Daily Current Affairs and GK | 5 and 6 January 2025

Topic: Banking System

1. RBI approved the merger of National Co-operative Bank with Cosmos Co-operative Bank.

• The merger of National Co-operative Bank with Cosmos Co-operative Bank has become effective from January 6, 2025.
• This merger has been approved by RBI under Sub-Section (4) of Section 44A read with Section 56 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949.
• The branches of The National Co-operative Bank, Bangalore (Karnataka), will function as branches of Cosmos Co-operative Bank Limited.
• National Co-operative Bank has a total of 13 branches.
• Earlier, RBI had imposed restrictions on the National Co-operative Bank Ltd. and limited deposit withdrawals to Rs 50,000 per account due to the bank's weak financial performance.

Topic: Personality in News

2. India’s first ‘Generation Beta’ baby was born in Aizawl.

• A baby boy, named Frankie Remruatdika Zadeng, became the first Child of ‘Generation Beta’ in India.
• He was born at the Synod Hospital in Aizawl, Mizoram.
• Futurist Mark McCrindle introduced the term 'Gen Beta' to refer to children born between 2025 and 2039.
• By 2025, this generation will be 16% of the total global population.
• These children will be the offspring of Gen Ys (millennials) and older Gen Zs.
• Gen Beta will experience a seamless integration of the digital and physical worlds.

Topic: Defence

3. For naval exercise Varuna, French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle arrived in Goa.

• The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Charles De Gaulle, operated by the French Navy, arrived in Goa to participate in the bilateral naval exercise Varuna.
• The French aircraft carrier strike group, including Rafale marine fighter aircraft, will participate in the 42nd annual bilateral exercise Varuna with Indian Naval ships.
• France and India regularly cooperate to contribute to maritime security in the Indian Ocean region.
• Since 2008, France has been a member of the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS), initiated by India and bringing together 25 navies.
• The platform aims to enhance collective effectiveness in combating a range of maritime issues, including illicit smuggling, illegal fishing, search and rescue at sea, and pollution.
• India has been France's most important strategic partner since 1998, and excellent India-France military cooperation is characterized by numerous bilateral exercises, such as Shakti exercises on land, Varuna exercises at sea and Garuda exercises in the air.
• India also hosts several operational stops by French Navy ships, which have stopped at 16 ports since 2022.

Topic: Summit/Conference/Meeting

4. The 18th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Convention 2025 is set to be inaugurated by PM Modi in Bhubaneswar.

• Bhubaneswar in Odisha has been chosen as the venue for the 18th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) Convention 2025, which will be held from the 8th of January.
• The three-day conference is being held with the theme “The Diaspora’s Contribution to a Viksit Bharat.”
• A large number of Indian diaspora members from more than 50 different countries have registered to participate in the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Convention.
• The PBD Convention will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the 9 January.
• President of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, Christine Carla Kangalu, is the chief guest of the event who will deliver a virtual address.
• Mr Modi will also flag off via remote the inaugural journey of the Pravasi Bharatiya Express, a special tourist train for Indian expatriates.
• It will depart from Delhi's Nizamuddin Railway Station and travel to various places of tourist and religious importance in India for a period of three weeks.
• The Valedictory Session of the 18th PBD Convention on 10th January will be presided over by President Droupadi Murmu.
• The President will confer the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Awards 2025 to select members of the overseas Indian community to recognise their achievements and honour their contributions in various fields in India and abroad.
• In addition, in partnership with the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, the Youth Pravasi Bharatiya Divas will also be held on 8th January 2025.

Topic: State News/ Jammu and Kashmir

5. The new Jammu Railway Division, along with several other railway projects, inaugurated by PM Modi.

• On 6 January, the inauguration and foundation stone laying of various railway projects carried out by PM Narendra Modi via video conferencing.
• In a key move to further boost connectivity in the region, the new Jammu Railway Division was inaugurated by the Prime Minister.
• It will include the following sections: Pathankot-Jammu-Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla (423 km), Bhogpur-Sirwal-Pathankot (87.21 km), Batala-Pathankot (68.17 km), and Pathankot-Joginder Nagar (narrow gauge, 163.72 km).
• The total length of these sections will be 742.1 km.
• The Charlapalli New Terminal Station in Telangana was also inaugurated by PM, and the foundation stone of the Rayagada Railway Division Building of East Coast Railway was laid by him.
• The Indian Railways has developed Charlapalli Railway Terminal Stations in the Medchal-Malkajgiri district of Telangana as a new coaching terminal with the provision of a second entry, at a cost of over 400 crore rupees.
• This eco-friendly terminal offers good passenger amenities and is expected to decongest the existing stations in the city, including Secunderabad, Hyderabad, and Kacheguda.
• It will have nine platforms, including four newly built platforms, which will be able to handle 20 long-distance trains and more passenger traffic.
• Currently, Indian Railways operates 17 zones with 68 divisions, and with the creation of this division, it will have 70 divisions across its 17 zones.

Topic: Sports

6. Indian Army’s Varun Tomar won the Men’s 10-meter Air Pistol finals of the 67th National Shooting Championship 2024.

• His teammate Pradhyumn Singh won Silver. Rajasthan’s Aakash Bhardwaj won the Bronze medal.

• Varun Tomar is also the winner of the Men’s Junior 10-meter Air Pistol event.
• His teammate Pradhyumn Singh won Bronze. Nikhil from Uttar Pradesh won the Silver medal.
• In Men’s Youth 10-meter Air Pistol event, Chirag Sharma from Uttar Pradesh won Gold.
• His teammate Dev Pratap won Silver. Mayank Choudhary of Rajasthan won Bronze.

Topic: Government Schemes and Initiatives

7. ‘PLI scheme 1.1’ will be launched by Union Steel Minister H.D Kumaraswamy.

• ‘PLI scheme 1.1’ will be a scheme for steel industry.
• Around 27,000 crore rupees have been invested in Ministry’s PLI with direct employment of over 14,000.
• This scheme was launched to boost domestic production and reduce imports by attracting capital investments.
• By November 2024, companies had invested Rs 18,300 crore, creating over 8,660 jobs.
• The PLI concept was for the first time introduced during 2020 Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns.
• It was initially launched for three sectors. It was expanded to include steel in November 2020.

Topic: Awards and Prizes

8. 82^nd edition of the Golden Globes award ceremony held in Los Angeles on January 5.

• ‘The Brutalist’ film has been nominated in the seven categories.
• Shogun won four awards in the Television category.
• It won trophies in the categories of Best Series (Drama), Best Actress (Drama), Best Actor (Drama) and Best Supporting Actor.
• Payal Kapadia's All We Imagine As Light received two nominations but it couldn’t get any award.
• Adrien Brody won the Best male actor award in a motion picture – drama for the “The Brutalist”.
• Pamela Anderson won the best female actor award in a motion picture – drama for the film “The Last Showgirl”.
• “El Mal” (“Emilia Pérez”) has received the Best Original Song award.
• “Flow” has been declared the winner in the Motion picture – animated.

Topic: State News/ Odisha

9. Odisha Chief Minister inaugurated 11-day famous Adivasi Mela.

• Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi inaugurated the 'Shahid Madho Singh Haath Kharcha' scheme in Bhubaneswar.
• Under this scheme, a one-time annual assistance of Rs 5000 each will be provided to 2 lakh tribal students.
• The state government has allocated a budget of Rs 156 crore.
• The Chief Minister also inaugurated several stalls showcasing Adivasi products at the Adivasi Mela.
• A photo exhibition of Bhagwan Birsa Munda and other tribal freedom fighters from India and Odisha was the main attraction of the Mela.

Topic: Important Days

10. World Braille Day 2025: 04 January

• World Braille Day is celebrated across the globe on January 4 every year.
• This day marks the birthday of Louis Braille, who invented the Braille script and was born in France in 1809.
• The United Nations has designated January 4 every year as World Braille Day. World Braille Day has been celebrated since 2019.
• World Braille Day is celebrated to raise awareness of the importance of Braille as a means of communication for the human rights of blind and partially sighted people.
• Braille is a universal code rather than a language. It is a tool to write and read Sanskrit, Arabic, Chinese, Hebrew, Spanish, and other languages.
• Braille is a tactile representation of alphabetic and numerical symbols using six dots to represent each letter and number.
• Braille script is the only way through which visually impaired people can live a dignified life.
• On this day, the National Federation of the Blind organised a program to mark World Braille Day in New Delhi.
• On the occasion of World Braille Day, various national-level competitions like Braille script reading, Braille writing, and debate were organized for visually impaired students across the country.
• The winners of the competitions were also felicitated on this occasion.

Topic: Government Schemes and Initiatives

11. Sashakt Beti and e-Drishti projects were launched by the Education Minister.

• Union Minister for Education Dharmendra Pradhan stated that the government is planning to increase funds for the advancement of the educational infrastructure.
• On January 4, he said this while inaugurating the dedication ceremony at Delhi University.
• During the programme, Shri Pradhan launched the Sashakt Beti and e-Drishti projects.
• Under both the projects, laptops and tablets were distributed by the Minister to orphaned children, single parent women and visually impaired students.
• He also launched the Delhi University Ambulance.
• The Commemorative Volume of Donor’s Chronicle, 2024, was released by the education minister during the event.

Topic: Indian Economy

12. EPFO rolled out a new centralized system for pensioners.

• The Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has fully implemented the new Centralised Pension Payments System (CPPS).
• The pilot project of the centralised system for pensioners was completed in October 2024 in Karnal, Jammu and Srinagar.
• The second pilot project was completed across 24 regional offices in November 2024. Under this project, ₹213 crore pension was disbursed to over 9.3 lakh pensioners.
• It will benefit more than 68 lakh pensioners.
• Under the existing system, EPFO's zonal/regional offices maintain separate agreements with only three to four banks.
• After the introduction of CPPS, the pensioner can take out their pension from any bank.
• Under the CPPS, the pension will be immediately credited upon release.
• From January 2025, disbursement of pensions will be allowed even without transferring the Pension Payment Orders (PPO) from one office to another.

Topic: Personality in News

13. Veteran nuclear scientist Dr. Rajagopala Chidambaram passed away at the age of 88.

• Dr. Chidambaram played a critical role in India’s nuclear weapons programme.
• He was part of India’s first nuclear test in 1974 and the Pokhran-II tests in 1998.
• He has served in several key scientific and strategic positions, including Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India, Director of the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, and Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission.
• He was also Chairman of the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
• He received the Martin Forster Medal for this thesis on Nuclear Magnetic Resonance.