February 2021 Daily News Current Affairs

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Feb 28, 2021
1. ISRO Launched Brazil's Amazonia-1 and 18 co-passenger satellites, onboard Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle PSLV-C51, from Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR, Sriharikota.
  1. Amazonia-1 is the optical earth observation satellite of Brazil's National Institute for Space Research (INPE), which will provide remote sensing data to users for monitoring deforestation in Amazon region and analysis of diversified agriculture across Brazil.
  2. PSLV-C51/Amazonia-1 is first dedicated commercial mission of NewSpace India Limited (NSIL), a PSU under Department of Space.
  3. 18 co-passenger satellites onboard PSLV-C51 includes four from IN-SPACe and fourteen from NSIL.
2. Feb 28 is observed as National Science Day in India. 2021 Theme is Future of STI: Impact on Education Skills and Work.
  1. It commemorates discovery of ‘Raman Effect’ by Sir C.V. Raman for which he was awarded Nobel Prize in 1930. India designated 28 February as National Science Day (NSD) in 1986.
  2. On this occasion, Book They Found What/They Made What, written by Shweta Taneja was released.
  3. Also, Last day of February every year is observed as Rare Disease Day.
3. National Payments Corporation of India has set out new guidelines for digital payment apps limiting their share in the overall volume of transactions on UPI Platform at 30%, to enforce parity in digital payments industry.
  1. PhonePe and Google Pay, with market share of around 40% each, will have to now moderate new customer acquisition and reduce transaction volume to within prescribed limits by end of 2022.
4. 11th Rashtriya Sanskriti Mahotsav held at Cooch Behar, Darjeeling and Murshidabad in West Bengal.
5. Visits to India (Feb 2021) -
  1. India and Ethiopia signed 2 agreements related to visa facilitation and leather technology, during visit of Ethiopian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Demeke Mekonnen Hassen to India.
  2. Uzbekistan Foreign Minister Abdulaziz Kamilov Visited India.
  3. Barbara Pompili, French Minister for Ecological Transition visited India. 2 agreements on renewable energy and urban mobility were signed during the visit.
  4. UK Secretary of State for International Trade, Mary Elizabeth Truss, Visited India.
  5. UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan visited India.
6. Visits from India (Feb 2021) -
  1. Air Force Chief RKS Bhadauria visited Bangladesh.
  2. External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar visited Maldives and Mauritius .
    1. Maldives -
      1. India offered $40-million line of credit (LoC) to support development of sports infrastructure in Maldives.
      2. Amendatory Agreement was signed to repurpose an older EXIM Bank of India Line of Credit of USD 25 million for Road Development in Maldives.
      3. India signed USD 50 million line of credit (LoC) agreement with Maldives to facilitate maritime capability building of Maldives.
      4. Other News -
        Grant of USD 0.5 million for a fish processing plant in Kendhikulhudhoo in northern Maldives.
        
        Letter of Intent between EXIM Bank and local authorities for financing a housing project of 2000 units in Hulhumale.
        
        MOU on Capacity building and exchange of content and expertise between Prasar Bharati and Public State Media, Maldives.
        
        MoU on sustainable urban development.
        
        Also, India's Exim Bank will support construction of social housing units in Maldives through its USD 130 million loan to Fahi Dhiriulhan Corporation, as per an earlier arrangement.
    2. Mauritius -
      1. India signed Free Trade Agreement (FTA) or (Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Partnership Agreement-(CECPA)) with Mauritius. The FTA or CECPA is the first such pact of India with any African country.
      2. India also offered a USD 100 million Line of Credit (LoC) to Mauritius to facilitate the procurement of defence assets.
      3. India will provide a Dornier aircraft and an Advanced Light Helicopter Dhruv on lease to Mauritius, for 2 years.
7. General Events / Conferences (Feb 21 - 28, 2021) -
  1. PM Narendra Modi has dedicated to the nation INDMAX Unit at Indian Oil’s Bongaigaon Refinery in Assam.
  2. 47th Khajuraho Dance Festival held in Khajuraho (Madhya Pradesh), based on the Indian classical dance tradition.s
  3. Kushinagar airport got recognition as Uttar Pradesh's 3rd international airport, from aviation regulator DGCA.
  4. 5th Asia Economic Dialogue (AED) 2021 held Virtually, attended by Minister of External Affairs S. Jaishankar on India'a Behalf, with theme Post COVID-19 Global Trade and Finance Dynamics.
  5. Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar inaugurated Saras Aajeevika Mela 2021 at Noida (UP). It is organised by Ministry of Rural Development and Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM).
  6. Indian national anthem was played inside Nagaland assembly for the first time, Almost 60 years after Nagaland attained statehood in 1963.
  7. Chinese President Xi Jinping claimed complete victory in fight against eliminating poverty in China, by lifting over 770 million people out of it in last four decades.
  8. Kerala government launched Gender Park in Kozhikode. during 2nd edition of International Conference on Gender Equality (ICGE-II). It aims at creating relevant interventions to address range of gender-based issues.
  9. Under-construction airport in Ayodhya (UP) will be named Maryada Purushottam Sriram Airport.
  10. Saudi Arabia opened up entry for Women in armed forces, amid its series of social and economic reforms.
  11. 18th edition of BioAsia 2021, Telengana's flagship event, held online with theme Move the Needle.
  12. Bangladesh became first country to ban painkiller ketoprofen,which is used widely to treat the cattle, But is toxic to vultures.
  13. India hosted BRICS Meet of Finance and Central Bank Deputies, held virtually. It was co-Chaired by Tarun Bajaj (Secretary Economic Affairs). Note that India has recently taken over BRICS Chairship, from Russia.
  14. Himachal Pradesh CM Jai Ram Thakur today launched ‘e-Parivahan Vyavstha’ of Transport Department to provide faceless services regarding Driving Licence/Registration Certificates/Permits etc.
  15. 17th India International Mega Trade Fair hosted at Janata Maidan in Bhubaneswar (Odisha).
  16. Tamil Nadu CM Edappadi K Palaniswami inaugurated Advanced Institute of Integrated Research in Livestock and Animal Science (AIIRLAS), largest such facility in Asia, near Thalaivasal.
8. Ulukbek Maripov has been appointed as Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan.
Feb 27, 2021
1. Feb 27 is observed as World NGO Day.
  1. Also, national-level public health initiative Right To Protein observes Protein Day on Feb 27, to raise awareness about health benefits of protein.
2. Avinuo Kire's New Book The Last Light of Glory Days: Stories from Nagaland, has been released.
3. Andhra Govt approved new welfare scheme EBC Nestham, that will benefit poor women belonging to forward castes.
  1. Under it, government will provide assistance of 45000 to each woman beneficiary aged between 45–60 years at rate of 15000 per annum for three years.
4. Govt reconstituted governing council of NITI Aayog, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi as its chairperson.
  1. CMs of all states and those of UTs of Jammu and Kashmir, Delhi and Puducherry are full time members of council.
  2. Lieutenant Governors of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Ladakh, and administrators of Chandigarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu and Lakshadweep will be special invitees of governing council.
5. Book Agriculture Acts 2020, written by A.K. Rajan (former judge of Madras High Court) has been released.
6. New Book Authored by Srikanth Ram titled Leadership Lessons from 22 Yards, has been released.
7. Darlie O Koshy's new Book Runway to Skilled India, has been released.
8. Jammu and Kashmir UT Administration rolled out e-Kuber payments system of RBI, for administering various sorts of payments made by govt.
9. Author Ram Madhav's New Book Because India Comes First has been released.
Feb 26, 2021
1. Assam CM Sarbananda Sonowal laid foundation of first skill university of eastern India in Darrang district in Assam, to be built with outlay of 1000 crores. It will impart training to over 10000 students in 12 disciplines.
2. PM Narendra Modi Launched several developmental projects in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry -
  1. Tamil Nadu -
    1. Launched Neyveli New Thermal Power Project, a lignite based power plant designed for power generation capacity of 1000 MW, with 2 units of 500 MW capacity each, Built at cost 8000 crores.
      1. Plant has been designed for 100% Ash utilization.
      2. power generated would benefit Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Puducherry, with Tamil Nadu having major share of 65%.
    2. Launched 709 MW Solar Power Project of NLCIL, established over 2670 acres of land across districts of Tirunelveli, Tuticorin, Ramanathapuram and Virudhunagar. The project has been set up at a cost of over Rs 3000 crore.
    3. Laid foundation stone of extension and modernisation of Lower Bhavani Project System.
      1. Bhavanisagar dam and canal systems were completed in 1955. Lower Bhavani System comprises Lower Bhavani Project Canal System, Arakankottai & Thadapalli Channels, and Kalingarayan Channel.
      2. It irrigates over 2 lakh acres of land in Erode, Tiruppur and Karur districts.
    4. Inaugurated 8-laning of Korampallam Bridge and Rail Over Bridge (ROB) and laid foundation stone for design and commissioning of 5 MW grid connected ground based solar power plant at V.O.Chidambaranar Port.
    5. Laid foundation stone for development of Integrated Command and Control Centers (ICCC) in nine Smart Cities including Coimbatore, Madurai, Salem, Thanjavur, Vellore, Tiruchirappalli, Tiruppur, Tirunelveli and Thoothukudi.
  2. Puducherry -
    1. Laid foundation for 4 laning of NH45-A – 56 kms Sattanathapuram – Nagapattinam package of Villupuram to Nagapattinam project covering Karaikal District, costng approx 2426 crores.
    2. Laid foundation for Minor Port at Puducherry under Sagarmala Scheme, to provide connectivity to Chennai and facilitate cargo movement for industries in Puducherry.
    3. Inaugurated reconstructed Heritage Marie Building, A landmark of history of Puducherry, which was built by French.
3. Matam Venkata Rao has been Appointed as MD & CEO of Central Bank of India.
4. Export-Import Bank of India (Exim Bank), on behalf of Indian government, extended Line of Credit of $7.35 million to the central American nation Nicaragua, for replacement and supply of equipment of High Technology Centre of Hospital Antonio Lenin Fonseca in its capital Managua.
5. Mumbai will have first undersea tunnel in India by 2023, as part of Coastal Road Project of city, to link South Mumbai with North with a freeway.
  1. With length of 2.07 km of which a kilometer will be built under the sea, the twin tunnels are being built as part of Mumbai Coastal Road Project, which is a 10.58 km stretch starting from Marine Drive Promenade to Worli-end of Bandra-Worli Sea Link.
6. Madhavi S Mahadevan’s new book Bride of the Forest: the Untold Story of Yayati’s Daughter, has been released.
7. Book India: A Scamster Born Every Minute by journalist Snigdha Poonam has been released.
8. Mohamed Bazoum won presidential elections in Niger (West Africa).
9. SIDBI Partnered with Social Alpha, to set up Swavalamban Divyangjan Assistive Tech Market Access Fund, as First ever inclusion fund in Assistive Technology sector to promote innovation and reduce out-of-pocket expenditure for persons with disabilities. Startups will get upto 20 lakh grant under the fund.
10. Author Karan Puri's 2nd book #MeToo has been launched.
Feb 25, 2021
1. Anindya Dutta's new book Advantage India: The Story of Indian Tennis has been released.
2. SBI tied up with JPMorgan to use Liink, JPMorgan's blockchain technology to speed up overseas transactions.
3. Chandigarh became first State / UT to launch Carbon Watch, a mobile application to assess the carbon footprint of an individual.
4. Actor Kabir Bedi's memoir titled Stories I Must Tell: An Actor’s Emotional Journey, will be released in April.
5. ICICI Bank launched a Common Payment Card System called Namma Chennai Smart Card, in partnership with Greater Chennai Corporation and Chennai Smart City Limited, to provide citizens with a one-stop solution for making various kind of payments.
6. Punjab Cabinet approved implementation of mission ‘Lal Lakir’ aimed at facilitating villagers to monetise property rights and availing benefits provided by government departments, in all villages across state.
7. Kerala Govt inaugurated India’s first Digital University named Kerala University of Digital Sciences, Innovation and Technology, set up in Kerala’s Technocity (Mangalapuram). It has been established by upgrading state government’s Indian Institute of Information Technology and Management Kerala (IIITM-K).
8. A space supply ship, Cygnus NG-15 cargo dubbed as S.S. Katherine Johnson has been named in honour of Katherine Johnson, a Black NASA mathematician, who played a critical role in the success of the first U.S. crewed spaceflight, Mercury-Atlas 6 Mission.

Feb 24, 2021

Cabinet Approvals (Feb 24, 2021) -
1. General -
  1. Approved Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme for Pharmaceuticals over a FY 21 (2020-21) to FY 29 (2028-29), to benefit domestic manufacturers.
    1. The scheme is expected to promote production of high value products in country and increase value addition in exports.
    2. total quantum of incentive (inclusive of administrative expenditure) under the scheme is about Rs 15,000 crores.
  2. Approved Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme for IT Hardware, to boost domestic manufacturing and attract large investments in value chain of IT Hardware.
    1. Scheme shall extend incentive of 4% to 2% / 1% on net incremental sales (over base year i.e. 2019-20) of goods manufactured in India and covered under target segment, for period of four years.
    2. Proposed Cost is approx 7350 crores (over 4 years).
  3. Approved imposing President’s Rule in Puducherry UT, soon after Congress government led by CM V. Narayanasamy had resigned.
Feb 24 is observed in India as Central Excise Day. It commemorates legislation of Central Excise and Salt act on 24 February in 1944.
1. On Feb 24, 2021, Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana completed 2 year of its implementation. It was launched to increase income of farmers, by providing them income support of Rs 6,000 per year.
2. In 2020, Tamil Nadu government announced to obsrve birth anniversary of former CM Jayaram Jayalalithaa on February 24 as ‘State Girl Child Protection Day’.

Dadasaheb Phalke International Film Festival 2021 Awardees -

Category	Winners
Best Actor (Female)	Deepika Padukone (Chhapaak)
Best Actor (Male)	Akshay Kumar (Laxmii)
Critic’s Best Actor	Sushant Singh Rajput (Dil Bechara)
Critic’s Best Actress	Kiara Advani (Guilty)
Best Film	Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior
Best International Feature Film	Parasite
Best Director	Anurag Basu (Ludo)
Best Actor in Supporting Role	Vikrant Messy (Chhapaak)
Best Actress in Supporting Role	Radhika Madan (Angrezi Medium)
Outstanding Contribution to the Indian Film Industry	Dharmendra

Feb 23, 2021
1. Manika Batra won women’s singles and G. Sathiyan won Men's singles title at 82nd Senior National Table Tennis Championship, in Panchkula (Haryana).
2. 2021 Australian Open Tennis -
  1. This was 109th Edition of this Grad slam tournament, hosted at Melbourne Park.
  2. Winners -
    1. Men's Singles - Novak Djokovic (Serbia). He defeated Daniil Medvedev (Russia).
    2. Women's Singles - Naomi Osaka (Japan). She Defeated Jennifer Brady (US).
    3. Men's Doubles - Ivan Dodig (Croatia) AND Filip Polášek (Slovakia)
    4. Women's Doubles - Elise Mertens (Belgium) AND Aryna Sabalenka (Belarus)
    5. Mixed Doubles - Barbora Krejčíková (Czech Republic) AND Rajeev Ram (US)
3. Meghalaya Govt has set up a corpus fund of Rs 125 crores, to aid entrepreneurs in state, named PRIME Fund.
4. 2021 Phillip Island Trophy Women's Tennis (Melbourne, Australia) -
  1. Singles - Daria Kasatkina (Russia)
  2. Doubles - Ankita Raina (India) AND Kamilla Rakhimova (Russia)
5. B S Raju has been named as new Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) of Indian Army.
  1. He replaces Paramjit Singh, who has taken charge as Deputy Chief of Army Staff (strategy).
6. Govt. approved imposing President’s Rule in Puducherry UT, soon after Congress government led by CM V. Narayanasamy had resigned.
7. Coronavirus Covid-19 Pandemic Updates (Feb 2021) -
  1. National -
    1. Odisha Govt will construct a Covid Warrior Memorial in Bhubaneswar.
    2. Asian Development Bank (ADB) approved INR 100 crores loan to Indian hospital chain Medanta for healthcare services, to fight COVID-19 pandemic.
  2. International -
    1. Ghana became first country to receive free anti-coronavirus vaccine doses through COVAX initiative, a vaccine-sharing scheme behind inoculation drive in poorer countries. World Health Organization (WHO) leads COVAX together with Gavi the Vaccine Alliance and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations.
    2. Google partnered with European Investment Fund (EIF) to provide $75 million in funding to small- and medium-sized companies suffering from impact of coronavirus pandemic, in Latin America and Asia.
    3. Israel launched a coronavirus “green pass” system, which allows people who have been vaccinated to access public facilities that would otherwise be off-limits.
8. Fino Payments Bank has been given scheduled commercial bank (SCB) status by RBI, as RBI included it in 2nd Schedule of RBI Act 1934.
9. Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly passed Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Religious Conversion Bill 2021, aimed at curbing religious conversions by fraudulent or any other undue means, including through marriage.
10. UN appointed Indian Economicst Ligia Noronha as Assistant Secretary-General and Head of the New York Office of the United Nations Environment Programme.
11. Tamil Nadu government enhanced retirement age of its employees to 60 years.
12. As per London Based International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) -
  1. Global military spending reached record levels in 2020, to US$1.8 trillion, showing 3.9 % increase over figures for 2019.
  2. US remained world's largest defence spender, with US$738 billion spending. China 2nd with US$193.3 billion.
13. Terrorism funding monitor organisation Financial Action Task Force (FATF) added 4 new countries to its grey list - Morocco, Burkina Faso, Senegal and Cayman Islands.
  1. Pakistan continues to be on the grey list. Grey list now has 19 countries.
  2. It kept North Korea and Iran as only two countries on its blacklist.
14. China regained its position as India’s top trade partner in 2020, by displacing US. Trade between India and China stood at $77.7 billion in 2020, lower than $85.5 billion in 2019.
  1. India's Trade with US in 2020 remained $75.9 billion.
Feb 22, 2021
1. Irakli Garibashvili has been appointed as Prime Minister of Georgia.
2. Indian social activist Anjali Bhardwaj has been named among 12 awardees of International Anti-corruption Champions Award by US.
3. Karnataka Horticulture Department will set up a flower processing centre in collaboration with International Flower Auction Bangalore (IFAB), to convert flowers into its useful products.
4. Madhya Pradesh Govt renamed Hoshangabad city as Narmadapuram.
  1. Hoshangabad city was named after an attacker Hoshang Shah who was the first ruler of Malwa.
5. Indian Coast Guard Ship named C-453 has been commissioned into service, as 17th of 18 interceptor boats built by Larsen & Toubro Ltd.
6. Uttarakhand government brought an ordinance to give co-ownership rights to women in their husband’s ancestral property, becoming first state to do so.
7. RBI brought State Bank of Sikkim under its purview, which has been working as an autonomous body under Government of Sikkim.
  1. It was established in 1968. Note that Sikkim was made a part of India in 1973.
  2. It was not regulated by RBI unlike other banks until now.
8. Australian parliament passed landmark legislation called News Media and Digital Platforms Mandatory Bargaining Code, which mandates global digital platforms to pay for publishing the Australian news content on their respective platforms. It mainly targets Facebook and Google.
9. Researchers discovered new species of alpine plant in Tawang district of Arunachal Pradesh, which belongs to family of Himalayan sunflower. It has been named as Cremanthodium indicum.
10. Task force on Interlinking of Rivers approved Mahanadi-Godavari Link, by ensuring utilisation of allocated Godavari waters by Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
11. IRDAI launched a standard personal accident cover called Saral Suraksha Bima, to be mandatorily offered by insurers from April 2021. It will offer sum assured between 2.5 Lakh to 1 crore.
12. IRDAI has set up working group committee so as to relook its information and security guidelines, amid exponential increase in cyberattacks across world amid ongoing pandemic. It will be headed by Prof. Janakiram (Director, IDRBT).
13. India Assumed its BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) Chairship with inaugural BRICS Sherpas’ meeting. India has taken over BRICS chairship from Russia.
14. Sports Ministry restored recognition of Gymnastics Federation of India (GFI) as the National Sports Federation (NSF), upto December 31, 2021.
15. Madhya Pradesh Govt approved Penal Law (Madhya Pradesh Amendment) Bill 2021, to give life imprisonment to food adulterers in states.
Feb 21, 2021
1. PM Narendra Modi laid foundation stone of Maharaja Suheldev Memorial and development work of Chittaura Lake in Bahraich district of Uttar Pradesh.
  1. Maharaj Suheldev was an Indian king from Shravasti, who killed Ghaznavid general Ghazi Saiyyad Salar Masud, at Bahraich in 1034 CE.
2. General Events / Conferences (Feb 11 - 20, 2021) -
  1. Textile Minister Smriti Irani rolled out commercial Jute seed distribution scheme. In 2020, Jute Corporation of India had signed an MoU with National Seeds Corporation for commercial distribution of 1 thousand Metric Tonne certified jute seeds for 2021-22.
  2. Odisha Govt will construct a Covid Warrior Memorial in Bhubaneswar.
    1. Also, Odisha Govt launched development work for SAMALEI Project (Samaleswari Temple Area Management and Local Economy Initiatives).
  3. Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship launched Mahatma Gandhi National Fellowship (MGNF) programme in partnership with nine 9 Indian Institutes’ of Management (IIM) across India.
  4. National Tribal Festival “Aadi Mahotsav” held at Dilli Haat (New Delhi).
  5. Health Minister Harsh Vardhan launched Intensified Mission Indradhanush 3.0 (IMI), to expand immunization coverage across country. Vaccination will be conducted in 250 districts and urban areas.
  6. Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar inaugurated Atal Paryavaran Bhavan in Lakshadweep UT.
  7. Kerala government launched Kerala Knowledge Mission, aiming to transform state to a knowledge economy.
  8. Mandu Cultural Festival held at historic town of Mandu in Dhar district of Madhya Pradesh.
  9. New Zealand suspended all diplomatic ties with Myanmar as it does not recognise the legitimacy of the new military-led government.
  10. Uttar Pradesh Govt launched Abhyudaya scheme to provide free coaching for competitive exams to students at district level.
  11. 1st India Toy Fair 2021 Held Virtually, to boost toy manufacturing industry in India.
  12. Kerala government approved conversion of conventional anganwadis into smart anganwadis with better amenities.
    1. Also, Researchers in Kerala launched a mobile application named “Snakepedia”, with all relevant information on snakes.
  13. Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan attened Virtual 11th World PetroCoal Congress and World Future Fuel Summit.
  14. Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari launched Go Electric Campaign, to spread awareness regarding benefits of e-mobility and electric cooking.
  15. Central American Nation Nicaragua created a new National Ministry for Extraterrestrial Space Affairs, The Moon and Other Celestial Bodies. It is notable as Nicargua has been struggling with anti-government protests for 3 years.
  16. Ancient Kanchoth festival, a symbol of ancient Nag culture, observed across Chenab valley region of Jammu and Kashmir.
  17. 11th India-EU Macroeconomic dialogue held virtually, attended by Tarun Bajaj (Economic Affairs Secretary) on India's Behalf.
  18. Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh launched E-Chhawani portal, to provide online civic services to over 20 lakh residents of 62 Cantonment Boards across country.
  19. Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry's Smart Cities Mission announced 25 shortlisted cities for Nurturing Neighbourhoods Challenge cohort, in collaboration with Bernard van Leer Foundation (BvLF) and WRI India. It is a 3-year initiative aimed at supporting early childhood-friendly neighbourhoods under Smart Cities Mission.
  20. Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan attended 11th virtually IEA-IEF-OPEC Symposium on Energy Outlooks, chaired by Saudi Arabia.
3. City Innovation Exchange (CiX) platform has been launched by Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, with focus on fostering innovative practices in cities. CiX will engage with innovators to design-test-deliver on solutions to pressing urban challenges.
  1. CiX will connect cities to innovators across national ecosystem to design innovative solutions for their pressing challenges.
4. Govt. framed Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021, under IT Act 2000 and in supersession of earlier IT (Intermediary Guidelines) Rules 2011.
  1. Rules have been finalized to have better control and regulzation over social media and OTT platforms.
  2. Part- II of these Rules shall be administered by Ministry of Electronics and IT, while Part-III relating to Code of Ethics and procedure and safeguards in relation to digital media shall be administered by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
5. Feb 21 is observed by UN as International Mother Language Day.
6. President Ram Nath Kovind performed Bhoomi Pujan at huge sports enclave in Ahmedabad (Gujarat), named after Bharat Ratna Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. It will be largest sports enclave in country, to be built on 233 acres of land.
  1. Mr. President also inaugurated world's largest Cricket stadium named Narendra Modi Cricket Stadium, as part of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel sports complex. It has capacity of 1.32 lakh spectators, much more than 1 Lakh capacity of MCG (Australia), which was previous largest.
7. India signed $304 million loan agreement with Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) for Assam Intra-State Transmission System Enhancement Project, to improve reliability, capacity and security of the power transmission network in Assam.
8. India signed $68 million loan agreement with World Bank, for a project to enhance governance of schools across Nagaland and improve teaching practices and learning environment in schools.
9. MSME Minister Nitin Gadkari inaugurated 50 artisan-based Scheme of Fund for Regeneration of Traditional Industries (SFURTI) clusters spread over 18 States, to support over 42000 artisans.
10. Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR) Scientists found a new Lead (Pb) free material which can efficiently convert waste heat to power our small home equipment and automobiles.
  1. Scientists identified a lead-free material called Cadmium (Cd) doped Silver Antimony Telluride (AgSbTe2) which can efficiently allow recovery of electricity from ‘waste heat’ marking a paradigm shift in thermoelectric puzzle.
11. Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep S Puri Launched National Urban Digital Mission along with seveal other Initiatives, Including ndia Urban Data Exchange(IUDX), SmartCode, Smart Cities 2.0 website, and Geospatial Management Information System (GMIS).
  1. NUDM will create a shared digital infrastructure for urban India, to provide holistic support to cities and towns. It will institutionalise a citizen-centric and ecosystem-driven approach to urban governance and service delivery across India by 2024.
  2. IUDX, developed in partnership between Smart Cities Mission and the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), will serve as a seamless interface for data providers and data users.
12. National Statistical Office (under Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation) released estimates of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for Third quarter (Oct-Dec) Q3 of 2020-21, both at Constant (2011-12) and Current Prices-
  1. GDP at Constant (2011-12) Prices in Q3 of 2020-21 is estimated at 36.22 lakh crores, as against 36.08 lakh crores in Q3 of 2019-20, showing Growth of .4 %. Growth in earlier 5 Quarters -
    1. Q2 of FY 2020-21 - Minus 7.5 %
    2. Q1 of FY 2020-21 - Minus 23.9 %
    3. Q4 of FY 2019-20 - 3.1 %
    4. Q2 of FY 2019-20 - 4.7 %
    5. Q2 of FY 2019-20 - 4.5 %
  2. Also, GDP growth during FY 21 (2020-21) is estimated to be Minus 8 % (Contraction).
13. 16th edition of India-US joint military exercise titled Yudh Abhyas held at Mahajan Field Firing Range in Rajasthan's Bikaner.
Feb 20, 2021
1. Feb 20 is statehood day of northeastern states of Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh.
  1. Arunachal Pradesh became a state on 20th February 1987.
  2. Mizoram, that was a part of Assam was formed on 20th February 1987.
2. Feb 20 is observed as World Day of Social Justice, being observed since 2009.
  1. Feb 20, 2020 is observed as World Pangolin Day, observed every year on third Saturday of February.
3. Google partnered with European Investment Fund (EIF) to provide $75 million in funding to small- and medium-sized companies suffering from impact of coronavirus pandemic, in Latin America and Asia.
4. New Book Fractured Mosaic by Sabarna Roy has been released.
5. Journalist Kavita Kane's New Novel Sarasvati’s Gift has been released.
6. New Book Tipane Kashmirchi (Notes on Kashmir), Untold Stories Authored by Arun Karmarkar has been released.
7. Proposed Delhi-Dehradun expressway will have Asia's largest and India's First wildlife protction corridor, consisting elevated 12-kilometre stretch to enable unhindered movement of animals. It will reduce travel time between Delhi and Dehradun from 6.5 to 2.5 hours.
8. Researchers discovered tiny new species of chameleon in a patch of rainforest in northern Madagascar, about size of a sunflower seed, and is smallest reptile on Earth known so far. It is Officially known as Brookesia nana.
9. Tamil Nadu CM K Palaniswami launched new industrial and MSME policies, aimed at providing further impetus to the industrial growth.
  1. Through new Industrial Policy 2021, government targets to attract Rs 10 lakh crore investments in four years and create employment opportunities for 20 lakh people by 2025 in state.
  2. Besides achieving an annual growth rate of 15% in the manufacturing sector during the policy period, it has set a target to increase the contribution of the manufacturing sector to 30% of Gross State Value Added by 2030.
Feb 19, 2021
1. Feb 19 is Birth anniversary of Great Maratha Warrior King Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj (Born 19 February 1630), who belonged to Bhonsle Maratha clan and had roots from Sisodia Dynasty of Mewar. Shivaji carved out an enclave from declining Adilshahi sultanate of Bijapur that formed genesis of Maratha Empire.
  1. Feb 19 is also observed as Soil Health Card Day. On Feb 19 in 2015, PM Narendra Modi launched Soil Health Card Scheme at Suratgarh in Rajasthan. It aims at issuing soil health cards to farmers every two years so as to provide a basis to address nutritional deficiencies in soil.
2. Ajai Malhotra became first Indian to be elected as Chairperson of United Nations Advisory Committee of the UN Human Rights Council.
3. Author Irwin Allan Sealy’s new novel ASOCA: A Sutra has been released, as can imagined memoir of Emperor Ashoka.
4. Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu released Maveric Messiah, a political biography on former Andhra Pradesh CM N.T. Rama Rao authored by journalist Ramesh Kandula.
5. IAF Chief R K S Bhadauria Launched Book The Epic Battle of Longewala Authored by Air Marshal Bharat Kumar.
6. Book Louiz Banks: A Symphony of Love, Biography of Louiz Banks Authored by Ashis Ghatak has bee released.
7. Book Indian Economy’s Greatest Crisis: Impact of Coronavirus and the Road Ahead, written by Arun Kumar has been released.
8. Tata Group will acquire majority (68%) stake in online grocery startup BigBasket for about 9500 crores.
9. Govt will infuse 1,500 crores capital into Export-Import Bank of India in FY 22 (2021-22).
  1. Notably, EXIM Bank recently extended Line of Credit of USD 15 million to Sierra Leone and $400 Million to Maldives, as per earlier signed agreements.
Feb 18, 2021
1. Cabinet Approvals (Feb 18, 2021) -
  1. MOUs -
    1. Approved signing of Comprehensive Economic Cooperation and Partnership Agreement (CECPA) between India and Mauritius, as first trade Agreement to be signed by India with a country in Africa.
  2. General -
    1. Approved proposal of Ministry of Women and Child Development to amend Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 to introduce measures for strengthening Child Protection set-up to ensure best interest of children.
      1. Amendments include authorizing District Magistrate including Additional District Magistrate to issue adoption orders under Section 61 of the JJ Act, in order to ensure speedy disposal of cases and enhance accountability.
    2. Approved enhanced delegation of Financial Powers under Capital Procurement to levels below Vice-Chief of Armed Forces. Under Other Capital Procurement Procedure (OCPP) of Defence Acquisition Procedure 2020,
      1. Financial powers up to 100 crores are delegated to GOC-in-C, FOC-in-C, AOC-in-C at Services Command and Regional Commanders of Indian Coast Guard.
      2. Powers up to 200 crores delegated to Deputy Chief of Army Staff (CD & S), COM, AOM, DCIDS and ADG ICG.
      3. Chief of Integrated Defence Staff to Chairman Chiefs of Staff Committee (CISC), Vice Chief of Army, Navy, and Deputy Chief of Air Force and Director General Coast Guard have now been given powers to sanction support up to 50 crores towards prototype development.
    3. Approved production-linked incentive scheme worth Rs. 12,195 crores for the telecom sector and network equipment manufacturers over 5 years, aimed at boosting local manufacturing of components.
2. PM Narendra Modi launched Mahabahu-Brahmaputr Programme, with launch of Ro-Pax vessel operations between Neamatighat & Majuli, Dhubri-Hatsingimari and North-South Guwahati. It aims to strengthen water connectivity across region through Brahmaputra River. PM Modi also laid foundation stone of 2 bridges in Assam -
  1. 4 lane bridge over Brahmaputra between Dhubri and Phulbari. It will connect Dhubri in Assam to Phulbari, Tura, Rongram and Rongjeng in Meghalaya. It will to be built with cost 4997 crors.
  2. 2 lane Bridge on Brahmaputra between Majuli and Jorhat, as long standing demand of people of Majuli, who have been dependent on ferry services to connect with mainland Assam.
  3. Also, Notably, MSME Minister Nitin Gadkari inaugurated a major Bamboo Agarbatti Stick making unit named “Keshari Bio Products LLP” at Bajali district in Assam.
3. Indian Naval Ship Pralaya reached Abu Dhabi (UAE) to participate in the NAVDEX 21 (Naval Defence Exhibition) and IDEX 21 (International Defence Exhibition).
4. ISRO has formulated an exclusive space startup programme Space Entrepreneurship & Enterprise Development (SEED), as a competitive early stage encouragement programme to startups and MSMEs keen on developing related products in space domain.
5. Rajya Sabha Chairman and Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu accorded recognition to Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge as Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, to succeed Ghulam Nabi Azad whose term has ended.
6. India's Usha Rao-Monari has been appointed by UN as Under-Secretary-General and Associate Administrator of UNDP (UN Development Programme).
7. West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee launched Maa canteens, for providing subsidised cooked meals for the poor and the destitute at a nominal cost of Rs 5.
8. China Overtook US as biggest trading partner of European Union (EU) in 2020. Trade volume of EU with China reached 586 billion euros in 2020, compared to 555 billion euros for US and 444.7 billion euros for UK.
9. 2020 FIFA Club World Cup (17th edition) won by German Club Bayern Munich (2nd title), defeating Mexican Club Tigres UANL in Final.
  1. It is FIFA-organised international club football tournament between winners of 6 continental confederations, as well as host nation's league champions.
10. Indian Navy's 3rd Scorpene class submarine has been commissioned as INS Karanj, under Project P-75, built by Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders.
  1. All 6 Submarines under this class are - INS Kalvari, INS Khanderi, INS Karanj, INS Vela, INS Vagsheer and INS Vagir.
  2. Out of these, INS Kalvari, INS Khanderi, INS Karanj have been commissioned into Navy service.
11. NASA's Mars 2020 mission landed on Mars sucessfully, which includes rover Perseverance and robotic helicopter Ingenuity.
  1. Mars 2020 was last of 3 space missions to reach Mars in Feb 2021, with UAE's Hope Orbiter and China's Tianwen-1 mission (with orbiter, lander, and rover).
  2. Notably, Indian-American scientist Swati Mohan had led guidance, navigation, and control operations of Nasa's Mars 2020 mission.
12. Ajay Mathur has been appointed as new Director-General of Gurugram (Haryana) based International Solar Alliance (ISA), replacing Upendra Tripathy who served as Director-General since inception of ISA in 2015.
  1. International Solar Alliance is a coalition of 73 member countries. It was established in 2015 in order to promote the demand for and use of sustainable, safe, and affordable solar energy for all. It is First treaty-based inter-governmental organization based in India.
13. Researchers discovered fossils of earliest known living animal — the 550-million-year-old ‘Dickinsonia’, — on Bhimbetka Rock Shelters near Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh).
Feb 17, 2021
1. Scientists from Technion - Israel Institute of Technology developed AI Based concept named Ramanujan Machine, after Noted Indian mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan.
  1. New AI mathematician has been designed to pull out promising mathematical patterns from large sets of potential equations, to identify promising conjectures in the first place.
  2. Algorithm reflects the way Srinivasa Ramanujan worked during his brief life (1887-1920).
2. New Prime Minister of Italy, Mario Draghi, has created a super ministry to ensure a transition to green energy drives recovery in country. It aims at making full use of European Union funds with respect to the climate change.
3. Govt announced to infuse 3000 crores into state-owned general insurers (National Insurance, Oriental Insurance and United India Insurance), during current quarter.
  1. Cabinet had also approved increasing authorised capital of National Insurance Company (NICL) to 7500 crores and that of United India Insurance and Oriental Insurance to 5000 crores each.
4. Indian Oil Corporation (IOCL) signed Statement of Intent with Greenstat Hydrogen India (subsidiary of Greenstat Norway), to set up a Centre of Excellence on Hydrogen including CCUS and Fuel Cells.
5. Hyderabad become only Indian city to be recognised as a ‘Tree City of the World’ by the Arbor Day Foundation and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of United Nations.
  1. Hyderabad is placed alongside 119 other cities from 63 countries.
  2. US, Canada and UK are countries with maximum cities featured on the list, with 38, 15 and 11 cities, respectively.
6. RBI approved acquisition of Dewan Housing Finance Corporation (DHFL) by Piramal Group, with a 37250 crores Bid made under Insolvency Proceedings.
7. Gurugram Based International Solar Alliance (ISA) announced to launch World Solar Bank (WSB) at UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow (Scotland) in November 2021, known as COP26.
8. National Informatics Centre (NIC) launched Sandes, instant messaging platform similar to WhatsApp, amid Need to ensure a secure communication between employees because of recent surge in “Work from Home” culture. The app was initially usable by government officials only, but now extended to all users.
9. France’s lower house of parliament approved a bill that would strengthen government oversight of mosques and religious schools, among measures aimed at rooting out Islamic radicalism.
10. RBI issued draft guidelines for allowing derivatives trading in credit default swaps (CDS) in over-the-counter (OTC) markets and on recognised stock exchanges in country.
11. UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) appointed Indian Origin Person Preeti Sinha as its Executive Secretary. She will oversee efforts in delivering impact so as to make international financial environment work for frontier and pre-frontier markets.
12. Historian and writer S. Theodore Baskaran won Sanctuary Lifetime Service Award 2020, by Sanctuary Nature Foundation.
Feb 16, 2021
1. PM Modi's visit to Tamil Nadu and Kerala -
  1. Tamil Nadu -
    1. Handed over indigenous battle tank Arjun Mk-1A to Indian Army, developed by Chennai-based DRDO Unit Combat Vehicles Research & Development Establishment (CVRDE).
    2. Inaugurated Discovery Campus of IIT Madras at Thaiyur.
    3. Launched Ramanathapuram – Thoothukudi natural gas pipeline and Gasoline Desulphurisation Unit at Chennai Petroleum Corporation Limited, Manali.
    4. Laid foundation stone of Cauvery Basin Refinery at Nagapattinam, with capacity of 9 million metric tonnes per annum. It will be set up through a Joint Venture of IOCL and CPCL at an estimated project cost of 31,500 crores. It will produce Motor Spirit and Diesel meeting BS-VI specifications, and Polypropylene as a value-added product.
  2. Kerala -
    1. Inaugurated 1st full fledged international cruise terminal at Cochin Port in Kerala.
    2. Inaugurated 320 KV Pugalur (TN) - Thrissur (Kerala) power transmission project, built at cost 5070 Crores. It is a Voltage Source Convertor (VSC) based High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) Project and has India's first HVDC link featuring VSC technology.
    3. Launched 50 MW Kasaragod Solar Power Project.
2. India-Australia Circular Economy (I-ACE) Hackathon 2021 organised by Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), NITI Aayog, India and The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Australia’s national science agency.
3. New Book Kamala’s Way: An American Life, a Biography of Kamala Harris (Vice President of USA), written by Dan Morain has been released.
4. Tamilisai Soundararajan (Governor of Telangana) has been appointed as Lieutenant-Governor of Puducherry, replacing Kiran Bedi as LG of Puducherry.
5. Ministry of AYUSH and World Health Organization South East Regional Office (WHO SEARO) signed Letter of Exchange (LoE) for the deputation of an AYUSH expert to WHO’s regional traditional medicine programme in New Delhi.
6. Home Minister Amit Shah released Central Reserve Police Forces's (CRPF’s) book, Nation First - The Golden Saga of 82 Years, compiled by Bhuvan Jha.
7. Amazon announced to start manufacturing of electronics products in India, beginning with Amazon Fire TV sticks. Amazon will commence its manufacturing later in 2021 in Chennai, with contract manufacturer Cloud Network Technology, a subsidiary of Foxconn.
8. Shri Ram Chandra Mission (SRCM), a non-profit organization and spiritual movement, completed its 75 years. It was registered in 1945 by Ram Chandra of Shahjahanpur (Uttar Pradesh).
9. Govt liberalised regulations on geospatial data, allowing private companies to conduct surveying and mapping without getting government approvals in advance. Sevral Other relaxations have been made, to boost scale, speed, and accuracy of mapping.
Feb 15, 2021
1. RBI constituted an eight-member expert panel to draw up a regulatory road map for urban co-operative banks (UCBs) and study the sector’s consolidation prospects, headed by former deputy governor of RBI N S Vishwanathan.
2. Jean-Michel Sama Lukonde Kyenge has been appointed as Prime Minister of Democratic Republic of Congo (Central Africa).
3. Memoir Starstruck: Confessions of a TV executive, memoir by Noted British television executive Peter Mukerjea has been released.
4. General insurer ICICI Lombard launched Corporate India Risk Index, as a unified, standardised corporate risk index that spans industries and companies.
5. Actress Priyanka Chopra's first book Unfinished: A Memoir has been released.
6. ISRO opened up its facilities for private sector for the very first time, permitting 2 satellites from private sector and one from academia being tested in Bengaluru based UR Rao Satellite Centre (URSC). Satellites are from Tamilnadu-based SpaceKidz India and Bengaluru-based Pixxel (incorporated as Sygyzy).
7. Madhya Pradesh government launched water conservation campaign called Jalabhishekam, under which more than 57,000 water structures have been constructed.
8. ICICI Prudential Life Insurance launched new goal based savings product - ICICI Pru Guaranteed Income for Tomorrow' (GIFT), which provides guaranteed income to policyholders to help them achieve their long-term financial goals.
9. Book Mapping Love, authored by Filmmaker Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari has been released.
10. Bihar signed MoU with United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) for climate resilience and low carbon development strategy formulation, to avail assistance in preparing greenhouse gas inventory and carry out climate impact scenario and vulnerability assessments.
11. Feb 15 is observed as International Childhood Cancer Day.
Feb 14, 2021
1. Budget Session 2021 Phase 1 -
  1. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman Presented Union Budget 2021-22 in Parliament, as her 3rd Union Budget and 2nd Full Budget of newly elected NDA Government forming 17th Lok Sabha, led by PM Narendra Modi. Details can be seen here.
  2. Info -
    1. Govt. will close two pharma PSUs and disinvest other three. Indian Drugs & Pharmaceuticals Ltd (IDPL) and Rajasthan Drugs & Pharmaceuticals Ltd (RDPL) will be shut down.
    2. Preliminary surveys by Atomic Minerals Directorate for Exploration and Research (AMD), have shown presence of Lithium resources of 1600 tonnes (inferred category) in pegmatites of Marlagalla – Allapatna area, Mandya district (Karnataka).
      1. Lithium is a key element for new technologies and finds its use in ceramics, glass, telecommunication and aerospace industries.
    3. Archaeological Survey of India has established 6 new Circles by bifurcation of its existing Circles - Rajkot Circle, Jabalpur Circle, Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) Circle, Meerut Circle, Jhansi Circle and Raiganj Circle.
    4. Govt has included Specialty Steel under Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme, to help improve availability of specialty steel in country.
    5. Ministry of Agriculture recently launched a new Central Sector Scheme titled 'Formation and Promotion of 10,000 Farmer Produce Organizations (FPOs). Budgetary provision of Rs 6865 crores has been made for the same.
  3. Bills Passed -
    1. Major Port Authorities Bill 2020 -
      1. It seeks to provide for regulation, operation and planning of major ports in India and provide greater autonomy to these ports. It seeks to replace Major Port Trusts Act 1963.
      2. Application - Bill will apply to the major ports of Chennai, Cochin, Jawaharlal Nehru Port, Kandla, Kolkata, Mumbai, New Mangalore, Mormugao, Paradip, V.O. Chidambaranar, and Vishakhapatnam.
      3. Major Port Authorities Board - Under Act, all major ports are managed by respective Board of Port Trusts. Bill provides for creation of a Board of Major Port Authority for each major port.
        
        Board will comprise of a Chairperson and a deputy Chairperson, appointed by government. It will have other designated prominent members.
      4. Powers of the Board - Bill allows the Board to use its property, assets and funds as deemed fit for the development of major port.
      5. Fixing of rates - Currently, Tariff Authority for Major Ports fixes scale of rates for assets and services available at ports. Under Bill, the Board or committees appointed by Board will determine these rates.
      6. Financial powers of Board - Under Act, Board has to seek prior sanction of government to raise any loan. Under Bill, to meet its capital and working expenditure requirements, the Board may raise loans from any bank / financial institution, within or outside India that is compliant with laws. For loans above 50% of its capital reserves, Board will require government approval.
      7. Corporate Social Responsibility - Bill provides that the Board may use its funds for providing social benefits.
      8. Public Private Partnership (PPP) projects - Bill defines PPP projects as projects taken up through a concession contract by Board. For such projects, the Board may fix the tariff for the initial bidding purposes.
      9. Adjudicatory Board - Bill provides for constitution of an Adjudicatory Board by government, to replace existing Tariff Authority for Major Ports constituted under 1963 Act.
      10. Penalties - Under Act, there are various penalties for contravening provisions of the Act, up to 10000 or penalty for evading rates may extend up to 10 times the rates. Under Bill, any person contravening any provision of the Bill or any rules or regulations will be punished with a fine of up to 1 lakh rupees.
    2. Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill 2021 -
      1. It amends Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act 2019, which provided for bifurcation of state of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) into UT of J&K and UT of Ladakh. Bill repeals Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Ordinance 2021.
      2. Act provides that Article 239A of Constitution, which is applicable to the UT of Puducherry, shall also apply to UT of J&K. Bill states that in addition to Article 239A, any other provision of the Constitution which refers to elected members of a legislative assembly of a state and is also applicable to UT of Puducherry, will apply to UT of J&K.
      3. Act specifies that members of IAS, IPS and IFS serving in state of J&K would continue to serve in 2 New UTs. Further, in future, postings of officers in New UTs would be from Arunachal Goa Mizoram Union Territory (AGMUT) cadre.
      4. Bill amends these clauses to provide for the merger of the officers in the existing cadre of J&K with AGMUT cadre.
    3. National Capital Territory of Delhi Laws (Special Provisions) Second (Amendment) Bill 2021 -
      1. It repeals NCT of Delhi Laws (Special Provisions) Second (Amendment) Ordinance 2020, promulgated in December 2020.
      2. Bill amends NCT of Delhi Laws (Special Provisions) Second Act 2011.
      3. 2011 Act provides for relocating slum dwellers and Jhuggi-Jhompri clusters, regularising unauthorised colonies, village abadi areas (and their extensions), creating policy or plan for farm houses constructed beyond permissible building limits, and for all other areas of NCT of Delhi. Master Plan for Delhi 2021 was notified by central government in February 2007.
      4. 2011 Act was valid till December 31, 2020. Bill seeks to extend this to December 31, 2023.
      5. Bill amends Act to provide that unauthorised colonies will be identified for regularisation as per NCT of Delhi (Recognition of Property Rights of Residents in Unauthorised Colonies) Act 2019, and NCT of Delhi (Recognition of Property Rights of Residents in Unauthorised Colonies) Regulations 2019.
2. RBI Observed Financial Literacy Week 2021 between February 8 - 12, 2021. 2021 Theme is Credit Discipline and Credit from Formal Institutions.
3. Tata Sons Subsidiary Tata Motors appointed Marc Llistosella as its new CEO and MD.
4. PM Narendra Modi handed over indigenous battle tank Arjun Mk-1A to Indian Army, developed by Chennai-based DRDO Unit Combat Vehicles Research & Development Establishment (CVRDE).
Feb 13, 2021
1. Feb 13 is observed as National Women's Day in India, marking birth anniversary of Sarojini Naidu. She is known as sobriquet Nightingale of India (Bharat Kokila). She was born on February 13, 1879.
  1. After India's independence in 1947, She was appointed as governor of he United Provinces (present-day Uttar Pradesh), making her India's first woman governor. She remained in office until her death in March 1949.
    1. Her daughter, Padmaja Naidu, is longest-serving Indian female governor with 11-year tenure in West Bengal.
    2. She also became second woman President of Indian National Congress in 1925 (First was Annie Besant).
2. President appointed Puligoru Venkata Sanjay Kumar as Chief Justice of Manipur High Court.
3. Feb 13 is observed as UNESCO World Radio Day, observed since 2013. The Day was proclaimed by UNESCO in November 2011. 2021 Theme is New World, New Radio.
4. Mario Draghi (Former European Central Bank Chief) has been appointed as Italy’s New prime minister, replacing Giuseppe Conte.
5. Department of Pension & Pensioners' Welfare (DoPPW) raised upper ceiling for family pensions from 45000 to 125000 per month, for family members of deceased central govt employees.
  1. As per Central Civil Services (Pension) Rules 1972, surviving child is eligible for two family pensions in respect of deceased parents (who were both Government servants).
  2. Earlier, this pension did not exceed 45000 per month, which is now raised to 125000.
Feb 12, 2021
1. Book Turn Around India: 2020- Surmounting Past Legacy, authored by RP Gupta has been released.
2. Odisha Cabinet approved proposal to implement Rejuvenating Watersheds for Agricultural Resilience through Innovative Development (REWARD) project, with expenditure of 500 crores, on science based watershed management for a period of six years starting from April 2021. World Bank will provide a loan assistance amounting 350 crores.
3. Author Meghna Pant's new book The Terrible, Horrible, Very Bad Good News will be released in April 2021.
4. Bharti AXA General Insurance launched Health AdvantEDGE health insurance policy that provides protection against expenses related to medical exigencies and other healthcare services.
5. Sri Lanka settled USD 400 million currency swap facility with India, which was concluded under currency swap agreement in July 2020.
  1. Further extension would require Sri Lanka having a successfully negotiated staff level agreement for an IMF programme, which Sri Lanka does not have at present.
6. An IRDAI committee recommended introduction of index-linked insurance policies, after related requests from insurers. Such policies were banned by IRDAI in 2013. Returns from ILIPS will be linked to benchmark indices, such as 10-year Sovereign Bond Index, Sensex or Nifty.
7. 34th Session of UN’s FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization) Committee on Fisheries (COFI 34) held Virtually.
  1. During the session, Members supported first-ever Declaration for Sustainable Fisheries & Aquaculture.
  2. COFI 34 marks 25th anniversary of Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries (adopted in 1995), as a key instrument guiding drive towards sustainable fisheries and aquaculture around world.
8. Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) partnered with Confederation of Women Entrepreneurs of India (COWE), to launch Swavalamban Sashakt Campaign, to generate awareness about the Stand Up India (SUI) scheme.
9. VP Joy has been appointed as New Chief Secretary of Kerala.
10. Govt has set up a Nodal Authority to frame Approved Standardised Deep-Sea Fishing Vessels (DSFV) Design and Specifications (ASDDS), to help state fisheries departments in expediting implementation of the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY).
11. US Based Chipmaker Nvidia acquired SoftBank owned UK Based Arm Holdings, a designer of chips for mobile phones, in a deal worth $40 billion. It includes $21.5 billion in Nvidia stock and $12 billion in cash, including $2 billion payable at signing.
12. Feb 12 is observed as National Productivity Day in India, with National Productivity Week observed between February 12 - 18 every year.
  1. February 12 is also observed globally as Darwin Day, to commemorate the birth anniversary of the father of evolutionary biologist Charles Darwin.
13. National Horticulture Fair (NHF) 2021 held in Bengaluru via virtual mode, organised by Indian Institute of Horticultural Research (IIHR). 2021 Theme is Horticulture for Start-Up and Stand-Up India.
Feb 11, 2021
1. India signed $100 million Loan agreement with World bank, for CHIRAAG - Chhattisgarh Inclusive Rural and Accelerated Agriculture Growth, to develop sustainable production systems that allow tribal households in remote areas of Chhattisgarh to practice production of diversified and nutritious food.
2. 2 new initiatives of Technology Information, Forecasting and Assessment Council (TIFAC) have been launched.
  1. SAKSHAM (Shramik Shakti Manch)- a dynamic job portal for mapping the skills of Shramiks, to connect Shramiks with MSMEs.
  2. A Seaweed Mission for commercial farming of seaweeds and its processing for value addition towards boosting national economy.
3. Feb 11 is observed as UN International Day of Women and Girls in Science, observed since 2015. 2021 Theme is Women Scientists at the forefront of the fight against COVID-19.
  1. On this occasion -
    1. 2nd phase of Vigyan Jyoti programme commenced. It will spread programme for encouraging girls to take interest in science and build a career in STEM, to 100 districts (up from 50 districts earlier).
    2. SERB Women Excellence Awards were announced, which provides grant of 15 lakhs for 3 years, to pursue research ideas.
      1. Awardees Include Shobhna Kapoor (IIT Bombay), Antara Banerjee (NIRRH Mumbai), Sonu Gandhi (NIAB Hyderabad) and Ritu Gupta (IIT Jodhpur).
      2. Launched in 2013, this award is given to women scientists below 40 years of age.
  2. Feb 11 is also observed as World Unani Day, to mark birth anniversary of India's noted Unani scholar and social reformer Hakim Ajmal Khan. He was one of the founders of the Jamia Millia Islamia in New Delhi.
4. BRICS Nations' New Development Bank (NDB) commited Investment of $100 million into NIIF Fund of Funds (FoF), as NDB’s first equity investment into India.
5. J&K Administration and United Kingdom based space agency partnered to work on a collaborative project on impact-based flood forecasting.
  1. Project is supported by national space innovation programme (NSIP), undertaken by HR Wallingford in association with Oxford University, D-orbit and Sayers & Partners (SPL).
6. US President Joe Biden revoked national emergency order used to fund former President Donald Trump's Mexico border wall project.
  1. In 2019, President Trump declared a state of emergency over southern border, which had allowed him to bypass Congress and use military funds for its construction.
  2. President Biden also launched a new China Task Force, to provide recommendations on the military strategy to the Department of Defence, to help counter growing challenges posed by China.
7. Pakistan Navy organised multinational maritime exercise in Arabian Sea, called Aman 21, with participation of 46 Nations.
8. American film director Steven Spielberg has been awarded Israel's 2021 Genesis Prize, in recognition of his contribution to cinema and efforts to preserve memory of the Holocaust.
  1. This $1 million award is granted each year to a person for their professional achievements, contributions to humanity and commitment to Jewish values.
9. 20th Edition of World Sustainable Development Summit 2021 held Virtually by The Energy and Resources Institute's (TERI), with theme Redefining our common future: Safe and secure environment for all.
10. Telangana-based Manasa Varanasi won VLCC Femina Miss India World 2020. She will now represent India at 70th Miss World pageant in December 2021.
Feb 10, 2021
1. General Conferences / Events (Feb 1 - 10, 2021) -
  1. India’s first amputee clinic has been launched at Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh.
  2. Delhi cabinet approved Mukhyamantri Vigyan Pratibha Pariksha, in which Rs 5000 will be provided to 1000 meritorious students of Class 9 in schools of Delhi as a science scholarship.
  3. Delhi Govt launched Switch Delhi campaign, to promote the use of electric vehicles.
  4. ASEAN-India Hackathon-2021 held Virtually, aimed at enhancing cooperation between India and ASEAN countries in science, tech and education.
    1. Also, 8th Meeting of ASEAN-India Tourism Ministers Held Virtually. It was attended by Minister of State for Culture & Tourism, Prahlad Singh Patel.
  5. Military Coup in Myanmar caused dethroning of democratically elected ruling party National League for Democracy (NLD), Led by Aung Sa Suu Kyi. Army has established Military rule, transferring power to Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services.
  6. 1st India-Bahrain Joint Working Group meeting in field of Renewable Energy, held virtually.
  7. Kerala Govt organized Kerala Looks Ahead global conclave, to lay down the roadmap for long-term development in State.
  8. NITI Aayog ordered Jaipur-based research organisation Consumer Unity and Trust Society (CUTS) International to study economic impact of judgments delivered by Supreme Court (SC), high courts (HCs), and quasi-judicial bodies like National Green Tribunal (NGT).
  9. Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) will launch data analytics-driven MCA21 Version 3.0 by October 2021, as Mission Mode e-Governance project.
  10. An avalanche and flash floods triggered in Alaknanda river in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand, following a glacial breach.
  11. NITI Aayog released its plan for Little Andaman, named Sustainable Development of Little Andaman Island Vision Document. Little Andaman is a 680 sq km fragile Island in the Andaman and Nicobar island group.
  12. 8th India International Silk Fair held Virtually, as biggest silk fair of India.
2. Cabinet Approvals (Feb 10, 2021) -
  1. CCEA -
    1. Approved proposal of Department of Fertilizers for Grant-in-aid of 100 crores to Brahmaputra Valley Fertilizers Corporation Limited (BVFCL) in Namrup (Assam), to sustain operations of it's urea manufacturing units.
3. China's First Mars Mission Tianwen-1 successfully reached MARS Orbit, which was launched in July 2020.
  1. It was Launched onboard China’s most powerful and biggest Long March 5 rocket.
  2. China Earlier tried to send an exploratory probe to Mars called Yinghuo-1 in 2011, which had failed.
  3. It Reached Mars a Day ater UAE Probe Hope reached Mars Orbit.
  4. With this, China became 5th country overall, to reach Mars. Other Nations with successful Mars Missions - UAE, India, Russia and US.
4. Vijayanagara district has became 31st district of Karnataka, being carved out from Ballari district.
5. Govt appointed an expert panel under TP Rajendran (former ICAR Assistant DG), to review industry’s objections to proposed ban on 27 widely used pesticides, which are reportedly harmful to animals and humans.
6. Feb 10 is observed as World Pulses Day, by Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of UN. 2019-2021 theme is Nutritious Seeds for a Sustainable Future. It was first observed in 2019.
7. Book Platform Scale: For a Post-Pandemic World, authored by Sangeet Paul Choudhary has been released.
8. 2021 Australian Cricket Awards -
  1. Belinda Clark Award (Best Female Cricketer) - Beth Mooney
  2. Allan Border Medal (Best Male Cricketer) - Steve Smith.
  3. Men’s Test Player of the Year - Pat Cummins.
  4. Women’s ODI Player of the Year - Rachel Haynes.
  5. Male ODI Player of the Year - Steve Smith.
  6. Betty Wilson Young Cricketer of the Year: Hannah Darlington.
  7. Bradman Young Cricketer of the Year: Will Sutherland.
  8. Hall of Fame inductions: Johnny Mullagh, Merv Hughes, Lisa Sthalekar.
Feb 09, 2021
1. UAE's Mars Mission Hope successfully reached MARS Orbit, which was launched in July 2020.
  1. It was launched from Japan’s Tanegashima Space Center, using a Mitsubishi Heavy Industries H-IIA launcher.
  2. Hope probe constitutes three different instruments namely an imager and two spectrometers. It will orbit it for a whole Martian year i.e. for 687 days.
  3. The Mission costed $200 million and is UAE’s first foray into interplanetary exploration.
  4. With this, UAE became first Arab country and 5th country overall, to reach Mars. It also became second country to successfully enter Mars’ orbit in its first try.
    1. India was first to reach mars in its first try, with its Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM).
    2. Other Nations with successful Mars Missions - China, Russia and US.
2. To incentivise farmers to transport their agricultural produce through Kisan Rail, Govt included Mandarin (a variety of Orange) and Turmeric (raw) in list of eligible Fruits / Vegetables for 50% transportation subsidy through Railways under Operation Greens – TOP to TOTAL.
3. Competition Commission of India Approvals (Feb 2021) -
  1. Approved 100 % acquisition by Siemens (SHS GmbH) of Varian Medical Systems.
  2. Approved acquisition by Bank of India of BOI AXA Investment Managers Private Limited, and BOI AXA Trustee Services Private Limited. It involves acquisition of 49 % of share capital of BOI AXA IM & BOI AXA TS by BOI.
  3. Approved merger of NAM Estates and Embassy One Commercial Property Developments into Indiabulls Real Estate.
  4. Approved acquisition of shares of Tata Communications by Panatone Finvest, a non-deposit taking core investment arm of Tata Sons.
    1. Government is looking to divest its 26.12 % equity stake in TCL.
    2. After acquisition of shares, Panatone Finvest would increase its shareholding from 48.87 % to 74.99 % in TCL.
4. India will overtake European Union as world's third-largest energy consumer by 2030, as per International Energy Agency (IEA).
  1. Also, India will make up biggest share of energy demand growth at 25% by 2040. India's GDP is expected to expand to $8.6 trillion by 2040.
  2. India is currently 4th largest global energy consumer behind China, US and European Union.
5. Book titled By Many a Happy Accident: Recollections of a Life, authored by Former Vice President Hamid Ansari has been released.
6. Madhya Pradesh Govt launched Social Awareness and Action to Neutralise Pneumonia Successfully (‘SAANS’) campaign, to reduce the death rate due to pneumonia among infants.
7. Karnataka Digital Economy Mission Office has been Inaugurated, with an objective of increasing digital economy contribution to Gross State Domestic Product to 30%. Along with it, Beyond Bengaluru Campaign, which will facilitate achieving this target was also launched.
8. Supreme Court has put a stay on dismantling of INS Viraat, that was decommissioned recently. This SC Ruling came after hearing a petition filed by a firm, which seeked a permission to convert INS Viraat into a maritime museum and a multi-functional adventure centre.
9. US will re-join UN Human Rights Council, which US had withdrawn itself from in 2018, under Presidency of Donald Trump. US had withdrwn from UNHRC because of its disproportionate focus on Israel.
10. India and Afghanistan signed deal to build Sahtoot dam, in order to supply water to Kabul City.
  1. The dam will be completed by India, at cost US$120 - $305 million. For this, India's ministry of water and power have inked an agreement with the Poyab Company of Iran.
  2. Shahtoot dam is the second major dam which will be built by India in Afghanistan. India has also built the Friendship Dam or Salma dam which was inaugurated in June 2016.
11. Uttar Pradesh government introduced a system of unique 16-digit Unicode in order to mark all kinds of landholdings in state. Unicode will be provided by Revenue Department for marking all forms of residential, agriculture, and commercial land.
12. Feb 9, 2021 is observed as Safer Internet Day, with 2021 theme Together for a better internet.
Feb 08, 2021
1. Feb 8 is birth anniversary of Zakir Husain Khan, the third President of India ( 1967 - 1969).
2. Nigerian-American economist Okonjo-Iweala became first woman and first African to be chosen as Director-General of World Trade Organization (WTO).
3. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) American Space Exploration Firm SpaceX, to launch its SPHEREx Mission.
  1. SPHEREx (Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization, and Ices Explorer) is a future near-infrared space observatory that will perform an all-sky survey to measure the near-infrared spectra of approximately 450 million galaxies.
4. South Korea approved building world’s largest wind power plant by 2030, to be built at investment of 43 Billion USD. Currently, world’s largest offshore wind farm is Hornsea 1 in Britain, with 1.12 GW capacity.
5. PM Narendra Modi dedicated four projects worth around Rs 4700 crores in Haldia (West Bengal), Including Catalytic-Isodewaxing Unit at Haldia refinery, BPCL's new LPG terminal, GAIL’s 347-km-long Dobhi-Durgapur pipeline and NHAI's over bridge-cum-flyover at Ranichak.
  1. Also, PM Narendra Modi also laid Foundation Stone of two hospitals and launched ‘Asom Mala’, a programme for state highways and major district roads, at Dhekiajuli in Sonitpur (Assam).
6. Education Ministry renamed residential schools (383) and hostels (680) funded under Samagra Shiksha Scheme as “Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose residential schools.
7. Russia Defeated Italy in final to win 2021 ATP Cup, 2nd edition of ATP Cup Tennis Title.
  1. It was held with 12 teams at Melbourne Park in Australia.
8. Himachal Pradesh became first State to make end to end processing of cabinet paperless by implementing e-cabinet application.
9. Vice President Venkaiah Naidu Released book Parliamentary Messenger in Rajasthan Authored by K.N. Bhandari.
10. 1st India-EU High Level Dialogue on Trade and Investment held Virtually, attended by Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal and the European Union Executive Vice-President & Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis.
Feb 07, 2021
1. Square Kilometre Array Observatory (SKAO) Council approved establishment of world’s largest radio telescope, which will enable faster and much more detailed surveying of sky. SKAO will be arrays of antennas located in two Africa and Australia, with headquarters in UK.
2. India Meteorological Department (IMD) announced setting up first Thunderstorm Research Testbed of India at Odisha’s Balasore district. It is aimed at minimalizing human fatalities and loss of property due to lightning strikes.
  1. IMD will also set up a first-of-its-kind monsoon testbed near Bhopal.
3. US Space Agency National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) will launch robotic Mars ice mapping mission in collaboration with three international partners, to help identify abundant, accessible ice for future candidate landing sites on Mars.
  1. NASA has signed statement of intent with Canadian Space Agency (CSA), Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and the Italian Space Agency (ASI) for collaboration in the mission.
4. 13th edition of Aero India, the flagship event of Indian Aviation industry, organized at Bengaluru (Karnataka). During the event -
  1. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh handed over Contract for 83 Light Combat Aircraft Tejas to Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).
    1. Cabinet Committee on Security had earlier approved procurement of 73 LCA Tejas Mk-1A fighter aircrafts and 10 LCA Tejas Mk-1 Trainer aircrafts at cost of 45696 Crores, along with Design & Development and Infrastructure sanctions worth 1202 Crores.
    2. This is largest ever Defence contract for indigenous manufacture till now.
    3. Deliveries of all 83 aircraft shall be completed by HAL by 2030.
    4. Defence Minister also inaugurated a new plant at Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) in Bengaluru to double the production of India's indigenous fighter jet - LCA Tejas.
  2. India hosted Indian Ocean Region- IOR Defence Ministers’ Conclave, on sidelines of Aero India 2021, with theme Enhanced Peace, Security, and Cooperation in the Indian Ocean.
  3. HAL also signed MoU with Mishra Dhatu Nigam Limited (MIDHANI), for production of composite raw materials for use in aerospace. This is the first time that such an MoU has been signed for composite raw materials. These composite raw material are used in platforms like Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH), Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) and Light Utility Helicopter (LUH).
  4. HAL also announced development of a futuristic high altitude pseudo satellite in collaboration with a start-up company, to strengthen India’s military strike capabilities. It is a first of its kind project in world, named Combined Air Teaming System (CATS), where a manned aircraft will operate within boundary and unmanned aircraft will enter enemy zone and carry out strikes deep inside enemy territory.
  5. Start-up Manthan was organised under iDEX banner, which is organized annually. iDEX (Innovations for Defence Excellence) was launched by PM Narendra Modi in 2018, to create corporate models for Indian Defence needs and allow defence sector to harness start-ups.
5. First geothermal power project of India, known as Geothermal Field Development Project, will be established at Puga village of eastern Ladakh, in 4 phases.
  1. Tripartite MoU to establish and implement the first phase has been signed between ONGC Energy, LAHDC and Power Department of UT Ladakh. It will be commission by end of 2022.
  2. Under first phase, 24 hours free power supply will be given to 10 unconnected neighbouring villages.
  3. In Second Phase, deeper and lateral exploration of geothermal reservoirs will be done by drilling optimal number of wells.
  4. In Third phase, joint ventures and commercial projects will be promoted.
6. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres re-appointed Noted american businessman Michael Bloomberg (US) as his Special Envoy on Climate Ambition and Solutions.
Feb 06, 2021
1. Feb 6 is observed as International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation, with 2021 Theme No Time for Global Inaction, Unite, Fund, and Act to End Female Genital Mutilation. It was first introduced in 2003.
2. Maharashtra Govt approved Chief Minister’s water conservation programme, which aims at restoring irrigation capacity by repairing water sources by March 2023. It will require fund of 1,341 crores.
3. New Book 1857 – The Sword of Mastaan, written by Vineet Bajpai has been released.
4. Pulitzer prize-winning Indian author Jhumpa Lahiri's new book named Whereabouts, will be released in April 2021.
5. Uttarakhand Govt approved Lakhwar electricity project on Yamuna river.
  1. It will Enable Uttarakhand to get 572 million units of electricity every year, to be developed at cost 5747 crores
  2. 6 States (Haryana, UP, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Delhi and Himachal Pradesh) will get drinking and irrigation water supply from this project.
6. IIT Kharagpur signed MoU with National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) for ‘Building Accessible Safe and Inclusive Indian Cities (BASIIC). It aims at developing a framework for universal city planning which would be more accessible and inclusive for various sections of community with age-friendly disabled-friendly measures.
7. US President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden released his memoir titled Beautiful Things, narrating his struggles with addiction and drug abuse.
8. Denmark will build world's first energy island in North Sea that will produce and store enough green energy to cover electricity needs of 3 million European households. This is under European Union's plans to increase its offshore wind energy capacity 25-fold by 2050.
9. National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) approved creation of 5th tiger reserve in Tamil Nadu, which will surround Meghamalai and Srivilliputhur Grizzled Squirrel Wildlife Sanctuaries.
  1. Activists were demanding creation of a tiger reserve linking the two sanctuaries in adjoining areas of Periyar Tiger Reserve in Kerala.
  2. It will help protect wildlife and will also rejuvenation Vaigai river by protecting origins of this river.
10. RBI announced to integrate consumer grievances redressal under a single ombudsman, compared to 3 grievance redressal schemes working at present. Currently, there are dedicated ombudsman schemes for consumer grievance redressal in the banking, non-bank finance companies and digital transactions.
Feb 05, 2021
1. Misc. MOUs (Feb 2021) -
  1. PSU Coal India signed agreement with Energy Efficiency Services Ltd (EESL), for reducing its carbon footprint and improving operational efficiency.
  2. Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) and Atal Innovation Mission (AIM)- NITI Aayog signed statement of intent (SOI), to boost start-up ecosystem in mobility sector.
  3. DRDO signed MoU with Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bengaluru, for creation of JATP–Center of Excellence (JATP – CoE), to expand scope and objective of existing Joint Advanced Technology Program.
  4. Haryana State Govt and Switzerland agreed to share their expertise in fields of skill training, tourism, dairying besides exploring possibilities of signing MoUs for teacher-student and cultural exchange programmes.
  5. Government of Goa signed MoU with CII, to establish Model Career Centre in Goa.
  6. MoU signed between Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), to create awareness for energy efficient pumpsets and operational practices.
  7. Investor Education and Protection fund Authority (IEPFA) and Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) signed MoU for collaboration in utilising tele-lecturing facility of Gyan Darshan Channel (EPMC) for telecast of Investor Awareness Programmes (IAPs).
  8. Siemens Limited signed 2 separate MoU with Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and Central Manufacturing Technology Institute (CMTI) respectively to establish digital transformation labs.
  9. MOU signed between Meghalaya police and State Bank of India for implementation of the e-Challan in Shillong.
  10. AGS Transact Technologies partnered with Mastercard to enable pan India ‘contactless’ cash withdrawals at ATMs.
  11. Indian Navy and IIT Delhi signed MoU to carry on the research in underwater domain of Naval Electronic Systems.
  12. Maharashtra government signed MoU with Flipkart, to promote wooden toys, local artefacts, handicrafts.
  13. Hewlett Packard (HP) and National Skill Development Corporation signed MOU, to enable NSDC to host content from HP's Print Learn Center on its digital skilling platform--eSkill India, and make it available for potential users as well as aspiring students, free of cost.
  14. MoU signed between Central and Uttarakhand government, for establishing a science city in Dehradun.
  15. Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) signed MOU to support development, conduct and promotion of health research in India.
  16. Tata Electronics signed MoU with Tamil Nadu government to set up a facility for manufacturing mobile components, with investment of 4684 crores in new plant in Krishnagiri.
  17. HCL Technologies signed agreement with IIT Kanpur, to work with C3iHub, a specialised cybersecurity research centre at IITK.
  18. Indian Bank signed MOU with Society for Innovation and Development (SID), an initiative of Indian Institute of Science, for extending exclusive credit facility to Start-ups and MSMEs.
  19. Uttar Pradesh government signed MoU with Swedish Furniture Firm IKEA for investment of 5,500 crore in state, for setting up its largest outlet in India in Noida.
  20. Jammu and Kashmir Entrepreneurship Development Institute (JKEDI) signed MoU with Telangana Govt's Incubator WE HUB, to promote entrepreneurship and innovation.
2. Persons Resigned / Retired / Misc. (Feb 2021) -
  1. Indian Cricketer Ashok Dinda announced retirement from all forms of cricket.
  2. Indian Cricketer Naman Ojha announced retirement from all forms of cricket.
  3. Indian cricketer Yusuf Pathan announced his retirement from all forms of cricket.
  4. Indian Cricketer R Vinay Kumar announced retirement from all forms of cricket.
  5. Sri Lankan Cricketer Dhammika Prasad announced his retirement from international cricket.
  6. Sri Lankan Cricketer Upul Tharanga announced retirement from International Cricket.
  7. South African Cricketer Faf du Plessis announced retirement from Test cricket.
3. Govt launched unified web portal for monitoring progress of GOBARDHAN activities across nation, aimed at positively impact village cleanliness and generate wealth and energy from cattle and organic waste. It focuses on managing and converting cattle dung and solid waste in farms to useful compost, biogas and bio-CNG.
4. Cabinet Approvals (Feb 03, 2021) -
  1. CCEA Approvals -
    1. Approved 100 % divestment of Govt stake in Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL), a psu under Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM).
5. Andhra Govt launched e-Watch app, to enable people to contribute in conducting fair panchayat polls, with transparency.
6. Misc. Defence News (Feb 2021) -
  1. Defence Minister Rajnath inaugurated Hindustan Aeronautics Limited’s (HAL) second Light Combat Aircraft (LCA)-Tejas production line in Bengaluru.
  2. Defence PSU Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) signed offset contract with Russia's Rosoboronexport, for setting up industrial facilities for manufacture of a wide range of aviation hoses at Pune bassd BEL Optronic Devices Limited.
  3. Defence PSU Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) signed contract to deliver a fast patrol vessel (FPV) to Seychelles Seychelles Coast Guard, named Zoroaster.
  4. Ministry of Defence (MoD) and Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) signed contract for procurement of Software Defined Radio Tactical (SDR-Tac) worth over 1000 crores.
  5. First contingent of 34 CRPF women personnel has been inducted into its specialized jungle warfare commando force CoBRA.
  6. President Ram Nath Kovind inaugurated museum dedicated to life of former Army Chief General Kodandera Subayya Thimayya, in Karnataka. He served as Army Chief Between 1957 - 1961.
  7. Successful user trials of DRDO-developed Anti-Tank Guided Missile Systems ‘Helina’ and ‘Dhruvastra’ carried out from Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) platform in desert ranges.
  8. India and Indonesian navies held PASSEX military exercise in Arabian sea. India has held similar Passex Exercises with US, Japan, Russia and Other Nations.
  9. Pakistan Army held its a month-long exercise in Thar Desert, in Sindh province, named Jidar-ul-Hadeed.
  10. DRDO conducted successful launches of Vertical Launch Short Range Surface to Air Missile (VL-SRSAM), designed and developed Indigenously for Indian Navy.
  11. Indian Army annouced to procure 556 Augmented Reality Head Mounted Display (ARHMD) Systems under Make-II Category.
  12. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated DRDO's Skill Development Centre (SDC) for Fire Safety Training, at Pilkhuwa in Uttar Pradesh. The first of its kind in India facility has been created by Delhi based DRDO laboratory ‘Centre for Fire, Explosive and Environment Safety (CFEES)’.
  13. Cochin Shipyard Ltd acquired an Indian Navy order for construction of 6 next-generation missile vessels, valued approx 10000 crores.
7. Maritime Union of India asked Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways to take cognisance of Neptune Declaration on Seafarer Wellbeing and Crew Change, to formulate Maritime India Vision 2030.
  1. Neptune Declaration highlights actions required to be taken in order to resolve crew change crisis, amid wellbeing of seafarers being highly impacted due to COVID-19 pandemic.
Feb 04, 2021
1. Feb 04, 2021 marks 100th anniversary of Chauri Chaura incident, that took place on 4 February 1922 at Chauri Chaura in Gorakhpur (Uttar Pradesh) in British India.
  1. Large group of protesters participating in Non-cooperation movement, clashed with police who opened fire.
  2. In retaliation, demonstrators attacked and set fire to a police station, killing all of its occupants.
  3. On this occasion, PM Narendra Modi inaugurated Chauri Chaura Centenary Celebrations, and also release a dedicated postal stamp.
  4. Feb 04, 2021 also marks 100th Birth Anniversary of Noted Vocalist and Bharat Ratna Awardee, Pandit Bhimsen Joshi. On this occasion, Govt renamed Akashvani Music Festival after Pandit Bhimsen Joshi.
2. Ropeways and Alternate Mobility Solutions have been bought under Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, to boost this sector. An amendment to the Government of India (Allocation of Business) Rules, 1961 has been notified, to enable this step.
3. Ministry of Labour & Employment appointed S.N. Subrahmanyan (MD & CEO of L&T Ltd) as Chairman of National Safety Council, for 3 years.
4. Housing and Urban Affairs Mnistry signed MoU with Food aggregator Zomato, Under PM Street Vendor’s AtmaNibhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) Scheme, to onboard street food vendors on its food-tech platform. Earlier, similar MOU was signed with Swiggy.
5. Feb 4 is observed as World Cancer Day, being observed since 2008. 2021 theme is I am I will (2019 - 2021).
6. Feb 4, 2021 observed as First ever UN International Day of Human Fraternity. 2021 Theme is A Pathway to the Future.
7. Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) Democracy Index 2020 (167 Nations) -
  1. India ranked 53rd.
  2. Top 3 - Norway (1), Iceland (2), Sweden (3)
  3. Bottom 3 - North Korea (167), Democratic Republic of Congo (166), Central African Republic (166)
  4. Neighbors - China (151), Pakistan (105), Bangladesh (76), Sri Lanka (68)
8. Villupuram district administration (Tamil Nadu) issued first declaration to declare Kaliveli wetlands as a bird sanctuary, under Wildlife Protection Act 1972. Kaliveli Wetlands is second-largest brackish water lake in South India, after Pulicat lake.
9. RBI Monetary Policy Committee Meet kept key rates unchanged.
  1. Key rates are -
    1. Repo Rate - 4.00 %
    2. Reverse Repo - 3.35 %
    3. Bank Rate - 4.25 %
    4. CRR (Cash Reserve Ratio) - 3 %
    5. SLR(Statutory Liquidity ratio) - 18.00 %
    6. Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) Rate - 4.25 %
  2. Other Announcements -
    1. RBI introduced risk-based internal audit (RBIA) system, making it mandatory for NBFCs (Asset Size Above 5000 Crores) and urban co-operative banks (Asset Size Over 500 Crores).
    2. RBI also announced to set up a 24*7 helpline platform in order to strengthen digital payment services in India.
    3. RBI projected India’s GDP growth rate at 10.5 % for FY 22 (2021-22).
10. CBI Additional Director Praveen Sinha has been appointed acting chief of CBI, to succeed Rishi Kumar Shukla.
Feb 03, 2021
1. Rajasthan Govt launched Ayushman Bharat Mahatma Gandhi Rajasthan Swasthya Bima Yojana, to provide free treatment to 1.10 crore families in state, with annual medical cover up to 5 lakh.
  1. Scheme will cover two-thirds of population of state, costing 1800 crores annually. State government will bear 80 % of cost, while central govt providing 20 %.
2. BSE and SEBI launched Innovation Sandbox web portal, aimed at creating an ecosystem which promotes innovation in securities market, by enabling FinTech firms to test their applications effectively before introduction in live environment.
3. Tamil Nadu government appointed Rajeev Ranjan as Chief Secretary of state, replacing K Shanmugam.
4. New Book Yes Man: The Untold Story of Rana Kapoor, written by Pavan C. Lall, has been Released.
5. As per International Economic Resilience (IER) Index by industry body PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI) -
  1. India will emerge as second most resilient economy in 2021, while Germany at top and South Korea at third position.
  2. India’s real GDP growth in FY 22 (2021-22) is projected to be high at 11.5%.
Feb 02, 2021
1. Feb 2 is observed as World Wetlands Day. 2021 Theme is Wetlands and water. It marks adoption of Convention on Wetlands on February 2 in 1971, when a small group of environmentalists signed an international agreement at Ramsar Convention in Iran.
  1. On This occasion, Environment Ministry announced establishment of a Centre for Wetland Conservation and Management (CWCM), as a part of National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management Chennai(NCSCM).
  2. It would address specific research needs and knowledge gaps and will aid in the application of integrated approaches for conservation, management and wise use of the wetlands.
  3. India has nearly 4.6% of its land as wetlands, covering an area of 15.26 million hectares and has 42 sites designated as Wetlands of International Importance (Ramsar Sites).
2. Aatmanirbharta has been named by Oxford Languages as its Hindi word of 2020, meaning self-reliance.
3. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos will step down as CEO in Late 2021, to be replaced by Andy Jassy will be new Amazon CEO.
4. Misc. Appointments (February 2021) -
  1. Chief of ruling Communist Party of Vietnam, Nguyen Phu Trong has been re-elected for his 3rd term. He is also President of Vietnam.
  2. Mahindra Financial Services appointed Anish Shah as its chairman.
  3. Facebook appointed Henry Moniz as its first-ever Chief Compliance Officer.
  4. Zoho founder Sridhar Vembu has been appointed to National Security Advisory Board (NSAB), led by National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval.
  5. Google Cloud appointed Bikram Singh Bedi as the new MD for its India Business.
  6. Spicejet chairman Ajay Singh has been re-elected as president of Boxing Federation India for his second term.
  7. Britain's Karim Khan has been elected prosecutor at The Hague (Netherlands) based International Criminal Court.
  8. Japanese Olympian Seiko Hashimoto has been named as Tokyo Olympic Organizing commitee president, which have been shifted from 2020 to 2021 amid pandemic.
  9. Karnataka Government named Actor Darshan as state's Agriculture Ambassador.
  10. Vijay Sampla has been appointed as Chairman of National Commission for Scheduled Castes(NCSC).
  11. US Senate confirmed Linda Thomas-Greenfield as new US ambassador to United Nations.
  12. AU Small Finance Bank named Sharad Goklani as its new President & CTO.
  13. Russian Actress Natalia Vodianova has become a United Nations goodwill ambassador, to promote sexual and reproductive rights of women.
  14. Haryana Deputy CM Dushyant Chautala has been re-elected as President of Table Tennis Federation of India.
  15. Exporters' body Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) elected A Sakthivel as its President.
5. Industrial / Misc. Awards (February 2021) -
  1. Musician AR Rahman and social activist Hari Krishnan are among 14 awardees in 4th edition of Alert Being Awards 2020 by NGO ALERT.
  2. Indian documentary film Writing with Fire, chronicling rise of Khabar Lahariya, India’s only newspaper run by Dalit women, has won the audience award in the World Cinema Documentary category at Sundance Film Festival 2021 (US).
  3. Tamil film ‘Koozhangal’, directed by PS Vinothraj, won Tiger Award at 50th International Film Festival of Rotterdam (The Netherlands).
  4. Indian short film 'Bittu' has been shortlisted for the 93rd Academy Awards (Oscars) in Live Action Category.
  5. Economic Times Awards for Corporate Excellence 2020 -
    1. Lifetime Achievement - HDFC Bank Founder Aditya Puri.
    2. Businesswoman of the year - Preetha Reddy and Suneeta Reddy (Apollo Hospitals).
    3. Business reformer of the year - RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das.
    4. Global Indian award - Piyush Gupta (CEO of DBS Group).
    5. Entrepreneur of the year - Adar Poonawalla (Serum Institute of India).
    6. Business Leader of The Year - Pawan Munjal (Hero MotoCorp).
  6. Bangalore's Kempegowda International Airport Limited (BIAL) won global recognition from Airports Council International World’s ‘Voice of the Customer’ award.
  7. Australian wildlife photographer Robert Irwin won Wildlife Photographer of the Year People’s Choice Award 2020, for his picture of the devastating Australian Bushfire in 2020.
  8. Andhra Pradesh CM Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy has been conferred Skoch Chief Minister of the Year Award.
  9. Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) received Asia Environmental Enforcement Award 2020 awarded by UN Environment Programme (UNEP). WCCB has received this award twice in last 3 years.
  10. Technology Development Board selected 12 companies for National Technology Awards 2020 for commercialization of successful commercialization of innovative indigenous technologies, under 3 categories - indigenous technologies, MSME, and startups.
  11. Union Bank of India has been awarded Best Service Provider in Human Resources and also best institution for Excellence in Learning & Development at 29th Global HRD Congress awards.
6. First of its kind botanical garden named ‘Shivalik Arboretum’ has been inaugurated in Nainital (Uttarakhand), for conserving over 210 species of trees found in Shivalik range of Himalayas.
7. Indian-American Bhavya Lal has been appointed as Acting Chief of Staff of US Space Agency NASA.
8. Misc. Sports Events (February 2021) -
  1. India topped tally at first-ever Asian Online Shooting Championship, organised by Kuwait Shooting Federation, winning total 11 medals.
  2. Former Australian Cricketer Merv Hughes has been inducted into Australian Cricket Hall of Fame.
  3. English Cricketer Joe Root became first player to score a double century in his 100th Test match, played against Sri Lanka.
  4. Indian Cricketer batsman Rishabh Pant won inaugural ICC Player of the Month award 2021, along with South Africa’s Shabnim Ismail.
  5. Ishant Sharma became 6th Indian bowler to take 300 wickets in Test cricket.
  6. Ravichandran Ashwin became fourth Indian bowler to pick up 400 Test wickets and 2nd fastest after Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralidharan.
  7. Karnataka will host 2nd Khelo India University Games (KIUG) later in 2021.
  8. Indian women boxers won 10 Medals (Including 5 Gold) overall for a top finish, at 30th Adriatic Pearl Tournament in Budva (Montenegro). Gold Medals - Babyrojisana Chanu (51kg), Arundhati Choudhary (69kg), Alfiya Pathan (81kg), Vinka (60kg) and T Sanamacha Chanu (75kg).
  9. British woman Jasmine Harrison became youngest woman to row solo across Atlantic Ocean, at 21 years age. She achieved this by finishing top in 2020 Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge.
  10. Indian boxer won 12 medals, including five golds, at 30th Adriatic Pearl Tournament in Budva (Montenegro), finishing 2nd on overall tally behind Uzbekistan.
9. Obituaries (Feb 2021) -
  1. Cicely Tyson - Noted American actress.
  2. Akhtar Ali - Noted Indian tennis Player.
  3. Christopher Plummer - Noted Canadian actor and an Oscar awardee.
  4. Bansi Kaul - Noted Indian theatre director and founder of Bhopal based theatre group Rang Vidushak. He was recipient of Padma Shri and Sangeet Natak Akademi Award.
  5. Leon Spinks - Noted American Boxer and Olympic Gold Medalist.
  6. Ezra Moseley - West Indian cricketer from Barbados.
  7. Marion Anthony Trabert - Noted American tennis Player and author.
  8. Rajiv Kapoor - Bollywood actor and Raj Kapoor’s son.
  9. Jean-Claude Carriere - Noted French novelist and screenwriter. He was awarded Padma Shri by Indian government in 2015.
  10. Bruce Richard Taylor - Former New Zealand cricketer.
  11. Mandagadde Rama Jois - Former member of Rajya Sabha, governor of Jharkhand and Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court.
  12. Satish C. Sharma - Former Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas and noted congress leader.
  13. Michael Somare - Oceanic Nation Papua New Guinea's first Prime Minister.
  14. Vishnu Narayanan Namboothiri - Noted Malayalam poet, academician and Padma Shri awardee.
  15. Rahul Khullar - Former TRAI chairman and Commerce Secretary.
10. Misc. Science News / Events (February 2021) -
  1. CSIR-CMERI-Centre of Excellence for Farm Machinery (Ludhiana) developed Off-grid Solar Biodiesel Hybrid Minigrid of 50kW peak capacity, for providing 24X7 power.
  2. US Space Exploration Firm SpaceX announced first all-civilian mission to space, which will feature a four-person crew led by Jared Isaacman (CEO of Shift4 Payments).
  3. Researchers discovered a new gecko species in Arunachal Pradesh, which belongs to the genus Cyrtodactylus commonly known as bent-toed geckos.
  4. Launch vehicle Stardust 1.0 launched from Loring Commerce Centre (US), developed by BluShift, as 1st commercial space launch powered by biofuel.
  5. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan unveiled 10-year space program for his country, including a mission to moon in 2023.
  6. Mandarin duck, a colourful duck from eastern Asia, has been spotted in Assam recently after 118 years. Mandarin duck is the habitat of eastern China and southern Japan.
  7. IIT Madras Indubated startup Pi Beam launched electric two-wheeler called PiMO. Priced at 30000, it has range of 50 km.
  8. Hyundai Motor Company launched robocar named TIGER X-1, that can travel over the most challenging terrains on Earth and other planets. TIGER stands for Transforming Intelligent Ground Excursion Robot.
  9. Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR) Scientists developed a small molecule called TGR63, that disrupts mechanism through which neurons become dysfunctional in Alzheimer’s disease (AD).
    1. In Alzheimer's, abnormal levels of naturally forming protein clump together to form plaques that collect between neurons and disrupt cell function, by production of amyloid peptide (Aβ) that accumulates in central nervous system.
    2. Currently available treatments provide only temporary relief, and there are no approved drugs that directly act on disease mechanisms of Alzheimer’s disease. The new findings have paved way for developing efficient cure for the same.
11. Misc. Corporate News (February 2021) -
  1. Ford Motor partnered with Google, to cooperate in software, artificial intelligence and cloud computing, to develop new consumer services and modernize internal operations.
  2. PNB restricted customers from withdrawing money from non-EMV automated teller machines (ATMs), to check frauds. Non-EMV ATMs are those which reads data through magnetic strips and do not hold ATM card during the transaction.
  3. Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved closure of loss making PSU Scooters India.
  4. Reliance sourced world's first consignment of 'carbon-neutral oil' from US based Oxy Low Carbon Ventures (OLCV), under its aim to become a net zero-carbon company by 2035.
  5. Federal Bank launched FedFirst, a special savings account scheme for children below 18 years age.
  6. ICICI Bank signed MoU with MUFG Bank, Japan’s premier bank for collaboration towards catering to banking requirements of Japanese corporates in India.
  7. American payments firm PayPal announced to stop offering domestic payment services within India, from April 2021.
  8. National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) launched PayAuth Challenge, as global-level hackathon to get alternatives of authentication of Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions. It is supported by APIX, the first cross-border and open architecture API marketplace globally.
  9. PNB signed MOU with PSU Indian Oil, to provide up to Rs 2 crores credit to IOCL dealers, and cater to financing needs of IndianOil dealers.
  10. IRDAI asked all Insurers to issue digital insurance policies using government’s Digilocker app.
  11. Realty developers’ body Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Associations of India (CREDAI) signed MOU with Indian Payments and Postal Bank (IPPB), to facilitate opening of bank accounts for construction workers.
  12. Govt will bring amendments in two acts in order to facilitate privatisation of public sector banks (PSBs), named Banking Companies (Acquisition and transfer of undertakings) Act 1970 and Banking Companies (Acquisition and Transfer of Undertakings) Act 1980.
    1. These two acts had facilitated nationalisation of banks in two phases.
  13. Asian Development Bank (ADB) approved INR 100 crores loan to Indian hospital chain Medanta for healthcare services, to fight COVID-19 pandemic.
  14. Flipkart partnered with ICICI Lombard to offer Group SafeGuard insurance group policy with Hospicash benefit for Flipkart consumers.
  15. RBI permitted resident individuals to make remittances under Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS) to International Financial Services Centres (IFSCs) in country, aimed at deepening financial markets in IFSCs.
  16. Kerala Financial Corporation(KFC) will soon issue its debit cards for loan sanction and repayment for customers, As a first for a government-run financial institution in state.
  17. Mastercard launched its flagship Priceless™ program in India, to enable domestic and global travellers to attain unique insights and exclusive access to several unparalleled experiences in country.
  18. Govt. announced to sell its entire 26.12% stake in Tata Communications (erstwhile Videsh Sanchar Nigam), by end of current fiscal FY 21 (2020-21).
  19. Indian Oil will invest approx 33000 Crores to raise capacity of its Panipat refinery by two-thirds to 500000 barrels per day (bpd) by 2024.
  20. Reliance Industries initiated moving its oil-to-chemicals (O2C) business into an independent subsidiary.
  21. HDFC Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank picked up 9.99 % vstake each in Ferbine Private Ltd, a Tata Sons promoted company to operate a PanIndia Umbrella Entity (PUE) for retail payment systems.
  22. NTPC acquired GAIL's 25.51 % stake in Ratnagiri Gas and Power Pvt Ltd (RGPPL), commonly known as Dabhol project.
    1. After this transaction, NTPC will have 86.49 % stake in RGPPL.
12. GST collections remained 1.2 lakh crores in January 2021, as highest ever monthly collections since implementation of GST Regime.
Feb 01, 2021
1. Book The Law of Emergency Powers: Comparative Common Law Perspectives, written by Abhishek Singhvi and Khagesh Gautam has been released.
2. A Life in Cinema, Theatre, Poetry & Painting, Autobiography of Soumitra Chatterjee has been Released.
3. Tamil translation of French novel Le mariage de plaisir' won Romain Rolland Book Prize at Apeejay Kolkata Literary Festival. Rolland Book Prize was started in 2017, to honor best translation of a French title into any Indian language.
4. To benefit Startups, Corporate Affairs Ministry amended Companies (Incorporation) Rules to -
  1. Allow OPCs to grow without any restrictions on paid up capital and turnover
  2. Allowing their conversion into any other type of company at any time.
  3. Reducing residency limit for an Indian citizen to set up an OPC from 182 days to 120 days
  4. Allow Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) to incorporate OPCs in India.
5. Maharashtra Govt launched a scheme aimed at providing financial assistance to innovative startups to file for IT patents, To boost startup ecosystem.
  1. 125-150 startups will be supported in the first phase, with financial help of 2 - 10 lakh, along with financial assistance up to Rs 2 lakh for quality testing and certification for startup's ideas.
6. Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama's new book The Little Book of Encouragement, has been Launched. It has been edited by Renuka Singh.
7. Punjab Govt launched Har Ghar Pani, Har Ghar Safai mission, to accomplish goal of piped water supply in all rural households by March 2022.
8. Sri Lanka pulled out of a 2019 agreement with India and Japan, for developing the strategic East Container Terminal (ECT) at Colombo Port. It has been done after After strong opposition from trade unions across Sri Lanka.
  1. The initiative was estimated to cost between $500 - $700 million, with Sri Lanka holding 51 per cent-stake in project and joint venture partners retaining 49%.
9. Ministry of Power will launch a domestic manufacturing programme for critical power and renewable energy equipment at an outlay of Rs 1,500 crores, titled Manufacturing Zones under Atmanirbhar Bharat Package, with setting up 3 manufacturing zones in a year (coastal, land-locked and hilly states).
10. UK will join Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), one of the world's largest free-trade areas made up of 11 developed and emerging economies in Pacific.
  1. CPTPP comprises Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.
11. 2021 IHF World Men's Handball Championship (27th edition), hosted by -
  1. Denmark won the Title (as its 2nd title win), defeating Sweden.
12. Jorden van Foreest (Netherlands) won the Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2021 (83rd edition).
  1. This annual chess tournament is held in January in Wijk aan Zee (Netherlands).
  2. It was called Hoogovens tournament from its creation in 1938, until sponsor Koninklijke Hoogovens merged with British Steel to form Corus Group in 1999, after which it was called Corus chess tournament. Corus Group became Tata Steel Europe in 2007.
13. Feb 01, 2021 is 45th Foundation day of Indian Coast Guard (ICG), which was established on 1 February 1977.

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