Sri Lanka’s Independence Day is celebrated on 4th of February to commemorate its internal political independence from British rule on that day in 1948.

• It is celebrated all over the country through flag-hoisting ceremony, dances, parades and performances. Usually, the main celebration takes place in Colombo, where the President raises the national flag and delivers a nationally televised speech.
• Many national struggles were made in the history of Sri Lanka. And on the Independence Day all of these are remembered and celebrated.
• CPSC sends its warm wishes to its Sri Lankan brothers and sisters for this very auspicious and historically significant event.

Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting and Youth Affairs & Sports, Sh. Anurag Singh Thakur along with Lieutenant Governor, Jammu & Kashmir, Sh. Manoj Sinha today launched 3rd Khelo India Winter Games Mascot, Theme Song and Jersey at Raj Bhavan, Jammu.

• The Winter Games are scheduled to be held from 10th to 14th this month at Gulmarg, Jammu and Kashmir.
• The Khelo India Winter Games is supported by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports and is organized by the J&K Sports Council as well as the Winter Games Association, J&K.
• More than 1500 players across the country will take part in the games that will take place in Gulmarg and will be played across 9 sports events.
• The 1st edition of the Khelo India Winter Games took place in 2020 and Jammu and Kashmir have come on top in both editions of the games so far.

Maharashtra tops the list in sales of electric vehicles across all segments which have availed of the FAME II subsidy, followed by Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Rajasthan.

• The top five states collectively account for over 56 per cent of the 0.85 million electric vehicles bought through the scheme, according to government data and span two wheelers, three wheelers, e-rickshaws, and four wheelers.
• The trend of the top states is akin to registrations of internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles though with one exception: Uttar Pradesh which accounts for 11 per cent all vehicle registrations based on data to March 31st 2019 (when it was predominantly petrol and diesel) and was ranked at number two, has lost its position in the top five in the electric sweepstakes.
• It has been replaced by Rajasthan which is number five in the pecking order.

Researchers from Cambridge and University College London have discovered a previously unknown type of water ice, dubbed medium-density amorphous ice (MDA).

• It’s frozen but has a density similar to that of liquid water, presenting a number of fascinating possibilities about where we might find this material in nature.
• Producing MDA might be one of the simplest techniques known to humanity. All you have to do is shake the ice really hard. But not by hand — that’s not going to cut it.
• The team used a process known as ball-milling. Essentially, they placed regular crystalline ice in a small metal container with steel balls.
• When mechanically shaken at high speed, the balls break down the crystal structure of the ice, but it remains frozen due to the low experimental temperature of -376 degrees Fahrenheit (-200 degrees Celsius).

Europe has imposed a ban on Russian diesel fuel and other refined oil products, slashing energy dependency on Moscow and seeking to further crimp the Kremlin’s fossil fuel earnings as punishment for invading Ukraine.

• The ban comes along with a price cap agreed by the Group of Seven (G7) allied countries – the United States, Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Japan and Canada.
• The goal is allowing Russian diesel to keep flowing to countries such as China and India and avoiding a sudden price rise that would hurt consumers worldwide while reducing the profits funding Moscow’s budget and war.

The Kerala Police recently arrested 2,507 gangsters under OPERATION AAG. Launching a massive crackdown on people accused in various criminal cases, the Kerala police announced on Sunday, February 5, that they have arrested more than 2,500 people in the name of ‘Operation Aag’.

• The police in a statement said that 2,507 persons were arrested across the state as part of its initiative to curb ‘anti-social activities’ in Kerala. Among the arrested persons, 300 are ‘fugitives’, the police said.
• The arrests were made after raiding 3,501 places since February 4 and registering a total of 1,673 cases, the Kerala State Police Chief's Office said.

The Government of India to smoothen its liability profile has done a conversion transaction with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on January 28, 2022 for an amount of ?1,19,701 crore (face value).

• The transaction involved buying back securities maturing in FY 2022-23, FY 2023-24 and FY 2024-25 from the Reserve Bank and issuing fresh securities for equivalent market value, to make the transaction cash neutral,” the RBI said in a statement.

The foundation stone of the world’s third largest cricket stadium was laid on the Jaipur-Delhi bypass on Saturday. Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, BCCI president Sourav Ganguly, vice-president Rajiv Shukla and secretary Jay Shah attended the ceremony virtually.

• An International Cricket Stadium is being built on 100 acres of land in Jaipur.
• It will be the second largest stadium in the country and the third largest in the world.
• In this, the seating capacity of 75000 spectators will be developed. The stadium will be constructed in 2 phases. 
• The world’s largest stadium is Motera stadium in Ahmedabad which has a capacity of around 1.10 lakh spectators. Second largest stadium is Australia’s Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) which has a capacity of one lakh spectators.

The central ice hockey team of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) won the 12th edition of the Ice Hockey Association of India (IHAI) National Ice Hockey Championship for men- 2023 organized in Leh, Ladakh. 

• The ITBP team defeated the Ladakh Scouts by a score of 1-0 at the final. This is the third time in succession that the mountain trained Force has won this premier national ice hockey championship.
• Top teams of the country participated in this national tournament organized at the Ice Hockey Rink in Ladakh which is located in one of the highest altitude regions of the world.
• The ITBP is a pioneer in the adventure sports in the country and possesses an unparalleled record of mountaineering and allied sports in the country.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare signed an MoU in New Delhi yesterday with Digital Green under a public-private partnership framework to build a national-level digital extension platform.

• The platform will host a digital library of curated multi-format multi-lingual content, helping extension workers access.
• It will also deliver curated content to farmers on time and upskill the vast network of extension workers for agriculture, horticulture, fisheries, livestock and rural livelihood missions through certified online courses.

Union Minister Bhupender Yadav launched the "Save Wetlands Campaign" in Goa, under which citizen partnerships will be built for conservation of wetlands.

• The campaign is structured on a “whole of society” approach for wetlands conservation, enabling affirmative action at all levels and involving all strata of the society, a senior official from the Union ministry said.
• The campaign, which will be conducted over the next one year, will involve sensitising people about the value of wetlands, increasing the coverage of wetland mitras and building citizen partnerships for conservation, he said.

A huge earthquake killed more than 3,700 people across a swathe of Turkey and northwest Syria on Monday, with freezing winter weather adding to the plight of the thousands left injured or homeless and hampering efforts to find survivors.

• The magnitude 7.8 quake brought down whole apartment blocks in Turkish cities and piled more devastation on millions of Syrians displaced by years of war.
• It struck before sunrise in harsh weather and was followed in the early afternoon by another large quake.

West Bengal government is set to launch an open-air classroom programme Paray Shikshalaya (Neighbourhood Schools) for primary and pre-primary students on February 7.

• South 24 Parganas District Magistrate (DM) P Ulaganathan  told ANI, "Children, in the wake of Covid-19 pandemic restrictions, are deprived of proper school education.
• Under project 'Paray Shikshalaya', we have now decided to hold classes in open ground. The para teachers and primary school teachers would be part of the project to provide elementary education to Class 1-5. Project has been approved by the state government."

The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has appointed Prof. Dinesh Prasad Saklani as the new director. He took charge as the director on February 14, 2022.

• He is appointed for a term of 5 years, beginning on the day of his appointment and ending when he reaches the age of 65, or until further directives are issued, whichever comes first.
• Prior to Prof Saklani, Hrushikesh Senapaty was the director of NCERT and finished his term a year ago.
• Prof. Saklani is a professor in the department of Ancient Indian History, Culture, and Archaeology. He is also a member of the tutorial Council of Uttarakhand Open University, Haldwani.