National

Underwater Metro Rail Service

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate India's first underwater metro rail service in Kolkata.
• The new metro line, called the Howrah Maidan-Esplanade section, will be the country's first transportation tunnel beneath a major river.
• It passes beneath the River Hooghly, which separates Kolkata and Howrah cities on its east and west banks.

India’s first Small Scale LNG Unit

• Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas and Housing & Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri dedicated to the nation 201 CNG Stations and India’s first Small Scale LNG Unit of GAIL at its Vijaipur LPG plant.

Sansad Khel Mahakumbh

• Union Information & Broadcasting Minister Anurag Singh Thakur launched the third phase of Sansad Khel Mahakumbh at Luhnu Cricket Ground in Bilaspur district in Himachal Pradesh.

National AVGC Policy

• As an important component of "Create in India", the Union Information and Broadcasting Ministry has informed that drafting of the National Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming and Comics - AVGC policy is in the advanced stage.

International

India - South Korea

• External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar has emphasised for intensifying the engagement between India and South Korea in different spheres.
• In his address at the Korea National Diplomatic Academy at seoul in South Korea, Dr Jaishankar urged swift upgradation of CEPA.

India – France

• India - France Foreign Office Consultations were held in New Delhi.
• The discussions encompassed key areas of bilateral cooperation including defence, civil nuclear energy, space, cyber and digital, UNSC reforms and multilateral cooperation, and cultural ties.

Economy

Care Economy

• Union Minister of Women and Child Development Smriti Irani has said that India is one of the largest emerging care economies and suggested a cluster-based approach for caregivers in the care economy.
• She was speaking at the "Care Economy in India-Unlocking opportunities", organized by CII in Mumbai.

Defence

Twin-Carrier Operations

• Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh embarked at sea to witness the Indian Navy’s ability to conduct ‘twin-carrier operations’.
• The demonstration was held as part of the first edition of the Naval Commanders’ Conference.

Samarth and Abhinav

• Indian Coast Guard Ships Samarth and Abhinav departed from Port of Colombo.
• The ships conducted a Passage Exercise (PASSEX) with the Sri Lanka Coast Guard, enhancing maritime cooperation.

54th BGB-BSF Border Conference

• A nine-member delegation of Border Security Force led by Director General Nitin Agrawal reached Dhaka to attend the 54th DG-level BGB-BSF Border Conference.
• The conference will be held from March 5th to 9th at the Border Guard Bangladesh headquarters in Dhaka.

Sports

Paralympic Committee of India

• Sports Ministry has revoked the suspension of the Paralympic Committee of India with immediate effect.
• PCI will be hosting the 2024 World Shooting Para Sport World Cup from 6th March to 15 March, 2024 at New Delhi.
• The Ministry in February this year had suspended the government recognition of PCI due to delay in holding the election after the expiry of the term of the executive committee of PCI and non-compliance with its guidelines.

Awards & Honours

Sangeet Natak Akademi Awards 2022 & 2023

• President Droupadi Murmu will confer Sangeet Natak Akademi Awards for the Years 2022 and 2023 to 94 eminent artists in New Delhi.
• The awards will be given in the fields of music, dance, drama, folk and tribal arts, puppetry and allied theatre art forms.

Person in News

Soren Gade

• A Parliamentary delegation from Denmark, led by the Speaker of the Danish Parliament Soren Gade called on Vice-President and Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar at the Upa-Rashtrapati Nivas.

Bhavana Bindra

• Speciality chemicals major Lubrizol has named Bhavana Bindra as MD for India, Middle East & Africa Region.

M. R. Kumar

• Bank of India named M. R. Kumar as the Non-Executive Chairman.

Miscellaneous

Google to restore all delisted Indian apps

• Technology conglomerate Google has agreed to restore all the recently de-listed Indian apps from its app market, Play Store.
• Recently, Google had delisted over a hundred apps by prominent Indian tech companies including Shaadi.com, Bharat Matrimony and Info Edge.

Vistara-AI merger

• Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore has granted conditional approval for Vistara’s merger with Air India along with Singapore International Airline’s 25.1% stake in the latter.