DAILY GK 1-2 FEB 2025
1.
DG OF BCAS
·
The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC)
has approved the appointment of a 1992-batch senior Indian Police Service (IPS)
officer of the Rajasthan cadre Rajesh Nirwan as the
Director General (DG) of the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) under the Ministry of Civil Aviation
(MoCA).
·
The
Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) is the main organization
responsible for aviation security in
India.
·
Headquarters – New Delhi
·
Established –
1978
2.
PM OF BELGIUM
·
Bart Albert Liliane
De Wever, the first Flemish Nationalist was sworn-in
as the new Prime Minister (PM) of Belgium.
·
His
victory came after 7-months of
negotiations, leading to the formation
of a new coalition that currently holds an 81-seat majority
in the 150-seat Belgian Parliament.
·
Belgium Capital- Brussels
·
Currency- Belgian
Euro (EUR)
3.
INTERIM PRESIDENT OF
SYRIA
·
Hayat
Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) leader Ahmed al-Sharaa was
appointed interim president of Syria after
the ‘The Conference for Announcing the Victory
of the Syrian Revolution’ event in Damascus, Syria.
·
He succeeds former Syrian Ba’ath Party leader Bashar al-Assad whose
government fell on December 8, 2024, ending his nearly 14-year struggle to retain power.
·
Syria’s
old constitution and parliament had been dissolved and Ahmed al-Sharaa was
authorised to form a temporary legislative council for the transitional phase.
·
Syria Capital – Damascus
4.
SERBIAN PRIME MINISTER
RESIGNS
·
Serbia’s Prime Minister (PM) Milos Vucevic resigned
from the position of PM along with Novi Sad Mayor
Milan Djuric following weeks of anti-corruption protests sparked by the deadly collapse of a concrete
canopy at the Novi Sad railway station, Serbia
·
Milos Vucevic is Leader
of the Serbian Progressive Party who currently serves as the President of the
Serbian Progressive Party.
5.
LONGEST SPACEWALK BY A
FEMALE ASTRONAUT
·
Indian-origin astronaut from the NASA Sunita
“Suni” Williams set a new record for the longest total spacewalking time by a female astronaut,
reaching 62 hours and 6 minutes.
·
This milestone was achieved during the 92nd United
States of America (USA) spacewalk.
·
The spacewalk was part of
Expedition 72, which began on September 23, 2024.
·
This marked her ninth spacewalk,
breaking the previous record of 60 hours and 21 minutes held by former
astronaut Peggy Whitson.
6.
1ST INDIAN ASTRONAUT TO
TRAVEL TO ISS
·
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)’s astronaut and the fighter pilot
of Indian Air Force (IAF), Group
Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, has been named the pilot for Axiom Mission 4(Ax-4),
a private spaceflight for International Space Station (ISS).
·
With this
announcement, he will become the 1st Indian astronaut to
go to the ISS on a private mission
and also the 1st Indian to go to space
in the last 40 years.
·
He is also one of the 4 astronuat-designates selected for India’s ambitious Gaganyaan mission.
·
In 2023, NASA signed a mission of order with
Texas (the USA)-based Axiom Space, American space infrastructure
developer for the 4th private astronaut mission named Axiom mission (Ax-4) to the
ISS.
·
Sławosz Uznanski-Wisniewski of
the European Space Agency (ESA) from
Poland, and Tibor Kapu of
Hungary,have been named as mission
specialist.
·
NASAActing
Administrator– Janet Petro
·
Headquarters– Washington
D.C.
·
Established– 1958
7.
WRIDDHIMAN SAHA RETIRES
FROM ALL FORMS OF CRICKET
·
Indian wicketkeeper-batter Wriddhiman Saha announced
his retirement from all forms of cricket.
·
His retirement was marked by his final ‘Ranji Trophy’ appearance
for West Bengal (WB) against Punjab
at Eden Gardens, Kolkata, WB.
·
The
40-year-old made his debut for India in February 2010 and represented India in
49 international matches, including 40 Tests and 9 One
Day Internationals (ODIs).
·
His Test
career included 40 matches, where he scored 1,353 runs at
an average of 29.41, with 3 centuries and 6 fifties.
·
He is
best known for his outstanding wicket-keeping, took 92 catches and made 12
stumpings in Tests.
8.
4 NEW WETLANDS ADDED TO
RAMSAR LIST
·
Union Minister Bhupender Yadav, Ministry
of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) announced
the inclusion of four new wetlands from India
in Ramsar Convention list, bringing the total number of
internationally recognized Ramsar sites in India to 89.
·
The newly
added sites are the Sakkarakottai Bird Sanctuary and Therthangal
Bird Sanctuary in Tamil Nadu (TN), Khecheopalri
Wetland in Sikkim, and Udhwa Lake in
Jharkhand.
·
This also
marks the first Ramsar sites for both
Sikkim and Jharkhand.
·
Tamil Nadu now has 20 Ramsar sites, the highest
number in India, followed by Uttar
Pradesh (UP) with 10.
·
Globally, there are 2,529 Ramsar
wetlands.
·
Wetlands
are unique ecosystems that play a crucial role in supporting
diverse species of plants and wildlife, both aquatic and terrestrial.
·
Minister of Environment,
Forest and Climate Change Bhupender Yadav (
Constituency- Alwar, Rajasthan)
9.
INDIA’S FIRST ORGANIC
FISHERIES CLUSTER LAUNCHES IN SIKKIM
·
Union Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry
& Dairying (MoFAH&D) and Ministry of
Panchayati Raj (MoPR) Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias
Lalan Singh, has introduced India’s first Organic Fisheries
Cluster in Soreng district of Sikkim at the North Eastern Region (NER) State Meet- 2025, held in Guwahati, Assam.
·
National
Bank for Agriculture & Rural Development(NABARD) is a
key stakeholder in developing the
fisheries and aquaculture organic cluster in Sikkim.
·
This
initiative focuses on encouraging fish farming using organic methods, avoiding
harmful chemicals, and supporting eco-friendly practices.
·
In
2016, Sikkim was officially certified as India’s first fully organic state.
10.
GUJARAT’S 1ST BIODIVERSITY
HERITAGE SITE
·
The Gujarat Biodiversity Board (GBB), under
the Forest and Environment Department of the Government of Gujarat, declared
the Inland Mangrove Guneri in Guneri village, Lakhpattaluka, Kutch
District , as the first Biodiversity
Heritage Site (BHS) of Gujarat.
·
Inland Mangrove Guneri is a 32.78-hectare(ha)
area of flat land resembling a mangrove forest. It remains unaffected by high
tides, with the soil staying dry throughout the year.
·
Inland
mangroves are rare and have been reported from only 8 locations across the globe till
date.
·
As of December 2024, India has 47 Biodiversity
Heritage Sites (BHS), with the first BHS being
the Tamarind Grove in Bengaluru, Karnataka.
11.
INDIA’S FIRST WHITE TIGER
BREEDING CENTRE
·
New Delhi
based the Central Zoo Authority (CZA), Ministry
of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), has approved the
proposal to set up India’s 1st white tiger breeding centre in
Govindgarh area of Rewa district in Madhya Pradesh (MP).
·
This new
white tiger breeding facility will be developed as part of the revised
Master (Layout) Plan of Maharaja Martand Singh Judeo White Tiger
Safari and Zoo, Mukundpur, Satna (MP)
12.
MAHARASHTRA TO SET UP
INDIA’S 1ST AI UNIVERSITY
·
Maharashtra is set to establish India’s
first Artificial Intelligence (AI) University,
to become a Center of Excellence(CoE) for AI education and innovation.
·
Maharashtra
government has formed a task force chaired by Parrag Jaiin Nainutia,
for planning and implementation.
·
Maharashtra CM- Devendra Fadnavis
13. NATIONWIDE
CAMPAIGN “WATERSHED YATRA”
·
Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan,
Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) launched a
nation-wide campaign “Watershed Yatra”to
encourage people’s participation and create awareness about the watershed
development activities carried out under Watershed Development Component of Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (WDC-PMKSY
2.0) in project areas.
·
The campaign will consist of van movements for around 60
to 90 days across 805 projects, which is estimated to cover 6,673
GPs including 13,587 villages, in 26 states and 2 UTs.
·
Under the activity of Watershed ki Panchayat,
experts from diverse fields will discuss about sustainable soil and water
management practices and around 8,000 individuals having
contributed in implementation of WDC-PMKSY works in different project areas
will be honoured.
14. MEA
DECLARES IBCA AS INTER-GOVERNMENTAL INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION
·
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA)
announced that the New Delhi based International
Big Cat Alliance (IBCA) and its Secretariat have officially become a full-fledged treaty-based inter-governmental international organization and
international legal entity with effect from January 23, 2025.
·
The
MEA confirmed that 5 countries-Republic of India, Republic of Nicaragua, Kingdom of Eswatini,
Federal Republic of Somalia, and
Republic of Liberia-have officially
deposited their instruments of ratification, acceptance, or approval under
Article VIII (1) of the Framework Agreement.
·
Currently, 27 countries,
including India, have agreed to join IBCA, along with several international and
national organizations dedicated to
wildlife conservation.
·
On
April 9, 2023, Narendra Modi, Prime Minister (PM) of
India launched IBCA during the ‘Commemoration
of 50 Years of India’s Project Tiger’ event.
·
In February 2024, the Government of
India(GoI) approved the establishment of IBCA with its headquarters in New Delhi and one-time budgetary support of Rs. 150 crore for
IBCA, covering five years from 2023-24 to 2027-28.
·
It aims to conserve seven
big cat species—Tiger,
Lion, Leopard, Snow Leopard, Cheetah, Jaguar, and Puma.
15. 1ST
LATIN AMERICAN NATION TO EXIT CHINA’S BRI
·
President of Panama, Jose Raul Mulino Quintero announced
that Panama would not renew its
participation in China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), making
it the 1st Latin American nation to withdraw from
the global infrastructure program.
·
Panama
joined the BRI in 2017, but the initiative faced growing
criticism, regarding the high costs of projects and the financial strain of
repaying loans by other countries.
·
India strongly opposed the CPEC due to its
route passing through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), a
region of India.
·
The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), launched
by China’s President Xi Jinping in 2013, is a global infrastructure development and
investment project aimed at enhancing Beijing’s (China) global influence.
·
The
initiative seeks to establish extensive
networks of land and sea routes that connect Southeast Asia, Central Asia,
the Gulf region, Africa, and Europe.
·
Global ReachThe
BRI involves over 140 countries and regions. China,
as a result, became a major trading partner for many countries, leading the
world in total trade volume and a destination for global investment.
·
Flagship Project:
The most prominent BRI project is the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC),
a USD 60 billion venture linking Gwadar Port of Balochistan
region in Pakistan to Xinjiang province in China.
·
The 3,000
kilometer (km) long CPEC encompasses a variety of infrastructure
projects, including roads, railways, and energy developments since 2013.
·
In 2023, Italy also
withdrew from the BRI amid the USA concerns about China’s expanding economic influence.
