Daily Current Affairs- 18 February

Today's Current Affairs 18h February 2023

INTERNATIONAL

US Treasury Secretary Yellen To Visit India Next Week For G20 Meetings.

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen would travel to India next week to participate in the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Ministerial. During the visit, her priority will be the war in Ukraine and addressing the challenges for building a stronger, more resilient, and global economy, as reported by the news agency PTI. "In these engagements, Yellen will join with allies in holding Russia accountable for its illegal invasion of Ukraine, and partner with countries to mitigate the spillover effects of the war.

EAM S Jaishankar Calls On Aus PM Albanese To Discuss Bilateral Strategic Ties.

External Affairs minister S Jaishankar on Saturday met Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at the latter's official residence in Sydney and apprised him of the recent developments related to the strategic partnership between both the countries. The meeting comes ahead of the Australian PM's scheduled trip to India next month as the two countries seek to finalise a trade deal following the interim agreement signed in April 2022.

NATIONAL

World's First Om-Shaped Lord Shiva Temple Expected To Be Ready By 2024 In Rajasthan.

The Om-shaped Lord Shiva temple is soon going to be ready in the Jadan Village of Rajasthan's Pali, after nearly three decades since the laying of the foundation stone. This would be the first such temple in the world. The Om-shaped or the 'Om Aakar' temple is being constructed across a sprawling 250 acres of land in Jadan. Over 400 people worked on the construction of the temple.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman Chairs 49th Meeting Of GST Council.

The 49th meeting of the GST Council is being Chaired by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman after the presentation of the union budget earlier this month. The meeting is also being attended by Minister of State Pankaj Chaudhary, Finance Ministers of States and UTs, and senior officers of the government.

APPOINTMENTS

Rajan Amba appointed as MD of Jaguar Land Rover India.

Rajan Amba, VP of Sales, Marketing & Customer Care, Tata Motors, has been appointed 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. Prior to joining Tata Motors, Amba was the Chief Operating Officer at Carat Lane. He also held several top managerial posts at Titan and Nike.

SPORTS

Badminton Asia Mixed Team Championships 2023: India Enter Semifinals After Sensational Comeback, Ensure First-Ever Medal In Continental Tournament.

India staged a remarkable comeback to down Hong Kong 3-2 and qualify for the semifinals of the Asia Mixed Team Badminton Championships and ensure a first-ever medal in the continental tournament here on Friday. Down 0-2, the Indians showed great fighting spirit as the doubles pair of Dhruv Kapila and Chirag Shetty and PV Sindhu levelled the scores after reverses in the first two matches.

South Africa Test Captain: Temba Bavuma Becomes First Black African To Lead Proteas In Test Cricket.

Cricket South Africa (CSA) have appointed Temba Bavuma as their new Test captain replacing Dean Elgar at the helm of affairs in red-ball cricket. While Bavuma has retained his position as the captain of the ODI team, his first assignment as a full-time leader in the game's purest format will be the forthcoming series against West Indies. With this announcement, the 32-year-old became the first Black African to lead South Africa in Test match cricket.

WPL 2023: Royal Challengers Bangalore Appoint Smriti Mandhana As Team’s Captain.

On Saturday,  Royal Challengers Bangalore appointed Smriti Mandhana as the skipper of the women’s team ahead of the inaugural Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2023. Virat Kohli and current RCB captain Faf du Plessis announced on RCB’s social media handles. “Now it’s time for another No. 18 to lead a very special RCB team in WPL. Yes, we are talking about Smriti Mandhana. Go on Smriti. You have the support best team and best fans in the world,” - Kohli said.

IND vs ENG, Women’s T20 World Cup 2023  England defeat India by 11 runs.

India vice-captain Smriti Mandhana’s half-century (52 off 41 balls) and an entertaining 34-ball 47 from Richa Ghosh went in vain as India lost their ICC Women’s T20 World Cup group match to England by 11 runs on Saturday. India restricted England to 151 for seven with medium pacer Renuka Singh (5/15) registering her best bowling figures in the format after India opted to bowl. Her five-wicket haul gave India hope that they could defeat the Heather Knight-led side, but Sarah Glenn (2/27 in 4 overs) and Sophie Ecclestone’s (1/11 in 3 overs) restrictive bowling didn’t allow Indian batters play their strokes freely.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

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.

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

LOS ALTOS, Calif., Feb. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Antaris, creator of the most advanced software platform for space, announced today that the world's first satellite fully conceived, designed and manufactured using the company's end-to-end cloud platform has successfully reached orbit. JANUS-1 rode on the Indian Space Research Organization's (ISRO) SSLV-D2 rocket, which was launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre of India under a commercial arrangement with New Space India Limited (NSIL). The satellite features five payloads from a range of global providers, which will be commissioned and begin nominal operations in the coming days.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

IMPORTANT DAYS

Taj Mahotsav or Taj Festival.

Taj Mahotsav Agra, one of the most eagerly awaited festivals, is celebrated from 18th to 27th February every year at Shilpgram near the Eastern gate of “Taj Mahal”.This 10 days long carnival is actually a vibrant platform that gives you information of India where you can find India's rich arts, crafts, cuisine, dance and music. Taj Mahal is the most beautiful historical place of India which tells about incredible India. Taj Mahotsav is organized by UP Tourism and it is a source to increase Indian Tourism.

World Pangolin Day.

World Pangolin Day is observed annually on the third Saturday in February and takes place on February 18 this year. The day aims to celebrate pangolins, raise awareness and recommit international N.G.O.s to the fight against the global capturing of pangolins in Africa and Asia.