February 2018 Current Affairs Important Highlights (One-Liners)

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Friends, here are the Major Current Affairs Highlights of February 2018. These one-liners cover all important International, National, MOUs, Indexes, Banking, Technology, Books & Authors, Committees and Sports affairs of October month (from 1st to 28th February 2018). 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 2018 Current Affairs Highlights (One-Liners) 

• 13th February 2018 was observed as World Radio Day with the theme “Radio and Sports”.
• 15th Death anniversary of 1st Indian American woman in space Kalpana Chawla is being observed on 1st February 2018.
  
• 17-year-old snowboarder Redmond Gerard won the 1st gold medal for the United States at this year's Winter Olympics, with his victory in the snowboarding slopestyle competition.
• 18 years and 86 days old Prithvi Shaw, has become the youngest-ever captain to win an ICC Under-19 World Cup final.
• 20th February 2018 was observed as the World Day of Social Justice with the theme "Workers on the Move: the Quest for Social Justice”.
• 20-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer (36) has become the oldest-ever men's singles world number one tennis player.
• 20-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer and 23-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams won the Laureus Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year awards respectively.
• 21st February 2018 was observed as the International Mother Language Day with the theme "Linguistic diversity and multilingualism count for sustainable development".
• 21st National Conference on e-Governance was held in Hyderabad (Telangana). Theme of the Conference : ‘Technology for accelerating Development’.
• 28th February (Last Day of February) was observed as Rare Disease Day with the theme 'research'.
• 28th February 2018 was observed as National Science Day with the theme "Science and Technology for a sustainable future."
• 2nd edition of ‘Nobel Prize Series India 2018’ held in Panaji (Goa). Its a month-long Nobel Science Exhibition in which Nobel laureates interact with school children and teachers. Theme of Nobel Prize Series India 2018’ is Science Impacts Life.
• 2nd February 2018 was observed as World Wetlands Day. This day marks adoption of Convention on Wetlands (also called as Ramsar Convention) in 1971 in Ramsar (Iran). Theme for 2018 "Wetlands for a Sustainable Urban Future".
• 41st Indian Coast Guard Day was observed on 1st February 2018.
• 4th February was observed as World Cancer Day with the Theme 'We can. I can'.
• 4th meeting of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM) was held in New Delhi under the chairmanship of Dr BibekDebroy, Chairman, EAC-PM & Member, NITI Aayog. During the meeting, EAC-PM discussed the possible modalities of implementing National Health Scheme announced by the government in Union Budget-2018-19.
• 4-time champions Pakistan will participate in the upcoming Hockey World Cup which will be hosted in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, later this year.
• 5th Edition of South Asia Region Public Procurement Conference was held in New Delhi. Theme of this Conference : “Public Procurement and Service Delivery”.
• 6th edition of World Government Summit (WGS) 2018, a global platform dedicated to shaping future of government worldwide, was recently held at Madinat Jumeirah in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE). India is the guest country at this year’s event.
• 7 Indian boxers, including five-time world champion Mary Kom, won gold medals in the India Open International Boxing Tournament.
• A Bangladesh court sentenced Opposition leader and two-time ex-PM Khaleda Zia to five years in jail for corruption.
• A 'Gender park' open exclusively to women and children will be set up in Kerala's Kottayam.
• A total of 225 Indian athletes will participate in 15 sports of this year's Commonwealth Games, which will be held in Australia from April 4 to April 15. The Indian basketball teams would be participating at the Commonwealth Games after a gap of eight years.
• According to a recently released report by UK-based wireless coverage mapping company OpenSignal, India has recorded the lowest 4G LTE speed in the world at an average of 6.07 Mbps. Singapore topped the list with an average 4G speed of 44.31 Mbps, followed by the Netherlands and Norway.
• According to a recently released UNICEF study, every year in India, at least 6, 00,000 newborns die within 28 days of their birth. The study also revealed that Pakistan is the riskiest country to be born in as it accounted for the world's highest newborn mortality rate.
• According to a report released by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), the CM of Andhra Pradesh, Chandrababu Naidu is the richest Chief Minister in India with declared assets worth over ₹177 crore. Naidu is followed by Arunachal Pradesh CM Pema Khandu with assets worth over ₹129 crore and Punjab's Amarinder Singh with ₹48 crore.
• According to latest government data, women constitute only 7.28% of India's police force.
• According to recently released Global Passport Index 2018, South Korea and Singapore have the most powerful passports in the world with a visa-free score of 162. India has been ranked 73rd.
• Actor Kamal Haasan launched his political party 'Makkal Needhi Maiam' and hoisted a flag carrying the party's symbol in Tamil Nadu's Madurai. The flag of Makkal Needhi Maiam Party depicts 6 hands holding onto each other with a six-pointed star in the middle.
• Airtel Payments Bank reduced its interest rate by 175 basis points to 5.5 % per annum from 7.25 % per annum earlier.
• Amazon has launched it's own food retail venture titled Amazon Retail in Pune. With this, Amazon has became the first foreign e-commerce firm to start its own food retail venture in India.
• An all-woman crew started operating the Gandhinagar Railway Station in Jaipur, in a first for Rajasthan. This is India's second railway station with an all-woman crew, with the first being Matunga Railway Station in Mumbai.
• An Indian consortium led by ONGC has agreed to pay $600 million (over ₹3,850 crore) for a 10% stake in an offshore oilfield in UAE's Abu Dhabi. This marks the first time Indian oil companies have been given a stake in Abu Dhabi's hydrocarbon resources.
• As part of the Vision 2030 social program launched by Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, the Saudi Arabia's General Security division allowed women aged between 25 and 35 to apply for the rank of soldier.
• Australia's Brisbane Airport has announced that it will become the world's first airport to let travellers pay with cryptocurrency like Bitcoin and Ethereum at its terminal shopping areas.
• Bank of Baroda is going to exit the South African market amid allegations that politically connected Gupta family used its network for illicit transactions.
• Bermuda has become the world's first country to abolish same-sex marriages, almost a year after it had allowed the same in May 2017.
• Bihar Government has banned sale of loose cigarettes in the state.
• Bollywood Actress Shilpa Shetty has released her second book titled 'The Diary of a Domestic Diva'
• Britain’s Prince Charles has launched a new 10-million-dollar Development Impact Bond (DIB) to help improve education for over 200,000 children in India. It is the largest bond of its type in South Asia.
• Business magazine Forbes has released its first-ever Crypto Rich List, comprising 20 wealthiest people in the cryptocurrency space. The list was topped by Ripple Co-founder Chris Larsen, who is estimated to have a crypto net worth of $7.5-8 billion.
• Cab-hailing startup Ola and the Government of Assam have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to pilot an app-based river taxi service in Guwahati.
• Canada's Upper House of Parliament has passed a bill to modify the country's National Anthem in a bid to make it gender-neutral. The words "thy sons command" in the second line of the anthem will be replaced with "all of us command".
• Canadian PM Justin Trudeau arrived in India for his 7-day state visit. His visit is aimed at meeting government and business leaders and strengthening the "close friendship" between the two nations.
• Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) were crowned as champions of the 8th Hockey India Senior Women National Championship 2018 (B Division) after they defeated Kerala Hockey by a margin of 7-0 in the final match held at Ranchi (Jharkhand).
• Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Dr Raman Singh presents Budget for the financial year 2018-2019. With an outlay of Rs. 83,179 crore, the budget focuses on infrastructure, school education and agriculture.
• China is going to host Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit 2018 at Qingdao, eastern Shandong Province in June 2018. Kazakhstan (Astana) hosted the last year's summit during 8-9th June 2017.
• China was elected as vice chair of Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a global body mandated to combat terror financing and money laundering.
• Citibank India has banned the use of its credit and debit cards towards purchase or trading of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.
• Czech Republic's Ester Ledecka became the first woman to claim gold medals in two sports at a Winter Olympics after claiming her second one in a snowboarding event at the PyeongChang Winter Games.
• Digital payments startup Paytm has launched 2 insurance companies, Paytm Life Insurance and Paytm General Insurance.
• Dubai has opened the tallest hotel in the world (356-metres) titled Gevora Hotel.
• E-commerce major Amazon India has launched its ad-free music streaming service, Amazon Prime Music, for the Prime members, at no extra-cost.
• Elon Musk-led space exploration startup SpaceX has successfully launched its Falcon 9 rocket, which carried two test satellites for its planned Global Internet Broadband Service.
• Elon Musk-led SpaceX has successfully launched the world's most powerful operational rocket Falcon Heavy towards Mars. The rocket, carrying a Tesla Roadster car, will revolve around the Sun in a way that will repeatedly bring it close to the Earth and Mars.
• Environment Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan launched Green Good Deeds campaign in New Delhi. Aim of this campaign : To sensitise people and students, in particular about climate change and global warming.
• Facebook-owned messaging service WhatsApp has started rolling its Payments feature on both Android and iOS operating systems in India. The feature will allow users to instantly transfer money via the Unified Payments Interface (UPI).
• Fast bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar has become the 1st Indian bowler to take a five-wicket haul in all three formats in international cricket.
• Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has ruled out privatisation of public sector banks as a response to the $1.77-billion PNB fraud.
• Finance Minister Arun Jaitley was on a two-day official visit to Saudi Arabia. During this visit, he co-chaired the 12th India-Saudi Arabia Joint Commission Meeting (JCM) which was held during 18th and 19th February 2018 at Riyadh.
• Flipkart's payments platform PhonePe has signed a partnership with Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) to deploy its recently launched Point of Sale (POS) devices at IOCL retail outlets.
• Following the PNB fraud, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has asked banks to integrate SWIFT interbank messaging system with Core Banking Solution (CBS) by April 30. SWIFT network is used by financial institutions worldwide to securely transmit information and instructions using a system of codes.
• For safe keeping of astronauts, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has started working towards developing 'Igloos' on Moon, called the lunar habitats.
• For the first time, Pakistan is going to send transgenders to Saudi Arabia to serve as volunteers during 2018 Haj pilgrimage.
• Former Australian spinner Shane Warne has been appointed as the mentor of Rajasthan Royals for this IPL season.
• Former England captain Kevin Pietersen has announced that he is going to retire.
• Former Finance Minister P Chidambaram's son Karti Chidambaram was arrested by the CBI for not cooperating in the investigation of the INX Media money laundering case.
• Former Pakistani fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar has been appointed as the Brand Ambassador of Pakistan Cricket Board.
• Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar is going to launch 20 bike ambulances to deal with casualties in the state's tourism belt. .
• Goa CM Manohar Parrikar presented the Rs 17,123-crore budget for 2018-19, an increase of 6.84 per cent over the ongoing fiscal, with a stress on education and job creation.
• Google announced that users can now pay utility bills with its Unified Payments Interface-based payment app 'Tez', without any transaction charges.
• Google-spinoff Waymo has become the first company to receive approval to launch a driverless commercial ride-hailing service in the US.
• Government has constituted an Empowered Expert Committee (EEC) to select 20 Institutions of Eminence from among 104 institutions (public or private) that have applied for the status. Head of this Committee : N Gopalaswami (Former Chief Election Commissioner (CEC))
• Government has signed second Loan Agreement with New Development Bank (NDB) for financing of Rajasthan Water Sector Restructuring Project for the Desert Areas.
• Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani launched the maiden flight of Bhubaneswar-based airline Air Odisha, connecting Ahmedabad and Mundra.
• Hong Kong has voted to ban ivory sales by 2021.
• In a strategic move to expand its footprint in the Indian Ocean region, India has secured access to the key Port of Duqm in Oman for military use and logistical support.
• In an initiative to improve India’s weather forecasting, the Ministry of Earth Science (MoES) launched a high performance computer (HPC) system named Mihir.
• In his budget speech, the Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has announced that the Indian government does not consider cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin a legal tender and will take all possible measures to curb their use for illegal activities.
• In it's 6th Bi-Monthly Policy Review, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has kept the Repo rate, the rate at which banks borrow from RBI, steady at 6% for the third time in a row.
• In order to take on Apple Pay, the technology giant Google has launched a new payments app called Google Pay. The platform includes features like the ability to pay at checkout counters with a smartphone, or pay for public transportation.
• In what could be biggest banking fraud in India, state-owned Punjab National Bank (PNB) announced it has detected a USD 1.77 billion scam.
• Independence Day of Sri Lanka was observed on 4th February 2018.
• India and Canada have agreed to work together against Sikh terror outfits Babbar Khalsa International and the International Sikh Youth Federation (ISYF).
• India and Germany have inked MoU for “Implementation Agreement in Sustainable Urban Development and Smart Cities in India.
• India defeated Australia by 8 wickets to win their ICC Under-19 World Cup. This is the 4th time India won ICC Under-19 World Cup (2000, 2008, 2012 and 2018) the most for any nation.
• India has been ranked 47th out of 86 countries on the Inclusive Internet Index by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), which was commissioned by Facebook. Sweden took the first place, followed by Singapore and the US.
• India has been ranked 81st in the Global corruption perception index for 2017, released by Transparency International. New Zealand and Denmark were placed the highest in the list.
• India has contributed $1 million aid to Tonga for rehabilitation efforts after the Island nation was hit by Tropical Cyclone Gita which had caused massive destruction across the pacific ocean archipelago.
• India has contributed additional $1 million to India-UN Development Partnership Fund, earmarked for South-South cooperation.
• India has inked memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC) for supporting its ‘programme based research support in addressing current and future global and local developmental challenges.
• India has joined the Ashgabat Agreement which plans to facilitate trade between Central Asia and the Persian Gulf by creating a transport and transit corridor.
• India is going to host the 1st International Solar Alliance (ISA) Summit in March 2018 at New Delhi.
• India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) has announced that it will start pan-India roll out of its network from April this year. All 1.55 lakh post office branches will operate as access points and 650 payments bank branches will provide them back-end support.
• India Signs Second Loan Agreement with New Development Bank for USD 100 Million for Rajasthan Water Sector Restructuring Project for Desert Areas
• India started nationwide Tiger census 2018. This is the largest survey of wildlife anywhere in the world.
• India successfully conducted the first night trial of indigenously developed nuclear-capable surface-to-surface ballistic missile Prithvi-II.
• India successfully test-fired indigenously developed nuclear-capable Prithvi-II missile. The surface-to-surface missile, which has a strike range of 350 km, is capable of carrying 500-1,000 kg of warheads.
• India successfully test-fired the indigenously developed nuclear-capable Agni-1 ballistic missile from the Abdul Kalam Island off Odisha coast.
• India will host the World Environment Day 2018 on June 5 with the theme 'Beat Plastic Pollution'.
• India’s biggest electricity producer NTPC Ltd has won tender to supply 300 megawatts (MW) of electricity to power-starved Bangladesh for 15 years.
• India’s indigenous light transport aircraft SARAS has been successfully test flown for a second time. This was the second of the 20 test flights planned for SARAS PT1N, before freezing the production version.
• Indian Air Force officer Avani Chaturvedi has become the country's first woman to fly a fighter jet solo, as she operated Russian-made MiG-21 aircraft in her first training sortie.
• Indian boxer Vikas Krishan won a Gold medal and was named the best boxer of the tournament at the 69th Strandja Memorial boxing tournament in Bulgaria.
• Indian captain Virat Kohli has become the first Indian batsman to go past 900 points in the ICC ODI rankings.
• Indian cricketers Jasprit Bumrah and Harmanpreet Kaur have been named in Forbes India 30 Under 30 achievers list. The list also includes women's hockey team goalkeeper Savita Punia and shooter Heena Sidhu.
• Indian Golpher Shubhankar Sharma has won the Maybank Championship in Malaysia.
• Indian gymnast Aruna Budda Reddy has become the 1st Indian to win an individual medal at the Gymnastics World Cup.
• Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has been named the Captain of Kings XI Punjab ahead of the upcoming season of IPL.
• Indian Railways in collaboration with General Electric (GE) has inducted two Digitally Enabled Locomotives based on state of art insulated-gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) technology.
• Indian Railways signed Memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Department of Posts for setting up of Passenger Reservation System counters at Post Offices.
• Indian shuttler Sameer Verma clinched the Men's singles title at the $150,000 Swiss Open Super 300 tournament.
• Indian women's cricket team pacer Jhulan Goswami has become the first woman in the world to take 200 wickets in ODI cricket.
• India's largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) cautioned its cardholders of potential legal, financial and other risks associated with Bitcoin and other Cryptocurrencies. However, the bank did not ban the use of its cards for such investments.
• India's largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) has the highest amount of wilful defaults amounting to ₹27,716 crore till December, 2017.
• India's largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) reported a loss of ₹2,416.4 crore for the December quarter, marking its first quarterly loss in at least 17 years.
• Indonesia's Health Ministry has announced that it has listed homosexuality as a mental disorder and will publish a medical guide stating the same.
• IndusInd Bank launched its new Sonic Identity, which is essentially a musical logo, as part of its branding initiatives.
• Infosys Foundation, the philanthropic arm of IT major Infosys, has signed a MoU with the Kailash Satyarthi Children's Foundation for a grant to create a child-friendly village towards improving children's health, providing education and creating a non-violent environment.
• Iran is planning to launch its own national cryptocurrency. This cryptocurrency would help Iran evade the potential US sanctions.
• Iran President Hassan Rouhani arrived in India for a three-day visit. This is his 1st visit after assuming office in 2013.
• Karnataka has won the Vijay Hazare Trophy by defeating Saurashtra by 41 runs in the finals.
• Karnataka's Kishan Gangolli has won the National 'A' Chess Championship for Blind for the fifth consecutive time.
• Kerala has made vaccination compulsory for school admissions from next academic year onwards. Parents will have to show details of shots given to children at the time of enrolment in schools.
• Madhya Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel inaugurated the 44th edition of Khajuraho Dance Festival 2018 at Khajuraho temple, a UNESCO world heritage site in Chhatarpur district, Madhya Pradesh.
• Ministry of Defence (MoD) constituted 13-member Raksha Mantri Advisory Committee on Ministry of Defence Capital Projects (RMCOMP). Head of this committee : Vinay Sheel Oberoi.
• Mobile payments company Paytm and Alibaba Group-owned AGTech Holdings Ltd have formed a joint venture to launch Gamepind, a gaming platform aimed at mobile users in India.
• Mr. Khalid Bin Abdulaziz Al-Falih, Minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources of Saudi Arabia visited India.
• Mumbai Indians have appointed IPL history's leading wicket-taker and their former player Lasith Malinga as the bowling mentor ahead of the 2018 season.
• Nepal's last monarch Gyanendra Shah has arrived in Odisha to attend the International Gau Sambardhana Mahotsav as Chief Guest.
• Pakistan senate has approved declaration of Mandarin (the main language spoken in China), as one of the official languages of the country.
• 'Paschim Lehar', a tri-service maritime exercise was held at India's westerncoast. Objective : To build interoperability.
• Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) has identified 21 banks (6 Public sector banks, 14 Regional Rural Banks and 1 Cooperative Bank) as Makers of Excellence under Atal Pension Yojana (APY) Outreach Programme as the number of current APY subscribers crosses 86 Lacs mark.
• President Ram Nath Kovind hosted 'LPG Panchayat' at Rashtrapati Bhavan. Aim of LPG Panchayat : To provide a platform for LPG consumers to interact with each other, promote mutual learning and share experiences.
• President Ram Nath Kovind inaugurated 88th Mahamastakabhisheka of Lord Gomateshwara by unveiling an idol of Bahubali at Shravanabelagola in Hassan district, Karnataka.
• President Ram Nath Kovind inaugurated the annual Udyanotsav of the Mughal Gardens of Rashtrapati Bhavan.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated the ‘Magnetic Maharashtra’ Convergence Summit 2018 at the MMRDA grounds at Mumbai’s Bandra Kurla Complex. It was ran with the tagline #MadeForBusiness.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi has launched the first 'Khelo India' school games at Delhi's Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the 'UP Investors Summit 2018' in Lucknow. This is the first such event to be organised by UP’s Yogi Adityanath government. The 2-day event is aimed at showcasing investment opportunities and potential across various sectors in the state.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the World Sustainable Development Summit 2018 in New Delhi. The three-day event has been organized by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI).
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation for Abu Dhabi's first Hindu temple via video conferencing.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched subsidised Amma two-wheeler Scheme for working women in Tamil Nadu, on the occasion of former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa’s 70th birth anniversary.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi became the 1st Indian Prime Minister to visit Palestine after he arrived in Ramallah as part of his three-nation tour. Aim of this visit : Strengthening India's ties with the Gulf and West Asian region.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi embarked on a 4-day visit to Jordan, Palestine, UAE and Oman.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi's book on Exam stress titled 'Exam Warriors' was launched by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar.
• Private sector lender Axis Bank has opened an Off-shore Banking Unit at the International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) at Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City).
• Professional table tennis player of Tamil Nadu, Sharath Kamal beats top-seed Anthony Amalraj to win the Men's singles title for the 8th time, equalling the feat of Kamlesh Mehta at the 11Even Sports Senior Table Tennis Nationals in Ranchi.
• Pune-based swimmer Rohan More (32) became the youngest in the world and first Asian to complete the Ocean Seven Challenge, which involves crossing seven of the world's toughest ocean channels covering a distance of around 200 km.
• Reigning Commonwealth Games champion Parupalli Kashyap won the Men's singles title in the Austrian Open International Challenge 2018 by defeating Malaysia's June Wei Cheam.
• Rio Olympic silver medallist PV Sindhu finished as runner-up in India Open Super 300 badminton tournament after losing to America's Beiwen Zhang in the final.
• Russian space agency Roskosmos has successfully launched Progress MS-08, an unmanned cargo spacecraft for the International Space Station (ISS).
• Rwanda has become the 1st low-income country to provide universal eye care to its entire 1.2 crore population.
• Saudi Arabia has temporarily banned imports of live birds, hatching eggs and chicks from India over an outbreak of a bird flu virus in the state of Karnataka.
• Search Engine giant Google and National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has signed an agreement to integrate a course on ‘Digital Citizenship and Safety’ in information and communication technology (ICT) curriculum.
• Singapore is going to impose a 'Carbon Tax' from 2019 to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in an effort to fight climate change.
• Singapore is going to pay its citizens aged 21 and above a one-off 'SG Bonus' of up to S$300 each as the 2017 budget included a surplus of Singapore $10 billion.
• South Korean electronics giant Samsung has started manufacturing hardware specialized for Bitcoin mining.
• Spiritual leader Prince Karim Aga Khan visited India, during this visit he held talks with Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu.
• Star India Pvt. Ltd has won the rights for audio-visual production services for the Indian Premier League (IPL) and BCCI domestic cricket for the 2018-19 season.
• Sweden has singed Strategic Partnership Agreement with United Nations for committing record $370 million dollars to UN World Food Programme.
• Swiss tennis ace Roger Federer has won his career's 97th title by winning the Rotterdam Open, two days after becoming the oldest world number one men's player.
• Taking prime minister Narendra Modi's Digital India initiative forward, a chat based job search mobile app 'Empzilla', first ever of its kind in the country, is being launched.
• Tamil Nadu beat Manipur 2-1 to lift their maiden title in 23rd edition of Senior Women's National Football Championship 2017-18 at Barabati Stadium in Cuttack.
• Tanzanian President John Magufuli has announced that the country will pull out of the UN's "comprehensive refugee response framework", which provides lasting solutions for refugees, including integration into host communities, citing security reasons and lack of funds.
• Taxi aggregator Ola has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Government of Assam to pilot a one-of-its-kind app-based river taxi service in Guwahati.
• Technology giant Apple is going to open a data centre in China by 2020 with an investment of $1 billion.
• The ‘1st Pelican Bird Festival-2018’ was held at Atapaka Bird Sanctuary located at Kolleru lake in Andhra Pradesh.
• The 1st edition of Khelo India School Games (KISG) was recently held during 31st January to 8th February, 2018 at Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium in New Delhi. Haryana had emerged as overall champions, finishing with 102 medals (38 gold, 26 silver and 38 bronze medals) followed by Maharashtra (111 medals) and Delhi (94 medals).
• The 1st sale of Electoral Bonds will start from March 1, 2018 for period of 10 days at four main branches of State Bank of India (SBI) in Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and New Delhi.
• The 2 day International conference on Sustainable Biofuels was held in New Delhi. Aim of this Conference : To provide common platform to Government policy makers, industry, investors and research community to exchange experiences and challenges related to development and scaling of advance biofuels.
• The 32nd edition of Surajkund International Crafts Mela was recently held at Faridabad, Haryana. Theme state of 2018 : Uttar Pradesh. Partner Nation of 2018 : Kyrgyzstan.
• The 7th Meeting of Eminent Persons Group (EPG) on Nepal-India relations was recently held at Kathmandu. Next meeting of the group will be held in New Delhi.
• The 9 member committee constituted by Karnataka government has submitted it's report recommending separate state flag. The committee has recommended new tricolour having yellow (at top), white (in middle) and red (at bottom) colorus, with state’s emblem Gandaberunda (a two-headed mythological bird) in centre.
• The Andijan Region of Uzbekistan and India have signed an agreement for cooperation in the pharmaceutical industry.
• The Assam Assembly will introduce Digital budget in its next session, doing away with the traditional printed booklet form practice.
• The Cabinet has approved a proposal to redefine Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), based on their annual turnover. The move, which replaces earlier classification based on investment in plant and machinery, is expected to improve ease of doing business.
• The Centre has announced that Karnataka's Hampi monuments will be among the 10 destinations selected as 'Iconic Tourism' sites. Other selected sites include the Taj Mahal, Konark Sun Temple, and Ajanta and Ellora caves.
• The Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL) has inked Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Russian firm United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC) to develop specialized vessels for Inland and Coastal shipping.
• The Davis Cup, in existence since 1900, is going to be converted into a 'World Cup of Tennis' from next year.
• The European Commission (EC) has announced that Serbia and Montenegro could join the European Union (EU) in 2025 as part of the EU enlargement plan for the Western Balkans.
• The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) has entered into partnership with Department of Science and Technology (DST) to implement and execute the ASEAN India Research Training Fellowship (AIRTF).
• The flag carrier airline of India, Air India is going to get a one-time grant of €750,000 (approximately ₹6 crore) from Israel for launching direct flights between New Delhi and Tel Aviv.
• The government has made Permanent Account Number (PAN) mandatory for any entity conducting financial transactions of ₹2.5 lakh or more.
• The government is going to assign four crore milk-producing cows in the country an Aadhaar-like cheap, Unique Identity Card (UID).
• The government is going to issue tamper-proof degree certificates secured using blockchain technology from the 2019 academic year.
• The Indian contingent won a silver medal and two bronze medals at the Asian Para-Cycling Championships held in Naypyidaw, Myanmar.
• The Indian Navy has unveiled the Integrated Automatic Aviation Meteorological System (IAAMS) at INS Garuda, naval air station located in Kochi, Kerala.
• The Indian Navy launched the third Scorpene class submarine Karanj.
• The Indian Railways has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Maharashtra government to set up a ₹600-crore metro coach factory in Latur district.
• The Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) and Rewa Ultra Mega Solar Limited (RUMSL) signed a sub-loan agreement for financing the shared infrastructure of two solar power projects in Madhya Pradesh.
• The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is going to send the Chandrayaan-2 on the world's first-ever mission to soft-land near the Moon's south pole.
• The Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) inked pact with the World Bank for Jal Marg Vikas Project to enhance navigation on National Waterway-1 from Varanasi to Haldia.
• The International Conference on Unani Medicine was held in New Delhi. Theme of this conference : "Integration of Unani System of Medicine in main stream healthcare".
• The International Cricket Council (ICC) has approved the Cricket Canada's maiden venture 'Global T20 Canada', which is going to be held in in July 2018.
• The Jharkhand government has banned the Popular Front of India, claiming its members were "internally influenced by the ISIS".
• The King and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia Salman bin Abdulaziz along with Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, have inaugurated the 32nd edition of Saudi Arabia’s National Heritage Festival in Janadriyah village, Riyadh. India is guest of honor country for the year 2018.
• The Madhya Pradesh education department has decided to implement a uniform dress code for government teachers to check their personality differences.
• The Madhya Pradesh government has launched a mobile application titled 'Pollution Metre' to spread awareness against pollution in the western part of the state.
• The Maharashtra government has decided to set up a Transgender Welfare Board to protect their Constitutional and human rights.
• The Ministry of Commerce & Industry has launched the 3rd version of the Government e-Marketplace (GeM 3.0). GeM is an Online Market platform to facilitate procurement of goods and services by various Ministries and agencies of the Government.
• The Ministry of Defence (Department of Defence Production) constituted a 17 member task force to study use and application of Artificial intelligence (AI) in military. Head of this Task force : N Chandrasekaran (Chairman, Tata Sons)
• The Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs is going to introduce ranking system for National Sports Federations (NSFs). It is aimed at inculcating healthy competition between sports bodies.
• The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has given consent to launch WhatsApp BHIM UPI beta with limited user base of 1 million and low per transaction limit.
• The Nigerian Army has declared victory over the Boko Haram militant group after capturing the militants' stronghold Camp Zairo under counter-insurgency operation DEEP PUNCH II.
• The owner of Rotomac Pens, Vikram Kothari, has been accused of allegedly fleeing with loans of more than ₹800 crore from state-owned banks.
• The Punjab National Bank (PNB) has announced that the amount of fraudulent transactions, involving Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi, could be over ₹1,300 crore more than the current estimate of ₹11,400 crore.
• The Punjab National Bank (PNB) has signed an agreement for information utility with National e-Governance Services Limited. The objective of the agreement is to augment the information infrastructure in India.
• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has announced setting up ombudsman for addressing customer grievances in the Non-Banking Finance Companies (NBFCs).
• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has announced that it will link the base rate for loans with the marginal cost of funds-based lending rate (MCLR) from 1 April to improve monetary policy transmission.
• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has constituted an expert committee to look into the entire gamut of issues relating to classification of bad loans, effectiveness of audits and rising incidents of frauds. Head of this Committee : Y H Malegam (Former member of Central Board of Directors of RBI).
• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has raised exposure limit under Exchange Traded Currency Derivatives (ETCD) trading for residents and Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) to $100 million across all currency pairs involving Indian rupee.
• The state government of Odisha is going to sponsor India's national men's and women's hockey teams for the next 5 years.
• The UK's Lloyds Banking Group has banned its customers from buying cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin using credit cards as it fears their falling value could leave it with huge debt.
• The Union Budget 2018-19 was presented by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in the Parliament on 1st February 2018. In a break from tradition, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has presented the Union Budget 2018 in both Hindi and English.
• The Union Cabinet has approved Cooperation Agreement between India and Moroccan National Railways Office (ONCFM) to develop long-term cooperation and partnership in different areas of railway sector.
• The Union Cabinet has approved implementation of Prime Minister’s Research Fellows (PMRF) Scheme for doctoral students pursuing research in areas related to technology. To realize importance of innovation and technology for progress and development of the nation.
• The Union Cabinet has approved the implementation of 'Prime Minister's Research Fellows' scheme at a cost of ₹1,650 crore for a period of seven years starting 2018-2019. Under the scheme, students pursuing PhD in IITs and IISc will be offered fellowships worth ₹70,000-80,000 per month for five years.
• The Union Government has announced Rs.1.4 lakh-crore Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthaan Mahaabhiyan (KUSUM) scheme for promoting solar farming i.e. decentralised solar power production of up to 28,250 MW to help farmers.
• The Union Government has inked $84 million loan agreement with Asian Development Bank (ADB) for improvement and expansion of water supply in Bhagalpur and Gaya towns in Bihar.
• The Union Government is developing a tool titled Soft Power Matrix. Aim of Soft Power Matrix : To calibrate effectiveness of India’s soft power outreach and foster better diplomatic traction in India’s immediate neighbourhood and beyond.
• The Union Health Ministry has passed a proposal that makes it mandatory for Indian students to clear National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) to obtain an eligibility certificate for applying to medical colleges abroad.
• The Union Ministry of Women and Child Development is going to establish National Women Entrepreneurship Council (NWEC). NWEC will promote entrepreneurship as it would be the umbrella organization for socio-economic gender parity, financial inclusion and economic empowerment of women in India.
• The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has announced that it is going to introduce a blue-coloured 'Baal Aadhaar' card for the children below the age of five years.
• The United States has announced that it will open its embassy to Israel in Jerusalem on May 14 this year, coinciding with Israel's 70th Independence Day.
• The US Citizenship and Immigration Services has dropped the phrase 'Nation of Immigrants' from its mission statement.
• The US state of Indiana has passed a resolution recognising the contributions of Sikhs across the state and the country.
• To bring greater efficiency and accountability in functioning of the Revenue Department, Punjab government has notified 6-member Revenue Commission. Head of this Commission : SS Saron.
• To create awareness around Internet safety, the search engine giant Google has launched ‘#SecurityCheckKiya’ campaign in India.
• To generate public awareness on protection of one-horned rhinoceros (pachyderm) , the Assam government will be observing September 22nd as Rhino Day.
• To guide road engineers and policy makers about road expansion, the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways has released India’s first ever Highway Capacity Manual named Indo-HCM.
• To preserve the ecosystem, the Uttar Pradesh government has inaugurated the state's 1st ever Butterfly Park in Kanpur.
• To protect domestic producers, the Indian government has imposed an anti-dumping duty on import of ceramic tableware and kitchenware from China for five years starting June 2017.
• To provide cheap sanitary pads to school girls and women, the Maharashtra government is going to roll out a scheme titled Asmita Yojana on the International Women’s Day (March 8, 2018).
• To provide healthy, nutritious and hygienic food at affordable prices to all poor and needy persons, the Haryana government has opened subsidised canteens in four districts under the ‘Antyodaya Aahaar Yojana’.
• To tackle ever-deepening crisis of depleting groundwater level, the Union Government has formulated ambitious water conservation scheme Atal Bhujal Yojana (ABY).
• Top US banks like JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Citigroup have announced that they are halting the purchases of cryptocurrencies on their credit cards.
• Under its new Wealth Order law, the UK will seize assets held by foreign criminals and corrupt politicians.
• Union Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar announced that the NCERT syllabus will be reduced to half from the 2019 academic session.
• United Kingdom and India have launched joint research projects on ‘Water Quality Research’ and ‘Energy Demand Reduction in Built Environment’.
• US Air Force Chief of Staff General David L Goldfein became the 1st foreign military chief to fly a sortie in the made-in-India Tejas light combat aircraft.
• US-based Virgin Hyperloop One has signed an MoU with Maharashtra government for a Hyperloop between Mumbai and Pune.
• Uttar Pradesh State government in association with UNICEF launched massive door to door campaign titled DASTAK, to eradicate deadly Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) and Japanise Encephalitis (JE) disease in the state.
• Venezuela and Libya were suspended from voting in United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in 2018-19 session for not paying dues to 193-member world body.
• Venezuela has launched it's own crypto currency titled Petro backed by oil, gas, gold and diamond reserves to circumvent US-led financial sanctions. With this, Venezulea has become 1st sovereign country to officially launch its own cryptocurrency.
• Venezuela formally launched a pre-sale of its state-backed cryptocurrency 'Petro' in a bid to recover from its worst financial crisis. 'Petro' is the world's first state-issued cryptoasset.
• Vice President Venkaiah Naidu inaugurated the 1st International Kala Mela in New Delhi.
• Vice President Venkaiah Naidu inaugurated the 8th Theatre Olympics at Red Fort in Delhi. Theme of 8th Theatre Olympics : 'Flag of Friendship'.
• Virat Kohli became the first Indian batsman to score 100 runs by running in an ODI innings, achieving the feat during his 160*(159) against South Africa.
• Virat Kohli received the ICC Test Championship mace on behalf of Team India for the second consecutive year for being the number one Test team.
• West Bengal became the 1st state to opt out of Centre’s National Health Protection Scheme (NHPS) announced in Union Budget 2018-19.
• With a total of 14 medals, Norway's Marit Bjoergen became the most successful athlete in Winter Olympics history after winning bronze for USA in cross country skiing's women's team sprint free.
• With a total wealth of $950 billion, India's financial capital Mumbai has been ranked as the 12th richest city globally by South Africa-based market research group New World Wealth. The list was topped by New York with $3 trillion wealth.
• Women in Saudi Arabia can now open their own businesses without the consent of a husband or male relative, as the kingdom pushes to expand a fast-growing private sector.
• World's first robot citizen Sophia made a public appearance in India at a global technology event in Hyderabad.
• World's first robot ski competition was held in South Korea.
• Yogi Adityanath govt in Uttar Pradesh presented its first full-fledged budget for Rs. 4,28,384.52 cr for financial year 2018-19.
• Yuki Bhambri became 1st Indian to reach quarter-finals of Chennai Open ATP Challenger Tennis tournament.

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