Daily Current Affairs: February 09, 2022

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National News

Union Power Minister R. K. Singh launches a hackathon to deliver tech-driven solutions for quality power supply

• Union Power Minister R. K. Singh has launched a hackathon called Powerthon 2022 to find tech-driven solutions to handle complicated power distribution issues and ensure a safe and reliable power supply.
• The technology solution providers (TSPs), educational institutions, research institutes, equipment manufacturers, state power utilities and other states/central power sector entities will be briefed on the current challenges/problem statements faced across the power distribution sector and invited to showcase their technology-driven solutions to solve these complex problems during this hackathon.
• The participants in this hackathon will be tasked with developing innovative solutions based on advanced emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, blockchain and the Internet of Things (IoT) based on nine themes that have been identified following discussions with 14 distribution companies (discoms) across nine states.
• The nine themes include demand/load forecasting, AT&C loss reduction, energy theft detection, DT (distribution transformer) failure prediction, asset inspection, vegetation management, consumer experience enhancement, renewable energy integration and power purchase optimisation.

Railway Protection Force launches ‘Operation AAHT’ to curb human trafficking

• Railway Protection Force (RPF) has launched a nationwide operation named ‘Operation AAHT’ to curb human trafficking.
• Special teams will be deployed on all long-distance trains/routes as part of ‘Operation AAHT’, with the goal of rescuing victims, mainly women and children, from the clutches of traffickers.
• The RPF’s infrastructure and intelligence network could be used as part of ‘Operation AAHT’ to collect, collate, and analyse clues on victims, source, route, destination, popular trains used by suspects, the identity of carriers/agents/kingpins and then shared with other law-enforcement agencies. The RPF might serve as a link between states, assisting local police in their efforts to combat the threat.

Railway Protection Force: Railway Protection Force (RPF) is a security force, established by the Railway Protection Force Act, 1957.  It was enacted by the Indian Parliament for greater protection and security of railway property and passenger area.

Union Minister of Railways: Ashwini Vaishnaw

Union Health Minister Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya launches the Intensified Mission Indradhanush 4.0

• Union Health Minister Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya virtually launched the Intensified Mission Indradhanush 4.0 which aims to prevent infants and pregnant women from life-threatening diseases.
• Under this mission, all vaccines under Universal Immunisation Programme (UIP) are provided as per the national immunisation schedule.
• This mission will have three rounds and will be conducted in 416 districts across 33 states and union territories.

Mission Indradhanush: Mission Indradhanush is a health mission of the Government of India and was launched by the then Union Health Minister J. P. Nadda on 25 December 2014 with an aim to protect partly and unvaccinated pregnant women and children in low-immunisation pockets, high-risk and difficult to reach areas from vaccine-preventable diseases.

Union Ministry of Food Processing extends the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana till FY26

• Union Food Processing Ministry has extended its flagship scheme named Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana (PMKSY) till FY26 (2021–22 to 2025–26) with an allocation of ₹ 4600 crores.
• This scheme will boost the growth of the food processing sector and also help in providing better prices to farmers thereby creating huge employment opportunities.
• PMKSY is an umbrella scheme that encompasses the Union Food Processing Ministry’s ongoing initiatives such as integrated cold chain and value addition infrastructure, food safety and quality assurance infrastructure, infrastructure for agro-processing clusters and creation/expansion of food processing & preservation capabilities.

State/UT News

Gujarat launches new Information Technology and IT-enabled Services (IT/ITeS) policy to generate one lakh jobs in five years

• Gujarat Government has launched a new Information Technology and IT-enabled Services (IT/ITeS) policy to generate one lakh high-skilled jobs in the IT sector in the next five years till 2027.
• Over the next five years, the new IT/ITeS policy aims to increase Gujarat’s IT/ITeS exports from ₹ 3000 crores to ₹ 25,000 crores.
• This new policy proposes a separate incentive structure for both capital expenditure (CAPEX) and operational expenditures (OPEX).
• Gujarat Government will provide a CAPEX support of 25 per cent, in the limit of ₹ 50 crores, which can go up to ₹ 200 crores for a mega project and OPEX support will range between ₹ 20 crores and ₹ 40 crores per year, depending on the size of the project.
• Gujarat Government will pay a unique annual incentive of up to ₹ 50,000 for males and ₹ 60,000for women employees under the Employment Generation Incentive (EGI) component of this policy.
• Similarly, employers will get a 100 per cent refund for EPF contribution for women employees, while the ratio will be 75 per cent for men.

Gujarat                    

• Capital: Gandhinagar
• Chief Minister: Bhupendrabhai Patel
• Governor: Acharya Devvrat
• National Parks: Blackbuck National Park, Vansda National Park, Gir Forest National Park, Marine (Gulf of Kachchh) National Park

Jammu and Kashmir Government becomes the first union territory in India to be integrated with the national single window system

• Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha opened the J&K single-window portal, merging it with the national single-window system. This move made Jammu and Kashmir as the first union territory to be integrated with the national single-window system.
• While 130 industrial services have been made online on the single-window system, over 160 more services will be integrated in 2022.
• This integrated single-window system will facilitate new investments both locally and worldwide, either through the national single-window system or through the J&K single-window system with user-friendly interfaces and timely approvals.

Jammu and Kashmir

• Capital: Srinagar (Summer), Jammu (Winter)
• Lt. Governor: Manoj Sinha
• National Parks: Hemis National Park, City Forest (Salim Ali) National Park, Dachigam National Park, Kishtwar National Park
• Wildlife Sanctuaries: Changthang Cold Desert Wildlife Sanctuary, Gulmarg Wildlife Sanctuary, Jasrota Wildlife Sanctuary, Baltal-Thajwas Wildlife Sanctuary, Karakoram (Nubra Shyok) Wildlife Sanctuary
• Lakes: Mansar Lake, Nagin Lake, Wular Lake, Surinsar Lake, Dal Lake

Banking & Economy

Razorpay acquires a majority stake in Malaysian fintech startup Curlec

• Razorpay has acquired a majority stake in Malaysian fintech startup Curlec at a valuation between $ 19 million to $ 20 million.
• This marks Razorpay’s fourth acquisition overall and the first in the international markets.
• This acquisition will allow Razorpay to ramp up quickly and start scaling in Southeast Asia as a market.
• Curlec has been powering recurring payments for multiple companies in the Malaysian market.
• Prior to this acquisition, Razorpay acquired TERA Finlabs (an AI-based risk-tech SaaS platform) in 2021, Opfin (Payroll & HR management solution) in 2019 and Thirdwatch (Fraud analytics AI platform) in 2018.

Pine Labs acquires online payments startup Qfix for an undisclosed amount

• Pine Labs has acquired Mumbai-based online payments startup Qfix for an undisclosed amount.
• Qfix is a cloud-based end-to-end platform that provides numerous industries with integrated online payments and billing services.
• This acquisition will enable Qfix to meet the needs of multiple sectors that require curated and creative online payment and commerce solutions that are secure, easy and faster to implement.
• Qfix is focused on finding and forming communities with shared requirements, as well as, facilitating large-scale trade inside such communities on a single platform.

Appointments

S. R. Narasimhan takes additional charge as the CMD of the Power System Operation Corporation Limited

• S. R. Narasimhan took additional charge as the Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of the Power System Operation Corporation Limited (POSOCO).
• He is currently serving as the Director of System Operations of POSOCO.
• He has over three decades of experience in power system operations spread across Central Electrical Authority (CEA), POWERGRID and POSOCO.
• He was conferred with the IEEE-PES (Delhi Chapter) Outstanding Engineer Award in 2019 and made a CIGRE Distinguished member in 2020.

Sanjay Malhotra was appointed as the Secretary of the Department of Financial Services in the Union Finance Ministry

• The present Chairman and Managing Director of the Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) Limited Sanjay Malhotra was appointed as the Secretary of the Department of Financial Services (DFS) in the Union Finance Ministry.
• He succeeded Debashish Panda, who recently completed his term as DFS Secretary on 31 January 2022.
• The current Chairman of the Central Board of Secondary Education Manoj Ahuja took over as the Agriculture Secretary.

Agreements and MoUs signed

Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog and USAID collaborate under the SAMRIDH initiative to accelerate health innovation and entrepreneurship in India

• The Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), NITI Aayog and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) collaborated under the Sustainable Access to Markets and Resources for Innovative Delivery of Healthcare (SAMRIDH) initiative to improve access to affordable and high-quality healthcare for vulnerable populations in tier-2 and tier-3 cities, as well as rural and tribal areas.
• This collaboration will focus on healthcare innovations with the unifying goal of mounting an effective response to the ongoing third wave of COVID-19 and strengthening health system readiness for future infectious disease outbreaks and health emergencies.

NITI Aayog : NITI Aayog actively monitors and evaluates the implementation of programmes and initiatives, including the identification of the needed resources so as to strengthen the probability of success and scope of delivery.

NITI Aayog Chairman: Narendra Modi

NITI Aayog CEO: Amitabh Kant

Science & Technology

Livspace turns unicorn with a $180 million Series-F round led by the global investment firm KKR

• Livspace, an omnichannel home interior and renovation platform, raised $180 million in a Series-F funding round sponsored by a worldwide investment firm KKR.
• This home renovation platform is the eighty-eighth unicorn from India, according to Venture Intelligence unicorn tracker.
• This round of funding was led by KKR & Co. with participation from existing investors such as Ingka Group (Ikea), Jungle Ventures, Venturi Partners and Peugeot Investments.
• Livspace has become the fiftieth unicorn since January 2021 and seventh in 2022.

ElasticRun becomes a unicorn with a $ 300 million funding round led by Softbank Vision Fund

• Logistics and commerce startup ElasticRun became India’s eighty-seventh unicorn, according to the Venture Intelligence unicorn tracker report.
• After raising $ 300 million from Softbank and Goldman Sachs, ElasticRun’s valuation has more than tripled to $ 1.5 billion.
• ElasticRun enables businesses to reach Kirana stores and mom-and-pop shops, offering everyday necessities in deep rural parts of India by implementing a network of delivery services.

Sports News

Mithali Raj maintains the second position and Smriti Mandhana ranks fifth in the ICC Women’s ODI Rankings 2022

• India opener Smriti Mandhana has risen two places to the fifth position, while Indian captain Mithali Raj has maintained her second position in the ICC Women’s ODI Rankings 2022.
• Australian star-batter Alyssa Healy topped the ICC Women’s ODI Rankings 2022.
• Indian pacer Jhulan Goswami retained her second spot behind Jess Jonassen of Australia among the bowlers in the ICC Women’s ODI Rankings 2022.

Banking Terminologies

• Fiscal Deficit: It is the difference between what a government earns and what it spends during a given year, expressed as a percentage of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
• Capital Expenditure (CapEX): These are funds used by a company to acquire, update and maintain tangible assets such as land, plants, buildings, technology or equipment. This type of financial outlay is made by companies to expand the scope of their activities or to add some economic benefit to the activity.
• Surcharge: A surcharge or checkout fee is an extra fee charged by a merchant when receiving payment by cheque, credit card or debit card. It is a fee, charge or tax added but may not be included in the stated price of a good or service.
• Banking Consortium: A banking consortium is a group of banks that pool their resources to lend money to a single borrower. Lead banks, member banks and the borrower are the three parties involved. Lead banks are those that begin or carry out the banking consortium, whereas member banks are those that agree to contribute a portion of the loan amount to be sanctioned to the borrower.

Abbreviations

• PLI – Production-Linked Incentive
• GDP – Gross Domestic Product
• MSMEs – Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises
• ITR – Income Tax Return
• FPOs – Farmer Producer Organisations

Daily CA- 9 February One-Liners

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