NATIONAL UPDATES:
1. Dharmendra Pradhan launches registration portal for Kashi Tamil Sangamam: Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has launched the registration portal for the third edition of Kashi Tamil Sangamam, a 10-day event to be held in Varanasi. The event will be held from 15 February to 24, 2025.The portal, kashitamil.iitm.ac.in, hosted by the Indian Institute of Technology Madras, will accept registrations until 1 February.The event, organized by the Ministry of Education in collaboration with the Uttar Pradesh government, will celebrate the age-old links between Tamil Nadu and Kashi. This year, the event will be dedicated to Maharishi Agasthyar.Competitions and other awareness programs in Tamil Nadu prior to KTS 3.0 will be organized in a befitting manner in major cities of India and abroad where there is considerable Tamil diaspora. KTS 2.0 was inaugurated by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi at Varanasi on 17th December, 2023.
2. 1st astronomical observatory of Eastern India inaugurated in Bengal: The first astronomical observatory of Eastern India and the sixth in the country under the Department of Science and Technology, Union Ministry of Science and Technology has been inaugurated atop the Panchet Hill in the Garpanchkot area of Purulia district in West Bengal.It is the sixth such observatory in India after Ladakh, Nainital (Uttarakhand), Mount Abu (Rajasthan), Girbani Hills in Pune, and Kavalur in Tamil Nadu.The observatory set up in Garpanchkot Hills has been named after famous scientist Satyendra Nath Bose. The observatory has been established by the Satyendra Nath Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences.The Satyendra Nath Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU)with the Sidhu Kanu Birsa University,Purulia for running the observatory and sharing resources.
3. JM Financial appoints Ankur Jhaveri as head of Institutional Equities: JM Financial has appointed Ankur Jhaveri as the MD & CEO of Institutional Equities at JM Financial Institutional Securities.He will be responsible for strengthening the sales, trading, research, and derivatives businesses.Ankur brings nearly two decades of experience in institutional equities and derivatives. Before joining JM Financial, he served as Managing Director at Axis Capital.He holds an MBA in Finance and Financial Management Services from the NL Dalmia Institute of Management Studies and Research and a Master’s in Finance (International Finance) from ICFAI University.
4. Vineet Joshi assumes charge as Secretary, Department of Higher Education: Vineet Joshi, a seasoned Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of the 1992 batch from the Manipur cadre, has been appointed as the Secretary of the Department of Higher Education under the Ministry of Education.Before this appointment, Joshi served as the Chief Secretary of Manipur, a position he assumed in May 2023 amid escalating ethnic tensions in the state.Vineet Joshi has previously held the position of Director-General of the National Testing Agency (NTA), overseeing major entrance examinations such as the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) and Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Main.Additionally, he has served as the Chairman of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), where he was instrumental in introducing the Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) system.
INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:
1. India & Spain sign two MoUs during Dr. Jaishankar’s visit to Spain: India and Spain have signed two MoUs to strengthen and deepen the bilateral relations between the two countries. These agreements focused on cooperation in sports and sustainable urban development.The agreement was signed during External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishanakar’s visit to Spain. This was the second visit to Spain by Dr Jaishankar. His previous visit was with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2017.During the visit of Pedro Sanchez, both countries decided to celebrate 2026 as the “Year of Culture, Tourism, and Artificial Intelligence (AI)”.
2. India to lead G20 insurance growth with 7.3% annual premium surge: Swiss Re: India’s insurance market is poised for rapid growth, with the country projected to lead the G20 nations in premium expansion at an average rate of 7.3 percent annually between 2025 and 2029, according to Swiss Re’s latest insurance market outlook report.Swiss Re also forecasts that India will surpass Germany and Japan to become the world’s third-largest economy by the end of this decade. This trajectory is expected to benefit from steady global economic growth, projected at 2.8 percent in 2025 and 2.7 percent in 2026.Swiss Re also expects India to be the fastest growing G20 economy over the next ten years (2025-2034) with average real GDP growth of 6.2 percent annually (10 percent in nominal terms). It also sees India GDP growing 6.9 percent in 2025, up from 6.5 percent in 2024 and higher than the annual average of 5.8 percent over previous ten years.
OTHER UPDATES:
DEFENCE
1. Indian Armed Forces conducts Exercise Devil Strike: The Indian Armed Forces has conducted a major military exercise, Exercise Devil Strike. A joint exercise involving the elite airborne soldiers from the Indian Army and the Indian Air Force.The exercise occurred at the training areas and firing ranges, validating critical drills and enhancing operational readiness in a challenging environment.The exercise comprises complex airborne operations on various aircraft including troop and equipment insertion in hostile terrain. The exercise focuses on assessment and refinement of the logistic sustenance strategies ensuring troops remain well-equipped and operational in extremely challenging conditions.
2. Defence Ministry signs contract with Bharat Dynamics for Navy’s medium-range surface-to-air missiles: The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has signed a 2,960 crore contract with Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) for the supply of Medium-Range Surface-to-Air Missiles (MRSAM) for the Indian Navy.The MRSAM system will be fitted onboard multiple Indian Naval ships and is planned for integration into future naval platforms.This contract aligns with the government’s vision of ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat,’ with the missiles being supplied under the ‘Buy (Indian)’ category, incorporating predominantly indigenous content.The project is expected to generate around 3.5 lakh mandays of employment in the defence sector, including contributions from various MSMEs, further bolstering India’s defence manufacturing capabilities.
SPORTS
1. Smriti Mandhana Smashes India’s Fastest Women’s ODI Century: Smriti Mandhana smashed the fastest ODI century by an Indian woman during the third ODI against Ireland at the Niranjan Shah Stadium in Rajkot.The stand-in India captain reached the milestone in just 70 deliveries, surpassing regular skipper Harmanpreet Kaur’s record of 87 balls against South Africa in 2024.The 28-year-old opener’s 10th ODI century was adorned with 12 fours and seven sixes as she was eventually dismissed for an 80-ball 135.Mandhana’s triple-figure score is the joint-seventh fastest overall in the format, equalling former England cricketer Charlotte Edwards’ effort from 2012.
2. Arjun Erigaisi stuns Magnus Carlsen, Fabiano Caruana to win online chess event: Indian grandmaster Arjun Erigaisi achieved a remarkable feat in the online chess community by defeating World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen and World No. 2 Fabiano Caruana in the Titled Tuesday weekly blitz competition conducted by Chess.com.His only loss in the tournament came against the American grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura, which came in the seventh round. Nakamura also finished the tournament with 10 points, but the Indian grandmaster had better tiebreaks. He defeated Magnus Carlsen with black pieces in round 10 and after that, he defeated Fabiano Caruana in the 11th and last round.The Titled Tuesday is an online competition for titled chess players who have legal accounts with Chess.com. The players are asked to make themselves available on Zoom calls due to fair play reasons.
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
1. DPIIT joins hands with ITC to bolster India’s startup ecosystem and innovation: The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce and Industry, has entered into a strategic partnership with ITC Limited, one of India’s leading diversified conglomerates.This collaboration charts a shared vision to accelerate startup growth and technological advancement besides creation of viable market opportunities for startups across the country.Under this partnership, ITC is looking to deploy startup solutions in key areas such as digital platforms for Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES), integrating renewable energy opportunities for manufacturing locations, energy storage systems, etc.
2. Pixxel launches India’s 1st private satellite constellation with SpaceX: Google-backed Indian space start-up company Pixxel has become the first Indian private company to launch its commercial satellite constellation named Firefly on board a Space X rocket.The SpaceX rocket also carried the world’s first commercial satellite for surveillance of space objects orbiting the earth, made by an Indian space company, Digantara.The satellites were launched aboard the Transporter-12 rideshare mission of SpaceX onboard the Falcon 9 rocket from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, the United States of America.The satellites will be placed in a sun-synchronous orbit at roughly 550 km.
BANKING AND FINANCE
1. Bank of Baroda launches ‘bob Liquid FD’ for enhanced liquidity and convenience: Bank of Baroda has introduced “bob Liquid Fixed Deposits” as an alternative to the traditional fixed deposit (FD), combining the benefits of FD interest rates with the convenience of easy liquidity associated with a Savings Account.The new deposit gives depositors the flexibility of a partial withdrawal without having to close the entire FD, ensuring that depositors can address their urgent financial needs as and when required.The bob Liquid FD has features such as flexible deposit amounts starting at ₹5,000 (and in multiples of ₹1,000 thereafter, with no maximum deposit amount), tenure options ranging from 12 to 60 months and partial withdrawals accepted in multiples of ₹1,000.Further, no penalty is levied for premature withdrawals on Fixed Deposits up to ₹5 lakh that have completed a tenor of at least 12 months.
2. NPCI International partners with Magnati to expand UPI acceptance in UAE: NPCI International Payments Limited (NIPL) has partnered with UAE-based payment solution provider Magnati to advance QR-based Unified Payments Interface (UPI) merchant payments via point-of-sale (POS) terminals in the Middle East.The collaboration aims to expand QR-based merchant payment network in UAE by enabling more merchants to provide UPI as a payment method to Indian travellers, NIPL, the international arm of the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).UPI is recognised as one of the world’s most successful real-time payment systems, processing over 16 billion transactions in Dec 2024.With this partnership, NIPL can provide seamless payment options to more than 12 million Indians travelling to Dubai and the UAE annually.
AWARDS AND HONOURS
1. Singapore confers Honorary Citizen Award on Tarun Das: Singapore has conferred the Honorary Citizen Award on Tarun Das, former Director General of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), for his invaluable contributions to Singapore and Singapore-India relations.The award was presented by Singapore’s President Tharman Shanmugaratnam at a ceremony held in New Delhi.The Honorary Citizen Award is the highest recognition bestowed by the Singapore Government on non-Singaporeans for their outstanding contributions to the country’s growth and development.It is conferred on individuals who have made significant contributions in areas such as business, science and technology, information and communications, education, health, arts and culture, sports, tourism, community services, or security.
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