1) Centre Unveiled Contours of ‘Electoral Bonds’ Scheme
•The Centre unveiled the contours of the ‘Electoral Bonds’ scheme, which seeks to ensure the flow of clean money to political parties, without revealing the donors’ names.
•As per the Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, the electoral bonds will be a bearer instrument in the nature of a Promissory Note and an interest-free banking instrument. A citizen of India or a body incorporated in India will be eligible to purchase the bond from specified branches of the State Bank of India.
•The bonds can be purchased for any value in multiples of Rs1,000; Rs10,000; Rs1 lakh; Rs10 lakh; and Rs1 crore.The bonds will not carry the name of the payee and will be valid only for 15 days during which it can be used to make a donation only to certain political parties.
2) Karnataka to Hold 'Largest B2B Travel Event' in the Country
•The Karnataka government announced that 'Karnataka International Travel Expo' (KITE) will be held from February 28, billing it as the "largest" B2B travel event in the country.
•The three-day event will see close to 400 delegates from 25 countries take part. The aim is to project Karnataka globally and attract tourist footfall, with emphasis on promoting the state's wildlife, luxury and adventure destinations, historical monuments and UNESCO world heritage sites.
3) 171st Araadhanai Music Festival Begins in Tamil Nadu
•The 171st Araadhanai Music Festival of one of the Trinities of Carnatic music Saint Thyagaraja begins in Thiruvaiyaru, Tamil Nadu. The festival was inaugurated by Governor Banwarilal Purohit.
•The main function of the festival is the choral singing of Thyagaraja’s five kritis in Ghana ragas. Over 1,000 musicians from all over the world are expected to pay homage to Saint Thygaraja during the course of the five-day festival.
4) Six Countries Enter UN Security Council
•Equatorial Guinea, Ivory Coast, Kuwait, Peru, Poland and the Netherlands formally joined the ranks of the non-permanent members of the United Nations Security Council to make a difference.
•The UN Security Council has 15 members, including five with permanent seats who have the power to veto resolutions - Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States. The six countries who left the UN Security Council recently are Egypt, Italy, Japan, Senegal, Ukraine and Uruguay.
5) UNESCO Enters Turkey's Endangered 'Bird Language' in Intangible Cultural Heritage List
•The unusual and very efficient whistle language commonly called "bird language" used as a means of communication by villagers in remote northern Turkey entered the UNESCO list of Intangible Cultural Heritage.
•UNESCO has accepted the "bird language" of Black Sea villagers as an endangered part of world heritage in need of urgent protection.
6) GAIL Commissions India's Second-Largest Rooftop Solar Plant in UP
•State-owned gas utility GAIL India Ltd has commissioned the country's second-largest rooftop solar power plant in Uttar Pradesh.
•The firm has installed a 5.76 MWp (Mega Watt peak) solar plant at its petrochemical complex at Pata in Uttar Pradesh. The plant over the roofs of warehouses covers a total area of 65,000 square meters.
7) No Charges on Debit Card Transactions up to Rs 2,000: Finance Ministry
•Customers will not have to pay any transaction charges for payments through debit card, BHIM app and other payment made for up to Rs 2,000.
•Union Cabinet had recently approved a proposal that government will bear the merchant discount rate (MDR) charges on transactions up to Rs 2,000 made through debit cards, BHIM UPI or Aadhaar-enabled payment systems to promote digital transactions.
•The merchant discount rate (MDR) will be borne by the government for two years with effect from January 1, 2018 by reimbursing the same to banks.
8) India's GDP Growth at 6.5% in FY18, will Accelerate to 7.6% in FY20: HSBC
•As per the HSBC report, India's growth rate is expected to accelerate at around 6.5 percent in 2017-18 and is likely to improve further to 7.6 percent by 2019-20.
•The result is expected as key sectors would revive from disruptions related to the implementation of GST and demonetisation.
