Daily Current Affairs and GK | 1 and 2 January 2025

Topic: State News/ Uttarakhand

1. Uttarakhand forest department developed a garden based on Mahabharata.

• The Uttarakhand forest department has developed the ethnobotanical garden at Haldwani to showcase ecological and environmental knowledge in Mahabharata.
• More than 37 plant species have been grown in this ethnobotanical garden.
• The plants include Khair (Acacia catechu), Kovidar (Bauhinia variegata), Bargad (Ficus benghalensis), Peepal (Ficus religiosa), Dhak (Butea monosperma), etc.
• A portion of Mahabharata is called Vana Parva/Aranya Parva.
• The Mahabharata has hymns on the importance of planting trees, creating water bodies, protecting tigers, etc.
• “Ramayana Vatika” in Haldwani was also set up by the state forest department.

Topic: State News/ Kerala

2. Wayanad landslide has been declared a disaster of ‘severe nature’.

• The Union government has declared the Wayanad landslide a disaster of ‘severe nature’.
• The state was putting pressure on the Centre to declare the landslide a disaster of ‘severe nature’.
• The state government has also requested the central government to waive off loans for the disaster-affected people.
• The estimated loss from the disaster is about Rs 1,202 crore and the state government requested Rs 2,262 crore for the rehabilitation package.
• However, there is no mention of any special fund for the state.
• This disaster claimed 254 lives and left 128 missing.

Topic: Defence

3. Defence Ministry declared 2025 as ‘Year Of Reforms’.

• To encourage ongoing and upcoming reforms in the defence sector, the Ministry of Defence has designated 2025 as the Year of Reforms.
• The goal of these reforms is to make sure that the Armed Forces become a combat-ready, technologically advanced force that can conduct integrated operations across multiple domains.
• To realise this objective, several critical areas have been highlighted for focused intervention during 2025.
• These include increasing defence manufacturing, modernising infrastructure and enhancing procurement processes.
• Increasing the integration of cutting-edge technologies like drones, artificial intelligence, and cyberwarfare capabilities is another one of these areas.
• Measures will be taken to promote research and development and establish the nation as a reliable exporter of defence items.
• Additionally, efforts will be made to optimise veteran welfare programs.

Topic: Defence

4. Indian Navy will commission three indigenously built warships at Naval Dockyard, Mumbai.

• On January 15, the Indian Navy will put the three locally constructed warships Nilgiri, Surat, and Vaghsheer into service at the Naval Dockyard in Mumbai.
• The warship Nilgiri is equipped with cutting-edge electronics and stealth features.
• Significant design and functional advancements have been made in the Surat.
• With their state-of-the-art aviation facilities, Nilgiri and Surat are able to fly a variety of helicopters both during the day and at night.
• One of the world's quietest and most adaptable diesel-electric submarines is Vaghsheer.
• It is built to perform a variety of tasks, including as special operations, intelligence collection, area surveillance, anti-surface and anti-submarine warfare.
• Vaghsheer is equipped with sophisticated sonar equipment, anti-ship missiles, and wire-guided torpedoes.
• Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited in Mumbai is where all three platforms were designed and built.

Topic: State News/ Madhya Pradesh

5. 40 years after the Bhopal gas tragedy, toxic waste was lifted from the Union Carbide factory for safe disposal.

• Forty years after the Bhopal gas tragedy, about 377 tonnes of hazardous waste from the closed Union Carbide factory on January 1 began being shifted for disposal.
• The toxic waste is being loaded into 12 sealed container trucks and transported to the Pithampur industrial area in Dhar district, 250 km from Bhopal.
• Director of Bhopal Gas Tragedy Relief and Rehabilitation Department, Swatantra Kumar Singh said that a green corridor has been created for vehicles carrying hazardous waste.
• Around 100 people worked in 30-minute shifts to pack the waste and load it into trucks.
• Initially, some of the waste will be burnt at the waste disposal unit in Pithampur and the residue (ash) will be examined to find out if any harmful elements are left.
• The smoke from the incinerator will pass through special four-layer filters so as not to pollute the surrounding air.
• On the intervening night of 2–3 December 1984, highly toxic methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas leaked from the Union Carbide pesticide factory.
• It killed at least 5,479 people and left thousands with serious and long-term health problems.
• It is considered one of the world's worst industrial disasters.
• On December 3, the Madhya Pradesh High Court reprimanded authorities for not clearing the Union Carbide site in Bhopal despite Supreme Court directions and set a four-week deadline to shift the waste.

Topic: Government Schemes and Initiatives

6. ONOS launched by the government to provide seamless access to digital knowledge resources.

• The "One Nation, One Subscription" scheme has been launched by the Government starting on 1 January.
• The aim of the initiative is to provide seamless access to a wide range of digital knowledge resources including research papers, journals and academic content under a single subscription platform.
• The scheme is expected to benefit students, researchers and institutions across the country as it will remove many memberships related barriers and ensure equal access to knowledge.
• More than 1.8 crore students from government-funded higher education institutions, including universities and IITs, will have access to research papers published in top journals across the world.
• Under the first phase of the initiative, over 13,400 international journals covering science, technology, engineering, medicine, mathematics, management, social sciences, and the humanities are being made available to researchers.
• With a budget of Rs. 6,000 crores for a period of three years, the ONOS scheme is a centrally mandated and centrally funded national consortium for electronic journal subscriptions.
• It will also provide central financial assistance of Rs 150 crore per year to beneficiary authors for publishing in selected good-quality open access journals.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: Environment and Ecology

7. In 2020, India's greenhouse gas emissions decreased by 7.93% from the year before.

• According to data provided to the UN climate change office, India's GDP's emission intensity decreased by 36% between 2005 and 2020.
• According to fourth Biennial Update Report (BUR-4) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), total national emissions in 2020 were 2,959 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent, excluding land use change.
• Emissions have increased by 98.34% since 1994.
• India is aiming to reduce GDP emission intensity by 45% by 2030 and achieve 50% electric power capacity from non-fossil fuels.

Topic: National Appointments

8. Air Marshal Jeetendra Mishra took over the command of the Indian Air Force's Western Air Command on January 1, 2025.

• In December 1986, he was commissioned as a fighter pilot in the Indian Air Force.
• The Air Marshal has held key command and staff positions during his 38 years of service.
• Air Marshal Pankaj Mohan Sinha, who retired after more than 39 years of service, is replaced by Air Marshal Mishra.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: Government Schemes and Initiatives

9. Cabinet approved the extension of PM Fasal Bima Yojana, a weather-based crop insurance scheme till 2025-26.

• Government has decided to extend the timeline of the PM Fasal Bima Yojana and Restructured Weather Based Crop Insurance Scheme till 2025-26.
• The overall outlay of the scheme has been increased to 69 thousand 515 crore rupees.
• Under this scheme, 88 per cent of insured farmers are small and marginal farmers. 57 per cent of insured farmers are from OBC, SC, and ST.
• Union Cabinet has approved the extension of One-time Special Package on Di-Ammonium Phosphate (DAP) fertilizers beyond the Nutrient Based Subsidy.
• The government has also approved the proposal to extend the Special Package till further orders to ensure sustainable availability of DAP at affordable prices to the farmers.
• The farmers will continue to get DAP at one thousand 350 rupees per bag of 50 Kilogram.
• It will ensure the DAP availability to farmers at subsidized, affordable and reasonable prices.
• PM Fasal Bima Yojana was launched on 18 February 2016.

Topic: State News/ Delhi

10. Delhi government launched ‘Pujari Granthi Samman Yojana’.

• Arvind Kejriwal announced the ‘Pujari Granthi Samman Yojana’.
• Under this scheme, a monthly honorarium of ₹18000 will be given to Hindu and Sikh priests.
• The registration for the Pujari Granthi Samman Yojana has started.
• Earlier, Arvind Kejriwal launched the Mahila Samman scheme to provide a stipend of ₹2100 per month to unemployed women.

Topic: Indian Economy

11. In October 2024, monthly exports from India's services industry reached an all-time high of $34.31 billion.

• In comparison to October 2023, the exports from services industry in India grew by 22.3% in October 2024.
• This has been brought on by ongoing policy support and investments in digital infrastructure, such as data centres and high-speed internet.
• The internet, applications, emails, and digital intermediation platforms are the services traded through computer networks. Such services have grown exponentially.
• India now exports $257 billion worth of digitally provided services, up from a meagre $30 billion in 2005.
• Since 2010, growth has been especially remarkable. By 2014, exports had nearly quadrupled from $20 billion to $80 billion.
• Prior to Covid, the increase was steady and reached $191 billion in 2019. Exports almost doubled from their pre-Covid peak by 2023.

Topic: Corporates/Companies

12. SAIL achieved the 'Great Place to Work' certification for the second consecutive year.

• The 'Great Place to Work' certification has been granted to Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) for the January 2025–January 2026 period.
• After a comprehensive survey by the Great Place To Work Institute, SAIL obtained the certification.
• Direct input from SAIL employees served as the basis for the survey.
• The first certification period for SAIL was December 2023–December 2024.
• An international organisation called the Great Place to Work Institute recognises companies that provide exceptional employee experiences.

Topic: Infrastructure and Energy

13. China released a prototype of the world’s fastest train.

• China has unveiled its next-generation high-speed train, the CR450 prototype. It can reach up to a speed of 450 km/h.
• CR450 will replace CR400, which can operate at a speed of 350 Km/h.
• This milestone has been achieved through extensive research and development.
• The train’s braking system has been optimised to ensure stability and safety at these unprecedented speeds.
• It will have advanced systems like water-cooled, permanent magnet traction and a high-stability bogie system.
• It is a significant step towards in the field of China’s high-speed rail ambitions.

Topic: Indian Economy

14. Anti-dumping duty has been imposed by Finance Ministry on digital plates from five countries.

• The five countries are China, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan and Vietnam.
• Finance Ministry has imposed a definitive anti-dumping duty on digital plates coming from these five countries for a period of five years.
• The revenue department has imposed definitive anti-dumping duty based on recommendations of the Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) in its final findings on sunset review petition.
• TechNova Imaging Systems (P) Ltd. had filed the petition seeking sunset review of anti-dumping duty.
• The current anti-dumping duties were imposed in July 2020. They are in force till January 29, 2025.
• Digital Offset Printing Plates (DOPP) are commonly known as Digital Plates. DOPP are used in the printing industry. They are made from high purity litho grade aluminium coils.