DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS

By admin: Feb. 2, 2023

Budget 2023-24

Tags: Economy/Finance

Equatorial Guinea appoints Manuela Roka Botey as first female PM

Tags: Person in news International News

Equatorial Guinea has appointed Manuela Roka Botey as prime minister on 31 January. 

An overview of the news 

• She is the first woman in the country to reach this position.

• She was appointed by President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo who has ruled the country since 1979.

• Bote, who was the deputy minister of education in the West African country, replaced Francisco Pascual Obama Asue, who held the position of prime minister for nearly eight years.

• The country of about 1.5 million people has had only two presidents since independence from Spain in 1968.

• Obiang overthrew his uncle, Francisco Macías Nguema, in a coup in August 1979.

Equatorial Guinea 

• It is located on the west coast of Africa.

• Capital: Malabo

• President: Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo

• Currency -franc

MISHTI, Amrit Dharohar, PM PRANAM ecological conservation initiative in the budget

Tags: Environment National News

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's budget speech launched various schemes and policies aimed at ecological conservation.

An overview of the news

• Targeting various ecological issues, these schemes come with the promise of preserving the ecological health of India.

• The newly introduced schemes are MISHTI, Amrit Dharohar and PM PRANAM.

MISHTI (Mangrove Initiative for Shoreline Habitats & Tangible Incomes)

• This is a new scheme which will facilitate mangrove plantation on salt lands along the sea coast of India.

• The scheme will operate through “convergence between MGNREGS, Campa Fund and other sources”.

• It aims at intensive afforestation of coastal mangrove forests.

• There are such forests on both the east and west coasts of India, with the Sundarbans in Bengal being one of the largest mangrove forests.

Amrit Dharohar

• The scheme will be implemented over the next three years to encourage optimum use of wetlands and enhance biodiversity, carbon stock, ecotourism opportunities and income generation for local communities.

• It will emphasise on the importance of lakes and their conservation.

PM PRANAM (Prime Minister Programme for Restoration, Awareness, Nourishment and Amelioration of Mother Earth)

• The program will endeavour to encourage States and Union Territories promoting balanced use of alternative fertilisers and chemical fertilisers.

• It aims to reduce the subsidy burden of the government, which is estimated to reach Rs 2.25 lakh crore in 2022-23.

Bhartiya Prakritik Kheti Bio-Input Resource Centres

• To adopt "natural farming", 10,000 bio-input processing centers will be set up.

• These centers will form a nationally distributed micro fertilizer and pesticide manufacturing network.

• This will affect more than 1 crore farmers in the next three years.

Union Budget 2023: Unity Malls to be set up in states

Tags: Economy/Finance National News

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced in the budget that states would be encouraged to set up "Unity Malls" in their capitals and most prominent tourist centres.

What is a unity mall?

• The main objective behind setting up Unity Mall is to promote ODOP (One District, One Product) of the states.

• These products may be depicted as having a Geographical Indication tag. Other handicraft products will also be sold in these malls.

• The Center will also request the states to sell such products from other states as well.

• Currently, there is a Unity Mall operating near the Statue of Unity at Ekta Nagar in Kevadia, Gujarat.

What is ODOP?

• One District, One Product (ODOP) is a government initiative aimed at making regional products more accessible by providing capital to producers.

• Under the scheme, the state identifies the main product for a district, and then provides assistance for its processing, storage and marketing.

• These products can be perishable agricultural products, grain-based products or food products such as mangoes, potatoes, meat and fish.

What is GI?

• Geographical Indication (GI) tags are usually given to well-known products coming from a particular region.

• These products also include agricultural products, manufactured goods or other food items including prepared dishes.

• Basically it is like branding a particular product.

• For example, the GI tag for Darjeeling tea has been given to Darjeeling.

Former PM Manmohan Singh conferred Lifetime Achievement Honour in UK

Tags: Awards

Former prime minister of India Dr Manmohan Singh was conferred a Lifetime Achievement Honour by the India-UK Achievers Honours in London for his contribution to economic and political life.

An overview of the news

• The award will be handed over to Dr Singh in New Delhi by the National Indian Students and Alumni Union (NISAU) UK.

• The India-UK Achievers Honors is organised by the National Association of Indian Students and Alumni UK in partnership with the British Council in India and the UK's Department for International Trade (DIT).

• The 'Life Time Achievement Honor' recognizes Dr Manmohan Singh's contribution to the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge.

• 75 people who have achieved achievements in various fields have been honoured with this honour while some people have been honoured with 'Outstanding Achievers'.

• Lord Karan Bilimoria, a British citizen of Indian origin, was honoured with the 'Living Legend Honor' at a ceremony held on 25 January.

• Britain's opposition Labor Party MP Virendra Sharma was also honoured with the 'Living Legend Honor'.

• Dr. Manmohan Singh, a 90-year-old economist, served as the Prime Minister of India from 2004–2014.

National Commission for Women organises Panel Discussion on theme 'Sashakt Nari Sashakt Bharat'

Tags: National News

The National Commission for Women organised a panel discussion on the topic 'Empowering Women Empowering India' as part of its Foundation Day (January 31) celebrations.

An overview of the news

• The Commission for Women organised a two-day program to celebrate its 31st Foundation Day from January 31, 2023 to February 1, 2023.

• President Draupadi Murmu also participated in the Foundation Day function of the National Commission for Women.

• On the occasion, the President received the first copy of the National Commission for Women's book 'Sashakt Nari Sashakt Bharat' from the Union Minister for Women and Child Development, Smriti Zubin Irani.

• It aims to honour the experiences of women who have done excellent work and paved the way for themselves to leave their mark.

• National Commission for Women Chairperson Rekha Sharma was also present on the occasion.

National Commission for Women (NCW)

• It was founded in January 1992 as a statutory body under the National Commission for Women Act, 1990.

• It was established to review constitutional and legal safeguards for women, recommend remedial legislative measures, and advise the government on policy matters affecting women.

• It consists of a chairman, a member secretary and five other members who are nominated by the central government.

• At least one member should belong to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes respectively.

Alkesh Kumar Sharma inaugurates G20 Cyber Security Exercise and Drill

Tags: National News

Alkesh Kumar Sharma, Secretary, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, inaugurated the G20 Cyber Security Exercise and Drill for over 400 domestic and international participants under India's G20 Presidency in New Delhi on 31 January.

An overview of the news

• This cyber security exercise and drill was conducted in hybrid mode (physical and virtual) by the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team.

• International participants from more than 12 countries participated in it through online mode.

• Domestic participants from various sectors such as Finance, Education, Telecom, Ports & Shipping, Energy and IT/ITES participated in person as well as in virtual mode.

• Cyber incidents are changing rapidly and affecting not only one nation but also having international ramifications.

• Countering cyber attacks requires resilience for which there is an urgent need to act collectively.

• The first table top exercise focused on Crisis Management and Crisis Communication was conducted for the Board and Top Management on the theme "Synergy to Counter Global Cyber Crisis".

• The second table top exercise, an operational drill was designed for CISOs and mid-management on the theme "Building Collective Cyber Resilience".

• The entire scenario for the exercise was modeled from real life cyber incidents which included cyber extortion, data breach, supply chain attacks and disruptions.

Indian men's hockey team chief coach Graham Reid resigns

Tags: Person in news Sports News

Indian men's hockey team head coach Graham Reid on January 30 resigned from his post following the host nation's exit from the recently concluded World Cup.

An overview of the news

• The 58-year-old Australian coach submitted his resignation to Hockey India president Dilip Tirkey a day after the World Cup concluded in Bhubaneswar, where Germany emerged as champions after beating Belgium in a penalty shoot-out.

• Reid, who was appointed India's coach in April 2019, led the team to a historic bronze medal win at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.

• After taking over as the head coach of the Indian men's hockey team in 2019, Graham Reid went on to coach the team to a historic bronze medal win at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

• After this, under his leadership, the Indian men's hockey team was successful in winning the silver medal in the Commonwealth Games 2022 held in Birmingham and India finished third in the FIH Pro League 2021-22.

• In addition to Reid, analytical coach Greg Clark and scientific advisor Mitchell David Pemberton also tendered their resignations.