News in Short

• Prime Minister Naftali Bennett arrived in Bahrain for the first-ever official visit by an Israeli head of government to the Gulf state.
• Bennett’s visit is the latest following the US-brokered 2020 Abraham Accords, which defied decades of Arab consensus that ruled out ties with Israel in the absence of a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He is due to meet King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa.
• Bahrain and its close ally the United Arab Emirates became only the third and fourth majority Arab states- following Egypt and Jordan- to establish ties with Israel.

• Legendary Bengali singer Sandhya Mukhopadhyay passed away in Kolkata after a brief illness. She was 90.
• Sandhya Mukhopadhyay took Bengali songs to new heights, whether it was playback singing for films or songs released during Durga Puja, which emerged as a new genre and labelled modern Bengali songs.
• Sandhya trained under Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan and was later associated with legends like Begum Akhtar. 
• In 1971, she bagged the national award for best female playback singer for songs in the films Jai Jayanti ( 1970) and Nishi Padma ( 1970).

• India’s merchandise exports touched $34.5 billion in January, 25.3% higher than a year ago, while imports grew at a slightly slower pace.
• While January’s goods exports are 8.75% lower than December’s all-time record figure of $37.81 billion, it takes India’s exports near the $400 billion target set for 2021-22.
• This marks a nearly 47% increase from a year ago and a 27.1% increase over the pre-COVID period of 2019-20.Gold imports fell sharply during January to just $2.4 billion,

• Punjabi actor-turned-activist Deep Sidhu, accused of being the key conspirator of the Red Fort violence on Republic Day, passed away in an accident.
• Sidhu had participated in the farmers’ agitation against the Centre’s three farm laws at the Delhi borders.
• He was arrested on February 9, 2021, in connection with the Red Fort violence on Republic Day during the farmers’ tractor parade against the Centre’s three agriculture laws.

• Iconic Bollywood singer-composer BappiLahiri has passed away in a Mumbai hospital on February 16. He was 69.
• BappiLahiri is best known for his works in Wardat, Disco Dancer, NamakHalaal, Dance Dance, Commando, Saheb, Gang Leader, Sailaab and Sharaabi and was immensely popular in the 1980s and 1990s for his music compositions.
• He popularised the use of disco music in Indian cinema and also gave some major box office hits in Bengali.