Current Affairs Weekly Updates

AWARDS AND HONOURS

APPOINTMENTS

NATIONAL AFFAIRS

• Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan will inaugurate the two-day 6th conference of Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) India Region.
• India has contributed USD one million for the rehabilitation efforts in Tonga after the Tropical Cyclone Gita caused massive destruction in the Pacific island nation.
• Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan announced that his ministry’s headquarters at Indira Paryavaran Bhavan will now be plastic-free.
• The union cabinet has approved setting up of a tribunal to resolve the dispute between Odisha and Chhattisgarh over Mahanadi river waters.

NEWS IN STATES

• Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has inaugurated an ambitious pump canal project at Kahalgaon town in the district which would cater to a vast strech of land within the state and neighbouring Jharkhand.
• The Prime Minister has inaugurated the DorjeeKhandu State Convention Centre. This Convention Centre has an auditorium, conference halls and an exhibition hall.
• Jammu and Kashmir would have a law varsity on the lines of the Bangalore-based National Law School of India University (NLSIU).
• Union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi has to set up an international educational institution for minorities in Rajasthan’s Alwar city as part of the Centre’s ambitious plan to set up five such institutes across the country.
• Myriad forms of classical dance in India will be on dispaly at a festival beginning in Khajuraho from February 20.
• Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has inaugurated the Delhi Jal Board’s (DJB) project of laying a water pipeline in Narela resettlement colonies which is likely to benefit 1.2 lakh residents.
• Puducherry Chief Minister V Narayanasamy has stated that the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) will soon be setting up a soil fertility development centre at Karaikal.
• The Niti Aayog suggested that Odisha government could select districts for inclusion in a central scheme for better development of the tribal dominated and backward region of the state.
• The Telangana government has signed an agreement with Nasscom to establish a Centre of Excellence for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence.
• Prime Minister has announced a Rs 20,000-crore defence industrial corridor in Bundelkhand region to bring development in one of the most backward regions of Uttar Pradesh and said the Yogi government has pulled the state out of prevailing negativity.
• Diversified firm ITC has plans to set up an integrated consumer goods manufacturing facility in Uttar Pradesh.
• Odisha government has decided to set up an Integrated Project Monitoring Unit for its proper utilisation.
• A number of programmes were held in different parts of West Bengal on 21 February 2018, the Language Movement Day,.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated the two-day Uttar Pradesh Investors Summit 2018 along with Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in Lucknow.

BANKING AND FINANCE

• The Loan Agreement for financing of Rajasthan Water Sector Restructuring Project for the Desert Areas was signed between Government of India and the New Development Bank (NDB) on 13th February 2018 at New Delhi.
• The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has accorded its consent to roll out WhatsApp BHIM UPI beta launch with limited user base of one million and low per transaction limit.
• The State Bank of India (SBI) has launched its Global NRI (GNC) center, a one-stop customer service solution for all NRI banking related services, in Kochi.
• Amazon has rolled out its own food retailing business in India with a pilot in Pune.
• SEBI has given approval to the stock exchange to launch cross-currency derivatives and has also allowed trading in such contracts for a longer period between 9:00 AM and 7:30 PM.

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

• Indonesia has inked a billion-dollar deal to buy 11 Sukhoi Su-35 jets from Russia. The contract, signed by both countries representatives in Jakarta, is worth a total $1.14 billion.
• The upcoming summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is scheduled to be held in the coastal city of Qingdao, Shandong province of China in June 2018.
• Singapore would impose a carbon tax from next year to cut its greenhouse gas emissions and make companies more competitive as global agreements on climate change take effect.
• Russia has named an honorary consul in a Pakistani province on the Afghan border, signalling closer ties with Islamabad at a time when US-Pakistani relations are spiralling downward.

FOREIGN RELATIONS

• 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.
• Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s India visit, India and Canada have signed a bilateral agreement to provide market access for startups from both countries.
• Scientists from the UK and India have discovered a disposable diagnostic technology that uses paper folding, akin to origami, to process complex biochemical tests that can help farmers develop very low-cost diagnostics to improve the health of livestock.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi held “substantive” talks with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to boost cooperation in key areas of security, trade and energy, after which the two sides inked nine pacts, including one on double taxation avoidance.

SPORTS

• Former India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has became the third wicketkeeper to take 600 catches in international cricket.
• Indian skipper Virat Kohli has achieved the feat during the sixth and final ODI of the series against South Africa.
• Norway’s Marit Bjoergen became the most successful athlete in Winter Olympics history as she took bronze behind a stunning win for USA in cross country skiing’s women’s team sprint free.
• India’s highest ranked men’s singles player Kidambi Srikanth and Olympic medallists PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal will spearhead the country’s challenge in the 2018 Commonwealth Games, which is slated to be held in Gold Coast, Australia from April 4.

OBITUARY

IMPORTANT DAYS

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