Daily GK Update: 2nd March 2023

 Honours & Awards

1. Vinod Kumar Shukla wins PEN/Nabokov Lifetime Achievement Award 2023

• Hindi writer Vinod Kumar Shukla (87) has won the 2023 PEN America award for lifetime achievement in literature.
• It is one of the most coveted literary prizes worldwide.
• His acclaimed novels like Naukar Ki Kameez (1979) and poetry collections like Sab Kuch Hona Bacha Rahega (1992).
• He was awarded the Sahitya Akademi award in 1999 for Naukar Ki Kameez, the Atta Galatta-Bangalore Literature Festival Book Prize in 2019, and the Mathrubhumi Book of the Year award in 2020.

 National & International Appointments

2. Bola Tinubu wins the Nigeria's presidential election

• The ruling party candidate, Bola Tinubu (70) has defeated vice president Atiku Abubakar (opposition People’s Democratic Party) to win the disputed presidential election in Nigeria.
• He received 37%, Atiku Abubakar polled 29%, and Labour's candidate Peter Obi received 25% of the vote.
• The opposition parties dismissed the poll as a sham and demanded a rerun.
• He will become Nigeria’s fifth elected president since 1999.
• Nigeria Capital: Abuja; Currency: Naira

 International Affairs

3. UAE: World’s first free zone for digital and virtual asset companies

• The government of Ras Al Khaimah, one of the seven emirates of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), plans to establish RAK Digital Assets Oasis.
• This announcement was made at the Blockchain Life 2023 conference.
• It would be the world's first free zone dedicated to digital and virtual asset companies.
• This would be a purpose-built, proper innovation-enabling free zone for non-regulated activities in the virtual assets sector.
• UAE Capital: Abu Dhabi; UAE Currency: Dirham

 Defense

4. Govt approves procurement of 70 HTT-40 Basic Trainer Aircraft for IAF

• The Indian government has approved the procurement of 70 HTT-40 Basic Trainer Aircraft from Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for the Indian Air Force.
• Reason: It will meet the shortage of basic trainer aircraft of IAF for the training of newly inducted pilots.
• The HTT-40 is a turboprop aircraft designed to have good low-speed handling qualities and provide better training effectiveness.
• The aircraft will be supplied over six years.
• Cost: 6,828 crore rupees

 National Affairs

5. Govt approves contract with L&T for acquisition of 3 cadet training ships

• The Indian govt has approved the signing contract with Larsen and Toubro Limited for the acquisition of three Cadet Training Ships.
• The delivery of these indigenously designed, developed, and constructed ships are scheduled to commence in 2026.
• These ships can use to train the officer cadets at sea and can be deployed for the evacuation of people.
• They can also train cadets from friendly countries to strengthen diplomatic relations.
• Cost: 3,108 crore rupees (Overall)

 Summits & Conferences

6. Agri Minister Narendra Singh Tomar inaugurates Pusa Krishi Vigyan Mela

• Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Narendra Singh Tomar has inaugurated the three-day-long Pusa Krishi Vigyan Mela in New Delhi.
• It is being organized with the theme Nutrition, Food, and Environmental Protection with Shree Anna.
• The event also conducts technical sessions on contemporary issues in Agriculture, including the development of Shree Anna-based value chain, Smart Farming Model, Sustainable Agriculture, and Farmer Producer Organisations.

 Sports

7. Asia's longest ever cycle race flagged off from Srinagar, J&K

• Asia's longest-ever cycle race was flagged off from Bakshi Stadium in Srinagar (J&K) and will culminate at Kanyakumari (Tamil Nadu).
• The race will cover the longest highway, National Highway-44 distance of 3651 kilometers, passing through twelve major states, three major metropolitan cities, and over twenty major cities of the country.
• It has been accorded the status of Asian Ultracycling Championship by the World Ultracycling Association.

 National & International Appointments

8. Pakistan PM appoints first Ambassador for Kartarpur Corridor

• Pakistan Prime Minister, Shehbaz Sharif has appointed Sardar Ramesh Singh Arora as the Ambassador-at-Large for Kartarpur Corridor.
• This appointment is part of efforts to attract Sikh pilgrims from across the world.
• He hails from Kartarpur in Narowal.
• He is also the central general secretary of the Pakistan Muslim League (N) minorities wing.
• This corridor links Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistan with the Dera Baba Nanak shrine in Gurdaspur district, Punjab, India.

 Banking & Finance

9. Bajaj Finserv gets nod from Sebi to launch mutual fund business

• Bajaj Finserv Ltd has received the final registration from SEBI to commence its mutual fund operations under Bajaj Finserv Mutual Fund.
• Bajaj Finserv Mutual Fund, with Bajaj Finserv Asset Management Ltd (BFAML) as the Investment Manager, will soon offer a range of mutual fund products.
• The products include equity, debt, and hybrid funds, both in the active and passive segments, for investors.
• BFAML CEO: Ganesh Mohan
• Bajaj Finserv Chairman: Sanjiv Bajaj

 National Affairs

10. Government e-Marketplace (GeM) commemorates the success of “SWAYATT”

• Government eMarketplace (GeM) has commemorated the success of “SWAYATT” initiative.
• This initiative aims to promote Startups, Women, and Youth Advantage Through eTransactions (SWAYATT) on GeM.
• It was established by GeM in February 2019.
• Goal: To stimulate the inclusion of diverse categories of sellers and service providers on the portal.
• It was achieved by taking aggressive measures to simplify their training and registrations.
• GeM CEO: P.K. Singh

 Banking & Finance

11. Moody’s raises GDP growth forecast for India to 5.5% in 2023

• Global rating firm Moody’s Investors Services has raised the growth projection of India to 5.5% in 2023 from the earlier projection of 4.8 percent in November 2022.
• Moody's also projected the growth of India at 6.5% in 2024.
• According to Moody’s projection, India’s growth rate in 2023 is the highest among G20 countries.
• It is followed by China (5 %) and Indonesia (4.8%).
• The US is expected to grow by 0.9%, the Euro area by 0.5%, Japan by 1.5%, and the UK (-0.4%).

 Banking & Finance

12. February GST collection at Rs 1.50 lakh crore, up 12% YoY

• According to the Finance Ministry, the government collected Rs 1,49,577 crore as gross goods and service tax (GST) revenue in the month of February 2023.
• This amount was increased by around 12% on an annual basis (YoY).
• India's GST revenue in February 2022 was Rs 1,33,026 crore.
• Of the total revenue collected, CGST is Rs 27,662 crore, SGST is Rs 34,915 crore, IGST is Rs 75,069 crore while cess is Rs 11,931 crore (including Rs 792 crore collected on import of goods).

 National & International Appointments

13. Hekani Jakhalu becomes first woman MLA in Nagaland history

• Hekani Jakhalu of the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) has created history by becoming the first woman MLA of the Nagaland Assembly.
• She was announced the winner from the Dimapur-III constituency in the 2023 Nagaland Assembly elections.
• She defeated Azheto Zhimomi of LJP (Ram Vilas) by 1,536 votes.
• Of 31,874 votes counted in the constituency, she received 45.16% of the votes, just ahead of the LJP (RV)’s Azheto Zhimomi who received 40.34% votes.