National

PM-Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana

• Government has approved PM-Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana for installing rooftop solar system in one crore households with a total outlay of 75,021 crore rupees.
• The proposed scheme will result in the addition of 30 GW of solar capacity through rooftop solar system in the residential sector.

International Big Cat Alliance

• Government has given its nod to the establishment of the International Big Cat Alliance with headquarters in India.
• It has approved one-time budgetary support of 150 crore rupees for five years till 2027-28.
• Seven big cats include Tiger, Lion, Leopard, Snow Leopard, Puma, Jaguar and the Cheetah. Out of these, five big cats - Tiger, Lion, Leopard, Snow Leopard and Cheetah, are found in India.

Critical and Strategic Mineral Blocks

• In line with the country's ambition to generate 50 percent of its electric power from non-fossil sources by 2030, India has launched the auction of 18 critical and strategic mineral blocks valued at around 30 lakh crore.

NUCFDC Limited

• Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah will launch National Urban Co-operative Finance and Development Corporation Limited, the Umbrella organization for the Urban Cooperative Banks in New Delhi.
• NUCFDC has received a Certificate of Registration from the Reserve Bank of India to operate as a Non-Banking Finance Company and serve as the umbrella organization for the urban cooperative banking sector.

Jiyo Parsi Programme

• Union Minister Smriti Irani launched revamped Jiyo Parsi Programme and Avesta-Pahlavi Language Centre at the Mumbai University in an event at New Delhi.

International

Satellite 'Pars 1'

• Russia launched Pars 1, an Iranian imaging satellite, into space.
• This satellite has the capability of sending high-resolution images of surface locations from its orbit 500 km above Earth.

Padma-Meghna Sanctuary

• Bangladesh imposed two-month ban on all kinds of fishing including jatka (hilsa fry) in Padma-Meghna Sanctuary to preserve the aquatic ecosystem and boost hilsa production.

International Gita Mahotsav

• 3-day International Gita Mahotsav will commence at Nelum Pokuna Theatre premises in Colombo.
• The Mahotsav is being organized with the financial sponsorship of Haryana’s Kurukshetra Development Board.

Economy

Asia Economic Dialogue 2024

• External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar addressed inaugural session of Asia Economic Dialogue 2024 virtually.
• 8th Asia Economic Dialogue is being held in Pune from February 29-March 2.

Defence

VSHORADS missile

• Defence Research and Development Organisation DRDO conducted a successful flight test of a Very Short-Range Air Defence System VSHORADS missile from a ground-based portable launcher off the coast of Odisha from the Integrated Test Range in Chandipur.
• VSHORADS is a Man Portable Air Defence System designed and developed indigenously by Research Centre Imarat in collaboration with other DRDO laboratories and Indian Industry Partners.

Person in News

Morarji Desai

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid tributes to former Prime Minister and freedom fighter Morarji Desai on his birth anniversary.

Brian Mulroney

• Former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, who led his country from 1984 to 1993, passed away.

Miscellaneous

Mela Moments Photography Contest

• Lalit Kala Akademi (Ministry of Culture) is hosting the award ceremony for the Mela Moments Photography Contest at the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA) New Delhi.
• Under the theme of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, the initiative aimed to immortalize the essence of India's festivals and traditions.

MoSPI Signs MoU with ISRO

• The NSSO (FOD) under Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the National Remote Sensing Centre under the Indian Space Research Organization to facilitate Urban Frame Survey in a digital mode using the state-of-the-art Geo ICT tools and techniques using Bhuvan Platform.

New marine species discovered

• Zoological Survey of India has named a new marine species of head-shield sea slug with ruby red spot which was discovered from West Bengal and Odisha coast after President of India Droupadi Murmu.
• This species belonging to Melanochlamys genus was discovered from Digha of West Bengal coast and Udaipur of Odisha coast.