• Sanjay Bhandari, an accused arms dealer wanted in India on money laundering and tax evasion charges, is pursuing a separate legal battle of his own in France over an alleged unpaid cut from a large Indian defence contract dating back over 10 years.

• Bhandari, 59, has filed a case against French defence major Thales Group demanding he be paid his full "consultancy fee" of EURO 20 million for his role as an intermediary in winning the company an estimated EURO 2.4 billion contract to modernise the Mirage 2000 fleet of fighter jets for the Indian Air Force (IAF).

• Thales firmly denies any such agreement or contract with the Indian businessman, who describes himself as a "well-known commercial intermediary involved in arms and defence in India" in court papers filed at the Tribunal de Commerce in Nanterre, near Paris.

• Bhandari, who is currently on conditional bail in Britain ahead of an extradition hearing expected to begin in London on February 21, is also said to have applied for political asylum claiming persecution by the BJP-led government due to his links to the Opposition Congress Party.

• Telecom sector in India witnessed a growth of 4.24% in Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) in the July to September quarter 2021, according to latest data of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India.

• The Gross Revenue (GR) and Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) of telecom service sector for this quarter are Rs 67,300 crore and Rs 53,510 crore, respectively.

• Thus, GR increased by 3.86% and AGR increased by 4.24% in July to September quarter 2021, as compared to previous quarter. 

• A division bench of the Madras High Court has dismissed the appeal by SpiceJet against an order winding up the firm and having its assets taken over by an official liquidator on the grounds of inability to pay dues owed to a Swiss aircraft maintenance company.

• India has secured approval of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) for the export of domestic mangoes to America in the new season.

• The export of Indian mangoes has been restricted by the US since 2020 as the USDA inspectors were unable to visit India for inspection of irradiation facilities due to restrictions imposed on international travel because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

• On November 23, 2021, the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare and the USDA signed a framework agreement for implementing the "2 Vs 2" agri-market access issues.

• Under the agreement, India and the US will follow a joint protocol on irradiation for India's mango and pomegranate exports to the US and import of cherries and Alfalfa hay from America.

• According to the ministry, India had exported 800 Metric Tonnes (MTs) of mangoes to the US in 2017-18 worth USD 2.75 million. Similarly, in 2018-19, 951 MT mangoes of USD 3.63 million were exported and 1,095 MT worth USD 4.35 million in 2019-20.

The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) said that this would also provide an opportunity for the export of other delicious varieties of mangoes from North and East India, such as Langra, Chausa, Dushehri, Fazli, etc from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal.

The United States announced that India would allow imports of US pork and pork products for the first time, welcoming the removal of an old block on US farm trade.

• Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and US Trade Representative (USTR) Katherine Tai made the announcement in a statement.

• In 2020, the United States was the world's third-largest pork producer and the world's second-largest exporter, with global sales of pork and pork products valued at $7.7 billion, according to USTR data.

• Last year, the United States exported more than $1.6 billion worth of agricultural products to India.

• The German automaker BMW unveiled its first-ever concept vehicle called the iX Flow with “E Ink” that can change colors.

• The concept car also has a 31-inch “BMW Theatre Screen” with Amazon Fire TV that’s expected to go into future production vehicles.

• The fluid color changes are made possible by a specially developed body wrap that’s similar to the material used in an Amazon Kindle E-Reader that’s tailored to the contours of the all-electric vehicle. When stimulated by electrical signals, the electrophoretic technology brings different color pigments to the surface, causing the body skin to take on the desired coloration.

The BMW iX Flow featuring E Ink can only change colors through a scale of white, grey and black.

• The last date to file Income Tax Returns has been extended to March 15, 2022.

• In a tweet, the Ministry of Finance said that the due date to file income tax returns for the assessment year 2021-22 had been extended "on consideration of difficulties reported by taxpayers and stakeholders due to Covid and in electronic filing of various reports".

New Zealand fast bowler Kyle Jamieson was fined 15 per cent of his match fee for using "inappropriate language" after dismissing Yasir Ali during the just-concluded second Test against Bangladesh in Christchurch.

New Zealand won the second Test against Bangladesh by an innings and 117 runs to level the series and hand a befitting farewell to veteran batter Ross Taylor, who retired from the red-ball format after having represented the Kiwis 112 matches.