DAILY GK 4 JAN 2025
1.
INTEREST
RATE ON SMALL SAVINGS SCHEMES
·
The
Department of Economic Affairs (DEA-Budget Division), Ministry of
Finance (MoF) has kept the interest rate on Small Savings Schemes (SSS) unchanged
for its 4th Quarter of Financial Year 2024-25( Q4 FY25) i.e. from 1st January 2025 to
31st March 2025 from those notified for Q3FY25.
·
This
is for the straight 4th consecutive
quarter of FY25 that interest rate
on SSS remains unchanged.
·
Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP)-
7.5% (will mature in 115 months).
·
Public
Provident Fund (PPF)- 7.1%.
·
Sukanya
Samriddhi Yojana (SSY)- 8.2%.
·
National
Savings Certificate (NSC)- 7.7%.
·
Senior
Citizens’ Savings Scheme(SCSS)- 8.2%.
·
Mahila Samman
Savings Certificate (MSSC)- 7.5%.
·
Small
Savings Schemes (SSCs) are
savings instruments managed by the GoI to encourage citizens to save regularly.
·
These
SSCs are broadly classified into 3 categories: savings deposits, social
security schemes, and monthly income plans.
·
The
methodology to determine the interest rates for SSCs was recommended by
the Shyamala Gopinath Committee in January 2023.
·
The committee suggested that interest rates for these
schemes should range from 25 to 100 bps
above the yields on corresponding government bonds.
2.
USD
500,000 RELIEF ASSISTANCE TO VANUATU BY INDIA
·
The
Government of India (GoI) announced a relief assistance
worth USD 500,000 (Rs 4.3 crore) to Vanuatu, a Pacific
island nation, to help with relief, rehabilitation, and reconstruction efforts following a devastating earthquake.
·
Vanuatu
is particularly vulnerable to natural disasters and has been ranked as
the most at-risk country globally on the United Nations (UN) World Risk Index(WRI) since it was introduced in
2011.
3.
NPCI
EXTENDS MARKET CAP DEADLINE FOR UPI APPS TILL 2026
·
Mumbai
based National Payments Corporation of
India (NPCI) announced an extension of the deadline for
implementing a 30% market share cap
for Unified Payments Interface (UPI) providers by another two years to December
31, 2026.
·
The
NPCI proposed a 30% market share cap in November 2020, giving providers two
years to comply.
·
Due
to industry opposition, the deadline was moved to 2022, and it was extended to
December 31, 2024.
·
As
of November 2024, Walmart Inc backed Phone Pe, commanded approximately
47.8% of UPI transactions, and Google LLC’s Google Pay,
which holds 37.02%.
4.
RBI RAISES COLLATERAL-FREE
AGRICULTURAL LOAN LIMIT TO RS 2 LAKH
·
Reserve
Bank of India (RBI) has raised the limit for collateral-free agricultural loans
from Rs1.6 lakh to Rs2 lakh. Effective
January 1, 2025.
·
Modified Interest Subvention Scheme offers loans up to Rs 3 lakh at 4% effective interest
rate.
5.
GOOD GOVERNANCE DAY 2024- DECEMBER 25
·
Good Governance Day, also known as ‘Sushasan Diwas’ in Hindi, is
annually observed across India on 25th December to mark the birth anniversary
of the former (10th) Prime Minister (PM) Late Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
·
25th December 2024 marks the
11th Good Governance Day and 100th birth anniversary of
Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
·
Theme
of
Good Governance Day 2024 “India’s Path to a Viksit Bharat:
Empowering Citizens through Good Governance and Digitalisation,”.
6.
VEER BAL DIWAS 2024 – DECEMBER 26
·
Veer Bal Diwas is annually
observed across India on 26th December to mark
the martyrdom of the Sahibzadas- Sri
Guru Gobind Singh’s 4 sons of the 10th
Sikh guru- Guru Gobind Singh Ji, who sacrificed their lives in the 17th
century.
·
On
9th January 2022, during the Prakash Purab of Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji, the
Prime Minister declared that 26th December would be
celebrated as ‘Veer Bal Diwas’.
·
President
of India, Droupadi Murmu, conferred the awards of Pradhan Mantri
Rashtriya Bal Puraskar (PMRBP) 2024 to 17 children (7 boys and 10 girls) from 14 States/UTs who were
selected for the honour.
·
Each
recipient received a medal, certificate,
and citation booklet.
7.
BRING IT ON: THE INCREDIBLE STORY
OF MY LIFE, A
MEMOIR BY DEEPA MALIK
·
Bring It On: The Incredible Story of My Life, a memoir by Deepa Malik
India’s first female Paralympic
medalist is released by HarperCollins Publishers India
Private Limited.
·
Deepa Malik has made history as India’s first female Paralympic
medalist with a silver at the Rio Paralympics 2016.
·
She
has served as the first female president of the
Paralympic Committee of India (PCI).
8.
ABHIJIT BANERJEE BOOK “CHHAUNK ON FOOD,
ECONOMICS, AND SOCIETY”
·
The
book titled “Chhaunk On Food, Economics and Society” was
launched during Apeejay Kolkata Literary Festival (AKLF), India’s only literary
festival organised by a bookstore, at the Oxford Bookstore in Kolkata, West
Bengal(WB).
·
The
book was authored by Nobel Prize laureate Abhijit Vinayak Banerjee and
co-authored by Cheyenne Olivier.
·
Abhijit Vinayak Banerjee is an Indian-American economist
who was awarded the ‘Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences’ in
2019, alongside his co-recipients Esther
Duflo and Michael Kremer for their experimental approach to poverty
alleviation and economic development.
9.
SYED
KIRMANI RELEASES AUTOBIOGRAPHY
·
Legendary
former Indian Cricketer and wicket-keeper Syed Mujtaba Hussein Kirmani, an
One Day International (ODI) World Cup winner with India in 1983, released his autobiography titled “Stumped: Life Behind
and Beyond the Twenty-Two Yards”.
·
The
book is co-authored by DebashishSengupta and Dakshesh Pathak.
