FEBRUARY 1ST TO 15TH, 2021

SPOTLIGHT

BY- ANUJ JINDAL

 KEY BENEFITS OF OUR COURSES

Our course structure includes a lot of perks that are otherwise

unavailable elsewhere.
It is a comprehensive guide to help you crack the paper & secure
your dream position.

We provide personal solutions all queries using a Telegram group wherein Anuj Jindal
himself will clarify your doubts.

We curate the learning strategies of past year toppers to help you learn from the
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 NATIONAL NEWS
1. Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' is organizing the ASEAN-INDIA
Hackathon online from Feb 1 to 3, 2021 to provide an opportunity for collaboration between
India and ASEAN countries.
• The Hackathon will be an enactment of six fundamental virtues of the civilisation – respect,
dialogue, cooperation, peace, prosperity and innovation.
• This Hackathon will focus on two broad themes of "Blue Economy" and "Education".

2. “Natural Capital Accounting and Valuation of Ecosystem Services” (NCAVES) India

Forum 2021 was organized by Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation, in
collaboration with United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD), European Union and UN
Environment Program.
• NCAVES project was launched by European Union in 2017 to promote accounting of
natural capital / resources.
• It is jointly implemented by the UN Statistics Division (UNSD), UN Environment
Programme (UNEP) and the Secretariat of the Convention of Biological Diversity
(CBD).
• The project is implemented in five countries – India, Brazil, China, South Africa and
Mexico.
• In India, the NCAVES project is being implemented by the Ministry of Statistics, in
collaboration with the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and
National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) under the Department of Space.

3. PHDCCI International Economic Resilience (IER) Ranking of countries, titled ‘New Year
Economics - Growth Story Continues…’, has been released by PHDCCI (PHD Chamber of
Commerce and Industry).
• Total – top 10 leading economies in 2021
• Top – Germany
• India – 2nd rank

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 o India has performed well on all the parameters of this ranking which depicts its
strong and resilient presence in international market.
o India’s gross debt to GDP ratio is projected to be the 4th lowest among the world
leading economies in the year 2021.
• President of PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry - Sanjay Aggarwal

Real GDP growth Rate (Top - India at 11.5% GDP

growth rate for FY22)

Merchandise Export Growth rate (Top - India

with 14.0% growth rate)

Parameters & Current Account Balance (% of GDP) (Top -

Ranking Germany)

General government net lending/borrowing (%

of GDP) (Top - South Korea)

Gross Debt to GDP ratio (Top - South Korea)

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4. Maharashtra has unveiled the first indigenous Metro racks / coach (train) at Charkop
Metro Depot.

5. Competition Commission of India (CCI) has approved the acquisition of Indo Gulf Fertilisers
by Indorama India Private Limited (IIPL).
• Indo Gulf Fertilizers is the fertiliser-producing arm of Grasim Industries Limited (GIL).

6. India’s first dedicated Centre for Wetland Conservation and Management (CWCM) has
been established at the National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management (NCSCM) in
Chennai under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
• The centre was established on World Wetland Day on 2 February 2021.
• Theme of World Wetland Day – 'Wetlands and Water'

7. National Statistics Office (NSO) has released the worker population ratio of each state for
the year of 2018-19 as per the latest results of Annual Periodic Labour Force Survey.
• Highest ratio – Dadra and Nagar Haveli (68.4%)
• Lowest ratio – Bihar (36.4%)
• India’s ratio – 47.3%

8. India’s first Amputee Clinic has been established at Postgraduate Institute of Medical
Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh.

9. NITI Aayog has released the Aspirational District Ranking for December 2020.
• The aspiration district program was launched in 2018 to transform the districts in the key
social areas like health, education, financial inclusion etc.
• Top district – Shravasti, UP followed by Dhalai, Tripura, and Garhwa, Jharkhand.

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10. NITI Aayog has released the 'Mobilising Finance for EVs in India' report, which mentions
that India would need $266 billion (Rs 19.7 lakh crore) investment in EVs, charging
infrastructure, and batteries over the next decade.
• Loan market for EV financing would be around $50 billion (Rs 3.7 lakh crore) in 2030,
which is about 80% of the current size of India's retail vehicle finance industry.
• The report highlights the extent of finances needed for India’s transition to e-vehicles.
• Present scenario – As of 2020, the flow of finance from the organised sector (i.e., banks
and NBFCs) is about:
o 50% to four-wheeler passenger vehicles (PVs)
o 40% to commercial vehicles (CVs)
o 10% to tractors and two-wheelers
• Suggestions to improve EV financing – include it in priority sector lending; interest rate
subvention; Product guarantees and warranties; Risk-sharing mechanism (government and
multilateral-led); Risk-sharing mechanism (fleet operator-led); Secondary market
development.

11. Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd is planning to launch Tejas Mark II – more potent version of the
indigenous Tejas multirole combat jet – by 2022.
• Its trails will start in 2023 and the production will start by 2025.
• This advanced version has an increased range, next-generation electronic warfare system,
an array of superior avionics, and payload capability.
• In January, 73 Tejas Mark-IA jets and 10 Tejas Mk 1 were ordered by the Indian Air Force
from the HAL under a ₹48,000 crore deal.

12. Rajasthan has launched the new phase of Ayushman Bharat Mahatma Gandhi Health
Insurance Scheme to cover 1.1 crore families under the scheme.
• Insurance amount increased from Rs 3.3 lakh to Rs 5 lakh annually.
• Outlay - Rs 1800 crore (80% state and 20% centre’s contribution)
• Beneficiaries – 2/3rd population of the state

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13. Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu, Vice President of India inaugurated the tribal festival Aadi Mahotsav
at Dilli Haat, New Delhi, which is being held from February 1-15, 2021.
• Theme of the festival - “A Celebration of the Spirit of Tribal Crafts, Culture and
Commerce”.
• The festival is being organized by Ministry of Tribal Affairs.
• Aadi Mahotsav is an annual event that was started in 2017 to familiarise people with the
rich and diverse craft, culture of tribal communities across the country, at one place.

14. Kerala’s first human milk bank called ‘Nectar of Life’ has been opened at Ernakulam
General Hospital.
• The bank has been opened by Rotary Club of Cochin Global and state health department.
• Asia’s first human milk bank was established in Lokmanya Tilak Municipal General
Hospital (Sion Hospital) in Mumbai in 1989.

15. Maritime Union of India has urged the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways of India
to consider the Neptune declaration while formulating the 'Maritime India Vision 2030'.
• Neptune declaration on Seafarer Wellbeing and Crew Change – It focuses on
recognising seafarers as key workers by all governments worldwide.

16. PM Narendra Modi has praised a girl named Bhagyasri Sahoo (aged 27), engineering
student from Odisha, in his Maan Ki Baat program.
• She was praised for popularising ‘Pattachitra’ art — the traditional cloth-based scroll
paintings of Odisha. The art form is also famous in West Bengal.
• He also mentioned a garbage­ to­ power plant being commissioned inside the Dr. B.R.
Ambedkar Agriculture Market in Bowenpally, Telangana to generate power to the extent
of 500 units a day and 30 kilos of green manure at the plant.
o CSIR­ Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT) has designed the
technology for this Rs 3 crore plant, which is funded by DST and Telangana govt.

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17. Kerala organized a three-day virtual global conclave named ‘Kerala Looks Ahead’ on nine
different themes spanning over agriculture, modern industrial possibilities; higher education,
and skill development; tourism; information technology sectors.

18. Assam CM Sarbananda Sonowal launched two schemes to provide monetary assistance to
college students and literary bodies of the state.
• 1st scheme - Pragyan Bharati scheme to provide financial assistance to students for
purchase of textbooks and for their admissions.
• 2nd scheme - Bhasha Gourab to provide financial assistance to 21 Sahitya Sabhas (literary
bodies) as contribution towards their corpus funds.
o Under the scheme, 600 writers have got Rs 50,000 each to help in their literary
activities.
• Purpose of the two schemes: to encourage young generation to strive towards knowledge
and to promote writers and Sahitya Sabhas in the state.

19. Punjab has launched the 'Har Ghar Pani, Har Ghar Safai' mission to provide 100% potable
piped water supply in all rural households by March 2022.
• The CM also inaugurated Mega Surface Water Supply Scheme covering 85 villages in the
Moga district, 144 new water supply schemes for 172 villages, 121 Arsenic, and Iron
removal plants.
o This scheme will replace groundwater with surface water supply for drinking and also
resolve the problem of arsenic affected water.
o The scheme is being funded by the World Bank, Jal Jeevan Mission, NABARD,
and State Budget.
o The scheme will benefit more than 1.6 lakh residents from 155 villages in Amritsar,
Tarn Taran and Gurdaspur districts by helping replace groundwater with surface
water supply for drinking.
• The state also formally launched 10 new large multi-village surface water supply schemes
at a cost of Rs 1,020 Crore.

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20. Union Minister of Women and child Development and Textiles, Smt. Smriti Irani, has
inaugurated the 8th edition of India International Silk Fair.
• Organizer – Indian Silk Export Promotion Council under Ministry of Textiles
• Financer – Department of Commerce
• India is the 2nd largest producer of silk (China is the 1st) and the only country in the world
which produces all the four major varieties of silk i.e., Mulberry, Eri, Tassar, and Muga.

21. Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has signed an MoU with Zomato for bringing the
street vendors on online platform under the PM Svanidhi scheme.
• A similar MoU was also signed with Swiggy.
• The Ministry has also launched a mobile app – PM Svanidhi Se Samridhi – to help
officials in collecting door-to-door data for the socio-economic profiling of Svanidhi
beneficiaries and their families.

22. Automotive Research Association of India and Atal Innovation Mission of Niti Aayog
have signed a statement of intent to boost startup ecosystem in the mobility sector.
• Automotive Research Association of India is an autonomous body under Ministry of
Heavy Industries.
• These organizations are collaborating under the Atal New India Challenge for the
development of technologies which were identified as challenges by the Ministry of Road
Transport and Highways.

23. A bird festival was organized at Okhla bird sanctuary, UP to commemorate International
Wetland Day on February 2.

24. 4th Foreign Office Consultations between India and Qatar were held virtually to discuss
cooperation in various sectors.
• Both sides agreed to convene the first Joint Commission Meeting at Foreign Minister
level at an early date.

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25. French Minister for Ecological Transition, Barbara Pompili, visited India. Highlights:
Indo-French Year of the Environment 2021-2022 launched.

® Theme - 5
® Implementing Agencies – Ministry of Ecological Transition along with the Ministry of
Europe and Foreign Affairs from France and Ministry of Environment, External Affairs,
Housing and Urban Affairs, and New & Renewable Energy from India.
® A joint screening committee will also be set up to finalise the calendar of the events for
the Indo-French Year of the Environment.
Signing of a Letter of Intent:

® A letter of intent between the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) and the French
Development Agency (AFD) for developing a floating solar plant of up to 150 MW was
signed.
Credit facility agreement signed:

® French Development Agency (AFD) also signed a credit facility agreement with the
finance ministry to provide 250M euros as funding for the Surat metro rail project in line
with France’s commitment to supporting green urban mobility in India.

26. Punjab’s first ‘Central Water Treatment Plant’ has started supply of clean drinking water in
85 villages of Moga district.
• It has been set up with the assistance of the World Bank for Rs 232 crore.
• The project has been developed by the Larsen & Toubro (L&T).

27. Maharashtra has launched a scheme for providing financial assistance to innovative
startups to file for IT patents.
• In the first phase, around 125-150 startups will be selected which will get assistance from
₹2 lakh to ₹10 lakh, along with financial assistance up to ₹2 lakh for quality testing and
certification for the startup's ideas.

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 • Eligibility for startups – Annual revenue should not have crossed Rs 1 crore in any
financial year (Rs 5 crore in case of international patent applications) and it should not have
raised funds exceeding Rs 3 crore.

28. ISRO signed a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) with M/s Skyroot Aerospace Pvt. Ltd., (a
private company in Hyderabad building small satellite launch vehicles).
• Purpose: to enable the company for accessing the facilities and technical expertise
available in ISRO centres to proceed with their launch vehicle development program.
• Skyroot is developing Vikram series of launch vehicles, named after Dr Vikram
Sarabhai, the father of Indian Space Program, for the small satellite market. It has three
variants – Vikram I, II and III. Vikram I is expected to be launched by Dec 2021.
• Skyroot is the second rocket startup after Agnikul Cosmos to such NDA with ISRO.
• M/s Skyroot Aerospace CEO & Founder – Pawan Chandana; Co-Founder – Naga
Bharath Daka

29. Hindustan Aeronautics Limited will soon make operational a dedicated 2nd Light Combat
Aircraft – Tejas Mark-1A manufacturing plant at Doddanekkundi, Bengaluru.
• This plant is expected to manufacture 16 LCAs every year as compared to the present
capacity of 8 LCAs per annum.

30. Preliminary surveys by the Atomic Minerals Directorate for Exploration and Research
(AMD), have found out 1,600 tonnes of lithium resources in the igneous rocks of the
Marlagalla-Allapatna region of Karnataka's Mandya district.
• Lithium is a crucial metal for e-vehicles.
• India currently fulfil all its lithium needs through imports. Following picture show the data
for 2019.
• According to Forbes (December 2020), the world's Top 5 lithium producers in 2019 were:
o Australia - 52.9% of global production
o Chile - 21.5%
o China - 9.7%

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 o Argentina - 8.3%
o Zimbabwe - 2.1%

31. A unified web portal for monitoring the progress made in the activities under the GOBAR-
DHAN scheme across the nation.
• GOBAR (Galvanizing Organic Bio-Agro Resources) DHAN scheme was in 2018 by
Ministry of Drinking Water & Sanitation (now Ministry of Jal Shakti) to use cow dung in
producing energy and making villages clean.
• The scheme is being implemented as part of the Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin).

32. NITI Aayog has released the ‘Sustainable Development of Little Andaman Island - Vision
Document’ to ensure sustainable and holistic development of the island in Andaman and
Nicobar.
• Little Andaman Island is located in the Andaman and Nicobar island group.

33. India is hosting the General Assembly of Interpol in 2022, coinciding with the 75th year of
Independence.

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34. Crown group (Delhi-based defence aerospace maintenance company) has partnered with
Russian aircraft corporation MiG for providing post-warranty support to the Indian Navy's MiG-
29K and MiG-29KUB fighter jets.
• Aviatech Enterprises Pvt Ltd (a part of the Crown group) has entered into a "framework
agreement" with joint stock company MiG in this regard.
• The group has also signed an MoU with Russian company United Shipbuilding
Corporation (USC) for maintenance and servicing of Indian Navy ships.

35. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had a telephone conversation with South African President
Cyril Ramaphosa, about the measures to combat the Covid-19 pandemic.

36. UNICEF and Serum Institute of India (SII) have entered into a long-term supply agreement
for the supply of up to 1.1 billion doses of vaccines for around 100 countries.
• SII will provide two vaccines to UNICEF – (i) AstraZeneca/Oxford based Covishield and (ii)
Novavax vaccines (produced by US-based Novavax Inc).
• Two vaccine products will be provided to UNICEF through technology transfer from
Astrazeneca and Novavax.
Vaccines in India

Covishield Covaxin

Developed by UK Based AstraZeneca in It is India's First Indigenously developed

collaboration with University of Oxford. COVID-19 Vaccine.

Covishield is the local name for this vaccine in Developed by Bharat Biotech.
India.

Serum Institute of India is disbursing this

vaccine in India.

37. US-based Ocugen and Bharat Biotech have entered into a definitive agreement to co-
develop, supply and commercialise Covaxin for the U.S. market.

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38. IIT-Banaras Hindu University (BHU) and Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has
signed an MoU to establish the ministry’s professional chair for 10 years.
• Purpose- it will strengthen R&D activities and act as a centre of excellence in transport
engineering.
• It will also act as a strategic advisor to the ministry in new areas relevant to road transport
and highway.

39. 2nd CCTNS (Crime and Criminal Tracking Network & Systems) Hackathon and Cyber
Challenge 2020-21 of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) was inaugurated.
• Purpose - to deepen understanding and enhance skills of the law enforcement personnel
across all ranks and file, empowering them to adopt smart strategies for effectively
addressing the evolving threats.
• Last edition of the hackathon was held in March 2020.
• “Locate Nearest Police Station” mobile app was also launched at the function.

40. Andhra Pradesh State Election Commission launched e-watch application to receive
complaints related to poll irregularities ahead of the panchayat elections.

41. Delhi govt has launched the 'Switch Delhi' campaign to promote electric vehicles by hiring
them for different departments within the next six months.
• Under the campaign, awareness will be created about the benefits of electric vehicles and
how it can contribute to making Delhi clean and pollution-free.

42. BEML has signed an MoU with CSIR-National Aeronautics Laboratory (NAL) to develop in
the areas of advance composite and autoclaves; Mini unmanned aerial vehicles, Design &
analysis of aircraft structure and systems.
• Both companies will develop 2 seater trainer aircraft through Technology of transfer (ToT).

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43. IIT Kharagpur has signed an MoU with the National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) for
‘Building Accessible Safe and Inclusive Indian Cities’ (BASIIC) initiative to make cities
more accessible.

44. Profile of Cancer and Related Health Indicators in the North East Region of India report
has been published by ICMR – National Centre for Disease Informatics and Research.
• Total cancer cases for 2020 in N-E is estimated at 50317 while it is expected to increase to
57,131 by 2025.
• The report has been funded by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
• The highest age-adjusted cancer incidence rate in males (269.4 per 100,000) has been
recorded in the Aizawl district in Mizoram.
• Among females, the highest was recorded in Papumpare district, Arunachal Pradesh
(219.8 per 100,000), which happens to be the highest in the region and the country.

45. Prime Minister Narendra Modi released a postage stamp dedicated to mark the beginning of
centenary celebrations of the Chauri Chaura incident in Uttar Pradesh.

46. GRSE (Kolkata) has signed an MoU with the govt of Seychelles for delivering the Fast Patrol
Vessel named “Zoroaster” to the country.
• Seychelles plans to christen the ship as SCGS Zoroaster to honour the Iranian prophet and
founder of Zoroastrianism named Zoroaster.

47. Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) has entered into an offset contract under invest in kind
with Russia Joint Stock Company, Rosoboronexport.
• Under the offset clause, both companies will set up industrial facilities for the manufacture
of a wide range of aviation hoses at BEL Optronic Devices Limited, Pune, a subsidiary
of BEL.
• The contract was signed during the 6th India-Russia Military Industrial Conference, held
in Bengaluru.

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 Under the offset clause, a foreign company that wins a defence deal is supposed to invest a part of
the contract value in the country, thus developing skills and bringing in technology, while also
generating employment.

48. Ministry of Agriculture and Family Welfare has got the approval of Directorate General of
Civil Aviation for using drone technology for surveying the crop yield under the Pradhan
Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana to disburse insurance amount under the scheme.
• For the first time, this remote sensing technology is being used for this survey under the
PMFBY.
• The scheme was launched in 2016.

49. SpearUAV (Israel-based Unmanned Aircraft Systems developer) has signed an MoU with
Paras Aerospace (a subsidiary of Paras Defence and Space Technologies Limited based
in Mumbai) to introduce the unique encapsulated Ninox 40 system in India for the use of
military forces in the country.
• Ninox 40 is a micro-tactical, cost-effective drone system, featuring an encapsulated drone
and control unit.

50. Central govt has brought the function of development of Ropeways and Alternate Mobility
Solutions under the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.
• An amendment to the Government of India (Allocation of Business) Rules, 1961 has
been notified, to enable this step.
• Responsibilities like monitoring, development, policy-making, etc. related to this sector will
be handled by the Ministry.

51. Union Environment Ministry has approved the Lakhwar electricity project on Yamuna
river in Dehradun, Uttarakhand.
• Six states will get irrigation and pure drinking water from this project. Its construction will
provide 330 metric cusec meters of additional water.

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52. According to the data compiled by the Tea Board, India’s tea production declined by 9.7% in
2020 from a year ago due to heavy flooding and coronavirus movement restrictions.
• India is the world’s second largest tea producer after China.

53. The first heliport of Assam has come up at Kerelagaon in Majuli district.
• India’s first heliport is located in Rohini, New Delhi.

54. IMD has announced to establish India’s first thunderstorm research testbed in Balasore,
Odisha to minimise human fatalities and loss of property due to lightning strikes.
• Also, a first-of-its-kind monsoon testbed is being planned near Bhopal.
• Both the projects are in the planning stage and detailed project reports are being made.
• The thunderstorm testbed will be established in a collaboration between the Ministry of
Earth Sciences, IMD, DRDO and ISRO.
• IMD Director-General Dr Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, often referred to as the 'Cyclone Man
of India' for his accurate prediction of cyclones, highlighted that Odisha, West Bengal,
Bihar and Jharkhand face the highest burden of casualities due to lightning strikes every
year between April and June.

55. Himachal Pradesh has become the first state in India to implement e – cabinet to make all
the proceedings of cabinet paperless.

56. Haryana and Switzerland have agreed to share their expertise in the fields of skill training,
tourism, dairying.
• Both parties are exploring the possibilities of signing MoU for the teacher-student and
cultural exchange programmes to strengthen the bilateral ties between Switzerland and
India particularly with Haryana.
• Ambassador of Switzerland to India, Ralf Heckner, mentioned that 10% business of
Swiss Companies is in Haryana.

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57. Uttar Pradesh government has introduced a system of issuing a unique 16-digit Unicode to
mark all kinds of landholdings (including agricultural, residential and commercial land) in the
state.
• Every piece of land in the state will have its own unique identity from now onwards that
would check cases of land disputes and save people from falling into the trap of fraudsters.
• First 6 digits - based on the population of the land
• Next 4 digits - determining the unique identity of the land
• The digits from 11 to 14 will be the number of the division of the land.
• The last 2 digits will have the details of the category, through which, the agricultural,
residential and commercial land will be identified.

58. Maharashtra approved the Chief Minister’s Water Conservation Programme for restoring
the irrigation capacity by repairing the water sources.
• It will be implemented from April 2020 to March 2023.
• The present Maha Vikas Aghadi government had discontinued the Jalayukt Shivar
scheme, a pet project of former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis-led BJP government to
make Maharashtra drought-free, in December 2019.

59. Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has announced to develop India’s first
geothermal field development project in Ladakh to use the heat generated by the Earth's
core to generate clean energy.
• Puga and Chumathang in Eastern Ladakh are the most promising geothermal fields in
India.
• An MoU to formalise this has been inked by ONGC Energy Centre with the Union
Territory of Ladakh and Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council, Leh.

60. 45th International Kolkata Book Fair has been postponed due to the pandemic till July, 2020
at Central Park in Salt Lake.
• Bangladesh has been chosen as the theme country.

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 • A special section to honour the contributions of veteran actor Soumitra Chatterjee, former
president Pranab Mukherjee and noted Bangladeshi writer Anisujjaman — all of who died
last year — will be set up at the carnival.

61. ISRO has announced to launch Amazonia-1 of Brazil on PSLV-C51 along with 20 Co-
passenger satellites from Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) SHAR, Sriharikota on
February 28, 2021.
• This would be PSLV’s 53rd mission.
• Amazonia-1 is the first dedicated commercial mission of NewSpace India Limited
(NSIL) under a commercial arrangement with Spaceflight Inc. USA.
• Amazonia is a optical earth observation satellite.

62. Goa has signed an MoU with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) to generate
employment opportunities for the youth in the state.
• The Regional Employment Exchange of Goa has been revamped as the Model Career
Centre (MCC) with modern infrastructure and facilities.
• CII is currently managing 39 Model Career Centres across the country with the Goa MCC
being the 40th.

63. First High Level Dialogue between India and European Union (EU) Bilateral Trade and
Investment Agreement 2021 was held.
• The dialogue has been established as an outcome of 15th India-EU Leaders’ summit in
July 2020.
• Both parties will meet within next 3 months to discuss establishment of a bilateral
Regulatory Dialogue and an India-EU Multilateral Dialogue to explore further possibilities of
cooperation; etc.

64. 1st meeting of the Joint Working Group in the field of Renewable Energy between India
and the Kingdom of Bahrain held yesterday in virtual format.

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 • An MoU between India and Bahrain was signed in July 2018 for promoting bilateral
cooperation in the field of Renewable Energy.

65. Delhi cabinet has approved 'Mukhyamantri Vigyan Pratibha Pariksha' in which Rs 5,000
will be provided to 1,000 meritorious students of Class 9 in schools of Delhi as a science
scholarship.
• The scholarship will provide a boost to science education in secondary classes at the
school level.

66. FSSAI has amended its rules to put a cap on trans fatty acids (TFAs) in food products.
• Food products in which edible oils and fats are used as an ingredient shall not contain
industrial trans fatty acids more than 2% by mass of the total oils/fats present in the
product, on and from 1st January, 2022.
• As per the World Health Organisation (WHO), approximately 5.4 lakh deaths take place
each year globally because of intake of industrially produced trans fatty acids.
• The WHO has called for the elimination of industrially-produced trans fatty acids from
the global food supply by 2023.

67. Union Fisheries Minister Giriraj Singh has announced to invest Rs 400 crore in Goa to make it
a fisheries hub in the country.
• The central government will also appoint ''Sagar Mitra'' for each of the 70 fishing villages in
Goa, who will help the fishermen liason with the government.

68. PM Narendra Modi will inaugurate the 20th edition of the World Sustainable Development
Summit 2021 on February 10 via video conferencing.
• Theme of the summit - 'Redefining our common future: Safe and secure environment for
all'.
• It is an annual flagship event of The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI).

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69. Kaliveli wetlands, the second-largest brackish water lake in South India after Pulicat lake, has
been declared as a bird sanctuary under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.
• Kaliveli wetlands is located in Villupuram District in Tamil Nadu.
• Chilika Lake (in Odisha) is the largest brackish water lake.

70. Ministry of Power will launch 'Manufacturing Zones under Atmanirbhar Bharat Package' –
a domestic manufacturing programme for critical power and renewable energy
equipment at an outlay of Rs 1,500 crore in the coming financial year.
• The scheme was announced in the Union Budget.
• Under it, three manufacturing zones – divided into 3 categories of coastal, land-locked and
hilly states – will be set up in a year in different states.
• The three selected zones would get Rs 500 crore each for the development of
manufacturing hubs.
• States will form a Special Purpose Vehicle for setting up the manufacturing facilities.
These SPVs will be transferred to private companies at a later stage.
• The equipment testing facility for the power equipment will be set up by Central Power
Research Institute (CPRI).
• For the renewable equipment, testing facility will be set up by the National Institute of
Solar Energy (NISE) and National Institute of Wind Energy (NIWE).

71. 16th edition of Indo-U.S. joint military exercise ‘Yudh Abhyas’ will be held at Mahajan Field
Firing Range in Rajasthan between February 8 and 21.

72. Central govt has approved the creation of the fifth tiger reserve in Tamil Nadu, to be named
as Srivilliputhur Megamalai Tiger Reserve.
• The reserve will span the forests of Megamalai wildlife sanctuary and Srivilliputhur
grizzled squirrel wildlife sanctuary spread across the districts of Theni, Virudhunagar
and Madurai.
• Vaigai river passes through the towns of Theni, Dindigul and Madurai. Rejuvenation of this
river is being done.

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 • It would be the 51st Tiger Reserve in the country.
• Other tiger reserves in Tamil Nadu - Kalakad Mundanthurai, Anamalai, Mudumalai and
Sathyamangalam.

73. Siemens has signed two separate MoU with Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and Central
Manufacturing Technology Institute (CMTI) to set up first-of-its-kind digital transformation
labs in Bengaluru.
• The labs will enhance the expertise of researchers at IISc and technical skills of
professionals in the machine tool industry.
• The MoU will focus on development of industrial Internet of Things and Industry 4.0-
enabled products and technologies for the MSMEs in the manufacturing sector.
• MD and CEO of Siemens - Sunil Mathur
Note: Read about Smart Advanced Manufacturing and Rapid Transformation Hub (SAMARTH) Udyog initiative of the
Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises.

74. Ministry of Defence has signed a contract with Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) for
procurement of Software Defined Radio Tactical (SDR-Tac) worth over Rs 1,000 crore.
• The SDR-Tac is jointly designed and developed by Defence Electronics Applications
Laboratory (DEAL) of DRDO through a consortium of domestic agencies, comprising BEL.
• The delivery will take place in 3 years.
• SDR-Tac is used for communication between ship-to-ship, ship-to-shore and ship-to-air
voice and data communication by Indian Navy.

75. DRDO has signed an MoU with Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bengaluru for creating
JATP–Center of Excellence (JATP – CoE) in the premises of IISc.
• Purpose: to expand the scope of the Joint Advanced Technology Program (JATP) through
collaboration with premier research institutes.
• The Joint Advanced Technology Program (JATP) aims to develop indigenous state of
art technologies in the critical areas such as Advanced Aerospace Systems & Materials,

22
 High Temperature Materials, Micro & Nano Systems Science and Technology, Artificial
Intelligence & Robotics, Quantum Technologies etc.
• JATP was created by Late Hon’ble President of India Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam in 1983 where
the DRDO scientists actively collaborated with the faculty of IISc to work on various missile
technologies.

76. International Energy Agency (IEA) has released the India Energy Outlook 2021 which
mentions that India will overtake the European Union as the world's third-largest energy
consumer by 2030.
• The report forecasts India will account for the biggest share of energy demand growth by
2040.
Primary Energy Demand:

• India’s Primary Energy Consumption is expected to double to 1,123 million tonnes

as the GDP expands to USD 8.6 trillion by 2040.
• India at present is the fourth-largest global energy consumer behind China, the
United States and the European Union.
• India accounts for nearly one-quarter of global energy demand growth from 2019-40 --
the largest for any country.
• Prior to the global pandemic, India's energy demand was projected to increase by
almost 50% between 2019 and 2030, but growth over this period is now closer to 35%.
Oil Demand:

• A five-fold increase in per capita car ownership will result in India leading the oil demand
growth in the world. Also, it will become the fastest-growing market for natural gas by
2040.
• India's oil demand will rise by 74% to 8.7 million barrels per day by 2040 under the
existing policies scenario.
• India’s net dependence on oil imports increases to more than 90% by 2040 from the
current 75% as domestic consumption rises much more than production.
Natural Gas Demand:

23
 • India’s natural gas requirement is projected to more than triple to 201 billion cubic
meters and coal demand is seen rising to 772 million tonnes in 2040 from the current
590.
• Natural gas import dependency increased from 20% in 2010 to almost 50% in 2019
and is set to grow further to more than 60% in 2040.
Renewable Energy:

• India’s share in the growth in renewable energy is the second-largest in the world,
after China.
• By 2040, India's power system is bigger than that of the European Union, and is the
world's third-largest in terms of electricity generation; it also has 30% more installed
renewables capacity than the United States.
Industrial energy demand:

• Over the last three decades, India accounted for about 10% of world growth in industrial
value-added (in PPP terms), which will increase to 20% by 2040.
• As a consequence of which, India will account for nearly one-third of global industrial
energy demand growth to 2040.
• Industrial value-added refers to the value additions done to the overall industry.

77. Central government has appointed an expert panel, under the chairmanship of TP Rajendran
(former assistant director general of ICAR) to review industry’s objections to the proposed ban
on 27 widely used pesticides because of its harmful effects on animals and humans.
• In May 2020, govt released a proposal for banning 27 pesticides.
• These are part of the 66 contentious pesticides which are being reviewed for their toxicity.
In 2018, the government had already banned 18 of them.

78. According to Chemical and Fertiliser Minister D V Sadananda Gowda, Indian pharmaceutical
industry is expected to reach a size of $130 billion by 2030.
• The medical devices industry in India has the potential to grow at 28% per annum to reach
$50 billion by 2025.

24
 • He passed these statements at 6th 'Indian Pharma & India Medical Device 2021’
conference.
• According to Gowda, FDI inflows in the pharmaceuticals sector reached Rs 3,650 crore in
2019-20, recording a growth of 98% on Year on Year basis.

79. Wipro 3D and Engine Division of Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) have collaborated for the
development, manufacturing and air worthiness certification of a critical aero-engine
component operating in the hot zone, using metal 3D printing.

80. PM Narendra Modi will virtually release a commemorative postage stamp on Gujarat High
Court on the occasion of the court’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations.

81. Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Assam and West Bengal.
Assam Visit:

• He laid the Foundation Stone of two hospitals in Biswanath and Charaideo.

• He launched ‘Asom Mala’ programme for the development of state highways and
major district roads, at Dhekiajuli in Sonitpur District, Assam.
West Bengal:

• LPG import terminal was built by Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited in Haldia,
West Bengal.
• Modi also launched 348-km Dobhi-Durgapur Natural Gas Pipeline section of the
Pradhan Mantri Urja Ganga project, built by GAIL.

82. India and Nepal jointly inaugurated a newly-constructed 108-kilometer road that connects the
Indian border with several areas of the Himalayan nation.
• The road is from the Indian border Laxmipur-Balara to Gadhaiya in Sarlahi district, Nepal

83. US-based Triton Electric Vehicle has signed an MoU with Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL)
for developing electric vehicles and energy storage systems.

25
 • Both companies will also collaborate for the Energy Storage System (ESS) in India.
• BEL will act as a prime contractor and Triton will provide the support as technology partner.
• Triton also announced for launch electric sedan N4 for the Indian market.

84. Two Indian Space Technology companies - Bellatrix Aerospace and Skyroot Aerospace –
have partnered to develop a “space taxi”.
• Space taxi – Bellatrix Aerospace will develop it and launch it in lower orbit of the Earth in
2023 on Vikram rocket of Skyroot.
• Space taxi – it is a vehicle that will provide taxi like services to small satellites. It will board
small satellites in space and drop them off at their desired orbits / locations.
• Bellatrix is the second company in the world which is building an orbital transfer vehicle
(OTV) after US-based Momentus, which is awaiting approval in the United States.
• Last week, Bellatrix also signed a deal with SatSure to power its fleet of remote sensing
satellites.

Founder Skyroot Founder

Rohan M Ganapathy and Yashas Pawan Kumar Chandana and
Karanam Naga Bharath Daka

85. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman attended the third phase of Chah Bagicha Dhan
Puraskar mela in Guwahati.
• During the event, Assam government will distribute Rs 3,000 each to nearly 7.5 lakh
people belonging to tea garden areas.

26
86. Manipur CM N. Biren Singh launched a new range of packaged organic products and also
launched LoumiConnect App.

87. In its state budget 2021-22, West Bengal government announced to set up an industrial
township named as ‘Jangal Sundari Karmanagari’ at Raghunathpur in Purulia district of the
state.
• Juvashakti is a new project launched by the state government where 10,000 students will
be inducted into different government organisations as interns every three years and they
will be given opportunity to work in government organisations.
• A monument, named after Azad Hind Fauj, will be built in Rajarhat area and a state-funded
university, which is also being set up, will be dedicated to Netaji.
• The state will also form a ‘Netaji Battalion’ in Kolkata police.
• A new scheme – ‘Matri Bandana’ was launched under which 10 lakh new SHGs will be
formed with poor women of the society. Rs. 25,000 crore loan will be provided to these
SHGs in the next 5 years from banks— mainly through co-operative banks.
• Deocha Pachami is the second largest coal block in the world, located in Bengal.

88. Ministry of Education has decided to name the residential schools and hostels funded under
the Samagra Shiksha Scheme as "Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose residential schools".
• A total of 1,063 residential facilities (383 residential schools and 680 hostels) have been
sanctioned to States and UTs so far.
• Central government had decided to celebrate January 23, the birth anniversary of Netaji
Subhas Chandra Bose, as 'Parakram Diwas'.

89. 13th Aero India 2021 highlights:

® Location - Air Force Station Yelahanka in Bengaluru.
® Theme - ‘conceive, indigenize, collaborate’
® The event was promoted as - 'Runway to a Billion Opportunities'

27
® Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) handed over three Advanced
Light Helicopter (ALH Mk III) to Indian Navy and two ALHs to Indian
Coast Guard as part of its 16 ALHs contract.
® Defence Minister Rajnath Singh reiterated PM Modi’s ‘5-S Vision’, i.e.,
o Samaan (Respect), Samvaad (Dialogue), Sahyog (Cooperation), Shanti
(Peace) and Samriddhi (Global Prosperity).
® Indian Air Force’s Global Chiefs’ of Air Staff Conclave:
o Indian Air Force hosted a two day Global Chiefs’ of Air Staff Conclave was
held on the theme of 'Leveraging Aerospace Power for Security and
Stability'.
® DRDO organized an International Seminar:
o Theme - 'Energising the R&D Capabilities of Industry for ‘Atmanirbhar
Bharat’
® Indian Navy conducted a seminar on Building Collective Maritime
Competence towards Security and Growth for All in the Region
(SAGAR) during the ongoing Aero India 2021.
® Startup Manthan event:
o Organizer – Innovation for Defence Excellence
o Purpose – To promote innovation in domestic defence sector
® Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria formally launched
the operationalisation of ‘HAVAI’ portal.
o The portal has been developed by HAL and Indian Air Force.
o Purpose – E-portal is developed as part of inter-organization information
sharing system (IOIS) under ‘Digital India’ initiative.
o The e-portal will optimize long-term material planning and reduce the repair
and overhaul cycle time. It will also reduce the time for finalization of
tasking and budgetary quotation processes.
® Naval Environmental Test Facility:

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 o The upgraded Naval Environmental Test Facility (NETF) was inaugurated
in Bengaluru.
® Targets set by India in defence sector:
o Defence equipment imports to be reduced by $2 billion by 2022.
o Indian companies were awarded defence contracts worth $37 billion during
2016-19.
o India plans to scale up its domestic military hardware manufacturing base
from the current $11 billion to $25 billion by 2025.
o Aero Components sector in India is expected to increase to Rs 60,000 from
Rs 30,000 crores by 2024.

90. India Tunisia Business Council (ITBP) has been established for promoting trade and tourism
between India and Tunisia (a North African Country).
• An MoU was signed between Tunisia Africa Business Council (President - Anis Jaziri) and
Indian Economic Trade Organization (President - Dr Asif Iqbal) for setting up the council.
• Bilateral trade between India and Tunisia was $376 billion in FY20 and Indian Exports to
Tunisia within this period was $245 million while Indian import from Tunisia was $231
million.
• Tunisia will also be a part of the India Maghreb Council to be established soon.
• The council was established during the India Tunisia Economic Forum, which was
organized by Indian Economic Trade Organization, on the theme of India Tunisia-
Promoting Equitable Growth.
• Capital: Tunis; Currency: Tunisian dinar

91. National Horticulture Fair 2021 is organized by the ICAR- Indian Institute of Horticultural
Research (IIHR) at the Institute’s campus in Bengaluru.
• Theme of the fair - ‘For start-up and stand-up India’
• It is India’s premier horticulture fair, which is being held both in physical and virtual formats
for the first time.

29
 • IIHR signed an MoU with four private companies on commercialisation of IIHR
technologies.
• Four firms - Rainbow Agro Vet Seri Technologies of Andhra Pradesh, P J Margo from
Bengaluru, Greentech Fertilizer Corporation from Thiruvananthapuram and La Ferme De
Peter LLP of Chennai.
• IIHR has developed chilli hybrids that are resistant to the leaf curl virus (LCV) disease, a
major problem for the growers across the country. LCV is one of most destructive disease
for chillies and it is transmitted by whiteflies.

92. Minister of Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari launched India’s first-ever diesel
tractor, converted to a much cleaner (compressed natural gas) CNG variant.
• With this, farmers will be able to save more than ₹1 lakh annually on fuel cost, which will
help them to improve their livelihood.
• It has been converted to a CNG tractor jointly by Rawmatt Techno Solutions and
Tomasetto Achille India. The tractor is owned by Gadkari himself.
• The CNG tractor is owned by Gadkari only.

93. Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has mentioned that the work on Delhi-Dehradun
Expressway (Delhi-Saharanpur-Dehradun Economic corridor) is underway.
• This expressway will significantly reduce the travel time and distance between Delhi and
Dehradun.
• This is the first highway in India which will feature a 12 km long elevated corridor for the
protection of wildlife.
• Outlay of the project - ₹13,000 crore

94. Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship has launched the Mahatma Gandhi
National Fellowship 2021-23 in association with nine Indian Institute of Management
(IIMs).
• Stipend under scholarship – Rs 50,000 per month during the first year and Rs 60,000
per month during the second year of the fellowship programme.

30
 • The fellowship is being offered under the World Bank-assisted SANKALP scheme
(launched in 2018). It will have two stages.
• Two phases of fellowship – 1st phase: skill training to fellows by nine IIMs and 2nd phase:
strengthening of District Skill Committees and the District Skill administration by fellows by
using the acquired skills to help govt improve skill ecosystem at the district level.
• This fellowship was already in existence in 69 districts across the country. Right now, it is
being expanded nationwide in more than 660 districts.
• 9 IIMs – IIM (Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Bangalore, Udaipur, Nagpur, Ranchi, Jammu,
Kozhikode and Visakhapatnam).
• IIM Bangalore is managing the common admission process.
• The Ministry has also partnered with Kerala Institute of Local Administration (KILA) to
conduct capacity building programmes for district officials from Kerala, Tamil Nadu,
Puducherry and Lakshadweep.
• Also, “Skill training on Gender Sensitisation and Prevention of Sexual Harassment
(POSH) at the workplace” project was launched by the ministry in partnership with
Management and Entrepreneurship and Professional Skill Council (MEPSC) as the
Implementation Agency for the project.
• The six-month project will be implemented in 15 districts across 3 states of Rajasthan,
Haryana and Punjab to train 1800 trainees and 240 training professionals.
Note: Read about SANKALP program in detail.

95. Indian Economic Trade Organization (IETO) and Karnataka govt have signed an MoU to
implement the Sustainable Development Goals in the state effectively and expand the scope
of the sustainable future.
• President IETO – Dr Asif Iqbal

96. The Phase II of Vigyan Jyoti programme has been commenced to encourage girls to take
interest in science and build a career in STEM.
• Phase II was launched on the occasion of International Day of Women and Girls in
Science on February 11, 2021.

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 • Vigyan Jyoti programme, launched by Department of Science & Technology (DST) in
2019, aims to encourage girls to take interest in science and build career in STEM.
• It was being implemented in 50 Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas (JNV) in different districts
and is now being expanded to 50 more JNVs for the year 2021-22.
• The program starts at the school level from Class IX to Class XII to encourage meritorious
girls to opt for STEM.

97. The govt has extended the National e-Governance Plan in Agriculture (NeGPA) till
31.03.2021.
• NeGPA is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme launched in 2010-11 in 7 pilot States to use
Information & Communication Technology (ICT) for providing agriculture related information
to the farmers for the rapid development of the nation.
• Other initiatives of the govt for farmers:
o Unified Farmers Service Platform (UFSP) – A platform for providing Core
Infrastructure, Data, Applications and Tools that enable seamless interoperability of
various public and private IT systems in the agriculture ecosystem across the country.

98. Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan announced the functional launch of the Gender Park Campus in
Kozhikode, Kerala, built at a cost of Rs 200 crores.
• Purpose: to enable women and transgender individuals to become sustainable
entrepreneurs.
• This campus will also inhabit the India’s first International Women’s Trade Centre.
• Gender Park in Kerala hosted the 2nd International Conference on Gender Equality which is
the first carbon neutral event organized in Kerala.

99. PM Modi visited Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Projects launched: -

Tamil Nadu:

• In Tamil Nadu, he laid the foundation stone for the modernization of Grand Anicut
Canal System, among other development projects that he launched in the state.

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 o Grand Anicut Dam (aka Kallanai Dam) is an ancient dam on Kaveri river in
Tamil Nadu.
• Prime Minister handed over the indigenously designed and developed Arjun Mark 1A-
Main Battle Tank in Tamil Nadu to the Indian Army.
• IIT-Madras is setting up a Discovery Campus at a cost of around Rs 1,000 crore near
Chennai. IIT-Madras aims to transform the campus into a key destination for global
scientific discovery.
• This discover campus is expected to inhabit two research centres –
o National Technology Centre for Ports, Waterways, and Coasts which is
funded by the Ministry of Ports, Shipping, and Waterways. This centre will include
India’s 1st ‘shallow water basin’ facility for coastal research.
o ‘Solid Propellant Combustion Modelling Facility’ of the Centre of Propulsion
Technology of DRDO. This Modelling Facility will be the first facility to be
established under the Centre of Propulsion Technology at IIT-Madras.
Kerala:

• PM inaugurated Rs 6000 crore Propylene Derivative Petrochemical Project at BPCL

Kochi Refinery to reduce the dependence of the country on imports of petrochemicals.
o The propylene derivatives petrochemical complex project will help generate
5,00,000 Metric Tonnes Per Annum (MTPA) of Propylene.
o Propylene is one of the main feed-stocks of petrochemicals.
• Mr Modi also inaugurated India’s first full-fledged International Cruise Terminal
named as Sagarika at Cochin Port and Marine Engineering Training Institute of
Cochin Shipyard Ltd.
o The Rs 25 crore project funded by the Union Tourism Ministry will help
enhance the capacity of Cochin Port to handle passengers of cruise ships that
berth here.
o With the launching of the new terminal, the port has the capacity to handle 5,000
passengers at a time.

33
 • A knowledge and skill development centre of Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL) named
“Vigyana Sagar” was also commissioned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

100. Union Textile Minister Smriti Irani has rolled out the commercial Jute seed distribution
scheme under which certified seeds are distributed to increase the income and productivity
of jute farmers.
• Last year, Jute Corporation of India had signed an MoU with National Seeds
Corporation for commercial distribution of 1 thousand Metric Tonne certified jute seeds for
the year 2021-22.
• MSP for Jute has been increased to Rs 4,225 for the 2020-21 as compared to Rs 2,400 in
2014-15, which is a 76% increase in the MSP.
• She inaugurated Certified Jute Seeds Distribution Plan and Jute Farmers Awareness
Workshop, organised at ICAR-Central Research Institute for Jute and Allied Fibers at
Barrackpore, West Bengal.
• Improved Cultivation and Advanced Retting Exercise for Jute (Jute – ICARE)
Initiative was started in 2015 to popularize Jute production.
• Irani mentioned that 60 MT Certified Jute Seeds were distributed to 20,000 farmers initially
which increased remarkably in just 1½ years to over 600 MT in 2017.

101. Institute of Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) has released the
“Capital Flows Underpinning India’s Energy Transformation” report.
• According to the report, India needs $500 billion investment to achieve the target of 450
GW of renewable energy by 2030.
• Since 2014, India has received more than $US42 billion investments in the renewable
energy sector.
• India has an untapped renewable energy potential of 900 GW.
• It is estimated that peak power demand will rise to 295 GW by 2021-22 and 690 GW by
2035-36.
• In India, private companies own a significant quantum of renewable energy.

34
102. HCL Technologies has signed an agreement with the IIT-Kanpur to collaborate in the
area of cybersecurity.
• As part of the agreement, HCL will work with C3iHub, a specialised cybersecurity research
centre at IITK.

103. Mandu Utsav 2021 or Mandu festival was held at Dhar district of Madhya Pradesh on the
theme of “Khojne Mein Kho Jao” (feel lost in discovering) to encourage vocal for locals.
• The Dino Adventure Park & Fossils Museum was also inaugurated. This is India’s first
modern fossil park which has 24 eggs and other fossils of dinosaurs on display.
• India’s First Dinosaur-Museum-Cum-Park is in Raiyoli area in Balasinor, Gujarat.

104. Ministry of AYUSH and the World Health Organization South East Regional Office
(WHO SEARO) have signed a Letter of Exchange for the deploying an AYUSH expert to
WHO’s regional traditional medicine programme in New Delhi, India.
• Efforts will also be made to strengthen capacities of SEAR countries in the area of
traditional medicine.
• In 1952, WHO and Govt of India entered into a Basic Agreement to fulfil mutual
responsibilities in a spirit of friendly cooperation.
• WHO South East Asia Regional Director – Dr Poonam Khetrapal

105. Ministry of Telecom has announced to set up a nodal agency Digital Intelligence Unit
(DIU) and a consumer protection system to tackle the problem of pesky calls as well as to
take strict action against financial frauds committed by using telecom resources.
• The main function of the DIU will be to coordinate with various Law Enforcement Agencies
(LEAs), financial institutions and telecom service providers in investigating any fraudulent
activity involving telecom resources.
• Telecom Analytics for Fraud Management and Consumer Protection (TAFCOP)
system will also be created at the license service area level.

35
 • Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) had released the Unsolicited Commercial
Communications (UCC) regulations in 2018 to curb the harassment of consumers through
calls and SMSes by telemarketers and anti-social elements.

106. Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has launched a Pey Jal Survekshan survey
under Jal Jeevan Mission- Urban.
• Purpose – to ascertain equitable distribution of water, reuse of wastewater and mapping of
water bodies with respect to quantity and quality of water through a challenge process.
• As a first step, the Ministry will launch the Survekshan in 10 cities- Agra, Badlapur,
Bhubaneswar, Churu, Kochi, Madurai, Patiala, Rohtak, Surat and Tumkur.
• This survey will be extended to all Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban
Transformation (AMRUT) cities later on the basis of the outcome of this pilot survey.
• Jal Jeevan Mission (Urban) aims to provide universal coverage of water supply to all
households through functional taps in all 4,378 statutory towns.

107. Mazagaon Dock Limited (MDL) has delivered the third Scorpene-class submarine
named as INS Karanj to the Indian navy.
• This is the 3rd Kalvari Class submarine out of the total six that are being built by Mazagon
Dock Limited in Mumbai for the India Navy.
• Kalvari Class submarines are a class of diesel-electric attack submarines based on the
Scorpène-class submarine.
• The Kalvari Class submarines are being designed by French company DCNS under
Project 75 of Indian govt.
• Six Kalvari Class Submarines:

36
 INS Karanj INS Vagir
INS
INS Kalvari INS Khanderi (launched in INS Vela (in (launched in
Vagsheer -
(commission (commission 2018; May 2019 November
under
ed - 2017) ed in 2019) Commission for sea trials) 2020 for sea
construction
ed in 2021) trials)

108. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has launched e-Chhawani portal for the residents of
Cantonment areas so that they can register their complaints regarding civic issues and resolve
them while sitting at home.
• e-Chhawani project aims to provide online municipal services to more than 20 lakh
citizens across 62 Cantonment Boards through a multi-tenancy central platform.

109. West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee has launched “Maa” canteens for providing
subsidised cooked meals for the poor and the destitute at a nominal cost of ₹5.

110. National Informatics Centre has launched an instant messaging platform called Sandes
on the lines of WhatsApp.
• The app could be used by both central and state government officials “for intra and inter-
organisation communication.
• Open initially only to government officers, it has now been released for the common public
as well. The first version of it was launched in August 2020.

111. Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of a Maharaja Suheldev Memorial
in Bahraich, Uttar Pradesh on the occasion of 1012 birth anniversary of Maharaja Suheldev
Rajbhar.
• Also, the development work of Chittaura Lake in Bahraich was initiated.
• Suheldev is popular as a caste icon among the Rajbhars (OBC) and the Pasis (second
largest Dalit caste in U.P.).

37
112. The joint conferences of the 11th World PetroCoal Congress & Expo and World Future
Fuel Summit was organised in New Delhi by Energy and Environment Foundation.
• Theme of the World PetroCoal congress – Petroleum-Coal-Gas: Towards a Win-Win
Strategy for Producer and Consumer
• The congress and expo were supported by Ministry of Coal, Power, Science and
Technology, and Niti Aayog.
• Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan highlighted the increase in
LPG coverage from 56% to nearly 99.5% in less than seven years.
• India needs an investment of $60 billion for developing gas infrastructure which includes
pipelines, city gas distribution and LNG regasification terminals. One Nation, One-Gas
Grid will connect all corners of the country.
• Union Budget 2021-22 mentioned National Hydrogen Energy Mission for generating
Hydrogen.
• Winners of Global Excellence Awards 2020 given by Energy and Environment
Foundation.

38
 INTERNATIONAL NEWS
1. Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) has released the 'Asia-Pacific Personalised Health
Index' report to measure the readiness of healthcare systems in 11 countries of the Asia-
Pacific region.
• Countries covered - Australia, China, Japan, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, South
Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and New Zealand.
• Parameters - 27 different indicators categorized into four categories called 'Vital Signs'.
These include Policy Context, Health Information, Personalised Technologies and
Health Services.
• Top – Singapore, followed by Taiwan (2nd), Japan (3rd) and Australia (4th)
• India’s rank – 10th
• Bottom – Indonesia at 11th
Parameter wise India’s rank

Policy Context 5th

Health Information 10th

Personalised Technologies 9th

Health Services 11th

2. Economist Intelligence Unit (based in London) has released the Democracy Index 2020.
• Total countries – 167
• Number of indicators – 60
• Categories – Electoral process and pluralism, functioning of government, political
participation, political cultures, and civil liberties.
• As per the index, there are four types of regimes – Full Democracy (23 countries), Flawed
Democracy (52 countries including India), Hybrid Regime (35 countries), and Authoritarian
Regime (57 countries).
• Top – Norway, followed by Iceland, Sweden
• India’s rank – 53rd (score 6.61) -- in 2019, India’s rank was 51st

39
 • Bottom – North Korea at 167th

3. SpaceX has announced to launch world’s first all civilian space mission – named as
Inspiration4 mission – in the fourth quarter of 2021.
• The mission will send four civilians into Earth’s orbit on a Crew Dragon capsule named
Falcon 9.
• Team will be led by Jared Isaacman (founder and CEO of Shift4 Payments)
• The mission aims to garner support for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

4. UK will apply to join Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific

Partnership - a free trade area with 11 Asia and Pacific nations.
• The agreement came into force in 2018.
• Members - Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, Brunei, Chile, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru,
Singapore and Vietnam

5. Stardust 1.0 – world’s first commercial space launch powered by biofuel – has been
launched from Loring Commerce Centre in Maine state in US.
• Manufactured by - BluShift Aerospace
• It is the first commercial rocket launch from Maine state.
• This rocket can be used for sending student and budget payloads. The rocket is 20 feet tall
and has a mass of roughly 250 kg.
• The rocket can carry a maximum payload mass of 8 kg and during its first launch carried
three payloads.

6. Pakistan has successfully test-fired “Ghaznavi” - a nuclear-capable surface-to-surface ballistic

missile which can strike targets up to 290 kilometres.
• On January 20, Pakistan test-fired nuclear-capable surface-to-surface ballistic missile
Shaheen-III which can strike targets up to 2,750 kilometres.

40
7. India hosted Indian Ocean Region (IOR) Defence Ministers’ Conclave on February 04,
2021 on the margins of Aero India 2021 - Asia’s largest Aero show to be held at Bengaluru
from February 3-5, 2021.
• The broad theme of the conclave will be ‘Enhanced Peace, Security and Cooperation in the
Indian Ocean’.
• The Conclave will be followed by two seminars. The first seminar will be conducted by
Indian Navy and Naval Maritime Foundation and the second seminar will be organised by
Indian Coast Guard/Bharat Shakti/Invest India/Indian Defence Shipyards and Industry.

8. Sri Lanka has decided to scrap a 2019 agreement with India and Japan for operating the East
Coast Terminal (ECT) at Columbo port.
• India and Japan together were to hold 49% stake in ECT while Sri Lanka was supposed to
hold 51% stake after completion of the terminal.

9. UNICEF, in collaboration with UN’s World Food Program, has released the “Covid-19:
Missing More than a Classroom, The Impact of School Closures on Children’s Nutrition” report.
• More than 39 billion school meals were missed due to the school closures.
• School feeding programmes cover about 370 million children globally, with the largest
number of beneficiaries (in million) in India (100 Mn), Brazil (48), China (44), South Africa
(9) and Nigeria (9).

10. South Korea has announced to develop world’s largest offshore wind power complex at a
cost of $43 billion as it seeks to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.
• The capacity of the plant would be 8.2 gigawatts, located off Sinan in the country's
southwest.
• Hornsea One (owned by UK) is the largest offshore wind farm in the world with a
capacity of 1.2 GW.
• Offshore Wind Power means – It is the wind farm constructed in bodies of water, usually
in the ocean, to harvest wind energy to generate electricity.

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11. 8th Meeting of ASEAN-India Tourism Ministers meeting was held in conjunction with the
24th Meeting of ASEAN Tourism Ministers (M-ATM).
• Co-chairs - Prahlad Singh Patel (Union Minister of State for Culture & Tourism) and H.E.
Dr Thong Khon (Minister of Tourism of Cambodia).
• Ministry of Tourism organises the International Buddhist Conclave (IBC) to create
awareness about India’s Buddhist Heritage and to increase foreign tourist traffic to Buddhist
sites and invited the ASEAN member countries to participate in the same as and when
held.
• Ministry has launched initiatives such as SAATHI (System for Assessment, Awareness &
Training for Hospitality Industry) and the Incredible India Tourist Facilitator (IITF)
Certification Programme for reviving the tourism sector after Covid-19.
• Tourism Ministry also organized a series of webinars under the theme Dekho Apna Desh.
• India and ASEAN agreed for cooperation in tourism under the framework of the
Memorandum of Understanding between ASEAN and India.

12. Denmark has approved a plan to build the world's first energy island in the North Sea that
will produce and store enough green energy to cover the electricity needs of 3 million
European households.
• The artificial island, which in its initial phase, will be the size of 18 football fields.
• It will be linked to hundreds of offshore wind turbines and will supply both power to
households and green hydrogen for use in shipping, aviation, industry and heavy transport.
• Cost of the project - 210 billion Danish crowns ($33.9 billion)
• North Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean located between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway,
Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and France.

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13. "Iran-Russia Maritime Security Belt 2021", two-day navy exercise between Iran and Russia,
was held in the northern part of the Indian Ocean.
• India has joined this exercise.

BANKING AND ECONOMY

1. Bombay Stock Exchange has set up an "innovation sandbox" web portal to allow fintech
firms and individuals to offline test their applications in a test environment.
• The portal is a workflow-based platform, where applicants will be able to access application
programming interfaces (APIs), test data of stock exchanges, depositories and qualified
registrar and share transfer agents, among others.

2. RBI has cancelled the licence of Maharashtra-based Shivam Sahakari Bank as it does not
have adequate capital and earning prospects.

3. Ministry of Finance has announced to launch “Mitra Scheme” in the Union Budget for
2021-22.
• Mitra stands for Mega Investment Textiles park.
• Under the scheme, 7 textile parks will be established over 3 years.

43
 • It will lead to the creation of world class infrastructure.
• The Minister also announced to levy agriculture infrastructure and development cess
(which is expected to yield Rs 30,000 crores) and increased the agriculture credit target to
Rs 16.5 lakh crore for FY22.
• Rural Infrastructure Development Fund - Rs 40,000 crore for FY22.
• Also, a multi-purpose seaweed park will be established in Tamil Nadu.
• Also, the Minister announced setting up of a Single Security Market Code by merging the
provisions of SEBI Act, 1992, Depositories Act, 1996, Securities Contracts (Regulation)
Act, 1956 and Government Securities Act, 2007.
o An institution framework will be set up to deepen the corporate bond market.
o A system of regulated gold exchanges will be set up, for which, SEBI will be
notified as the regulator.
o Warehousing Development and Regulatory Authority will be strengthened to set up a
commodity market ecosystem with arrangements including vaulting, assaying and
logistics in addition to warehousing.
o An investor’s charter will be prepared to secure the rights of investors.
o The food subsidy bill spiked sharply this year, from ₹1.15 lakh crore in the 2020-21
budget estimates to ₹4.22 lakh crore in the revised estimates.
o 10% customs duty on cotton and 15% customs duty on raw silk and silk yarn.
Basic customs duty on caprolactam, nylon chips, nylon fibre and yarn was reduced
to 5%.

4. 15th Finance Commission, chaired by NK Singh, has submitted its final report for FY 2022-26
along with the Union Budget for 2021-22.
• Interim report for 2020-21 was submitted along with Union Budget of 2020-21 last year.
• Recommendations of the final report:
® The share of states in the central taxes for the 2021-26 period is recommended to be
41%, same as that for 2020-21.
o 14th FFC recommended 42% share for 2015-20 period.

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® The adjustment of 1% is to provide for the newly formed union territories of Jammu and
Kashmir, and Ladakh from the resources of the centre.
® Central govt should bring down fiscal deficit to 4% of GDP by 2025-26.
o For states, it recommended the fiscal deficit limit (as % of GSDP) of: (i) 4% in
2021-22, (ii) 3.5% in 2022-23, and (iii) 3% during 2023-26.
® Extra annual borrowing worth 0.5% of GSDP will be allowed to states during first four
years (2021-25) upon undertaking power sector reforms including: (i) reduction in
operational losses, (ii) reduction in revenue gap, (iii) reduction in payment of cash
subsidy by adopting direct benefit transfer, and (iv) reduction in tariff subsidy as a
percentage of revenue.
® Fiscal deficit reduction will result in:
o Centre reducing its total liabilities from 62.9% of GDP in 2020-21 to 56.6% in
2025-26, and
o States’ total liabilities on aggregate from 33.1% of GDP in 2020-21 to 32.5% by
2025-26.
® Health: States should increase spending on health to more than 8% of their budget by
2022.
o Primary healthcare expenditure should be two-thirds of the total health expenditure
by 2022.
® Funding of defence and internal security: A dedicated non-lapsable fund called the
Modernisation Fund for Defence and Internal Security (MFDIS) will be constituted to
primarily bridge the gap between budgetary requirements and allocation for capital outlay
in defence and internal security.
o The fund will have an estimated corpus of Rs 2.4 lakh crore over the five years
(2021-26).
o Of this, Rs 1.5 lakh crore will be transferred from the Consolidated Fund of India.
o Rest of the amount will be generated from measures such as disinvestment of
defence public sector enterprises, and monetisation of defence lands.

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5. Minister of Finance, Nirmala Sitharaman, has announced to create a new asset
reconstruction and asset management company to resolve the issue of increasing NPAs of
banks.

6. Ford Motor Co. and Google have partnered to provide software, artificial intelligence and
cloud computing services to consumers.

7. Minister of State for Finance Anurag Thakur informed the Rajya Sabha that NPAs of banks
decreased from Rs 10.36 lakh crore at the end of March 2018 to Rs 8.08 lakh crore at the end
of September 2020.

8. World Bank has committed $12 billion to support vaccination programmes in the emerging
countries.

9. Federal Bank launched FedFirst, a special savings account scheme for children below 18
years of age.

10. SEBI has mandated asset management companies to set up limited purpose clearing
corporation (LPCC) and contribute towards the share capital of such entities.
• The LPCC is an entity established to undertake the activity of clearing and settlement of
repo transactions.
• It has been decided that AMCs shall contribute Rs 150 crore towards share capital of
LPCC in proportion to the asset under management (AUM) of open ended debt oriented
mutual fund schemes (excluding overnight, gilt fund and gilt fund with 10 year constant
duration but including conservative hybrid schemes) managed by them.
• The contribution has to be based on average AUM of debt oriented schemes for the
financial year 2019-20.

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11. Moody’s have forecasted the NOMINAL Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of India to rise
closer to 17% during 2021-2022.
• The Union Budget forecasted a nominal gross domestic product (GDP) growth at 14.4%.
• As per Moody’s, India’s fiscal deficit for the current fiscal is at 7.5% of GDP and 5.5% for
the next fiscal, while the budget put the figures at 9.5% and 6.8% for FY21 and FY22,
respectively.
• The targeted deficit of 4.5% by FY26 implied an average annual deficit reduction of about
0.5% of GDP over four years.
• Budget has announced to increase the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) limit in insurance
sector from 49% to 74%.

12. SEBI has revised the objective and eligibility criteria of its innovation sandbox with graded
entry norms.
• A steering committee comprising representatives from the enabling organisations has been
formed to operate / supervise the innovation sandbox.
• Applicants will get to test their innovations on this sandbox in stages.

• Perks - limited access to the test environment; cap on the utilisation of

resources in terms of processing power, memory, storage, among others.
1st • Eligibility - Indian company, KYC in compliance with the Central Know
stage: Your Customers Registry (CKYCR) and KYC Registration Agency.

• Perks - The cap on the utilisation of resources would be removed,

subject to availability of resources at that point of time.
2nd • Eligibility - progress achieved on the project (to be tested on the
stage sandbox), completion of minimum 60 days in stage-one of testing.

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13. RBI has appointed an external professional IT firm for carrying out a special audit of the
entire IT infrastructure of the HDFC bank under Section 30 (1-B) of the Banking Regulation
Act, 1949.
• In Dec 2020, RBI asked HDFC Bank to temporarily stop all launches of its upcoming digital
business-generating activities and sourcing of new credit card customers after outage at its
data centre which impacted operations.

14. RBI has introduced a risk-based internal audit (RBIA) system for select NBFCs and urban
co-operative banks (UCBs).
• Purpose – to enhance the efficacy of internal audit systems and processes followed by
NBFCs and UCBs.
• All deposit-taking NBFCs with an asset size of Rs 5,000 crore, and UCBs with an asset
size of Rs 500 crore will have to implement the RBIA system by March 31, 2022.
• The central bank had introduced RBIA for scheduled commercial banks (SCBs) in 2002.
• What is RBIA? – It is an audit methodology that links an organisation’s overall risk
management framework and provides an assurance to the board of directors and the senior
management on the quality and effectiveness of internal management and processes.

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15. SEBI has banned Kishore Biyani and certain other promoters of Future Retail Ltd. from the
securities market for one year for indulging in insider trading in the shares of the company.
• Mr Biyani is the CMD and promoter of Future Retail Ltd. (FRL).

16. Airbus has signed an MoU with Flytech Aviation Academy (an aviation training company) to
explore collaboration opportunities in remotely piloted aircraft system training.
• Airbus has experience in aviation training, course ware development, safety and quality
standards, while Flytech is into aviation training services, including piloting of UAVs.

17. GE Power Conversion (GEPC) has entered into a pact with BLP Industry.AI to provide next
generation AI technology and asset performance management solutions to wind farm
operators.

18. Tata Consumer Products Ltd (TCPL) has signed a definitive agreement to acquire a 100%
stake in Kottaram Agro Foods for ₹155.8 crore.

19. India’s textile and apparel exports are expected to reach $300 bn by 2024-25, tripling its
share in global trade to from 5% to 15%.

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 • US and the EU together account for 64% of India’s readymade garment exports. India’s
share in such exports to the US and the EU remained stable at 4-6%.

20. Union Budget – Changes announced for One-Person company (OPC) through the
Companies (Incorporation) Second Amendment Rules 2021.
• OPCs can change their Memorandum and Article by passing a resolution under the sub-
section 3 of section 122 of Companies Act, 2013.
• NRIs are now allowed to start OPC in India.
• Time for NRIs to become a resident has been reduced to 120 days from 182 days for
setting up an OPC.
• Now, OPCs have been permitted to voluntary convert themselves anytime into Public or
Private company under Section 18 of the Companies Act, 2013.
• Paid up capital limit of Rs 50 lakhs for OPC and annual turnover limit of Rs 2 crore has
been omitted. This means, OPCs shall not be forced to mandatorily convert into private or
public company after crossing these limits. They can sustain as OPCs.
• Section 2 (62) of the Companies Act 2013 defines OPC as a person having one person
as its member.
Change to Small Companies definition under Companies Act 2013:

• The definition for the small companies will be revised by increasing their thresholds for
paid up capital from “Not exceeding Rs.50 Lakhs” to “Not exceeding Rs.2 Crore” and
turnover from “Not exceeding Rs.2 Crore to “Not exceeding Rs.20 Crore”.
Changes for M&A:

• Companies (Compromises, Arrangements and Amalgamations) Rules 2021 was

introduced under Companies Act 2013.
• It will ensure fast track merger and acquisition between startups and small companies
particularly.

21. A panel of Ministry of Corporate Affairs, chaired by Rajesh Verma (Secretary of Ministry of
Corporate Affairs), has proposed changes to Limited Liability Partnership Act 2008.

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 • 12 minor or technical errors should be decriminalized.
• The panel also proposed a new concept of ‘small LLPs’ defined as those with ₹20 lakh as
paid up capital and ₹40 lakh as turnover or any specific higher threshold to be prescribed.
• Such small LLPs will need to pay lesser fee and will face lesser penalties in case of defaults
in order to reduce the compliance cost on small businesses.
• The panel also proposed that LLPs should be allowed to issue Non-convertible
Debentures (NCDs) to entities regulated by SEBI or the RBI. At present, LLPs are allowed
to borrow but not issue debt securities.
• The panel also suggested for prescribing accounting and auditing standards for LLPs
should be incorporated in law to improve governance.

22. Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) gave in-principle approval for 100%
divestment of Centre's stake in the loss-making Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL).
• RINL, a corporate entity of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant, is run by the Government of India
(GOI).
• RINL-VSP's Chairman and Managing Director – PK Rath

23. IRDAI has encouraged all general and health insurers to offer Standard Vector-Borne
Disease health policy. This health policy can preferably be available by 1 April 2021.
• Purpose - to convince public for getting health insurance coverage to specified Vector-
Borne Diseases.
• Insured amount – Rs 10,000 to Rs 2 lakhs
• Eligible Age – 18 to 65
• Name of the policy – nomenclature of the product shall be the name of the insurance
company followed by “Mashak (Mosquito) Rakshak".

24. Bharti AXA General Insurance has launched ‘Salute to Caregivers - Ek Naya Nazaria’
campaign with the tagline of ‘Iss Jung Mein Hum Sang Hai’ to support cancer survivors in
the battle against the killer disease on World Cancer Day.

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 • Bharti AXA General Insurance has collaborated with noted poetess Priya Malik for a tribute
titled, ‘NayaNazariya’ to reflect her own experience as a caregiver and shed light on the
selfless devotion of caregivers everywhere.
• Bharti AXA General Insurance MD and CEO - Mr Sanjeev Srinavasan

25. ICICI Bank signed an MoU with MUFG Bank of Japan for collaboration towards catering to
the banking requirements of Japanese corporates present in India.
• Japan is the fifth largest investor in India’s economy with cumulative FDI inflows of $34.15
billion from April 2000 to September 2020, contributing 7% to India’s total FDI inflows during
the period.

26. Ministry of Corporate Affairs has announced to launch data analytics-driven MCA 21 -3.0
version during FY22.
• This portal will be the first mission mode e-governance project of the Govt of India.
• MCA 21 portal is used by companies to submit documents verifying their compliance
requirements under the Companies law and other statutory obligations.
• The new version will have various features like e-adjudication, e-scrutiny, e-consultation,
compliance management system (for monitoring compliance to the law and track
defaulters).
• MCA Lab will also be established which will have corporate law experts for ensuring the
correctness of results produced by these key modules in view of the dynamic corporate
ecosystem.

27. Union Budget 2021-22: Micro-Irrigation Fund corpus increased from Rs 5,000 crores to Rs
10,000 crores.

28. SEBI has released the SEBI (Mutual Funds) Amendment Rules 2021 for amending the SEBI
(Mutual Funds) Regulations, 1996.

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 • Sponsors that are not fulfilling profitability criteria at the time of
making an application would also be considered eligible to
sponsor a mutual fund.
• However, this is subject to having a net worth of not less than
₹100 crore for the purpose of contribution towards the net-worth
of the Asset Management Company (AMC).
• This net worth of the AMC has to be maintained till the time it
makes a profit for five consecutive years. Sebi has also made it
Sponsor-related mandatory for all AMCs to maintain the minimum net-worth on a
amendment continuous basis.
• According to SEBI, any entity which holds 40% or more of the net
worth of an asset management company (AMC) shall be deemed
to be a sponsor.
• Before this amendment, a sponsor was required to have profit
after providing for depreciation, interest and tax in three out of
the immediately preceding five years, including the fifth year, now
that requirement is not mandatory for the sponsor of mutual
funds.

• Dividend payment time - 15 days (earlier, it was 30 days)

• AMC – with has a minimum net worth of Rs 10 crores and above –
Other amendments are now allowed to launch infrastructure debt fund schemes.
• While determining the price of the units, the mutual fund
shall ensure that the repurchase price of an open ended scheme is
not lower than 95% of the Net Asset Value.

29. State-owned Bank of Maharashtra has entered into a co-lending agreement with the Pune-
based NBFC LoanTap Credit Products for providing loans to MSME.
• Under the co-lending model, the bank will have an exposure of up to 80% while the rest will
be borne by the LoanTap.

30. According to RBI’s annual report on Banking Ombudsman Scheme, the number of
complaints against banks rose by 58% in the financial year 2019-20.

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 • Complaints against NBFCs increased by 387%. Out of which, the highest complaints were
against Bajaj Finance Limited.
• The share of total complaints received against SBI and nationalised banks have
decreased from 61.90% in 2018-19 to 59.65% in 2019-20.
• However, the share of complaints against the private sector banks increased to 31.96%
during 2019-20.
• With NBFCs, the higher number of complaints were about non-adherence to the FPC
(36.29%), followed by non-observance of RBI’s directions (18.56%).

31. RBI’s Monetary Policy committee held its 5th meeting for 2020-21 on February 5, 2021. RBI
also releases the Statement on Developmental and Regulatory Policies after MPC.
Highlights:

• Repo Rate and Reverse Repo Rates – unchanged

• FY22 GDP growth rate – 10.5%
• Inflation has eased below 6%. RBI has a mandate to keep inflation rate at 4% within a
bank of +/- 4%.
• Maintains Accommodative Stance.
• Consumer Price Inflation projection is revised to 5.2% for Q4 FY21 and CPI inflation is
pegged at 5-5.2% in H1 FY22.
• Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) will be restored in two phases to 3.5% from March 27 and
4% from May 22, 2021.
CURRENT RATES:

54
• NBFCs have been allowed to borrow funds from banks under the on-tap targeted long-
term repo operation (TLTRO) scheme for further incremental lending to stressed
sectors.
• RBI has allowed banks to deduct loans disbursed to new MSME borrowers from their
net demand and time liabilities (NDTL) for calculation of the cash reserve ratio (CRR).
• Banks have been allowed HTM limit of 22% of NDTL, for SLR securities acquired
between April 1, 2021 and March 31, 2022, until March 31, 2023.
• RBI will release a consultative document “harmonising the regulatory frameworks for
various regulated lenders in the microfinance space” in March 2021.
• RBI has permitted Indian residents to make remittances to international financial
services centres (IFSCs) established under the liberalized remittance scheme (LRS).
o Till now, only global participants were allowed to invest in funds set up in Indian
IFSCs.
o Under the LRS, an Indian individual can send up to $250,000 per year overseas
for travel, education and medical care as well as for the purchase of shares.
• RBI has allowed retail investors to open Gilt Accounts with the central bank, which will
allow retail investors to invest in government securities. This facility is christened as
“Retail Direct”. Now, India has entered a group of select few countries having this
facility.
o Investors can open gilt accounts with RBI in the e-Kuber system.
o Investors will have direct participation in the G-sec market and in the bidding
process.

55
 o Previously, retail investors have had access to the G-sec market via non-
competitive bidding in primary auction.
o Gilt Account means an account that allows an entity or person to hold govt
securities. It is opened with the Central Bank via a custodian.
• RBI has mentioned that foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) deploying funds in defaulted
corporate bonds will be exempted from two rules that were seen holding back
investments.
o The central bank said that overseas investors will now be exempt from the short-
term limit and the minimum residual maturity requirement.
o In the present scenario, FPIs are permitted to invest in corporate bonds with
minimum residual maturity of above 1 year, subject to the condition that short-term
investments in corporate bonds by an FPI shall not exceed 30% of the total
investment of that FPI in corporate bonds.
o Currently, these exemptions are given to FPIs which invest in securities issued by
either Asset Reconstruction Companies or Corporate Insolvency Resolution
Process (CIRP).
• RBI will issue guidelines for outsourcing of digital payments system.
• All the 18,000-odd branches which are not covered under the cheque truncation system
will come under it by September 2021.
• RBI announced to set up a 24X7 helpline for digital payment services.
• RBI announced to integrate ombudsman schemes for banks, NBFCs, and non-bank
prepaid payment issuers (PPIs) into one scheme by June to improve grievance redressal
mechanism for customers in accordance with the ‘One Nation One Ombudsman’
approach. There are 22 banking ombudsman offices at present in India.

32. PhonePe has partnered with Axis Bank on a Unified Payments Interface (UPI) multi-bank
model.
• The partnership will provide PhonePe users with the option to create and use multiple UPI
IDs with Axis Bank’s “@axl” handle.

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 • PhonePe will acquire merchants with Axis Bank in addition to its partnership with YES
Bank.

33. Confederation of Real Estate Developers' Associations of India (CREDAI) has signed an
MoU with India Post Payments Bank Ltd (IPPB) to facilitate opening of bank accounts for
construction workers.
• Purpose: to increase financial literacy and digital inclusion of construction workers in the
long run and would make financial services accessible to them.
• CREDAI chairman – Jaxay Shah

34. RBI has formed an expert committee, headed by NS Vishwanathan (former Deputy
Governor of RBI), to prepare a roadmap for urban co-operative banks to strengthen the
sector.
• The expert committee will also suggest measures for consolidation of urban-cooperative
banks.

35. Asian Development Bank (ADB) will provide ₹100 crore loan to Medanta (hospital chain in
India) for financing healthcare services and medical equipment to fight the COVID-19
pandemic.
• The project will support the purchase of personal protective equipment, basic hygiene
products, and patient care equipment such as ventilators and beds. It will also support staff
training programmes on infection prevention and control.
• This debt financing by ADB is part of the ADB’s $20 billion assistance package
(announced in April 2020) to help its developing members manage the pandemic.
• Global Health Private Ltd administers Medanta. Global Health Chairman and Managing
Director of Medanta – Naresh Trehan.

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36. Mastercard has partnered with Razorpay (a unicorn fintech company in India) to increase
digital payments acceptance by small businesses and start-ups in the country, with a special
focus on tier 2 and 3 cities.
• The partnership will empower Indian MSMEs in digitizing their operations, maintaining
business continuity in the challenging environment and preparing for the future beyond
cash, Mastercard said in a release.

37. Nomura (Japanese brokerage) has forecasted India’s GDP growth rate at 13.5% in FY22.
• GDP rate for FY21: (-) 6.7%
• The Nomura India Business Resumption Index (NIBRI) increased up to 98.1
(provisionally) for the week ending February 14, from 95.9 in the preceding week.
• This is higher than RBI’s expectation of GDP at 10.5% in FY22, after contracting by 7.7% in
FY21.

38. India Ratings & Research (Ind-Ra) forecasted aggregate fiscal deficit of States for 2021-22
(FY22) at 4.3% of GDP as compared to 4.6% in FY 2020-21 (FY21).
• The outlook on state finances has been turned negative from stable for FY22.
• The agency forecasted a contraction of 6.1% in nominal GDP for FY21 and 14.5% growth
for FY22.
• The share of capex of states in the total expenditure is likely to be higher at 15.5% in FY22
than 10.5% in FY21.

39. RBI has issued draft of fresh guidelines on the credit default swaps (CDS) facility. New
changes:
• Retail investors / users are allowed to use CDS facility.
• Non-retail users will be allowed to undertake transactions in credit derivatives for both
hedging and other purposes.
• Individual (resident and a non-resident Indian) can participate in the CDS market.

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 • Exchanges may offer standardised single-name CDS contracts with guaranteed cash
settlement.
• Retail users shall undertake transactions in exchange-traded CDS only for hedging their
underlying credit risk.
• CDS contracts should be denominated and settled in Indian rupees. They can either be
settled via cash or physical mode. However, CDS contracts involving retail users should be
mandatorily physical.

What is a CDS?
CDS is a derivative or contract that allows an investor to swap or offset his credit
risk with that of another investor.
For example, If a lender is worried that a borrower is going to default on a loan,
the lender could use a CDS to offset or swap that risk. To swap the risk of default,
the lender buys a CDS from another investor who agrees to reimburse the lender
in case the borrower defaults, at a pre-decided premium amount.

Which are the eligible CDS instruments, according to RBI?

Eligible CDS instruments in India (as per RBI) - commercial papers, certificates of
deposit and non-convertible debentures of original maturity up to 1 year, rated
rupee corporate bonds (listed and unlisted) and unrated rupee bonds issued by the
special purpose vehicles set up by infrastructure companies.

40. Govt is likely to bring amendments to two legislations later this year to facilitate the
privatisation of public sector banks.
• Amendments would be required in the Banking Companies (Acquisition and Transfer of
Undertakings) Act, 1970 and the Banking Companies (Acquisition and Transfer of
Undertakings) Act, 1980 for privatisation.
• Both these acts facilitated the nationalization of banks in two phases in 1969 and 1980.
• The total number of PSBs is 12 now after merger of major banks w.e.f., April 1, 2020.

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41. ACC Ready Mix Concrete has introduced its new low carbon range of concrete named as
ECOPact – the Green Concrete for high-performing, sustainable and circular construction.
• Purpose: ECOPact will promote eco-friendly and green construction.
• ECOPact was launched in Mumbai and Hyderabad in the first phase.
• ECOPact concrete will help constructors to obtain green points from Indian Green
Building Council (IGBC).
• ECOPact range has three types of concrete – Prime, Max, and Zero.

APPOINTMENTS
1. SBI Cards and Payment Services Ltd (popularly known as SBI Card) has appointed Rama
Mohan Rao Amara as its Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer for a period of two
years.

2. Ram Sewak Sharma (former TRAI chief) has been appointed as the new Chief Executive
Officer (CEO) of the National Health Authority (NHA).
• NHA is an autonomous body which is responsible for implementing Ayushman-Bharat
Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY).

3. Rajeev Ranjan has been appointed as new chief secretary of Tamil Nadu.

4. Lt Gen Chandi Prasad Mohanty took charge as the Vice Chief of the Army Staff.

5. Vietnam's President Nguyen Phu Trong has been re-elected.

6. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is taking up the position of executive chair and appointed Andy
Jassy as the new CEO of Amazon.
• Jassy will take over from Bezos in later half of this year.

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7. Zoho founder Sridhar Vembu has been appointed to the reconstituted National Security
Advisory Board (NSAB), which is chaired by the National Security Advisor- Ajit Doval.

8. Praveen Sinha (CBI Additional Director) has been appointed acting chief of Central Bureau
of Investigation (CBI) till a decision on a new director is taken.

9. Ajay Singh was re­ elected as the president of the Boxing Federation of India (BFI).

10. BCCI secretary Jay Shah was elected as the President of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC).

11. SN Subrahmanyan has been appointed as chairman of the National Safety Council (NSC)
for a period of three years.
• Subrahmanyan is the CEO and MD of Larsen and Toubro Limited (L&T).

12. Zoho founder Sridhar Vembu has been appointed to the reconstituted National Security
Advisory Board (NSAB) led by National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval.
• Vembu is one of the Padma Shri awardees announced by the government of India this
year.
• Other members - former ISRO Chairman K Radhakrishnan, Anshuman Tripathy, faculty at
IIM Bangalore, and Arun K Singh, former ambassador to France and the United States.
• Tenure of these members – 2 years

13. Praveen Sinha is appointed as the acting chief of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) until
the new chief is appointed.

14. Tata Motors has appointed Marc Llistosella as its new CEO & MD.

15. Nigeria’s Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has been appointed as the 7th Director-General of the World
Trade Organization from March 1, 2021 to August 31, 2025.

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 • She has become the first woman and the first African to head the WTO.
• Okonjo-Iweala is the former Finance Minister of Nigeria and World Bank economist and an
author.
• Some of her books are Women and Leadership: Real Lives, Real Lessons; Fighting
Corruption Is Dangerous: The Story Behind the Headlines; Reforming the Unreformable:
Lessons from Nigeria; etc.

16. Actor Rana Daggubati was appointed as the brand ambassador of Tyre maker CEAT for
promoting the 'Puncture Safe' range of bike tyres.

17. Ajay Mathur was appointed as the next director general of the International Solar Alliance
(ISA).
• Mathur has recently served as the D-G of TERI - The Energy & Resources Institute. He is
also a member of the Prime Minister's Council on Climate Change.
• He has contributed significantly in the field of environment protection.

18. UN Capital Development Fund (HQ- New York) has appointed Preeti Sinha (Indian-origin
investment and development banker) as its Executive Secretary.
• Established in 1966, UNCDF provides micro-finance access to Least Developed
Countries (LDCs), with the mandate to unlock the full potential of public and private
finance.

19. Jean-Michel Sama Lukonde Kyenge was appointed as the Prime Minister of Democratic
Republic of Congo.
• President - Felix Tshisekedi

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 • Capital: Brazzaville
• Currency: Central African CFA franc

20. Kannada actor Darshan Toogudeepa has been appointed as the ambassador of Agriculture
Department of Karnataka to popularise programmes meant for farmers’ welfare.

21. Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan has been given the additional charge as
Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry after the sacking of Kiren Bedi by President of India.
• CM of Puducherry - V Narayanasamy

IMPORTANT DAYS
1. World Leprosy Day is observed on the last Sunday of January (on Jan 31, 2021).
• Theme – Beat Leprosy, End Stigma and Advocate for Mental Well-Being
• In India, World Leprosy Day is celebrated on January 30 on Mahatma Gandhi’s death
anniversary.
• Events – 16th Global Appeal to End Stigma and Discrimination against Persons Affected
by Leprosy was organized by Sasakawa Leprosy (Hansen’s Disease) Initiative on the
theme of “Right to Work”.
• This year’s appeal is endorsed by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and
focuses on the right to work.
• National Leprosy Eradication Programme (NLEP) was started in 1983 in India.

2. Indian Coast Guard (ICG) celebrated its 45th Raising Day on February 1.
• Motto of ICG – "Vayam Rakshamah" meaning 'We protect'

3. First ever International Day of Human Fraternity was observed on February 4, 2021 by UN
to promote inter-faith harmony in the wake of growing discord among religions.
• Theme - A Pathway to the Future
• Purpose – to achieve the goal of peacebuilding

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 • The UN Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC), in partnership with the Permanent Missions of
Egypt and the UAE to the UN, as well as the Higher Committee of Human Fraternity, is
organizing an event titled "A Pathway to the Future" to celebrate this international day.
• 2021 Zayed Award for Human Fraternity winner – UN Secretary-General Antonio
Guterres, and Moroccan-French activist, Latifa Ibn Ziaten.
About the award:

® It is given by Higher Committee for Human Fraternity.

® The committee was established after the signing of Document on Human Fraternity
(DHF), in Abu Dhabi, in 2019 to foster the inter-religion harmonious co-existence.
® The award recognizes individuals who are committed to fostering conditions for peaceful
co-existence in conjunction with the humanitarian values shared by the UAE's founder,
the late Sheikh Zayed.
® The award has a prize of $1 milliion

4. World Cancer Day is observed on February 4.

• Theme - I Am And I Will: Together, all our actions matter
• World Cancer Day is an initiative of the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC).

5. International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation is observed on

February 6th by United Nations.
• Theme - No Time for Global Inaction: Unite, Fund, and Act to End Female Genital
Mutilation

AWARDS
1. Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB) Women Excellence Award 2021 was
presented on International Day of Women and Girls in Science (11 February).
• Theme of the International Day of Women and Girls in Science – Women Scientists at
the forefront of the fight against COVID-19.

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 • Four women from Indian National Science Academy won the award and received a grant
of ₹15 lakh for a period of three years to pursue their research ideas.
• It is a one-time award given to women scientists who are below 40 years and have
received recognition from any one or more of the National Academies such as the 'Young
Scientist Medal', 'Young Associateship', etc.
• 6th International Day of Women and Girls in Science Assembly will be held at the
United Nations Headquarters virtually.
• Theme of the Assembly – Beyond the Borders: Equality in Science for Society
• Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media released Gender Bias Without Borders
report.
Winners:

• Shobhna Kapoor, Assistant Professor at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT),

Bombay;
• Antara Banerjee, Scientist B at National Institute For Research in Reproductive
Health, Mumbai;
• Sonu Gandhi, Scientist D from National Institute of Animal Biotechnology, Hyderabad
• Ritu Gupta, an Assistant Professor at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Jodhpur.

2. Rishabh Pant (India) has won the ICC Men’s Player of the Month for January 2021.
• South Africa’s Shabnim Ismail was named the ICC Women’s Player of the Month for
January 2021.
• This is the 1st edition of the awards.

SPORTS
1. Tamil Nadu has won the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2021 (domestic Twenty-20 cricket
championship in India).

2. Jorden van Foreest became the first Dutch player in 36 years to win the Tata Steel Chess
Tournament.

65
3. Denmark won the men's world handball title in Cairo, Egypt.

4. Ashleigh Barty (Australian Tennis player) won the WTA Yarra Valley Classic Australian
Open.

5. Merv Hughes (Australian cricketer) has been inducted into the Australian Cricket Hall of
Fame.
• Johnny Mullagh (legendary cricketer from Australia) was also inducted into the Hall of
Fame in December 2020.

6. India topped the medals tally in the first Asian Online Shooting Championship organized
Kuwait Shooting Federation.
• The squad won 4 out of the eight gold medals on offer, besides two silver and five bronze
medals, for a total of 11 medals.
• Gold winner - Saurabh Chaudhary, Divyansh Singh Panwar, Kynan Chenai and
Rajeshwari Kumari.

7. Former India wicketkeeper-batsman Naman Ojha announced his retirement from all forms of
cricket.

MISCELLANEOUS
1. Hollywood actor -writer Seth Rogen has written his debut book titled as "Yearbook".

2. “Yes Man: The Untold Story of Rana Kapoor” book has been written by Pavan C. Lall.

3. 'This Life at Play: A Memoir by Girish Karnad', memoir authored by Girish Karnad, has been
translated into English from Kannada.
• Translator - Srinath Perur

66
4. Hilton Valentine (guitarist in British band- The Animals) passed away.

5. ‘Aatmanirbharta’ has been named as Oxford Hindi word of the year 2020.

6. Anindya Dutta has written the Advantage India book on the history of India tennis.

7. Dalai Lama has written 'The Little Book of Encouragement'.

• The book has been edited by Renuka Singh.

8. Captain Tom Moore (a British veteran of Second World War; aged 100; raised money for
health workers in lockdown) died due to covid-19.

9. “Whereabouts” book has been authored by Jhumpa Lahiri.

• Lahiri won the Pulitzer Prize in 2000 for Interpreter of Maladies.

10. “1857: The Sword of Mastaan” book has been authored by Vineet Bajpai.

11. Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu has released the book titled "Parliamentary Messenger in
Rajasthan", authored by KN Bhandari.

12. Christopher Plummer (legendary actor from Canada) has passed away.

13. Tony Trabert (American tennis player and an author) has passed away.

14. The year-long Birth Centenary celebrations of legendary musician Pandit Bhimsen Joshi has
begun on February 4 (b. in 1922).

67
 • A two-day event named SwarBhaskar 100 has been organised in Mumbai to
commemorate the timeless legacy of the great musical maestro by Rithwik Foundation for
Performing Arts.
• Films Division screened his biopic titled as "Pt Bhimsen Joshi” (directed by lyricist and
film maker Gulzar) on its website and YouTube channel.

15. Hunter Biden, son of US President Joe Biden, released his memoir titled as 'Beautiful
Things' which elaborates his struggle with addiction.

16. Bruce Taylor (New Zealand cricketer) passed away.

17. Legendary tennis player and coach in India, Akhtar Ali passed away.

18. “Platform Scale: For A Post-Pandemic World” book has been written by Sangeet Paul
Choudary.

19. “By Many A Happy Accident” book has been released by Mohammed Hamid Ansari.

20. Ezra Moseley (former West Indies fast bowler) has passed away in a road accident.

21. Leon Spinks (an American professional boxer and heavyweight champion) passed away.

22. ASOCA: A Sutra book has been authored by Irwin Allan Sealy.

23. Indian Sign Language Research and Training Centre (ISLRTC), an autonomous institute
under the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, M/o Social Justice and
Empowerment has released the 3rd edition of Indian Sign Language Dictionary with 10,000
terms.
• The 1st edition of the dictionary was published in 2018.

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 • The dictionary is in line with the UNICEF’s Global Portal on Accessible Digital Textbooks for
All.

24. An IIT Madras-Incubated start-up Pi Beam has launched PiMo, a sustainable utility e-bike,
which can charge faster than a smartphone.
• Founder of Pi Beam - IIT Madras Alum Visakh Sasikumar.

25. British MP and president-designate of the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the
Parties (COP-26) Alok Sharma has called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and discussed
India-UK collaboration on climate change issues in the run up to COP-26.
• COP-26 will be held in Glasgow, Scotland.

26. Prime Minister addressed the event organized to commemorate 75 years of Ram Chandra
Mission (an NPO) for promoting yoga and instilling meaningfulness, peace, health and spiritual
wellbeing among the people.

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