1) India receives three more Rafale Fighter Jets from France
•Three more Rafale fighter aircraft landed in India from France, with Indian specific enhancements. With this new arrival of the three jets, the total Rafale fleet with Indian Air Force (IAF) has reached 35. The 36th and final aircraft will arrive in India from France by March- April 2022, and will be a trainer aircraft.
India-France Rafale Deal:
•In September 2016, India exchanged a Rs 59,000 crore deal with France for 36 Rafale fighter jets. The first batch of five Rafale jets had arrived in India on July 29 last year. India and France had signed the inter-government agreement in 2016, under which Paris agreed to provide 36 Rafale fighter jets to New Delhi.
2) India’s NIUA and WEF to collaborate on sustainable cities development programme
•World Economic Forum (WEF) and the National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to collaborate on a jointly designed ‘Sustainable Cities India program’. The program aims to create an enabling environment for cities to generate decarbonization solutions across the energy, transport, and built environment sectors.
•This initiative is particularly noteworthy as it comes after the Honorable Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated India’s commitment to turn net-zero by 2070 as a climate mitigation response at COP26.
3) PM-Kisan 3rd Anniversary, transferred Rs 1.80 lakh to farmers accounts directly
•About 11.78 crore farmers as of February 22, 2022, have been benefitted under the PM Kisan scheme. The amount worth Rs1.82 lakh crore have been disbursed to eligible beneficiaries across India in various intervals. During the current Covid 19 epidemic period, Rs. 1.29 lakh crore has been released.
Self-registration Mechanism:
•It is the process of self-registration of beneficiaries that has been simplified and made easier through mobile app, PM KISAN portal and walk-ins via Common Service Centers to provide maximum benefit to the farmers.
Enhanced Recovery Mechanism:
•In this the recovery process has been made very simple and transparent, with the state not having to submit a Demand Draft or a physical check, in the case of ineligible beneficiaries. The method comprises an automatic transfer beginning with a state nodal department’s account to a central government account, making it incredibly efficient and time-saving.
Grievance Redressal & Helpdesk:
•A holistic grievance redressal mechanism has been anticipated to address the issues and problems faced by the beneficiaries, which includes the establishment of a central Project Management Unit of PM KisanSammanNidhiYojana at the Centre which is responsible for the all-inclusive coordination to streamline the processes between all the stakeholders. In order to support the beneficiaries regarding any issues faced at the time of the registration process or any related query, a centralised helpdesk has also been incorporated. About 11.34 lakh farmer problems were received through this initiative, with the respective state authorities addressing more than 10.92 lakh of them.
Physical Verification Module:
•According to the scheme’s guidelines, a mandated physical verification of 5% of beneficiaries is conducted every year to ensure the scheme’s legitimacy and legality. The selection of beneficiaries for physical verification has been completely automated with the aid of the Physical Verification Module, and no manual intervention is needed. After the payments for the last trimester on May 14, 2021, a new module has been implemented for the validation of 10% of the recipients.
About the PM Kisan scheme:
•PM-KISAN is a centre sectored scheme which was launched on 24th February 2019 to substitute monetary needs of landholding farmers. The monetary benefit of Rs 6000/- per year in three equal instalments, every four-month, 3 times a year, it is transferred into the bank accounts of the families of the farmers across the country through Direct Benefit Transfer or DBT mode. The scheme was in the starting meant for small and marginal farmers having landholding upto 2 hectares but then the scope of the scheme was extended to cover all landholding farmers with effect from 01.06.2019.
4) Vande Bharatam’s signature tune released by Minister of State for Culture
•Minister of State for Culture & External Affairs, Meenakashi Lekhi has released a signature tune for ‘Vande Bharatam’. The tune is composed by Grammy Award winner Ricky Kej and Oscar contender Bickram Ghosh. It was produced for Vande Bharatam, Nritya Utsav of Ministry of Culture presented at Rajpath, New Delhi for Republic Day event 2022. It was followed by the fascinating live performance by composers of Vande Bharatam song Ricky Kej and Bikram Ghosh.
•The two musicians, Ricky kej and Bickram Ghosh shared that it is an honour for them to have given the score for Vande Bharatam which is a very rich piece of music and is based on Indian traditions but also has modern features and fusion. The Ministry of Defence handed over the special trophy to the Ministry of Culture in recognition of its exemplary efforts during the Republic day Event 2022.
5) US Boeing delivers 12th P-8I maritime patrol aircraft to India
•The Indian Navy has received the 12th anti-submarine warfare aircraft P-8I from the US-based aerospace company Boeing. This is the fourth of four additional aircraft, for which the contract was signed in 2016. The Ministry of Defence had signed a contract for eight P-8I aircraft in 2009. However, later in 2016, it signed a contract for four additional P-8I aircraft.
•In May 2021, the US State Department approved the proposed sale of six P-8I patrol aircraft and related equipment, a deal estimated to cost 2.42 billion dollars.
6) Indian Navy’s multilateral exercise Milan 2022 kick-off
•The latest edition of the Indian Navy’s multilateral exercise MILAN 2022 is commencing from 25 Feb 22 in the ‘City of Destiny’, Visakhapatnam. MILAN 22 is being conducted over a duration of 9 days in two phases with the harbour phase scheduled from 25 to 28 February and Sea Phase from 01 to 04 March. India is celebrating the 75th year of its independence in 2022, and MILAN 22 provides an opportunity to commemorate this milestone with our friends and partners.
7) G Kishan Reddy inaugurate a conference on Indian temple architecture ‘Devayatanam’
•Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) of Ministry of Culture, Government of India is organizing a two-day international conference ‘Devayatanam – An odyssey of Indian temple architecture on 25th – 26th February 2022 at Hampi, Karnataka. The Union Minister for Culture, Tourism and DoNER, G Kishan Reddy inaugurates the conference.
8) HUL named Nitin Paranjpe as non-executive Chairman
•Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) has announced the separation of the position of Chairman of the Board and the CEO & Managing Director of the company. Nitin Paranjpe has been appointed as the Non-Executive Chairman of the company with effect from March 31, 2022. He is currently serving as Chief Operating Officer of Unilever, the parent company of HUL. Sanjiv Mehta will continue to be the Chief Executive Officer & Managing Director (CEO & MD) of the company.
•The Board accepted the recommendation made by the NRC and has appointed Paranjpe as a Non-Executive Chairman. The appointment is subject to approval of the shareholders which the Company will seek as per applicable regulations.
9) Moody’s revised India’s growth estimates to 9.5% in CY2022
•Moody’s has revised India’s economic growth estimates in the Current Year 2022 upwards to 9.5 per cent from 7 per cent on stronger than expected recovery after a lockdown in 2020 and Covid-19’s Delta wave in 2021. It maintained a forecast for 5.5 per cent growth in CY2023. In its update on Global Macro Outlook 2022-23 today, Moody’s said sales tax collection, retail activity and Purchasing Managers Index suggest solid momentum. However, high oil prices and supply distortions remain a drag on growth for India.
10) A book title ‘The Great Tech Game’ penned by Anirudh Suri
•Indian author, Anirudh Suri has come out with his new book titled “The Great Tech Game: Shaping Geopolitics and the Destinies of Nations.’ It has been published by HarperCollins India. In this book, the author lays out a roadmap for how any country must develop its own strategic plan to succeed in this technology-dominant era.
11) Rakesh Sharma again appointed as MD & CEO of IDBI Bank
•Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI Bank) has informed the stock exchanges that its board has approved the reappointment of Rakesh Sharma as the managing director and chief executive officer of the bank for a period of three years, effective March 19, 2022. Sharma’s reappointment as the MD&CEO of the bank has received the banking regulator, Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) nod.
12) SPMCIL Delhi headquarters declared a prohibited place
•Home Ministry has declared Delhi headquarters of Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India Ltd. (SPMCIL) as a ‘prohibited place’ under Section 2 of the Official Secrets Act, 1923. This prevents the entry of unauthorized persons into it. It is the only currency and banknotes manufacturer of India, that printed new series of notes of denomination Rs 2,000 and Rs 500 in 2016.
•The nine production units of SPMCIL, where banknotes and other government papers are manufactured, are already prohibited places. Only the Delhi headquarters where crucial decisions are taken and important files are generated was not under the purview. Through the recent order, even the Delhi office has been declared a prohibited place. The nine production units are four India Government Mints, two Currency Note Presses.
