Daily Current Affairs – 19-02-2025
Tamil Nadu
NUCFDC office
inaugurated
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Union Minister Amit Shah has inaugurated the corporate office of the National Urban Cooperative Finance and Development Corporation (NUCFDC) in Mumbai.
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RBI has approved the establishment of NUCFDC as an umbrella organisation for urban cooperative banks (UCBs) .
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NUCFDC will support approximately 1,500 UCBs by providing IT infrastructure and operational assistance.
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It will act as a self-regulatory organisation , with its functions and activities determined by the RBI.
Paras Defence to
set up Optics Park
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Paras Defence & Space Technologies Ltd is set to invest ₹12,000 crore to build India’s first optics park in Maharashtra .
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The project will commence in 2028 and continue until 2035.
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The park will be a tech hub for defence, space, automotive, semiconductor, and other applications.
India displays WASH
innovation at WEF
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A session titled “ India’s
(Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene) WASH Innovation: Driving Global Impact in Climate and Water Sustainability ” was held at the India Pavilion of the World Economic Forum 2025.
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Union Minister attented the event and stated that:
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79.66% of rural households have access to safe drinking water under the
Jal Jeevan Mission
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This has resulted in saving 55 million hours per day on fetching water
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The Swachh Bharat Mission has empowered women and ensured their safety
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It has also prevented the deaths of 3 lakh children under the age of five, according to the WHO.
Labour Reforms
meeting
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By March 31 2025, All 36 States or UTs are expected to complete pre-publication of unified draft rules in line with the labour codes.
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During the meeting, Union Minister launched Occupational Shortage Index (OSI) and State/UT Microsites
under the e-Shram portal.
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These initiatives aim to match the labour demand-supply and enhance employment outcomes.
E-shram portal
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It will be the National database of unorganized workers
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It aims to facilitate access to various social security schemes to unorganized workers
Future of Jobs Report 2025
® According to the 5th edition
of the “ Future of Jobs Report 2025 – Insights Report January 2025” released by the World Economic Forum (WEF) , 22%
of jobs globally will be disrupted by 2030.
® 170 million new jobs will be created, and 92 million jobs will be lost, leading to a net addition of 78 million jobs.
® 40% of current worker skills will become obsolete by 2030.
® 63% of employers see skill gaps as a major barrier to business transformation.
® 6 out of 10 workers ( 59 out of 100) will require training by 2030, but only 48 out of 59 workers will receive training.
® 85% of employers plan to upskill their workforce and 70% of employers will look for new skills.
® By 2023, 60% of employers expect increasing digital access to transform their businesses.
® 86% of employers expect AI and information processing to impact their business.
® The increasing cost of living will transform 50% of businesses, while the global economic slowdown will impact 42% of businesses.
® These economic factors will displace 1.6 million jobs globally, but also create demand for creative thinking, resilience, and flexibility.
® 47% of employers expect climate change adaptation to transform their businesses in the next 5 years.
Groundwater Quality Report 2024
® The Ministry of Jal Shakti
(MoJS) released the “Annual Groundwater Quality Report for 2024” , the first to use the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for groundwater quality monitoring.
® The Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) assessed 15,259
groundwater monitoring locations.
® Key findings include:
® Nearly 20% of samples had high nitrate concentration.
® 9.04% had high fluoride.
® 3.55% had high arsenic.
® Calcium (Ca) is the most prevalent cation, and Bicarbonate (HCO 3 ) dominates among anions, indicating Calcium-Bicarbonate type groundwater.
® 100% of samples from Arunachal Pradesh , Mizoram , Meghalaya , and Jammu & Kashmir met Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) standards.
® Rajasthan , Haryana , and Andhra Pradesh had widespread contamination.
® Highest nitrate contamination reported in Rajasthan , Tamil Nadu , and Maharashtra .
® Highest fluoride contamination reported in Rajasthan , Haryana , Karnataka , Andhra Pradesh , and Telangana .
® Elevated arsenic levels (over 10 ppb) reported in West Bengal , Jharkhand , Bihar , Uttar Pradesh , Assam , Manipur , Punjab , and Rajnandgaon district in Chhattisgarh .
® Highest uranium contamination (over 100 ppb) reported in Rajasthan and Punjab .
® High Electrical Conductivity (EC) most affected states: Rajasthan , Delhi , Gujarat , Haryana , Punjab , Telangana , Andhra Pradesh , and Karnataka .
® Excellent irrigation suitability (100% of samples) reported in Assam , Arunachal Pradesh , Meghalaya , and Nagaland .
® Very high sodium levels, unsuitable for irrigation, reported in Andhra Pradesh , Gujarat , Haryana , Punjab , Rajasthan , and Uttar Pradesh .
® 81.49% of groundwater samples had RSC values below 1.25 , indicating suitability for irrigation; unsuitable samples marginally increased from 7.69% (2022) to 8.07% (2023).
Groundwater Resource Assessment
Report 2024
® According to the “Dynamic Ground Water Resource Assessment Report for 2024” released by the Ministry of Jal Shakti (MoJS), India’s total annual groundwater recharge stands at 446.9 Billion Cubic Meter (BCM) .
® The annual extractable groundwater resource is 406.19 BCM and annual groundwater extraction is 245.6 BCM .
® The average stage of groundwater extraction is 60.47% .
® The assessment was done by the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB).
® Compared to 2023, 128
assessment units have shown improvement in groundwater conditions.
® Compared to 2017:
® Total annual groundwater (GW) recharge has increased by 15 BCM.
® Extraction has decreased by 3 BCM.
® Recharge from tanks/ponds has increased from 13.98 BCM (2017) to 23.4 BCM (2024) .
® Safe category units increased from 62.6% (2017) to 73.4% (2024) .
® Over-exploited units decreased from 17.2% to 11.1%.
Global gold reserves increase
® According to a report by the World Gold Council (WGC) , central banks globally added 53 tonnes of gold to their reserves in November 2024.
® The RBI added 8 tonnes, taking its year-to-date gold purchase to 73
tonnes and total gold reserves to 876
tonnes.
® It is the second largest buyer in 2024, after Poland .
® The National Bank of Poland (NBP) increased its gold reserves by 21
tonnes, taking its year-to-date purchase to 90 tonnes and total gold reserves to 448 tonnes .