February 2017 Current Affairs Highlights (One-Liners)

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Friends, here are the Major Current Affairs Highlights of February 2017. These one-liners cover all important International, National, MOUs, Indexes, Banking, Technology, Books & Authors, Committees and Sports affairs of February month (from 1st to 28th February 2017). We will  provide the pdf version soon, but we advise you to write these on your own so that you wont forget them again. All the Best and Happy Reading :)

February 2017 Current Affairs Highlights (One-Liners) 

• 11th biennial edition of International Aerospace and Defence Exhibition - Aero India 2017 was held at the Air Force Station, Yelahanka, Bangalore from February 14-18.
  
• 14th Death anniversary of 1st Indian American woman in space Kalpana Chawla was observed on 1st February 2017.
• 17th session of BIMSTEC senior officials’ meeting was recently held at Kathmandu. It has been announced that the 4th edition of BIMSTEC Summit-2017 will be held in Nepal
• 2 new All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) will come up in Jharkhand and Gujarat.
• 2nd International Women's Trade Expo was recently held at Kathmandu (Nepal). 
• 31st Surajkund International Crafts Mela was recently held. Theme state : Jharkhand. Partner nation : Egypt.
• 6th February is observed as 'International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation' each year to educate and spread awareness about its dangers.
• 81st Senior National Badminton Championships. Mens Singles Winner : Sorabh Verma (by defeating Lakshya Sen), Womens Singles Winner : Rituparna Das (by defeating Reshma Karthik).
• A 2-day mega event of Global Investor Summit, branded as "Momentum Jharkhand" was recently held at Khelgaon of Ranchi.
• A famine (extreme scarcity of food) has been declared in parts of South Sudan with over 1 lakh people facing starvation as a result of the country's three-year-long civil war.
• A hill station cycle path, believed to be the first in India, recently opened in Darjeeling.
• A penalty of equal amount will be levied for any cash transaction of over ₹3 lakh from April 1.
• According to a latest report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), India has been the world's largest importer of major arms in the last five years.
• Actor Amitabh Bachchan and industrialist Ratan Tata have offered to fund cancer survivor Neelam Kumar's comic book. The book, which would share stories of survivors, is going to be the first comic book on cancer, which is due for publication.
• Actor and model Milind Soman successfully completed the 517.5-kilometre-long Ultraman Florida challenge, considered to be one of the world's toughest endurance races.
• Afghanistan all-rounder Mohammad Nabi has become the first cricketer from his country to join the Indian Premier League (IPL).
• Alastair Cook has resigned as England's Test captain after a record 59 matches in charge.
• Amit Mishra, after picking up his 201st T20 wicket in the Bengaluru T20I, became India's highest wicket taker in T20 cricket, overtaking Ravichandran Ashwin's record of 200 wickets.
• Andhra Pradesh's Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu inaugurated the First Model Police Station in India at Nagarampalem,Guntur.
• Anil Ambani group led Reliance Defence and Engineering Limited (RDEL) has signed a Master Ship Repair Agreement (MSRA) with the US Navy to provide repair and alteration services for ships of the Seventh Fleet.
• Arizona Senate has approved a bill that expands police power to arrest anyone involved in a protest that is likely to turn bad.
• As part of Universal Immunization Programme, the Union Health Ministry has launched a single vaccine for dual protection against measles and rubella.
• As per regulations, a doctor needs to announce his fees before the treatment and not after it.
• Atlanta-based startup Greenlight has developed a debit card for children that their parents can manage with a smartphone app.
• Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Indonesian President Joko Widodo have jointly agreed to restore full military cooperation between the two countries.
• Author George RR Martin (original author of the TV series  Game of Thrones) has revealed that a new short story titled 'The Sons of the Dragon' will be published in fantasy anthology 'The Book of Swords' on October 10.
• Bank of America has opened three completely automated branches in the US which do not employ any human.
• Booker Prize winner Salman Rushdie has announced his new novel titled 'The Golden House'.
• Border Security Force is developing an all-women's motorcycle stunt team named 'Jaanbaaz' at its academy in Madhya Pradesh.
• Canada's second most populous city Montreal has voted unanimously on a legislation to declare itself a sanctuary city to allow undocumented immigrants access to city-funded services such as shelters, housing and food banks.
• Cash purchases of jewellery will attract 1% tax collected at source (TCS) from April 1 if the amount exceeds ₹2 lakh, as against the current threshold of ₹5 lakh.
• Centre permits Tamil Nadu to increase the number of workdays under MGNREGA scheme from 100 to 150 days.
• Chelsea and England legend Frank Lampard ended his 21-year professional football career by  announcing his retirement.
• Chewing gum is banned in Singapore to stop people from littering public places with chewing-gum litter.
• China has appointed 1.6 metre-tall self-driving robot police officers with electric riot control tool to patrol the streets.
• China has started taking fingerprints of all foreign visitors, aged between 14 to 70, at the Shenzhen International Airport to improve border checks.
• China has successfully tested a new version of a DF-5C missile that can carry up to 10 nuclear warheads.
• China has surpassed Germany to become the world's largest producer of solar energy after nearly doubling its installed photovoltaic capacity in 2016.
• China suspended all imports of coal from North Korea starting 19th February 2017.
• Chinese smartphone maker ZTE has unveiled the 'Gigabit Phone', which it says is the world's first 5G network compatible smartphone.
• 'Clicktivism' (a word for armchair activists on social media), 'otherize' (viewing a group of people as intrinsically different from oneself) and 'haterade' (excessive criticism) are among the new additions to oxforddictionaries.com.
• Cueist Pankaj Advani has won the Indian National Snooker Championship in Pune to register his 29th national title.
• Defending champions India defeated Pakistan by nine wickets to win the T20 Blind Cricket World Cup in Bangalore.
• Delhi Police celebrated its 70th Raising Day on 16th February 2017.
• Elahiganj in Murshidabad district has become the first village in Bengal to ban sale and consumption of alcohol and narcotics.
• Elon Musk-led electric vehicle maker Tesla Motors dropped the word 'Motors' from its name after acquiring a solar panel-making company SolarCity in a deal worth $2 billion last year.
• Elon Musk-led space exploration startup SpaceX successfully launched its Dragon spacecraft which will deliver nearly 2,500 kg of cargo to International Space Station for NASA.
• English cricketer Joe Root has been appointed as England's new Test captain.
• Ethiopian runner Genzebe Dibaba broke the women's 2,000-metre world record, running the distance in five minutes, 23.75 seconds, at an indoor arena in Spain.
• Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced the launch of Swayam, an online education platform that will give students access to over 350 courses, while presenting the Union Budget today. 
• Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has introduced the Specified Bank Notes (Cessation of Liabilities) Bill 2017 in Lok Sabha. The Bill aims at replacing the note ban ordinance that extinguishes the liability of the government and the RBI on demonetised high-value notes.
• Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has presented the Union Budget for the year 2017-18 in the Lok Sabha on 1st February 2017. This is his fourth annual budget and the first budget after demonetization.
• Former Argentine player Diego Maradona has been given an ambassadorial role by football governing body FIFA.
• Former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi announced his retirement from T20 internationals, thereby ending his 21-year long international career. 
• Former Sri Lankan cricketer Kumar Sangakkara became the Second Asian, after Mahela Jayawardene, and 16th overall to feature in 1,000 matches across all forms of the game.
• French’s Jo-Wilfried Tsonga has won the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament (also known as Rotterdam tennis) title.
• Homegrown technology company Smartron is set to launch an exclusive Sachin Tendulkar-branded mobile phone in April.
• ICC has approved the consistent use of Decision Review System (DRS) in all international cricket, besides approving its use in the World T20 next year.
• ICICI Bank has allowed its customers to process UPI transactions via Flipkart-owned digital wallet app PhonePe.
• In a first in India, the Kerala government has decided to set up a registry of sex offenders. The publically available registry will contain the names and details of people who commit crimes against women.
• In it's 5th Bi-Monthly monetary policy review, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) kept the Repo rate unchanged at 6.25%.
• In order to bring transparency in political funding and curbing black money, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced that maximum cash funding to parties will be limited to ₹2,000 per donor.
• India and Croatia have signed an agreement to boost bilateral trade and enhance economic cooperation.
• India and Nepal have agreed to build new cross-border power transmission lines during their fourth bilateral meeting on power cooperation.
• India and Rwanda signed 3 MoUs for promoting innovation, easing visa requirements and boosting air connectivity between the two countries.
• India and Sri Lanka have signed an MOU to construct a new multi-ethnic tri-lingual secondary school in Polonnaruwa District of Sri Lanka.
• India continues to remain the largest contributor to cancer deaths at 22 lakh every year, out of the global figure of 88 lakh.
• India has sanctioned a soft loan of 340 million US dollars to Nepal for various infrastructure development programmes.
• India has won it's  1st Gold medal of ISSF World Cup in Delhi in 10m Pistol Mixed team event.
• India held a total wealth of $6.2 trillion (over ₹415 lakh crore) as of December 2016, a New World Wealth report has revealed.
• India is going to host a conference on counter-radicalisation with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in October 2017.
• India ranked low 43rd among the surveyed 45 nations in 2017 International Intellectual Property Index (IIPI).  United States topped the list.
• India today successfully test-fired its Advanced Air Defence (AAD) interceptor missile dubbed as Ashwin from launching complex-IV of Dhamara Abdul Kalam defence base off Odisha coast.
• India was ranked 143rd out of 186 economies in the annual Index of Economic Freedom 2017 which measures the degree of economic freedom in the countries of the world. Hong Knong topped the list.
• India will allow non-state mining companies to mine and sell coal for the first time in more than four decades,
• India will host FIBA Women’s Asia Cup basketball tournament in July.
• India won all three medals in the 12.8 Kilometre Individual Time Trial at the 6th Asian Para-Road Cycling Championship held in Bahrain.
• India won the men's Roll Ball World Cup Championship as they beat Iran 8-7 in the finals.
• Indian Coast Guard Ship ICGS AYUSH was commissioned at Kochi, Kerala by Vice Admiral AR Karwe, Flag Officer Commanding-in- Chief, Southern Naval Command. 
• Indian IT services major Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has been ranked the world's third most valuable brand in IT services industry by brand valuation firm Brand Finance.
• Indian Navy's aircraft carrier INS Viraat will be decommissioned from service on March 6. This is the oldest surviving aircraft carrier in the world, and holds a Guinness world record for the same.
• Indian Railways has unveiled Antyodaya Express, a new train for the unreserved passengers. The first Antyodaya Express is slated to start between Mumbai (Maharashtra) and Tatanagar (Jharkhand) and second between Ernakulam and Howrah.
• Indian shooter Ankur Mittal won silver in the men's Double Trap event at the ISSF World Cup in New Delhi.
• Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal, who became a member of the International Olympic Committee's Athletes' Commission (IOC AC) last year, would be representing the panel in the Badminton World Federation (BWF).
• Indian shuttlers Tarun Kona and Alwin Francis have won the Men's doubles title (Gold) at the 2017 Uganda International Series.
• Indian skipper Virat Kohli features on Cover Page of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack.
• Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has successfully ground tested its indigenously developed Cryogenic Upper Stage engine for GSLV Mark III at its Liquid Propulsion Complex at Mahendragiri in Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu today.
• Indian Women’s team has won Silver medal at the Asian Rugby Sevens Trophy tournament held at Vientiane, Laos. 
• Indian women's cricket team captain Mithali Raj has become the second woman player to cross 5,500 runs in ODIs.
• India's first ever floating elementary school has opened on Loktak Lake, the freshwater lake in the country, in Manipur.
• India's Pooja Ghatkar has won bronze in the Women's 10-metre air rifle on the opening day of the International Shooting Sports Federation World Cup at the Dr Karni Singh Shooting Ranges in Delhi today.
• India's women's cricket team have qualified for the 2017 women's cricket World Cup to be held in June in England.
• Indonesian President Joko Widodo was on his first visit to Australia.
• INS Viraat, the second aircraft carrier in the Indian naval fleet, will be decommissioned on March 6, Vice Admiral Girish Luthra announced today.
• International Day of Women and Girls in Science is observed on February 11th each year to promote gender equality and encourage more women and girls to get involved in science and research.
• International Mother Language Day was observed on 21st February 2017 with the Theme "Towards Sustainable Futures through Multilingual Education"
• Japanese electronics company Sony has announced the world's fastest SD card with a maximum write speed of 299 MB per second.
• Japan's Crown Prince Naruhito marked his 57th birthday on 24th February 2017 by announcing that he is ready to become emperor after the expected abdication of his father, Emperor Akihito.
• Justine Clark became the first Australian woman in a wheelchair to compete in the Miss World Australia contest.
• Lakshya Sen, a 15-year-old shuttler from Dehradun, is badminton's top-ranked junior player in the world.
• Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan has inaugurated the 2-day South Asian Speakers' Summit on 'Achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)' at Indore.
• NASA discovers 7 Earth-like planets orbiting a star just 40 light-years away.
• National productivity week was observed from 12th to 18th February 2017. Theme of National Productivity Week 2017 : “From Waste to Profits-through Reduce, Recycle and Reuse”
• National Science Day was observed on 28th February 2017 with the Theme ‘Science and Technology for Specially Abled Persons’ .
• Navy's survey-class vessel INS Sarvekshak has become India's first warship to install solar panels on board.
• Netherlands' Germaine de Randamie became the 1st winner of the UFC women's featherweight championship.
• On the occasion of its 75th Foundation Day, the Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC) has launched of mobile wallet ‘Oriental Batuaa’.
• One of the significant biodiversity mega events of India, the National Biodiversity Congress (NBC) 2017 was recently held at Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala). Theme of National Biodiversity Congress (NBC) 2017 : “Mainstreaming Biodiversity for Sustainable Development”.
• Pakistan has signed 10 Agreements with Turkey to enhance bilateral cooperation in various fields.
• Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has lifted the ban on screening of Bollywood films in the country.
• Pakistan's top Shariat court has legalised using 'test tube baby' method of conceiving for married couples with medical complications.
• Paytm's e-commerce arm has launched 'Paytm Mall', a new mobile app and online shopping portal.
• PM Narendra Modi has become the most followed world leader on Facebook, with nearly 40 million followers, according to PR firm Burson-Marsteller which studied world's 169 governments.
• PM Narendra Modi unveiled a 112-foot tall Lord Shiva statue in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, on the occasion of Mahashivratri.
• Punjab Government has banned the manufacture, storage, sale or distribution of gutkha, pan masala, processed/flavoured/scented chewing tobacco and any other food products containing tobacco or nicotine as ingredients for a period of one year.
• Queen Elizabeth II, the world's longest-reigning living monarch, has completed 65 years on the British throne on 6th February 2017.
• Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu was on 3 day visit to Nepal. During his stay, he delivered key note address at the opening session of Nepal Infrastructure Summit 2017 organised by Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI).
• Rare Disease Day was observed on 28th February 2017 with the Theme "research"
• Russia has imposed a temporary ban on imports of beef and beef products from New Zealan.
• Russian President Vladimir Putin has approved an amendment that decriminalizes domestic violence across Russia.
• Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir has made a rare visit to Iraq, meeting PM Haider al-Abadi. It is the first visit of a senior Saudi minister since the US overthrew Saddam Hussein in 2003.
• Science Express Climate Action Special,  a Science Express train was flagged off today by Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu on a seven-month journey that will cover 68 stations across the country.
• Sikkim became 22nd state in the country to join Union Government’s Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana (UDAY).
• South Africa's AB de Villiers scored his 9,000th ODI run in his 205th innings, breaking an all-time record of least matches played to reach the milestone.
• South Asian Speakers’ Summit was recently held in Indore. This summit was attended by presiding officers and delegates from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Maldives and Nepal.
• Sri Lanka celebrated it's Independence Day on 4th February 2017.
• Sunil Bharti Mittal-led India's largest telecom operator, Bharti Airtel has announced it is buying Norwegian telecom company Telenor's India operations.
• Sweden's deputy Prime Minister Isabella Lövin signed a climate bill aimed at cutting all greenhouse gas emissions in the country by 2045.
• Tata Motors announced a partnership with technology major Microsoft to develop India's first cloud-connected smart cars.
• Technology major Google has won a deal to set up its first city-wide Wi-Fi project called Google Station in Pune. 
• The 11th biennial edition of International Aerospace & Defence exhibition - AeroIndia 2017 recently concluded in Bengaluru.
• The 1st Amaravati Global Music and Dance Festival began today at Amaravati (Andhra Pradesh).
• The 1st heliport in India was inaugurated by Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju in North Delhi.
• The 2-day meeting of SAARC Programming Committee was recently held in Kathmandu (Nepal).
• The 2-day UNESCO Natural Heritage Festival was recently held at the Great Himalayan National Park in Sai Ropa, Himachal Pradesh. 
• The 2nd edition of the International Spice Conference was recently held at Kovalam in Thiruvananthapuram district.
• The 3-day Desert Festival of Jaisalmer was recently held at Sam Sand Dunes.
• The 3-day National Women’s Parliament, which is being organised by Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly was recently held at the state capital region Amaravati. Theme of National Women's Parliament 2017 - ‘Empowering Women — Strengthening Democracy’
• The 44th edition of world famous Khajuraho Dance Festival was held at in the backdrop of the famous Khajuraho temples in Chhatrapur district, Madhya Pradesh.
• The Afghan practice of 'bacha bazi', which involves the sexual enslavement of boys, is set to be criminalised for the first time.
• The Arunachal Pradesh government has announced that it has implemented 'e-Cabinet', a paperless system to cut down on the time taken to hold a cabinet meeting.
• The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved the enhancement of capacity from 20,000 MW to 40,000 MW of the Scheme for Development of Solar Parks and Ultra Mega Solar Power Projects.
• The central government has released  'Mission XI Million' programme, an action plan to make football a 'sport of choice' in India.
• The Centre has approved an investment of Rs 1,350 crore to Andhra Pradesh for improvement of basic urban infrastructure under the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) over the next three fiscals.
• The Centre has formed a 6-member committee to give a report on ways to improve India’s Haj policy and also look into issue of subsidy to the pilgrimage. Convener of the Committee : Afzal Amanullah (Former Consulate General of India, Jeddah).
• The Centre is going to make all ration shops under the public distribution system Aadhaar-enabled by June 30.
• The Centre is going to rename existing and future airports after cities instead of personalities.
• The Delhi government has approved around 37% hike in the minimum wages for unskilled, semi-skilled and skilled persons.
• The Dutch government has announced that all votes in it's elections will be counted by hand instead of electronic methods to avoid hacking. 
• The Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has introduced a Common Form to let people make different types of money withdrawals from their PF account.
• The government approved a 900 MW hydropower project worth ₹5,723.72 crore to be set up in Nepal's Sankhuwasabha district.
• The government has launched a QR (quick response) code-based payment solution called BharatQR to allow cashless payments without a card swiping machine.
• The government has launched free anti-virus softwares for smartphones and personal computers named 'Mkavach' and 'Samvid' respectively. Another software named 'USBPratirodh' has been launched to control the unauthorised usage of removable USB storage devices.
• The GST Council has approved a law to compensate states for any loss of revenue from the implementation of the new nationwide indirect taxation regime.
• The Gujarat Assembly has passed Gujarat Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Bill, 2017. This bill seeks to empower the state government to use Aadhaar number as the sole identifier for the delivery of various subsidies and benefits in an effective and targeted manner.
• The Haryana government has made it mandatory for all private schools to install solar systems.
• The Indian government has cleared a ₹17,000-crore deal with Israel to jointly develop a Medium-Range Surface-to-Air Missile (MR-SAM) for the Army.
• The Indian Navy's second sailboat 'Tarini' was inducted into service at a ceremony in Goa. 
• The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) made history by successfully launcheing 104 satellites in one go. With this, ISRO has broke the world record for the most number of satellites launched from a single rocket (37 satellites by Russia in 2014).
• The Indian women's rugby team won a Silver medal at the Asian Women's Rugby Sevens Trophy in Laos.
• The International Association of Athletics Federations has extended its ban on Russia, ruling them out from the World Athletics Championships in London in August.
• The Jammu and Kashmir government has put a cap on the number of guests for a daughter's wedding at 500, and for a son's wedding at 400 starting April 1.
• The Kalimpong subdivision of the Darjeeling hills became the 21st district of West Bengal.
• The Karnataka government passed the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Karnataka Amendment) Bill, 2017, in the Legislative Assembly to legalise the traditional buffalo-racing sport Kambala.
• The Kerala government is going to make a six-day anti-corruption induction training mandatory for government service officials in the state.
• The Lok Sabha passed the Payment of Wages (Amendment) Bill, 2017. This bill seeks to enable employers to pay wages to workers through cheque or directly crediting to their accounts.
• The Mexican government has announced that it would not accept US deportees from third countries under any circumstances.
• The month of February has been celebrated as 'Black History Month' in the US since 1976 to acknowledge contributions of African-Americans.
• The National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) jointly launched India Innovation Index.
• The National Rail Museum in New Delhi celebrated its 40th anniversary on 3rd February 2017.
• The Navapur Railway Station is located in two states, with half of the station being located in Maharashtra and the other half in Gujarat.
• The New Delhi Municipal Council renamed Central Delhi's 'Dalhousie Road' after Mughal emperor Aurangzeb's elder brother Dara Shikoh, who promoted the peace and concord between the followers of Hinduism and Islam.
• The New England Patriots were crowned the Super Bowl champions after defeating Atlanta Falcons at the 51st edition of the American football championship today. 
• The Olympic torch for the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics was unveiled by the Games' organising committee in PyeongChang, South Korea, one year before the opening ceremony.
• The Pakistan Navy has kicked of its biannually-held multinational AMAN 2017 naval exercise in Karachi, Pakistan.
• The Raj Bhawan in Goa has turned cashless with all their transactions including household expenses and tour expenditures shifting from regular to plastic money.
• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has announced that it has not authorized dealings in or use of Bitcoin or any other virtual currency.
• The Right to Information (RTI) Act came into force in Sri Lanka, a legislation aimed at restoring transparency and good governance in the country that has been plagued by corruption and misrule.
• The Sports Ministry received a hike of ₹350 crore in the Union Budget.
• The Supreme Court directed the Central government to link all mobile numbers to Aadhaar within a year.
• The Supreme Court introduced Middle Income Group Scheme  (MIGS) a self-supporting scheme for providing legal services to the middle and relatively lower income groups.
• The U.K. House of Commons approved legislation that would allow Prime Minister Theresa May to officially begin the Brexit process.
• The UK government and the European Union have pledged £170 million (around ₹1,400 crore) aid to South Sudan following the declaration of the world's first famine since 2011.
• The Union Cabinet approved signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and Senegal in the field of Health and Medicine.
• The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi was apprised of the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) of cooperation between Technology Development Board (TDB), Department of Science and Technology, Government of India and Bpifrance- which is a Public Investment Bank in France.
• The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved 'Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyan' (PMGDISHA) to make 6 crore rural households digitally literate. This is expected to be one of the largest digital literacy programmes in the world.
• The Union Cabinet has been apprised of the Framework Agreement between India and Vietnam on cooperation in the exploration and uses of outer space for peaceful purposes.
• The Union Cabinet has given its approval for signing of an Agreement between India and Poland on cooperation in the field of agriculture and allied sectors.
• The Union Government has singed Financing Agreement for IDA credit of $201.50 million with World Bank for the ‘Third Technical Education Quality Improvement Programme’ (TEQIP III).
• The Union Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry has constituted a sub-committee of Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) to look into issues of girl’s education.  Head of this Committee : Kadiyam Srihari (Deputy Chief Minister and Education Minister of Telangana)
• The Union Minister for Science & Technology and Earth Sciences Dr. Harsh Vardhan released the Special Edition of “Atlas for Visually Impaired (India)” in English Braille in New Delhi.
• The Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry has launched pilot Revenue Insurance Scheme for Plantation Crops (RISPC) for protecting the growers from the risks such as pest attacks, yield loss and income decline caused by fall in prices.
• The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has launched SAATHIYA Resource Kit and SAATHIYA SALAH mobile app for adolescents as part of the Rashtriya Kishor Swasthya Karyakram (RKSK) programme. The kit and app will help Peer Educators (Saathiyas) who are introduced under the RKSK programme.
• The Union Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRB) will soon set up a department – National Testing Agency (NTA) to conduct examinations for higher and secondary education.
• The Union Ministry of Railways and Italy’s public sector rail company Ferrovie Dello Stato Italiane Group (FS Group) has signed MoU for technical cooperation in rail sector especially in the area of safety and modernisation.
• The Union Ministry of Textiles and Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment have signed an MoU to set up interventions for the welfare and economic development of scheduled caste artisans.
• The week-long Brahan Natyanjali, a dance obeisance to Lord Bragadeesvarar, was recently held hivarathri at the Big Temple in Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu.
• Thiruvananthapuram has been ranked first among the 21 Indian cities that were tested on urban governance parameters, according to the latest survey by Janaagraha Centre for Citizenship and Democracy.
• To regulate marriages of minority Hindus in the country, the Pakistani Senate unanimously passed the Hindu Marriage Bill. It will help Hindus to get a documentary proof of their marriage and also discourage forced conversions to Islam.
• To shore up bilateral ties, the 1st Strategic Dialogue between India and China was recently held at Beijing (capital of China).
• Top seeds India defeated Malaysia to win the Gold medal in the Boys' team event at the Asian Junior Squash Championships in Hong Kong today.
• Turkey's army is lifting a historic ban on female officers wearing the Islamic headscarf in the officially secular country.
• US-based scientists have developed a method that uses ultraviolet light and rhodium nanoparticles to convert carbon dioxide into methane, a key ingredient for fuel.
• US-based scientists have set a new record of data transfer via superdense coding, a process by which the properties of particles like photons, protons, and electrons are used to store information.
• Venezuela and Libya were suspended from voting in the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in the 2016-17 session for not paying dues to the world body.
• Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashid today announced the 'Mars 2117' plan to build the 1st city on Mars in 100 years.
• Vice President Hamid Ansari was on a 5-day visit to Rwanda and Uganda. During this visit, he held bilateral talks with the leadership of the two East African nations besides attending a host of events. This is the first high-level visit from India to Rwanda. 
• Virat Kohli has become the first Indian athlete to sign a deal worth over ₹100 crore with a brand, after signing up with Puma.
• Virat Kohli has become the only player to score four double centuries in four consecutive Test series.
• West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced a "cremation/burial allowance" of ₹2,000 for people of Below Poverty Line (BPL) families in the state.
• World Bank CEO Kristalina Georgieva as on the official visit to India. This is her first official visit.
• World Cancer Day was observed on 4th February 2017 with the Theme 'We can. I can'.
• World Day of Social Justice was observed on 20th February 2017 with the Theme "Preventing conflict and sustaining peace through decent work”.
• World Radio Day was observed on 13th February 2017 with the Theme “Radio is You”.
• World Wetlands Day was observed on 2nd February 2017 with the Theme "Wetlands for Disaster Risk Reduction".
• Young Indian racer Jehan Daruvala made history by winning New Zealand Grand Prix 2017 at Manfeild (New Zealand). 

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