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CURRENT AFFAIRS: IMPORTAND DAYS
World Wetlands Day: Feb 2
- February 2, 2022 is the first year that World Wetlands Day will be observed as a United Nations international day, following its adoption by the General Assembly on 30th August 2021.
- The theme for the 2022 edition is “Wetlands Action for People and Nature”
- It highlights the importance of actions that ensure that wetlands are conserved and sustainably used.
- Its an appeal to invest financial, human and political capital to save the worlds wetlands from disappearing and to restore those we have degraded.
- 2022 marks 51 years of the Convention on Wetlands
- The day is celebrated to mark the date of the adoption of the Convention on Wetlands on February 2, 1971, in the Iranian city of Ramsar on the shores of the Caspian Sea.
- World Wetlands Day was first celebrated in 1997.
CURRENT AFFAIRS: NATIONAL NEWS
Union Budget 2022-23:
- The Union Budget for Financial Year 2022-23, presented by the finance minister on February 01,2022, has given further impetus to modernisation of Defence Services and Defence Security Infrastructure development, including the Border Road Infrastructure and Coastal Security Infrastructure.
- The Union Budget 2022-23 envisages a total outlay of Rs 39.45 lakh crore.
- Out of this, Ministry of Defence has been allocated a total budget of Rs 5.25 lakh crore, which is 13.31% of the total budget.
- This includes an amount of Rs 1.19 lakh crore for Defence Pensions.
- The total Defence Budget represents an enhancement of Rs 46,970 crore (9.82%) over Budget Estimates 2021-22.
Union Budget 2022-23 consists of four pillars :
- PM GatiShakti
- Inclusive Development
- Productivity Enhancement & Investment, Sunrise opportunities, Energy Transition, and Climate Action.
- Financing of investments
Defence Ministry makes induction of women fighter pilots in IAF a permanent scheme:
- Defence Minister Rajnath Singh Ministry has decided to convert the Experimental Scheme for Induction of Women Fighter Pilots in the Indian Air Force into a permanent scheme.
- It is a testimony to the capability of Indias Nari Shakti (Women Power) and our Prime Minister Narendra Modis commitment towards women empowerment.
- Indian Air Force undertakes various induction publicity measures to encourage youth, including women to join it.
- A total of 16 women have been commissioned as fighter pilots after the experimental scheme for their induction.
- Supreme Court had directed the Centre last year to allow women candidates to appear for the entrance exam to the National Defence Academy.
- In 2018, flying officer Avani Chaturvedi of the Air Force became the first Indian woman to fly a fighter aircraft solo.
- India’s first woman Rafale fighter jet pilot Shivangi Singh captured the imagination of every girl child in the country when she took part in the Republic Day parade this year.
CURRENT AFFAIRS: INTERNATIONAL NEWS
India, European hold second virtual maritime security dialogue:
- India and the European Union has held their second maritime security dialogue in a virtual format.
- The meeting was co-chaired by Joint Secretary for Disarmament and International Security Affairs at Ministry of External Affairs Sandeep Arya and Director for Security and Defence Policy at the European External Action Service Joanneke Balfoort.
- The consultations included developments in the maritime security environment, policy developments covering the EU strategy for cooperation in the Indo-Pacific and Indias Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative, India-EU maritime cooperation and regional initiatives to address international maritime security issues.
- India and the European Union discussed cooperation, including in the field of maritime domain awareness, capacity-building and joint naval activities, following their successful joint naval exercise in the Gulf of Aden in June last year.
India & Oman review progress in military-to-military engagements:
- Secretary General at the Ministry of Defence, Oman Dr Mohammed Bin Nasser Bin Ali AlZaabi called on Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh in New Delhi on February 01, 2022 to enhance defence cooperation between the two countries.
- The Secretary General at the Ministry of Defence, Oman also briefed Shri Rajnath Singh about the 11th IndiaOman Joint Military Cooperation Committee Meeting (JMCC) on bilateral defence cooperation which was held in New Delhi on January 31, 2022.
- It was agreed to hold the next JMCC in Oman on mutually convenient dates.
- The JMCC is the apex body between the Defence Ministries of India and Oman to comprehensively review & guide all aspects of bilateral defence cooperation.
MM Naravane discusses bilateral defence cooperation with Australian counterpart:
- Army Chief MM Naravane discusses bilateral defence cooperation with Australian counterpart
- Indias Chief of Army Staff General MM Naravane had a telephonic interaction with Australias Army Chief Lieutenant General Rick Burr.
- They discussed issues of bilateral defence cooperation.
CURRENT AFFAIRS: BUSINESS NEWS
Exports of marine products in India jumps by 35 pct to 6.1 Bn dollar during April to December 2021:
i) The exports of marine products registered a growth of 35 per cent to 6.1 Billion dollars during April to December last year as compared to the same period in 2020.
II) The Commerce and Industry Ministry, in December last year, the exports of Marine Products touched over 720 million dollars, registering a growth of over 28 per cent.
III) The overall exports of Marine Products in the last Financial Year was 5.96 Billion dollars.
IV) Indias Exports of Ready to Eat products has also increased by 24 per cent to 394 million dollars in the current financial year, compared to last financial year during April to October.
v) Major destinations of Ready to Eat export are U.S.A, U.A.E, Canada and Sri Lanka.
CURRENT AFFAIRS : ACQUISITIONS & MERGERS
NTPC owned NVVN acquires 5% equity stake in Power Exchange of India
- NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam Ltd (NVVN), a wholly-owned subsidiary of NTPC Limited, has acquired a 5 percent equity stake in Power Exchange of India Limited (PXIL).
- NVVN has purchased these shares from the holding NSE Investment Limited, a co-promoter shareholder of PXIL.
- PXIL and India Energy Exchange (IEX) are the two power exchanges in the country and as per Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) norms, a trading members shareholding in the power exchange is capped at 5%.
- However, a non-members shareholding can go up to 25%.
- A power exchange functions on the lines of commodity exchanges and provides a platform for buyers and sellers of electricity to enter into spot contracts for the same day, coming day, and on a weekly basis up to 11 days.
- Out of about 1,381 billion units (BU) of electricity consumed in India, only 7% is traded on the power exchanges.
About Ministry of Power :
- Union Minister : Raj Kumar Singh
About NVVN :
- Formed : 2002
- NVVN is one of the top power traders in India and the acquisition of an equity stake in PXIL is a strategic opportunity for NVVN to achieve and maintain a leadership position in the rapidly changing power trading market.
- NVVN holds the highest category-I power trading license in terms of the latest CERC regulations.
About PXIL :
- PXIL is Indias first institutionally promoted power exchange, promoted by NSE Investment Ltd & NCDEX.
- It has been providing innovative and credible solutions since 2008.
About NTPC :
- Founded: 1975
- Headquarters: New Delhi, Delhi
- Chairman & MD : Gurdeep Singh
- NTPC Limited, formerly known as National Thermal Power Corporation Limited, is an Indian statutory corporation.
- It engaged in generation of electricity and allied activities. It is a statutory corporation incorporated under the Companies Act 1956 and is under the ownership of the Ministry of Power, Government of India.
CURRENT AFFAIRS : SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
North Korea tests Hwasong-12 intermediate-range ballistic missile
- North Korea has fired a Hwasong-12 mid-range ballistic missile from the Jagang Province area the first time it has tested a weapon of that size since 2017.
About Hwasong-12 :
- The Hwasong-12 is a nuclear-capable ground-to-ground missile.
- It has a maximum range of 4,500 kilometers (2,800 miles) if fired on a standard trajectory.
About North Korea :
- Capital: Pyongyang
- Currency: North Korean won
- Supreme leader: Kim Jong-un
CURRENT AFFAIRS : BOOKS & AUTHORS
India’s 1st Season Style Book The Class of 2006: Sneak Peek into the Misadventures of the Great Indian Engineering Life, Written by Akash Kansal
- India’s first-ever season style book The Class of 2006: Sneak Peek into the Misadventures of the Great Indian Engineering Life, written by management professional Akash Kansal, was launched virtually amidst one of the biggest book launch ceremonies of the year at IIT Kanpur & Delhi Technological University.
- The book was released on Amazon Kindle by talented Indian film actor, writer, director, and producer R. Madhavan.
- Madhavan was joined by eminent dignitaries: Alok Kansal, General Manager, Western Railway; Ravinder Bhakar, CEO CBFC, MD-NFDC; Tanuja Kansal, President, WRWWO; and Monika Meena, Mrs. India Worldwide Popular 2018 and Director, K Sera Sera Productions.
About the Book :
- The Book consists of 18 different episodes, each with a Learning Box, and is definitely a good read to reminisce the times spent in college, especially for MBA, Engineering college students and aspirants.
About Akash Kansal :
- Currently, he is working in Consumer Internet in Product Management and I head strategic marketplace products and Fintech programs at Droom.
Note :
- Droom is Indias largest automotive E-commerce marketplace and is valued at USD 1.2 billion.
CURRENT AFFAIRS : SPORTS NEWS
Asian Games 2022: Featuring 40 sports, Cricket back after 11 years
- The 2022 Asian Games also known as XIX Asiad will be a multi-sport event that will take place in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China from 10 to 25 September 2022.
- Cricket will be back at Asian Games in the T20 format after 11 years to raise the excitement of the viewers.
- The multi-sporting event will feature 40 sports with a total of 61 disciplines, including Olympic sports like swimming, archery, athletics, badminton, equestrian, fencing, football, hockey, judo, kabaddi, and much more.
- For the first time ever, more than 300 athletes from Oceania countries have been given the chance to compete at this year’s 19th edition of the Asian Games.
- E-sports and breakdancing will debut in the 2022 Asian Games as full medal sports after being approved by the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA).
- India is a member of the South Asian Zone of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) and one of the only seven countries that have competed in all the editions of the Asian Games.
- Sony Pictures Networks India, (SPN), has acquired the exclusive rights for the 2022 Asian Games from November 2021 to September 2023.
About Olympic Council of Asia :
- Headquarters: Kuwait City, Kuwait
- Founded: 16 November 1982
- Acting President: Raja Randhir Singh
World Champion Magnus Carlsen wins Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2022
- World Champion Magnus Carlsen has won the Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2022 in the Masters section.
- Norwegian GM Magnus Carlsen scored 5/13 in the Masters section with 6 wins and 7 draws, thereby winning the tournament for the eighth time in his career.
- Indian GM Arjun Erigaisi dominated the Challengers section, winning with a score of 5/13, with an impressive 8 wins and 5 draws.
About Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2022 :
- The Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2022 is the 84th edition of the annual chess tournament held in Wijk aan Zee.
- It was held from 14 January to 30 January 2022.
About Magnus Carlsen :
- Magnus Carlsen is a Norwegian chess grandmaster who is the reigning five-time World Chess Champion.
- Carlsen is also a three-time World Rapid Chess Champion and five-time World Blitz Chess Champion.
- He has held the No. 1 position in the FIDE world chess rankings since 1 July 2011, and trails only Garry Kasparov in time spent as the highest rated player in the world.
- His peak rating of 2882 is the highest in history.
CURRENT AFFAIRS : OBITUARIES
Senior Advocate & Additional Solicitor General RS Suri Passes Away
- Senior Advocate and Additional Solicitor General Rupinder Singh Suri passed away.
About Rupinder Singh Suri :
- Suri was designated as a senior advocate in 2009 and also served as the President of the Supreme Court Bar Association and the Supreme Court Advocates on Record Association.
- He also served as the standing counsel for Punjab in the Supreme Court for about 15 years.
- He began practicing his trade in 1976 when he joined the Bar.
- He had founded the Suri & Company Law Firm in 1984.
- He also held the position of Secretary General, INSOL India and is an active member of the International Bar Association.
- Suri was appointed as the national representative of India from 2019, for the UIA (International Association of Lawyers).
About Additional Solicitor General of India :
- Additional Solicitor General of India abbreviated as ASG is a law officer of India and is the third ranking lawyer of the Government of India.
- ASG is governed by Law Officers (Conditions of Service) Rules, 1987.
- Current ASG : Rajdeepak Rastogi
UNION GOVERNMENT SCHEME
Skill India mission
Launched on:
Skill india mission was Launched by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi on 15 July 2015.
Ministry involved:
The mission is under administrative control of the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.
Minister of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship- Dharemendra Pradhan.
Objectives :
The mission aims to
Create an end-to-end implementation framework for skill development, which provides opportunities for life-long learning. This includes: incorporation of skilling in the school curriculum, providing opportunities for quality long and short-term skill training, by providing gainful employment and ensuring career progression that meets the aspirations of trainees.
Align employer/industry demand and workforce productivity with trainees’ aspirations for sustainable livelihoods, by creating a framework for outcomefocused training.
Establish and enforce cross-sectoral, nationally and internationally acceptable standards for skill training in the country by creating a sound quality assurance framework for skilling, applicable to all Ministries, States and private training providers.
Build capacity for skill development in critical un-organized sectors (such as the construction sector, where there few opportunities for skill training) and provide pathways for re-skilling and up-skilling workers in these identified sectors, to enable them to transition into formal sector employment.
Ensure sufficient, high quality options for long-term skilling, benchmarked to internationally acceptable qualification standards, which will ultimately contribute to the creation of a highly skilled workforce.
Develop a network of quality instructors/trainers in the skill development ecosystem by establishing high quality teacher training institutions.
Leverage existing public infrastructure and industry facilities for scaling up skill training and capacity building efforts.
Offer a passage for overseas employment through specific programmes mapped to global job requirements and benchmarked to international standards.
Enable pathways for transitioning between the vocational training system and the formal education system, through a credit transfer system.
Promote convergence and co-ordination between skill development efforts of all Central Ministries/Departments/States/implementing agencies.
Support weaker and disadvantaged sections of society through focused outreach programmes and targeted skill development activities.
Propagate aspirational value of skilling among youth, by creating social awareness on value of skill training.
Maintain a national database, known as the Labour Market Information System (LMIS), which will act as a portal for matching the demand and supply of skilled workforce in the country.
List of Skill India Courses
The skill India courses are divided broadly into 5 main categories such as:
Management and development programmes: Financial statement analysis, modern office practice, marketing for managers, etc.
Training of trainer: Accreditation program for EM trainers, technology infusion, etc.
Entrepreneurship development programmes: Women EDP, women empowerment, CRR scheme, etc.
Skill development programmes: Dairy-based ESDP, carpentry, electroplating, fashion designing, etc.
Other skills: Promotion of micro-enterprises, cluster development, lending strategies for MSMEs, etc.
Benefit of Skill India Mission
The Skill India mission has various advantages. For example, with appropriate skill development, the young people of India can get to better-paying positions and experience a better quality of living.
Further, with legitimate improvement at the grass-root level, each area inside the economy will encounter equivalent development.
In conclusion, with skilled Indians entering the workforce, better outcomes can be accomplished at a faster pace, which can possibly support the nation’s economic development.
Schemes for Skill Development
The schemes for skill development launched by the government in India are as follows:
Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY)
Skills Acquisition and Knowledge Awareness for Livelihood Promotion (SANKALP)
UDAAN
Standard Training Assessment and Reward Scheme (STAR)
Polytechnic Schemes
Vocationalization of Education
National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) will support the Mission through capacity building initiatives and support private training partners. Other functions of NSDC include:
Catalyse the creation of market-based, scalable business by providing funding through a combination of debt, equity and grants
Implementing skills voucher programme
Driving engagement with industry and businesses
PromotecentresofexcellencefortrainingoftrainersincoordinationwithStatesandSSCs
Initiating and incubating Sector Skills Councils (SSCs)
Outcome :
MSDE’s flagship scheme, PradhanMantriKaushalVikasYojna (PMKVY) has trained over 1.21 crore youth till date. Over 7.5 lakh youth have been trained across industries under National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS).
More than 14 lakh people have been trained under Jan Shikshan Sansthan (JSS).
Apart from this, every year 25 lakh youth are imparted training at various Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs), 50 lakh youth under PMKVY and 25 lakh youth are being trained under fee-based programmes.
Over 1 crore youth are getting trained every year under the Skill India Mission by engaging with NAPS apprenticeship and skill programs of Union Ministries.
Daily CA On Feb 03 :
- February 2, 2022 is the first year that World Wetlands Day will be observed as a United Nations international day, following its adoption by the General Assembly on 30th August 2021.
- The Union Budget for Financial Year 2022-23, presented by the finance minister on February 01,2022, has given further impetus to modernisation of Defence Services and Defence Security Infrastructure development, including the Border Road Infrastructure and Coastal Security Infrastructure.
- Defence Minister Rajnath Singh Ministry has decided to convert the Experimental Scheme for Induction of Women Fighter Pilots in the Indian Air Force into a permanent scheme.
- India and the European Union has held their second maritime security dialogue in a virtual format.
- Secretary General at the Ministry of Defence, Oman Dr Mohammed Bin Nasser Bin Ali AlZaabi called on Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh in New Delhi on February 01, 2022 to enhance defence cooperation between the two countries.
- Army Chief MM Naravane discusses bilateral defence cooperation with Australian counterpart
- The exports of marine products registered a growth of 35 per cent to 6.1 Billion dollars during April to December last year as compared to the same period in 2020.
- NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam Ltd (NVVN), a wholly-owned subsidiary of NTPC Limited, has acquired a 5 percent equity stake in Power Exchange of India Limited (PXIL).
- North Korea has fired a Hwasong-12 mid-range ballistic missile from the Jagang Province area the first time it has tested a weapon of that size since 2017.
- Indias first-ever season style book The Class of 2006: Sneak Peek into the Misadventures of the Great Indian Engineering Life, written by management professional Akash Kansal, was launched virtually amidst one of the biggest book launch ceremonies of the year at IIT Kanpur & Delhi Technological University.
- The 2022 Asian Games also known as XIX Asiad will be a multi-sport event that will take place in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China from 10 to 25 September 2022 & Cricket will be back at Asian Games in the T20 format after 11 years to raise the excitement of the viewers.
- World Champion Magnus Carlsen has won the Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2022 in the Masters section & he scored 9.5/13 in the Masters section with 6 wins and 7 draws, thereby winning the tournament for the eighth time in his career.
- Senior Advocate and Additional Solicitor General Rupinder Singh Suri passed away.