Current Affairs Weekly Updates

AWARDS AND HONOURS

APPOINTMENTS

NATIONAL AFFAIRS

• K Singh, launched a Web based monitoring System and a Fly Ash mobile application named ASH TRACK.
• The South Central Railway (SCR) has become the first railway zone in the country to complete 100 per cent LED lighting at all the stations under its jurisdiction.
• Vidya Kamble, A transgender activist, who has become a member of the judicial panel at a National Lok Adalat conducted.
• The commerce and industry ministry has stated that national productivity week will be observed till February 18.
• A new scheme promoting menstrual hygiene, under which sanitary pads will be provided to girls and women in rural areas of Rajasthan, will be launched in Rajasthan.
• The World Sustainable Development Summit (WSDS) 2018 will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 16.
• The Union cabinet has approved the Prime Minister Research Fellowship scheme for students of higher education institutions such as IITs, NITs and IISERs. The move was also aimed at preserving the country’s talent pool.
• Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) has joined hands with Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kharagpur to promote ‘Science of Happiness’.
• K. Singh inaugurated the ‘Indian Power Stations 2018’ – three-day International Conference on Operations and Maintenance.
• President Ram Nath Kovind has hosted the LPG Panchayat at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch DD Arun Prabha, a new 24×7 satellite television channel of Doordarshan for the north-eastern region on February 15.

NEWS IN STATES

• The Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, in collaboration with the Environmental Sanitation Institute and Tata Trusts, has developed a Sanitation Park which was inaugurated in Delhi.
• The Kerala government has plans to set up co-operative societies for transgenders. Such societies were the first of their kind in the country.
• Gujarat University has announced a course on spoken Sanskrit in order to popularise the ancient language, making it possibly the first course of its kind in the country.
• Dharmendra Pradhan has inaugurated the PNG supply to kitchens in the Campus of Border Security Force (BSF), located in Chhwala in South West Delhi.
• Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal inaugurated the second edition of Brahmaputra Literary Festival at the Srimanta Sankardev Kalakshetra.
• Rajnath Singh has inaugurated “Hunar Haat”, on February 11, 2018.
• Jitendra Singh has inaugurated the two-day International conference on Unani Medicine on 10th February, 2018 at New Delhi.
• J P Nadda, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare launched the National Deworming Day at a function at Gurugram.
• Union Culture and Environment Minister Mahesh Sharma has inaugurated the 16-day Grand Spiritual Expo, 2018 in Noida.
• A three-day National Youth Festival organised by the Indian Red Cross Society (IRCS) began in Noida.
• 12th International Conference on corporate social responsibility (CSR) on February 9 and 10 at Hotel Lalit Ashok, Bengaluru (India).
• Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has launched the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS), a project to keep digitised records of FIRs and information on crimes and criminals.
• The Vice President of India, M. Venkaiah Naidu will inaugurate the 8th Global Theatre Olympics on 17th February, 2018 in New Delhi.
• India’s biggest Global Conference on Pharma Industry and Medical Devices to begin in Bengaluru on 15th February With the theme, ‘Driving NextGen Pharmaceuticals’.
• The Tamil Nadu government has to host the second edition of the Global Investors Meet (GIM) will be held on January 24 next year.
• Bengal became the first state to opt out of the National Health Protection Scheme unveiled in the Union Budget.
• The President of India, Ram Nath Kovind, inaugurated the international conference ‘Agricon 2018’ and ‘Agriexpo 2018’ at Chandrashekhar Azad University of Agriculture & Technology (CSAUT), Kanpur on February 14, 2018.

BANKING AND FINANCE

• The Reserve Bank of India wants to further tighten the regulations around the Non Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) by setting up an ombudsman for these entities.
• India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) Expansion Programme scheduled to begin in April this year, digital payments in post offices are expected to be enabled around the same time.
• The Reserve Bank will soon have greater flexibility in terms of managing its liquidity operations with the addition of one more tool ‘Standing Deposit Facility Scheme’ to its kit.
• ICICI Lombard General Insurance and RBL Bank have entered into a corporate agency tie-up agreement for the distribution of non-life insurance products.
• The Bank of Baroda (BoB), which is embroiled in controversial banking transactions involving the embattled Gupta family, will no longer operate in South Africa, the country’s central bank stated.
• The ADB would provide USD 100 million to Nepal government for upgrading nearly 400 km of rural roads to all-weather standards.
• Punjab National Bank has signed an agreement for information utility with National e-Governance Services Limited (NeSL).
• Software company Zoho has tied up with private lender ICICI Bank to provide accounting and banking on an integrated platform.
• Yes Bank has listed USD 600 million bond issued under its maiden USD 1 billion MTN programme, on Global Securities Market (GSM) of India INX.
• City-based Equitas Small Finance Bank has launched an interactive digital savings account – selfeSavings.

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

• Gulf metropolis Dubai, on its never- ending quest to break records, announced the opening of the “world’s new tallest hotel”, pipping another towering landmark in the city for the title.
• Tanzanian President John Magufuli has announced his country will pull out of the UN’s “comprehensive refugee response framework”, which provides lasting solutions for refugees, including integration into host communities.
• Mauritius plans to establish a sovereign fund to provide seed capital for the development of financial technology or Fintech activities in the island nation.

FOREIGN RELATIONS

• China has confirmed “resumption” of Kailash Mansarovar Yatra through the Nathu La route.
• India has set up an institute for diplomacy in Palestine and double the number of scholarships to Palestinians to study in India among several measures to help it in capacity building and infrastructure development with an investment of USD 50 million.
• India and Palestine have signed six Memorandums of Understanding (MoU)s worth USD 40 million.
• India and Oman signed eight Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs), including pacts on tourism and military cooperation.
• An India-Russia Agriculture Business Summit held in New Delhi and celebration of 70 years of Agricultural Relationship to be held in Suratgarh, Rajasthan.
• An agreement to give Indian Navy access to the Duqm port in Oman will have far-reaching consequences for India’s strategic reach westwards and in the Indian Ocean.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

• The February 12 to 18 ‘Darwin Week’ is being organised by The India March for Science Organising Committee and the Breakthrough Science Society.

INDEX AND RANKING

• Kerala has topped the Health Index report prepared by NITI Aayog while Uttar Pradesh appeared at the bottom among larger states.
• India has increased “substantially” its score in the International Intellectual Property (IP) Index, ranking 44th among 50 nations.
• India’s financial capital Mumbai, with a total wealth of $950 billion, is among the top 15 wealthiest cities globally, while New York tops the list.

DEFENCE NEWS

• Southern Naval Command inaugurated the ‘Integrated Automatic Aviation Meteorological System (IAAMS)’ at INS Garuda on 09 February 2018.
• Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has constituted a 13-member advisory committee to monitor and expedite capital acquisition projects for the modernisation of the armed forces.
• The Defence Ministry has sanctioned Rs 1,487 crore to the Army to fortify its bases in Jammu and Kashmir, North East and several other places to plug their security gaps and protect them from any terror attacks.

SPORTS

• American Redmond Gerard claimed the United States’ first gold medal of the Pyeongchang Winter Games.
• Haryana topped the overall medal tally after claiming 38 gold medals in the inaugural edition of the Khelo India School Games that concluded in New Delhi.
• Pune-based swimmer, Rohan More became the first Asian as well as the first Indian to swim across the Ocean Seven.
• India’s winter sports poster boy Shiva Keshavan is 34th-place finish in the men’s luge singles event of the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.
• Indian woman golfer Aditi Ashok carded a impressive three-under 69 in the final round to finish a creditable tied 7th at the ActewAGL Canberra Classic.
• Australia captain Steve Smith won the Allan Border Medal and was named Test Player of the Year at the prestigious event in Melbourne.
• Shane Warne will be associated with the Indian Premier League in 2018 as he was appointed the mentor of the Rajasthan Royals franchise for the 11th edition of the tournament.
• Karnataka’s Kishan Gangolli has won the National ‘A’ Chess Championship for Blind for the fifth consecutive time
• Tamil Nadu beat Manipur 2-1 to lift their maiden title in the 23rd edition of the Senior Women’s National Football Championship at cuttack in Odisha.

OBITUARY

IMPORTANT DAYS

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD WEEKLY PDF FEBRUARY WEEK II