Daily Current Affairs and GK | 12 and 13 January 2025
Main Headlines:
- 1. Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Ashwini Vaishnaw visited Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) in Pune.
- 2. Maha Kumbh Mela started on 13 January in Prayagraj with Amrit Snan.
- 3. ISRO brought satellites to the 3-meter range under SpaDex.
- 4. Union Minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh inaugurated the Mega Entrepreneurship Conclave in Pune.
- 5. India and Mongolia will sign an agreement in the field of geology and exploration.
- 6. FC Barcelona defeated Real Madrid by 5-2 to win their 15th Spanish Super Cup.
- 7. RBI has raised the monetary ceiling of gold loans under Bullet Repayment Scheme.
- 8. Devajit Saikia and Prabhtej Singh Bhatia elected unopposed as secretary and treasurer, respectively, of BCCI.
- 9. The second meeting of Inland Waterways Development Council (IWDC) announced investments of over ₹50,000 crore in next five years.
- 10. The Bharat Cleantech Manufacturing Platform launched by Union Minister Piyush Goyal at the Bharat Climate Forum 2025 in New Delhi.
- 11. National Youth Day 2025: 12 January
- 12. South India’s first Infectious Disease Research and Diagnostic Laboratory will be established by BMCRI.
- 13. India joined the UN committee on big data for official statistics.
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Topic: Miscellaneous
1. Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Ashwini Vaishnaw visited Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) in Pune.
- Mr. Vaishnaw took an overview of the work being done at CDAC concerning the creation of chips and other technical devices needed to advance supercomputer technology.
- He officially unveiled the Teja JAS 64 chip, which was created by the Nova Development Board and CDAC.
- In order to develop the chips and semiconductors needed by electronic industries, he stated that an electronic cluster will be established in Ranjangaon.
- In Pune, he also went to the Film and Television Institute of India.
- He officially opened the institute's main auditorium on campus.
Topic: Art and Culture
2. Maha Kumbh Mela started on 13 January in Prayagraj with Amrit Snan.
- Maha Kumbh started on the occasion of Paush Poornima. It is the world’s largest spiritual and cultural gathering.
- Millions of pilgrims, devotees, and tourists visit Triveni Sangam's numerous ghats to take sacred dips.
- Triveni Sangam is the confluence of Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati rivers.
- Millions of devotees will attend the Sangam to observe the ancient Kalpvas tradition in addition to the ritual bath.
- As per ancient beliefs, Kalpvas will be observed by devotees for one month till Magh Poornima
- Maha Kumbh Mela will continue till Mahashivaratri on 26th February.
- Maha Kumbh this year is special considering a rare celestial alignment that takes place only once in 144 years.
- Kalpvas is mentioned in the Mahabharata. It is a month-long period of spiritual practices during Kumbh Mela.
Topic: Space and IT
3. ISRO brought satellites to the 3-meter range under SpaDex.
- Two Indian satellites came within three metres during a trial for space docking.
- The Indian Space Research Organization successfully brought the SDX01 (Chaser) and SDX02 (Target) satellites at a 3-meter distance before moving them back to a safer distance.
- All the sensors developed by ISRO for this mission have been fully calibrated and tested before docking experiments.
- After analyzing data, the satellites will attempt an exciting handshake.
- On 30th December, SpaDeX had placed the satellites in a 475-kilometre orbit.
- ISRO postponed the historic docking twice to refine calibrations and algorithms.
- A successful docking will make India the fourth country with a space docking facility in the world.
- Two fast-moving spacecraft are maneuvered into the same orbit, brought closer together, and then "docked" as part of the docking procedure.
Topic: Summits/ Conferences/ Meetings
4. Union Minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh inaugurated the Mega Entrepreneurship Conclave in Pune.
- Union Minister for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Rajiv Ranjan Singh inaugurated the Mega Entrepreneurship Development Conclave in Pune.
- He inaugurated 40 livestock projects worth more than 545 crore rupees.
- The main aim of the conclave is to unite policymakers, federations, cooperatives, industry associations, entrepreneurs and financial institutions.
- This platform is a platform for the stakeholders to discuss challenges, share solutions and promote entrepreneurship.
Topic: Summits/ Conferences/ Meetings
5. India and Mongolia will sign an agreement in the field of geology and exploration.
- India will sign a preliminary agreement with Mongolia in the area of geology and exploration.
- Mongolia is rich in copper and coking coal and India is dependent on imports to meet the rising demand of Copper.
- India's cabinet has approved the MoU between both countries.
- Indian and Mongolian officials are working out supply routes for Indian companies to source copper and coking coal.
- India’s JSW Steel and SAIL were in talks with Mongolian authorities to import two shipments of coking coal.
Topic: Sports
6. FC Barcelona defeated Real Madrid by 5-2 to win their 15th Spanish Super Cup.
- Barcelona defeated Real Madrid by 5-2 in a thrilling Spanish Super Cup final in Saudi Arabia.
- This win marks the first trophy for Barcelona under manager Hansi Flick.
- It was the third straight win for Barcelona in 2025 after it lost two games in a row to end last year.
- Lewandowski has made 26 goals in 27 appearances across all competitions for Barcelona.
- The tournament was introduced in 1982 as a two-team competition between winners of the La Liga and Copa del Rey.
Topic: Banking System
7. RBI has raised the monetary ceiling of gold loans under Bullet Repayment Scheme.
- Earlier limit was two lakh rupees. New limit is four lakh rupees for Urban Co-operative Banks.
- According to the Union Cooperation Ministry, this will eliminate the challenges that the Urban Co-operative Banks are now facing.
- Additionally, this will assist in reaching the designated Priority Sector Lending goal.
- The government is dedicated to bolstering cooperatives and treating them similarly to other types of businesses.
Topic: National Appointments
8. Devajit Saikia and Prabhtej Singh Bhatia elected unopposed as secretary and treasurer, respectively, of BCCI.
- Saikia, the incumbent joint-secretary, was the lone candidate. Bhatia, who has earlier served as a councilor, was also the lone candidate.
- Election officer A.K. Joti appointed them as office-bearers in BCCI’s Special General Meeting on January 12, 2025.
- There was need for election since Jay Shah and Ashish Shelar had to vacate their posts.
- Jay Shah resigned on November 30 before taking over as the International Cricket Council chair on December 1.
- Ashish Shelar stepped down after taking oath as a Minister in Maharashtra’s cabinet last month.
Topic: Infrastructure and Energy
9. The second meeting of Inland Waterways Development Council (IWDC) announced investments of over ₹50,000 crore in next five years.
- New initiatives across 21 Inland Waterway States were announced worth over ₹1400 crore.
- Over ₹3000 crore will be invested for development of NW2, NW16 and the Indo Bangladesh Protocol Route (IBPR) by 2030.
- Union Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal presided over the meeting.
- He said the Ministry has aimed at launching 1000 Green vessels.
- He said success of Kochi’s Water Metro Project will be expanded to 15 cities of India including Guwahati.
- Over ₹23,000 crores have been earmarked for New National Waterways Development and Green Shipping initiatives in Inland Waterways.
- He also launched National River Traffic & Navigation System. This has been launched as an attempt to make sure seamless and sustainable movement of Inland vessels.
- The second meeting of IWDC was organised by the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI).
- IWAI is the nodal agency for the development of waterways under the Ministry of Ports, Shipping & Waterways.
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Topic: Government Schemes and Initiatives
10. The Bharat Cleantech Manufacturing Platform launched by Union Minister Piyush Goyal at the Bharat Climate Forum 2025 in New Delhi.
- The platform is an initiative designed to enhance India's clean technology value chains across solar, wind, hydrogen, and battery storage sectors.
- This platform will promote innovation and help India become a global leader in sustainability.
- The Minister also pointed out that product-linked incentives (PLI) and subsidies are detrimental to the long-term growth and development of the clean energy sector.
- The PLI scheme can only help accelerate the sector, but the clean energy sector should strive to become self-reliant.
- The Minister expressed hope that the participants of the Forum will be successful in achieving the target set by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi of installing 500 GW of clean energy sources in the country by 2030.
- India has been one of the best performing countries in meeting its Nationally Determined Contributions (NCDs) presented in 2015 to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Paris Agreement.
Topic: Important Days
11. National Youth Day 2025: 12 January
- Every year on 12th January, National Youth Day is celebrated in India, which is also known as Rashtriya Yuva Diwas.
- The birth anniversary of India's greatest philosopher and spiritual leader, Swami Vivekananda, is celebrated every year as National Youth Day since 1985.
- In 1984, the government announced 12th January as National Youth Day.
- Swami Vivekananda founded the Ramakrishna Mission in 1897. Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa was his guru.
- Swami Vivekananda was born in Kolkata on January 12, 1863, as Narendranath Datta. He died in 1902.
- On January 11, 2025, the Viksit Bharat Young Leader’s Dialogue and the National Youth Festival were inaugurated by Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya.
- The event, held at Bharat Mandapam, brought together over 3,000 young leaders from across India for thematic discussions and creative competitions.
Topic: Biotechnology and Diseases
12. South India’s first Infectious Disease Research and Diagnostic Laboratory will be established by BMCRI.
- Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute (BMCRI) will establish South India’s first Infectious Disease Research and Diagnostic Laboratory (IRDL).
- This laboratory will allow infectious disease research to be conducted within Bengaluru.
- This facility will focus on diseases caused by bacteria, fungi, and parasites.
- It will enable quicker diagnostics and improved management of such conditions.
- This facility has been established as part of the government initiative to establish specialized laboratories in medical colleges nationwide.
- Under this project, focus will be given to capacity building in areas like – bacteriology, mycology, and parasitology.
Topic: Committees/ Commissions/Taskforces
13. India joined the UN committee on big data for official statistics.
- India joined the UN Committee of Experts on Big Data and Data Science for Official Statistics (UN-CEBD).
- The UN-CEBD was formed to investigate the benefits and challenges of Big Data including the potential for monitoring and reporting on sustainable development goals.
- India will contribute to shaping global standards and practices in harnessing Big Data and data science for official statistical purposes.
- Big Data and advanced data science techniques will revolutionize the production and dissemination of official statistics.
- India aims to modernize its statistical processes by integrating non-traditional data sources such as IoT, satellite imagery, and private sector data streams.
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