• Mumbai, India’s financial capital is the 12th richest city in the world with a total wealth of $950 billion, according to a report by New World Wealth. The list was topped by New York as the richest city in the world.
• ONGC (Oil and Natural Gas Corporation) Videsh Ltd and its partners have acquired a 10% in a large offshore oilfield Abu Dhabi National Oil Co.’s (ADNOC) in Abu Dhabi for $600 million. It is the first time any Indian company has set foot in oil-rich Emirate. ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL) is the overseas arm of state-owned ONGC, Indian Oil Corp. (IOC) and a unit of Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd (BPCL).
• The country’s largest lender SBI wrote off bad loans worth Rs.20,339 crore in 2016-17, the highest among all the public sector banks, which had a collective write off of Rs.81,683 crore for the fiscal. The data pertains to the period when the associate banks of SBI were not merged with it. SBI Chairman is Rajnish Kumar, and Headquarters are in
• Sharmila Nicollet has become the first Indian golfer to qualify for the China Ladies PGA Tour.
• Pune-based swimmer, Rohan More became the first Asian as well as the first Indian to swim across the Ocean Seven. He is the youngest to complete it. He swam across the Cook Strait between North and South Islands of New Zealand in 8 hours and 37 minutes.
• Asma Jahangir,Pakistan’s renowned human rights lawyer, social activist and an outspoken critic of the country’s powerful military establishment, passed away of cardiac arrest. She was the first woman to serve as the president of Supreme Court Bar Association of Pakistan.
• The National Productivity Council observed the National Productivity Day (NPD) on 12 February 2018. The council is also observing the National Productivity Week till  February 18.  The theme for NPD 2018 is ‘Industry 4.0 Leapfrog Opportunity for India’.
• World Radio Day is observed annually on 13 February.  The theme for WRD 2018 is “Radio and Sports”.
• The Gevora Hotel in Dubai,developed by the Al Attar Group has now become the “world’s tallest hotel”. It stands 356 metres and 53 centimetres tall.
• In order to remove existing ambiguities due to multiple Acts and rules for Small Saving Schemes, the Government of India has proposed merger of Government Savings Certificates Act, 1959 and Public Provident Fund Act, 1968 with the Government Savings Banks Act, 1873.
• India’s 1st Online Radio Station ‘Radio Umang’ was launched recently in India. Listeners can tune in to this online radio station through web streaming or download the app.
• The defence ministry of India approved capital acquisition proposals worth Rs.15,935 crore which included the purchase of 40 lakh assault rifles, 5,719 sniper rifles and light machine guns to bolster the strength of the armed forces. The long-pending proposals were cleared at a meeting of the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), the defence ministry’s highest decision-making body on procurement. Note: Baldev Singh was the first defence minister of Independent India.
• Claiming that the Bengal government had already enrolled 50 lakh people under its own Swasthya Sathi programme, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has announced the decision to opt out of Centre’s ‘Modicare’ scheme. This makes West Bengal the first state to withdraw from the ambitious programme.
• State-owned Bank of Baroda has decided to exit by March-end its South Africa operations after 21 years amid a probe into alleged compliance lapses by the bank there.
• Reserve Bank of India has made banks’ priority sector norms lenient by saying that all loans to micro small and medium enterprises (MSME) will henceforth qualify as priority sector lending. Till date, loans up to Rs.10 crore per MSME borrower was considered for priority sector calculation.
• Kannada litterateur Chandrashekar Kambar has been elected as president of the Sahitya Akademi.
• In an effort to put India firmly among the top nations in the world theatre map, the country played host to the 8th Theatre Olympics, the greatest carnival of thespianism. The theme of the festival is – “Flag of Friendship”.
• India’s Umang App was named winner of the Best M-Government Service award in the Accessible Government category while Aadhar won the best emerging technology award at the recently concluded World Government Summit 2018 in Dubai, where India had the status of ‘Guest of Honour’ country.
• Private sector lender, Yes Bank has announced the listing of the Bank’s debut US $600 million bond issue under its maiden US $1 billion medium-term note (MTN) bond on country’s first international exchange BSE’s IndiaINX at the International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) at GIFT City in Gandhinagar. The Yes Bank’s MTN programme— a debt note that matures or has a payback period of 5 years on Global Securities Market (GSM) became the country’s first capital raising platform for international investors in any currency.
• Cyril Ramaphosa has been sworn in as South Africa’s new President, after the resignation of Jacob Zuma.
• Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the World Sustainable Development Summit 2018 (WSDS 2018)at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi. The summit is the flagship forum of The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI). The summit’s theme this year was ‘Partnerships for a Resilient Planet’.
• China will host 2018 Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit at Qingdao, eastern Shandong Province in June 2018. SCO is a Eurasian economic, political and security organisation headquartered in Beijing, China. It was founded in 2001. The members of the SCO are China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, India and Pakistan.
• P. Sharma Oli was sworn in as Nepal’s Prime Minister for the second time. He has replaced Sher Bahadur Deuba. President Bidya Devi Bhandari administered the oath of office and secrecy to Mr Oli.
• Vikas Sathaye,a Pune-born person has been honoured with the Scientific and Engineering Academy Award at the Oscars Scientific and Technical Awards 2018 at Beverly Hills in Los Angeles, California. Sathaye and his team received the award for his contribution towards conceptualisation, designing, engineering, and the implementation of the ‘Shotover K1 Camera System’ during his stint at Shotover Camera Systems in Queenstown, New Zealand.
• The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is planning to launch Chandrayan-2 Mission around April Chandrayaan-2 is the country’s second mission to the moon.
• Assamis at the bottom of the list with regard to maternal mortality rate (MMR) with a figure of 300 against the national average of 167. MMR is the annual number of female deaths per 1,00,000 live births from any cause related to or aggravated by pregnancy or its management.
• In a first in the country,the Maharashtra government will be setting up an institute for artificial intelligence (AI) in Mumbai.
• The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD)announced area development plans worth 1,918 crore for Punjab to supplement farmers’ income. Under this plan, the activities like dairy, vegetable cultivation, bee keeping, mushroom growing will be promoted in order to provide income to farmers at the sustainable basis. NABARD came into existence on 12 July 1982. Chairman of NABARD is Harsh Kumar Bhanwala, and Headquarters are in Mumbai.
• PNB Housing Finance Ltd has tied up with International Finance Corporation (IFC), part of the World Bank Group, to raise $800 million for green and affordable housing in India.
• Amazon has become the first foreign e-commerce firm to start its own food retail venture in India called Amazon Retail, piloting its services in Pune. It will reportedly be available on Amazon India platform and sell locally made and packaged food to the consumers directly.
• Crime drama Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri won maximum prizes at the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Awards 2018, which took place at the Royal Albert Hall in London, UK.
• Milkbasket, India’s first and largest micro-delivery platform has been recognised as ‘Startup of the Year’ 2017 at the 7th Small Business Awards held in New Delhi. Co-founder and CEO of Milkbasket is Anant Goel.