1) Centre Launches Official Website of India Toy Fair 2021
•The Government of India will organise the first-ever ‘The India Toy Fair, 2021′ from February 27, 2021, to March 02, 2021, on a virtual platform. The official website for India Toy Fair-2021 is www.theindiatoyfair.in. This initiative is in line with the Prime Minister’s vision of making India a global hub for the Toy Industry.
•The website and online registration were inaugurated on February 11, 2021, jointly by the Union Education Minister, Dr Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’, Union Minister of Textiles, Smt. Smriti Zubin Irani and Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Shri Piyush Goyal.
2) New Development Bank Commits $100 million in NIIF Fund of Funds
•The New Development Bank (NDB) has committed to invest USD 100 million (Rs 727.6 crore), into the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund Limited (NIIF) Fund of Funds (FoF). With NDB’s investment, the total commitments secured by the FoF has reached $800 million (about Rs 5,820 crore). This investment marks NDB’s first equity investment into India and its first-ever investment into a Fund of Funds.
•Currently, the Government of India (GoI), Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and Asian Development Bank (ADB) are the investor in the FoF. Now NDB has joined the group. The FoF was established in 2018 with the objective of providing homegrown Indian private equity fund managers access to an India-focused institutional investor that operates at scale.
3) Indian Navy undertaking exercise “TROPEX” in Indian Ocean Region
•The Indian Navy is carrying out a mega war game involving almost all operational assets like warships, submarines and aircraft over a vast geographical expanse in the Indian Ocean Region to test the force’s combat readiness in a complex multi-dimensional scenario. The biennial ‘Theatre Level Operational Readiness Exercise (TROPEX)’ aims to validate the Navy’s offensive as well as defence capabilities and safeguard national interests in the maritime domain besides promoting peace and stability in the Indian Ocean.
•The exercise is being conducted over a vast geographical expanse in the Indian Ocean Region including its adjunct waters and is aimed at testing combat readiness of the Navy in a complex multi-dimensional scenario set in the context of the current geostrategic environment.
4) “Koozhangal” Wins Tiger Award at Rotterdam International Film Festival 2021
•The Tamil film “Koozhangal” has won “Tiger” award, at the 50th edition of the International Film Festival Rotterdam 2021. The Tiger award is the top honour of the festival, given for best film. Koozhangal (meaning Pebbles) has been Produced by Nayanthara and directed by Vinod Raj PS.
•This is the second Indian film to win this international award and the first Tamil Film. The first Indian film was “Durga” directed by the Malayalam director Shashidharan. The Tiger Award worth Euro 40,000 cash prize, is shared between the director and producer of the winning film.
5) RBI Organises Financial Literacy Week from February 8-12
•The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has launched the Financial Literacy Week (FLW) from February 8-12, 2021, to propagate financial education. RBI conducts Financial Literacy Week (FLW) every year since 2016 to propagate financial education messages on a particular theme every year across the country, through a focused campaign.
•The theme for 2021 FLW is ”Credit Discipline and Credit from Formal Institutions”.
•Banks have been advised to disseminate the information and create awareness among its customers and the general public. Further, RBI will undertake a centralized mass media campaign during the month of February 2021 to broadcast essential financial awareness messages to the general public.
6) Satishwar Balakrishnan appointed as Aegon Life’s MD & CEO
•Aegon Life Insurance, India’s first digital-only life insurance company, elevated Satishwar Balakrishnan to be the Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer. Prior to joining Aegon Life, he has worked with IndiaFirst Life, Reliance Life and ICICI Prudential Life. He is a Chartered Accountant by qualification.
•Satishwar, who joined the company in July 2019 as Chief Financial Officer, will spearhead Aegon Life’s transformation into a digital-only life insurance company.
7) Meghalaya police inks MoU with SBI for e-Challan
•A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between the Meghalaya police and the State Bank of India for implementation of the e-Challan within the jurisdiction of the Shillong Traffic Police (STP). The e-Challan system which will be launched in the days to come is a digital traffic enforcement solution whereby, imposing penalties on violators of traffic rules and generating of challan will be done digitally.
8) Jual Oram launches book on economic awareness in India
•Chairperson of the Standing Committee on Defence and MP Jual Oram has launched ‘Turn Around India: 2020- Surmounting Past Legacy’, a book on creating economic awareness among masses. The book is authored by RP Gupta.
9) RBI releases Annual Report of Ombudsman Schemes for 2019-20
•Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has released the Annual Report of the Ombudsman Schemes for the year 2019-20. There was an increase of around 65 per cent in the receipt of complaints out of which almost 92 per cent have been disposed of. RBI has three Ombudsman- Banking, Non-Banking Finance Company (i.e. NBFC) and digital transactions. A common man can approach this Ombudsman for their grievances.
•As per the RBI’s report, all three received in total 3,30,543 complaints in 19-20 as compared to 2,00,362 in 18-19. Banking Ombudsman received major complaints regarding ATM & Debit Cards, Mobile & Electronic Banking while NBFC’s Ombudsmen received most complaints about non-observance of regulatory guidelines, lack of transparency in contract/ loan agreement and levy of charges without notice.
10) Manasa Varanasi crowned VLCC Femina Miss India World 2020
•Telangana-based Manasa Varanasi has been crowned as the winner of VLCC Femina Miss India World 2020. Manasa Varanasi was crowned by the winner of Miss India 2019, Suman Ratan Singh Rao from Rajasthan. The 23-year-old will now represent India at the 70th Miss World pageant in December 2021. Born in Hyderabad, Manasa Varanasi is an engineer by profession and works as a financial information exchange analyst.
11) Samarpan Diwas: Deen Dayal Upadhyay Death Anniversary
•Prime Minister Narendra Modi pays floral tribute to former Bharatiya Jana Sangh leader Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya on his 53rd death anniversary as part of ‘Samarpan Diwas’, in New Delhi on Feb. 11, 2021.
•Deendayal Upadhyaya was an Indian politician and thinker of right-wing Hindutva ideology espoused by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, and leader of the political party Bharatiya Jana Sangh, the forerunner of Bharatiya Janata Party.
