Current Affairs 19 February 2022

Dear aspirants, to crack any type of competitive examination current affairs plays a significant role and for that we are providing daily important news that are most important for your examination. So we are here for you to provide the important Recent and Latest Current Affairs 19 February 2022.

Current Affairs 19 February 2022 includes all newspapers such as The Hindu, The Economic Times, Business Standard, Times of India, PTI, Indian Express, and all Government official websites.

 News Headlines 

1. Nepal to become first country to deploy India’s UPI platform
2. Gujarat announces New Biotechnology Policy for 2022-27
3. PM Modi to virtually inaugurate Asia’s largest Bio-CNG plant at Indore in Madhya Pradesh
4. BSE Ebix signs insurance broker agreement with LIC, join for distribution of insurance products
5. Vedanta signs pact with TERI to accelerate ESG goals
6. Govt notifies green hydrogen & ammonia policy; targets 5 million tonnes output by 2030
7. Centre nominates DFS Secy Sanjay Malhotra as Director on RBI’s central board
8. Twitter partners with Paytm to boost ‘Tips’ feature in India
9. Debashis Mitra takes over as ICAI President; Aniket Sunil Talati becomes VP
10. Social Justice and Empowerment Ministry to launch a Scheme for Economic Empowerment of DNTs (SEED)
11. World Health Organization launches ‘Quit Tobacco’ App to help people to give up use of tobacco
12. US to reopen Solomon Islands embassy amid moves to counter China
13. RBI to enhance VRR cap for foreign investors by Rs 1 lakh crore from April 1
14. IIM Kozhikode, Niti Aayog ink pact to boost monitoring and evaluation ecosystem

 News Details 

1. Nepal to become first country to deploy India’s UPI platform

• Nepal will be the first country to adopt India’s UPI system, which will play a pivotal role in transforming the digital economy of the neighbouring country, the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).
• NPCI International Payments Ltd (NIPL), the international arm of NPCI, has joined hands with Gateway Payments Service (GPS) & Manam Infotech to provide the services.

2. Gujarat announces New Biotechnology Policy for 2022-27

• Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel has announced New Biotechnology Policy for the year 2022-27.
• This policy is aimed to achieve Aatmanirbhar Bharat, the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
• Under this policy, the strategic projects and mega and large projects are eligible for special packages.

3. PM Modi to virtually inaugurate Asia’s largest Bio-CNG plant at Indore in Madhya Pradesh

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi will virtually inaugurate Asia’s largest Bio-CNG plant at Indore in Madhya Pradesh on Feb 19.
• This Bio CNG plant will be operated from 100% wet waste.
• This plant is built on PPP mode, from which Indore Municipal Corporation will get revenue of 2.5 crores per annum.

4. BSE Ebix signs insurance broker agreement with LIC, join for distribution of insurance products

• BSE Ebix Insurance Broking, a joint venture of BSE and Ebix Fincorp Exchange Pte Ltd, has announced signing of an insurance broker agreement for the distribution of Life Insurance Corporation’s products on its platform.
• Under this agreement, BSE Ebix will offer their clients insurance products offered by LIC such as Life & Health, using its omni-channel digital

5. Vedanta signs pact with TERI to accelerate ESG goals

• Vedanta has signed a pact with TERI to accelerate its Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) goals.
• Vedanta plans to invest around Rs. 200 crore over the next five to 10 years on R&D and sustainability initiatives to promote and build a sustainable ecosystem.

6. Govt notifies green hydrogen & ammonia policy; targets 5 million tonnes output by 2030

• The Ministry of Power has notified the green hydrogen and ammonia policy under which the government is offering to set up manufacturing zones for production, connectivity to the ISTS on priority basis, and free transmission for 25 years if the production facility is commissioned before June 2025.
• ISTS = Inter-State Transmission System.
• The government has raised its production target by 5 times from 1 million tonnes by 2030.

7. Centre nominates DFS Secy Sanjay Malhotra as Director on RBI’s central board

• The central government nominated department of financial services (DFS) secretary Sanjay Malhotra as a director on the Central Board of Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
• The RBI’s affairs are governed by the central board of directors.
• The board is appointed by the government.
• There are five official directors (the RBI Governor and not more than four deputy governors).

8. Twitter partners with Paytm to boost ‘Tips’ feature in India

• Twitter Inc. has partnered with Paytm’s payment gateway to ramp up the support for its ‘Tips’ feature in India.
• Through ‘Tips’, users can send cash payments to their favourite content creators on the microblogging platform / small business owners.
• Last year, Twitter was experimenting with the Tips feature in India & had collaborated with Razorpay as its first partners.

9. Debashis Mitra takes over as ICAI President; Aniket Sunil Talati becomes VP

• Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) has elected Debashis Mitra as its President for the 2022-23 term.
• Aniket Sunil Talati has been elected as Vice President of the institute, which has more than 340,000 members and over 700,000 students.
• Mitra, who is serving his third term in ICAI Council, has been in the accounting profession for more than 34 years.
• ICAI is the world’s second largest accounting body.

10. Social Justice and Empowerment Ministry to launch a Scheme for Economic Empowerment of DNTs (SEED)

• The Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment, Dr. Virendra Kumar will launch the Scheme for Economic Empowerment of DNTs (SEED) at Dr. Ambedkar International Centre, New Delhi for the welfare of De-notified, Nomadic & Semi Nomadic Communities.
• The De-notified, Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic Tribes are the most neglected, marginalized, economically & socially deprived communities.

11. World Health Organization launches ‘Quit Tobacco’ App to help people to give up use of tobacco

• WHO has launched ‘Quit Tobacco App’ to help people kick the cigarette butt and give up the use of tobacco in all forms – including smokeless and other newer products.
• The app, the first such by WHO, and the first that targets all forms of tobacco, helps users to identify the triggers, set their targets, manage cravings and stay focused to quit tobacco.
• WHO’s Director General : Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (from Ethiopia).

12. US to reopen Solomon Islands embassy amid moves to counter China

• US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has confirmed the United States plans to open an embassy in the South Pacific nation of Solomon Islands in an effort to counter China’s influence in the politically troubled Pacific Islands.
• The announcement comes as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visits Fiji for talks with Pacific island leaders.
• Solomon Islands Capital : Honiara.
• Currency : Solomon Islands dollar.

13. RBI to enhance VRR cap for foreign investors by Rs 1 lakh crore from 1st April

• The voluntary retention route (VRR) cap for foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) will be enhanced by Rs 1 lakh crore to Rs 2.50 lakh crore, given the increased interest shown by them, Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das
• He said a dedicated investment limit of Rs 1,50,000 crore was set for investments under the VRR earlier.

14. IIM Kozhikode, Niti Aayog ink pact to boost monitoring and evaluation ecosystem

• The Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode (IIMK) & Development Monitoring and Evaluation Office (DMEO), NITI Aayog recently inked a Statement of Intent (SoI) on Institutional Partnership.
• The partnership will focus on strategic and technical collaboration to strengthen the overall monitoring & evaluation environment in India, with special focus on building data monitoring.

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