Current Affairs in English – February 27, 28 2023

February 27-28, 2023

National Events:

Om Birla:

• The 19th annual Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA), India Zone-3 conference, will be inaugurated by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, on February 23 at Gangtok, Sikkim.
• Governor of Sikkim, Lakshman Prasad Acharya, Chief Minister of Sikkim, Prem Singh Tamang, Deputy Chairman, Rajya Sabha, Harivansh, Presiding Officers of Legislative Bodies in India, Members of Parliament, Members of Sikkim Legislature and other dignitaries are scheduled to participate in the event.

Ministry of Culture:

• For the first time, the 284th birth anniversary of Santh Sevalal Maharaj, the spiritual leader of the Banjara Community was celebrated by the Ministry of Culture, Government of India on 26-27 Feb 2023.
• Union Home Minister Amit Shah was the chief guest at the event. It is being celebrated under the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav. Santh Sevalal Maharaj was born on 15 Feb 1739 at Surgondankoppa, Karnataka.

‘International Biotech Conclave’:

• Union Minister of Science & Technology Dr. Jitendra Singh on 25 Feb 2023, inaugurated the ‘International Biotech Conclave’ in Imphal, Manipur.
• It was held along with the 22nd Congress of the International Society for Ethno-pharmacology and the 10th Congress of the Society for Ethno-pharmacology. The theme for the conclave was “Reimagine Ethnopharmacology: Globalisation of Traditional Medicine”.

Indian Army:

• On union government’s directions, the Indian Army Chief has initiated the process to end Colonial practices such as Horse pulled buggies, pipe bands and functional ceremonies on retirement.
• As part of efforts to end colonial traces, English names of some units, renaming some buildings, establishments, roads, parks, and institutions like Auchinleck or Kitchener House are also under review.

Y20:

• The Youth 20 India Summit will be held at the Maharaja Sayajirao University Vadodara in Gujarat which was attended by more than 600 delegates from 62 countries. The international conference of The Youth 20 India Summit was inaugurated by Bhupendra Patel, Chief Minister of Gujarat.
• The Youth 20 India Summit is organized by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Government of India to mark the celebration of India’s G20 Presidency, the focus would be on ‘Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction: Making sustainability a Way of Life’.

ESOP:

• D2C(Direct to Consumer) personal care brand Pilgrim has announced its first-ever ESOP scheme. It has earmarked 10% of its shares to the ESOP pool for 100% of its employees, it said in a statement.
• An employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) is an employee benefit plan that gives workers ownership interest in the company in the form of shares of stock.
• ESOPs give the sponsoring company—the selling shareholder—and participants various tax benefits, making them qualified plans, and are often used by employers as a corporate finance strategy to align the interests of their employees with those of their shareholders.

Jammu & Kashmir Tourism:

• The India Today Tourism Survey has chosen Jammu & Kashmir Tourism for best adventure tourism award. The awards were given away at New Delhi by Union Minister of State for Culture & Parliamentary Affairs, Arjun Ram Meghwal.
• The award has been given to the J&K Tourism Department in recognition of its efforts in promoting ‘Gulmarg’ as an adventure destination of international order. The award was received by Deputy Director, Tourism, Alyas Ahmad on behalf of the Department.

FICCI:

• Former bureaucrat Shailesh Pathak has been appointed as the new Secretary General of Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI).
• He will take over the charge on March 1. In a career spanning 37 years, Pathak has worked with the government as an IAS officer as well as helmed large companies in the private sector.
• He has an MBA degree from IIM Calcutta in 1986 after graduation. He has completed an LLB and a Diploma in Ornithology.
• He has scaled a 6831 metre peak in the Himalayas and has trekked extensively. Ficci also announced that Arun Chawla, Director General, will superannuate on June 30, 2023, and transition to an advisory role.

PepsiCo India:

• PepsiCo India has roped in actor Ranveer Singh to endorse its leading soft drink brand Pepsi. Singh joins Pepsi’s growing league of celebrity endorsers. In 2019, the brand roped in actor Salman Khan.
• In January, Pepsi had announced that it has roped in Kannada actor Yash as its brand ambassador. A leading female actor could soon join the brand’s summer campaign that Pepsi is running under the “Rise up Baby” theme.

Kerala government and UN Women:

• The Kerala government and UN Women entered into an agreement, in order to promote activities that are welcoming to women in the State’s tourist industry.
• Kerala Tourism and UN Women India committed to promoting gender-inclusive tourist destinations throughout the State through the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU).

Karnataka Government:

• The Karnataka Government will build the country’s first Marina or a boat basin offering dockage, at Byndoor in Udupi district to promote coastal tourism in Karnataka.
• The government will also seek permission from the Centre for the relaxation of coastal regulation zone (CRZ) to take up beach tourism in coastal areas and pilgrim tourism.The government will collect the history of the greatest dynasties such as Ganga, Kadamba, Rashtrakoota, Chalukya, and Hoysala from the Department of Archaeology and develop the history of tourism in the state.
• This will not only help the development of tourism but also help people understand the rich history of the state.

First-ever compressed biogas plant:

• The foundation stone-laying ceremony for the first-ever compressed biogas plant project in northeast India took place at Domora Pathar in Sonapur under the Kamrup (Metropolitan) district, and the chief guest was chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.
• The plant, which is being built by businessmen Pankaj Gogoi and Rakesh Doley under the name Redlemon Technologies, is expected to begin operating in November 2023 and will have a 5 tonne-per-day production capacity for compressed biogas from raw materials like municipal solid wastes and cattle manure.

HMI:

• Japan’s eminent hospitality group Hotel Management International Company Limited (HMI) will be opening 30 new properties across Uttar Pradesh.
• The company has signed an MoU with the UP government to invest Rs 7200 crore at the UP Global Investors Summit.

Irinjadappilly Sree Krishna Temple:

• The Irinjadappilly Sree Krishna Temple in Kerala‘s Thrissur district has become the first in the country to use a mechanical, lifelike elephant for temple rituals.
• The temple priests performed ‘Nadayiruthal’ or ceremonial offering to the deity, of Irinjadappilly Raman, a magnificent, lifelike mechanical or “robotic” elephant.

National Science Day:

• On February 28 each year, National Science Day honours Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman as C.V. Raman, an Indian scientist and physician, for discovering the “Raman Effect”.
• Every year, it is celebrated to honour the value of science and to serve as a reminder of the influence it has had on humankind’s way of life. In honour of India’s G20 leadership, the event this year has the theme “Global Science for Global Wellness”.

IOC:

• India’s top oil firm IOC will set up green hydrogen plants at all its refineries as it pivots a Rs 2-lakh crore green transition plan to achieve net-zero emissions from its operations by 2046, its chairman Shrikant Madhav Vaidya said.
• Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) is re-modelling business with an increased focus on petrochemicals to hedge volatility in the fuel business, while at the same time turning petrol pumps into energy outlets that offer EV charging points and battery swapping options besides conventional fuels as it looks to make itself future-ready, he said.

Supreme Court of India:

• The Supreme Court of India declined to consider a PIL requesting menstruation leave for workers and students nationwide, citing the issue as one of policy.
• It was emphasised that menstrual pain leave had various “dimensions” and that, despite the fact that menstruation was a biological event, such leave could discourage businesses from hiring female staff.
• Only a few nations, mostly in Asia, allow women who experience painful periods to take time off work to heal.

MPP:

• The Indian Government has approved its largest ever hydropower project in the mountainous northeastern region- Dibang Multipurpose Project (MPP). The project bordering China has received an approval of estimated investment of 1600 crore.
• The project will be developed by NHPC Limited. It is a 2,880-megawatt Dibang project in Arunachal Pradesh. The project is estimated to take 9 years to build.

UIDAI:

• The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has rolled out a new security mechanism. It is for Aadhaar based fingerprint authentication, and faster detection of spoofing attempts.
• The artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) based security mechanism is now using a combination of both finger minutia and finger image to check the liveness of the finger print captured.

Molasses Control Amendment Bill 2023:

• The UP Molasses Control Amendment Bill 2023 was passed in the UP Legislative Assembly on 27 Feb 23.No tax will be imposed on the farmers or on jaggery, but a regulatory charge of Rs 20 per quintal will be taken from the Khandsari unit.
• The UP State Legislature Amendment Bill 2023 was also passed to increase the pension from Rs 10,000 to Rs 25,000 to former MLAs in Legislative Assembly.

Divorced daughters:

• Now divorced daughters are eligible for family pension and the seven-year service eligibility for entitlement of pension or family pension has been done away with.
• This was informed by Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions Minister Dr. Jitendra while addressing the 49th Pre-Retirement Counselling Workshop in New Delhi on 27 Feb 2023.

International Events:

Screen Actors Guild Awards 2023 announced:

• The 29th Screen Actors Guild Awards were announced on 26 Feb 2023 at the Fairmont Century Plaza in Los Angeles.

Winners list:

Sam Elliott won Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries for ‘1883’.

 Jessica Chastain won Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries for ‘George & Tammy’.

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role was won by Brendan Fraser for “The Whale”.

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role was won by Michelle Yeoh, “Everything Everywhere All at Once”.

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series was won by Jason Bateman for “Ozark”.

NOKIA:

• Nokia, a smartphone and telecom equipment manufacturer, has changed its logo for the first time in nearly 60 years. The new logo was launched by CEO Pekka Lundmark on 26 Feb 2023.
• The new logo comprises five different shapes forming the word NOKIA. Also, the company has dropped the iconic blue colour and now there’s a range of colours depending on the use.

Marconi Prize:

• Computer scientist Hari Balakrishnan has been awarded the 2023 Marconi Prize. Dr. Balakrishnan has been cited “for fundamental contributions to wired and wireless networking, mobile sensing, and distributed systems”.
• The Marconi Prize is a top honour for computer scientists and is awarded by the U.S.-based Marconi Foundation. It is given to those “who have made a significant contribution to increasing digital inclusivity through advanced information and communications technology”.

Exercise Desert Flag:

• For the first time, India’s indigenously-made light combat aircraft Tejas will be participating in an international multilateral air exercise called Exercise Desert Flag VIll in the UAE reflecting India’s increasing efforts at showcasing the jet at the world stage.
• As per the IAF, Exercise Desert Flag is a multilateral air exercise which will see participation from the air forces of the UAE, France, Kuwait, Australia, the UK, Bahrain, Morocco, Spain, Republic of Korea, and the US.

World NGO Day:

• The World NGO Day is an annual international observance on February 27 to recognize the contributions of non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The day was first celebrated in 2010 and has since become an annual event that highlights the work of NGOs around the world.
• It provides an opportunity to advocate for policies that support their efforts. World NGO Day aims to create awareness about the sector and encourage people across the world who work in the sector for a good cause.

IP:

• India has ranked 42nd among 55 leading global economies on the International IP(International Intellectual Property) Index released by the U.S. Chambers of Commerce. The United States ranks first in the 2023 index, followed by the UK and France. According to the report, India’s size and economic influence is growing on the world stage.
• India is poised to become a leader for emerging markets seeking to transform their economies through IP-driven innovation. India has taken steps to improve enforcement against copyright-infringement and provides a best-in-class framework to promote better understanding and use of IP assets.

Mark Zuckerberg:

• Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg announced Meta Platforms’ impending release to researchers of a new large language model called LLaMA (Large Language Model Meta AI).
• The model, developed by Meta’s Fundamental AI Research (FAIR) team, is intended to aid scientists and engineers in exploring AI applications and functions such as answering questions and summarizing documents.

Exercise Cobra Warrior:

• The Exercise Cobra Warrior is a multilateral Air exercise, held at the Waddington Air Force Base of the Royal Air Force in the United Kingdom. In which Air Forces from Finland, Sweden, South Africa, the United States of America and Singapore would also participated.
• The exercise aims to participate in fighter aircraft engagements and learn from the best practices of various Air Forces. The IAF will be participating in the exercise with 145 Air Warriors, five Mirage 2000 fighters, two C-17 Globemaster III and an IL-78 mid-air refueller aircraft.

Antarctic sea ice shrunk:

• The Antarctic sea ice shrunk to a record low in Feb 2023. It is its lowest extent in the 45 years of satellite record-keeping.
• The National Snow and Ice Data Center, NSIDC at the University of Colorado Boulder said, on February 21st Antarctica’s sea ice fell to 1.79 million square kilometers. This has surpassed the previous low record by 136,000 square kilometers, registered in 2022.

James Webb telescope:

• NASA’s James Webb telescope has found six big galaxies.
• The telescope sent data that reveals what appear to be six big galaxies as mature as our Milky Way existing about 540 million to 770 million years after the Big Bang explosion that gave birth to the universe 13.8 billion years ago. The universe was roughly 3% of its current age at the time.

Nicola Fox:

• NASA has picked Nicola Fox, a longtime solar scientist who heads its heliophysics division to become the U.S. space agency’s science chief.She will be the first woman named to serve in the role.
• She is a former top scientist on the Parker Solar Probe mission studying the sun. Fox will lead NASA’s science directorate, a unit with an annual budget of roughly $7 billion.

Sports Events:

Lionel Messi:

• The all-time great Lionel Messi has scored his 700th career club goal in Paris St. Germain’s 3-0 win over Marseille. With the goal, Messi became just the second player in history to score 700 career club goals, according to IFFHS (International Federation of Football History and Statistics).
• The other player to do so is Messi’s longtime rival Cristiano Ronaldo. Meanwhile Messi’s rival Ronaldo has scored 709 goals in club level across competitions, including his hat-trick for Al-Nassr in the Saudi Pro League match against Damac.

FIFA men’s player prize:

• Argentina’s Lionel Messi has bagged the Best FIFA men’s player prize for 2022. Messi outclassed his Paris Saint Germain (PSG) teammate Kylian Mbappe and Real Madrid captain Karim Benzema to lift the famous trophy at Salle Pleyel in Paris. In the FIFA Awards vote, Messi had 52 points, Mbappé 44, and Benzema 34.
• It is the second time that Messi has won the honour inaugurated by FIFA in 2016.Messi was named the winner of the Best FIFA Men’s Player award for his outstanding performances in men’s football from the period of 8 August 2021 to 18 December 2022. Equalling Cristiano Ronaldo and Robert Lewandowski’s massive feat at the FIFA awards.

Ministry of Tourism:

• The Ministry of Tourism, Government of India (North) in association with Real Sports India along with local administration, Amazing Bhaderwah Tourism Association (ABTA) organized the maiden 1st Snow Marathon in Bhaderwah, Jammu on 26 February 2023.
• In order to celebrate the 75 years of India’s Independence, G20 India Presidency the marathon was conducted, nearly 130 runners participated in the marathon from across the country.

Women’s T20 Cricket World Cup:

• The 8th Women’s T20 Cricket World Cup was held in South Africa.The final match of the tournament was played between Australia and South Africa, in which Australia won the World Cup trophy by defeating South Africa by 19 runs.
• Also, this is the 6th championship title for the Australian team in history.

Asian Lawn Bowl Championship:

• The 14th Asian Lawn Bowl Championship was held in Malaysia.The Indian team won a total of 5 medals in this competition namely 1 gold, 3 silver and 1 bronze.

Chennai Women’s National Hockey Tournament:

• The 13th Chennai Women’s National Hockey Tournament was held in Andhra Pradesh. The final match of the tournament was between Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh defeated Maharashtra 5-1 to win the title.