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February – 09

TNPSC BITS
❖ R.S. Venkatraman, 102, who had announced to Tamil listeners that the nation
had attained Independence on All India Radio (AIR), passed away.
❖ TN Chief Minister inaugurated the country’s single largest (4.3 GW) solar cell and
module manufacturing plant of TP Solar Ltd at Gangaikondan SIPCOT in the
Tirunelveli district.
❖ The Gujarat government announced the formation of a high-level committee to
evaluate and draft a Uniform Civil Code (UCC) for the state.
❖ India has launched its first Ferret Research Facility at the Translational Health
Science and Technology Institute (THSTI) in Faridabad (Haryana) to research the
infectious and non-communicable diseases.
❖ WHO and other partners launched a first-ever clinical efficacy trial for a vaccine
against Ebola in Uganda.
❖ India has paid 37.64 million USD to the UN Regular Budget for 2025, joining the
"honour roll" of the 35 member states who have paid their regular budget
assessments in full and on time to the UN.
❖ After USA, Argentina has also announced its withdrawal from the World Health
Organization (WHO).
❖ Astronauts aboard China's Tiangong space station have successfully produced
oxygen and rocket fuel using artificial photosynthesis.
❖ The International day of Human Fraternity is observed annually on February 04
to honour the value of the people coming together to live in harmony and the
importance of unity in variety.

NATIONAL
'Gyan Bharatam Mission' 2025
❖ The Union Budget 2025 accommodated the ‘Gyan Bharatam Mission’ under the
National Manuscripts Mission (NMM).
❖ It is a special mission for the survey, documentation, and conservation of India’s
manuscript heritage.
❖ The ‘Gyan Bharatam Mission’ is for undertaking the “survey, documentation and
conservation” of India’s manuscript heritage lying with academic institutions,
museums, libraries, and private collectors.
❖ Presently, NMM is a part of the Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts.
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❖ It was set up in 2003.

Bharatiya Bhasha Pustak scheme

❖ The Union Budget 2025 introduced the Bharatiya Bhasha Pustak Scheme.
❖ It is a new initiative to provide digital books in Indian languages for school and
higher education students.
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❖ This scheme aims to make learning more accessible by offering study materials
in regional languages.
❖ Under this scheme, students across schools and universities will have access to
textbooks and learning resources in digital formats.
❖ The move aligns with the government’s push to integrate the technology into the
education while promoting linguistic diversity.

National Manufacturing Mission 2025

❖ The central government will set up a mission for the small, medium and large
industries with a focus on clean tech manufacturing.
❖ The mission’s mandate will include five focus areas – ease and cost of doing
business, upskilling for in-demand jobs, MSMEs, availability of technology, and
quality products.
❖ This will provide policy support, execution roadmaps, governance and monitoring
framework for central ministries and states.
❖ The scheme will support the design capacity, component manufacturing, and
machinery required for production of non-leather quality footwear, besides the
support for leather products.
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❖ It will also, focus on the development of clusters, skills, and a manufacturing

ecosystem that will create high-quality, unique, innovative, and sustainable toys.
❖ India aims to increase the share of manufacturing in its gross domestic product
(GDP) to 25 per cent from the current 17 per cent.

SWAMIH Fund 2.0

❖ Union has made a budgetary provision for second tranche of the Special Window
for Affordable and Mid-Income Housing (SWAMIH) Fund of Rs 15,000 crore.
❖ It aims to help in the completion of one lakh dwelling units.
❖ SWAMIH Fund is funded by the Ministry of Finance.
❖ It is created for the debt financing of the stressed and brownfield residential
properties.
❖ The SWAMIH fund was established in 2019 and is managed by SBICAP Ventures
Ltd, a State Bank Group company.
❖ Under the first tranche of the SWAMIH Fund, around Rs 15,500 crore have been
raised so far.
❖ This amount will provide priority debt financing for the completion of stalled and
Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) registered residential projects falling in
the affordable, mid-income housing categories.
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❖ To get the funding, their net worth must be positive but require last-mile funding
to ensure completion.

INTERNATIONAL
Guinea - Sleeping Sickness
❖ Guinea has successfully eliminated the gambiense form of the human African
trypanosomiasis (HAT), also known as the sleeping sickness, as a public health
problem.
❖ The only form of human African trypanosomiasis found in Guinea has become
the first neglected tropical disease to be eliminated in the country.
❖ HAT is a parasitic disease transmitted through the bite of infected tsetse flies.
❖ Guinea’s accomplishment is part of a broader trend, with seven other countries
— Togo, Benin, Côte d'Ivoire, Uganda, Equatorial Guinea, Ghana, and Chad.

ECONOMY
Repo Rate Cut by 25 bps
❖ RBI’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) cut the repo rate by 25 basis points (bps)
to 6.25 per cent.
❖ It was marking the first-rate reduction in nearly five years.
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❖ The Standing Deposit Facility (SDF) rate is set at 6 per cent.

❖ The Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) rate and the Bank Rate are at 6.50 per cent.
❖ The central bank last reduced the repo rate in May 2020, when it cut rates by 40
basis points to 4 per cent.

Grameen Credit Score

❖ Grameen Credit Score is a framework to be developed for the credit needs of the
members of Self-Help Groups (SHGs) and people in rural areas.
❖ Public Sector Banks will develop a ‘Grameen Credit Score’ framework.
❖ If the credit score of women associated with self-help groups is declared, they will
be able to easily get more loans from banks.
❖ It aims to improve the repayment discipline and reduce fraud by providing a more
accurate evaluation of borrowers in rural areas.
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❖ It will strengthen the microfinance, boost financial inclusion, and support sectors
like agriculture, rural development, and MSMEs.

ENVIRONMENT
White-naped Tit
❖ For the first time white-naped tit at Kadakola village in the Kappatagudda hills,
North Karnataka.
❖ It is a passerine bird in the tit family Paridae.
❖ It is endemic to India, where it is found in dry thorny scrub forests in two disjunct
populations, in western India and southern India.
❖ This species is very patchily distributed and has been vulnerable to extinction.
❖ In India, it is found in only some parts of Rajasthan, Gujarat, the Eastern Ghats
of Southern Andhra Pradesh, Northern Tamil Nadu, Haryana, and Southern
Karnataka.
❖ In South Karnataka, it’s documented only in the Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary.

STATES
Teesta-3 Dam Reconstruction
❖ An expert committee of the Environment Ministry approved the reconstruction of
the Teesta-3 hydropower project in Sikkim.
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❖ The original 1,200 MW Teesta-III Chungthang hydroelectric dam was destroyed

in a flash flood on October 3-4 of 2023.
❖ The flood, triggered by a Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF) from the South
Lhonak Lake, washed away the 60-metre-tall concrete dam.
❖ The new structure will be a 118.64-metre-tall concrete gravity dam.

IMPORTANT DAYS
International Day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation 2025 -
February 06
❖ Female genital mutilation (FGM) comprises all procedures that involve altering or
injuring the female genitalia for non-medical reasons.
❖ It is recognized internationally as a violation of the human rights, the health and
the integrity of girls and women.
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❖ In 2012, the UN General Assembly designated this International Day.

❖ Theme for 2025 is ‘Step up the Pace’.

MISCELLANEOUS
INCOIS 26th foundation day

❖ Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) was established
in 1999, Hyderabad, Telangana.
❖ It is an autonomous body working under the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES).
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❖ It established the Indian Tsunami Early Warning Centre (ITEWC) which provides
tsunami alerts within 10 minutes, serving India and 28 Indian Ocean countries.
❖ It has been recognized by UNESCO as a top Tsunami Service Provider.
❖ INCOIS has developed the Search and Rescue Aided Tool (SARAT) to assist in
locating individuals or objects lost at sea.
❖ During the event it launched two new products — Hilsa Fishery Advisory (HiFA)
services and INCOIS Global Ocean Reanalysis (IGORA) Version 1.

Extra-Long Staple (ELS) Cotton

❖ The Union Budget 2025 announced a five-year mission to “facilitate significant

improvements in productivity and sustainability of cotton farming, and promote
extra-long staple (ELS) cotton varieties”.
❖ Cotton is classified, based on the length of its fibres, as long, medium, or short
staple.
❖ Gossypium hirsutum, which constitutes roughly 96% of the cotton grown in
India, falls in the medium staple category.
❖ Its fibre lengths ranging from 25 to 28.6 mm.
❖ On the other hand, ELS varieties boast fibre lengths of 30 mm and above.
❖ The Most ELS cotton comes from the species Gossypium barbadense, commonly
known as Egyptian or Pima cotton.
❖ Having originated in South America, ELS cotton today is mainly grown in China,
Egypt, Australia, and Peru.
❖ In India, some ELS cotton is grown along rain fed parts of Atpadi taluka in
Maharashtra’s Sangli district, and around Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu.
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❖ Currently, India’s per acre yields are significantly lower than other countries.
❖ For instance, Brazil boasts an average yield of 20 quintals per acre, while China
boasts a yield of 15 quintals.

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