Asia's first floating festiva, commenced on February 1 at Mandsaur, Madhya Pradesh. The first edition of the five-day floating festival was inaugurated by Usha Thakur, Minister of Tourism, Culture and Religious Trust and Endowments, Government of Madhya Pradesh, on 1 february, 2023.

• It is set to offer a unique glamping and adventure experience to the tourists visiting Mandsaur, Madhya Pradesh.
• Asia’s first Floating Festival, replete with live musical concerts on a floating stage, floating market, Boat Spa, Silent Earphones Music Evening in Forest, and much more.

The Bharat Shared Repository of Inscriptions - BharatSHRI with digitisation of 1 lakh ancient inscriptions will be set up in the Epigraphy Museum to be established at Hyderabad.

• The BharatSHRI will be set up by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) in Hyderabad.
• While the contours of the repository or loction is not known, it has created excitement about epigraphists and historians.
• “This project for an epigraphy museum has been in the pipeline for some time now. Work has already begun in one of the wings of Salar Jung Museum,” informed historian and epigraphist E. Sivanagi Reddy.

Heavy Industries Minister Dr. Mahendra Nath Pandey will inaugurate the Towards Panchamrit event in Haryana’s Manesar.

• In line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Panchamrit Ki Saugat announcement, the event will highlight initiatives taken by the Ministry for promotion and development of the automotive industry in the country.
• The event will also organise an interaction session to deliberate upon implementation of schemes aimed at developing an ecosystem of innovation that will enable green and clean mobility solutions and help in reducing carbon footprint.

The country’s first hydrogen-powered train may run on the heritage Kalka-Shimla railway line by the end of this year. The Union Railway Minister had made announcement to this effect recently.

• The train will run on hydrogen fuel, which is a green fuel with zero carbon emission. Three hydrogen gas stations will be established at Shimla, Barog and Kalka railway stations.
• As per the government, the hydrogen train project has been expedited and is expected to be completed by December this year.
• After it is launched on the Kalka-Shimla railway line, the project will be expanded to other locations in the country.

The Indian Railways registered a 73% jump in revenue from the passenger segment between April and January, a government statement said .

The Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights launched its WhatsApp chatbot on Wednesday with Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, terming it an important initiative to make governance citizen-friendly.

• The chatbot, called 'Bal Mitra', is an effort to enable two-way communication between people and the child rights panel. The chatbot will help citizens and the commission to interact more effectively, according to a government statement.
• Some of the features of the chatbot include complaint registration, searching information and tracking complaint status, and seeking information on admissions, among others.

Jharkhand Governor Ramesh Bais returned the domicile Bill — which defines a ‘local’ in the state on the basis of 1932 land records — to the state government to “seriously review” its legality.

The government has nearly doubled its budgetary allocation for the FAME (faster adoption and manufacturing of electric vehicles) scheme to subsidise the purchase of electric vehicles.

• As per the budget document, the subsidy under the FAME scheme for fiscal 2024 is projected at Rs 5,172 crore, compared with the revised estimate of Rs 2,897 crore in the current fiscal year.
• This is the highest allocation under the scheme since its launch in 2020. The FAME-2 subsidy accounted for 85% of the total budget allocation for the ministry of heavy industries.
• This comes amid reports of alleged wrongful claims by various manufacturers and a government probe.

FIH President Tayyab Ikram presented the FIH President's Award to VK Pandian, Secretary to the Chief Minister of Odisha, for his outstanding contribution to hockey.

• The FIH President acknowledged the crucial role played by CM Naveen Patnaik along with VK Pandian for hosting a glorious Hockey World Cup.
• The FIH President's Award recognises individuals National Associations or other organisations for valuable services to hockey, whether direct or indirect or initiatives which have had a significant effect on hockey at the international level.

Renowned filmmaker and Dadasaheb Phalke awardee Kasinadhuni Viswanath died at the age of 92 years around Thursday midnight. He took his last breath at a private hospital here.

• The filmmaker was not well for some time and was suffering from age-related issues.
• Former Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu, Film Director SS Rajamouli, Music Director MM Keeravani, Actor Chiranjeevi and other film stars pay last tribute to veteran film director Kalatapasvi K Viswanath in Hyderabad.

Australia is removing the British monarchy from its bank notes. The nation's central bank said Thursday its new $5 bill would feature an Indigenous design rather than an image of King Charles III. But the king is still expected to appear on coins.

• The $5 bill was Australia's only remaining bank note to still feature an image of the monarch.
• The bank said the decision followed consultation with the government, which supported the change. Opponents say the move is politically motivated.
• The British monarch remains Australia's head of state, although these days that role is largely symbolic. Like many former British colonies, Australia is debating to what extent it should retain its constitutional ties to Britain.

India has welcomed Congo to International Solar Alliance. Ambassador of Republic of Congo, Raymond Serge Bale signed the International Solar Alliance Framework Agreement in the presence of Joint Secretary (Economic Diplomacy).

About ISA

• The ISA was conceived as a joint effort by India and France to mobilize efforts against climate change through deployment of solar energy solutions.
• It was conceptualized on the side-lines of the 21st Conference of Parties (COP21) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) held in Paris in 2015.
• Vision : Let us together make the sun brighter.
• Mission: Every home no matter how far away, will have a light at home
• The Headquarters is in India with its Interim Secretariat being set up in Gurugram.
• A total of 107 countries have signed the ISA Framework Agreement.
• Out of 107 nations, 86 have signed and ratified the ISA Framework Agreement.

Significance

• One Sun One World One Grid (OSOWOG): The OSOWOG focuses on a framework for facilitating global cooperation, building a global ecosystem of interconnected renewable energy resources (mainly solar energy) that can be seamlessly shared.
• The vision behind the OSOWOG is ‘The Sun Never Sets’ and is a constant at some geographical location, globally, at any given point of time.
• It has been taken up under the technical assistance program of the World Bank.

Noted Kannada writer K.V. Tirumalesh, 82, passed away in Hyderabad . He was suffering from age-related illnesses. He is regarded as one of the most versatile writers across genres and a man with eclectic interests.

• The writer who lived for many years in Hyderabad wrote extensively across genres in Kannada, including poetry, plays, short stories, novels, translations and criticism.

• Though primarily recognised as a poet and honoured with the Sahitya Akademi award for his innovative work Akshaya Kavya — “a long narrative sans story or aim” as he described it — he wrote extensively across genres, including plays, short stories, novels, translations and criticism.