critical Minerals and Oil & Gas.

India’s G20 Presidency

• The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi approved the setting up of a G20 Secretariat.
• India holds the Presidency of G20 Summit in 2023. G20 is the gathering for international economic cooperation that plays an important role in global economic governance.
• The G20 summit will be held from 1 December 2022 to 30 November 2023.
• The Secretariat will be appointed by Prime Minister, Finance Minister, Home Minister, External Affairs Minister
• Commerce & Industry, Textiles, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Minister Piyush Goyal appointed as India’s G20 Sherpa.
• Indonesia will host the G20 summit in 2022.
• Brazil will host the G20 summit in 2024.

58th meeting of CSMC under PMAY(U)

• On 15 February 2022, Shri Manoj Joshi, Secretary, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) chaired 58^th meeting of Central Sanctioning and Monitoring Committee (CSMC) under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) virtually.
• During the meeting 60,000 houses were approved for construction in Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka and Rajasthan.
• The total investment under the Mission is ₹ 7.52 Lakh crore.
• The total number of sanctioned houses under PMAY(U) is 114.04 Lakh.
• 54.78 Lakh houses have been completed and delivered to the beneficiaries.
• During the meeting, a booklet named 'Transformative Reforms Towards Housing for All' was released by Secretary, MoHUA that describes the transformative journey of PMAY(U) to complete the target of Prime Minister vision of ‘Housing for All’.
• On the occasion 'Awas Par Samvaad' was also released as the country is celebrating ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’.
• Awas Par Samvaad, the first- of-its-kind initiative in the urban housing sector to create awareness amongst multiple stakeholders.

World Sustainable Development Summit

• On 16 February 2022, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address World Sustainable Development Summit organized by the Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) in a virtual mode.
• During the meeting discussion on a wide range of issues including climate change, sustainable production, energy transitions, global commons and resource security takes place.
• The theme for this year is ‘Towards a Resilient Planet: Ensuring a Sustainable and Equitable Future’.
• President of Dominican Republic Luis Abinader, President of Guyana Dr. Irfaan Ali, Deputy Secretary General of United Nations, Amina J Mohammed, heads of various intergovernmental organisations and Ministers and Envoys from other countries also attended the meeting.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Bangladesh PM to inaugurate Ekushey Book Fair 2022

• Amar Ekushey Boi Mela, the largest book fair of Bangladesh was inaugurated by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina held in Dhaka at the Bangla Academy premises and the adjoining Suhrawardy Udyan.

• It has been organise by the Bangla Academy since 1978.

• The country started book fair to commemorate the sacrifices of people killed by Pakistani forces on 21 February 1952 demanding Bangla as the mother language for the East Pakistan.

• ‘Bangla Academy Sahitya Puraskar 2021’, the prestigious literary award given to 15 recipients under 11categories during the occasion.

BANKING

BOB will Acquire Stake of Union Bank in IndiaFirst Life Insurance

• Bank of Baroda (BoB) board has approved acquisition of a 21% stake of Union Bank of India in IndiaFirst Life Insurance.
• It is a joint venture between the Bank of Baroda, Union Bank of India and Carmel Point Investments.
• After the completion of transaction, BoB will hold a 65% stake in IndiaFirst Life, Union Bank will hold 9% and Carmel Point Investments India will have the remaining 26% stake.
• According to an exchange filing, IndiaFirst Life Insurance will continue to have long-term agency distribution agreement with both Bank of Baroda and Union Bank after the sale of stake.

ABOUT BOB

• HQ: Vadodara, Gujarat.

• MD & CEO: Sanjiv Chadha

SEBI makes it voluntary for listed companies to separate roles

• Market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) makes separation of roles of chairperson and managing director (MD) or Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of top 500 listed companies to 'voluntary' from ‘mandatory’.
• Earlier, Separation of roles was to become mandatory from April 1, 2022 for top 500 companies. The market regulator referred various industry representations, highlighting the constraints posed by the prevailing pandemic situation to make the separation of roles requirement voluntary.
• The Uday Kotak committee on corporate governance had recommended that there should be separation roles in listed companies for better and more balanced governance structure by enabling more effective and objective supervision of the management.

APPOINTMENTS AND RESIGNATIONS

Chairperson of Committee of Administrators-TTFI

• Former J&K High Court Chief Justice Gita Mittal was appointed as chairperson of Committee of Administrators to run Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI).

• Communications of TTFI with sportsperson or international sports bodies will be held through the committee of Administrators and The Delhi Court Ordered that existing office bearers should not pass or discharge any functions.

Chairman of CBSE

• IAS, Vineet Joshi, additional Secretary in the Ministry of Education was appointed as new chairman of The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE).

• He will succeed former CBSE chairman Manoj Ahuja, who was now appointed as the OSD in the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.

• Vineet Joshi also serves as the Director-General of the National Testing Agency (NTA).

IMPORTANT DAYS

International Childhood Cancer Day

• The International Childhood Day is observed every year on 15^th February.

• This day is celebrated to create awareness about the dangers and impacts of cancer among children.

• The theme for the year 2022 is ‘Better Survival’ is achievable #throughyourhands.

BOOKS AND AUTHORS

A Book by Bill Gates

• Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates authored a book titled “How to Prevent the Next Pandemic”.

• The book is published by Penguin Random House.

• In this book he mentioned about the innovations required to save lives and the new tools needed to stop the pathogens that can stop future pandamic.

OBITUTARY

Veteran Singer-Composer Alokesh Lahiri

• Bengali Music Composer and singer Alokesh Lahiri, also known as Bappi Lahiri passed away in Mumbai due to multiple health issues. He was 69.

• Lahiri was born in Jalpaiguri, West Bengal.

• He was an Indian singer, composer, politician and record producer. He played a major role to popularize  the use of synthesized  discomusic in Indian cinema.
• Some of his songs include ‘Chalte chalte mere yeh geet rakhna’, ‘I am a Disco Dancer’, ‘Pag Ghunghroo baandh Mira nachi thhi’ from ‘Sharabi’ and ‘Yaar bina Chain kaha re’.