Let’s go through the highlights of Current Affairs 19th February 2022:

Download 19th February 2022 Current Affairs PDF

• IndiGo co-founder Rakesh Gangwal resigns from the board
• India to set up first IIT abroad in UAE as part of latest trade deal
• India’s 1st Biosafety Level-3 mobile laboratory launched in Nashik
• Mumbai to host (International Olympic Committee) IOC session in 2023
• Death anniversary of freedom fighter Gopal Krishna Gokhale: 19 Feb’22

Current Affairs 19th February 2022 – Important Notes

IndiGo co-founder Rakesh Gangwal resigns from the board

• IndiGo co-founder Rakesh Gangwal has resigned from the board and is planning to cut his stake in the airline over the next five years.
• He owns a 36.61% stake in InterGlobe Aviation.
• While another co-founder and Managing Director Rahul Bhatia owns about 37.8% in it.
• An American and aviation industry veteran, Gangwal has spent several years in senior roles at United Airlines and U.S. Airways.

Check the Latest Appointments and Resignations Here!

India to set up first IIT abroad in UAE as part of latest trade deal

• The government of India will be setting up an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as a part of the India-UAE trade deal that was signed on February 18, 2022.
• This will be the first time an IIT would be established outside of the country.
• India currently has 23 IITs.
• The top IITs in India are IIT Delhi, IIT Bombay, IIT Kharagpur, and IIT Madras.

Check the details of IIT Hyderabad Recruitment Here!

India’s 1st Biosafety Level-3 mobile laboratory launched in Nashik

• The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has announced that India’s first Biosafety level-3 containment mobile laboratory was launched in Nashik, Maharashtra, on 18 Feb 2022.
• It has been set up to investigate newly emerging and re-emerging viral infections that are highly infectious and of lethal potential to human beings.
• It has been designed by the Indian Council of Medical Research.

Mumbai to host (International Olympic Committee) IOC session in 2023

• The International Olympic Committee (IOC) on 19 Feb 2022 awarded India the right to host the IOC Session in Mumbai in 2023.
• India will host the session for the first time since 1983.
• It will be hosted at Jio World Convention Centre.
• An IOC session is the annual meeting of the members of the IOC, comprising 101 voting members and 45 honorary members.

Death anniversary of freedom fighter Gopal Krishna Gokhale: 19 Feb’22

• Year 2022 marked his 107th death anniversary.
• He was born on 9 May 1866.
• He was a political leader and a social reformer during the Indian freedom struggle.
• He played a leading role in bringing about Morley-Minto Reforms in India.
• He was one of the first generations of Indians to receive a university education. 
• He was also the founder of the Servants of India Society.

Sakibul Gani of Bihar becomes first to score triple hundred

• Sakibul Gani of Bihar has set a new world record in the ongoing Ranji Trophy 2022.
• He has become the first batter in the history of first-class cricket to hit a century on debut, achieving the feat in Bihar’s opening round match of Ranji Trophy against Mizoram in Kolkata, in Feb 2022.
• His 341 is now the highest individual total by a debutant batter in the history of first-class cricket.

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Six African countries to receive mRNA technology

• The WHO has announced that 6 African countries will be given mRNA technology to set up their own vaccine production centres.
• Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, and Tunisia will get the technology used in the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna jabs developed in Europe.
• The aim is to have 60% of vaccines administered in Africa produced in Africa as well.

Senior journalist Ravish Tiwari passes away

• Senior journalist and a reputed political reporter and editor, Ravish Tiwari passed away in February 2022.
• He had worked with reputed news organisations, including India Today and was working as the Chief of the National Bureau of The Indian Express.
• Tiwari was also a recipient of the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship.

Check Obituaries Here!

India, Armenia hold 9th Foreign Office Consultations

• India and Armenia on 18 February 2022, virtually held the 9th round of Foreign Office Consultations (FOC).
• They discussed bilateral cooperation in diverse areas including political, economic between both countries.
• They also reviewed the implementation of decisions taken during the visit of External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to Armenia in October 2021.

167th birth anniversary of U V Swaminatha Iyer: 19 Feb 2022

• He was a renowned Tamil Scholar who is admired for his contributions to the Tamil culture and language. 
• He popularised works from the Sangam era and helped conserve precious heritage. 
• Iyer published over 90 books in his lifetime, on a variety of matters connected to classical Tamil literature, and collected over 3,000 paper manuscripts, palm-leaf manuscripts, and notes of various kinds.

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392th birth anniversary of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj: 19 Feb 2022

• He was born in 1630 to Shahaji Raje and Jijabai.
• He was the founder of the Maratha state.
• He was the first one to establish a Hindavi Swarajya (Self-rule) in his era.
• He was also the first one to introduce guerrilla fighting techniques through his Maratha army.
• Mahatma Jyotirao Phule established Shivaji Jayanti in 1870.

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Vedanta to invest USD 20 Billion in semiconductor business in India

• Vedanta has announced to invest upto USD 20 billion into the electronic chip and display manufacturing space in Feb 2022.
• It expects to roll out display units, for use in mobile phones and electronics devices, by 2024 and electronic chips from Indian manufacturing plants by 2025.
• Vedanta Group has applied for setting up a semiconductor plant under the government’s incentive scheme.

Chhatrapati Shivaji’s 392nd birth anniversary: 19 February 2022

• Shivaji Jayanti, which is the birth anniversary of Shivaji Maharaj, is held on February 19 every year.
• He challenged the Mughal rule and the Deccan Sultanates successfully to found a flourishing Maratha kingdom. 
• Shivaji was instrumental in bringing the Maratha chiefs of the Mayal, Konkan, and Desh areas together. 
• Mahatma Jyotirao Phule established Shivaji Jayanti in 1870.

PM dedicates Thane and Diva railway lines; flags off 2 suburban trains

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated to the Nation two additional railway lines connecting Thane and Diva on 18 Feb 2022.
• He also flagged off two suburban trains of the Mumbai Suburban Railway.
• PM said that 400 new Vande Bharat will be launched in the coming years.
• More than 6000 railway stations have been connected with wifi facility. 

India, UAE sign CEPA to boost goods trade to $100 billion in 5 years

• India and UAE signed the historic Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) aimed at boosting the trade to US$ 100 billion over next five years.
• India is celebrating its 75 years of independence and UAE is celebrating 50 years of its foundation in 2022.
• CEPA would generate 10 lakh jobs across multiple labour-intensive sectors.

Govt. of India, World Bank sign loan agreement of $115 million

• The Govt of India, the state govts of Karnataka and Odisha, and the World Bank have signed a $115 million loan agreement.
• It is for the Rejuvenating Watersheds for Agricultural Resilience through Innovative Development Programme.
• It will help national and state institutions adopt improved watershed management practices.
• The loan has a maturity of 15 yrs, including a grace period of 4.5 yrs.

India Ratings pegs fiscal deficit of states at 3.6 percent in FY23

• India Ratings expects the aggregate fiscal deficit of the states to come in at 3.6% of their gross domestic product from 3.5% in FY22 on the back of robust revenue growth.
• The agency had earlier forecast the fiscal deficit of the states to print in at 4.1%.
• The agency also estimates the national nominal GDP to grow 17.6 % in 2022-23, higher than the previous estimate of 15.6%.

IDFC FIRST Bank appoints Jaimini Bhagwati as Additional Director

• IDFC FIRST Bank has approved the appointment of former economist and IFS officer Jaimini Bhagwati as an Additional Director on its board for three years.
• He is an independent Director of IDFC Ltd, the parent company of IDFC FIRST Bank.
• He served as the High commissioner to the UK and Ambassador to the European Union, Belgium, and Luxembourg. 

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IIIT-Naya Raipur develops drone-based crop health forecasting solution

• Faculty from IIIT-Naya Raipur has developed a drone-based crop health forecasting solution.
• It can be used to detect insects and diseases in crops and recommend more accurate solutions to address them.
• It was developed in collaboration with Indira Gandhi Agriculture University at Raipur.
• Funding for the project was provided by SEED Division of Department of Science and Technology.

100 districts become ‘Har Ghar Jal’ under Jal Jeevan Mission

• Jal Jeevan Mission has achieved another milestone of providing tap water to every home of 100 districts in the country.
• Chamba district of Himachal Pradesh has become the 100th ‘Har Ghar Jal’ district.
• In Goa, Haryana, Telangana, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Puducherry, Dadar & Nagar Haveli, and Daman & Diu, every rural household has a tap water supply. 

Check Latest Government Schemes and Policies Here!

Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan scheme to continue till Mar 2026

• Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA), a Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) will continue its operation of funding the state government universities and colleges till March 31, 2026.
• The scheme aims to achieve equity, access, and excellence.
• Under the new phase, state govts will be able to go for gender inclusion, equity initiatives, etc. through vocationalisation and skill upgradation.

CSB Bank gets RBI nod to appoint Pralay Mondal as Deputy MD

• CSB Bank has got the approval of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for the appointment of Pralay Mondal as its Deputy Managing Director.
• He will hold the post for a period of three years.
• His prior appointment in the bank since September 23, 2020 was as President (Retail, SME, Operations and IT).
• CSB Bank Limited is an Indian private sector bank with its headquarters in Thrissur, Kerala.

Srikanth Nadhamuni resigns as Non-Executive Director of HDFC Bank

• Srikanth Nadhamuni has resigned as Non-Executive Director of HDFC Bank.
• His resignation is effective from 18 February 2022.
• Nadhamuni has been a board member of the bank since September 2016.
• HDFC is India’s largest private sector bank by assets and the world’s 10th largest bank by market capitalization as of April 2021.
• It is headquartered in Mumbai.

World Pangolin Day: 19 February 2022

• World Pangolin Day is observed on the third Saturday of February every year.
• For 2022, it is being observed on 19 February.
• An estimated one million of these animals have been, and continue to be, harvested from the wild in African and Asian countries to meet the high demands for their scale, skin, etc.
• Pangolins are a highly prized commodity, often illegally trapped and trafficked.

Pluto Day: 18 February

• Pluto Day is celebrated annually on February 18 to commemorate the anniversary of the discovery of Pluto in 1930.
• The planet, known for its characteristic icy mountains and tiny size was discovered by American astronomer Clyde Tombaugh.
• Clyde discovered Pluto at the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona just 84 years after the discovery of Neptun