TNPSC BITS, January 2025, PDF

January – 05 TNPSC BITS ❖ The Tamil Nadu’s first jallikattu for 2025 was held at Thatchankurichi village in Gandarvakottai taluk of the Pudukkottai district. ❖ The Centre has set up an 18-member panel, chaired by Dr. Ramesh Chand of NITI Aayog...

January – 05 TNPSC BITS ❖ The Tamil Nadu’s first jallikattu for 2025 was held at Thatchankurichi village in Gandarvakottai taluk of the Pudukkottai district. ❖ The Centre has set up an 18-member panel, chaired by Dr. Ramesh Chand of NITI Aayog, to revise the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) base year to 2022-23. ❖ The Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has completed full-scale implementation of the new Centralised Pension Payments System (CPPS) to provide PF pensions under the Employees’ Pension Scheme (EPS). ❖ Zomato-owned quick commerce platform Blinkit has announced a 10-minute ambulance delivery service in flat rate of Rs 2000 in Gurugram, Haryana. ❖ Air India has become the first airline to offer in-flight Wi-Fi on both domestic and international routes. TAMIL NADU Fifth Police Commission report ❖ The Fifth Police Commission headed by former Judge of the Madras High Court C.T. Selvam submitted its final report to CM. ❖ It is covering various aspects of policing from the stage of recruitment into the force till retirement has recommended major reforms in the Tamil Nadu police.  ❖ It contained recommendations to address mutual interests and expectations of the police and public to strengthen their relationship. ❖ The Tamil Nadu police have a strength of about 1.3 lakh personnel. NATIONAL PMAY-G program extension ❖ The Ministry of Rural Development has set an ambitious target of sanctioning 10 lakh houses under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Gramin (PMAY-G) in January 2025. ❖ The PMAY-G programme, extended for five years in August 2024, aims to build two crore additional houses by 2029. ❖ The scheme's eligibility rules have been revised to include more families and advance the goal of housing for all. ❖ The financial year 2024-25 has seen the highest budget allocation for the housing scheme, amounting to Rs 54,500 crore. Bharatiya Vayuyan Adhiniyam 2024 ❖ The Bharatiya Vayuyan Adhiniyam 2024 was passed by the Lok Sabha on 09.08.2024 and by Rajya Sabha on 05.12.2024. ❖ As per the Central Government, the 1st day of January, 2025 the provisions of the said Act, shall come into force. ❖ This legislative reform aimed at modernizing India’s aviation sector by re-enacting the Aircraft Act, 1934, in alignment with the contemporary needs and the global standards.  ❖ The Act provides for the regulation and control of the design, manufacture, maintenance, possession, use, operation, sale, export and import of aircraft and connected matters. ❖ The legislation also removed redundancies and replace the Aircraft Act, 1934, which has been amended 21 times. Tobacco farmers income 2024 ❖ The country's tobacco exports are likely to register an over 8 per cent growth and cross Rs 13,000 crore this year. ❖ India is the second largest producer of tobacco in the world after China. ❖ It is also the fourth largest producer of Flue-Cured Virginia (FCV) tobacco in the world after China, Brazil and Zimbabwe. ❖ India is the second largest exporter of unmanufactured tobacco (quantity terms) after Brazil. ❖ During 2023-24, the outbound shipments were Rs 12,005.89 crore ($ 1.5 billion).  ❖ Tobacco farmers income has also doubled over the last 5 years. ❖ Andhra Pradesh tobacco contains higher levels of nicotine than Karnataka's. ❖ The Tobacco Board was established on January 1, 1976, by an Act of Parliament for the overall development of the tobacco industry. INTERNATIONAL 20 years of QUAD ❖ The foreign ministers of India, Australia, Japan and the United States issued a joint statement on December 31 to mark the “20th anniversary of the Quad Cooperation”. ❖ The four had come together “in response to the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami” and its object was “service to the people of this region. ❖ The Quad formally emerged in 2007, with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe proposing the idea. ❖ The first official Quad talks were held in the Philippines in 2017. ❖ Australia withdrew in 2008 due to Chinese pressure and regional tensions and returned in 2018. Swiss Burqa Ban ❖ A Swiss prohibition on facial coverings in public spaces widely known as the “burqa ban” took effect January 1. ❖ Anyone who unlawfully flouts the prohibition faces a fine of up to 1,000 Swiss francs ($1,144).  ❖ The measure involves a prohibition on covering the nose, mouth, and eyes in both public spaces and private buildings accessible to the public. ❖ The ban does not apply to planes or in diplomatic and consular premises, and the faces may also be covered in places of worship and other sacred sites. ❖ In 2021, Swiss people voted in favour of banning face coverings in public, including the burka and niqab worn by Muslim women. ❖ People in Switzerland are given a direct say in their own affairs under the country’s system of democracy. ❖ About 5% of Switzerland’s population of 8.6 million people are Muslim, most originating from Turkey, Bosnia and Kosovo. ECONOMY Government Debt Relief Scheme ❖ RBI has laid down some certain broad principles for lenders relating to their participation in Government Debt Relief Scheme (DRS). ❖ It is including sacrifice of interest and/or principal and loan account status. ❖ This comes in the backdrop of States announcing the DRS to provide relief to borrowers. ❖ This includes farmers during natural calamities or political parties promising the same for a targeted segment of borrowers in the run up to elections.  ❖ Any waiver of accrued but unrealised interest and/ or sacrifice of principal will be treated as a compromise settlement. ❖ It would be attracting usual provisioning and asset classification norms. SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY India – Japan collaboration for space debris ❖ The Space startups in Japan and India had agreed to jointly study using laser- equipped satellites to remove debris from orbit. ❖ This is an experimental approach to the increasingly imminent problem of orbital congestion. ❖ Tokyo-based Orbital Lasers and Indian robotics company InspeCity would study business opportunities for in-space services.  ❖ It includes de-orbiting a defunct satellite and extending a spacecraft’s life. ❖ The Orbital Lasers plans to demonstrate the system in space and supply it to operators after 2027. ❖ Orbital Lasers is building a system that will use laser energy to stop the rotation of space junk by vaporising small parts of its surface. ENVIRONMENT New Ant Species in Western Ghats ❖ Scientists have identified a new species of ant from the Western Ghats region in Kodagu district of Karnataka called Tapinoma onaele. ❖ The word Onaele in Kannada means dried leaves, which are a very important part of the forest floor in the Western Ghats. ❖ Recently Probolomyrmex procne was rediscovered after three decades in this region. ❖ This species has only been documented in two other locations in India. REPORTS AND INDICES Business Ready (B-READY) Report 2024 ❖ The World Bank launched the Business Ready (B-READY) report 2024 to replace the Ease of Doing Business report. ❖ In Business Entry, countries like Singapore offer online business registration within a day at minimal cost.  ❖ In India, businesses still face multiple steps and incomplete digital integration. ❖ This report generates two sets of scores for each economy viz Topic Scores and Pillar Scores. ❖ Anyway, India did not participate in the 2024 B-READY Report. PERSONALITIES, AWARDS, AND EVENTS Botanist K.S. Manilal ❖ Dr. K.S. Manilal, the esteemed botanist, passed away recently at Thrissur, Kerala.  ❖ He has translated, and annotated Hortus Malabaricus, a 17th-century Latin manuscript compiled by Dutch Governor Hendrik Adrian van Rheede. ❖ His studies led to the discovery of 19 new plant species, with four species being named in his honour. ❖ He was the founding president of the Indian Association for Angiosperm Taxonomy (IAAT) in 1989. ❖ He also served as president of the Botanical Society of India in 1999 and treasurer from 1984 to 1986. ❖ He won the Vishwambhar Puri Medal (1990), the Y.D. Tyagi Gold Medal (1998), and the E.K. Janaki Ammal Taxonomy Award (2003). ❖ He was awarded the Padma Shri in 2020 for his exceptional contributions to botany. ❖ He was honoured with the Officer of the Order of Orange-Nassau award from the Netherlands, presented by Queen Beatrix in 2012. ❖ This was making him the first Asian to receive this honour. IMPORTANT DAYS DRDO’s 67th Foundation Day - January 01 ❖ DRDO is a network of around 41 laboratories and 05 DRDO Young Scientist Laboratories. ❖ It was formed in 1958 by merging Technical Development Establishment (TDEs) of the Indian Army and the Directorate of Technical Development & Production (DTDP) with the Defence Science Organisation (DSO).  ❖ DRDO aims to complete 100 critical projects and the execute over 6,000 tests in 2025. MISCELLANEOUS India Meteorological Department’s 150th year ❖ The IMD was established in January 15, 1875 and will be completing 150 years of service. ❖ IMD is one of the earliest government departments created for the systematic observation, regular reporting, and scientific forecasting of weather in the Indian subcontinent. ❖ It was the establishment of the first Meteorological and Astronomical Observatory in (then) Madras in 1793. ❖ Later the India Meteorological Department was established in 1875 with H.F. Blanford as the Meteorological Reporter. 