Current Affairs 28th February

National Affairs

1. At Talkatora Stadium in New Delhi, PM Narendra Modi opens the Delhi-Karnataka Sangha’s “Barisu Kannada Dim Dimava” and Amrit Mahotsav.

On February 25, 2023, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi opened the cultural festival “Barisu Kannada Dim Dimava” and the 75th-anniversary celebration “Amrit Mahotsav of Delhi-Karnataka Sangha” at Talkatora Stadium in New Delhi, Delhi, to commemorate Karnataka’s history, culture, and traditions.

 

The festival aims to commemorate Karnataka’s history, culture, and traditions in accordance with the vision of “Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat.”

Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav was the governing body of the festival.

 

The purpose of the program was to showcase Karnataka culture and bring together all Kannadigas living in Delhi and the surrounding areas.

 

Key Points:

 

The Amrit Mahotsav, which marks the 75th anniversary of India’s independence, coincides with the celebrations of the Delhi Karnataka Sangh’s 75th anniversary.

 

The Central Government has given Karnataka Rs 30 billion so far, from 2019 to 2023.

Shreshtha Bharat’s Ek Bharat:

 

In honour of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel’s 140th birthday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat program on October 31st, 2015. It aims to strengthen emotional connections and national integration among the Indian people.

 

This means that for a certain amount of time, each state and Union Territory (UT) will be paired with another state or UT for a structured exchange of ideas and experiences related to language, literature, cuisine, festivals, cultural events, tourism, and other topics.

2. First and Second G20 FMCBG and FCBD Meetings in Bengaluru in February 2023

The 1st G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (FMCBG) Meeting was held in Bengaluru, Karnataka, from February 24 to 25, 2023, as part of the G20 (Group of Twenty) Indian Presidency. It was preceded by the 2nd Finance and Central Bank Deputies (FCBD) Meeting, which was held on February 22.

 

First G20 FMCBG Conference:

 

Dr Shaktikanta Das from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman from the Ministry of Finance (MoF) jointly presided over the meeting.

A strategic plan for the various work streams of the G20 Finance Track in 2023 is the goal of the discussions at the first G20 FMCBG meeting.

 

Second G20 FCBD Conference:

 

Ajay Seth, Secretary (Economic Affairs), and Dr Michael D. Patra, Deputy Governor of the RBI, co-chaired the 2nd G20 FCBD meeting on February 22, 2023, in Bengaluru, Karnataka.

Union Minister Anurag Thakur, along with representatives from India’s Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (MoYAS) and Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB), opened the 2nd G20 FCBD meeting. The G20 is a group of twenty countries.

 

The G20 is the most important international forum for economic cooperation.

Members of G20: It has twenty members, which include 19 nations: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Türkiye, the United Kingdom (UK), the United States (US), and the European Union (EU) are the countries that are included in this list.

3. Dr Jitendra Singh, Union Minister, opens the International Biotech Conclave in Imphal, Manipur.

 

The International Bioresource Conclave & Ethno Pharmacology Congress was opened by Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Dr Jitendra Singh and the Ministry of Science and Technology at the City Convention Centre in Imphal, Manipur. From February 24 to February 26, 2023, Manipur hosted the International Bio-resource Conclave 2023, the 22nd International Congress of the International Society for Ethno-pharmacology, and the 10th International Congress of the Society for Ethno-pharmacology (ISE SFEC-2023).

 

Since independence, the North East Region (NER) has not hosted an international biotechnology conference before. The themes of the events included “Reimagine Ethnopharmacology”: The spread of traditional medicine worldwide.

4. The first compressed biogas plant in North East India is dedicated by CM Himanta Biswa Sarma.

At Domora Pathar, Sonapur, in the Kamrup (Metropolitan) district of Assam, Chief Minister (CM) Himanta Biswa Sarma laid the foundation stone of the first-ever compressed biogas (CBG) plant in North East India on February 25, 2023.

 

Entrepreneurs Pankaj Gogoi and Rakesh Doley are building the first-ever CBG plant under the name Redlemon Technologies Pvt Ltd, which is based in Guwahati, Assam.

It is anticipated that the plant will begin operating in November 2023.

 

The Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation (SATAK) program at the Centre is funding the establishment of the biogas unit in Sonapur, Assam.

 

Key Features:

 

The first-of-its-kind project in the Northeast will support the Assam Government’s efforts to switch to greener and cleaner energy sources.

 

Compressed biogas from raw materials like cattle dung and municipal solid waste, among others, will be produced at the plant at a rate of 5 tons per day.

 

Farmers would also be able to earn more money thanks to the CBG plant because they could sell the waste from their cattle to biogas producers.

 

The SATAK Plan:

 

On October 1, 2018, the Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation (SATAK) program on CBG went live. It envisions 5,000 plants producing 15 million tonnes (MMT) of CGB by 2023.

5. Aadi Mahotsav is officially launched by PM Narendra Modi at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium in Delhi.

The massive National Tribal Festival known as “Aadi Mahotsav” took place at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium in Delhi from February 16 to February 27, 2023. On February 16, 2023, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Minister for Tribal Affairs Arjun Munda gave the festival its official start.

 

Under the Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA), the Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation Limited (TRIFED) organizes the annual Aadi Mahotsav.

 

It aims to celebrate the spirit of traditional cuisine, commerce, and arts and crafts as well as a tribal culture on a national scale.

 

The program highlights the diverse and rich heritage of Indian tribes through more than 200 stalls at the venue.

Banking and Finance

1. From 5.433% to 3.362%, LIC reduces its stake in Industrial Investment Trust.

Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), an Indian state-owned insurance group and investment company, has reduced its stake in Industrial Investment Trust Limited (IITL) from 5,433% to 3.362 per cent of the paid-up capital by diluting its stake from 12,25,017 equity shares to 7,57,966 equity shares.

 

LIC sold approximately 4.67 lakh shares of IITL at an average price of Rs 88.39 between July 6, 2012, and February 23, 2023.

 

As an investment trust company, Industrial Investment Trust Limited (IITL) was founded in 1933. In 2000, IITL applied to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for a Certificate of Registration allowing it to operate as a Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC) without accepting Public Deposits.