Daily Current Affairs and GK | 23 and 24 February 2025

Topic: National Appointments

1. Government has appointed Shaktikanta Das as Principal Secretary-2 to Prime Minister Modi on February 22.

• His apppointment has been approved by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet.
• His appointment will become effective from the date of assuming charge.
• His tenure will be co-terminus with the tenure of the Prime Minister or until further orders, whichever is earlier.
• Das is a retired IAS officer of Tamil Nadu cadre. He has served as the 25th Governor of RBI.
• He has also served as India's G-20 Sherpa and member of the 15th Finance Commission.
• PK Mishra is currently serving as Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister. He is a retired IAS officer of Gujarat cadre.

Topic: International News

2. Germany's 2025 election results have been declared.

• Friedrich Merz's Christian Democratic Union led conservatives won the polls.
• They have fallen short of their anticipated 30% share of the vote.
• With 20.8% of the vote, the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) achieved its best-ever outcome.
• Incumbent Chancellor Olaf Scholz's SPD got third rank.
• Merz may form a stable government by forming a grand coalition with the Social Democratic party (SPD), which is now led by Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
• With a majority of 316, the German Parliament, or Bundestag, has 630 seats.
• A two-party combination would hold 329 seats, which is significantly more than the majority.
• A sudden election was held when Olaf Scholz's three-party coalition administration collapsed last year.
• 83% of voters cast ballots in the election, the highest number since before reunification in 1990.

Topic: State News/ Haryana

3. Haryana government launched witness protection scheme.

• The Haryana government has rolled out the “Haryana Witness Protection Scheme, 2025”.
• It will ensure the protection of the witnesses as the state is ready to implement the three new criminal laws.
• The scheme will be applicable to the witnesses of those offences which are punishable with death or life imprisonment or imprisonment up to seven years and above.
• It will cover punishments under sections 74, 75, 76, 77, 78 and 79 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
• Under this scheme, there will be three categories of witnesses based on the threat perception.
• Category A: It includes situations where the threat extends to the life of the witness and their family members or any person in whom the witness is related.
• Category- B: It involves cases where the threat extends to the safety, reputation, or property of the witness, and their family members.
• Category C: It is applied where the threat is moderate and involves harassment or intimidation of the witness, their family members etc.

Topic: State News/ Assam

4. BTR of Assam will include ‘Bathouism’ as an official option in the religion column of various application forms.

• The government of the Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR) in Assam will include ‘Bathouism’ as an official option in the religion column of various application forms.
• Bathouism is the traditional faith of the Bodos. Bathousim has been the ancestral faith of the Bodos.
• God is known as Bathoubwrai among the followers of the Bathou religion.
• The Bathou faith is centred on the Sijou plant. This plant is widely accepted as the symbol of life or soul by the Bodo people.

Topic: Banking/Finance

5. Reserve Bank of India will conduct a $10 billion three-year dollar/rupee swap auction next week.

• To infuse durable rupee liquidity into the banking system, the Reserve Bank of India will conduct a $10 billion three-year dollar/rupee swap auction.
• The first leg of the transaction would be settled on March 4 and would infuse around 870 billion rupees ($10 billion) into the banking system.
• RBI will need to inject at least another 1 trillion rupees into the banking system by March-end.
• RBI has infused more than 3.6 trillion rupees of durable liquidity into the banking system in last five weeks.
• The three-year swap would also be positive for shorter-duration government bonds.
• The three-year swap could lead to mild steepening in the yield curve.
• India's banking system liquidity deficit was around 1.7 trillion rupees.

Topic: Banking/Finance

6. Bank lending to non-banking financial companies in India reduced to 6.7% in 2024.

• Bank lending to NBFCs reached Rs 16.22 lakh crore as of December.
• Bank lending to NBFCs grew at 15% in 2023.
• The reduction was due to higher funding costs after the RBI raised risk weights on such loans.
• Banks' lending to NBFCs fell to Rs 1 lakh crore in 2024, compared to nearly Rs 2 lakh crore in 2023.
• The RBI increased the risk weight for bank credit to NBFCs by 25 basis points to 125% in November 2023.
• As a result, lending to NBFCs became more expensive for banks.
• This led to NBFCs exploring alternative funding avenues.
• These include domestic capital markets, overseas markets, and the external commercial borrowings route.

Topic: National News

7. PM Modi nominated 10 prominent personalities to help combat obesity.

• These personalities include Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, businessman Anand Mahindra, and actor Mohanlal.
• The other nominated personalities include Bhojpuri singer-actor Nirahua, shooting champion Manu Bhaker, weightlifter Mirabai Chanu, Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani, actor R Madhavan, singer Shreya Ghoshal, and philanthropist Sudha Murty.
• In his ‘Mann Ki Baat’ address on 23 February 2025, PM Modi talked about reducing oil intake.
• He encouraged people to challenge 10 others persons to cut on their oil intake by 10 percent.

Topic: State News/Madhya Pradesh

8. Madhya Pradesh’s industrial policies launched by PM Modi at the Global Investors Summit.

• On February 24, the Global Investors Summit (GIS) inaugurated by PM Narendra Modi in Bhopal.
• Hundreds of guests from across the world were hosted in a newly built tent city near Kaliyasot Dam in the Madhya Pradesh capital.
• Investors, industrialists, NRIs, and start-ups from the country and abroad were addressed by the Prime Minister, and the industrial policies of Madhya Pradesh were launched.
• The two-day summit organised departmental summits and special sessions on pharma and medical devices, transport and logistics, industry, skill development, tourism and MSME, etc.
• It also included international sessions such as the Global South Country Conference, the Latin America and Caribbean Session, and special sessions for key partner countries.
• Three major industrial exhibitions were held during the Summit: the Auto Show, the Textile and Fashion Expo, and the “One District-One Product” (ODOP) Village.

Topic: Agriculture and Allied Sector

9. Agriculture Minister Shivraj Chauhan said that a national committee will soon be formed to promote natural farming.

• Union Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Shivraj Chauhan stated that PM Modi has launched the National Natural Farming Mission to promote sustainable agriculture.
• He emphasized adopting natural farming.
• Under this, a committee will be formed at the national level to give this mission the form of a movement.
• This committee will work towards increasing awareness among farmers and providing them training regarding adopting natural farming methods.
• Chouhan said natural farming will increase farmers' income, maintain soil fertility, and provide chemical-free food to citizens.
• The Government of India launched the National Mission on Natural Farming (NMNF) in 2025 to rejuvenate soil, water, and the environment while ensuring farmers' prosperity and safe food.
• NMNF aims to introduce natural farming in 7.5 lakh hectare area and establish 10,000 need-based Bio-input Resource Centres (BRCs) in 15,000 clusters across all States and Union Territories.
• The mission will train 18.75 lakh farmers in natural farming, and the same farmers will train one crore farmers.

Topic: Miscellaneous

10. The Memory League World Championship 2025 won by 20-year-old Indian student Vishvaa Rajakumar.

• The Memory League World Championship 2025 was won by Vishvaa Rajakumar by memorizing the order of 80 random numbers in 13.50 seconds and 30 images in 8.40 seconds.
• The Memory League World Championship is an intense online competition.
• According to the Memory League website, Rajkumar is ranked No. 1 with 5,000 points.
• Rajkumar is a student at Manakulavinayagar Institute of Technology, Puducherry.
• The championship took place between 5 January and 2 February, 2025.
• 16 competitors from the top of the Memory League world rankings competed remotely in a double-elimination tournament to determine the 2025 Memory League World Champion.

Topic: Geography

11. Eruption at Indonesia's Mount Dukono, aviation warnings, and safety advisories issued.

• On February 20, Mount Dukono in Indonesia's North Maluku province erupted, prompting the country's Volcanology and Geological Disaster Reduction Center to issue an aviation warning.
• The volcano, located on Halmahera Island, spewed ash as high as 2,000 meters, and thick white-to-grey clouds covered the area south of the volcano.
• The authorities have issued a Volcano Observatory Notice for Aviation (VONA) at the orange level, the second-highest warning, to mitigate risks to aviation, prohibiting planes from flying below 5 km around the volcano.
• People living near the volcano are encouraged to wear face masks to avoid respiratory hazards from volcanic ash.
• Mount Dukono, located 1,087 meters above sea level, is one of the 127 active volcanoes in Indonesia.
• Also in January, hot lava erupted from Mount Merapi, located near the densely populated city of Yogyakarta.
• The 2,968-metre-high Mount Merapi is one of Indonesia's 127 active volcanoes.

Topic: Geography

12. Barytes, Felspar, Mica and Quartz have been classified as Major Minerals.

• Barytes, Felspar, Mica and Quartz have been shifted from the list of minor minerals to the category of major minerals.
• Quartz, Felspar and Mica are found in pegmatite rocks, which are important sources of many critical minerals.
• These minerals are vital for new technologies mainly in energy transition, spacecraft industries, healthcare sector, etc.
• Baryte has various industrial applications which is used for oil and gas drilling, electronics, TV screens, rubber, glass, etc.
• Baryte is used to make high density concrete to block x-ray emissions in hospitals, power plants, and laboratories.
• The reclassification of Barytes, Felspar, Mica and Quartz will not adversely affect the lease period of the existing leases.
• These mines will gradually register with the Indian Bureau of Mines and will be regulated as major minerals.

Topic: Miscellaneous

13. IIT Madras hosted Asia’s first global hyperloop competition from Feb 21-25.

• Asia's first Global Hyperloop Competition (GHC) 2025 has been organized by the IIT Madras.
• 150 industry delegates from across the world participated in the event.
• The competition was held at "Discovery", Indian Institute of Technology Madras' Satellite Campus located in Thaiyur.
• The competition was organized by IIT Madras, IITM Pravartak Technologies Foundation, and SAE India, with additional support from the Ministry of Railways and the government of India.
• The main of the event is to unite global talent, industry leaders, and researchers, fostering collaboration, innovation, and real-world implementation of hyperloop technology.
• Hyperloop is the fifth mode of transportation. It is a train that travels in a near-vacuum tube.
• The reduced air resistance allows the capsule inside the tube to reach speeds of more than 1000 km/h.