Daily Current Affairs – 13-02-2025

Tamil Nadu

Book on Indias G20 Presidency

® Amitabh Kant has authored a book titled “ How India scaled Mt G20: The inside story of the G20 Presidency”. ® It was published by Rupa Publications India . ® The book covers India’s role in hosting and shaping the Group of Twenty (G20) during its presidency.

New book on food and economics

® Abhijit Vinayak Banerjee , a Nobel laureate, launched his book titled “Chhaunk on Food, Economics and Society” at the Apeejay Kolkata Literary Festival (AKLF). ® The book was co-authored by Cheyenne Olivier and published by Juggernaut Publication. ® The book explores Indian culinary traditions.

Tarun Das receives Singaporean honour

® Tarun Das , former director-general of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII ), has been conferred the Honorary Citizen Award, the highest civilian honour of Singapore. ® The award was presented by the President of Singapore Tharman Shanmugaratnam. ® He is the second Indian to receive this award after Ratan Tata. ® The award was established in 2003 .

Blue Flag for Kerala beaches

® Two beaches in Kerala have been awarded the Blue Flag certification by the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) : ® Kappad in Kozhikode ® Chal in Kannur ® The certification is given to beaches, marinas and sustainable boating tourism operators who meet 33 stringent criteria related to environmental, educational, safety, and accessibility standards. ® Blue flag beaches in Asia; ® 1-South Korea ® 2-Japan ® 3-UAE ® 4-India

NIFT celebrates 40th anniversary

® The National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) celebrated its 40th Foundation Day. ® During the event, it launched ‘ VisionNxt ’, an AI and Emotional Intelligence (EI)- powered fashion forecasting platform. ® Developed under the Ministry of Textiles , the platform offers research and trend insights for the fashion and retail sectors in India.

International Conference on Elections

® An International Conference titled “ Global Election Year 2024: Reiteration of Democratic Spaces ” was organised in New Delhi. ® The event witnessed the participation of Election Management Bodies (EMBs) of various countries. ® India’s electoral database reached 99.1 crore in January 2024, with 21.7 crore young voters (18-29 age group). ® Electoral Gender Ratio improved by 6 points to 954 from 948 in 2024.

NHM achievements

® The Union Cabinet has reviewed the achievements of the National Health Mission (NHM) from 2021-22 to 2023-24 and approved its continuation for another 5 years. Key Health Indicators Improvement: ® Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR) decreased by 25% to 97 in 2018-20. ® Under-5 Mortality Rate (U5MR) declined from 45 per 1,000 live births (2014) to 32 (2020). ® Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) decreased from 39 per 1,000 live births (2014) to 28 (2020). ® Total Fertility Rate (TFR) declined from 2.3 (2015) to 2 (2020).

National Voters Day celebrated in 25 Jan, 2026

® President Droupadi Murmu and Union Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal attended the national event organised by the Election Commission of India (ECI) in New Delhi. ® During the event, a short clip of the upcoming docu-drama series “ India Decides ”, produced by Warner Bros Discovery , was released. ® The President presented the ‘ Best Electoral Practices Awards for 2024 ’. ® The President received the first copy of the ECI Coffee Table Book titled “ India Votes 2024: A saga of democracy ”. ® An ECI publication “ Belief in the Ballot: Human stories shaping India’s 2024 elections ” was also presented to her. ® A short voter awareness film - ‘My Vote My Duty’ produced by ECI in association with renowned filmmaker Shri Raj Kumar Hirani was also screened.