Dear Readers, Here we have given the list of Important Weekly Current Affairs of Feb 15th to 21st Feb 2023. Candidates those who are preparing for Upcoming SBI Clerk 2023 and other competitive exams can make use of it.

CURRENT AFFAIRS:IMPORTANT DAYS

• The United Nations (UN) World Day of Social Justice is annually observed on February 20 to encourage people to look at how social justice affects poverty eradication.

CURRENT AFFAIRS:NATIONAL NEWS

• According to the Ministry of Communications, 7% of Indian villages do not have a 4G mobile network.
• The Supreme Court had ruled that Competition Commission of India (CCI) can impose penalties only on the basis of relevant turnover of specific product or service.
• Union Minister for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Shri Giriraj Singh inaugurated the Mission Antyodaya Survekshan (MAS) 2022-23 at a function in New Delhi, which also included the launch of its portal and mobile application.
• PM Modi inaugurated Uttar Pradesh Global Investors Summit 2023 in Lucknow.
• The National Philatelic Exhibition – AMRITPEX 2023 was inaugurated by Union Minister of Communications Ashwini Vaishnav at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi.
• The 14th edition of the Aero India Show has been inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Bengaluru.
• 'The Runway to a Billion Opportunities' is the theme of the five-day event.
• The yearly meeting of members of River Cities Alliance (RCA), DHARA was organised in Pune.
• India’s first frozen lake marathon is set to be held on February 20, with the Indian Army and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) tasked with executing a “proper action plan” for the event in Ladakh’s Pangong Tso.
• The frozen lake marathon will take place at an altitude of 13,862 feet.
• President inaugurates 2nd edition of Indian Rice Congress in Cuttack.
• PM Modi launched year-long celebrations commemorating Maharishi Dayanand Saraswati’s 200th birth anniversary.
• PM Modi inaugurated this 246-km section from Dausa in Rajasthan, 2023.
• Scientists have expressed apprehension that the proposed Rs 16,000-crore Pune-Nashik high-speed rail project could jeopardise the operations of the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT) near Pune.
• The country's first solid waste-to-hydrogen plant will be set up in Pune at a cost of over Rs 430 crore.
• The Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways (MoPSW)has set up a high level panel for formulating the guidelines for the operationalisation of Ro-Ro (Roll-on, Roll-off) and Ro-Pax ferry services.
• ReNew Power, a pioneer in the renewable energy space, has made a strategic decision to rebrand itself as ReNew.
• Recently, the government has launched a mobile app namely ‘Khanan Prahari’ and a web app Coal Mine Surveillance and Management System (CMSMS) for reporting unauthorized coal mining activities.
• The Union Cabinet has given approval to the signing of an MoU between India and South Africa for cooperation in the disability sector.
• Innovative Horticulture for Self Reliance” will be the theme of the four-day National Horticultural Fair (NHF) 2023 being organised in Bengaluru from February 22.
• Shinku La Tunnel construction was approved by the Union Cabinet to provide all-weather connectivity in Ladakh.
• The Union Cabinet has approved strengthening the country's cooperative movement and taking it to the grassroots level.
• The Union Cabinet has approved a Centrally Sponsored Scheme- Vibrant Villages Programme with a financial allocation of 4,800 crore rupees for the fiscal years 2022-23 to 2025-26.
• Under Project Cheetah, a total of 12 African cheetahs including seven males and five females will reach Kuno National Park, Madhya Pradesh.
• KAVACH-2023 has been launched in New Delhi to advance India’s cyber-preparedness .
• Rail Post Gati Shakti Express Cargo Service has been launched by Indian Railways.
• North India’s first nuclear power plant will come up in Haryana in the village of Gorakhpur in Fatehabad district, 150 km north of the national capital.
• According to a report produced by NASSCOM in collaboration with Zinnov, a management consulting firm despite a slowdown in startup funding, India continues to be the third largest tech start-up ecosystem globally, with over 1,300 active tech start-ups added in CY2022.
• The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has approved a ₹5,666 crore deal related to Dalmia Cement’s acquisition of cement, clinker and power plants of Jaiprakash Associates Limited (JAL).
• The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has approved a ₹5,666 crore deal related to Dalmia Cement’s acquisition of cement, clinker and power plants of Jaiprakash Associates Limited (JAL).
• The Civil Aviation Minister recently stated that the country has effective international to-domestic connectivity as well as domestic Tier-I to Tier-II connectivity.
• India has set a target of achieving $14 billion in exports of marine products by 2025 and efforts are being made to achieve the target.
• As renewable energy sources gain prominence in India’s power generation, the share of coal is projected to decline to 69 percent by 2025 from 74 percent at present
• To empower youth by providing them entry-level skill training in Railway Training Institutes, “Rail Kaushal Vikas Yojana” (RKVY) has been notified on Indian Railways.
• Under the Bhasini initiative, the Ministry of Electronics and IT is building a WhatsApp-based chatbot that relies on information generated by ChatGPT.
• The Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairy, Phase-III, "Sagar Parikrama," will start from Surat, Gujarat's Hazira Port.
• The researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)- Delhi have designed and developed a time capsule that is scheduled to be opened in 2047.

CURRENT AFFAIRS:INTERNATIONAL NEWS

• India and the United States (US) have moved ahead to jointly develop air-launched unmanned aerial vehicles (ALUAV) that will be used for surveillance missions, in a massive boost to Indo-US defence ties
• During India’s G20 presidency, the top priority in agriculture for India is food security and nutrition, following which India is planning to propose the launch of a global initiative - MIIRA, to encourage the consumption and production of millets.
• Russia supplied India with around $13 billion of arms during the past 5 years.
• The Ministry of Culture is organizing the First G20 Culture Group (CWG) meeting in Khajuraho, Madhya Pradesh (MP) from 22nd to 25th February 2023.
• According to the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) report, titled “Global Sea-Level Rise and Implications”, Between 2013 and 2022, global mean sea-level rose by5 millimetre (mm).
• India’s Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and his Spanish counterpart Mr Pedro Sanchezagreed to collaborate on issues such as digital infrastructure, climate action, clean energy and sustainable development.
• Indian-origin Republican leader Nikki Haley formally launched her S. Presidential Campaign for 2024.

CURRENT AFFAIRS:STATE NEWS

• The Tamil Nadu (TN) Chief Minister (CM) M K Stalin released the ‘Tamil Nadu Electric Vehicles (EV) Policy 2023’ .
• The Sports Department of Uttar Pradesh (UP) signed memorandums of understanding (MoU) with HCL Foundation to strengthen the Grassroots Sports Ecosystem And Infrastructure And Build High-Performance Centre.
• West Bengal (WB) Finance Minister (FM) Chandrima Bhattacharya presented a Rs 3.39-lakh crore budget for the Financial Year (FY) 2023-24.

CURRENT AFFAIRS:BANKING & FINANCE

• Financial Literacy Week (FLW) is being organised by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) from February 13 to February 17, 2023.
• State Bank of India (SBI) has started its 3rd specialised branch for start-ups in the country at Gurugram to support and provide all banking services required by Start-ups under one roof.
• One97 Communications Limited that owns leading payments and financial services company Paytm, launched a special G20-theme, QR Code to celebrate India's presidency of the inter-governmental forum and the country's leadership in mobile payments.
• Bank of Maharashtra (BoM) has launched its own private cloud infrastructure, Mahabank Nakshatra, to facilitate high-performance cloud capabilities for digital infrastructure and hosting applications of the bank.
• HDFC Bank has launched a pilot project under the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) Regulatory Sandbox program in partnership with Crunchfish, to test offline digital payments for merchants and customers.
• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) updated its 'Alert List' for the public on unauthorised forex trading platforms to include 14 more names of entities/platforms/ websites which appear to be promoting unauthorised entities/Electronic Trading Platform (ETPs), including through advertisements of such unauthorised entities or claiming to be providing training/advisory services
• South Indian Bank has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Maruti Suzuki to provide dealer finance options and custom auto retail financing solutions for
• South Indian Bank has launched a wealth management platform - SIB Wealth in partnership with Geojit Financial Services Ltd
• South Indian Bank had signed the agreement with Telangana’s government’s Directorate of Treasuries & Accounts (DTA) (Cyber Treasury), Hyderabad, Telangana. 
• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is organizing its 2nd global hackathon – “HARBINGER 2023 – Innovation for Transformation” with the theme ‘Inclusive Digital Services’.
• Paytm Payments Banks Limited (PPBL) has launched the Unified Payments Interface (UPI LITE), enabled by the National Payments Corporation of India

(NPCI) for multiple small-value UPI transactions.

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has granted in-principle approval to 32 entities to operate as an online payment aggregator (PA) & 19 new PAs to operate as online PAs.
• The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) introduced the issue summary document (ISD) for filing papers about Initial Public Offer (IPO) and for further issue of securities in XBRL (Extensible Business Reporting Language) format, a move that will help provide data to stakeholders in a structured manner.
• The European Investment Bank (EIB), the bank of the European Union, formally agreed to join the India Hydrogen Alliance (IH2A) and expand support for large-scale green hydrogen hubs and projects across India with indicative funding of €1 billion
• The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a USD 130 million (over Rs 1,072 crore) loan to increase agricultural productivity and promote horticulture agribusinesses to raise farmers' income in Himachal Pradesh  (HP) under the HP Subtropical Horticulture, Irrigation, and Value Addition Project.
• EbixCash Limited, a subsidiary of US-based Ebix Inc, has become the first company in India to launch and enable Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions for foreign nationals visiting India.
• HDFC Bank has become the first private sector bank in India to take up a service that allows customers to use RuPay credit cards on a unified payments interface (UPI) with Bharat Interface for Money (BHIM)and other UPI-enabled apps.
• Housing Development Finance Corporation Ltd (HDFC) concluded a sale of 10-year non-convertible debentures (NCDs) worth Rs 25,000 crore, marking the largest domestic rupee bond issuance by a corporate in India.
• The National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), working under the aegis of Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (MSDE), Government of India (GoI) has entered into a partnership with HDFC Life, India’s life insurer, under the Skill India Mission, to support self-employment and augment entrepreneurial opportunities.
• Capital Market Regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) notified governance norms for Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) and Infrastructure Investment Trusts (InvITs) on the lines of listed companies.
• During Q3FY23, public-sector banks (PSBs) in India wrote off bad loans worth Rs 29,000 crore, up from Rs 23,000 crore in the same quarter of the previous year.
• DriveU, a leading car driver service and a super-app for car owners, partnered with SMC Insurance Brokers Pvt. Ltd to provide car insurance for over 650,000 DriveU customers.
• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) introduced Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA) related transaction code in National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT) and Real Time Gross Settlement System (RTGS) systems.
• 20 Russian banks, including Gazprom, Rosbank, Tinkoff Bank, Centro Credit Bank, and Credit Bank of Moscow, have opened rupee vostro accounts with authorized dealer banks in India to enable rupee trade between the two countries.
• Aditya Birla Sun Life Insurance (ABSLI), the life insurance subsidiary of Aditya Birla Capital Limited (ABCL), has launched 'ABSLI Anmol Suraksha Kawach', to address the short-term protection needs of the policyholders.
• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has issued draft guidelines on minimum capital requirements for market risk as a part of the convergence of banking regulations with Basel III standards.

CURRENT AFFAIRS:BUSINESS NEWS

• India, Brazil and the US will work together to establish a global biofuel alliance along with other interested countries.
• Retail inflation increased to a three month high level of 6.52% in January 2023.
• ₹25,000 crore is estimated to be collected from Special Additional Excise Duty (SAED) for FY23.
• WPI inflation declined for the eighth consecutive month to 4.73% in January 2023.
• Central Board of Direct Taxes has introduced fresh norms for filing of statements for equalisation levy by companies that would allow the tax commissioner to reject returns that they deem to be invalid and has said that personal appearance of assessees for clarifications is not needed.
• Public sector general insurance companies like New India, United India, National Insurance, Oriental Insurance and General Insurance Corporation Re have Rs 348-crore exposure in Adani Group companies.
• India’s wheat production during the current crop year (July 2022-June 2023) has been estimated at a record high of 112.18 million tonnes (mt) - 5 percent higher than 106.84 mt last crop year.
• India’s overall exports from April to January in the current financial year are estimated to show a positive growth of 17.33% over the same period last year.
• Hindustan Unilever's Surf Excel detergent brand crossed a billion dollars in annual sales in 2022, the first brand in India's home and personal care category to reach that mark.
• Food delivery major Zomato has launched The Shelter Project, under which the company has started building public infrastructure (called Rest Points) to support the entire gig economy and delivery partners of various companies.
• India’s total spend on private wireless networks is expected to reach around $250 million by 2027, which will have 2,000+ sites for private wireless networks by then, according to Nokia's annual Mobile Broadband Index (MBiT) report.
• India is setting up a fund worth Rs33000 crore ($4 billion) to provide liquidity to its corporate debt market during bouts of stress, to help stem panic selling and ease redemption pressures.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: ACQUISITIONS & MERGERS

• Tata Steel Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and managing director (MD) TV Narendran stated that the merger of 7 subsidiary companies with Tata Steel is expected to be completed in 2023-24 fiscal year (FY24).
• Chinese company Alibaba is learnt to have sold 3.16% direct stake or 2.1 crore shares in digital financial services firm One97 Communications Limited (OCL), which operates under Paytm brand, for about Rs 13,600 crore in a block deal.
• Kotak Mahindra Bank Limited (KMBL) has entered into binding share purchase agreement(s) to acquire 100% of equity shares of Sonata Finance Pvt Ltd (SFPL), a Non-Banking Finance Company – Micro Finance Institution (NBFC-MFI), from existing shareholders for a cash consideration of about ₹537 crore.
• HDFC Bank has executed an agreement to sell its entire stake 9.95% (1,65,731 Equity Shares) in Softcell Technologies Global Private Limited (STGPL) at ₹600.36 per equity share for a consideration of ₹9.94 crore.

CURRENT AFFAIRS:APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNATIONS

• The Ministry of Law and Justice, Government of India (GoI) notified the appointment of Chief Justices (CJ) in 4 High Courts namely, Gujarat High Court, Tripura High Court, Gauhati High Court and Jammu-Kashmir and Ladakh High Court.
• Former foreign minister, Nikos Christodoulides, has been elected the 8th president of Cyprus, beating the career diplomat Andreas Mavroyiannis.
• A former judge and freedom fighter, Mohammad Shahabuddin Chuppu, has been declared as the next president-elect of Bangladesh by the country’s Election Commission.
• The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) has elected Chartered Accountant (CA) Mr Aniket Sunil Talati as President of ICAI & CA Mr Ranjit Kumar Agaarwal as Vice President (VP) for the year 2023-24.
• Moldovan Prime Minister (PM) Ms Natalia Gavrilita stepped down from her position citing a lack of support in the former Soviet Republic.
• Mumbai-based affordable housing finance company, West End Housing Finance Ltd., has appointed reputed banker Mr. Jagdish Capoor as its
• Drugmaker Pfizer Limited’s Board of Directors has appointed Ms Meenakshi Nevatia as an Additional Director and the Managing Director (MD) for a period of 5 years with effect from April 3, 2023.
• YouTube Chief Executive officer (CEO) & one of the first Google employees, Susan Wojcicki, is stepping down from her role in the tech giant that started in her garage 25 years ago.
• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has appointed Shri Vikramaditya Singh Khichi, former Executive Director (ED) of Bank of Baroda, as a member of the Advisory Committee on Reliance Capital.
• The Board of Directors AU Small Finance Bank (SFB) has appointed Kavita Venugopal as Non-Executive Independent Director (Additional Director) on the bank’s Board with effect from March 29, 2023, for 3 years.
• Mr. David Malpass would step down from the post of World Bank (WB) President by the end of June 2023, before his five-year term expires.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: AWARDS AND HONOURS

• Egyptian President Abel Fattah Al-Sisi presented Niyati Totala and Neel Kapeshkumar Parikh with the IIT Indore Global Best M-Gov Award.
• Angela Merkel has been awarded the Felix Houphouet-Boigny UNESCO Peace Prize in Yamoussoukro, the capital of the Ivory Coast.
• Union Home Minister will present the President's Colour Award to the state police at a ceremony at the Haryana Police Academy.
• A renowned writer Subhash Chandran bagged the Akbar Kakkattil award for his novel 'Samudrasila'.
• Karnataka Bank has won Prathista Puraskar under Digidhan Awards 2021-22.
• Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar 2019, 2020, and 2021 presented to 102 artists in India.

CURRENT AFFAIRS:SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

• The Centre has designated All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, also known as AIIMS Delhi as the centre of excellence (CoE) for Artificial Intelligence (AI) in
• JANUS-1 satellite that rode on Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO’s) new mini-rocket SSLV-D2 and reached its orbit successfully.
• Tech Mahindra has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology (MCIT), Saudi Arabia to establish a Data & Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Cloud Center of Excellence (CoE) in
• SpaceX is a big step closer to sending its giant Starship spacecraft into orbit, completing an engine-firing test at the launch pad.
• The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has developed a technology that can remotely detect the tiniest motions of the body that will be used by disaster relief teams in earthquake-stricken Turkey.
• The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Rishikesh conducted the first successful trial for transporting anti-tuberculosis (TB) drugs with the help of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) to the district hospital in Tehri Garhwal in Uttarakhand.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: SPORTS NEWS

• The International Cricket Council announced that the ICC World Test Championship 2021-23 final will take place at The Oval, London from June 7 to 11.
• Real Madrid won the Club World Cup by defeating Saudi Arabia’s Al-Hilal by 5-3 in the final in Rabat, Morocco.
• Singapore has been awarded the hosting rights for the 2025 World Aquatics Championships, replacing Russian city Kazan which is hoping to secure the event in 2029.
• The third edition of Khelo India Winter Games concluded in Gulmarg with a grand function attended by over 2,000 participants, including players, tourists and officials of different departments.
• 32-year-old Jeje Lalpekhlua has announced his

CURRENT AFFAIRS:BOOKS AND AUTHOR

• Westland Books announced the publishing of the official biography of superstar Sridevi.

CURRENT AFFAIRS:DEFENCE NEWS

• United States (US) aerospace major Boeing launched its first global support center (GSC) in India at Gurugram, Haryana.
• The 4th edition of the annual joint military exercise, “EX DHARMA GUARDIAN”, between India and Japan is being conducted at Camp Imazu in Shiga province, Japan from 17 February to 02 March 2023.

CURRENT AFFAIRS:MOUS AND AGREEMENT

• India and Fiji have signed MoU on visa exemption for holders of diplomatic and official passports.
• Navratna Defence PSU Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL) and Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru signed an MoU.
• India and Spain agreed to collaborate on digital infrastructure, climate action, and sustainable development.
• Uttar Pradesh Sports Inks MoUs With HCL Foundation To Strengthen The Grassroots Sports Ecosystem And Infrastructure And Build High-Performance Centre.
• Ola Electric Mobility Pvt Ltd (OEM) signed an MoU with the Tamil Nadu government to set up a cell manufacturing plant and electric 4-wheeler manufacturing plant in SIPCOT Pochampalli, Bargur, Krishnagiri district at a combined investment of ₹7,614 crore.
• The Central Water Commission (CWC), Department of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation, Ministry of Jal Shakti entered into a Memorandum of Agreement for Development of International Centre of Excellence for Dams (ICED) under externally funded Dam Rehabilitation and Improvement Project Phase II and Phase III.
• Homegrown financial technology firm Velocity launched India's first Artificial Intelligence (AI) chatbot integrated with OpenAI's ChatGPT, called "Lexi".
• Tripartite MoU signed amongst Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports, NIPER Hyderabad,and FSSAI to deal with the problem of doping in sports

CURRENT AFFAIRS:PERSON IN NEWS

• Rayyana Barnawi will be the first woman astronaut from Saudi Arabia to Visit International Space Station (ISS). 

CURRENT AFFAIRS:RANKING AND REPORTS

• Mumbai and Bengaluru are among five best performing residential markets in Asia Pacific in terms of annual price growth with 7 per cent increase in rates in both the cities, according to Knight Frank.
• IIMs Indore and Lucknow have secured their place in the Master of Business Administration (MBA) 2023 rankings released by the Financial Times.
• FTSE Russell, the global index service provider added 10 Indian listed companies to its Global large-cap index.
• India has been ranked fourth out of 51 countries in having a quality entrepreneurship ecosystem reflecting the steady rise in the nation's business environment over the years.

CURRENT AFFAIRS:ENVIRONMENT

• Recently, birders, wildlife enthusiasts and forest officials have sighted 145 different bird species during the first Sundarban Bird Festival.

CURRENT AFFAIRS:OBITUARIES

• Noted painter & late actor-filmmaker Guru Dutt's sister, Lalitha Lajmi, Passed away at the age of 90.
• Veteran Yakshagana playback singer and scriptwriter Balipa Narayana Bhagawatha passed away at the age of 84 in Dakshina Kannada district of Karnataka.