Daily Current Affairs February 03 2024 | Latest News | Download PDF

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CURRENT AFFAIRS: BANKING & FINANCIAL

RBI ‘ban’ on Paytm Payments Bank

• The Reserve Bank of India has instructed Paytm Payments Bank Ltd. (PPBL or the bank) to cease onboarding new clients immediately, in accordance with its authority under section 35A of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949.
• After February 29, 2024, no more deposits, credit transactions, top-ups, or withdrawals will be permitted in any customer accounts, prepaid cards, wallets, FASTags, NCMC cards, etc,, as per the RBI circular post from August 2023.
• The RBI has ordered the payments bank subsidiary of Paytm to halt the acceptance of fresh deposits in its accounts and popular wallets from March onwards.

Ownership Structure:

Paytm Payments Bank is 49% owned by Paytm (One 97 Communications), with the remaining 51% held by Paytm’s Chief Executive and founder, Vijay Shekhar Sharma.

Deposit Limits and Restrictions:

The payments bank is permitted to accept small deposits up to Rs 200,000 ($2,400) but is prohibited from lending. Deposits must be parked in government securities or other bank deposits.

Paytm Wallets and UPI Transactions:

If you have linked your Paytm Payments Bank account to your Paytm, UPI transactions will not be possible. However, linking another bank account allows users to continue making UPI payments.

Concerns and Questions for Paytm Users:

Recent RBI actions have made Paytm users uncertain about the fate of their accounts and services. Questions about the app’s potential closure, the fate of money in their Paytm wallets, and the ability to make UPI payments are lingering concerns.

Impact on Transactions:

After February 29, Paytm users will not be able to conduct any transactions in their Paytm Payments Bank accounts. Shopkeepers relying on Paytm Payments Bank will no longer receive payments after the specified date.

Sub-Wallets and Services:

While existing funds in sub-wallets related to food and fuel can still be used, adding new funds will no longer be possible.

What happens to prepaid instruments, FASTag, NCMC transit cards, etc. issued by the Bank?

• The balance available in these instruments can be used, withdrawn or transferred, as the case may be, without any restrictions.
• However, any top up or further credits into these accounts are allowed only upto February 29, 2024.

Payments Bank:

• A payments bank is like any other bank, but operating on a smaller scale without involving any credit risk.
• In simple words, it can carry out most banking operations but can’t advance loans or issue credit cards.

Paytm Payments Bank:

• Paytm Payments Bank is an Indian payments bank, founded in 2017 and headquartered in Noida.
• In the same year, it received the license to run a payments bank from the Reserve Bank of India and was launched in November 2017.
• In 2021, the bank received a scheduled bank status from the RBI.
• Paytm Payments Bank is 49% owned by Paytm, also known as One 97 Communications.
• The remaining 51% is held by Paytm Chief Executive and founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma.
• Paytm Payments Bank acts as a key banking partner for Paytm.

Government Pegs FY’25 Disinvestment Target At Rs 50,000 Crore

• The government pegged the disinvestment target for 2024-25 fiscal at Rs 50,000 crore in the interim budget for 2024-25, up from Rs 30,000 crore in the revised estimate for the current financial year.
• During the current fiscal (2023-24), the revised estimates of disinvestment mop-up has been pegged at Rs 30,000 crore, lower than Rs 51,000 crore budgeted at the time of the presentation of the Budget last year.
• As per the Interim Budget 2024-25 document tabled in the Lok Sabha, the government is not expected to receive any money from the monetisation of public assets in the current fiscal.
• It had planned to receive Rs 10,000 crore in the budget estimates for 2023-24.
• With regard to disinvestment, so far in the current fiscal, the government has collected Rs 12,504 crore through minority stake sale in 7 CPSEs, including Coal India, NHPC, RVNL and IREDA.
• By March, the government expects to mop in a total of Rs 30,000 crore from disinvestment.
• The government historically has been missing the disinvestment targets set in budgets with the exception of 2018-19 and 2017-18 financial years.
• The highest ever mop-up from disinvestment at Rs 1,00,056 crore was recorded in 2017-18, marginally exceeding the budget target of Rs 1 lakh crore.
• In 2018-19, the government collected RS 84,972 crore from CPSE disinvestment, higher than Rs 80,000 crore pegged in the Budget for that year.

Disinvestment:

• Disinvestment refers to an act of an organisation or the government of a state to raise funds by selling an ownership stake.
• The sale can also be a liquidation of an asset or stake in a subsidiary of an organisation or government undertaking.
• The objective of disinvestment is to reduce the financial burden on the government, improve the management and performance of the public sector enterprise, and promote the growth of the private sector.

RBI’s digital payments index jumps to 418.77 in September from 395.57 in March

• Digital payments across the country registered a growth of 10.94 per cent in a year through March 2023, as per RBI’s index that measures the adoption of online transactions.
• The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) Digital Payments Index, a measure of the extent of digitisation of payments across the country, increased to 418.77 in September 2023 from 395.57 in March 2023.
• The RBI-DPI has been constructed with March 2018 as the base period, that is, the DPI score for March 2018 is set at 100.
• In September 2019, the index stood at 173.49, which rose to 217.74 in September 2020, and to 304.06 in September 2021.
• The RBI-DPI comprises five broad parameters that measure the penetration of digital payments in the country over different time periods.
• These parameters include Payment Enablers (weight 25 per cent), Payment Infrastructure – Demand-side factors (10 per cent), Payment Infrastructure – Supply-side factors (15 per cent), Payment Performance (45 per cent), and Consumer Centricity (5 per cent).
• The central bank publishes the RBI-DPI on a semi-annual basis with a lag of four months.

About Digital Payment Index:

• The RBI introduced the composite Digital Payments Index in 2021 to capture digitisation of payments.
• It is based on multiple parameters and reflects the expansion of various digital payment modes accurately.
• The RBI-DPI index has shown consistent growth since its inception in 2018, which is used as the base year for calculation.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: NATIONAL NEWS

Prime Minister to inaugurate and lay foundation stones of various developmental initiatives in Guwahati

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate and lay the foundation stones of various developmental initiatives worth 11,599 crore rupees in Assam.
• The Assam Chief Minister Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarmainformed that the Prime Minister will reach Guwahati for a two-day visit.
• Sarma informed that the Prime Minister will inaugurate and lay the foundation stones of several projects virtually from the public meeting at the Veterinary College Play Ground in Guwahati.

Key Highlights

• PM will lay the foundation stone for the Maa Kamakhya Access Corridor under the Prime Minister’s Development Initiative for North Eastern Region (PM-DevINE) scheme to provide world-class amenities to pilgrims visiting the Kamakhya temple and a 6 lane road project connecting Dharapur Tiniali to new terminal building of Guwahati Airport which also includes a flyover.
• Prime Minister will also lay the foundation stone for double laning of 43 roads across the State including 38 bridges, as part of the South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation (SASEC) Corridor Connectivity under the Asom Mala project with 3444 Crores rupees.
• Nehru stadium in Guwahati will be upgraded to FIFA standard football stadium to harness the tremendous sports potential of the region.
• The Prime Minister will lay the foundation stone of the project and it will be the biggest sports complex in the entire Eastern India.

The Ministry of Coal has several projects that the Prime Minister will inaugurate for Mahanadi Coalfields Limited.

• PM GatiShakti’s National Master Plan for providing multi-model connectivity and to reduce logistics costs by enhancing efficiency, the Ministry of Coal has undertaken large-scale infrastructure augmentation to further step up efficient evacuation of coal.
• To augment the railway network in coal-producing areas, Joint Venture of CIL, IRCON and the Government of Odisha have been formed as “Mahanadi Coal Rail Ltd”.
• CIL has funded critical rail infrastructure projects for laying of additional rail lines, doubling of existing rail lines, construction of Rail-over-Rail (ROR), Y-curves etc.
• Across subsidiaries, CIL has planned to set up mechanized coal transportation infrastructure from pit-head to railway loading point by construction of First Mile Connectivity (FMC) projects.
• A total of over 100 FMC projects for all larger mines have been planned.
• These projects on the one hand improve the loading efficiency, reduce loading time and on the other hand contribute to reducing emissions and pollution.
• Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi will inaugurate pivotal projects of Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL) in Odisha on 3rd February 2024.
• Among these is the Bhubaneswari Phase-I, a First Mile Connectivity (FMC) project in Talcher Coalfields, Angul district, built for Rs 335 crore will reduce rake loading time to approximately 50 minutes, introduce eco-friendly transportation, decrease greenhouse gas emissions, and reduce coal transportation costs.

ASCI issues guidelines to ensure honest environmental claims in ads

• The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) has finalised guidelines to prevent deceptive or unsubstantiated environment-related claims by brands in advertising often referred to as greenwashing.
• These guidelines which will come into effect from February 15, state that absolute claims such as “environment friendly”, “eco friendly”, “planet friendly” or “sustainable” must be substantiated with robust data backed by credible accreditations.
• Even comparative claims such as “greener” or “friendlier” would need to be backed by evidence.
• Ads cannot mislead consumers by highlighting claims such as “free of” an environmentally damaging ingredient when it is not usually found in competing products.

About ASCI

• ASCI is working closely with the Department of Consumer Affairs on the issue of prevention of greenwashing in ads.
• Manisha Kapoor, CEO and Secretary-General, ASCI.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: INTERNATIONAL NEWS

China overtook Japan as the world’s biggest vehicle exporter 2023

• China’s global dominance in electric cars helped it overtake Japan as the world’s biggest vehicle exporter last year, official data confirmed.
• Japanese giants such as Toyota and Nissan have been much more cautious than their Chinese counterparts like BYD on electric vehicles (EVs), banking instead on hybrid models.
• Figures released by the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association showed shipments of cars, trucks and buses rising 16 percent to 4.42 million last year.
• But China exported almost 500,000 more — 4.91 million vehicles in total, as reported by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers this month.
• China’s customs bureau put the number even higher at 5.22 million, a huge year-on-year rise of 57 percent, with one in three fully electric vehicles.
• The country had already been shipping more vehicles than Japan on a monthly basis, but Wednesday’s data confirmed that it was also number one for a whole year.

EU Leaders Agree to $54 Billion Ukraine Aid Package as Hungary’s Orban Backs Down

• All 27 EU leaders have agreed on a $54bn aid package for Ukraine after Hungary stopped blocking the deal.
• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky welcomed the new funding, saying it would strengthen the country’s economic and financial stability.
• Ukraine’s economic ministry stated it expects the first tranche in March.
• There had been fears Hungary’s PM would again block the package as he did at a European summit in December.
• Viktor Orban, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s closest ally in the EU, had stated he wanted to force a rethink of the bloc’s policy towards Ukraine and questioned the idea of committing funds for Kyiv for the next four years.
• The new funding promise comes as aid from the US – the largest provider of military support for Kyiv – is being held up by Congress.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: STATE NEWS

Government of Karnataka announces a digital detox initiative to bring in a responsible gaming environment

• The Government of Karnataka, in collaboration with the All India Game Developers Forum (AIGDF) will launch a digital detox initiative, with special emphasis on gaming and social media.
• Announcing this at the valedictory function of GAFX2024, Minister for Rural Development and Panchayat Raj and ITBT, Priyank Kharge, informed.
• Through this initiative, both online and offline Digital Detox Centers will be set up across the state of Karnataka offering personalised guidance where trained professionals will provide counselling and support to individuals seeking to navigate their relationship with technology, stated an official release.
• Practical tools and techniques will help individuals learn effective strategies for managing screen time, setting boundaries, and cultivating mindful and healthy technology habits.
• Community Connection will work through workshops, group activities and support groups to foster a sense of belonging and shared experience in the journey towards digital wellness

About Karnataka :

• Governor: Thawar Chand Gehlot
• Chief minister: Siddaramaiah
• Capital: Bengaluru
• National Park : Bandipur NP, Kudremukh NP, Bannerghata NPRajiv Gandhi NP
• Wildlife Sanctuaries : B R Hills Wildlife Sanctuary, Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary, Gudavi Bird Sanctuary, Bhadra Wildlife Sanctuary
• Tiger Reserve : Nagarhole Tiger Reserve, Bhadra Tiger Reserve
• Festival : Hampi, Mahamastakabhisheka (Shravanabelagola)
• Dance : Yakshagana, Dollu Kunitha Bolak-aat (Bolak Dance)

Khelo India concludes, Tamil Nadu announces new sports scheme ‘Kalaignar Sports Kit’

• Tamil Nadu Youth Welfare and Sports Development Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin announced that a new scheme ‘Kalaignar Sports Kit’ will be introduced to foster sports talent at the village level.
• He was speaking at the valedictory function of Khelo India Youth Games 2023.
• The initiative, dedicated to commemorating the birth centenary of Kalaignar Karunanidhi, will provide sporting kits to 12,000 village panchayats in the state.
• The inaugural distribution of the sports kit under the scheme will be on February 7 in Trichy.
• At the valedictory function, Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports Anurag Thakur stated the Khelo India held in Tamil Nadu has witnessed almost equal participation of male and female athletes.
• He appreciated the state government for its unwavering commitment and successfully organising national and international sports events.
• Tamil Nadu stands in the top three in terms of medal count for the first time in the history of Khelo India games.
• A team of athletes, who participated in the Khelo India with the financial support of the Tamil Nadu Champions Foundation, bagged eight medals including five gold medals.

About Tamil Nadu:

• Governor: N. Ravi
• Chief minister: M K Stalin
• Capital: Chennai
• National Park : Mudumalai National Park, Guidy National Park, Mukurthi National Park, Indira Gandhi National Park.
• Wildlife Sanctuaries: Kalakad Wildlife Sanctuary, Vedanthangal Bird Sanctuary, Karikili Bird Sanctuary, Anamalai Tiger Reserve

CURRENT AFFAIRS: BUSINESS NEWS

Indian sugar mills body second estimate pegs output at 33 million tonnes, down 10%

• India’s sugar production (including the quantity diverted for ethanol) is estimated to decline 10 per cent to 33.05 million tonnes (mt) in the current season that began from October 1, 2023 from 36.62 mt in the previous season.
• It is mainly due to a likely drop in output in Maharashtra and Karnataka, according to industry body Indian Sugar Mills’ Association (ISMA).
• Releasing the second advance estimates of sugar production for the 2023-24 season, ISMA said the gross production in Maharashtra is estimated to fall to 9.99 mt from 11.85 mt and in Karnataka to 4.97 mt from 6.58 mt.
• However, mills in Uttar Pradesh are likely to produce 11.99 mt (11.89 mt).
• Releasing the update, the National Federation of Cooperative Sugar Factories (NFCSF) said that at the end of January, a total of 192.8 mt of sugarcane was crushed across the country, of which 18.7 mt of sugar was produced with an average recovery of 9.71 per cent.
• Maharashtra have crushed 67.6 mt of sugarcane with an average recovery of 9.60 per cent and produced 6.5 mt of sugar. But, Uttar Pradesh has reported crushing of 57.4 mt of cane and 5.77 mt of sugar production with an average recovery of 10.5 per cent.
• Mills in Karnataka have crushed 37.7 mt of sugarcane and produced 3.7 mt of sugar with an average recovery of 9.75 per cent.

Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd. becomes BSI Certified 1st ISO 27001:2022 Petrochemical Company in India

• Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd (HPL), a leading petrochemicals company in India, announced its achievement of bec oming the first ISO 27001:2022 certified petrochemical organisation in the industry by BSI (British Standards Institution), a renowned certification body.
• This milestone showcases HPL’s commitment to maintaining a robust and secure information security governance structure throughout its digital transformation journey.
• ISO 27001:2022 is the standard of the ISMS (Information Security Management System) program to protect the information asset of the organization.
• British Standards Institution (BSI) is the world’s first Standards Body and founding member of ISO from the United Kingdom.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: MOUS AND AGREEMENT

Wistron Signs MoU With Karnataka Government For Laptop Making Unit

• The government of Karnataka and Wistron (ICT Service Management Solutions) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to set up a laptop manufacturing plant.
• Under the MoU, the Taiwan-based company would invest ₹1,500 crore which is likely to create around 3,000 employment opportunities.
• The global company known for technology service-providing products has planned to commence works related to setting up the plant in July 2024 and to start manufacturing laptops by January 2026.
• This is going to be the first of its kind unit to manufacture laptops in Karnataka.

GRSE & Rolls-Royce ink pact for production of marine engines to power ships

• As a part of the ‘Make in India’ initiative, Kolkata-based PSU Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) and UK’s Rolls-Royce have signed a ‘frame and individual licence’ agreement for the production of the MTU IMO Tier II compliant Series 4000 marine engines to power government ships.
• As part of the agreement, the engines will be manufactured at the Diesel Engine Plant of GRSE in Ranchi.
• The move will help the state-owned shipyard in making fast patrol vessels, interceptor boats and fast attack craft projects of the Indian Navy and the Indian Coast Guard.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNATIONS

Kavita Sahai becomes 1st woman Lt General to command Lucknow’s Army medical college

• Lieutenant General Kavita Sahai became the first woman to be appointed as the Commandant of Army Medical Corps Centre and College in Lucknow.
• Lieutenant General Sahai is an alumnus of Armed Forces Medical College in Pune and was commissioned in the Army Medical Corps in 1986.
• She completed her Doctor of Medicine in Pathology in 1994 and completed her Diplomate of National Board in Pathology in 1997 from AFMC in Pune.
• During her 37 years of service, the Lt General has held various important posts, including the Head of Department of Lab Medicine at Base Hospital, Delhi Cantt, Professor in Department of Pathology at AFMC and Head of Department in Lab Medicine at Army Hosp (R&R) New Delhi.

JMM’s Champai Soren takes oath as Jharkhand CM

• Champai Soren, a senior leader of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), took oath as the seventh chief minister of Jharkhand, succeeding party chairperson Hemant Soren, who was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
• This was after Jharkhand governor CP Radhakrishnan, in a late-night development, invited the loyalist of JMM leader Hemant Soren to Raj Bhavan to form the government.
• Champai Soren has also been asked to demonstrate his majority in a floor test, to be held within the next 10 days.
• The invitation comes hours after Champai Soren urged the governor to accept his claim to form the government at the earliest amid political uncertainties in the state.
• Amid the uncertainty about forming the government, the JMM-led coalition was flying its MLAs to Telangana from
• However, this was cancelled at the last minute as the chartered planes hired for it could not take offdue to poor visibility.
• Champai Soren will replace Hemant Soren because of the case against Hemant Soren is linked to a “huge racket of illegal change of ownership of land by the mafia” in

About Jharkhand:

• Governor: P. Radhakrishnan
• Chief minister: Champai Soren
• Capital: Ranchi
• National Park : Betla National Park, Palamu Tiger Reserve
• Wildlife Sanctuaries: Udhwa Wildlife Sanctuary, Parasnath Wildlife Sanctuary, Palkot Wildlife Sanctuary, Dalma Wildlife Sanctuary, Gautam Budha Wildlife Sanctuary, Mahuadanr Wildlife Sanctuary

VICE ADMIRAL LOCHAN SINGH PATHANIA ASSUMES CHARGE

AS CHIEF HYDROGRAPHER TO THE GOVT. OF INDIA

• Vice Admiral Lochan Singh Pathania assumed charge as the Chief Hydrographer to the Govt. of India on 01 Feb 24.
• Commissioned in the Executive branch of the Indian Navy in 1990, he is a Hydrography Specialist.
• The Flag Officer has commanded INShips Darshak and Sandhayak.
• During his career spanning more than three decades he carried out hydrographic surveys across the entire stretch of the country and in IOR including challenging task of data collection for IMBL arbitration and for the production of new chart in Sundarbans delta.
• He also has the distinction of serving onboard HMS Bulldog of Royal Navy.
• He has held various important shore appointments being Interviewing Officer & Deputy President of Naval Selection Board, Principal Director (Hydrography) at NHQ, Officer-in-Charge, National Hydrographic Office (NHO) and Joint Chief Hydrographer.
• The Admiral is an expert on International maritime laws pertaining to maritime boundary delimitation and has immensely contributed in addressing issues pertaining to maritime boundaries and settlement of Extended continental shelf beyond Exclusive Economic Zone.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: SPORTS NEWS

The fourth edition of the Khelo India Winter Games has commenced in Leh, Ladakh.

• The fourth Khelo India Winter Games started at Leh in Ladakh.
• This edition of the Games is being hosted jointly by the Union Territories of Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir in two parts.
• The first part of this edition is being hosted by the Ladakh at Leh. Six hundred athletes from 15 States and Union Territories are participating in the two sporting events namely Ice Hockey and Ice Speed Skating games in this first part of the Khelo India Winter Games.
• In Ice Hockey, four Women’s teams and eight men’s teams are taking part.
• The second part of the game is scheduled from 21 to 25 of this month in Kashmir Valley.

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty became the first Indian duo to reach the number one spot in BWF Rankings

• India’s Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty created history as they defeated world champions Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik of Malaysia to win the country’s first-ever gold medal in men’s doubles at the Indonesia Open.
• The victory came just a month after Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty won the gold medal at the Badminton Asia Championships.
• Their latest accomplishment came on Sunday when they defeated the reigning world champions with a score of 21-17, 21-18, making history as the first Indians ever to secure a Super 1000 title.
• The BWF World Tour comprises six tiers that are categorized as follows, in descending order: the World Tour Finals, four Super 1000 events, six Super 750 events, seven Super 500 events, and eleven Super 300 events.
• Additionally, there is another tournament category called the BWF Tour Super 100, which also grants ranking points.
• The Super 1000 level provides the highest number of ranking points and offers the most significant prize pool among all the tiers.

Daily CA One- Liner: 3^rd January

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate and lay the foundation stones of various developmental initiatives worth 11,599 crore rupees in Assam
• PM GatiShakti’s National Master Plan for providing multi-model connectivity and to reduce logistics cost by enhancing efficiency, the Ministry of Coal has undertaken large-scale infrastructure augmentation to further step up the efficient evacuation of coal.
• The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) has finalised guidelines to prevent deceptive or unsubstantiated environment-related claims by brands in advertising often referred to as greenwashing.
• India’s sugar production (including the quantity diverted for ethanol) is estimated to decline 10 per cent to 33.05 million tonnes (mt) in the current season that began from October 1, 2023 from 36.62 mt in the previous season
• Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd (HPL), a leading petrochemicals company in India, announced its achievement of becoming the first ISO 27001:2022 certified petrochemical organisation in the industry by BSI (British Standards Institution), a renowned certification body.
• The government of Karnataka and Wistron (ICT Service Management Solutions) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to set up a laptop manufacturing plant
• As a part of the ‘Make in India’ initiative, Kolkata-based PSU Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) and UK’s Rolls-Royce have signed a ‘frame and individual licence’ agreement for the production of the MTU IMO Tier II compliant Series 4000 marine engines to power government ships.
• The Reserve Bank of India has instructed Paytm Payments Bank Ltd. (PPBL or the bank) to cease onboarding new clients immediately, in accordance with its authority under section 35A of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949.
• The government pegged disinvestment target for the 2024-25 fiscal at Rs 50,000 crore in the interim budget for 2024-25, up from Rs 30,000 crore in the revised estimate for the current financial year.
• The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) Digital Payments Index, a measure of the extent of digitisation of payments across the country, increased to 418.77 in September 2023 from 395.57 in March 2023.
• China’s global dominance in electric cars helped it overtake Japan as the world’s biggest vehicle exporter last year, official data confirmed.
• All 27 EU leaders have agreed on a $54bn aid package for Ukraine after Hungary stopped blocking the deal.
• The Government of Karnataka, in collaboration with the All India Game Developers Forum (AIGDF) will launch a digital detox initiative, with special emphasis on gaming and social media.
• Tamil Nadu Youth Welfare and Sports Development Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin announced that a new scheme ‘Kalaignar Sports Kit’ will be introduced to foster sports talent at the village level.
• Lieutenant General Kavita Sahai became the first woman to be appointed as the Commandant of Army Medical Corps Centre and College in Lucknow.
• Champai Soren, a senior leader of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), took oath as the seventh chief minister of Jharkhand, succeeding party chairperson Hemant Soren, who was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
• Vice Admiral Lochan Singh Pathania assumed charge as the Chief Hydrographer to the Govt. of India on 01 Feb 24.
• The fourth Khelo India Winter Games started at Leh in Ladakh.
• India’s Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty created history as they defeated world champions Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik of Malaysia to win the country’s first-ever gold medal in men’s doubles at the Indonesia Open.