Daily Current Affairs 18th February 2023

Current Affairs 18th February 2023 are incorporated with the important news that made the current affairs headlines for banking or other competitive exams. Daily Current Affairs is the complete bag of important news that is held all day long. One should have complete knowledge about banking terms, current affairs news, etc. So, here is the GK update for 18th February 2023 to help you prepare the Current affairs part. After reading this section, you can successfully attempt Current Affairs Quiz. 

Here is the Current Affairs 18th February 2023 covering the following news headlines: mPassport Police App, KAVACH-2023, Joint military exercise, Taliban Terrorist Attack, LORA Ballistic Missile, India’s GDP.

Top 19 Daily Current Affairs: National & International News:

Here is providing below the top 19 important Daily General Knowledge 2022 updates with national & international news.

                                           National News

1. mPassport Police App: Police verification for passport in just 5 days

• The “mPassport Police App, developed by the consular, passport and visa division of the external affairs ministry for law enforcement agencies, is being rolled out along with 350 tablets to personnel of the Special Branch of Delhi Police.
• These personnel are responsible for carrying out verification of antecedents of passport applicants. A new app developed by the external affairs ministry and rolled out in New Delhi is expected to cut the time for police verification of passport applicants to five days and reduce the scope for misuse of the process.
• The new digital services were launched by Union Home Minister Amit Shah during the 76th Raising Day Parade of Delhi Police.

2. AICTE and BPRD Jointly Launch KAVACH-2023

• Advancing India’s cyber-preparedness, KAVACH-2023, a national level hackathon was launched to identify innovative ideas and technological solutions for addressing the cyber security and cybercrime challenges of the 21st century.
• KAVACH-2023 is a one-of-a-kind national hackathon jointly developed by All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPRD) and Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre.
• KAVACH-2023 is a unique kind of national hackathon jointly conducted by MoE’s Innovation Cell, AICTE, Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D, MHA) and Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C, MHA) to identify innovative ideas and technological solutions for addressing the cyber security and cybercrime challenges of the 21st century faced by our Law Enforcement Agencies and common citizens.

                                         International News

3. Russia-China and South Africa starts joint military exercise

• In what some nations claim is an endorsement of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, South Africa is beginning a joint military drill with Russia and China.
• The 10-day naval exercises, which will go on on the first anniversary of the war in Ukraine, have drawn criticism from the US as well.
• The South African government, however, insists that it is still impartial in the conflict and that it frequently hosts such exercises with other nations, such as France and the US.

4. Spanish Government Passed Law Providing ‘Menstrual Leave’ First Time in Europe

• The Spanish government approved a historic law granting paid medical leave to women suffering from severe menstrual pain is the first for any European country.
• These leave facilities are available in a handful of countries including Japan, Indonesia, and Zambia. Equality Minister Irene Montero informed that it is a historic day of progress in feminist rights.
• Equality Minister Irene Montero noted that the move would be a step towards addressing a health problem that has been largely swept under the carpet.
• Equality Minister Irene Montero informed that periods will no longer be taboo. No more going to work in pain, no more taking pills before arriving at work, and having to hide the fact that they are in pain that makes us unable to work.

5. Taliban Terrorist Attack in Pakistan, 5 Terrorists, 3 Soldiers Dead

• Five Tehreek-e-Taliban (Pakistan) militants with heavy weapons were killed when security forces were able to regain control of the Karachi Police Chief’s headquarters following a daring attack by the militants in the nation’s most populous city.
• Around 10.50 p.m. on 17th Feb, the nearly four-hour-long operation to retake the five-story building came to an abrupt end as a result of a heavy exchange of gunfire between the TTP militants and security forces, which also resulted in the deaths of four other people, including two police constables, a ranger, and a civilian.
• According to a top security source, the operation resulted in the deaths of five terrorists.
• He claimed that two people committed suicide while two were killed in the long gun battle, which also resulted in some structural damage to one floor.

                                              Defence News

6. BEL to Manufacture Israel’s LORA Ballistic Missile for Indian Tri-Services

• Navratna Defence PSU Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL) has signed an MoU with Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) for the domestic manufacture and supply of its Long-Range Artillery Weapon System (LORA) for the Indian Tri-services.
• This state-of-the-art strategic weapon system will be manufactured by BEL, as the prime contractor, based on the workshare arrangement with IAI.
• LORA is a sea-to-ground and ground-to-ground system developed by IAI’s ‘MALAM’ division that comprises a long-range ballistic missile, a unique launcher, a command-and-control system, and a ground/marine support system.
• The LORA system provides ballistic assault capabilities for multiple ranges with a precision level of 10 meters CEP (circular error probable).

                                           Economy News

7. India’s GDP likely to grow at 6.2% in FY24, says Morgan Stanley

• India’s gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to grow at 6.2 per cent in FY24 as drivers of domestic demand remain intact amid fears of an impending slowdown, Morgan Stanley said in a research report released.
• The report said that as the economy fully reopened in 2022 leading to a cyclical recovery in consumption, pickup in private capex with healthy balance sheets in the private corporate and financial sector, and acceleration in government capital spending, the world’s fifth largest economy will breach the consensus GDP growth figure of 6 per cent.
• Earlier, the Union Budget for FY24 had projected nominal GDP growth at 10.5 per cent, as the centre increased the capital investment outlay steeply for the third year in a row by 33 per cent to Rs 10 trillion.

8. Forex Reserves decline by $8.31 bn to $566.94 bn

• As the US dollar rises due to the speculation that the Federal Reserve will continue to tighten repo rates, it has bogged down the Indian Rupee.
• The need to tackle a free fall in the value of the Rupee, was bound to trigger a sell off of foreign currency by the Reserve Bank of India.
• This may have triggered a $8.31 billion in India’s foreign exchange reserves for the week that ended on February 10. This has taken the reserves down to $566.94 billion.
• India’s foreign exchange reserves experienced its biggest decline in over 11 months, dropping by 8.3 percent in the week ending February 10, according to the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) statistical supplement released.

                                            Business News

9. Nearly 500 employees sacked by Google parent Alphabet in India

• Almost 500 employees in India from the legal, sales, marketing, and other areas have been let go by Google parent company Alphabet.
• According to sources speaking to Business Insider India, the fired workers were locked out of their work systems at about 9:20 p.m. on 16th Feb and informed by personal email.
• The job cuts at Google India were anticipated following the search engine giant’s January layoffs of 12,000 employees, or 6% of its total.
• Although Google did not specifically state how many employees in India would be affected, approximately 500 of the positions Google said in January would be eliminated are in India.

                                             Important News

10. World Pangolin Day 2023 observed on February 18th

• World Pangolin Day is observed annually on the third Saturday in February, and this year it falls on February 18. It is a day to remember and celebrate pangolins, raise awareness, and fight against global pangolin capture in Africa and Asia.
• Pangolin Day marks the 12th edition of the event. An estimated one million of these magnificent creatures have been and continue to be harvested from the wild in African and Asian nations to meet the enormous demand for their scale, skin, blood, and even foetuses, which are believed to have multiple purposes in fashion, traditional medicine, and cookery.

                                                   Agreements News

11. Central Water Commission, IIT Roorkee to develop international centre of excellence for dams

• The Central Water Commission (CWC), Department of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation, Ministry of Jal Shakti entered into a Memorandum of Agreement for Development of International Centre of Excellence for Dams (ICED) under externally funded Dam Rehabilitation and Improvement Project Phase II and Phase III.
• This MoA will remain valid for ten years or till the duration of the DRIP Phase-II and Phase-II Scheme, whichever is earlier, from the date of signing.
• ICED, Roorkee will provide specialized technical support services to the Indian and overseas dam owners.
• It will also carry out applied research, education, and technology transfer in dam safety management at local, regional, national, and international levels.

                                             Appointment News

12. Tata Motors VP Rajan Amba named as MD of Jaguar Land Rover India

• Tata Motors has appointed Rajan Amba as the Managing Director of Jaguar Land Rover India.
• He will take charge on March 1, 2023. Amba replaces Rohit Suri, who announced his retirement earlier this year. Amba’s contributions have been instrumental in improving customer experience and expanding Tata Motors’ retail network.
• He has been spearheading the commercial teams since October 2020. Rajan will be replacing Rohit Suri, who announced his retirement from the position of MD and President back in January 2023.

13. BCCI’s Chief Selector Chetan Sharma Resigned After Sting Operation

• BCCI’s Chief selector Chetan Sharma has resigned from his post following a sting operation conducted by a TV news channel, where he shared internal information about the team and selection process. Chetan Sharma sent his resignation to BCCI Secretary Jay Shah who accepted it.
• Earlier, in a sting operation, the 57-year-old was heard saying that Indian players have their own doctors outside of cricket, who are always available for them.
• The chief selector revealed that there was a huge clash of ego between former Indian skipper Virat Kohli and former BCCI President Sourav Ganguly, which eventually led to the right-hander batter’s ouster as the captain.
• Chetan Sharma’s second stint as chairman of the national selection committee has ended in around 40 days.

                                                   Schemes News

14. Govt Approves Rs 4,800 Crore Scheme For Holistic Development Of Border Villages

• To improve the quality of life and encourage people to stay in their native locations in border areas, the union government announced a Rs 4,800 crore centrally sponsored scheme for four years through FY26.
• The Cabinet approved the ‘Vibrant Villages Programme’ to ensure the comprehensive development of villages along the northern border areas. Out of the financial allocation of Rs 4,800 crore, Rs 2,500 crore would be used for constructing roads.
• The scheme will provide funds for the development of essential infrastructure and creation of livelihood opportunities in 19 Districts and 46 Border blocks 4 states and 1 UT along the northern land border of the country which will help in achieving inclusive growth and retaining the population in the border areas. In the first phase 663 Villages will be taken up in the programme.

                                                 Awards News

15. Kollam district won Swaraj Trophy 2021-22 for Best District Panchayat

• The Kollam district panchayat has won the Swaraj Trophy for the best district panchayat in the State for the 2021-22 financial year.
• The Kannur district panchayat stood second in the rankings. Kollam district, is one of 14 districts of the state of Kerala, India.
• The district has a cross-section of Kerala’s natural attributes; it is endowed with a long coastline, a major Laccadive Sea seaport and an inland lake. The district has many water bodies.
• The Thiruvananthapuram Corporation bagged the trophy for the best corporation.
• The Mulanthuruthy grama panchayat won the award for the best grama panchayat in the State and Pappinissery and Marangattupilly grama panchayats won the second and third places.
• The award for the best block panchayat went to Perumpadappu, while Kodakara and Nedumangad won the second and third places.
• Tirurangadi won the award for the best municipality, while Wadakkanchery and Sulthan Bathery won the second and third places.

                                            Science and Technology News

16. World’s First Cloud-Built Demonstration Satellite Launched JANUS-1 Successfully

• Antaris announced that the world’s first satellite fully conceived, designed, and manufactured using the company’s end-to-end cloud platform, JANUS-1 has successfully reached orbit. JANUS-1 rode on the Indian Space Research Organization’s (ISRO) SSLV-D2 rocket.
• JANUS-1 was launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre of India under a commercial arrangement with New Space India Limited (NSIL). The JANUS-1 satellite features five payloads from a range of global providers, which will be commissioned and begin nominal operations.
• Additional tech demonstration satellites from Antaris and manufacturing partners Ananth Technologies and XDLINX Labs are planned for 2023, including 6U, 12U, and 27U satellite reference architectures.
• JANUS-1 is a 6U satellite featuring payload and subsystem technologies from AICRAFT, Morpheus Space, Netra, SayariLabs Kenya, SpeQtral, Transceles, trial, and Zero-Error Systems (ZES).

17. Lexi’: India’s first AI assistant powered by ChatGPT

• Lexi, a ChatGPT-powered AI chatbot, has arrived in India. Velocity, a financial technology firm, launched the chatbot to assist e-commerce owners by presenting them with business information in a simplified manner. Velocity insights, Velocity’s proprietary analytics platform, has been linked with the chatbot.
• AI chatbots have been around for quite some time but lacked a ‘human touch’. ChatGPT, with its human-like answers, stirred things up and prompted Google to come up with its own AI chatbot, Bard.
• Microsoft, which has partnered with ChatGPT’s parent company OpenAI, also launched a new version of Bing recently that has a chat option. The responses are similar to what ChatGPT provides.

18. Intel Launched ‘Sapphire Rapids’ Processors for Professional Creators

• Intel has launched the new Xeon W-3400 and Xeon W-2400 desktop workstation processors (code-named Sapphire Rapids), which are built for professional creators to provide massive performance for media and entertainment, engineering, and data science professionals.
• According to Intel, the new workstation processors are available for pre-order from industry partners, with system availability beginning in March.

                                             Obituaries News

19. Yakshagana Bhagavat Balipa Narayana Bhagavatha passes away at 85

• Famous Yakshagana singer and screenwriter Balipa Narayan Bhagwat passed away at the age of 85. He had mastered a unique style of singing, due to which fans have given it the name of ‘Balipa Style’.
• Rich in voice, Bhagwat has written more than 30 Yakshagana ‘Prasanga’ (scripts). He was well versed in over 100 Yakshagana episodes, which he composed by heart.
• He had served in the field of Yakshagana for about 60 years. He was the chief Bhagwat of Kateel Durgaparameshwari Prasadita Yakshagana Mandali (Kateel Mela).
• Born on April 13, 1938 in Padre village of Kasargod district (Kerala), Bhagavata wrote several Yakshagana episodes. Bhagwat entered the Yakshagana field at the age of 13.

Important Current Affairs of 18th  February 2023