Daily Current Affairs – 12-02-2025

Tamil Nadu

Jaishankar receives national award

® Union Minister S Jaishankar has been conferred the Sri Chandrasekarendra Saraswathi National Eminence Award for Public Leadership by the South Indian Education Society (SIES) . ® The award is named after Mahaswami Sri Chandrasekarendra Saraswathi , also known as Maha Periyavar , a revered spiritual leader and the “Sage of Kanchipuram.”

8th Pay Commission approved

® The Union Cabinet has approved the formation of the 8th Pay Commission to revise the salary and pension of over 1.2 crore central government employees and pensioners. ® This includes 50 lakh central government employees, and 65 lakh pensioners . ® The salary hike is expected to be between 25% and 30%. ® This will increase the minimum basic salary of central government employees from ₹18,000 to over ₹40,000 per month. ® The fitment factor is expected to be in the range of 2.6% to 2.85%. ® Since 1947 , 7 th Pay Commissions have been constituted.

New scheme for diamond sector

® The Department of Commerce has launched the ‘ Diamond Imprest Authorization (DIA) Scheme ’ to enhance the global competitiveness of India’s diamond sector . ® The scheme will be implemented from April 2025 . ® It allows duty-free import of natural cut and polished diamonds (less than 0.25 carats) with a 10% value addition export obligation. ® Diamond exporters with Two Star Export House status or higher and $15 million annual exports are eligible for the scheme.

Young Scientist Award

® Aniesrani Delfiya , a scientist at the ICAR-Central Institute of Fisheries Technology (CIFT), has won the Young Scientist Award given by the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences for 2025.

Yuva Puraskar 2024

® The Sahitya Akademi has announced the winners of the Yuva Puraskar 2024 . ® K Vaishali won for the memoir “Homeless: Growing up Lesbian and Dyslexic in India”. ® Gaurav Pandey won for the poetry collection “Smritiyon Ke Beech Ghiri Hai Prithvi”. ® Awards were given to 23 winners in different categories. ® Each winner will receive a casket containing an engraved copper plaque and a cheque of ₹50,000.

Golden Globes 2025

® The 82nd Golden Globe Awards, presented by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), was held at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California.

Rubber Board unveils new projects

® The Rubber Board has launched two projects: iSNR (Indian Sustainable Natural Rubber) and INR Konnect , during the valedictory session of the platinum jubilee celebrations of the Rubber Act, 1947 , and the Rubber Growers’ Conference held in Kottayam, Kerala. ® iSNR aims to align the rubber production sector of India with the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) standards, and provide traceability certification. ® INR Konnect , a web platform, connects growers of untapped rubber holdings with interested adopters to improve plantation productivity. ® Awards were presented to the top performers of ‘ mRube’, the digital marketing platform for Natural Rubber (NR). ® Top 3 rubber producing country: Thailand, Indonesia and India ® Top rubber producing states: Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka

Digital empowerment initiative

® NITI Aayog have launched a digital literacy initiative in partnership with Nasscom Foundation to empower 1 lakh people in India, in line with the PM Digital Saksharta Abhiyan . ® Phase I of the initiative will focus on 60 Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTG) blocks , providing digital literacy training and access to e-governance services. ® The initiative is based on the latter’s ’ Aspirational Districts Programme ’, which was launched in 2022 and is aligned with the Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyaan (PMGDISHA). ® The program focuses on training individuals between 12-60 years in essential computer skills, cybersecurity, and internet usage.