8th February 2024 Daily Current Affairs

National Affairs

The Bill seeks to continue the existing rates of income tax for the financial year 2024-2025 and to provide for certain relief to taxpayers and to make amendments in certain enactments.
The Bill had been moved by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
The Finance Bill, 2024, does not propose any change in the tax structure as the final budget will be tabled in July after the new government assumes office post the general elections in April-May.

Obituaries

Chile’s political landscape was shaken as news broke of the tragic death of former President Sebastian Pinera (74-years) in a helicopter crash in the south of the country.
Pinera having served two terms as president, from 2010 to 2014 and again from 2018 to 2022.
Sebastian Pinera was not just a political figure but also a prominent businessman and investor.

National Affairs

Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Investment Company has confirmed its latest venture into the Indian market with an investment in Manipal Health Enterprises
This move comes hot on the heels of a subsidiary of Mubadala gaining approval from India’s fair-trade regulator, the Competition Commission of India
The deal, as revealed in a filing to the Competition Commission on January 15,was swiftly approved under the green channel route, facilitating immediate clearance upon submission

International Affairs

India will be participating in the forthcoming 7th edition of the Indian Ocean Conference in Perth (Australia) on February 9 -10, 2024.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will be heading there to attend the conference.
The ‘Indian Ocean Conference’ is a flagship consultative forum for countries in the region.
The theme for this edition is “Towards a Stable and Sustainable Indian Ocean”.

Banking & Finance

The Reserve Bank of India(RBI) announced its bi-monthly policy today with the Monetary Policy committee.
MPC retained the Policy REPO Rate unchanged at 6.5%.
Marginal standing facility and Bank rate was kept at 6.75%.
RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das in a Monetary Policy statement pegged Real GDP Growth for FY 2024-25 at 7%.

Sports

The three-day Tawangchu Tides International Kayaking Championship-2024 kick started in Tawang District, Arunachal Pradesh.
A total of 51 Kayakers from different countries including Britain, Russia and Australia and different states of the country are participating in it.
The event is being organized by an organization called “SWYTCH”.

Schemes

MoS for Health Dr. Bharati Pravin Pawar launched ‘Kilkari’ programme, a mobile health initiative for beneficiaries, in local content, in Gujarat and Maharashtra as part of Digital Health India Programme.
Kilkari is a centralized interactive voice response (IVR) based mobile health service which delivers free, weekly, time appropriate AV messages about pregnancy, childbirth, childcare to the mobile phones of beneficiaries.
It is operational in 18 States and UTs.

Obituaries

Mir Mohammad Farooq Nazki (83-years), veteran broadcaster, poet and Sahitya Akademi winner, passed away in a hospital in Katra.
Nazki was awarded the Sahitya Academi award in Kashmiri for his poetry book Naar Hyutun Kanzal Wanas (Fire in the eyelashes).
Nazki held several important positions in All India Radio Kashmir and Doordarshan.

Summits & Conferences

Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar inaugurated the World Sustainable Development Summit in the presence of Prime Minister of Guyana Mark Phillips and Union Minister Bhupender Yadav in New Delhi.
The optimum utilisation of natural resources should be a norm, ingrained not only at a wider policy level but also within the conscience and consciousness of each individual.
The Summit was organised by ‘The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI)’.

State Affairs

The Uniform Civil Code (UCC), Uttarakhand, Bill 2024, which seeks to “govern and regulate the laws related to marriage and divorce, successions, live-in relationships, and matters related thereto” was passed in the Assembly following a two-day discussion.
Now, the Bill will be sent to President Droupadi Murmu for her assent after which it will become a law.
Although Goa is governed by a UCC (Portuguese Civil Code), the Assembly did not pass any law.

Obituaries

Prominent British-Indian peer Shreela Flather (89-years) passed away after a short illness in the UK.
Known for her elegant sarees in the House of Lords, the teacher and politician was a life peer as Baroness Flather of Windsor and Maidenhead in Berkshire.
She was instrumental in the creation of the iconic Memorial Gates at Hyde Park Corner in London as a tribute to the war efforts made by some five million Commonwealth soldiers during the World Wars.