Daily Current Affairs and GK | 2 and 3 March 2025

Topic: Sports

1. Vidarbha won the third Ranji Trophy title by defeating Kerala.

• Vidarbha claimed their third Ranji Trophy title by defeating Kerala in the final in Nagpur.
• Vidarbha scored 379 in their first innings and secured the decisive first-innings lead where Kerala were bowled out for 342.
• Vidarbha secured the title based on a decisive first-innings lead in Nagpur.
• In 2017-18, Vidarbha won their maiden Ranji Trophy title.
• Vidarbha emerged as the best team across all four groups in the league stage with six wins in seven matches giving them 40 points.
• Vidarbha defeated Mumbai by 80 runs in the semifinal.
• The Ranji Trophy title was established in 1934-35 and was initially called the Cricket Championship of India.

Topic: State News/ Uttar Pradesh

2. The Uttar Pradesh government developed five major spiritual corridors.

• These corridors have been developed for devotees to travel easily to various religious places across the state.
• Five major spiritual corridors' names are given below:
  • Prayag- Vindhyachal-Kashi Corridor
  • Prayagraj-Ayodhya-Gorakhpur Corridor
  • Prayagraj-Lucknow-Naimisharanya Corridor
  • Prayagraj-Rajapur (Banda)-Chitrakoot Corridor
  • Prayagraj-Mathura-Vrindavan-Shuktirtha (via Bundelkhand Expressway)
• Prayag- Vindhyachal-Kashi Corridor will be the main route of Shakti (Parvati) and Shiva (Lord Shiva) worship. The devotees will be able to travel from Prayagraj to Vindhyachal Devidham and then to Varanasi.
• Prayagraj-Ayodhya-Gorakhpur Corridor is associated with Lord Rama and the Gorakhnath tradition.
• The Prayagraj-Lucknow-Naimisharanya Corridor will take devotees to Naimisharanya Dham via Lucknow. Naimisharanya Dham is one of the 88 Mahatirthas of Hinduism and it is famous for the penance of 88 thousand sages.
• Prayagraj-Rajapur (Banda)-Chitrakoot Corridor will be associated with the exile of Lord Rama.
• Under the Prayagraj-Mathura-Vrindavan-Shuktirtha, devotees will be able to go to Mathura-Vrindavan.

Topic: Important Days

3. World Wildlife Day 2025: 3 March

• Every year on 3 March, World Wildlife Day is celebrated.
• World Wildlife Day is observed to raise awareness about protecting wild animals and plants.
• The theme of World Wildlife Day 2025 is “Wildlife Conservation Finance: Investing in People and Planet.”
• In 2013, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) proclaimed March 3 as the UN World Wildlife Day.
• In 1973, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) was signed on 3 March.
• CITES is an international agreement between governments. Its main aim is to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten the survival of the species.
• In India, the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau is a statutory body for combating wildlife crime.
• The Wildlife Crime Control Bureau assists customs authorities in the inspection as per the provisions of the Wild Life Protection Act of 1972.

Topic: National Appointment

4. Ajay Seth took additional charge as Revenue Secretary.

• On March 1, 2025, the government assigned the additional charge of the Revenue Secretary to Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) Secretary Ajay Seth.
• This decision followed the departure of Tuhin Kanta Pandey, who has been appointed as the new SEBI Chairperson.
• Seth will hold the additional responsibility until regular appointment is made or until further orders, whichever is earlier.
• Ajay Seth, a 1987 batch IAS officer of Karnataka cadre, is serving as the DEA secretary since 2021.
• On March 1, 2025, Tuhin Kanta Pandey took over as the Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) at the market regulator's headquarters in Mumbai.

Topic: Sports

5. Rithvik Bollipalli won the ATP doubles title in Chile.

• Indian tennis player Ritwik Bolippalli and Nicolas Barrientos (Colombia) won the doubles final of the $710,735 ATP tennis tournament played on clay in Santiago, Chile.
• They defeated top seeds Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni of Argentina 6-3, 6-2.
• This was the 14th doubles title for 24-year-old Ritwik, ranked 74th in the world rankings. Last year, he won four titles.
• The champion team receives 250 ATP points and $35,980. The runner-up receives 150 points and $19,330.
• In singles title, Laslo Djere of Serbia won the Chile Open (ATP 250) title defeating Sebastian Báez of Argentina in the final.
• The 2025 Chile Open, a men's tennis tournament, was the 27th edition of the event.
• It was part of the ATP 250 tournaments on the 2025 ATP Tour that took place from 24 February to 2 March 2025.

Topic: Defence

6. Indian Air Force carried out Exercise Desert Hunt 2025 at Air Force Station Jodhpur from 24 to 28 February 2025.

• It is an integrated Tri-Service Special Forces exercise.
• Para (Special Forces) from the Indian Army, the Marine Commandos from the Indian Navy along with the Garud (Special Forces) from the Indian Air Force took part in the exercise.
• The aim of drill was to enhance interoperability, coordination and synergy among the three Special Forces units.
• Airborne insertion, precision strikes, hostage rescue, counter-terrorism operations, combat free falls and urban warfare scenarios were parts of the exercise.

Topic: Awards and Prizes

7. Anora wins the award for Best Picture at the Academy Awards.

• Baker won Best Director and Mickey Madison won Best Actress award for the film Anora.
• Anora is a story of a sex worker who marries a wealthy client.
• Baker’s other films include Tangerine, The Florida Project and Red Rocket.
• Adrien Brody secured second Academy Award.
• He won Best Actor award for his portrayal of Laszlo Toth in The Brutalist. He earlier won Best Actor for The Pianist.
• Mikey Madison won her first Academy Award.
• Zoe Saldana won Best Supporting Actress for performance in Emilia Perez.
• Kieran Culkin won Best Supporting Actor award for role in A Real Pain.

Topic: State News/Andhra Pradesh

8. Andhra Pradesh government presented a ₹3.2 lakh crore Budget for 2025-26.

• Andhra Pradesh government presented a budget of Rs 3.22 lakh crore for the 2025-26 fiscal with an estimated revenue expenditure of Rs 2.51 lakh crore and capital expenditure of Rs 40,635 crore.
• The estimated revenue deficit is around Rs 33,185 crore (1.82 per cent of the GSDP) and the fiscal deficit is around Rs 79,926 crore (4.38 per cent of the GSDP).
• In the budget, Rs 31,805 crore has been allocated to school education and budget proposes Rs.47,456 crore for the BC component.
• The SC component received an allocation of Rs 20,281 crore while Rs 5,434 crore has been allocated for the welfare of minority communities.
• The Budget proposed to allocate Rs 19,264 crore for the Health, Medical and Family Welfare Department for 2025-26.
• The government is planning to implement insurance-based health coverage of Rs 25 lakh per family in the next fiscal.
• The government has allocated Rs 13,862 crore to the Municipal Administration & Urban Development Department.

Topic: Summits/ Conferences/ Meetings

9. Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah inaugurated the workshop on sustainability and circularity in the dairy sector.

• The workshop was focused on policies and initiatives of the Ministry of Cooperation and the Ministry of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries.
• Its main aim is to promote sustainable dairy farming while ensuring economic growth with environmental responsibility.
• It witnessed the signing of Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) for the establishment of biogas plants across multiple states.
• Technical sessions on sustainable manure management models which convert dairy waste into biogas, compressed biogas, and organic fertilizers were also organized.
• Experts from the National Dairy Development Board, industry, and global organizations discussed ways to expand circular dairy practices and explore financing options, carbon credit opportunities, and waste-to-energy solutions.

Topic: Space and IT

10. The first-ever image of a solar flare ‘kernel’ captured by the Aditya-L1 payload.

• An unprecedented view of a powerful solar flare ‘kernel’ has been captured by the Solar Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (SUIT) onboard India’s first dedicated solar space mission, Aditya-L1.
• The observation has been made in the lower solar atmosphere, including the photosphere and the chromosphere. 
• On February 22, an X6.3-class solar flare was observed by SUIT, with brightening detected in the Near-Ultra Violet (NUV) wavelength range (200-400 nm).
• This is the first time the entire disk of the Sun has been imaged in such remarkable detail across this entire wavelength range.
• These observations provide new information about explosive solar activity and the complex processes that govern energy transfer in different layers of the Sun's atmosphere.
• Solar flares, produced by sudden releases of magnetic energy, can affect space weather, disrupting satellite operations, radio communications, and electrical grids, as well as posing hazards to astronauts and airline passengers.
• On September 2, 2023, the Aditya-L1 mission was launched.
• On January 6, 2024, the spacecraft was successfully placed in a large halo orbit around the first Earth-Sun Lagrange point, known as Lagrange point L1.

(Source: PIB)

Topic: Books and Authors

11. Kannada book included in the list of International Booker Prize for the first time.

• Kannada writer Banu Mushtaq's short story collection “Heart Lamp” is one of the 13 books longlisted for this year's International Booker Prize.
• In a historic moment for Kannada literature, it has become the first Kannada book to be longlisted for the award, which is given to books translated into English.
• She is renowned as an advocate of Dalit and Muslim women's rights.
• She was awarded the Karnataka Sahitya Academy and Dana Chintamani Atimbhe awards.
• Deepa Bhasthi has translated this short story from Kannada to English.
• Deepa Bhasthi is a writer and literary translator based in Kodagu.
• Heart Lamp has previously been translated into Urdu, Hindi, Tamil and Malayalam.
• The list of 13 books – 11 novels and two short story collections – was selected by the 2025 judging panel, chaired by bestselling Booker Prize-winning author Max Porter.
• Late Kannada veteran writer UR Ananthamurthy was nominated for the Man Booker International in 2013, the first edition of the award.

Topic: Indian Economy

12. EPFO decided to retain the interest rate on provident fund deposits at 8.25%.

• For 2024-25, the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has decided to keep the interest rate on provident fund deposits at 8.25%.
• In 2024-25, EPFO processed 50.8 million claims worth Rs 2.05 lakh crore.
• The 8.25% interest rate for 2023-24 was based on Rs 1.07 lakh crore in income.
• EPF interest rates have seen fluctuations, with 8.65% in 2018-19, 8.5% in 2019-20, and 8.1% in 2021-22.
• In 2021-22, the interest rate was lowered to 8.1%, which was the lowest in the last 40 years.
• EPFO's Central Board of Trustees (CBT) includes representatives from employers, employees, state governments, labour ministry officials, etc.

Topic: Environment and Ecology

13. After 30 years, Cape Vultures have been spotted in South Africa’s Eastern Cape.

• The Cape Vulture (Gyps coprotheres) is an Old-World vulture species. It is mainly found in Southern Africa.
• Eighty-five wild Cape Vultures have been spotted on a farm near Mountain Zebra National Park.
• Since the 1980s, the number of Cape Vultures has been steadily declining.
• Between 1992 and 2007, the population of Cape Vultures has reduced in South Africa by 60-70%.
• There are 23 species of vulture globally. These are divided into two families: Accipitridae or Old-World vultures and Cathartidae or New-World vultures.
• The 16 species of Old-World vultures are spread across nine genera.