Daily Current Affairs and GK | 14 January 2025
Main Headlines:
- 1. Russia shipped a nuclear reactor vessel for the Kudankulam nuclear plant.
- 2. Odisha becomes the 34th state to implement Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana scheme.
- 3. India’s GDP growth will be 6.7% in the next fiscal: Crisil
- 4. India’s net direct tax collection has increased by about 16% to around 16 lakh 90 thousand crore rupees in FY25 so far.
- 5. Utkarsh was launched on 13 January 2025 at L&T, Kattupalli, Chennai.
- 6. In December, India’s retail inflation rate dropped to 5.22%, marking a four-month low.
- 7. Union Minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh inaugurated Entrepreneurship Development Conclave in Pune, Maharashtra, on 13 January.
- 8. MP government launched the Swami Vivekananda Yuva Shakti Mission.
- 9. PM Modi launched Mission Mausam on the occasion of the 150th foundation day of IMD.
- 10. DRDO developed HIMKAVACH has successfully passed all user trials in actual operation.
- 11. India Meteorological Department (IMD) will complete 150 years on 15 January 2025.
- 12. India’s total renewable energy capacity reached to 209.44 gigawatts (GW).
- 13. Indonesia's Mount Ibu volcano erupted and spews hot lava.
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Topic: Infrastructure and Energy
1. Russia shipped a nuclear reactor vessel for the Kudankulam nuclear plant.
- Russia's Rosatom has shipped the 320-ton reactor vessel for the sixth 1,000 MW atomic power plant being built in Kudankulam in Tamil Nadu from Novorossiysk sea port.
- The production cycle for making a reactor vessel is two years.
- The Kudankulam plant in Tamil Nadu will have six reactors with a total installed capacity of 6,000 MW.
- A set of four steam generators for the sixth unit of the Kudankulam NPP in India will be shipped in 2025.
- Currently, four power units are being built at the Kudankulam site.
- The first two units were connected to India’s national grid in 2013 and 2016.
- Construction and installation work on the third and fourth units is nearing completion.
- Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant is the largest nuclear power station in India.
Topic: State News/ Odisha
2. Odisha becomes the 34th state to implement Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana scheme.
- The Odisha government signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the National Health Authority (NHA).
- It has integrated Odisha’s existing Gopabandhu Jan Arogya Yojana (GJAY) to Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana scheme.
- The integration of both schemes will provide healthcare coverage of ₹5 lakh per family annually, with an additional ₹5 lakh for women.
- The scheme will cover about 1.03 crore families, with 67.8 lakh families funded by the Union Government.
- It aims to transform healthcare accessibility for nearly 86% of Odisha’s population.
- Odisha residents now gain access to nearly 2,000 medical procedures spanning 27 specialities.
Topic: Indian Economy
3. India’s GDP growth will be 6.7% in the next fiscal: Crisil
- According to a Crisil Intelligence report, India’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth is projected to be 6.7% in the next fiscal year (FY25).
- Headline inflation is progressing toward the RBI’s 4% target.
- The Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation has decreased to 5.2% in December from 5.5% in November.
- The report highlighted that sustained decline in food inflation, combined with stable non-food inflation would create a room for RBI of rate cut in coming months.
- Food inflation declined to 8.4% from 9%, while non-food inflation remained stable at 3.1%.
- Agricultural growth is also likely to rise and this will boost farm incomes and rural consumption.
Topic: Indian Economy
4. India’s net direct tax collection has increased by about 16% to around 16 lakh 90 thousand crore rupees in FY25 so far.
- Direct tax collections surpassed 76% of the budget estimates (BE) of Rs 22.07 lakh crore.
- As per the Central Board of Direct Taxes, gross direct tax collection has grown by around 20% to over 20 lakh crore rupees.
- This is a significant rise from nearly 17 lakh crore rupees collected in the same period of the last fiscal year.
- The corporate tax contributed nearly ten lakh crore. The contribution of non-corporate tax stood at around 11 lakh crore rupees.
- Securities Transaction Tax (STT) recorded an increase of 80% from April 1, 2024, to January 12, 2025.
- STT already exceeded BE of ₹37,000 crore in December 2024.
Topic: Defence
5. Utkarsh was launched on 13 January 2025 at L&T, Kattupalli, Chennai.
- Utkarsh is second of the two Multi-Purpose Vessels, being built by L&T Shipyard for the Indian Navy.
- Utkarsh was launched by Dr Smt Sushmita Misra Singh, spouse of Shri Rajesh Kumar Singh, Defence Secretary.
- ‘Utkarsh’ means ‘Superior in Conduct’. Ministry of Defence and L&T Shipyard on 25 March 2022.
- The 106 m vessels are designed to achieve a maximum speed of 15 knots.
- These Multi-Purpose Vessels will have capability of towing ships, launch and recover various targets.
- They will be capable of operating unmanned autonomous vehicles and acting as a trial platform for indigenous weapons under development.
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Topic: Indian Economy
6. In December, India’s retail inflation rate dropped to 5.22%, marking a four-month low.
- According to data published by the Ministry of Statistics, prices for vegetables, pulses, and sugar decreased over the month.
- In October, inflation reached 6.21%, marking a 14 month high level. In November, the CPI inflation rate fell to 5.48 percent.
- In December, the housing inflation rate compared to the previous year was 2.71%, a decrease from November's rate of 2.87%.
- The housing index is prepared exclusively for the urban sector.
- In December 2024, the five items with the highest year-on-year inflation at the All India level were peas, potatoes, garlic, coconut oil, and cauliflower.
- Jeera, ginger, dry chillies, and LPG were the key items showing the lowest year-on-year inflation in December 2024.
Topic: Summits/Conferences/Meetings
7. Union Minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh inaugurated Entrepreneurship Development Conclave in Pune, Maharashtra, on 13 January.
- The conclave is organised by the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying under the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying.
- It is themed “Empowering Entrepreneurs: Transforming Livestock Economies.”
- The conclave brings together policymakers, industry leaders, and stakeholders from the livestock sector to encourage innovation and drive growth.
- The aim of Entrepreneurship Development Conclave is to provide a platform for discussions on challenges and opportunities in the livestock sector.
- The inauguration of the National Livestock Mission – Entrepreneurship Development Programme (NLM-EDP) Dashboard is the key highlight of the conclave.
- NLM-EDP Dashboard will offer an organized summary of key project information.
- Another highlight of the conclave is the launch of 40 projects supported under Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development Fund (AHIDF) and NLM-EDP, worth Rs. 545.04 crores.
Topic: State News/ Madhya Pradesh
8. MP government launched the Swami Vivekananda Yuva Shakti Mission.
- The main aim of the Swami Vivekananda Yuva Shakti Mission is to a goal of achieving a 100% pass rate for students in the 10th and 12th board exams by 2030.
- Chief Minister Mohan Yadav also unveiled the logo of Yuva Shakti Mission based on the mission's motto of 'Atma Deepo Bhava: - ‘Samvad, Samarthya, Samriddhi’.
- He administered an oath to the youth to become skilled and self-reliant and to guide society.
- The main aim of the initiative is to foster youth-oriented activities.
- Swami Vivekananda Yuva Shakti Mission has outlined three key goals. These are as follows:
- To encourage youth participation in social initiatives for the society.
- To ensure that every youth completes education up to Class 12.
- To ensure that the income level of every youth meets or exceeds the rate of a minimum-skilled category worker.
Topic: Government Schemes and Initiatives
9. PM Modi launched Mission Mausam on the occasion of the 150th foundation day of IMD.
- 'Mission Mausam' aims to make India a weather-ready and climate-smart nation.
- Its main objective is to make India a weather-ready and climate-smart nation by developing cutting-edge weather surveillance technologies and systems.
- High-resolution atmospheric observations, next-generation radars, satellites, and high-performance computers will be part of this mission.
- It will also focus on improving the understanding of weather and climate processes, and provide air quality data.
- The IMD Vision-2047 document for weather resilience and climate change adaptation was also released by PM Modi.
- This vision includes weather forecasting, weather management, and climate change mitigation.
- The Mausam Mission was approved by the Union Cabinet in September 2024.
- It will be implemented by the India Meteorological Department, the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, and the National Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasting.
- This mission will be beneficial for numerous sectors, such as agriculture, disaster management, defence, environment, aviation, water resources, power, tourism, shipping, etc.
(Source: News on AIR)
Topic: Defence
10. DRDO developed HIMKAVACH has successfully passed all user trials in actual operation.
- HIMKAVACH is a multi layer clothing system that is designed for temperature range of +20°C to -60°C.
- HIMKAVACH will be useful in military operations in cold weather conditions along the Himalayan region.
- Extreme Cold Weather Clothing System (ECWCS) was being used by Indian Army before HIMKAVACH.
- ECWCS is a three-layered outfit developed by Defence Institute of Physiology and Allied Sciences of DRDO.
- It provided insulation and waterproofing.
- It included a reversible outer layer for camouflage in both snowy and non-snowy terrain.
Topic: National News
11. India Meteorological Department (IMD) will complete 150 years on 15 January 2025.
- In 1875, provincial British government established the organisation.
- Henry Francis Blanford was its first (Imperial) Meteorological Reporter.
- 1864 Calcutta cyclone and the Orissa famine that occurred just two years later accelerated its formation.
- The organisation was initially headquartered in Calcutta. It had moved to New Delhi by 1944.
- IMD became a member of the World Meteorological Organisation in 1949.
- At present, IMD operates six Regional Meteorological Centres and a Meteorological Centre in every State capital.
Topic: Infrastructure and Energy
12. India’s total renewable energy capacity reached to 209.44 gigawatts (GW).
- India’s renewable energy sector has registered remarkable growth.
- The total installed capacity has reached 209.44 gigawatts (GW) as of December 2024.
- The capacity has increased by 15.84% from 180.80 GW in December 2023 to 209.44 gigawatts (GW) in December 2024.
- In 2024, India added a total of 28.64 GW of renewable energy capacity.
- This increase is part of the government’s strategic efforts to accelerate the transition towards clean energy and strengthen energy security.
- Solar energy has played a key role in increasing India’s total renewable energy capacity. It has added 24.54 GW in 2024.
- The total cumulative solar energy installed capacity has reached 97.86 GW.
- Wind energy contributed 3.42 GW to the overall capacity increase, which brought the total installed capacity to 48.16 GW.
- Bioenergy has also registered growth, with its installed capacity raised from 10.84 GW in December 2023 to 11.35 GW in December 2024.
Topic: Geography
13. Indonesia's Mount Ibu volcano erupted and spews hot lava.
- Indonesia's Mount Ibu erupted and spews hot lava and smoke for four kilometers.
- Mount Ibu is located on Halmahera Island. The lava spread to two kilometres.
- This volcano is still at the second-highest alert level.
- Ibu is one of the most active Volcanoes in Indonesia. It has erupted more than 2,000 times in 2024.
- Mount Ibu is part of the the Pacific Ocean's "Ring of Fire" which has 127 active volcanoes.
- It is a stratovolcano on the north-west coast of Halmahera island.
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