1. Reserve Bank of India launches UPI123Pay
Tags: Economy/Finance Popular
To make digital payment more accessible to the people, the Reserve Bank of India has launched UPI123Pay for people who do not have a smartphone .
UPI 123 Pay has been designed to make Unified Payment Interface (UPI) digital payment system more user friendly through feature phones .
Feature phones are normal phones which do not have internet connection and in India around 40 crore people use feature phones .
UPI123Pay includes four distinct options :
App-based Functionality:
An app would be installed on the feature phone through which several UPI functions, available on smartphones, will also be available on feature phones.
Missed Call:
This will allow feature phone users to access their bank account and perform routine transactions such as receiving, transferring funds, regular purchases, bill payments, etc., by giving a missed call on the number displayed at the merchant outlet. The customer will receive an incoming call to authenticate the transaction by entering UPI PIN (Personal Identification Number).
Interactive Voice Response (IVR):
UPI payment through pre-defined IVR numbers would require users to initiate a secured call from their feature phones to a predetermined number and complete UPI on-boarding formalities to be able to start making financial transactions without internet connection.
Proximity Sound-based Payments:
This uses sound waves to enable contactless, offline, and proximity data communication on any device.
This is not the first time that UPI facilities are being made available through a feature phone . UPI facility can be used through a Unstructured Supplementary Service Data(USSD) service.
Under this service the user has to dial *99# to receive a set of menus before initiating instructions. It was complicated and difficult to use and the new UPI123Pay is more easy to use .
UPI (Unified Payment Interface)
UPI was launched by NPCI(National Payment Corporation of India ) in 2016 . It provides an instant fund transfer system from one bank account to another through a mobile phone .
It is operational 24x7 and 365 days.
The maximum fund transfer limit is Rs 2 lakh per transaction.
Important for Exam
UPI :Unified Payment Interface
USSD: Unstructured Supplementary Service Data
Governor of RBI: Shaktikanta Das
Headquarter of RBI: Mumbai.
2. International Women's Day
Tags: Popular Important Days
8 March is celebrated around the world as International Women's Day. It was observed for the first time in 1911.
Theme of 2022 International women's day : “gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow”.
That is, gender equality is necessary in society for a stable and equal tomorrow.
The colours of Women's Day are purple, green and white. Because purple is a symbol of justice and dignity. On the other hand, green colour symbolises hope and white colour symbolises peace and purity.
3. 4th Jan Aushadi Diwas celebrated
Tags: Popular Important Days
Jan Aushadi Diwas is celebrated in India on 7 March every year .
Every year from 1 to 7 March is celebrated as the Jan Aushadhi Week to generate awareness about the usage of generic medicines and benefits of Jan Aushadhi Pariyojana..
The theme of the Jan Aushadhi week 2022 was “Jan Aushadhi-Jan Upyogi”.
What is Jan Aushadhi
Jan Aushadhi or generic drugs (medicine) is a type of medicine on which the patent has expired . The generic medicine has the same chemical composition of the original patented one and provides the same benefit.
What is Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadi Yojana (PMBJY)
The scheme was launched by the Department of Pharmaceuticals, Union Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers in 2008.
What is its aim
It aims to provide quality generic medicine to the public at affordable prices .
4. Shane warne passed away
Tags: Popular Person in news
Australian leg spinner and one of the greats of the game of cricket died of a suspected heart attack in Thailand on 4 March 2022. He was 52 years of age.
Warne was staying on the island of Koh Samui, around 600km south of Bangkok in the Gulf of Thailand.
He played international cricket for Australia from 1992 and 2007. He played his first test against India in 1992 . He took 708 test match wickets. In 194 One Day International matches he took 293 wickets .
He was the second highest wicket taker in test matches after Muttiah Muralidhran of Sri Lanka’s 800.
He played in the Indian Premier League (IPL) for Rajasthan Royals team . He was the captain of the side and led them to the title championship in the inaugural IPL 2008 championship.
He was selected as one of the five Wisden cricketers of the century after Don Bardman, Sir Garfield Sobers, Sir Jack Hobbes and the fifth one was Vivian Richards.
5. Russia Captures, Ukraine’s Nuclear Complex
Tags: Popular International News
Russian troops have taken control of the Ukrainian Zaporizhzhia nuclear complex.
Zaporizhzhia nuclear complex is the largest nuclear plant in Europe and fifth largest in the world.
The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant has an installed capacity of 6,000MW.
It provides one-fifth of Ukraine's electricity needs.
Zaporizhzhia nuclear complex is in southeastern Ukraine near the city of Enerhodar.
Russia has already captured the Chernobyl nuclear plant of Ukraine , which was the site of a major nuclear accident in 1986.
Important for Exam
The largest Nuclear Power plant in the world is Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant in Japan with an installed capacity of 7,965MW.
India’s largest nuclear power plant is at Kudankulam, Tamil Nadu with an installed capacity of 2000 MW and additional 2000 MW is under construction . It is being built with the help of Russia .
Note-Update on Russian -Ukrainian war Click Here
6. Fifth United Nations Environment Assembly resolves to end plastic pollution
The Fifth session of the United Nation Environment Assembly (UNEA) adopted a resolution to tackle the pollution created by plastics .The United Nation Environment Assembly resumed its second session also called as (UNEA 5.2) at the Kenynian capital Nairobi. It was held from 28th February 2022 to 2nd March 2022.
The environment ministers from 175 of the United Nation member countries agreed to establish an intergovernmental negotiating committee to work out an international legally binding agreement to end plastic pollution.
Plastics are polymeric materials made from petroleum which do not decay naturally. They are non-biodegradable and can exist for a very long time in nature. Single use plastics which are thin cannot be recycled and it ends up in polluting rivers, oceans, mountains soil etc.
Steps taken by Indian government to tackle plastic pollution
The government of India has set a target to eliminate single use plastics by 2022. Single use plastics cannot be reused and are thrown away after use.
According to the Government of India,the manufacture, import, stocking, distribution, sale and use of following single-use plastic, including polystyrene and expanded polystyrene, commodities shall be prohibited with effect from the 1st July, 2022.
The thickness of plastic carry bags has been increased from fifty microns to one hundred and twenty microns with effect from the 31st December, 2022. This will also allow reuse of plastic carry due to increase in thickness.
United Nation Environment Programme (UNEP)
- The United Nations Environment Programme was set up in 1972 after the United Nation Conference on Human Environment was held in Stockholm, Sweden in 1972.
- In 1988 it set up Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) with World Meteorological Organisation
- Headquarters : Nairobi, Kenya
- Director: Inger Andersen
7. Indian Air Force joins Operation Ganga
Tags: Popular National News
To accelerate the pace of evacuation from war torn Ukraine, the Government of India has pressed the Indian Airforce in the operation Ganga .
The Indian Air Force transport plane C-17 Globemaster was pressed into service and sent to Romania, Hungary, and Poland from the Hindon airbase.
All the aircraft carry tents, blankets, and other humanitarian aid for Ukraine.The Aircraft has a seating capacity of 158.
India bought the C-17 Globemaster from America and the first C-17 Globemaster was inducted in 2013 in the Indian Air Force . Presently the IAF has a fleet of 11 C-17 Globemaster IIIs.
Outside the United States, India has the largest fleet of C-17 Globemaster aircraft in the world.
The Indian Air Force had deployed its C-17 Globemasters aircraft for evacuation operations of Indians stuck in Afghanistan when the country fell into the hands of Taliban under operation Dev Shakti.
Note- 28 feb news to be update Click Here
8. Shri Rajeev Chandrasekhar inaugurates Tech Conclave 2022
Union Minister of State for Electronics & Information Technology, Shri Rajeev Chandrashekhar inaugurated the 3rd edition of ‘NIC Tech Conclave 2022’,at New Delhi on 3 March 2022.
The tech conclave is being organized by the National Informatics Centre(NIC) on 3rd and 4th March 2022 with focus on emerging technologies applicable especially in e-Governance.
The Theme for Tech Conclave this year is “Next Gen Technologies for Digital Government”.
9. World Hearing Day
Tags: Popular Important Days
Every year March 3rd is celebrated as “World Hearing Day” by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
The Theme for the World Hearing Day 2022 is "To hear for life, listen with care".
According to WHO, the day was created in 2007 in a bid to raise awareness about deafness. It was then called International Ear Day, but the name was changed to World Hearing Day in 2016.
10. Divya Deshmukh is the National women chess champion
Tags: Sports Popular Person in news
16 years old Divya Deshmukh of Maharashtra won the 47th MPL National women chess title on 2 March 2022.
The National Chess championship was held at Bhubaneshwar, Odisha.
It was her first senior level chess title.
Sakshi Chitalange came second and N. Priyanka came at the third position.
