Important Weekly Current Affairs 08 to 15 February 2022

• The Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs, Shri Hardeep Singh Puri informed that the Swachh Bharat Mission–Urban (SBM-U) 2.0, launched on October 1, 2021 for a Mission period of five years involves urban-rural convergence.
• NITI Aayog, in collaboration with PhonePe, AWS and EY, has organized a three-week-long
• virtual summit, ‘Fintech Open’, from 7–28 February.
• India is implementing the largest immunisation programme globally where we annually cover more than 3 crore pregnant women and 2.6 crore children through the Universal
• Immunisation Programme (UIP).
• Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), NITI Aayog, and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) announced a new partnership under the Sustainable Access to Markets and Resources for Innovative Delivery of Healthcare (SAMRIDH) initiative.
• Ministry of Culture, Government of India will organize a first of its kind, 2-Day Global Summit on ‘Reimagining Museums in India’, on 15-16 February 2022.
• A target of all India coal production of 1.2 Billion Tonne upto the year 2023-24 has been fixed.
• The Union Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Ashwini Kumar Choubey informed that in pursuance to the economic measures announced by the Government under the ‘Atma Nirbhar Bharat Package’ in May 2020.
• Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), NITI Aayog, and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) announced a new partnership under the Sustainable Access to Markets and Resources for Innovative Delivery of Healthcare (SAMRIDH) initiative.
• NITI Aayog has announced the five most improved aspirational districts in the Agriculture
• and Water Resources sector for December 2021.
• ·According to the latest audited statement of PM CARES Funds, the total corpus under the PM CARES Funds in 2020-21 was Rs 10,990.17 crore & Rs 3,976.17 crore was spent from the fund in 2020-21.
• Union Minister of Power, R K Singh has launched Powerthon-2022, a hackathon competition to find technology-driven solutions to solve the complex problems in power distribution and to ensure quality and reliable power supply.
• Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi will address the high-level segment of One Ocean
• Summit on 11th February through a video message.
• The President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind, opened the annual “Udyanotsav” of Rashtrapati Bhavan on February 10, 2022.Important Weekly Current Affairs PDF 08 to 15 February 2022
• AAI and other Airport Developers have targeted capital outlay of approximately Rs. 91000
• crore in airport sector in the next five years for expansion and modification of existing
• terminals, new terminals and strengthening of runways, among other activities.
• The Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Shri Rameswar Teli, the Government has set a target to raise the share of natural gas in energy mix to 15% by 2030.
• President Ramnath Kovind has inaugurated the new Darbar hall in Rajbhavan in Mumbai.
• Two National Centres of Excellence in Carbon Capture and Utilization are being established in India.
• Union Minister for Social Justice &Empowerment Dr. Virendra Kumar will launch the Central Sector scheme “SMILE: Support for Marginalized Individuals for Livelihood and Enterprise” at BHIM Auditorium, Dr.Ambedkar International Centre, New Delhi.
• The Ministry of Tourism has identified Eco Circuit as one of the fifteen thematic circuits for development under the Swadesh Darshan Scheme to promote eco-tourism in the country.
• The virtual inaugural session of India’s participation in the annual film market at Berlin, called EFM or the European Film Market which is organised on the sidelines of the Berlin International Film Festival.
• Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), NITI Aayog in collaboration with UNDP, India launched the Community Innovator Fellowship (CIF) marking the “International Day of Women & Girls in Science”.
• Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari, has inaugurated the 14.5 km long rail-cum-road-bridge over the Ganga River at Munger in Bihar through video conferencing.
• A ‘Samajik Adhikarita Shivir’ for distribution of aids and assistive devices to ‘Divyangjan’ under the ADIP Scheme and Senior citizens under ‘Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana’ (RVY Scheme) of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.
• Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Shri Narendra Singh Tomar handed over awards and degrees to the 284 students, which includes 8 foreign students, of the Post Graduate School of ICAR-Indian Agriculture Research Institute, New Delhi.
• Union Minister for Power and New & Renewable Energy, R. K. Singh, chaired a virtual meeting with the officers of Ministry of Power and MNRE, Addl. Chief Secretaries and Principal Secretaries of Power/Energy Departments of States & UTs to discuss the role of States and UTs towards Energy Transition Goals of India.
• The umbrella scheme of Modernisation of State Police Forces (MPF) has been approved for the period 2021-22 to 2025-26.
• Important Weekly Current Affairs PDF 08 to 15 February 2022
• The Ministry of Culture, Government of India is organising a first of its kind, 2-Day Global Summit in Hyderabad on ‘Reimagining Museums in India’, on 15-16 February 2022.
• CURRENT AFFAIRS: INTERNATIONAL NEWS
• According to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) 2021/2022 report, India is among easiest places to start a new business unveiled at the Dubai Expo.
• CURRENT AFFAIRS: STATE NEWS
• The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports has sanctioned 36 proposals for establishment of Khelo India Centres, 1 proposal for establishment of Khelo India State Centre of Excellence and 11 sports infrastructure projects, to the State of Maharashtra during the last three years.
• The Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports has released a total fund of Rs.87.65 crore till date including Rs.5.49 crore during current Financial Year 2021-22 for establishing/construction of main campus and for functioning of temporary campus in Manipur.
• Under Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY), the Government allocates annual targets for the amount to be sanctioned by more than 150 Member Lending Institutions (MLIs).
• The West Bengal government launched an open-air classroom programme called Paray Shikshalaya ( Neighborhood Schools) for primary and pre-primary students ( Classes 1 to 7)
• ReNew Power has set up Gujarat’s first wind-solar hybrid project at the Chlor-Alkali unit of
• Grasim Industries in Vilayat, Bharuch, in southern Gujarat.
• Jammu & Kashmir became the first Union Territory to be onboarded the National Single Window System (NSWS), a move that was dubbed as a major leap in Ease of Doing Business in the UT.
• The Rajasthan government signed MoUs/LoIs with major players in the renewable energy sector capturing investment of Rs 3.05 lakh crore under the Invest Rajasthan Campaign.
• Atal Tunnel has officially been certified by the World Book of Records, as the ‘World’s Longest Highway Tunnel above 10,000 Feet’, during a landmark ceremony in New Delhi.
• British Council, an international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural exchange, and Telangana government signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to renew their partnership in education, English and arts to create opportunities for the youth of Telangana.
• The Jammu and Kashmir government signed a Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) with New Zealand for the transformation of the sheep farming sector in the Union territory.
• CURRENT AFFAIRS: BUSINESS NEWS

• According to the report of the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BSS), the Bangladesheconomy registered an impressive 6.91 percent growth in the Financial Year (FY) 2020-21 exceeding the provisional estimate by 1.51 percent.
• The Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India, Prof. Vijay Raghavan, soft-launched India’s first AI-triggered Job Platform ‘Swarajability’ (beta version) for Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) in an e-event.
• CURRENT AFFAIRS: BANKING AND ECONOMY
• The foundation stone for the third border haat at Kamalpur-Kumarghat on Tripura- Bangladesh border was laid jointly by the Chief Minister of Tripura Biplab Kumar Deb and Bangladesh Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi.
• Kotak Mahindra General Insurance Company Limited has tied up with CARS24 Financial Services Private Limited to provide motor insurance services to the buyers of used cars.
• The Asian Development Bank committed a record $4.6 billion in sovereign lending to India in 2021 for 17 loans, including $1.8 billion for the country’s Coronavirus disease pandemic response.
• The Government of India to smoothen its liability profile has done a conversion transaction with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on January 28, 2022 for an amount of ₹1,19,701 crore (face value).
• Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI), the principal financial institution engaged in the promotion, financing and development of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Center for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), a premier R&D organization under the Ministry of Electronics and IT, Government of India, in a virtual event.
• The Reserve Bank of India will observe February 14 to18, 2022 as Financial Literacy week 2022.
• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has extended the restrictions on Karnataka’s Millath Co- Operative Bank, Devangere, by another three months till May 7, 2022.
• RBL Bank has announced a partnership with Creditas Solutions, a global technology company in the field of delinquency management, for its ‘Neo Collections’ platform.
• The Reserve Bank of India introduced the Voluntary Retention Route (VRR) for investments by Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) on March 01, 2019 with an amount of ₹1,50,000 crore.
• On February 8, 9 and 10, 2022, Reserve Bank of India conducted the 6th and the last Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting for 2021-22 & RBI has kept the policy repo rate under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) unchanged at 4.0 percent.

Important Weekly Current Affairs PDF 08 to 15 February 2022

• Lieutenant Governor (LG) Manoj Sinha launched QR Code based mechanism, which is first of its kind in the country, for certification and labeling of handmade carpets of J&K.
• The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) launched an agroecology-based programme JIVA that will promote natural farming under its existing watershed and wadi programmes in 11 states.
• Aditya Birla Health Insurance Co. Limited. (ABHICL) has signed a bancassurance agreement with Utkarsh Small Finance Bank for distribution of health insurance products through the lender’s network of branches across India.
• Capital markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has restructured its advisory committee on Investor Protection and Education Fund (IPEF).
• Reserve Bank of India (RBI) emerged as the second largest buyer of Gold among the world’s Central Banks in 2021 & the Central Bank of Thailand (Bank of Thailand) was the highest buyer of Gold in 2021 and bought 90 metric tonnes of gold, while RBI bought 77.5 metric tonnes taking its total gold reserve to 754.1 tonnes at the end of December 2021.
• The Reserve Bank of India increased the cap on the e-RUPI prepaid digital vouchers to Rs 1 lakh from Rs 10,000.
• The State Bank of India (SBI) has announced partnership with NSE Academy to launch five online courses that promote financial literacy as a necessary life skill.
• CURRENT AFFAIRS: AWARDS AND HONORS
• · Karnataka Bank has been awarded the digital transformation award, ‘DX 2021 Awards’, in
• recognition of the “innovative” best practice ‘KBL VIKAAS’, by the Confederation of Indian
• Industry (CII) for Best Practice in Digital Transformation.
• · Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari, will be conferred for the first time, the Karyaksham Khaasdar (Efficient Member of Parliament) award for the year 2020-21, given in the memory of late Madhavrao Limaye by Sarvajanik Vachanalay, Nashik.
• · RailTel has won the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) Award for Excellence
• in Financial Reporting for the year 2020-21 in the Public Sector Entities Category.
• · The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) informed 7 airports that participated in the ACI-ASQ
• survey in 2021 have been chosen for ‘Voice of Customer Recognition’ under Airports
• Council International (ACI) World’s Voice of the Customer initiative & the Seven AAI airports
• namely Chennai, Kolkata, Goa, Pune, Patna, Bhubaneswar and Chandigarh that participated
• in ACI-ASQ (Airport Service Quality) survey in 2021.
• CURRENT AFFAIRS : APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNATIONS

• · The Government of India has appointed Sonali Singh to hold the additional charge of the
• Controller General of Accounts (CGA), under the Department of Expenditure, Ministry of
• Finance.
• · According to the Ministry of Education, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) Vice-Chancellor
• Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar was appointed chairperson of the University Grants Commission
• (UGC) for a period of five years, or until he turns 65, whichever is earlier.
• · InterGlobe Aviation-run IndiGo has appointed its co-founder and promoter Rahul Bhatia as
• the company’s managing director with immediate effect.
• · Under the Ministry of Ports, Shipping & Waterways, Captain Binesh Kumar Tyagi has been
• picked by the Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB) to be the next Chairman and
• Managing Director at the state-run carrier Shipping Corporation of India Ltd (SCI).
• · Unnikrishnan Nair S has been appointed as the new director of Vikram Sarabhai Space
• Centre (VSSC) & he will replace S Somanath, who recently took over as the chairman of ISRO.
• · MediBuddy, one of India’s largest digital healthcare platforms, has signed legendary
• Bollywood star Amitabh Bachchan as official brand ambassador in a two-year deal.
• · NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg will take over as Governor of Norges Bank i.e. the Central
• Bank of Norway at the end of 2022.
• · Sanjay Malhotra has been appointed as Secretary in the Department of Financial Services in the Ministry of Finance & he succeeded Debashish Panda, who completed his term as DFS
• Secretary on January 31, 2022.
• · Pfizer’s Board of Directors has appointed Pradip Shah as the Chairman of the Board of Pfizer & he replaced R A Shah as the chairman who resigned on February 3.
• · Ruchir Sharma, the former chief global strategist for Morgan Stanley Investment
• Management, will join Rockefeller Capital Management as Managing Director and Chairman
• effective from Feb. 14, 2022.
• · Agritech platform Krishi Network appointed Bollywood actor Pankaj Tripathi as its brand
• ambassador.
• · Justice Munishwar Nath Bhandari, who had been appointed as the Acting Chief Justice of
• the Madras High Court, has been made the Chief Justice of the High Court & he had taken over this position after the transfer of Justice Sanjib Banerjee to the Meghalaya High Court in November 2021.
• · Tata Sons Pvt Ltd board approved the re-appointment of its executive chairman N
• Chandrasekaran for next five years 2022-2027.

• Important Weekly Current Affairs PDF 08 to 15 February 2022
• CURRENT AFFAIRS: MOUS AND AGREEMENT
• · Indian Footwear and Leather Development Programme (IFLDP) (erstwhile IFLADP) has been approved for continuation from 2021-22 with an approved financial outlay of Rs. 1700 crore.
• · The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding
• (MoU) with the Maharashtra government to support its ‘Majhi Vasundhara’ campaign, an
• initiative about the energy and environmental dimensions of sustainable development
• · The Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL) delivered the three Floating Border Out-Post (FBOPs)
• vessels to the Border Security Force (BSF).
• · India has agreed to provide a grant to Sri Lanka to implement a ‘Unitary Digital Identity
• framework’, apparently modeled on the Aadhaar card.
• · Debashis Mitra, has been elected as the President of The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) for the year 2022-23 & meanwhile Aniket Sunil Talati has been elected as Vice President of ICAI.
• · Shri S. R. Narasimhan has assumed additional charge as Chairman and Managing Director
• (CMD) of Power System Operation Corporation Limited (POSOCO) with effect from 1st
• February 2022.
• · According to an order issued by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT),the
• Appointments Committee of the Cabinet approved the appointment of S Kishore as the charge of Chairman of Staff Selection Commission.
• · The Constitutional Council appointed Lt. Col. Paul Henri Sandaogo Damiba became the new president of Burkina Faso after the resignation of Roch Marc Christian Kaboré.
• · On Feb 11, 2022, India and Australia signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on
• Tourism cooperation in the field of Tourism in New Delhi & the MoU was signed by the
• Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment Dan Tehan and India’s Minister for Commerce
• and Industry, Piyush Goyal.
• · The ministry of defence has signed up a design and development contract with a Bengaluru- based company to develop a High Altitude Pseudo Satellite (HAPS) which will be able to conduct surveillance operations and support communications by staying airborne for months at a stretch.
• · Saint-Gobain India and IIT Madras Research Park have entered into an MoU to develop a
• 100% Renewable Energy (RE) – research park.
• CURRENT AFFAIRS : ACQUISITIONS & MERGERS
• § The Competition Commission of India (CCI) approves acquisition of athenahealth Group, Inc. by funds managed and advised by H&F, Bain, and GICSI.

• Important Weekly Current Affairs PDF 08 to 15 February 2022
• Minister of Railways had committed Indian Railways wrestlers to provide the state-of-art wrestling academy at Kishanganj, Delhi at an approximate cost of Rs. 30.76 crores and will be another feather in the Cap of Railways.
• The Coal Ministry has successfully auctioned ten Coal Mines of Five States in the lates effort.
• The Competition Commission of India (CCI) approves acquisition of equity share capital of Sajjan India Limited (Target) by Sona Company Pte. Ltd. (Acquirer) under Section 31(1) of the Competition Act, 2002.
• CURRENT AFFAIRS : DEFENCE NEWS
• India’s Goa Shipyard Ltd delivered the 5th and final vessel of the 5 Coast Guard Offshore Patrol Vehicle (CGOPV) Project to the Indian Coast Guard, ahead of the contractual schedule & the vessel was named ICGS ‘Saksham’.
• CURRENT AFFAIRS : SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
• NASA plans to “deorbit” the ISS and crash it into the Pacific Ocean in January 2031.
• Google has introduced a new lineup of secure and long-lasting Chromebook devices and updated programmes, resources, and Chrome OS advancements, designed entirely for education.
• Khadi’s Employment Drive Transforms the sleepy tiger-infested Bali island into the densemangrove thickets of Sunderbans.
• Scientists at the International Advanced Research Centre for Powder Metallurgy and New Materials (ARCI), an autonomous institute of the Department of Science & Technology, have developed a method to produce hydrogen with high purity (99.99 per cent) from a methanol- water mixture at ambient pressure and temperature.
• An International team of astronomers led by researcher Toni Santana-Ros, from the University of Alicante and the Institute of Cosmos Sciences of the University of Barcelona (ICCUB), has confirmed the existence of the second Earth Trojan asteroid known to date, the 2020 XL5, after a decade of search.
• NASA has selected two science missions the Multi-slit Solar Explorer (MUSE) and HelioSwarm to help improve our understanding of the dynamics of the sun, the sun-Earth connection, and the constantly changing space environment
• CURRENT AFFAIRS : PERSON IN NEWS
• According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Gautam Adani, the Indian billionaire net worth reached $88.5 billion eclipsing fellow countryman Mukesh Ambani’s $87.9 billion.
• CURRENT AFFAIRS : RANKING & INDEX

• According to the Salesforce Global Digital Skills Index, among 19 countries, India has the Index’s highest digital readiness score at 63 out of 100.
• As per TomTom’s 2021 Traffic Index, Mumbai and Bengaluru have been ranked as 5th and 10th in the world rating of city congestion amongst 404 cities throughout 58 international locations throughout 2021.
• Odisha’s Malkangiri has topped NITI Aayog’s list of ‘Most Improved Aspirational Districts in Agriculture & Water Resources Sector’ of December 2021.
• India has ranked third in the world for LEED certified green buildings in 2021 in the US Green Building Council (USGBC) annual list.
• According to the EIU’s Democracy Index 2021, India is placed at 46th position with an overall score of 6.91 on a scale of 0-10 across 165 independent countries and two territories & Norway has topped the index with a score of 9.75.
• Paisabazaar.com, a digital platform for consumer credit, has tied up with RBL Bank to offer ‘Paisa on Demand’ (PoD), a credit card.
• According to a Comscore report, Paytm continues to lead digital payments with over 45 per cent penetration in Fintech , followed by Google Pay (mobile App) at 43 per cent penetration(reach as percentage of total digital population).
• HDFC Ergo General Insurance announced its partnership with Visa to offer curated insurance covers for Visa’s Platinum card holders for select public sector banks & it will offer a complimentary fraud insurance cover for our Platinum Debit & Credit cardholders across participating issuers.
• CURRENT AFFAIRS : BOOKS & AUTHORS
• A book titled “Atal Bihari Vajpayee” authored by Sagarika Ghose has been launched.
• Ambassador Rajiv Kumar Bhatia, a Distinguished Fellow at Gateway House’s Foreign Policy Studies Program, has written a new book titled “India-Africa Relations: Changing Horizons,”
• CURRENT AFFAIRS : SPORTS NEWS
• In the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup, India lifted a record fifth title after beating England by four wickets in the summit clash at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua.
• Sri Lanka fast bowler Suranga Lakmal has announced to retire from international cricket after their upcoming tour of India, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC)
• ·China wins AFC Women’s Asian Cup India 2022 Football Tournament – China PR has won the AFC Women`s Asian Cup India 2022 final title and defeated South Korea (Korea Republic), 3-2. In Women’s Cricket, New Zealand beat India by 18 runs in the one-off T20I at Queenstown

• Important Weekly Current Affairs PDF 08 to 15 February 2022
• The Sports Authority of India (SAI) has established a Para Centre under its National Centre of Excellence (NCOE) Scheme at SAI Regional Centre, Gandhinagar.
• CURRENT AFFAIRS : OBITUARIES
• Legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar passed away at the Breach Candy Hospital in Mumbai, February 6, 2022.
• The noted Veteran Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Chandupatla Janga Reddy has passed away at the age of 86 due to following health issues in Hyderabad.
• ·Former Greek President Christos Sartzetakis, a judge widely respected for resisting pressure from military dictators who ultimately imprisoned him without trial in the late 1960s, has died following a long hospitalization.
• Padma Shri awardee and social worker Ibrahim Sutar passed away in Karnataka following a cardiac arrest.
• Mahabharat actor-athlete Praveen Kumar Sobti, who played the role of Bheem in the series, and also winning an Asian Games gold medal passed away at the age of 74.
• Luc Montagnier, the French virologist and Nobel laureate whose co-discovery of the human immunodeficiency virus sparked a global search for an AIDS cure, has passes away. Veteran industrialist and head of the Bajaj group, Rahul Bajaj, passed away