Daily Current Affairs and GK | 12 December 2024

Topic: Personality in News

1. Poet Nikki Giovanni passed away at the age of 81.

• Giovanni is an award-winning U.S. poet. Giovanni is regarded as one of the most prolific African-American poets.
• Giovanni received a Grammy nomination for her work on civil rights, gender and race issues.
• Giovanni was at the forefront of the Black Arts Movement.
• Giovanni’s most famous poems include 'Knoxville, Tennessee' and 'Nikki-Rosa'.
• The Black Arts Movement flourished between 1965 and 1974.
• Maya Angelou, James Baldwin, and Audre Lorde were among the authors who promoted Black literature and culture during the Black Arts Movement.
• She was honoured with the NAACP Image Award, the Rosa Parks Award and the Langston Hughes Award for Distinguished Contributions to Arts and Letters.
• 'The Nikki Giovanni Poetry Collection' was nominated for a Grammy in 2004 for Best Spoken Word Album.

Topic: MoUs/Agreements

2. Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) and Flipkart signed a MoU.

• DPIIT signed the MoU to invest in and mentor Indian startups.
• The partnership between DPIIT and Flipkart is aimed at encouraging the growth of entrepreneurs and innovators.
• The partnership further builds on existing efforts as part of the Flipkart Leap and Ventures initiative with its USD 100 mn fund.
• Flipkart has invested in 20 companies. It continues to identify startups with high growth potential.
• Startups will have access to government-published industry reports, research papers, datasets, and other studies for market research thanks to the partnership.

Topic: Indian Polity

3. Railways (Amendment) Bill 2024 has been passed by Lok Sabha.

• The bill seeks to amend the Railways Act 1989 which will enhance the power of the Railways Board.
• It will aim to improve the functioning and independence of the Railway Board.
• This bill will grant authority to the central government to determine the composition of the Railway Board, including the number of members, their qualifications, experience, and terms of service.
• All the provisions of the Indian Railway Board Act, 1905, are proposed to be incorporated into the Railways Act, 1989, through this Bill.
• The Railways Act, of 1989 had replaced the Indian Railways Act, 1890, but the Railway Board continued to operate without statutory sanction.

Topic: Indian Economy

4. RBI's Survey of Professional Forecasters (SPF) on Macroeconomic Indicators has lowered the Real GDP growth for FY25 downward to 6.80%.

• In the previous round (October), real GDP growth for FY25 was kept at 6.90%.
• The SPF panellists reduced their forecasts for FY26 real GDP growth from 6.7% in the previous round (October) to 6.6%.
• According to the RBI-conducted Survey of SPF, they projected GDP growth to be between 6.1 and 7.7% for FY25 and between 6.0 and 7.2% for FY26.
• For FY25, real gross fixed capital formation (GFCF) and real private final consumption expenditure (PFCE) are predicted to expand by 7.9% (unchanged) and 6.2% (6.5% in the previous round), respectively.
• The real gross value added (GVA) growth estimate was slightly lowered by the survey panellists to 6.7% for FY25 and 6.4% for FY26.
• According to the regular survey, annual headline inflation based on CPI-Combined is anticipated to be 4.8% in FY25 (compared to 4.5% in the previous survey) and 4.3% in FY26 (compared to 4.4% in the previous survey).
• The RBI's updated estimate of 4.8% CPI inflation for FY25 is in line with the SPF's revised estimate.