Source: Cick Here

• On [latex]18^{th}[/latex] February every year Taj Mahotsav or Taj Festival is celebrated at Agra that reveals the rich cultural heritage of our country.


• This festival in 2019 will begins from 18th February and last till 27th February 2019. Taj Mahal represents the magnificence of Mughal era and displays the finest specimens of Indian craftsmanship.

Source: Cick Here

• Pakistan's support to terror and its involvement in Pulwama attack last week will be one of the focus as Saudi Arabia's crown prince Mohammad bin Salman visits India.


• He will be on a two-day India visit starting February 19th and 20th, after his visit to Pakistan.


• During his visit, bin Salman will be calling on President Ram Nath Kovind and will have bilateral talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This is the second meet between Prime Minister Modi and the Saudi prince in a span of 3 months.

Source: Cick Here

• US President Donald Trump called on his European allies to take back alleged jihadis captured in Syria, as Islamic State group militants defended the last scrap of their "caliphate".


• IS declared a proto-state across parts of Syria and neighbouring Iraq in 2014, but has since lost all of it except a tiny patch of less than half a kilometre square near the Iraqi border.

Source: Cick Here

• Facing a future demographic crisis and aging society, China's leaders are desperately seeking to persuade couples to have more children.


• But bureaucrats don't seem to have gotten the message, fining a couple in a recent widely publicized case for having a third child against the strict letter of the law.

Source: Cick Here

• Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as saying that Saudi Arabia has signed agreements with Pakistan worth $20 billion, Saudi-owned Arabiya TV quoted.


• The crown prince arrived in Pakistan earlier on the first stop of a trip to South Asia and China. His trip to Pakistan comes at a time amid escalating tensions between India and Pakistan.

Source: Cick Here

• Punjab CM Amarinder Singh announced a monthly pension of ₹10,000 to the parents of the CRPF constable Kulwinder Singh martyred in the Pulwama attack.


• The pension will be given in addition to the ₹7 lakh ex gratia and ₹5 lakh cash in lieu of land to his parents. Singh also announced naming a local school after the constable.

Source: Cick Here

• Naveen Patnaik, Chief Minister of Odisha, inaugurated and laid foundation stones for numerous development projects amounting to Rs 2,114 crore in Kalahandi district on 16th February 2019.


• The major projects inaugurated by him were Ret Medium Irrigation project which is constructed at a cost of Rs 768.46 crore, as stated officially. The project is expected to benefit 79 villages by providing them with irrigation facility for 8500 hectares of agricultural land under the four blocks of Bhawanipatna, Kesinga, Narla and Lanjigarh in the district.


• 38 more developmental projects worth Rs 1346 crore– out of which 23 projects were completed at an estimated cost of Rs 910.57 crore, while foundation stones were laid for 15 others, expected to incur a cost of Rs 435.28 crore.


• The chief minister also released Rs 15,000 each to 11,122 women self-help groups as seed money, Rs 25 lakh each to 14 block-level Mahasanghs, Rs 3000 each to 9836 SHGs as digital empowerment assistance under the ongoing Mission Shakti programme.

Source: Cick Here

• Condemning the Pulwama terror attack, Shiv Sena MLC Manisha Kayande on Saturday said that people should boycott tourism in Jammu and Kashmir for next two years.


• She claimed whenever militants attack, locals pelt stones on jawans to help them get away. She also demanded a boycott of all Chinese goods, saying that the country was supportive of Pakistan.

Source: Cick Here

• Sikkim CM Pawan Chamling announced ₹3 lakh each as compensation to the families of the CRPF jawans who were martyred in the Pulwama terror attack.


• Pawan Chamling said "The government of Sikkim will sponsor the education of their (the martyrs') children.

Source: Cick Here

• Four Army personnel, including a Major, were martyred on [latex]18^{th}[/latex] February in an encounter with terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district.


• Two terrorists were also killed by the security forces during the encounter, which is underway. The identity of the killed terrorists is yet to be ascertained.

Source: Cick Here

• Indiamoneyinsurance.com, a subsidiary of the Indiamoney.com Group has acquired a broking license from Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) of India’s to enter Insurance Business.


• The company will come to process within next few days and projects to hire 2000 employees before the year ends.


• The brokerage also projects to institute 500 purchase centres of insurance across India with an investment of Rs. 4 billion.

Source: Cick Here

• The domestic equity market’s bearish momentum continued on Monday, as benchmark Sensex slipped over 200 points in early trade amid selling across most sectors.


• While rupee’s weakness was cited as the immediate trigger for the selling spree, uninspiring December quarter earnings, a spike in crude oil prices, geopolitical tension on the Kashmir front and political uncertainty ahead of the general elections kept investors away from the market.

• India with immediate effect has boosted the Customs Duty on all the goods imported from Pakistan to 200% followed by the day after India repealed Most Famous Nation (MFN) status from Pakistan.


• This punitory move followed by the Pulwana Terrorist attack on 14th February, 2019 that led to the death of 42 CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force).


• This step is likely to strike Pakistan’s exports to India which were $381 million in the April-Nov period and for overall FY18, it was $489 million.


• This 200% tariff rate is higher than average bound rate of 113.5% for agriculture products and 34.6% for non-agriculture products.

Source: Cick Here

• Windies' all-rounder Chris Gayle has announced he'll retire from ODI cricket following the 2019 World Cup, which will take place from May 30 to July 14 in England and Wales.


• The 39-year-old made his ODI debut against India in 1999, and has scored 9,727 runs in 284 ODIs so far. Gayle is the second highest ODI run-scorer among Windies' players.

Source: Cick Here

• DSport, the official broadcaster of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2019 in India, has suspended the broadcast of the tournament in the wake of the Pulwama terror attack.


• The channel was to reportedly black out the tournament from Friday night but couldn't due to some technical issues. The telecast was suspended from Saturday's Lahore Qalandars and Karachi Kings' match onward.

Source: Cick Here

• The Raigarh Municipal Corporation of Chhattisgarh has won the Swachhata Excellence awards 2019.


• The Municipal Corporations of Ambikapur of Chhattisgarh won second and the Municipal Corporations of Kumbakonam of Tamil Nadu bagged the third prizes respectively. The Awards were given by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) as part of the Shehri Samriddhi Utsav.

Source: Cick Here

• William Barr was sworn in for his second stint as the US attorney general, taking the helm of the Justice Department as special counsel Robert Mueller investigates Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.


• As the country’s chief law enforcement officer, Barr will oversee the remaining work in Mueller’s investigation into potential coordination between the Kremlin and the Trump campaign and decide how much Congress and the public know about its conclusion.

Source: Cick Here

• Pramod Chandra Mody, a 1982-batch IRS Officer was appointed as the new chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) which is the policy making body of the Income Tax Department.


• He has been appointed in place of Sushil Chandra, who was on Thursday named as Election Commissioner ahead of the Lok Sabha polls due this summer.


• Having worked on various posts in the I-T Department, he was currently working as the Member (Administration) in the CBDT.


• His tenure would last till June 2019.

Source: Cick Here

• Infosys, the country’s 2nd largest IT firm has launched a next generation digital platform ‘InfyTQ’ to facilitate engineering students with best learning experiences by imparting technical and professional skills.


• InfyTQ is a free platform available on both mobile and desktop, featured with always-on, anytime, anywhere learning catered through a continuous transfer of digital skills.


• The app will assist the students with latest happenings, conceptual and practical aspects of technology, extensive hands on learning, etc.

Source: Cick Here

• 77 years old Swiss actor, Bruno Ganz who is famous for his role of German dictator, Adolf Hitler in the Oscar nominated film Downfall, died at his home in Zurich, Switzerland due to colon Cancer.


• Bruno Ganz was born on 22nd March 1941 and he was active in German theatre, film and television for more than 50 years.


• He was Iffland-Ring holder at the time of death and he was honoured with European Film Academy Lifetime Achievement award and David di Donatello for Best actor.

Source: Cick Here

• The best-selling British author Andrea Levy, who explored the experience of Jamaican British people in a series of novel over 20 years, has died from the cancer at the age of 62.


• She was known for penning books ‘The Long Song’ and ‘Small Island’.


• She was conferred with Orange prize for fiction, Whit bread book of the year, Commonwealth writers prize, etc.


• She is said to be the first black British author to achieve both critical and mainstream commercial success.

A. South Africa B. Austria C. Australia D. Argentina Answer: D

A. Train 20 B. Vande Bharat Express C. India Freedom Express D. Garibrath Express Answer: B

A. Haryana B. Odisha C. Telangana D. Andhra Pradesh Answer: D

A. 229,068 B. 225,065 C. 228,054 D. 231,054 Answer: A

A. Ryan Kesler B. Tony Granato C. Van Doren D. Sidney Crosby Answer: C

A. Vimal Chand B. Chetan Kumar C. Lakshya Sen D. Sourabh Verma Answer: D

A. Angelique Kerber B. Venus Williams C. Simona Halep D. Elise Mertens Answer: D

A. Jeremy Wright B. Caroline Mulraney C. William Barr D. Daryl Mueller Answer: C

A. Usman Khalifa B. Faizel Ismail C. Tanmay Bhatt D. Alan Hirsch Answer: B

A. Ahmed Joudah B. Ab Maiduguri C. Zannah Mustapha D. Abdul Aziz Muhamat Answer: D

A. Chhattisgarh B. Punjab C. Maharashtra D. Odisha Answer: A

A. Journalism B. Actor C. Singer D. Director Answer: B

A. Karnataka B. Maharashtra C. Chattisgarh D. Goa Answer: D

A. Krone B. Dollar C. Euro D. Peso Answer: D

A. Buenos Aires B. Kiev C. Amsterdam D. Kingston Answer: A

A. Krone B. Riel C. Dirham D. Won Answer: C

A. Pakistan B. China C. Myanmar D. Saudi Arabia Answer: A

A. North Korea B. Israel C. South Korea D. Brazil Answer: C

A. Ross Taylor B. Martin Guptill C. Chris Gayle D. Lasith Malinga Answer: C

A. China B. Pakistan C. US D. India Answer: B

A. Bipin Kumar Jha B. Sushil Chandra C. Vivek Dahiya D. Ranjan Misra Answer: B

A. Abu Dhabi B. Kuwait C. Tehran D. Damascus Answer: A

A. North Korea B. Israel C. Iran D. China Answer: C

A. UAE B. Saudi Arabia C. China D. Qatar Answer: B

A. United Kingdom B. Australia C. New Zealand D. United States Answer: D

A. Ankita Raina B. Sania Mirza C. PV Sindhu D. Saina Nehwal Answer: D