27th February, 2023 Current Affairs

27th February, 2023 Current Affairs

NATIONAL
PM Modi to release over Rs 16,800 crore to more than 8 cr farmers under PM-KISAN scheme from Belagavi in Karnataka

• IndiaPrime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate and lay the foundation stone of multiple development projects worth over 6000 crore rupees in Karnataka today. On a day visit to the state, he will inaugurate the Shivamogga airport developed at a cost of around 450 crore rupees.
• He will lay the foundation stone for two railway projects including Shivamogga-Shikaripura-Ranebennur new railway line and Koteganguru Railway coaching depot.  He will also lay the foundation stone for multiple road development projects at a cumulative cost of over 215 crore rupees.
• Under Jal Jeevan Mission, he will lay the foundation stone of multi village schemes worth over 950 crore rupees. He will also inaugurate 44 Smart city projects worth over 895 crore rupees apart from several other projects.
• In Belagavi the Prime Minister will release the 13th instalment amount of 16 thousand and eight hundred crore rupees under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sammaan Yojana to benefit eight crore farmers. He will also rededicate modernised Belagavi railway station with world class amenities.

President Droupadi Murmu to formally inaugurate 14th Rashtriya Sanskriti Mahotsav at Bikaner in Rajasthan

• The President of India Draupadi Murmu will formally inaugurate and address the 14th edition of Sanskriti Mahotsav being held in Bikaner, Rajasthan today. The President will reach Bikaner in the afternoon and will address the Sanskriti Mahotsav being organized at Dr. Karni Singh Stadium.
• The 9-days long festival is being organized for the first time in Rajasthan. The festival, which started on Saturday, will continue till March 5. 
• Performances of about one thousand well-known artists from across the country based on folk dance, folk music, drama and Sufi music are taking place in the festival. Apart from this,  sand sculpture, an exhibition based on crafts and other arts is also being organized.
• The objective of the festival is to preserve, promote and popularize the rich cultural heritage of the country.

Indian Air Force to participate in Exercise Cobra Warrior at Waddington in UK

• An Indian Air Force contingent comprising 145 Air Warriors on Sunday departed Air Force Station Jamnagar to participate in Exercise Cobra Warrior at the Waddington Air Force Base in United Kingdom. The exercise is scheduled from 6th of March to 24th of March this year.
• The Exercise Cobra Warrior is a multilateral Air exercise in which Air Forces from Finland, Sweden, South Africa, United States of America and Singapore would also be participating alongside Royal Air Force and Indian Air Force. This year IAF is participating in the exercise with five Mirage 2000 fighters, two C-17 Globemaster and an IL-78 mid air refueller aircraft.
• The exercise is aimed at providing operational exposure and share best practices amongst the participating Air Forces, thereby enhancing combat capability and forging bonds of friendship.

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INTERNATIONAL
EU agrees to new round of sanctions against Russia on first anniversary of Russia-Ukraine conflict

• The European Union agreed to a new round of sanctions against Russia yesterday, February 24, on the first anniversary of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The package is the tenth to be adopted by the EU member states. The EU diplomats had agreed on nearly all points of the new proposed sanctions.
• Sweden, which took over the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU at the beginning of the year, said, the new measures targeted restricted measures against individuals and entities supporting the war.
• The US also announced yesterday, it was sanctioning hundreds of Russian firms, banks, manufacturers and individuals, specifically targeting entities that helped Russia evade sanctions on the one-year anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
• The metals and mining sector in Russia along with arms dealers, technology enterprises and weapons manufacturers are specifically targeted. A dozen financial institutions, including Russia's largest non-state public bank, importers of microelectronics and producers of carbon fibre, a key component in defense systems, were all hit with sanctions.

Pakistan govt agrees to increase policy interest rate by 2% to meet another condition set by IMF

• Pakistan's government has agreed to increase the policy interest rate by two per cent to meet another condition set by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The current interest rate is 17 per cent.
• With the new decision, Pakistan has accepted another pre-condition of the IMF for the release of US Dollars 1.1 billion in critical funding, a part of the 6.5 billion dollars bailout package.
• Pakistan has announced the increase in interest rate based on rates the government set in the auction to raise domestic debt.
• The decision by Pakistan authorities will push the interest rate to 19 per cent, just below the previous record of 19.5 per cent set in October 1996.    

Iran's currency hits new low amid anti-government protests

• Iran’s currency fell to a new record low amid the nationwide anti-government protests and the breakdown of the 2015 nuclear deal. Traders in Tehran were exchanging the rial at around six lakh to the dollar yesterday after the currency plunged further from five lakh rials for one dollar on Wednesday.
• According to media reports, people have formed long lines in front of exchange offices in recent days, hoping to acquire increasingly scarce dollars. Many have seen their life savings evaporate as the local currency has deteriorated.
• Meanwhile, according to Iran’s statistics center, the inflation reached 53.4 per cent in January, up from 41.4 per cent two years ago. Iran’s currency was trading at 32,000 rials to the dollar when it signed the 2015 nuclear accord with world powers.
• Iran has been gripped by nationwide protests since September. Demonstrations broke out following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in the custody of the country's morality police.  

ECONOMY
Wide acceptance in G20 FMCBG meeting that Crypto Assets are major risks to financial stability, says RBI governor

• In the first major ministerial engagement under G20, where, India welcomed the debate on Crypto Assets proposing regulations and a policy perspective on the use of Crypto Assets.
• There is almost a clear understanding that anything not backed by the central bank is not currency and this is the position that India has been taking for a very long time.
• Meanwhile, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Shaktikanta Das told the media that there is now wide recognition and acceptance of the fact that Crypto-currencies or Assets are major risks to financial stability, monetary systems and cyber security.
• During the FMCBG meeting delegates took interest in the central bank digital currency (CBDC) pilot projects in some countries, including India.
• Crypto currency is a digital currency in which transactions are verified and records maintained by a decentralized system using cryptography, instead of a centralized authority.

SPORTS
Australia lift ICC Women's T20 World Cup Trophy beating South Africa by 19 runs in Cape Town

• In Women's Cricket,  Australia have lifted the ICC T20 World Cup Trophy for the sixth time.  In the Final match, they defeated South Africa by 19 runs at Newlands, Cricket Ground in Cape Town. 
• Chasing a victory target of 157 runs, the hosts could make only 137 runs for the loss of six wickets in the stipulated 20 overs. 
• Laura Wolvaardt scored 61 runs for South Africa.  Earlier, winning the toss and deciding to bat first, Australia posted 156 for 6 in their allotted 20 overs. Beth Mooneyc top-scored with unbeaten 74 runs for Australia.

Indian Greco Roman wrestler Ankit Gulia bags Bronze medal in Ibrahim Moustafa ranking series in Egypt

• Indian Greco-Roman wrestler Ankit Gulia has won a bronze medal in the Ibrahim Moustafa ranking-series in Alexandria, Egypt.
• The 19-year-old Ankit, who lost 9-0 to Georgian Otar Abuladze, got the better of Nurzhigit Keneshbek Uulu of Kyrgyzstan 9-0 in the repechage round.
• The Indian grappler won the medal after Iranian 67kg Olympic champion Mohammadreza Abdolhamid Geraei withdrew from the bronze medal match due to an injury. Geraei suffered the injury in one of his earlier bouts.

Published date : 27 Feb 2023 04:05PM