7th March 2024 Daily Current Affairs Update

The inception of Jan Aushadi Diwas can be traced back to March 7, 2019,when Prime Minister Narendra Modi introduced it as part of the Pradhan Mantri Bharatiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana (PMBJP).
This day serves as the culmination of a week-long event commencing on March 1, aimed at raising awareness about generic medicines and their potential to benefit millions of individuals.

National News

Government launched innovative NITI for states platform for policy and good governance

Minister of Communications, Railways, and Electronics & Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnawhas launched NITI Aayog’s NITI For States platform at Rang Bhawan Auditorium, Akashvani, New Delhi.
The ‘NITI For States’, is a cross-sectoral knowledge platform designed to become a Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) for Policy and Good Governance.
The significant features of the platform include a multi-sectoral live repository of 7,500 Best Practices, 5,000 Policy documents, 900+ datasets, 1,400 data profiles, and 350 NITI publications.

Exam Related Facts

The knowledge products on the platform span 10 sectors including Agriculture, Education, Energy, Health, Livelihoods and Skilling, Manufacturing, MSME, Tourism, Urban, Water resources & WASH across two cross-cutting themes – Gender and Climate Change.

PM Modi inaugurates India’s first underwater metro in Kolkata

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated India’s first under-river metro tunnel in Kolkata.
The metro tunnel has been built under Kolkata’s Hooghly River that will connect Howrah Maidan to Esplanade.
The 4.8 km stretch between Howrah Maidan and Esplanade is the second section of the East-West Metro corridor between Howrah Maidan and the IT hub Salt Lake Sector V.
The metro service will connect Howrah and Salt Lake — the West Bengal state capital’s twin cities. Three out of six stations will be underground. It is expected to zoom through a 520-metre stretch under the Hooghly in just 45 seconds.

Exam Related Facts

PM Modi inaugurated ‘Bharat Tex 2024’ in New Delhi
PM Modi inaugurates India’s longest cable-stayed bridge Sudarshan Setu
PM Modi laid the foundation stone for Sikkim’s first railway station at Rangpo.
PM Modi launches development projects worth 35,700 crore rupees in Jharkhand
PM Modi unveils India’s first hydrogen fuel cell ferry

Jharkhand govt launched State Widow Remarriage Promotion Scheme

Under the Jharkhand Widow Remarriage Promotion Yojana 2024, the Jharkhand state government will provide INR to all the widowed who will get remarriage.
Rs 2 lakh would be allocated as a promotional amount.
This scheme will apply to the social status of all the widowed women in the Jharkhand state.
All the applicants who clear the eligibility criteria must fill out the application form on the official website to avail of the benefits of the Widow Remarriage Promotion Scheme 2024.

Exam Related Facts

Capital– Ranchi
Chief Minister– Champai Soren (replace Hemant Soren)
Governor – Radhakrishnan

Other Schemes launched by state governments

Van Mitra (Haryana)– To encourage community participation in tree planting activities in non-forest areas.
Savera programme (Haryana)– For early detection and prevention of breast cancer.
MYUVA Scheme (Uttar Pradesh) –To support young entrepreneurs
Indiramma Housing Scheme (Telangana) –To provide Rs 5 lakh financial assistance to construct houses
CM’s Health Insurance Scheme (Nagaland)– To ensures financial security and protection

Karnataka govt signed MoU with WEF for Al centre

Karnataka governmenthas signed an MoU with the World Economic Forum to establish the state’s first Centre for Al.
Objective – To make Karnataka a global Al hub by linking with WEF’s C4IR Network.
The Centre for Al in Karnataka will foster global dialogue on Al ethics and support Al startups for global visibility and collaboration opportunities.
It will attract investments, and create job opportunities in the region.

Exam Related Facts

Governor –Thawar Chand Gehlot
Deputy Chief Minister –DK Shivakumar
Chief Minister–Siddaramaiah
Capital –Bengaluru

Rajnath Singh inaugurates ‘Chola’ building at Naval War College

Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singhhas inaugurated the new Administrative & Training building at the Naval War College (NWC) in Goa.
The event marked a significant milestone in the history of the NWC, reinforcing its commitment to excellence in military education and nurturing maritime thought.

Exam Related Facts

The modern edifice, named the ‘Chola’, pays homage to the mighty maritime empire of the Chola dynasty of ancient India.

Airbus signs contract with IIM Mumbai to boost aviation talent in India

European aerospace firm Airbus has signed a contract with the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Mumbai to provide aviation education to professionals and empower them with industry-ready skills through Airbus Beyond programmes.

Under this contract, IIM Mumbai will offer short-term aviation courses to aspiring and working professionals who will be able to harness the power of Airbus Beyond programmes in the areas of aviation logistics, supply chain management, operations excellence, cargo handling, strategic procurement, business analytics and digitisation.
Under the agreement, IIM Mumbai will organise courses, onboard students and provide infrastructure and logistical support.
Airbus will provide trainers and training material from the Airbus Beyond catalogue for short-term courses in the initial phase and co-curate long-term courses and certify their trainers in the later phase.

Exam Related Facts

Recent MoU

Swiggy and IRCTC join hands to deliver food on Indian Railways
NTPC joins hands with MAHAGENCO for development of Renewable Energy Parks
MoD signs contract with AWEIL for 463 Stabilised Remote-Control Guns for Indian Navy & Indian Coast Guard
CIL and BHEL sign a JVA for setting up Ammonium Nitrate Plant in Odisha
Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) has signed an MoU with the Indian Air Force (IAF) for integration of futuristic Weapons and Sensors for LCA Tejas aircraft.

Fly91 gets DGCA approval to start flights

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA)has granted air operator’s certificate to Goa-based Just Udo Aviation Pvt Ltd to operate its airline Fly91.
The airline has been allocated its first set of routes under the government’s regional connectivity scheme UDAN, or Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik.
This includes routes to Sindhudurg, Jalgaon, Nanded and Agatti from Bangalore, Goa, Hyderabad and Pune under the UDAN 5.0 of the civil aviation ministry.

Exam Related Facts

The grant of the air operator certificate marks the completion of all regulatory and compliance requirements for the airline to begin its commercial operations.

Kerala Launches India’s First Govt-Backed OTT Platform, ‘CSpace’

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayanhas inaugurated the state’s own Over-The-Top (OTT) platform at Kairali Theatre.
In the first phase, 42 films, including 35 feature films, six documentaries and one short film have been admitted to CSpace and will be available to the public for streaming. CSpace is available for download on both Andriod and iOS.
The OTT platform is managed by Kerala State Film Development Corporation (KSFDC), a state-owned entity entrusted with the promotion of Malayalam cinema. A special curator panel is set by KSFDC to select content for the platform.
The platform, called CSpace, is India’s first government-backed OTT platform.

Exam Related Facts

About Kerala

Capital –Thiruvananthapuram
Chief Minister– Pinarayi Vijayan
Governor –Arif Mohammad Khan

IOC to make fuel for Formula 1 – first by an Indian firm

IOC will supply fuel for all the motorcyclists from 15 countries that will participate in the FIM Asia Road Racing Championship.
India’s largest oil company, Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOC)will start manufacturing fuel used in adrenaline-pumping Formula One or F1, motor racing as it looks to expand its basket of niche fuels.
F1 fuel is essentially high-octane petrol and the standards are heavily regulated by global motor sport governing body Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) on various counts, including permissible additives and blending agents.

Exam Related Facts

(IOCL)Founded – 30 June 1959

Headquarters –New Delhi
Chairman – Shrikant Madhav Vaidya
Owner– Government of India (52.1%)

Banking and Financial

CRISIL raises India’s GDP growth forecast to 6.8% for FY25

Rating agency CRISIL raised its economic growth forecast for India in the next financial year (FY25) to 6.8 per centfrom 6.4 per cent estimated earlier, citing higher growth momentum.
The report also expects the Indian economy to grow at an average rate of 6.7 per cent till the end of this decade.
On the inflation front, the rating agency expects the softening to continue in the next financial year on the back of healthier agriculture output that tames food inflation, and benign oil and commodity prices.
In its India Outlook report, growth will moderate in FY25 from 7.6 per cent in the current financial year as higher interest rates and lower fiscal impulse will temper demand.

Exam Related Facts

Updated GDP List

Fitch Rating – 6.9% (FY24), 6.5% (FY25)
Goldman Sachs – 6.2% (FY24)
ICRA –6.5% (FY24)
IMF – 6.7% (FY24), 6.5% (FY25), 6.5% (FY26)
India Ratings – 6.7% (FY24)
Moody– 6.8% (FY24), 6.4% (FY25)
Morgan Stanley – 6.9%(FY24), 6.5% (FY25)
World Bank – 6.3% (FY24), 6.4% (FY25), 6.5% (FY26)

Infibeam Avenues get RBI’s authorization to payment aggregator licence

The RBI had in March 2020 introduced the PA framework, which necessitates payment gateways to secure an aggregator licence for acquiring merchants and delivering digital payment solutions.
More than 10 million merchants are on Infibeam’s platform, and this year, the company has already crossed half a million merchants onboarding in 1H FY24.
The company attributed this growth to the growing relationship with the bank partners and merchants.

Exam Related Facts

Infibeam Avenueshas received the final authorization from RBI to operate as a payment aggregator for its payment gateway brand, CCAvenue.
Infibeam Avenuesis India’s first listed AI-powered fintech company

30 banks join RBI’s UDGAM portal for unclaimed deposits

All unclaimed deposits/accounts that are part of the Depositor Education and Awareness (DEA) Fund of RBI can be searched in the UDGAM portal.
It facilitates the registered users to search unclaimed deposits/accounts across multiple banks in one place in a centralised manner.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI)has announced that 30 banks are now participating in the UDGAM portal, designed for individuals to search for their unclaimed deposits/accounts.
UDGAM — Unclaimed Deposits-Gateway to Access inforMation — is an online portal developed by RBI.

Exam Related Facts

As on March 4, 2024, there are 30 banks, which are part of UDGAM portal, and they cover around 90 per cent of unclaimed deposits (in value terms) in DEA Fund of RBI.
The unclaimed deposits totalled Rs 42,270 crore as of March 2023.

Appointment

Nayanthara appointed as Brand Ambassador of Slice

Nayanthara, known as ‘Lady Superstar’, is a critically acclaimed actress in Indian cinema. With this new association.
Slice aims to strengthen its connection with audiences, reaffirming its status as a beverage for mango enthusiasts.
Slice has become popular in households across the country for its mango flavor.
Slice has announced the appointment of actress Nayanthara as its latest brand ambassador.

Exam Related Facts

Recent Brand Ambassador

Hrithik Roshan – 3rd RuPay Prime Volleyball League
IRS Officer Narendra Kumar Yadav – Fit India Movement
Katie Moon – 19th edition of the Tata Mumbai Marathon ambassador
Katrina Kaif – Chennai Super Kings Team
Neeraj Chopra – BPCL’s Speed Petrol Variant
Rishabh Pant – Iodex Ultra Gel+

Awards

Tiger Woods honoured with USGA’s prestigious Bob Jones Award

This prestigious award recognizes Woods’ dedication to sportsmanship, his respect for the traditions of the game, and his significant charitable endeavors.
This award is the highest honour given to Tiger Woods by the United States Golf Association (USGA).
Renowned golfer Tiger Woodshas been selected for the Bob Jones Award, the US Golf Association’s (USGA) highest honour.

Exam Related Facts

Recent Awards

58th Jnanpith Award 2023 –Urdu poet Gulzar and Sanskrit scholar Jagadguru Rambhadracharya
France’s highest civilian honour ‘Chevalier de la Legion d’honneur’– Shashi Tharoor
Honorary Knighthood from King Charles III– Sunil Bharti Mittal
India-UK Achievers’ Award –Zoya Akhtar and Asma Khan
Innovative Technology Development Award– REC Ltd
Maharashtra Bhushan Award 2024– Dr. Pradeep Mahajan

Sports

Pat Cummins appointed as captain of Sunrisers Hyderabad for IPL 2024

Sunrisers Hyderabad has appointed Australian cricketer Pat Cummins as their new captain for the Indian Premier League 2024.
Cummins, who won the ICC World Test Championship and ICC Cricket World Cup with Aussies last year as a captain, replaces South African batter Aiden Markram as the franchise’s captain.

Exam Related Facts

Cummins was brought by SRH for Rs 20.5 crores in the IPL auctions held last year, making him the second-most expensive player in history.