25.2.23 KPSC Daily Current Affairs

KARNATAKA

Karnataka budget 2023: Startup Park near Bengaluru airport to aid 25,000 ventures

Making strides at the national level with its vibrant startup ecosystem, Karnataka on Friday looked to leverage its position further with chief minister Basavaraj Bommai announcing setting up of a Startup Park at a cost of Rs 30 crore near Kempegowda International Airport.

According to officials from the IT & BT department, the proposed park will be a hub for aspiring entrepreneurs from various parts of the state. Stating that the allocation of Rs 30 crore is only an initial investment, IT & BT minister CN Ashwath Narayan said: “This will position Karnataka as a champion state for startups by stimulating the growth of 25,000 startups in the coming years.” The minister added that the move is in line with the state government’s vision of building a $300-billion digital economy by 2025.

The CM took pride in Karnataka adding six startups to the list of successful unicorns.

INTERNATIONAL

India ranks 47^th in OECD’s service trade restrictiveness index

Due to Russia-Ukraine war, Russia slipped to 48th position in the index. The report highlighted the privatisation of Air India, elimination of pricing guidelines for transfers of shares between residents and non residents, and restriction of foreign participation in certain services sectors.

Reflecting presence of huge market barriers in the country, India stood at 47th position in Services Trade Restrictiveness Index(STRI) conducted by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) for the year 2022. However, there was an improvement from last year’s ranking by one position.

NATIONAL

PM Modi inaugurates Aadi Mahotsav tribal festival

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the TRIFED’s Aadi Mahotsav tribal festival in New Delhi, saying that the coming together of the diverse tribal cultures of India at an event such as this one was “giving new heights to unity in diversity”.

Inaugurating the nearly two-week-long showcase and exhibition of tribal artefacts, handicrafts, handlooms and other products at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium, the Prime Minister first paid floral tributes to a statue of tribal freedom fighter Birsa Munda along with Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda, before taking a walk through the stalls set up by over 1,000 tribal artisans and craftspeople, from all over the country.

India to spend 75% of defence capital on procurement from local industries: Rajnath Singh

In a boost to the government’s plans to achieve greater self-reliance in defence, India will spend 75 per cent of its defence capital in 2023-24 on procurement from the domestic industry, up from 68 per cent in 2022-23, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said.

The announcement was made at the Bandhan ceremony on the sidelines of the five-day Aero India, 2023. As many as 266 partnerships were forged during the event, including 201 MoUs, 53 major announcements, nine product launches and three Transfers of Technology, worth around Rs 80,000 crore, the Defence Ministry said.

The overall Defence budget earmarked for 2023-24 is Rs 5.94 lakh crore, including pensions of Rs 1.38 lakh crore, up by 12.9 per cent from Rs 5.25 lakh crore allocated in the previous (2022-23) fiscal. This is 13.18 per cent of the total Budget outlay of Rs 45,03,097 crore.

Centre extends ethanol subsidy scheme till March 2023

The government has given in-principle approval for 95 more ethanol projects under the new window of Ethanol Interest Subvention Schemes. The decision is expected to add an annual ethanol production capacity of around 480 crore liters in the country.
The Department of Food and Public Distribution said, out of these projects, 68 are grain-based, 20 are molasses based, and seven projects are based on dual feedstock. These projects have the potential to bring an investment of about 12,000usand crore rupees and will create hundreds of employment opportunities in rural India.

25 crore health records of individuals linked to their ABHA (Ayushman Bharat Health Account) for anytime access

The National Health Authority (NHA) under its flagship scheme Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) has achieved another milestone in building a digitally connected healthcare ecosystem. Over 25 crore health records of individuals have been linked to their ABHA (Ayushman Bharat Health Account).

These records can be easily accessed and managed by the individuals using any of the ABDM-enabled health apps. The digitally available health records will enable the ABHA holders in availing paper-less health services across the ABDM network.

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