1.
Rankings & Reports
World Reputation Rankings 2025 (Times Higher Education - THE)
Evaluates universities based on academic excellence & global recognition.
Harvard University ranked #1 for 14th consecutive year.
MIT & Oxford University share #2 position.
300 universities from 38 countries ranked.
Top 5 universities:
1. Harvard University (USA)
2. MIT (USA) & Oxford (UK) (Tied)
3. Stanford University (USA) & Cambridge University (UK) (Tied)
4. University of California, Berkeley (USA)
Top Indian Institutes (Ranked 201-300):
o IISc Bangalore
o IIT Delhi
o IIT Madras
o Siksha ‘O’ Anusandhan (Bhubaneswar, Odisha)
IIT Bombay exits 2025 rankings.
India’s Rankings in Global Indices:
Logistics Performance Index 2023 (World Bank) - India ranked 38th (Singapore
1st).
Forbes Women Billionaire List - Savitri Jindal & Family ranked 7th.
FutureBrand Index 2024 - RIL ranked highest from India.
2. Appointments & Resignations
B.V.R. Subrahmanyam continues as CEO, NITI Aayog till Feb 2026.
Other Key Appointments:
o Jyoti Sharma - CEO, NASSCOM Foundation.
o Neeraj Parakh - CEO, Reliance Power.
o Hiroki Totoki - CEO, Sony Group.
o Vikram Kasbekar - CEO, Hero MotoCorp.
3. Banking, Finance & Economy
RBI’s Open Market Operation (OMO) Auction:
RBI received ₹1.87 trillion bids against a notified amount of ₹40,000 crore.
RBI has purchased ₹1 trillion worth of government securities via OMOs in 2024-25.
India’s GDP Projection (Moody’s Report):
2024: 6.6%
2025: 6.4% (Projected decline).
Global Growth Forecast:
o 2025: 3.7%
o 2026: 3.5%
NBFC Lending:
Bank Credit to NBFCs falls to 4-year low of 6.7% in 2024.
NBFCs raised ₹3.64 lakh crore via External Commercial Borrowings (ECB) in
2024 – a 5-year high.
Paytm launches India’s first Solar-Powered Payment Soundbox:
Paytm Solar Soundbox helps merchants accept UPI & RuPay payments.
Charges in 2-3 hours of sunlight, lasts a full day.
Battery backup: 10 days on electric charge.
Supports 11 Indian languages.
4. MoUs & Agreements
Bisleri & ASI sign MoU under ‘Adopt a Heritage 2.0’ initiative.
Objective: Restoration of historic water bodies.
Water bodies included:
o Chand Baori, Abhaneri (Rajasthan)
o Baori at Neemrana (Rajasthan)
o Padma & Rani Talabs at Ranthambore Fort (Rajasthan)
o Budha Budhi Pond at Kalinjar Fort (Uttar Pradesh)
5. National News
PM Modi to attend Mauritius National Day as Guest of Honour:
Mauritius celebrates National Day on March 12 (Independence from British rule in
1968).
In 2024, President Droupadi Murmu was the Chief Guest.
Soil Health Card Scheme completes 10 years:
Launched: Feb 19, 2015, at Suratgarh, Rajasthan.
Purpose: Provide soil health reports to farmers.
Issued cards increased from 16.84 lakh (2020-21) to 53.08 lakh (2024-25).
Govt spent ₹1706.18 crore to implement the scheme.
6. International News
UNESCO launches ‘Imagine a World with More Women in Science’ Campaign:
Launched on 10th anniversary of International Day of Women & Girls in Science
(Feb 11, 2025).
Hashtag: #EveryVoiceInScience.
Aim: Promote women’s role in scientific progress.
7. Sports News
Vishvaa Rajakumar wins Global Memory Championship:
20-year-old Indian student from Puducherry.
Won Memory League World Championship by recalling:
o 80 random digits in 13.50 seconds.
o 30 images in 8.53 seconds.
Virat Kohli becomes fastest to 14,000 ODI runs:
Breaks Sachin Tendulkar’s record (287 innings vs. Tendulkar’s 350 innings).
Achieved the milestone during Champions Trophy match against Pakistan.
Most catches by an Indian fielder in ODIs:
o Kohli surpasses Mohammed Azharuddin’s 156 catches (now at 158 catches).
o All-time record holders:
1. Mahela Jayawardene (Sri Lanka) - 218 catches.
2. Ricky Ponting (Australia) - 160 catches.
3. Virat Kohli (India) - 158 catches.
8. Awards & Honours
Mopa Airport (Goa) wins ‘Sarvashrestha Suraksha Puraskar’ (Golden Trophy):
Awarded under ‘Service Sector’ category at NSCI Safety Awards 2024 (Mumbai).
Developed by GMR Goa International Airport Limited (GGIAL).
First Indian airport to receive this award.
Other Key Awards:
Golden Peacock Award for CSR - Coal India Ltd.
Forward Faster Sustainability Award (Water Resilience) - NTPC Ltd.
Grande Médaille - Tom Cruise.
Knighthood (British Empire) - Natarajan Chandrasekaran (Tata Group
Chairman).
Governor of Massachusetts’ Citation - Nita Ambani.
SKOCH Award - Nagaland Forest Management Project.
9. Science & Tech
Microsoft unveils ‘Magma’ – a new AI model:
Multimodal AI that can process images & text in digital & physical environments.
Developed by Microsoft Research, University of Maryland, and University of
Washington.
Based on Llama 3 AI model.
10. Important Days
World Thinking Day 2025 – February 22.
o Theme: "Our Story".
Other Important Days:
o Feb 15: International Childhood Cancer Day (Theme: "Inspiring Action").
o Feb 20: World Day of Social Justice (Theme: "Strengthening a Just
Transition for a Sustainable Future").
11. State/UT News
UP Assembly becomes 1st in India to introduce translation facility:
Supports Awadhi, Braj, Bhojpuri, Bundelkhandi & English.
Lok Sabha now includes: Bodo, Dogri, Maithili, Manipuri, and Sanskrit & Urdu.
