- As per the latest Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Gautam Adani’s net worth reached $88.5 billion surpassing Mukesh Ambani the richest person in Asia at $87.9 billion. He has become the 10th richest person in the world with his personal wealth increased by about $12 billion. Globally, Elon Musk was named as the world’s richest person with a net worth of $235 billion. He was followed by Jeff Bezos with a net worth of $183 billion and Bernard Arnault with a net worth of $168 billion.
- India’s first commercial-scale biomass-based hydrogen plant will be set up in the Khandwa district of Madhya Pradesh. The plant will generate 1 ton of Hydrogen each day from 30 tonnes of biomass feedstock. The plant is being set up by a joint venture of Watomo Energy Ltd and Biezel Green Energy with an investment of Rs 24 crore. The company has technology for a ‘thermally accelerated anaerobic digestion (TAD) reactor’ which can produce hydrogen, methane and biochar from biomass.
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- India has become the first country in the world to have a DNA vaccine against COVID-19. ZyCoV-D, the world’s first plasmid DNA needle-free vaccine, is manufactured by Ahmedabad-based vaccine manufacturer Zydus Cadila and was first administered in Patna. It is a painless injectable vaccine given at intervals of 28 days and 56 days. This is the second indigenous vaccine to receive emergency authorization in India after Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin.
- The Ministry of Health has issued new guidelines for people coming from abroad. As per the new guidelines, 7 days home quarantine will not be necessary on arrival from abroad, but travellers will have to do self-monitoring for 14 days. If the passenger feels symptoms of the corona during self-monitoring, then he should isolate himself at home and contact the nearest health centre. Besides, it will not be necessary for people who have taken the full dose of the vaccine to show RT-PCR negative reports of the corona. The new guidelines will come into effect from February 14.
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- Prime Minister Narendra Modi has dedicated the 216 feet high ‘Statue of Equality’ in Hyderabad to the nation in the memory of the 11th-century Bhakti saint Ramanujacharya. The statue has been conceptualized by Chinna Jeeyar Swami of Sri Ramanujacharya Ashram. The inauguration of the statue is a part of the 12-day Sri Ramanuja Millennium Celebrations, the ongoing 1000th birth anniversary celebrations of the Bhakti saint.
- The United States was India’s top trading partner in the calendar year 2021 with a trade of $112.3 billion. China is at the second spot after America. The value of trade between India and China was $110.4 billion. China was India’s top trading partner in 2020 and the US was in second place. The USA was India’s top trading partner in 2019 and China ranked second. India’s top trading partners in order were the USA, China, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arab, Switzerland, Hong Kong, Singapore, Indonesia and South Korea.
- Salesforce, a leading player in Customer Relationship Management, published the Global Digital Skills Index 2022, which highlights the growing global digital skills crisis and the need for action. India has scored 63 out of 100, leads digital skills readiness, and has the highest readiness index among 19 countries. The average global preparation score was 33 out of 100.
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- RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das informed after the latest meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), that it has been decided not to make any changes in the repo and reverse repo rates. The repo rate that decides the interest rates of the loan is currently 4% and the reverse repo rate is 3.35%. RBI has not changed the repo rate for the 10th time in a row. Earlier in the year 2020, the central bank had cut the repo rate by 0.75% (75 bps) in March and 0.40% (40 bps) in May and since then the repo rate has slipped to a historic low of 4%. Since then RBI has not made any change in the rates. Moreover, RBI has proposed to increase the cap under e-Rupee prepaid digital vouchers. RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said that the existing limit of Rs 10,000 has been increased to Rs 1 lakh per voucher. E-Rupee is basically a digital prepaid voucher, which is received by a customer in the form of SMS or QR code on his phone.
- Legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar has passed away at the age of 92 after suffering from multi-organ failure. The Bharat Ratna awardee was hospitalized after suffering from pneumonia and tested positive for the coronavirus disease in January. 2 days of National mourning was observed on the event. Here cremation ceremony was performed with state honour.
- The unemployment rate in India fell sharply to 6.57% in January 2022, according to data from the Center for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), an economic think-tank. This is the lowest rate seen since March 2021. In December 2021, the unemployment rate rose to a four-month high of 7.91%, compared to 6.97% in November.