Banking and Financial
- RBI emerged as the 2nd largest buyer of Gold among world’s central banks in 2021
- RBL Bank partnered with Creditas Solutions to automate loan collections
- Razorpay acquired Malaysian fintech startup “Curlec”
- RBI’s Monetary Policy Committee kept key interest rates unchanged for the 10th consecutive time
- RBI reopened Voluntary Retention Route with investment limit of ₹2,50,000 crores
- SEBI restructured Advisory Committee on Investor Protection and Education Fund; chaired by G Mahalingam
- PMKSY scheme extended till FY26 with an outlay of Rs 4,600 crores
- PM CARES Fund got ₹10,990 crores since its inception in FY 2020-21; spent ₹3,976 crores during 2020-21
- Cabinet approved continuation of IFLDP with an outlay of 1700 crores
- RBI extended restrictions on Karnataka’s Millath Co-Operative Bank till May 7
- Crisil Report: LIC 3rd strongest and 10th most valuable insurance brand globally offers the Highest Return on Equity (RoE) at 82%
- SBI partnered with NSE Academy to offer financial literacy courses
- RNEL bought additional 10.37% stake in Sterling & Wilson Renewable
- HDFC Ergo partnered with Visa for insurance cover on select bank cards
- Comscore Report: Paytm has the highest penetration in digital payments
- Aditya Birla Health Insurance signed bancassurance agreement with Utkarsh SFB
- Axis Bank will buy Citigroup’s India retail banking business
- Bank of Baroda will acquire Union Bank’s stake in IndiaFirst Life Insurance
- Yes Bank launched Agri Infinity program
- Paisabazaar & RBL bank partnered to offer ‘Paisa on Demand’ credit card
National News
- RPF launched “Operation AAHT” to curb human trafficking
- India’s 1st biomass-based hydrogen plant will be inaugurated in Madhya Pradesh
- J&K became first Union Territory to be integrated with NSWS
- Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw flagged off NITI Aayog’s Fintech Open Summit
- Government continued RYSK Scheme for another 5 years with an outlay of 2,710 crores
- Telangana govt signed MoU with British Council to expand higher education globally
- NABARD launched ‘JIVA Programme’ to promote natural farming
- West Bengal govt launched ‘Paray Shikshalaya’, an open-air classroom programme
- Kanchoth festival celebrated in Jammu and Kashmir
- Kerala signed an MoU with Social Alpha to develop clean energy tech
- Health Minister launched intensified Mission Indradhanush (IMI) 4. 0
- Sonata Software partnered with Microsoft for its launch of ‘Microsoft Cloud’
- Amazon India signed MoU with Karnataka to turn rural women into entrepreneurs in the state
- Gujarat announced new IT/ITeS policy to generate 1 lakh employment
- UNEP signed MoU with Maharashtra to support ‘Majhi Vasundhara’ campaign
- AIM, NITI Aayog, & USAID announced partnership under SAMRIDH initiative
- Karnataka developed “Nanna Shale Nanna Koduge” app to help in addressing the infrastructure needs of government schools
- THDCIL signed agreement to set up 10,000MW solar projects in Rajasthan
- J&K governor launched 1st of its kind QR code-based mechanism to certify and label handmade carpets of J&K
- Dept of Social Justice & Empowerment inaugurated SMILE scheme
- India will replace diesel by renewable energy in agriculture by 2024
- Govt approved Rs 26,275 crores outlay for modernization of police forces
International News
- India signed MoU with Australia on tourism cooperation
- J&K Government signed a pact with New Zealand for Transforming sheep farming sector
- EIU’s Democracy Index 2021: India ranked 46th; Norway topped
- Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 2021/2022 report: India ranked 4th in Ease of Starting Business; Saudi Arabia topped
- India signed MoU with UN’s World Food Programme to hand over wheat to Afghanistan
- Bangladesh Railway signed agreement with HEIL to procure 420 broad gauge wagons
- Gautam Adani overtook Mukesh Ambani as Asia’s Richest Person in Bloomberg Billionaires Index
- L&T & Microsoft India signed MoU to develop regulated sector-focused cloud offering
- Instagram launched ‘Take a Break’ campaign to encourage breaks from social media
- TomTom Traffic Index Ranking 2021: Mumbai 5th most-congested city
- India to help Sri Lanka launch a ‘Unitary Digital Identity framework’ modelled on the Aadhaar card
- Israel became first country to allow drones in civilian airspace
- Frank-Walter Steinmeier re-elected as President of Germany for another term
- 9th USGBC top 10 ranking of Countries outside of US for LEED in 2021: India ranked 3rd; China topped
Appointment and Resignation
- Amitabh Bachchan appointed as brand ambassador of MediBuddy
- Sanjay Malhotra appointed as DFS Secretary in Ministry of Finance
- Pradip Shah named as chairman of Pfizer India
- S Kishore appointed as new chairman of Staff Selection Commission
- Pankaj Tripathi appointed as Brand Ambassador and investor of Krishi Network
- Munishwar Nath Bhandari appointed Chief Justice of Madras HC
- Dinesh Prasad Saklani appointed as director of NCERT
- Disha Patani appointed as Brand Ambassador of Bata India
- Akshay Kumar appointed as brand ambassador of Uttarakhand
- S R Narasimhan assumed additional charge as CMD of Power System Operation Corporation Limited (POSOCO)
- Unnikrishnan Nair appointed as director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre
- N Chandrasekaran reappointed as Chairman of Tata Sons
- Debashis Mitra elected President of Institute of Chartered Accountants of India
- Ruchir Sharma appointed as MD & Chairman of Rockefeller International
Awards
- Nitin Gadkari received 18th Late Madhavrao Limaye Award under efficient MP category
- Atal Tunnel recognized as ‘Longest Highway Tunnel above 10,000 feet’ by World Book of Records
- Rishabh Pant won ESPNcricinfo ‘Test Batting Award’ for 2021
Defence
- Goa Shipyard delivered 5th vessel of CGOPV Project named ICGS ‘Saksham’
Science
- IIT Madras established Inter-disciplinary Water Management & Policy Centre
- ISRO decommissioned INSAT-4B through 11 Re-orbiting manoeuvres after 14-year service
- ISRO successfully launched earth observation satellite ‘EOS-04’
Sports
- China won AFC Women’s Asian Cup 2022 Football Tournament
- Ahmedabad IPL team to be called Gujarat Titans
Book and Author
- A new book titled “India-Africa Relations: Changing Horizons” authored by Rajiv Bhatia
- Sagarika Ghose authored a book titled “Atal Bihari Vajpayee”
Important day
- 8 February (second day of the second week of February): Safer Internet Day 2022 (Theme 2022: ‘Together for a better internet’)
- 10 February: World Pulses Day (Theme 2021: “Pulses to empower youth in achieving sustainable agrifood systems”.)
- 11 February: International Day of Women and Girls in Science (Theme 2022: “Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion: Water Unites Us”)
- 11 February: World Unani Day
- 10 February: National Deworming Day
- 12 February: National Productivity Day (Theme 2022: “Self Reliance Through Productivity.”)
- 13 February: National Women’s Day
- 13 February: World Radio Day
- 13 February 2022: APEDA celebrated its 36th Foundation Day
- 14 February (Second Monday of February): International Epilepsy Day 2022
Obituary
- ‘Kabir of Karnataka’ Padma Shri Ibrahim Nabisaheb Sutar passed away
- Astronomer R Rajamohan, who led the 1st asteroid discoveries in independent India, passed away
- Mahabharat’s actor Praveen Kumar Sobti who played Bheem passed away
- Former Chairman of Bajaj Group & Industrialist Rahul Bajaj passed away
- Nobel winning virologist Luc Montagnier who co-discovered HIV passed away