NATIONAL NEWS
Check Schedule Ranji Trophy 2022.
Ranji Trophy 2021-22 will be played in two phases, one before the IPL and one after the IPL. The league phase of the tournament comprising 57 matches will be played between February 16 and March 5. The knockout stage matches will be played after the culmination of IPL from May 30.
BrahMos supersonic cruise missile Test-fires at INS Visakhapatnam.
Indian Naval warship INS Visakhapatnam test-fired naval variant of BrahMos supersonic cruise missile on February 18, 2022. The BrahMos missile system is the main weapon system of the Indian Navy warships. The Indian Navy had conducted a similar test on January 11 as well.
PM Modi, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince virtual summit today.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to hold a virtual summit today with Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of UAE Armed Forces, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed al Nahyan. The two leaders are expected to lay out the vision of historic and friendly relations between the two countries during their bilateral talks.
Ahmedabad Serial Bomb Blast case verdict.
A special court pronounced death sentence for 38 convicts out of the total 49 people found guilty in the 2008 Ahmedabad Bomb Blast Case. The remaining 11 people who were found guilty were awarded life imprisonment for their offences.
India’s GDP likely to grow at 5.8 per cent in the third quarter of FY 2022: SBI
India’s gross domestic product (GDP) is likely to grow at 5.8 per cent in the third quarter of the financial year 2022, as per the latest SBI research report. India’s economy expanded in the second quarter of 2021-2022 to overtake pre-pandemic levels. However, the GDP growth recorded in the July-September period was slower than the previous quarter.
Chetan Ghate appointed as new Director of Institute of Economic Growth
Chetan Ghate has been appointed as the new Director of the Institute of Economic Growth. He will be succeeding Ajit Mishra at the post. Chetan Ghate was a member of RBI’s first monetary policy committee between 2016-2020. He also served as an economics professor at the Indian Statistical Institute in Delhi for over 18 years. He is also a member of the advisory committee of the national accounts system under the Statistics Ministry. The Institute of Economic Growth is one of India’s leading research and training centres and it conducts advanced research on economic and social development in areas including labour, agriculture, public health, macroeconomics, international trade, environment, demography etc.
LIC likely to launch USD 8 billion IPO on March 11
India’s state-run Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) is set to launch India’s biggest-ever IPO worth USD 8 billion on March 11, 2022. LIC’s IPO is expected to get regulatory approval by the first week of March after which the marketing price band will be set. LIC filed a draft IPO prospectus on February 13, 2022, with the market regulator to sell 5 per cent of the centre’s stake in the company.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
BA.2 subvariant of Omicron may cause severe COVID: Lab Study
The BA.2 subvariant of Omicron coronavirus variant may cause severe COVID-19, as per a lad study. The yet-to-to peer-reviewed study showed that the BA.2 variant may have features that make it capable of causing severe illness, similar to Delta. The World Health Organisation though noted on February 17th that while BA.2 is more transmissible than BA.1, it is not more severe. WHO technical lead Maria Van Kherkhova said that there is no difference between BA.2 and BA.1 in terms of severity. The BA.1 variant is the Omicron variant of COVID-19.
UK shuts golden visa for investors
The United Kingdom on February 17, 2022 decided to close its Tier 1 investor visa to all new applicants due to security concerns. The UK Home Office took the action as the investor visa route failed to deliver for the UK people and it seemed to give corrupt elites access to the country. UK Home Secretary Priti Patel said that she has zero-tolerance for abuse of their immigration system. She said that under her new plan for immigration, she wants to ensure the British people have confidence in the system and this includes stopping corrupt elites who threaten their national security. Patel said that closing the route is the start of the UK’s renewed crackdown on fraud and illicit finance.
