Daily Current Affairs 3rd February, 2022

Daily Current Affairs 3 February 2022 for Banking/Insurance/SSC and other related exams.

NATIONAL NEWS

Govt provides financial assistance of Rs. 18.18 Cr for each Apparel and Garment Making Center in North East States
Government is providing financial assistance of 18.18 crore rupees for each Apparel and Garment Making Center in North East states for infrastructure capacity building under North East Region Textile Promotion Scheme. This information was given by the Minister of state for Textiles Darshana Jardosh in a written reply in the Lok Sabha.

• Each Apparel and Garment Making Centers consisting of three units of 100 machines is set up with 100 per cent Government funding and the facilities are made available to entrepreneurs having background in textiles for starting their units.

Government approves continuation of scheme for Assistance to National Sports Federations
The government has approved continuation of Scheme of Assistance to National Sports Federations with an outlay of one thousand 575 crore rupees for 15th Finance Commission Cycle 2021-22 to 2025-26.

• The Scheme of Assistance to National Sports Federations is the flagship Central Sector Scheme and the main source of funding for the preparation of national teams for all major national and international competitions.
• These include the Olympic Games, Para-Olympics, Asian Games, Commonwealth Games and other major international tournaments.

Famous Mandu Festival held in Madhya Pradesh 
In Madhya Pradesh, the 3-day Mandu Festival held at Mandu in the historic town of Dhar district.

• The festival is organised by the state government of Madhya Pradesh to showcase each and every aspect of the ancient Mandu city, ranging from food, music, history & heritage, art & craft etc.

Global Center of Excellence in Affordable and Clean Energy (GCoE-ACE) launched at IIT Dharwad.
Global Center of Excellence in Affordable and Clean Energy (GCoE-ACE) launched at IIT Dharwad, Karnataka.This center is supported by the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) donation from HHSIF.

• The first phase of the CSR project with HHSIF is to establish equipment for the GCoE-ACE mainly as skill development, fabrication, and R&D equipment.
• The subsequent phases are envisaged to encourage innovation and to provide incubation support for the solutions in the affordable and clean-energy domain.

Spituk Gustor Festival 2022 begins in Ladakh
Spituk Gustor, the annual celebrations of Ladakhi culture and traditional heritage began as the hostile weather condition prevailed in the Union Territory.

• People thronged the Spituk Monastery to witness the Spituk Monastery’s yearly enchanting colourful festival of the Monastery. Spituk Monastery is 8 kilometres from Leh.
• The main attraction of the festival was the colourful mask dance locally called Chams performed by the monks of the monastery in their best robes depicting different deities such Mahakala (Gonbo), Paldan Lhamo (Shridevi), White Mahakala, Protector Deity

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Sri Lanka to buy fuel from Indian Oil to tide over energy crisis
Sri Lanka has decided to purchase petrol and diesel, 40,000 metric tonnes each, from the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), according to a Cabinet note, as part of the government’s bid to tide over the current fuel and energy crisis faced by the island nation.

• The move came weeks after Power Minister Gamini Lokuge said that Sri Lanka will hold talks with the Indian Oil Corporation’s local entity, amidst a severe foreign exchange crisis.
• The Lanka IOC, the Sri Lankan subsidiary of India’s oil major Indian Oil Corporation, has been in operation in Sri Lanka since 2002.

BANKING & FINANCE

PNB launches co-branded credit card with Patanjali in partnership with RuPay
Punjab National Bank (PNB), and Patanjali Ayurved Limited (PAL) have launched co-branded credit cards in partnership with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).

• The co-branded credit cards are offered on NCPI’s RuPay Platform and is available in two variants – PNB RuPay Platinum and PNB RuPay Select.
• These cards come with a host of benefits and purchase-based waivers for customers. They offer a hassle-free credit service to purchase day-to-day Patanjali products, along with cash backs, loyalty points, insurance cover, and more.

Dukaan partners with Simpl to Provide Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) Services to its merchants
Dukaan, a platform that enables small and medium-sized businesses to set up online stores and sell products digitally, has partnered with Simpl, a marquee buy-now-pay-later platform, to provide BNPL services to Dukaan’s merchants.

• The application has integrated with numerous service providers from logistics to fulfillment and is aiming to build the operating system for the modern D2C brand. In addition, Dukaan has made an application marketplace for further customization of online stores.

BUSINESS & ECONOMY

Vedanta ties up Rs 8K cr facility with Union Bank to take over syndicated facility
Metal and mining giant Vedanta Ltd said it has tied up a facility of ₹8,000 crore with Union Bank of India at 7.75% to take over majority of the syndicated facility after discussions with lenders.

• During 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Vedanta Ltd had tied up a syndicated facility of ₹10K crores with the State Bank of India as the lead bank at a running cost of 10.5 per cent.

Maharashtra tops list of newly recognised startups and unicorns
As per the recently presented Economic Survey 2021-22, Maharashtra tops the list of newly recognised startups and unicorns.

• According to an official statement, Maharashtra alone recognised 11,308 of the fourteen thousand startups that began operations in the current financial year.
• Out of the 44 companies that achieved the unicorn status, 11 are based in the state.

India’s GDP expected to grow 7.8% in FY23: Crisil Report
Domestic rating agency CRISIL estimated FY23 real GDP growth at 7.8 per cent as compared with the 8.5 per cent projected in the Economic Survey.

• Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s Budget proposals focused on loosening the purse strings by boosting capital expenditure and going slow on fiscal consolidation are aimed in the right direction, the rating agency said.

ACQUISITIONS & MERGERS

Sony buys ‘Destiny’ game developer Bungie for $3.6 billion
Sony Group Corp. is purchasing Bungie Inc., the U.S. video game developer behind the popular Destiny and Halo franchises, for $3.6 billion to bolster its stable of game-making studios.

• The deal announced by Sony Interactive Entertainment is the third significant video-game acquisition this month, following Microsoft Corp.’s purchase of Activision Blizzard Inc. for $69 billion two weeks ago and Take Two Interactive Corp.

AWARDS

New Zealand’s Daryl Mitchell Named ICC Spirit Of Cricket Award Winner
New Zealand’s Daryl Mitchell has been named the recipient of the ICC Spirit of Cricket Award after his gesture in the 2021 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup semi-final against England in Abu Dhabi.

• As a result, Mitchell has become the fourth New Zealand player to win the award, following the footsteps of Daniel Vettori, Brendon McCullum and Kane Williamson.
• Mitchell wins the award for refusing to take a single in the high-pressure T20 World Cup semi-final against England in Abu Dhabi on November 10, 2021.

Hoysala temples in Karnataka nominated for World Heritage Sites list ‪2022-23‬
The Hoysala temples of Belur, Halebid and Somnathapura in Karnataka have been selected as India’s nomination for UNESCO’s list of World Heritage sites for the year 2022-23.

• The ‘Sacred Ensembles of the Hoysala’ have been on UNESCO’s Tentative list since 15 April, 2014, and stand testimony to the rich historical and cultural heritage of this country.
• As of July 2021, a total of 1,154 World Heritage Sites (897 cultural, 218 natural, and 39 mixed properties) exist across 167 countries. With 58 selected areas, Italy is the country with the most sites on the list.

Games24x7 appoints Hrithik Roshan as brand ambassador of skill gaming platform RummyCircle
Mumbai-headquartered online gaming company Games24x7 has roped in Bollywood star Hrithik Roshan as brand ambassador for its online skill gaming platform, RummyCircle.

• The company wants to promote Rummy as a highly engaging game of skill in northern India, where the game is yet to gain popularity.

Gujarat, UP sanctuaries listed as Ramsar sites on International Wetlands Day
Two more wetlands in India were declared as Ramsar sites, taking the total number of protected sites in the country to 49, Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav said at an event marking the celebration of World Wetlands Day on February 2,2022 at Sultanpur National Park.

• Khijadia Wildlife Sanctuary in Gujarat and Bakhira Wildlife Sanctuary in Uttar Pradesh have been recognised as wetlands of international importance under the Ramsar Convention.

China honours PLA Galwan commander as Winter Olympics torchbearer
India said that its charge d’affaires at the embassy in Beijing city will not attend the opening or closing ceremonies of the 2022 Winter Olympics after China’s decision to choose a People’s Liberation Army regiment commander who was involved in the Galwan Valley clash as a torchbearer.

• Following the announcement, chief of Prasar Bharati Shashi Shekhar Vempati said that Doordarshan will not telecast the opening or closing ceremonies of the Winter Olympics.

BOOKS & AUTHORS 

‘Last Among Equals’ book by MR Sharan
The book titled ‘Last Among Equals: Power, Caste, and Politics in Bihar’s Villages’ written by MR Sharan has been released recently.

• The book is an account of the author’s field study in a group of villages in Bihar that he undertook as part of his PhD programme.
• This book describes the formidable spirit shown by the poor to succeed against all odds.

India’s 1st Season Style Book ‘The Class of 2006: Sneak Peek into the Misadventures of the Great Indian Engineering Life’, written by Akash Kansal
India’s first-ever season style book ‘The Class of 2006: Sneak Peek into the Misadventures of the Great Indian Engineering Life’, written by management professional Akash Kansal, was launched virtually amidst one of the biggest book launch ceremonies of the year at IIT Kanpur & Delhi Technological University.

• The book was released on Amazon Kindle by talented Indian film actor, writer, director, and producer R. Madhavan, who has starred in hit movies like 3 Idiots, Rehna Hai Tere Dil Mein, and recently seen in Decoupled streaming on Netflix.
• The book is a new age fiction book written with a self-help bias and capturing the changing trends of content consumption by the younger generation of India as well as globally too.

‘India, That is Bharat: Coloniality, Civilisation, Constitution’ book by J Sai Deepak
The book titled ‘India, That is Bharat: Coloniality, Civilisation, Constitution’ book by J Sai Deepak has been released recently.

• The book is the first part of a comprehensive trilogy, which examines the far reaching impact of European ‘colonial consciousness’ on Bharat. Upon a thorough reading of the book, what really lingers is the well-researched arguments put forth.

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