Daily Current Affairs and GK | 10 January 2025

Topic: Indian Economy

1. According to AMFI, SIP inflows surpassed Rs 26,000 crore for the first time in December.

• For the first time, the amount invested in systematic investment plans (SIPs) surpassed 26,000 crore rupees.
• In November, SIPs received 25,320 crore rupees, whereas in December, SIPs received 26,459 crore rupees.
• The Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) reports that inflows into open-ended equity mutual funds rose to around 41,156 crore rupees in December.
• Higher investments in small-cap and sectoral or thematic funds were the main drivers of this.

Topic: Personality in News

2. Playback singer P. Jayachandran died in Thrissur, Kerala.

• He died at the age of 80 on 9 January 2025. His career spanned more than six decades.
• He sang more than 16,000 songs in multiple languages, including Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Hindi, and Kannada.
• He is one of the most celebrated voices in South Indian cinema especially that of the Malayalam film industry.
• He won the National Film Award for Best Playback Singer, Kerala State Film Awards, Kalaimamani Award of the Government of Tamil Nadu, and the J C Daniel Award.
• P Jayachandran is affectionately called Bhava Gayakan.

Topic: Infrastructure and Energy

3. India’s National Highways recorded 60% growth in the last 10 years.

• The length of India’s National Highway network has increased from 91,287 km in 2014 to 146,195 km in 2024.
• India has the second largest road network in the world.
• National High-Speed Corridors have also increased from a mere 93 km in 2014 to 2,474 km in 2024.
• 2,540 km of highways have been added through Externally Aided Projects (EAP) with loan assistance from the World Bank, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), and the Asian Development Bank (ADB). 
• As part of the Bharatmala Pariyojana, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) plans to develop a network of 35 Multimodal Logistics Parks (MMLPs) with an investment of Rs 46,000 crore.
• These MMLPs will serve as regional cargo aggregation and distribution hubs for various industrial and agricultural nodes.
• The government has also introduced the Registered Vehicle Scrapping Facilities. It is operating in 19 states and UTs.

Topic: Art and Culture

4. 21st edition of the Third Eye Asian Film Festival has started in Mumbai.

• Chinese drama The Black Dog will be the first opening film of this festival.
• A total of 61 films have been selected for this festival.
• This film festival will be organized from 10-16 January and screenings of movies will be conducted in Andheri, Sion, and Thane.
• Films from countries including China, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Kazakhstan, Tunisia, and Bhutan will be showcased.
• Renowned lyricist and screenwriter Javed Akhtar will receive the Asian Cinema Culture Award during this festival.
• Journalist Rafique Baghdadi will receive the Satyajit Ray Memorial Award.

Topic: Art and Culture

5. Marathi language was officially given classical status.

• On January 8, Marathi language has been officially granted classical language status after the release of a Government Resolution (GR).
• Union Culture Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat handed over the government order officially recognizing Marathi as a classical language to Maharashtra Marathi Language Minister Uday Samant during their meeting in Delhi.
• However, the Union Cabinet had given the status of classical language to Marathi along with Assamese, Bengali, Pali and Prakrit on October 3 last year, but no official notification was issued in this regard.
• Mr Samant said this is a dream come true for Marathi speakers in Maharashtra and across the world.
• Furthermore, he announced that the Maharashtra government would soon submit a proposal to the central government outlining the benefits available to classical languages as per established rules.
• Samant said Union Minister Shekhawat will also visit Pune on January 31, February 1 and 2, to inaugurate the Marathi World Conference.
• Tamil was the first language to be given classical status in 2004. Sanskrit received classical status in 2005.

Topic: National Appointments

6. 24 Judicial and Technical Members have been appointed to the NCLT’s Principal Bench in New Delhi.

• Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) has made the announcement about their appointment on 7 January.
• 24 members include 11 Judicial Members and 13 Technical Members.
• They will serve a five-year tenure or until they reach the age of 65, whichever comes first.
• The Judicial Members include Justice Jyotsna Sharma, Sunil Kumar Aggarwal, and others.
• The Technical Members include Reena Sinha Puri, Siddharth Mishra, and others.
• The appointments will reduce pendency and fast-track resolutions.
• The National Company Law Tribunal adjudicates issues related to Indian companies.
• It is a quasi-judicial body and was founded on 1 June 2016.
• Its headquarters is in New Delhi. Chief Justice (Retd) Ramalingam Sudhakar is its current President.

Topic: State News/ Goa

7. 'Bima Sakhi Yojana' has been launched by the Government of Goa.

• Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant launched the Bima Sakhi Yojana' to provide insurance to all.
• Goa became the second state after Haryana to launch this flagship scheme.
• Bima Sakhi Yojana is an initiative launched by the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC).
• It has been designed to empower women aged 18-70 years, who are Class X pass.
• Under this scheme, women will receive specialized training and a stipend for the first three years to promote financial literacy and insurance awareness.
• They can work as LIC agents and the graduate Bima Sakhis could become development officer in L.I.C.

Topic: National Appointments

8. Tuhin Kanta Pandey has been appointed as revenue secretary.

• Tuhin Kanta Pandey became revenue secretary by replacing Arunish Chawla.
• Arunish Chawla has been appointed as the secretary in the department of investment and public asset management (DIPAM).
• Seniormost secretary in the ministry of finance become finance secretary.
• Tuhin Kanta Pandey is associated with the finance ministry since August 28, 2016.
• Arunish Chawla is 1992-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of the Bihar cadre.

Topic: Sports

9. Lionel Messi becomes first men’s footballer to win ‘Presidential Medal of Freedom’.

• Lionel Messi has been awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honour in the United States of America.
• The medal is presented to individuals who have contributed to the prosperity, values, or security of the United States, world peace, or other significant societal.
• He will be the second sportsperson to win the Presidential award after Megan Rapinoe.
• US President Joe Biden presented the award.
• Lionel Messi joined Inter Miami on a free transfer from Paris Saint-Germain in July 2023.
• He has won the Ballon d’Or and the FIFA Men’s Best Player in 2023.

Topic: Space and IT

10. Union Minister for Science and Technology, Dr. Jitendra Singh, chaired a high-level review of ISRO’s major upcoming space missions for 2025.

• The missions include the first "uncrewed" orbital mission under "Gaganyaan". 
• Other missions are two GSLV missions, a commercial launch of LVM3, and the ISRO-NASA collaboration on the NISAR satellite.
• In January, the GSLV-F15 mission will carry the NVS-02 navigation satellite to support the NavIC constellation.
• In February, the GSLV-F16 mission will launch NISAR. NISAR is an Earth observation satellite co-developed with NASA.
• The commercial LVM3-M5 mission is set for March.
• This will deploy BlueBird Block-2 satellites under a contract with the U.S.-based AST SpaceMobile.

Topic: MoUs/Agreements

11. An MoU has been signed between Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) and NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad to train animal welfare representatives.

• AWBI will celebrate animal welfare fortnight from 14th to 30th January 2025.
• Dr. Abhijit Mitra, Chairman, AWBI and Prof. Shrikrishna Deva Rao, Vice-Chancellor, NALSAR University signed the MoU.
• The MoU formalized a strategic partnership aimed at providing legal training to civil society members.
• The training will be provided to members who support District Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCAs) and State Animal Welfare Boards in their efforts to assist animals.
• The training will be conducted in batches, with a maximum of 25 participants per session.
• Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI), a statutory body of the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying. 
• The AWBI was set up under Section 4 of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (PCA) Act, 1960.
• It was set up for the promotion of animal welfare generally and for the purpose of protecting animals.

Topic: MoUs/ Agreements

12. An AI-powered agriculture network launched by the UP Government and Google Cloud.

• An MoU signed between the UP government and Google Cloud (India) to launch the Gemini-powered and Beacon-enabled Uttar Pradesh Open Network for Agriculture.
• Chief Secretary Manoj Kumar Singh and Anil Bhansali, Vice President of Google Cloud (India), signed the agreement aimed at revolutionizing agriculture in the state.
• This agreement reflects our commitment towards good governance and digital empowerment.
• The integration of weather stations installed across tehsils with this open network aims to deliver timely and precise data to farmers, empowering them with modern tools and resources for 21st-century agriculture.
• The aim of this initiative is to empower millions of farmers by providing them access to advisory services, credit, mechanization, and market linkages in one place to sell their produce.
• Farmers will also get accurate real-time information about microclimate and market prices, which is an important step towards achieving the state government's goal of doubling farmers' income.

Topic: Indian Economy

13. According to the UN, India retained the title of the world's fastest growing large economy, with a growth rate estimated at 6.6%.

• According to UN global economic monitoring chief Hamid Rashid, India will once again be the world's fastest growing large economy with an estimated annual growth rate of 6.6%.
• The UN’s flagship report, World Economic Situation and Prospects 2025 (WESP), released on January 9, estimates that gross domestic product (GDP) will grow slightly faster at 6.8% next year.
• India's economy will be boosted by "strong export growth in services and certain commodity categories, particularly pharmaceuticals and electronics."
• Overall global growth remained stable at 2.8%, while growth in advanced economies declined by 0.1% to 1.6% compared to the previous year.
• The forecast for China, the second-fastest growing economy, has fallen 0.1% to 4.8% this year and is expected to fall 0.3% next year from this year.
• The US economy has slowed further and is projected to grow by 1.9% this year, 0.9% lower than the 2.8% recorded last year.