National
1. The Union Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment Thaawarchand Gehlot launched the 2nd Edition of Indian Sign Language (ISL) Dictionary in New Delhi.
2. The Union Minister for Railways Piyush Goyal has announced the creation of new railway zone for Andra Pradesh, Southern Coast Railway Zone to be headquartered in Visakhapatnam.
3. The Union Minister of Railways Piyush Goyal has launched Rail Drishti dashboard. It encompasses all the digitisation efforts in Indian Railways and promotes transparency and accountability.
4. Malnutrition is one of the biggest challenges for India. Time and again various national and international surveys underline the quantum of the challenge before India.
5. The Central Information Commission (CIC) has ruled that the EVM machine is information under the Right to Information Act and directed the Election Commission of India (ECI) to respond to appellant who had sought an EVM.
6. Global Business Summit 2019 was held in New Delhi. It was the fifth edition of the three-day Summit and was inaugurated on 22nd February 2019.
7. Deloitte has announced the launch of its global initiative ‘WorldClass’ in India for the empowerment of women. The initiative was launched by Deloitte’s Global CEO, Punit Renjen in the presence of Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas and Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.
8. The Karnataka High Court has quashed the order of Enforcement Directorate (ED) which froze the bank accounts of Greenpeace India. The court noted that the validity of the ED order has lost its efficacy on account of efflux of time as the period of 60 days has expired.
9. The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) has constituted three working groups to suggest ways to facilitate exports, especially through e-commerce, and improve compliance by way of curbing tax evasion. The Working Groups would study and recommend measures to facilitate trade, promote exports and improve compliance.
10. The government of Madhya Pradesh has launched the Mukhyamantri Yuva Swabhiman Yojana to provide employment for youth.
11. Actress Kareena Kapoor Khan has been appointed as an ambassador of Swasth Immunised India campaign. The Swasth Immunised India campaign has been launched by Serum Institute of India (SII) and Network 18.
12. Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off the first ever diesel-to-electric converted locomotive at the Diesel Locomotive Works (DLW) at Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh.
13. The Union Government has cleared the construction of Rs 30,274 crore Regional Rapid Transport System (RRTS) to connect the national capital with Meerut through Ghaziabad. The RRTS would enable to cover the 82 kilometre-stretch in less than 60 minutes by high-speed and green public transit.
14. The Facebook-owned messaging app WhatsApp has announced Startup India-WhatsApp Grand Challenge to encourage entrepreneurs and small businesses in India.
15. The Union Cabinet has approved a National Electronics Policy 2019. The Policy aims to position India as a global hub for Electronics System Design and Manufacturing – (ESDM) by encouraging and driving capabilities in the country for developing core components, including chipsets, and creating an enabling environment for the industry to compete globally.
16. The Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Minister for Women and Child Development, Smt. Maneka Sanjay Gandhi launched the Investigation Tracking System for Sexual Offences (ITSSO) and Safe City Implementation Monitoring Portal as part of the women safety initiatives.
17. The 112 helpline which was earlier launched in Himachal Pradesh and Nagaland was launched in 16 states and UTs by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh under the Emergency Response Support System (ERSS).
18. The 79th Indian History Congress (IHC) will be held at Barkatullah University in Bhopal Madhya Pradesh from February 26. Earlier the 79th Indian History Congress was supposed to be held at Pune but was cancelled citing financial constraints to host the congress.
19. The report of the National Survey on Extent and Pattern of Substance Use in India conducted by National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre (NDDTC) of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi sponsored by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has been submitted.
20. The government has issued a set of guidelines to upgrade the charging infrastructure in the country to boost the electric vehicles. The Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry has made amendments to the Model Building Byelaws (MBBL) 2016 and Urban Regional Development Plans Formulation and Implementation (URDPFI) Guidelines 2014, making provisions for establishing EV charging infrastructure.
21. The Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) launched a new portal LADIS – Least Available Depth to aid in ensuring of optimum use of National Waterways.
22. The protect and safeguarding the land rights and other rights of Scheduled Tribes who are the most marginalized, isolated and deprived population, following constitutional and legislative measure have been put in place.
23. Minister of State for AYUSH, Shri Shripad Yesso Naik launched the e-Aushadhi portal for online licensing of Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani and Homoeopathy drugs.
24. The notification issued by the Union Home ministry has designated Dera Baba Nanak land post located in Punjab’s Gurdaspur district as an authorised immigration checkpoint to exit and enter for visiting Kartarpur Sahib Gurdwara in Pakistan.
25. The first LAWASIA Human Rights Conference was organised by LAWASIA, in association with the Bar Association of India. The LAWASIA Human Rights Conference 2019 was held between 9 – 10 February 2019.
26. Government e Marketplace (GeM) and Competition Commission of India (CCI) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to enable a fair and competitive environment in the e-Marketplace.
27. The government has notified the following eight medical equipments as Drugs after consultation with the Drugs Technical Advisory Board:
• All implantable devices.
• CT scan.
• PET equipment.
• MRI equipment.
• Defibrillators.
• Dialysis machines.
• Bone marrow separators.
• X-ray machine.
28. The Minister of External Affairs, Sushma Swaraj announced that the Ministry of External Affairs would play a facilitating role in promoting the silk in the global markets.
29. The Voter Verification and Information Programme (VVIP) was launched by the Election Commission during the two-day intensive training-cum-workshop on the use of information & communication technology for the conduct of general elections.
30. A plea filed lawyer Ashwini Upadhyay in Supreme Court has sought the declaration of the ‘two-child norm’ as a mandatory criterion for government jobs, aids and subsidies and urged that the law dealing with the condition for recognition of a state or national party be suitably amended in this direction.
31. The International IP Index 2019 released by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Global Innovation Policy Center (GIPC).
32. The part two of Darwaza Band campaign which aims to promote the use of toilets and to sustain the open defecation free status of villages across India has been launched.
33. India is now the second largest consumer and importer of the LPG in the world. This is attributed to government initiatives to push for cleaner alternatives to traditional cooking fuels such as firewood and cow dung.
34. India has made significant progress in the fight against HIV/AIDS in recent years. The following steps have been initiated by the government to strengthen the fight against HIV:
35. India accounts for about a quarter of the global TB burden. India has set the target to eliminate Tuberculosis in India by 2025. To evolve a strategy in this regard, India has put in place National Strategic Plan 2017 – 2025 which sets out the government plans of how the elimination of TB can be achieved.
36. The Sentinelese Tribe are indigenous people inhabiting North Sentinel Island in the Bay of Bengal in India and are considered one of the world’s last uncontacted peoples. They are considered as Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG).
37. The following steps have been taken to assist the National Minority Development Finance Corporation (NMDFC) for effective implementation of its schemes.
38. The disaster relief exercise ‘Exercise Rahat’ will be demonstrated in Jaipur, Kota and Alwar in Rajasthan on Feb 11-12.
39. The Madras High Court has ruled against negative marking in competitive examinations saying they are bad in law.
40. The National Testing Agency (NTA) which is vested with the responsibility of the conduction of competitive exams has taken the following measures to acquaint aspirants with the computer-based examinations.
41. The Road Safety Week was initiated by the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways with an aim to raise public awareness about traffic rules and ultimately reduce casualties due to road accidents. Charitable Organizations, Non-Government Organizations and Private firms across the country join hand with the government to provide logistic support to the Road Safety Week Campaign.
42. The Election Commission of India will be issuing Braille voter slips for the visually impaired and blind voters in the Lok Sabha elections due this year. The Braille voter slips were already issued during the recently held assembly polls.
43. The Union Government in the interim budget 2019 unveiled its vision for 2030, listing 10 dimensions to create an India where poverty, malnutrition, littering and illiteracy would be a matter of the past.
44. The enhanced allocation for the Ministry of Home Affairs in the interim Budget 2019 is a reflection of the government’s focus on internal security. The Budgetary allocation for the Ministry of Home Affairs stood at Rs 1,03,927 crore.
45. The interim Budget 2019 for the second time has set the ball rolling for the Classification of Denotified, Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic Communities.
46. The 12th edition of Aero India, Aero India 2019, will be held at Air Force Station at Yelahanka in Bengaluru from February 20 to 24. Aero India 2019 aims to provide a significant platform in bolstering business opportunities in the International aviation sector.
International
1. International Court of Justice (ICJ) has advised the UK to return the Diego Garcia (Chagos Islands) to Mauritius as rapidly as possible. The ICJ has said that Britain must give Mauritius control of the Chagos Archipelago in the Indian Ocean. The advisory has been issued by the ICJ on the request of the resolution passed by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) to look into the issue.
2. The Inclusive Internet Index 2019 was prepared by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) for Facebook. The 'Inclusive Internet' score was based on the scores of availability, affordability, relevance and readiness categories.
3. The 4th Global Digital Health Partnership Summit being held at New Delhi was inaugurated by the Union Health Minister J P Nadda in the presence of Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad Union Minister of Law & Justice and Electronics & Information Technology.
4. The Swedish Health Minister Lena Hallengren after the meeting with Union Health Minister J P Nadda announced that Anti-microbial resistance (AMR) is really dangerous and India and Sweden intend to boost cooperation to tackle it.
5. Over 150 houses, built by India under the Indian Housing Project in Sri Lanka were handed over to beneficiaries. The houses were handed over in a special ceremony at Bridwell Estate in Bogawantalawa, Hatton. The ceremony was attended by Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanks Taranjit Singh Sandhu.
6. Afghanistan has launched a new export route to India through the through the Chabahar Port of Iran. 23 trucks carrying 57 tonnes of dried fruits, textiles, carpets and mineral products were dispatched from western Afghan city of Zaranj to Iran’s Chabahar port. The consignment would be then shipped to Mumbai.
7. US President Donald Trump has announced the nomination of Kelly Knight Craft as the new US ambassador to the UN. The post of the US ambassador to the UN was vacant due to the resignation of Nikki Haley. Kelly Knight Craft is currently serving as the US ambassador to Canada. The appointment would be formalised after the approval by the US Senate.
8. For the first time, India would be attending the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Foreign Ministers Meet. India will attend 46th Session of the OIC’s Council of Foreign Ministers to be held in Abu Dhabi from March 1 to 2.
9. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has suspended all discussions with India regarding hosting of global sporting events in the backdrop of denial of visas to the two Pakistani Shooters. The Pakistani shooters were supposed to participate in the 25m rapid fire pistol event in the ISSF World Cup.
10. The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) condemning the Pulwama Terror Attack has decided to continue the ‘Grey’ listing of Pakistan for its failure to stop funding of terrorist groups such as Jaish-e-Mohammad, Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jamat-ud-Dawa.
11. The United Nations Security Council has strongly condemned the "heinous and cowardly" Pulwama suicide terror attack in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed. The highlights of the joint statement issued by the UNSC.
12. During the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to South Korea seven agreements were signed to boost up the cooperation.
13. Iran will hold a three-day navy drill Velayat 97 in a vast area of the Gulf and the Indian Ocean including a sensitive global shipping route.
14. The Minister of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation, Nitin Gadkari has said that India would fully utilise its share of unused water from rivers Ravi, Beas and Sutlej that has been flowing into Pakistan. The comment was made by the Minister in the backdrop of the Pulwama Terror attack which took the life of 40 CRPF soldiers.
15. India and Saudi Arabia held a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the visit of Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to India. The joint statement issued on the sidelines of the bilateral meet between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
16. Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj held a bilateral meeting with her counterpart from Spain Josep Borrel. Both the leaders met at Madrid’s Viana Palace, the Spanish foreign ministry’s official headquarters to discuss the most pressing issues on the international agenda.
17. A month-long Festival of India in Nepal is being held at Nepal. Nepal’s Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Rabindra Adhikari was the chief guest of the opening ceremony.
18. President Trump has signed a directive to create a Military Space Force. The directive orders the Pentagon to establish the Space Force as the sixth branch of the United States military, to go along with the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard.
19. 150 students of Srilanka from all 25 districts were awarded the prestigious Mahatma Gandhi scholarships for study in India. The Scholarships were awarded by Sri Lankan Education Minister Akila Viraj Kariyawasam and Indian High Commissioner Taranjit Singh Sandhu at a special ceremony in Colombo.
20. During the visit of Argentine President Mauricio Macri, Argentina has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to boost cooperation in the sector of nuclear energy. The MoU signed was signed between the Department of Atomic Energy, India and National Atomic Energy Commission, Argentina.
21. During the visit of Argentine President Mauricio Macri, Argentina has signed an agreement the Framework Agreement of the International Solar Alliance. The agreement was signed by Argentina’s Foreign Minister Jorge Faurie in the presence of ISA’s Director-General Upendra Tripathy.
22. India and Argentina signed 10 MoUs and Agreements during the ongoing three-day visit of the Argentine President Mauricio Macri. President Mauricio Macri of Argentina held bilateral talks with the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 18th February 2019. The visit of Argentine President Mauricio Macri also marks 70 years of the establishment of diplomatic relations between New Delhi and Buenos Aires.
23. The Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has unveiled a "state-of-the-art" domestically produced submarine capable of firing cruise missiles. The launch has gained significance due to the skewed relations with the USA.
24. After the withdrawal of the Most Favored Nation tag to Pakistan, India has now increased the customs duties for imports from Pakistan to 200%. The increase in the customs duty would drastically increase the prices of Pakistani goods in India and make exports unfeasible.
25. The US president Donald Trump on 15th February 2019 had declared a national emergency to fund the US-Mexico border without congressional approval. This step has been described by the Democrats as unconstitutional and they have vowed to challenge it.
26. India and Sweden signed a security protection agreement that will enable the two countries to share classified information with each other. The agreement was signed during the visit of the Indian Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to Sweden.
27. One day after the Pulwama terror attack on 14th February, 2019, India has taken a stern step of withdrawing the Most Favoured Nation or MFN Status of Pakistan. This move would enable India to increase customs duty on goods coming from Pakistan. The decision was taken in the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) that took place on 15th February 2019.
28. The International Labour Organisation has released the annual World Employment and Social Outlook Trends for the year 2019.
29. The Ministry of External Affairs had organised a training course for the officials of the Government of Nepal on 'Global Perspectives on Public Financial Management' at the Institute of Government Accounts and Finance (INGAF) in New Delhi. The training programme was part of the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) programme.
30. The President of Egypt Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi took over the chairmanship of African Union from Paul Kagame, President of Rwanda. African Union chairmen set agendas of issues to be addressed during their tenure of one-year. El-Sissi is expected to concentrate on security and financial reform.
31. The seventh annual World Government Summit is being held in Dubai (UAE). The World Government Summit is a forum dedicated to shaping the future of governments. The Summit is being attended by 4,000 decision-makers from 140 countries including heads of state, ministers and business leaders.
32. The United States is reportedly considering withdrawal of benefits to India under its Generalised System of Preferences amid a widening dispute over its trade and investment policies.
33. Abu Dhabi has included Hindi as the third official language to be used in its courts, alongside Arabic and English. It is part of the efforts of Abu Dhabi to improve access to justice.
34. The annual multinational maritime exercise Cutlass Express was held from 27 Jan to 06 Feb 19. The exercise is aimed to improve law enforcement capacity, promote regional security and progress inter-operability between the armed forces of the participating nations for the purpose of interdicting illegal maritime activity in the Western Indian Ocean.
35. February 10, 2019, was celebrated as the first World Pulses Day. The Year 2016 was celebrated as International Year of Pulses to highlight the contribution of Pulses to sustainable food production and towards food security and nutrition. Building on the positive momentum of the International Year of Pulses, the UN General Assembly passed the resolution to celebrate 10 February as World Pulses Day to keep the positive momentum surrounding these healthy, nutritious, protein-rich, nitrogen-fixing legumes alive after the FAO’s successful 2016 International Year of Pulses Campaign.
36. The ILO Centenary Celebrations in India were inaugurated by Union Minister of State (I/C) for Labour and Employment Shri Santosh Kumar Gangwar at V.V. Giri National Labour Institute, Noida.
37. During the ongoing visit of the Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali, the Foreign Minister of Bangladesh, India and Bangladesh signed a MoU for training 1800 Bangladesh Civil Servants. The MoU was signed between India’s National Centre for Good Governance (NCGG) and the Ministry of Public Administration of Bangladesh.
38. The U.S. Chamber Chamber of Commerce’s Global Innovation Policy Center (GIPC) has released the International IP Index 2019. The Index aims to create a roadmap for countries that aspire to foster economic growth and global competitiveness through stronger IP. The Index benchmarks the IP framework in 50 global economies.
39. The US President Trump has nominated David Malpass for the post of the president of the World Bank.
40. The International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation is observed on February 6 every year. It is an annual awareness day celebrated as part of the UN’s efforts to eradicate female genital mutilation. It was first introduced in 2003.
41. Macedonia takes a major step on road to NATO membership. The conflict over the name with Greece had become a damper in its membership to NATO. With the conflict with Greece taken to logical end with the conclusion of Prespa Agreement, Macedonia has signed accession papers with NATO.
42. The Venezuela crisis is deepening with passing time. European Union, Australia, US, New Zealand have recognised Juan Guaido, the opposition leader as the president.
43. The government of Thailand has approved the proposal to name Siamese fighting fish as the National Aquatic Animal. The decision for based on the recommendation of the National Identity Committee of Thailand which promotes Thai cultural pride forwarded its endorsement of the fighting fish.
44. The second edition of the Asia LPG Summit was inaugurated by Union Minister for Petroleum & Natural Gas at New Delhi. The two-day summit with the theme 'LPG – Energy for Life' will deliberate over series of subjects including how India’s successful Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana can become a viable model for other countries to replicate particularly those striving to provide clean cooking fuel to its people.
45. The UK home secretary has ordered the extradition of Vijay Mallya over allegations of £1bn fraud. The UK home secretary noted that Vijay Mallya, the first to be declared Fugitive Economic Offender is accused in India of conspiracy to defraud, making false representations and money laundering offences.
46. Every year World Cancer Day is observed on February 4. The day is observed to save millions of preventable deaths each year through education, raising awareness and by pressing governments and individuals across the world to take action against the deadly disease.
47. Iran announced the successful test flight of Hoveizeh long-range cruise missile on February second which marks the 40th anniversary of 1979 Islamic revolution.
48. With the formal announcement by the United States about the withdrawal from the INF treaty, Russia has followed the suit and declared the suspension of the treaty. Defence analysts fear about the arms race due to the suspension of the treaty.
49. The United Nations Security Council resolution 2454 has been adopted unanimously. The features of the resolution 2454 are:
• They extend the sanctions against the Central African Republic (CAR) for a year.
• The resolution renews an arms embargo, travel ban and asset freeze till January 31, 2020.
• The mandate of the panel of experts, which helps the Security Council with the implementation of the sanctions, until Feb 29, 2020, has been extended.
• The establishment of key benchmarks in various sectors that could help the Security Council to review the arms embargo by April 30, 2019.
50. INSTEX acronym of Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges is a project of the three governments of UK, France and Germany to bypass US sanctions on Iran.
Business, Economy & Banking
1. Tata Steel has been recognised as one of World’s Most Ethical Companies by the Ethisphere Institute for 2019. Ethisphere Institute is a global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices.
2. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has removed three banks, Dhanlaxmi Bank, Allahabad Bank and Corporation Bank from the PCA framework by moving them out of its weak-bank watchlist.
3. The Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) payroll data released by the Central Statistical Office (CSO) suggests 2 crore jobs created in 16 months. The ESIC data is one of payroll numbers released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) in its reports based on people joining various social security schemes run by Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) and Pension Fund Regulatory Development Authority (PFRDA).
4. The GST council has decided to slash the tax rate on under-construction residential properties and the affordable housing projects category.
5. The think tank Niti Ayog had hosted the conference on Future of Indian Banking and role of technology Tomorrow in association with the Foundation for Economic Growth and Welfare (EGROW Foundation).
6. The government has released the draft e-commerce policy. The policy focuses on six broad issues of the e-commerce sector, which includes data, infrastructure development, e-commerce marketplaces, regulatory issues, stimulating domestic digital economy and export promotion through e-commerce.
7. The data released from the Ministry of Commerce and Industries shows that the FDI inflows to India contracted by 7 per cent to USD 33.49 billion during April-December in the financial year 2018-19.
8. The 4th India-ASEAN Expo and Summit was inaugurated by Union Minister for Commerce and Industries, Suresh Prabhu. The summit will be held between 21-23 February 2019 in New Delhi.
9. The government has approved the capital infusion of Rs. 48,239 Crore into 12 State-Run Banks. The capital inclusion has been undertaken to ensure the lenders are able to maintain regulatory capital requirement and step up lending and boost overall growth.
10. The government has relaxed the norms under the definition of Start-Ups. The changes brought in are:
• The investment limit of angel investors to seek exemption under the Income Tax Act, 1961 has been increased to Rs 25 crore from 10 Crore.
• An entity shall be considered a start-up up to 10 years from its date of incorporation/registration instead of the previous period of 7 years.
• An entity would be considered as a startup up to a turnover of Rs 100 crore as against the earlier limit of Rs 25 crore.
11. The Union Minister of Commerce and Industries Suresh Prabhu launched SWAYATT (Start-ups, Women and Youth Advantage Through eTransactions) and GeM Start-up Runway.
12. The government has approved setting up of a new company under the Department of Space to commercially exploit the research and development work carried out by Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) Centers and constituent units of DOS.
13. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will transfer Rs 28,000 crore as interim dividend to the government. RBI had already transferred Rs 40,000 crore to the government in August 2018 and with the additional 28,000. The government would receive a total of Rs 68,000 crore from the central bank in the current fiscal.
14. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has withdrawn the earlier order which stipulated a 20% limit on investments by FPIs in Corporate Bonds.
15. The expert committee under the Chairmanship Dr Anoop Satpathy has submitted its report on “Determining the Methodology for Fixation of the National Minimum Wage to the Government of India. The Expert committee was asked to examine and review the norms and methodology for fixation of the national minimum wage and determine the base level National minimum wage/wages through an evidence-based approach.
16. The Union Ministry of Commerce and Industries has released the data on WPI Inflation. The data makes the following observations:
• The WPI Inflation fell to a 10-month low of 2.76 per cent in January owing to softening prices of fuel and some food items.
• The WPI inflation has stood at 3.8 per cent in December 2018, and 3.02 per cent in January 2018.
• Manufactured products inflation which has a weightage of 64.23 per cent in WPI declined to 2.61 per cent in January, from a level of 2.96 per cent in January 2018.
• The wholesale based price inflation for ‘fuel and power’ segment fell sharply to 1.85 per cent as against 8.38 per cent in December 2018, due to easing in prices of motor fuel and LPG.
• The government also revised the November WPI downwards to 4.47% from 4.64% earlier.
• The primary articles inflation with the weightage of 22.62 per cent increased to 3.54 per cent in January from 2.53 per cent in same month last year.
17. The Central government has increased the minimum selling price (MSP) of sugar by Rs. 2 per kg to Rs. 31.
18. On the Sidelines of the Petrotech 2019, the Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Shri Dharmendra Pradhan released the guidelines for setting up of Dealer Owned Dealer Operated (DODO) CNG stations in India.
19. The Union Government has envisaged the development of the National Gas Grid. The government is implementing various projects of about 14,239 Km gas pipelines which would add to the existing 16,788 Km natural gas pipeline.
20. The Union Minister of Food Processing Harsimrat Kaur Badal inaugurated the Cremica Food Park in Una which is the first mega food park of Himachal Pradesh.
21. The Union Minister of Food Processing Harsimrat Kaur Badal inaugurated the Cremica Food Park in Una which is the first mega food park of Himachal Pradesh.
22. India’s export to China is expected to reach an all-time high in the financial year 2018-19.
23. The Ministry of Textiles in association with Central Silk Board had organized an event, Surging Silk – Accomplishment and way forward on 9th February 2019 at in New Delhi.
24. The Reserve Bank has come out with a new policy for overseas borrowings. The RBI has rationalized the earlier policy in consultation with the Government of India.
25. The data from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) shows that the Foreign Exchange Reserves of India increased by $2.063 billion to $400.24 billion in the week to February 1. The foreign exchange reserves had increased by USD 1.497 billion to reach USD 398.178 billion in the previous week corresponding to January 25. The increase in the value of the Foreign Exchange Reserves is attributed to the increase in foreign currency assets.
26. As per the information provided by Minister of State for Finance Pon Radhakrishnan to the Lok Sabha 61 individuals who declared an income of more than Rs 100 crore during the assessment year 2017-18.
27. In the International IP Index 2019 released by U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Global Innovation Policy Center (GIPC), India has surged almost 20 per cent and climbed eight places in the IP Index rankings from 44th to 36th.
28. The Kerala High Court has said that banks cannot be absolved from the liability to the loss caused to a customer on account of unauthorised withdrawals made from his/her account, merely on the ground that the customer did not respond promptly to the SMS alert given by the bank.
29. The six-member monetary policy committee (MPC) headed by RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das has lowered the repo rate by 25 basis points to 6.25 per cent in a 4-2 vote.
30. The Union Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the abolition of institutions of Ombudsman for income tax and indirect tax.
31. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has imposed Rs 2 crore penalty on UCO Bank for non-compliance of instructions issued by RBI on the collection of account payee instruments and those on frauds-classification and reporting.
32. The data shows that the fiscal deficit touched 112.4 per cent of the full-year budget target of Rs 6.24 lakh crore at the end of December.
33. The Ministry of Commerce and Industry has released the data related to the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows during April-September 2018-19.
34. The data from the Ministry of Finance shows that goods and services tax collections stood at Rs. 1,02,503 crore in the month of January. Of the Rs. 1,02,503 crore GST revenue, Central GST is Rs 17,763 crore, State GST (SGST) is Rs 24,826 crore, Integrated GST (IGST) is Rs 51,225 crore (including Rs. 24,065 crore collected on imports) and Cess is Rs 8,690 crore.
35. The RBI data shows that Indian Foreign Exchange Reserves have been increased by USD 1.497 billion to reach USD 398.178 billion for the week to January 25. This increase has been attributed to a jump in core currency assets.
36. The present government headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi presented an uncompromising stance on fiscal deficit in the beginning. In its first budget, the government had stated that “we cannot go on spending today which would be financed by taxation at a future date”. The government emphasised on “inter-generational equity” and not leaving behind “a legacy of debt for our future generations” highlighting its commitment for adhering to the fiscal deficit norms.
37. The Union Finance Minister Piyush Goyal in the interim budget 2019 stated that India has received massive foreign direct investment worth USD 239 billion in the last five years.
38. The interim budget has announced a slew of welfare measures for farm and rural economy, middle class, realty and housing and the unorganised sector. The burden on the exchequer due to the farm income support scheme PM-KISAN itself comes around Rs 75000 crores. This necessitates the government to explore the avenues to find the corpus to pay for these schemes.
39. The Future of the Rail Report was prepared by the International Energy Agency (IEA) in association with the International Union of Railways (UIC).
40. The Transparency International conducted a survey to analyse the best practices followed by the states in the Budget Formulation.
41. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has lifted the Prompt Corrective Action (PCA) framework operational curbs on Bank of India (BoI), Bank of Maharashtra (BoM) and Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC).
42. The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation has released the First Revised Estimates of National Income, Consumption Expenditure, Saving and Capital Formation, 2017-18.
Government Schemes
1. Atal Innovation Mission and software major Adobe have signed a Statement of Intent to collaborate on enhancing digital literacy and creativity skills. Under the agreement, Adobe would implement the Digital Disha Programme across 100 schools under Atal Tinkering Labs (ATL) initiative.
2. The Union Minister of Human Resources and Development Prakash Javadekar launched the Scheme for Higher Education Youth in Apprenticeship and Skills (SHREYAS) programme to provide industry-specific apprenticeship opportunities to fresh graduates.
3. The Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs has approved the construction of another 560,695 more affordable houses for the benefit of urban poor under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban). The approval was given by the Central Sanctioning and Monitoring Committee under the Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs.
4. Union Minister of State for Food Processing Industries Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti inaugurated Sikaria Mega Food Park Pvt Ltd at Village Tulakona in Agartala. This is the 17th Mega Food Park in the country and first in the state of Tripura.
5. Union Human Resource Minister, Shri Prakash Javadekar launched Operation Digital Board to leverage technology to boost quality education in the country.
6. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved the launch of KUSUM, Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthaan Mahabhiyan scheme. The scheme aims to provide financial and water security to farmers through harnessing solar energy capacities of 25.75 gigawatts (GW) by 2022.
7. The Union government has proposed a new rural Livelihood Scheme, the National Rural Economic Transformation Project under the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM).
8. The Union Tourism Minister K. J. Alphons inaugurated the ‘Eco Circuit: Pathanamthitta – Gavi – Vagamon – Thekkady’ project at Vagamon, Kerala on 17th February 2019. This project is a part of the Swadesh Darshan Scheme.
9. The Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maan-dhan (PM-SYM) announced in the interim budget 2019 has been notified by the Ministry of Labour and Employment.
10. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved a three-year extension of the Credit Linked Capital Subsidy and Technology Up-gradation Scheme (CLCS-TUS) for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) with a total outlay of 2,900 crores on 13th February 2019. This scheme will continue beyond the 12th Five Year Plan for three years from 2017-18 to 2019-20.
11. Prime Minister Narendra Modi served the three billionth meal of Akshaya Patra, an NGO that works with the government on Mid-Day Meal Scheme. The Prime Minister Served the food to about 20 schoolchildren who are the beneficiaries of the mid-day meal scheme at the Vrindavan Chandrodaya Mandir campus in the holy city of Vrindavan. Prime Minister also unveiled a ceremonial plaque to mark the serving of “3rd billionth meal” by Akshaya Patra Foundation.
12. The central government has launched the following schemes to improve the research ecosystem in India:
13. Due to the orthodoxy and parochial nature of Indian Society, males prefer to lay outside the ambit of the family planning and the onus lies on the woman.
14. Know India Programme (KIP) is a flagship initiative for Diaspora engagement. The programme aims to familiarize Indian-origin youth (18-30 years) with their Indian roots and contemporary India.
15. Pradhan Mantri – Jan Arogya Yojana (PM JAY) is a scheme of the government under Ayushman Bharat to reduce the financial burden on poor and vulnerable groups arising out of catastrophic hospital episodes and ensure their access to quality health services.
16. Pradhan Mantri – Jan Arogya Yojana (PM JAY) is a scheme of the government under Ayushman Bharat to reduce the financial burden on poor and vulnerable groups arising out of catastrophic hospital episodes and ensure their access to quality health services.
17. The National Minority Development Finance Corporation (NMDFC) is implementing various schemes for the socio-economic development of the ‘backward sections’ amongst the notified minorities. The schemes are being implemented through the State Channelising Agencies (SCAs) nominated by the respective State Governments/UT Administration.
18. The National Medicinal Plants Board (NMPB) under the Ministry of AYUSH is implementing following schemes to encourage farming/cultivation, conservation, processing and promotion of medicinal plants throughout the country.
19. The Union Finance Minister Piyush Goyal announced the Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Mandhan scheme in the interim budget 2019 for workers in the unorganised sector.
20. The union government announced the PM-KISAN farm support scheme to address the farm sector in crisis. Similar initiatives have already been announced by states. Here’s a comparison of the centre’s farm support scheme PM-KISAN with similar schemes from various states.
Awards & Honours
1. The Infosys Foundation has constituted Aarohan Social Innovation Awards to reward individuals, teams or NGOs developing solutions for the social sector.
2. Eminent Indian playwright Mahesh Elkunchwar has been chosen for META Lifetime Achievement Award 2019. The award would be conferred on March 12 during the Mahindra Theater Festival.
3. The Union Minister for Water Resources, River Development, and Rejuvenation presented 82 National Water Awards in 14 categories for the year 2018. The Union Minister of State for Water Resources, River Development, and Rejuvenation Arjun Ram Meghwal expressed his happiness over National Water Awards which have been resumed after a gap of 12 years and said that this is a very big step to spread awareness about water conservation. He urged the Ministry to hold National Water Awards every year.
4. The Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL) has been honoured with the prestigious ‘FICCI CSR Award’ for Women Empowerment. JSPL was awarded for its innovative and high impact women empowerment programmes, implemented by the company’s CSR Arm – JSPL Foundation, across its operational areas in the country.
5. Dr Divya Karnad, Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies at Ashoka University has been awarded the prestigious Global Future For Nature Award 2019 for her work on marine conservation.
6. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been honoured with the Seoul Peace Prize. The South Korean government has awarded the Seoul Peace Prize for PM Modi in recognition of his service to international cooperation, global growth and human development.
7. The Laureus World Sports Awards 2019 were presented on 18 February 2019 to honour the greatest sporting achievements of 2018 and celebrate the power of sport to change the world.
8. The 7th National Photography Awards were presented by Union Minister of State (IC) for Information & Broadcasting Col. Rajyavardhan Rathore. The seventh edition of National Photography Awards was organised at National Media Centre in New Delhi.
9. The Raigarh Municipal Corporation of Chhattisgarh has won the “Swachhata Excellence awards 2019”. The municipal corporations of Ambikapur of Chhattisgarh and Kumbakonam of Tamil Nadu have bagged the second and third prizes respectively. All of these are AMRUT cities.
10. The British Academy of Film and Television Arts, BAFTA awards are presented in an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to honour the best British and international contributions to film. The BAFTA FILM AWARDS 2019 have been announced. The awardees under the various categories are listed below:
11. The CEO and Managing director of Eicher Motors, Siddhartha Lal has been named the EY Entrepreneur of the Year for 2018 on 12th February 2019 in Mumbai. He was responsible for a huge turnaround of the Eicher Motors after he had taken over the reins in 2006. In this process he has also resurrected the motorcycle brand Royal Enfield in India. The Chairman of Wipro Mr. Azim Premji was awarded Lifetime Achievement Award for his contribution in the Indian information technology industry and his philanthropic works.
12. Indian historian Sanjay Subrahmanyam has won prestigious Dan David Prize of Israel for the year 2019 for his work on inter-cultural encounters between Asians, Europeans and people of North and South America during the early modern era.
13. Father Franois Laborde a 92-year-old priest from Bengal was conferred with Légion d’Honneur (Legion of Honour) in recognition of his work for specially-abled and destitute children. Father Laborde has his roots in France and is the citizen of India now.
14. The State Bank of India’s UK head Sanjiv Chadha has been honoured with the ‘Freedom of the City of London’ award in recognition of his contribution to promoting the bilateral relations. Sanjiv Chadha was nominated for the honour by Lord Mayor of London Peter Estlin and Sheriff Vincent Keaveny.
15. Azim Premji Chairman of Wipro Ltd will be felicitated with the Ernst & Young Lifetime Achievement Award. Ernst & Young, famously known as EY is a multinational professional services firm and is one of the “Big Four” accounting firms.
16. Behrouz Boochani, an Iranian asylum-seeker detained in Papua New Guinea under Australian asylum laws has won the Victorian Prize for Literature. Behrouz Boochani was awarded for his work “No Friend But the Mountains: Writing from Manus Prison”.
Sports
1. Afghanistan has created history in its second Twenty20 International against Ireland at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Dehradun, Uttarakhand. Afghanistan scored 278 for the loss of three wickets in the 20 overs and registered the highest-ever total in T20s. Afghanistan broke the record of Australia. Australia had scored 263/3 back in 2016 against Sri Lanka.
2. The Chennai Spartans have won the inaugural Pro Volleyball League Title. Chennai Spartans defeated Calicut Heroes 15-11, 15-12, 16-14 in the summit clash. As a result of the winning the Pro Volleyball League Title, Chennai Spartans have also qualified for this year’s FIVB Asian Men’s Club Volleyball Championship.
3. Belgium’s Elise Mertens has claimed the biggest title of her career by beating top seed Simona Halep of Romania 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 to win the Qatar Open. The final was played on 16th February 2019 in Doha.
4. The International Hockey Federation (FIH) Player of the Year Awards are the annual awards for the best men’s and women’s player in international hockey in a given calendar year as determined by a peer and public vote.
5. The defending champions Vidarbha won the 85th Ranji Trophy title. The defending champions defeated Saurashtra by 78 runs in the final.
References:
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