DAILY GK 24 FEB

 DAILY GK 24 FEB 

1.         RS 19,000 CR DEAL TO PROCURE OVER 200 BRAHMOS MISSILES FOR INDIAN NAVY

·           The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) approved the procurement of more than 200 BrahMos Extended Range (ER) supersonic cruise missiles and associated equipment for the deployment on the Indian Navy Warships..

·           The BrahMos missiles can strike a target at a range of around 290 kilometres (km) and its extended range variant can strike a target at a range of 450 km.

·           BrahMos missile flies at a speed of 2.8 Mach or almost 3 times the speed of sound.

·           BrahMos variants can be launched from land, air and sea.

·           All three variants are in service in the Indian armed forces.

·           India has set a defense export target of Rs.35,000 crore by 2024-25.

·           India is set to deliver BrahMos missiles to the Philippines in March 2024.

·           BrahMos Aerospace the Indo-Russian multinational aerospace and Defence Corporation. It is a joint venture (JV) of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and joint stock company “Military Industrial Consortium” “NPO Mashinostroyenia”.

 

2.         INDIA’S 1ST ‘VIRTUAL ATM’

·           The Fintech startup Paymart India Pvt. Ltd., has partnered with 5 Indian banks,  IDBI Bank, Indian Bank,  Axis Bank, Jammu & Kashmir Bank, and Karur Vysya Bank (KVB), to introduce India’s 1st Virtual ATM (VATM) to offer innovative virtual, cardless, and hardware-less cash withdrawal service.

·           Virtual ATM’:The service requires a smartphone, mobile banking app, and internet connection for cash withdrawal.

·           The Mobile Banking App will initiate withdrawal requests from the bank and a OTP will be sent to the registered numbers.

·           The OTP can be used at the Paymart-partnered (VATM affiliated) shopkeepers to collect cash.

·           The shopkeeper acts as a virtual ATM to pay cash by using the merchant login at www.vatm.in.

·           Transaction Limits: Minimum withdrawal of Rs 100, maximum Rs 2,000 per transaction.

·           Monthly Cap: Rs 10,000 maximum limit for virtual ATM withdrawals.

·           Paymart India Private Limited: Headquarters– Chandigarh

 

3.         WBG’S MD & CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER

·           World Bank Group (WBG) has appointed  Wencai Zhang as Managing Director (MD) and World Bank Group Chief Administrative Officer.

·           He also served other International Organisations such as the New Development Bank(NDB) and  Asian Development Bank (ADB)

 

4.         SUPREME COURT HALT SBI ELECTORAL BOND ISSUANCE

·           Electoral bonds are interest-free bearer bonds or money instruments that can be purchased by companies and individuals in India from authorised branches of the State Bank of India (SBI).

·           The bonds are similar to bank notes that are payable to the bearer on demand and are free of interest.

·           Purchase and denominations : These bonds are sold in multiples of Rs 1,000, Rs 10,000, Rs 1 lakh, Rs 10 lakh, and Rs 1 crore.

·           Tax exemptions: Donations made through electoral bonds are considered tax-exempt under Section 80 GG and Section 80 GGB of the Income Tax Act

·           With the latest tranche last month, 30 tranches of electoral bonds issued so far have collected over Rs 16,518 crore.

·           Mumbai emerged as the city with the largest share of electoral bond sales since the inception of the donation scheme in 2018.

·           However, most of the bonds were encashed in Delhi during the period.

·           Eligibility and Purchasing Criteria: Electoral Bonds are accessible for purchase by individuals who are citizens of India or entities incorporated or established within the country. Individuals, whether acting singly or in collaboration with others, have the opportunity to acquire these bonds.

 

5.         RUPEE CO-OPERATIVE BANK LIMITED EXCLUDED FROM 2ND SCHEDULE OF THE RBI ACT, 1934

·           The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has officially excluded "Rupee Co-operative Bank Limited" from the Second Schedule of the Reserve Bank of India Act,1934.

·           Scheduled banks are those financial institutions that are listed under Schedule II of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934.

 

6.         69TH HYUNDAI FILMFARE AWARDS 2024

•        The 69th Hyundai Filmfare Awards 2024 was held in Gujarat in partnership with Gujarat Tourism.

•        Best Film (Popular)- 12th Fail

•        Best Film (Critics)- Joram

•        Best Director- Vidhu Vinod Chopra (12th Fail)

•        Best Actor In A Leading Role- Ranbir Kapoor (Animal)

•        Best Actor (Critics)- Vikrant Massey (12th Fail)

•        Best Actor In A Leading Role (Female)- Alia Bhatt (Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani)

•        Best Actress Critics- Shefali Shah (Three Of Us), Rani Mukerji (Mrs Chaterjee Vs Norway)

•        Best Actor In A Supporting Role (Male)- Vicky Kaushal (Dunki)

 

7.         ISSF WORLD CUP 2024 CAIRO SHOOTING

•        India’s Divyansh Singh Panwar won the gold medal in the men’s 10m air rifle shooting event at the ISSF World Cup 2024 in Cairo.

•        India finished their campaign at the top of the table with six medals.

•        India’s six medals at the first ISSF World Cup of the year included two gold, three silver and one bronze.

•        Great Britain finished second on the medal table with two gold and one silver while Germany was third with two gold and three bronze medals.

 

8.         SAMSUNG RECLAIMS LEADING POSITION IN SMARTPHONE MARKET

·           India’s smartphone shipments remained flat in 2023 at 152 million units and Samsung took the top spot, for the first time since 2017, with an 18% share, though lesser than what it had in 2022 at 19.4%.

·           Apple became the largest smartphone brand by revenue in India in 2023 for the first time ever

 

9.         RAISINA DIALOGUE IN DELHI

·           Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the 9th edition of Raisina Dialogue in Delhi.

·           Prime Minister of Greece, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, will join the inaugural session as the Chief Guest, and deliver the keynote address.

·           The Raisina Dialogue is India’s flagship conference on geopolitics and geo- economics.

·           The theme of this edition is "Chaturanga: Conflict, Contest, Cooperate, Create”.

·           Over two thousand 500 participants from about 115 countries joined the Dialogue in-person.

 

10.      INDIA EMERGES AS TOP BUYER OF VENEZUELAN CRUDE OIL

·           After a gap of over three years, India emerged as the top buyer of Venezuelan crude for two consecutive months of December 2023 and January 2024, as per shipping fixtures and ship tracking data.

·           Indian refiners had stopped oil imports from the Latin American country in 2020 after the United States (US) imposed sanctions on Caracas.

·           India is the world’s third-largest consumer of crude oil and depends on imports to meet over 85 per cent of its requirement

 

11.      OPENAI UNVEILS ‘SORA’ THAT MAKES INSTANT VIDEOS FROM WRITTEN TEXTS

·           Open AI, the creator of the Chat GPT, has unveiled a new generative artificial intelligence (Gen AI) model that can convert a text prompt into video.

·           The model, called Sora, can generate videos up to a minute long while maintaining visual quality and adherence to the user’s prompt.

·           Sora is capable of creating “complex scenes with multiple characters, specific types of motion, and accurate details of the subject and background.

·           Sora in Japanese means sky, an imagery that evokes 'limitless creative potential'.

 

12.      INDIA'S FDI REACH $2.1 BILLION IN JANUARY 2024

·           India’s outward foreign direct investment (FDI) commitments rose by 25.7% on a year-on-year (Y-o-Y) basis to $2.09 billion in January 2024, compared to over $1.66 billion in January 2023.

·           However, there was a sequential decline from $2.5 billion in December 2023, as reported by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

·           Foreign Direct Investment meaning is a type of investment in which a company or individual from one country invests in a company or asset in another country.

·           The purpose of FDI is to gain long-term involvement in the foreign market, generate profits, access new markets, and transfer technology and expertise.

·           This includes the purchase of shares, bonds, or other securities; the establishment of a new business; or the acquisition of an existing business.

 

13.      RUSSIAN OPPOSITION LEADER PASSED AWAY

·           A Russian opposition leader, lawyer, anti- corruption activist, and political prisoner Alexey Navalny died in prison.

·           The cause of his death is not clear.

·           Navalny was a Russian Opposition Coordination Council member, the leader of the Russia of the Future party and founder of the Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK)