Daily Current Affairs – 18-02-2025
Tamil Nadu
Indian clusters
join WEF initiative
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13 new industrial clusters have joined the ‘ Transitioning Industrial Clusters ’ initiative of the World Economic Forum (WEF) .
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The 5 new Indian clusters that joined the initiative are:
Gopalpur Industrial Park (Odisha)
Kakinada Cluster (Andhra Pradesh)
Kerala Green Hydrogen Valley (Kerala)
Mundra Cluster (Gujarat)
Mumbai Green Hydrogen Cluster (Maharashtra)
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The initiative aims to reduce Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions
while promoting economic growth and employment.
Ethanol procurement
price revised
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The Union Cabinet has revised the ethanol procurement prices for Public Sector Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) under the Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) Programme .
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The price of ethanol from C-Heavy Molasses (CHM) is increased to ₹57.97 per litre from ₹56.58.
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The OMCs have achieved an average ethanol blending of 14.6% as of
ESY 2023-24 , to 707 crore litres.
eCoo 2.0 System
launched
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The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) has launched the enhanced Certificate of Origin (eCoO) 2.0 System to simplify the certification process for exporters.
Unified Pension
Scheme launched
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The Ministry of Finance (MoF) has notified the Unified Pension Scheme (UPS) for central government employees.
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The scheme will come into effect from April 2025 and provide a guaranteed pension to retirees.
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The UPS is an upgrade of the National Pension Scheme (NPS) , launched in 2004 , and was recommended by a committee chaired by TV Somanathan in April 2023.
Under the UPS:
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Employees will contribute 10% of their basic salary and Dearness Allowance (DA)
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The central government will contribute 18.5%
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Maharashtra was the first state to implement the scheme.
India’s aging
population readiness
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India is ranked 123rd among 143 countries in terms of readiness to face the challenges of an ageing population, according to a study published in ‘Nature Aging’ .
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Switzerland is ranked top with a score of 82.3 , followed by Norway and Denmark .
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Rwanda is ranked last ( 143 rd).
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Singapore is ranked 10th overall and first among Asian countries.
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The study developed a “Global Aging Index” assessing 5 key domains:
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Well-being (2 5 %)
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Productivity & engagement (20%)
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Equity (18%)
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Cohesion (17%)
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Security (20%)
Nexus Assesment Report on
Biodiversity
® The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) has released the “Nexus Assessment Report”.
® The report identifies five
interconnected ‘ nexus elements’ : biodiversity , water , food , health and climate change .
® The report states that 90%
of premature deaths from pollution are reported in Low-and-Middle-Income Countries ( LMICs ).
® Biodiversity is declining by 2%
to 6% per decade.
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The unaccounted costs of current economic activities on the five nexus elements are estimated at a minimum of $10 trillion to $25 trillion per year.
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The report states that the annual finance gap to meet biodiversity requirements ranges from $300 billion to $1 trillion , and at least $4 trillion more is needed annually to meet the SDGs related to water, food, health, and climate change.
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Direct public subsidies to harmful economic activities are approximately $1.7 trillion per year, leading to environmentally damaging economic activities of around $5.3 trillion per year.
Home Ministry’s annual report
2023-24
® According to the 2023-24 annual report of the Ministry of Home Affairs ,
2,331 foreigners were deported from India between April 2023 and March 2024.
® The highest number of deportees were from Nigeria (1,470), followed by Bangladesh and Uganda.
® Bangladesh (21, 08,734) ranks top in the number of visitors, followed by the USA and UK.
Household
Consumption Expenditure Survey
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According to the Household Consumption Expenditure Survey: 2023-24 results released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), the average Monthly Per Capita Consumption Expenditure (MPCE) was including freebies.
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The urban-rural MPCE gap reduced to 70% in 2023-24.
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Non-food items accounted for 53% (rural) and 60% (urban) of the total monthly expenditure.
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9 of the 18 major states recorded higher MPCE than the all-India average.
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Top 5 states by urban MPCE: Telangana (₹8,978), Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, and Andhra Pradesh.
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Top 4 states by rural MPCE: Kerala (₹6,611), Punjab, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana.
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Sikkim had the highest overall MPCE (₹9,377 rural, ₹13,927 urban).
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Chhattisgarh had the lowest overall MPCE (₹2,739 rural, ₹4,927 urban).
® Chandigarh had the highest MPCE among UTs (₹8,857 rural, ₹13,425 urban).
® Meghalaya (104%) reported the highest rural-urban MPCE difference.