Top Current Affairs 23 February 2021
Top Current Affairs 23 February 2021: This post contains the latest current affairs for 23 February 2021 that are important for all competitive exams like Bank, SSC, IBPS, SBI exams. You can also attempt our Current Affairs Quiz after reading our daily current affairs.
National
Health Minister Harch Vardhan launches Mission Indradhanush 3.0
- The Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan launched the Intensified Mission Indradhanush 3.0, (IMI 3.0) on February 19, 2021, to expand immunization coverage across the country.
- The focus of IMI 3.0 will be on children and pregnant women who missed their vaccine doses during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- The IMI 3.0 will have two rounds, of 15 days each. The first round will begin on February 22, 2021 and the second round will begin on March 22, 2021.
- The vaccination drive will be conducted in pre-identified 250 districts and urban areas across 29 States and UTs in the country to reach out to every dropped out and left out child and pregnant woman.
Mission Indradhanush
- The scheme was launched in 2014 to provide affordable and accessible healthcare to all citizens of the country.
- It aims to immunise all children under the age of 2 years, as well as all pregnant women, against eight vaccine preventable diseases. These diseases are diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus, poliomyelitis, tuberculosis, measles, meningitis and Hepatitis B.
Prime Minister Modi inaugurates Oil & Gas projects and Engineering Colleges in Assam
- Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi was in Assam on February 22, 2021, to inaugurate and lay foundation stone of various development projects in the state.
- During the visit, PM dedicated to the nation and laid foundation stone of following projects:
- INDMAX Unit at Indian Oil’s Bongaigaon Refinery
- Oil India Limited’s Secondary Tank Farm at Madhuban, Dibrugarh – Rs 490 crore
- Gas Compressor Station at Hebeda Village, Makum, Tinsukia – Rs 132 Crore
- Dhemaji Engineering College – Rs 45 Crore
- Laid the foundation stone for Sualkuchi Engineering College – Rs 55 crore.
Prime Minister Modi inaugurates several railway projects in West Bengal
- Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi inaugurated several railway projects in Hooghly, West Bengal, on February 22, 2021, that will ensure better operational fluidity, less journey time and enhanced safety of train operations, as well as boost the overall economic growth of the region.
- Metro Railway Extension
- PM inaugurated the 4.1 km extension of Metro Railway from Noapara to Dakshineswar, and flagged off the first service on this stretch. The Rs. 464 crore project is fully funded by the Central Government.
- Inauguration of Railway Lines
- Third line between Kalaikunda and Jhargram over a stretch of 30 km of the 132 km long Kharagpur-Adityapur Third Line Project of South Eastern Railway – Rs. 1312 crores.
- Fourth line between Dankuni and Baruipara (11.28 kms) of Howrah – Bardhaman Chord Line – Rs. 195 crores.
- Third line between Rasulpur and Magra (42.42 kms) of Howrah – Bardhaman Main Line – Rs. 759 crores.
- Doubling of Azimganj – Khargraghat Road
- Prime Minister dedicated to the nation the doubling of Azimganj to Khargraghat Road section, which is a part of Howrah – Bandel – Azimganj section of Eastern Railway– Rs 240 crore.
Puducherry Chief Minister V Narayanasamy Resigns
- V Narayanasamy, the Chief Minister of the Union Territory of Puducherry, has submitted the letter of his resignation and his council of ministers on February 22, 2021 to the Lieutenant Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan.
- The decision was taken as the Congress-led Government in the UT lost its majority in the House, which is 14.
- Following a series of resignations, the ruling government was reduced to a strength of 12. Two MLA resigned in January 2021 while 2 resigned in February 2021.
Banking & Economy
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) brings State Bank of Sikkim under its regulatory purview
- The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has brought State Bank of Sikkim under its regulatory purview, on February 22, 2021.
Till now, RBI had the right and obligation to function as banker to all the state government except for the state government of Sikkim.
- Now the bank will be regulated by the RBI on a par with other banks, however the bank’s ownership structure will not change.
State Bank of Sikkim
- The State Bank of Sikkim, was established as an autonomous body wholly owned by Government of Sikkim, in the year 1968, five years before Sikkim became part of India in 1973.
- It was established under the State Bank of Sikkim Proclamation, 1968.
- The bank provides treasury operations for the state government and operates only within the jurisdiction of Sikkim.
- The bank currently has 42 branch offices and operates three revenue counters for government works.
HSBC Raises India’s GDP Forecast for FY22 to 11.2%
- HSBC has raised its growth forecasts for India in the coming fiscal year 2021-22 (FY22), from 9 percent to 11.2 percent, following pick up in business activity and a steady fall in COVID cases.
- The 2020-21 GDP forecast of India by HSBC remains -6.3 percent, as projected earlier.
Defence
Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh inaugurates DRDO Skill Development Centre for Fire Safety Training at Pilkhuwa in Uttar Pradesh
- Defence Minister Shri Rajnath Singh inaugurated Skill Development Centre (SDC) for Fire Safety Training of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) through virtual mode on February 22, 2021, at Pilkhuwa in Uttar Pradesh.
- The first of its kind in India facility has been created by Delhi based DRDO laboratory ‘Centre for Fire, Explosive and Environment Safety (CFEES)’
- The SDC DRDO facility will help in developing trained human resources, fire safety technology and products to save precious human lives and valued assets.
- The facility would be utilised for imparting fire prevention and fire-fighting training to the Fire Service personnel of Indian Armed Forces, DRDO, Ordnance Factories, Coast Guard and defence undertakings.
DRDO Conducts Two Successful Launches of VL-SRSAM Missile System
- Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) conducted two successful launches of Vertical Launch Short Range Surface to Air Missile (VL-SRSAM) on February 22, 2021.
- DRDO carried out the launch from a static vertical launcher from Integrated Test Range (ITR), Chandipur off the coast of Odisha.
- The VL-SRSAM is indigenously designed and developed by DRDO for Indian Navy,
- VL-SRSAM aims to neutralize various aerial threats at close ranges including sea-skimming targets.
L&T Delivers 100th & Final K-9 Vajra Howitzer to Indian Army
- The Chief of Army Staff General MM Naravane flagged off the 100th and final K9 Vajra 155mm/52 calibre Tracked Self-Propelled Howitzer, on February 18, 2021, at Hazira near Surat in Gujarat.
- The indigenously made K-9 Vajra has been developed by Larsen and Toubro (L&T), under the Rs 4,500-crore contract awarded to it by the Ministry of Defence in May 2017, to develop 100 units of K9 Vajra howitzer.
- L&T established a green-field manufacturing-cum-integration and testing facility at its Hazira manufacturing complex near Surat to produce the guns.
Books & Author
Vice President Venkaiah Naidu Releases ‘Maverick Messiah’, the Biography of former Andhra Pradesh CM ‘NTR’
- Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu released a book ‘Maverick Messiah’ on February 18, 2021.
- The book is a political biography of ‘N T Rama Rao’, the former Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh.
- It has been authored by senior journalist, Ramesh Kandula.
- The actor-leader was a phenomenon who had made stellar contributions to cinema and politics.
