Weekly Current Affairs 9th February - 15th February 2022

FINANCE AND BANKING

• RBI keeps Repo Rate unchanged at 4.0 per cent
  • The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) kept the repo rate unchanged at 4 per cent for the 10th consecutive time while maintaining an ‘accommodative stance’ as long as necessary.
  • Policy Repo Rate: 4.00%
  • Reverse Repo Rate: 3.35%
  • Marginal Standing Facility Rate: 4.25%
  • Bank Rate: 4.25%
  • CRR: 4%
  • SLR: 18.00%

• RBI to observe Financial Literacy week 2022: 14-18 February
  • The Reserve Bank of India will observe February 14-18, 2022 as Financial Literacy week 2022.
  • It has been conducting Financial Literacy Week (FLW) every year since 2016 to promote financial education amongst masses.
  • The theme of Financial Literacy week 2022 is: “Go Digital, Go Secure”. The theme is aligned with one of the strategic objectives of the National Strategy for Financial Education: 2020-2025.

• SEBI restructured Advisory Committee on Investor Protection and Education Fund
  • SEBI recently restructured its advisory committee on Investor Protection and Education Fund (IPEF), under the chairmanship of G Mahalingam.
  • The advisory committee on IPEF is an eight-member committee.
  • The committee is mandated to recommend investor education and protection activities for the utilization of the SEBI Investor Protection and Education Fund (IPEF).

ECONOMY

• PM CARES Fund corpus triples to Rs 10,990.17 crore in FY 2020-21
  • As per the latest audited statement of PM CARES Funds, the total corpus under the PM CARES Funds in 2020-21 was Rs 10,990.17 crore.
  • Rs 3,976.17 crore was spent from the fund in 2020-21.
  • The government has used a part of the money to buy medical equipment, including ventilators, to boost the battle against the COVID-19 and has also provided relief to migrants.

• J&K became first Union Territory to be integrated with NSWS
  • Jammu & Kashmir has become the first Union Territory to integrate with the National Single Window System (NSWS).
  • This will help the UT in Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) efforts.
  • NSWS is linked with the India Industrial Land Bank (IILB) which hosts 45 industrial parks of J&K that will help Investors to discover available land parcels in J&K.

• GoI approves continuation of Modernization of State Police Forces Scheme
  • The Government has approved the continuation of the Scheme of Modernization of State Police Forces (MPF Scheme) for five years from 2021-22 to 2025-26.
  • Total Central financial outlay for five years is Rs. 26,275 crores.
  • The scheme is being implemented by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) since 1969-70.

NATIONAL

• India’s first biomass-based hydrogen plant coming up in Madhya Pradesh
  • The country’s first commercial-scale biomass-based hydrogen plant is coming up in the Khandwa district of Madhya Pradesh.
  • The plant will produce a tonne of hydrogen per day, from 30 tonnes of biomass feedstock. It will also produce biochar and methane.

• Atal Tunnel Certified By World Book Of Records As Longest Highway Tunnel
  • Atal Tunnel has officially been certified by the World Book of Records, as the 'World's Longest Highway Tunnel above 10,000 Feet'.
  • The 9.02 km long, strategically significant, Atal Tunnel, that runs under the 'Rohtang Pass' was constructed on the Manali - Leh Highway under the challenging conditions of freezing temperatures in extremely difficult terrain.

• Surat to get India’s 1st bullet train station
  • Union Minister of State for Railways Darshana Jardosh, has shared the first glimpse of Surat’s Bullet Train station.
  • She has shared the graphical illustration of the railway station to be constructed between the Mumbai- Ahmedabad route. The construction of bullet train station in Surat is scheduled to be completed by December 2024.

INTERNATIONAL

• Burkina Faso: Lt Col Damiba declared president by the Constitutional Council
  • Burkina Faso's new military strongman, Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, has been declared President by the country's top constitutional body.

• Israel becomes first country allowing drones in civilian airspace
  • Israel's Ministry of Transport and Road Safety has announced the country's first certification for unmanned aircraft vehicles (UAVs) to operate in civilian airspace.
  • The certification was issued by the Israeli Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to the Hermes Starliner unmanned system, which was developed and manufactured by Elbit Systems, an Israeli defense electronics company.

• Germany elects President Frank-Walter Steinmeier for second term
  • German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier was re-elected for a second term of five years by a special parliamentary assembly.

STATES

• Age-old Kanchoth Festival Celebrated In J&K
  • The people of J&K celebrated the ancient Kanchoth festival, a symbol of ancient Nag culture.
  • The age-old festival is celebrated by Hindus, mainly Nag followers, who believe that on this day of Gouri tritiya, Lord Shiva and goddess Parvati got married and the latter insisted on a throne made of snow as her wedding gift.

• Madhya Pradesh: Central Jail Indore gets own FM radio channel
  • In Madhya Pradesh, Central Jail of Indore has started its own radio channel 'Jail Vaani-FM 18.77'.
  • Through this radio channel, the jail inmates will get to know about the happening in the world.
  • The radio channel will also provide the jail inmates with information on health and social issues.

• Rajasthan tops solar electrification under Saubhagya
  • Rajasthan has the maximum households electrified through the solar-based standalone system.
  • Hill states of Himachal Pradesh and Sikkim and the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir had nil beneficiaries under the initiative.

REPORTS AND INDEXES

• TomTom Traffic Index 2021
  • The 11th edition of the TomTom Traffic Index’s is released.
  • Top Ranked cities: Istanbul topped the list. Moscow was second while Kyiv was third.
  • Indian Cities: Four cities from India featured in the index’s global top 25 list – with Mumbai at the fifth position, Bengaluru at the 10th position, New Delhi at the 11th position and Pune at the 21st position.

• EIU Democracy Index 2021
  • The Democracy Index is an index compiled by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), the research division of the Economist Group, a UK-based private company which publishes the weekly newspaper The Economist.
  • Norway topped the list.
  • India is ranked 46 on the global index with an overall score of 6.91.
  • Afghanistan is at the bottom of the list.

• Bloomberg Billionaires Index: Gautam Adani overtook Mukesh Ambani
  • As per the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Gautam Adani net worth reached $88.5 billion overtaking Mukesh Ambani’s $87.9 billion becoming Asia’s richest person as on 8th February 2022.
  • With a nearly $12 billion jump in his personal wealth, he has become the 10th richest person in the world.
  • Globally Elon Musk was named as the world’s richest person with a total net worth of $235 Billion.
  • He was followed by Jeff Bezos with a total net worth of $183 Billion & Bernard Arnault with a total net worth of $168 Billion.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

• ISRO discards communication satellite INSAT-4B in space after 14 years of service
  • Amid the growing concern over junk in outer space, the Indian Space & Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully disposed of one of its satellites after it completed its operational life in orbit.
  • The INSAT-4B underwent Post Mission Disposal (PMD) at the end of its service, followed by decommissioning.

• ISRO successfully launches EOS-04, two other satellites
  • The Indian Space Research Organisation successfully launched its earth observation satellite EOS-4 and two co-passenger technology demonstrator and scientific satellites from the first launch pad at the country’s only spaceport in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.
  • The three satellites namely EOS-04, INSPIREsat-1 and INST-2TD were injected successfully into a sun-synchronous polar orbit of 529 km.

AGRICULTURE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT

• NABARD launched ‘JIVA Programme’ to promote natural farming
  • National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has launched the ‘JIVA programme’.
  • The objective is to promote natural farming under its existing watershed and wadi programmes in 11 states. To effectively implement the principles of agroecology long-term sustainability and transform the pre-existing social and natural capital towards efficient farming.

• Government continues RYSK Scheme for another 5 years
  • The Central Government of India has decided to continue the scheme of “Rashtriya Yuva Sashaktikaran Karyakram (RYSK)” for another 5 years from 2021 -22 to 2025-26 with an outlay of Rs. 2,710.65 crore.
  • Beneficiaries of Rashtriya Yuva Sashaktikaran Karyakram are the youth in the age group of 15 to 29 years.

• PMKSY extended till March 2026 with an allocation of Rs 4,600 crore
  • The ‘Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana (PMKSY)’ has been extended till March 2026 with an allocation of Rs 4,600 crore.
  • It is administered by the Ministry of Food Processing Industries. The scheme aims for the overall growth and development of the food processing sector.

DEFENCE

• India's Goa Shipyard Ltd delivered the 5th vessel ICGS 'Saksham'
  • India’s Goa Shipyard Ltd delivered the 5th and final vessel of the 5 Coast Guard Offshore Patrol Vehicle (CGOPV) Project.
  • The vessel was named ICGS ‘Saksham’.
  • The contract for 5 CGOPVs was signed by GSL with the Ministry of Defence (MoD).

• India to showcase Tejas light combat aircraft at Singapore airshow
  • India will showcase its indigenously developed Tejas light combat aircraft (LCA) at the four-day Singapore Air Show.
  • A 44-member contingent of the Indian Air Force (IAF) reached Singapore to participate in the air show to be held from February 15 to 18.

EVENTS

• NITI Aayog's Fintech Open Summit
  • NITI Aayog, in collaboration with PhonePe, AWS (Amazon Web Services) and EY, has organised a three-week-long virtual summit, 'Fintech Open', from February 7–28.
  • The summit was inaugurated by Union Minister for Railways, Communications, and Electronics and IT Ashwini Vaishnaw.
  • The summit will have in-depth conversations, deep-dives, webinars, round-table discussions, etc., highlighting innovations and challenges undertaken by various startups.

• PM Narendra Modi to address high-level segment of One Ocean Summit
  • Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the high-level segment of the One Ocean Summit through a video message.
  • The high-level segment of the summit will also be addressed by several other heads of states and governments including Germany, the United Kingdom, South Korea, Japan and Canada.
  • The One Ocean summit is being organised by France from 9-11 February in Brest in cooperation with the United Nations and the World Bank.

• 17th Mumbai International Film Festival
  • The 17th edition of the Mumbai International Film Festival for documentary, short fiction, and animation films (MIFF-2022) will be held from 29 May to 4 June at the Films Division complex in Mumbai.
  • The oldest and largest festival for non-feature films in South Asia, MIFF, is being organized by the Films Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, and supported by the Government of Maharashtra.

AWARDS AND REWARDS

• Nitin Gadkari to receive Late Madhavrao Limaye Karyaksham Khaasdar award
  • The Karyaksham Khaasdar (Efficient Member of Parliament) Award for the year 2020-21, given in the memory of late Madhavrao Limaye by Sarvajanik Vachanalay, Nashik, will be conferred on Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari.

SPORTS

• IPL 2022: Ahmedabad franchise gets Gujarat Titans as its name
  • Gujarat Titans is the official name of the new Ahmedabad franchise owned by CVC Capital. The team will be led by Hardik Pandya.
  • Lucknow franchise, owned by RPSG Group, announced its official name as Lucknow Super Giants. The Lucknow team will be led by KL Rahul.

• ESPNcricinfo Awards
  • India’s prolific wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant won top ‘Test batting’ prize for his 89 not out, which shattered Australia’s unbeaten record at Gabba and helped India win the Border Gavaskar Trophy while New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson was adjudged ‘Captain of the Year’ at the 15th Annual ESPNcricinfo awards.