• The Reserve Bank of India withdrew the 20% limit on investments by FPIs in corporate bonds of an entity.
• It was stipulated in April 2018 that no FPI should have an exposure of more than 20% of its corporate bond portfolio to a single corporate.
• This has been done with a view to encourage more foreign investments.

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• A poem on the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, ‘Khooni Vaisakhi’, by Punjabi writer Nanak Singh has now been translated into English.
• It was banned by the British in 1920.
• Singh was present at Jallianwala Bagh on April 13, 1919, and was 22 years old at the time.
• It will be published by Harper Collins India in March to mark the centenary of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre.

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• Sunil Chhetri was conferred the first ever Football Ratna honour by Football Delhi.
• The award was presented by Football Delhi President Shaji Prabhakaran, a former player, and administrator at the All India Football Federation and FIFA.
• Football Delhi also honoured Shubham Sarangi, youth player from Delhi, currently the player of Delhi Dynamos squad for ISL.

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• Abdul Aziz Muhamat, a Sudanese refugee won the prestigious Martin Ennals human rights prize.
• He has been held in Australia’s notorious offshore Manus Island processing centre for over 5 years.
• Muhamat, from the Zaghawa ethnic group of Darfur, in north-western Sudan, was granted refugee status in early 2015.

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• Infosys announced the launch of a digital platform, InfyTQ, offering learning and engagement experiences for engineering students.
• It is a free platform open to all engineering students in their third and fourth year and encourages holistic development.
• It will be available on both mobile and desktop and is equipped with a plethora of content, courses, and news.

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• Saina Nehwal beat P V Sindhu to retain her women’s singles crown at the 83rd Yonex Sunrise Senior Badminton Nationals on 16 Feb 2019.
• She registered a 21-18 21-15 against P V Sindhu.
• Saina Nehwal won her fourth Senior Nationals title
• It was held in Guwahati.

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• World Sustainable Development Summit 2019 was held at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi on 16 Feb 2019.
• The theme of WSDS 2019 was ‘Attaining the 2030 Agenda: delivering on our promise’.
• Frank Bainimarama, PM of Fiji was honoured with the Sustainable Development Leadership Award 2019 for his outstanding contributions towards sustainable development in Fiji.

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• India raised the customs duty to 200% on all goods imported from Pakistan, as a strong action against the Pulwama attack.
• The 2 main items imported from Pakistan are cement and fruits, on which the current customs duty is 7.5% and 30-50% respectively.
• India also revoked the MFN (Most Favored Nation) status to Pakistan after this incidence.

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• Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik inaugurated and laid foundation stones for development projects in Kalahandi district on 16 Feb 2019.
• He inaugurated the Red Medium Irrigation Project which will benefit 79 villages and provide irrigation facility for 8500 hectares of agricultural land.
• Apart from this, he laid foundation stones for 38 development projects and launched 23 projects.

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• President of Argentina Mauricio Macri arrived in New Delhi on 17 Feb 2019 on a 3-day official visit to India.
• Delegation level talks were held to review progress in bilateral ties and explore new avenues of cooperation.
• The President of Argentina also addressed the Plenary Session of India-Argentina Business Forum.

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• Vidarbha defended its Irani Cup title on 16 Feb 2019 at the Jamtha Stadium in Nagpur.
• The Irani Cup tournament was conceived during the 1959-60 season to mark the completion of 25 years of the Ranji Trophy championship.
• It is related to cricket.

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• Belgium’s Elise Mertens claimed the Qatar Open by beating top seed Simona Halep by 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, in tennis.
• This is her first-ever WTA Premier-level crown, and the fifth title of her career overall.
• Mertens is world number 21.

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• A Regional Conference on Deendayal Disabled Rehabilitation Scheme (DDRS) was held at Kolkata, West Bengal on 18 Feb 2019.
• It was organised by the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPwD).
• Under the scheme, every year more than 600 NGOs are provided with financial assistance for running their projects for the rehabilitation of persons with disability.

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• The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI), organised a 2-day workshop on “Committee of Creditors: An Institution of Public Faith” on 15-16 Feb,19 in Mumbai.
• It was the first of its kind organised jointly with State Bank of India (SBI) & Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs (IICA).
• Dr. MS Sahoo (Chairperson-IBBI) & Mr. Rajnish Kumar (Chairman-SBI) were some of the faculty members.

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• PM Narendra Modi unveiled projects in Barauni on 17 Feb 2019 to boost development in various sectors.
• He laid the foundation stone of Patna Metro Rail Project and inaugurated the Phulpur to Patna stretch of the Jagdishpur-Varanasi Natural Gas pipeline.
• He also inaugurated the 1st phase of River Front Development at Patna and laid foundation Stone for the Karmalichak Sewerage Network.

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• The President of India presented the Tagore Award for Cultural Harmony on 18 Feb 2019 at Pravasi Bhartiya Kendra, New Delhi.
• The award was presented to Shri Rajkumar Singhajit Singh; Chhayanaut, and Shri Ram Sutar Vanji for the years 2014, 2015 & 2016 respectively.
• The award was instituted from 2012.
• It is awarded annually and carries an amount of Rs.1 crore, citation, and Plaque.

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• PM Narendra Modi visited Hazaribagh in Jharkhand on 17 February 2019 to unveil several development projects.
• He inaugurated the Medical Colleges at Hazaribagh, Dumka, and Palamu.
• He also inaugurated 4 Rural Water Supply Schemes in Ramgarh and Hazaribagh districts.
• He e-inaugurated the Only Women Engineering College at Ramgarh.

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• Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maan-dhan (PM-SYM) Scheme was implemented by the Ministry of Labour and Employment on 15 Feb 2019.
• The features of the scheme are family pension and minimum assured pension.
• The unorganised workers whose monthly income is Rs 15,000/per month or less and belong to the entry age group of 18-40 years are eligible for the scheme.

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• Bradley Cooper was awarded the ‘Oscat’ by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).
• The animal rights organisation awarded the best director award to Cooper for his enlightened decision to cast his own canine companion in ‘A Star Is Born’.
• PETA is an American animal rights organisation based in Norfolk, Virginia, and led by Ingrid Newkirk, its international president.

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• B P Sharma was re-employed as the CMD of the state-run helicopter manufacturer Pawan Hans.
• He was the CMD of Pawan Hans earlier in March 2015.
• He will be serving for a period of 5 months.
• Pawan Hans has a fleet of more than 50 helicopters.

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• President Ram Nath Kovind appointed Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) Chairman Sushil Chandra as an Election Commissioner.
• The post had fallen vacant after the appointment of the then Election Commissioner Sunil Arora as Chief Election Commissioner.
• Ashok Lavasa is the senior-most Election Commissioner.

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• Minister of State for AYUSH, Shri Shripad Yesso Naik launched the e-AUSHADHI portal, on 13 Feb 2019 at New Delhi.
• It is launched for online licensing of Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani and Homoeopathy drugs and related matters.
• AUSHADHI is an acronym for Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha, and Homeopathy Automated Drug Help Initiative.

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• Ruchira Kamboj was appointed as the Indian envoy to Bhutan on 11th Feb 2019.
• She is an Indian Foreign Service Officer from the 1987 batch and currently India’s High Commissioner to South Africa.
• She was appointed by the Ministry of External Affairs.

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• RBI has decided to alter the definition of bulk deposits in the recent monetary policy review.
• It has been revised as single deposits of Rs 2 crore and above.
• Final guidelines regarding this will be issued by the end of Feb 2019. Banks have also been asked to maintain their bulk deposit card rates.
• This indicates that the interest rates are expected to go down.

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• Union Minister for Food Processing Industries, Smt Harsimrat Kaur Badal inaugurated Cremica Mega Food Park through a video conference on 10 Feb 2019.
• This is the first Mega Food Park of Himachal Pradesh located at Singhain village, Una district.
• The park has been set up at a cost of Rs. 107.34 crores and will provide facilities such as frozen storage, dry warehouse, deep freeze, QC lab, etc.

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• Air Chief Marshal, Birendra Singh Dhanoa, Chief of the Indian Air Force, went on a 4-day official visit to Bangladesh from 11-14 Feb 2019.
• He will visit operational and training units of Bangladesh Air Force. This is a bilateral goodwill visit to a SAARC nation.
• He will also meet the PM and Chiefs of 3 defense services in Bangladesh. The visit will increase defence cooperation.

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• An MoU was signed between Mongolia and Engineers India Ltd., on 10th Feb 2019.
• Engineers India Ltd. is a PSU under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.
• It has been signed for Project Management Consultancy services for construction of an oil refinery plant in Mongolia by EIL.
• A 1.5 MMTPA greenfield crude oil refinery will be set up in the Sainshand.

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• Ministry of Information & Broadcasting participated at the Berlin International Film Festival 2019.
• The festival is taking place from 7-17 Feb 2019 at Berlin, Germany.
• India Pavilion has been set up to showcase Indian Cinema at the global platform and facilitate new business opportunities in the Media & Entertainment sector.

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• An initiative of the Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs, Shehri Samridhi Utsav was launched on 4th February 2019.
• Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY) App is launched on the Google play store.
• The Cabinet gave its approval to the proposal to launch Prasar Bharati’s ‘Broadcasting Infrastructure and Network Development’ scheme.
• The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by PM Narendra Modi approved the creation of Agri-Market Infrastructure Fund (AMIF) on 6th Feb 2019.
• The Union Cabinet approved the proposal for Abolition of Institution of Income-Tax Ombudsman and Indirect Tax Ombudsman on 6 Feb 2019.
• A dedicated ‘Asiatic Lion Conservation Project’ was launched by Environment Ministry on 8 February 2019.

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• Smriti Mandhana has attained number one ranking in the ICC ODI batting rankings.
• Haryana Hammers won the 4th edition of the Pro Wrestling League defeating Punjab Royals by 6-3 in the summit clash.
• Sana Mir from Pakistan became the first Asian woman cricketer to play 100 T20 international matches.
• Ramit Tandon won the final of the Seattle Open, a Squash event by defeating Egyptian Mohamed Al Sherbini on 2nd February 2019.
• Indian opener Smriti Mandhana made the fastest fifty for India in Women’s T20Is.
• Jeremy Lalrinnunga won the silver medal in men’s 67-kilogram category at the EGAT’s Cup International Weightlifting Championships in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

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• NASA has lost touch with the first mini-spacecraft named MarCO CubeSats that ventured into deep space.
• The MarCO CubeSats, nicknamed EVE and WALL-E, were launched in 2018 to test if such low-cost technology can operate in deep space.
• They served as communications relays during the InSight’s Mars landing and have travelled well past Mars.

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• Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDAI) imposed a fine of Rs 9 lakh on state-owned United India Insurance Co (UIIC) Ltd for violating certain procedures.
• 3 violations were found during the inspection, of which 2 attracted the fine.
• UIIC is headquartered in Chennai, while IRDAI is in Hyderabad.

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• Yes Bank was announced as the winner of the 9th edition of Aegis Graham Bell Award 2018 for its ‘Yes Engage Enrich Excel (EEE)’ project in data science.
• Its EEE program is an industry-first analytics tool that aids the Bank’s relationship managers with top 3 talking points to engage with their customers.
• Aegis Graham Bell Award promotes innovations and entrepreneurship in the ICT domain.

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• RBI slapped Rs 1 crore penalty on SBI, country’s largest lender on 7th Feb 2019 for violating norms.
• RBI levied the penalty in the exercise of powers conferred under Section 47 A of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949.
• SBI was charged for not monitoring the end use of funds in respect of one of its borrowers.

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• The Union Cabinet approved the proposal for Abolition of Institution of Income-Tax Ombudsman and Indirect Tax Ombudsman on 6 Feb 2019.
• The Cabinet was chaired by PM Narendra Modi.
• The Institution of Income-Tax Ombudsman was created in the year 2003 in order to deal with the grievances of public related to the settlement of complaints relating to Income Tax.

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• The Union Cabinet approved the MoU between India and Finland on 6th Feb 2019.
• It will support the creation of long-term Research, Development & Innovation collaboration mechanism and establish and strengthen cooperative network between Indian and Finnish organisations.
• The Cabinet was chaired by PM Narendra Modi and the MoU was signed on March 25, 2018 in Helsinki.

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• Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for the four laning of the Falakata-Salsalabari section of NH-31 D in the northern part of West Bengal on 8 February 2019.
• This 41.7 Km long section of the National Highway falls in the Jalpaiguri district.
• It will have 3 railway over bridges, 3 underpasses, 2 flyovers, 17 minor bridges, and 8 bridges.

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• Union Minister of Agriculture, Radha Mohan Singh asked all states to support the PM-KISAN scheme.
• Under the scheme, all Small and Marginal farmers (SMF) families having cultivable land up to 2 hectares will be provided income support of Rs.6000 per year.
• The amount will be provided in three equal instalments of Rs 2000 to farmers.

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• Chennai Police Commissioner launched ‘DigiCop’ mobile app on 6 February 2019.
• The user can lodge mobile theft complaints using the app and can check if the user’s mobile is in the police list of retrieved mobiles.
• Through the app, the user can also know the traffic condition in the city and also information about nearby police stations.

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• The global surface temperatures on the Earth in 2018 were the 4th warmest since 1880.
• This was found in an independent analysis by NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
• The global temperatures in 2018 were 0.83 degree Celsius warmer than the 1951 to 1980 mean.
• 2018’s temperatures rank behind those of 2016, 2017 and 2015.

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• The Reserve Bank of India lowered the repo rate by 25 basis points to 6.25% on 7th February 2019.
• This is the first time in 17 months that the central bank has cut the rate.
• The reverse repo rate, too, was lowered to 6%, and the bank rate to 6.25%.
• The repo rate is the interest rate at which RBI lends to commercial banks.

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• The State Bank of India’s UK Chief Mr. Sanjiv Chadha has been honored with the ‘Freedom of the City Of London’.
• The award was given by the city of London Corporation in recognition of his contribution to promoting bilateral relations.
• The previous Indian recipient of the honour is Jawaharlal Nehru, the first PM of India. Other recipients include author J K Rowling and actor Dame Judi Dench.

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• Indian opener Smriti Mandhana made the fastest fifty for India in Women’s T20Is.
• The left-handed batswoman struck a half-century in just 24 balls.
• She made the history in the 1st T20I against New Zealand at Westpac Stadium in Wellington.
• New Zealand’s Sophie Devine holds the record of the quickest half-century in women’s T20Is. She set the record in 2005 against India in just 18-balls.

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• The government appointed Air India Chief Managing Director and Chairperson Pradeep Singh Kharola as the secretary of the Ministry of Civil Aviation.
• Kharola will take over from Rajiv Nayan Choubey.
• He is an IAS officer of Karnataka cadre from the 1985 batch, who was named chairperson of Air India in November 2017.
• Jayant Sinha is the Minister of Civil Aviation.

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• Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari, laid the foundation for 5 National Highway projects of length 632 km in Ayodhya on 8 Feb 2019.
• The estimated cost is Rs. 7195 crore and the project will establish direct connectivity from Ayodhya to Ambedkarnagar and Chitrakoot.
• He will also visit Prayagraj to inaugurate Phase 2 of River Information System on National Waterway-1.

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• Ujjwala Utsav was observed by the Oil industry in New Delhi on 7th Feb 2019.
• It was observed to celebrate the stellar role played by all stakeholders in making PMUY scheme a success.
• PMUY anthem – ‘Ujjwala Bharat Ujjwala’ composed by Kailash Kher was also launched on the occasion.
• The Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana aims to provide free cooking gas connections to 80 million families by 2020.

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• Shri Sailesh assumed the charge as Secretary of Ministry of Minority Affairs on 7th Feb 2019.
• He is an IAS from Assam-Meghalaya Cadre, 1985 batch.
• Shri Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi is the Minister of Minority Affairs.

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• An interactive session on the Indo-Africa Strategic Economic Co-operation was held in New Delhi on 6th Feb 2019.
• It was organised by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
• The bilateral trade between Africa and India has increased from $7 billion in 2001 to $78 billion in 2014 and then $60 billion in 2017.
• Suresh Prabhu is the Union Minister of Commerce & Industry and Civil Aviation.

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• The US has agreed to sell its 2 advanced missile defence systems to India at a cost of $190 million for 2 Boeing-777 Head-of-State aircraft.
• This decision will enhance the security of the planes flying the President and Prime Minister.
• The sale will also support the national security and foreign policy of the US. It will also strengthen the US-Indian strategic relationship.

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• ‘Granny Dakshayani’, India’s oldest elephant in captivity died at 88 in Kerala.
• She was awarded with the title ‘Gaja Muthassi’ and also took part in the temple processions and rituals for decades.
• India has around 2,454 elephants in captivity as per a survey released last month.

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• Suresh Prabhu, Union Minister of Civil Aviation and Commerce & Industry addressed the India-Monaco Business Forum in New Delhi on 4th February 2019.
• He said that there is a vast scope of cooperation between Indian and Monaco in various sectors including tourism.
• Bilateral trade between India and Monaco in 2017-18 was USD 3.01 million
• Monaco Capital: Monte Carlo
• Currency: Euro.

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