Daily Current Affairs – 20-02-2025

Tamil Nadu

Forbes 100 Most Powerful Women

® According to Forbes’ 21st annual ranking of the World’s 100 Most Powerful Women (MPW) , Nirmala Sitharaman is the highest-ranked Indian at 28th position. ® Ursula von der Leyen , President of the European Commission, secured the top rank for the third consecutive year.

India’s Biennial Update Report -4 to UNFCCC

® India submitted its 4th Biennial Update Report (BUR-4) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) . ® The report updates the Third National Communication (TNC) and contains the National Greenhouse Gas (GHG) inventory for 2020. ® India’s total GHG emissions (including Land Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF)) decreased by 7.93% in 2020 compared to 2019, but increased by 98.34% since 1994. ® India’s total GHG emissions (excluding LULUCF) were 2,959 million tonnes of Carbon Dioxide Equivalent (CO2e) in 2020. ® After considering absorption by forestry and land resources, net emissions were 2,437 million tonnes of CO2 . ® The energy sector is the major contributor to emissions (75.66%) , followed by agriculture (13.72%), industrial processes & product use (8.06%), and waste (2.56%). ® India’s forest & tree cover is 25.17% of the total geographical area. ® An additional carbon sink of 2.29 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent was created from 2005 to 2021. ® CO2 accounts for 80.53% of total emissions, followed by methane (13.32%), nitrous oxide (5.13%), and others (1.02%).

UDISE+ 2023-24 Report

® According to the ‘Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE+) 2023-24’ report, school enrollment in India decreased by 1.5% (37 lakh students) to 24.8 crore in 2023-24. ® The UDISE+ system covers, launched in 2018 , covers over 14.7 lakh schools, 98.1 lakh teachers, and 24.1 crore students. ® Boys’ enrollment decreased by 4.87% to 12.87 crore and girls’ by 4.48% to 11.9 crore . ® Bihar witnessed the highest drop in enrollment, followed by Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra. ® The number of single-teacher schools decreased by 7,219 to 1,10,971 in 2023-24, with Madhya Pradesh having the most (13,198), followed by Andhra Pradesh. Enrollment in these schools also decreased to 39.9 lakh . ® The number of zero-enrollment schools is 12,954. West Bengal has the most (3,254), followed by Rajasthan and Telangana. ® Female teacher representation increased to 53.3%, while male representation decreased to 46.6% between 2018 -19 and 2023-24. ® Minorities accounted for 20% of total enrollment in 2023-24. Muslims (79.6%) are the majority, followed by Christians and Sikhs (6.9%).

LEADS 2024 Report Released

® The Logistics Ease Across Different States (LEADS) 2024 report was launched. ® The report assesses logistics performance across 4 pillars : Logistics Infrastructure, Services, Operating and Regulatory Environment and Sustainable Logistics. ® New metrics like terminal accessibility and road corridor speeds were introduced this year. ® The minister also introduced the LEAD framework for transforming the logistics sector: Longevity, Efficiency and Effectiveness, Accessibility and Accountability, and Digitalization of processes.

North East investment roadshow

® The Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (MDoNER) has organised a trade and investment roadshow in Chennai to attract investment in the North Eastern States .

Four wetlands added to Ramsar list

® Union Minister has announced the addition of 4 new wetlands in India to the Ramsar Convention list. The new sites are: ® Sakkarakottai Bird Sanctuary (Tamil Nadu)(ramanathapuram district) ® Therthangal Bird Sanctuary (Tamil Nadu)( ramanathapuram district) ® Khecheopalri Wetland (Sikkim, 1st ramsar site) ® Udhwa Lake (Jharkhand, 1st ramsar site) ® With this, the total number of Ramsar sites in India is 89 . ® Tamil Nadu has the highest number of 20 Ramsar sites. ® The number of Ramsar wetlands worldwide stands at 2,529 . ® India joined the Ramsar Convention in 1982 .

AI-driven center for agritech

® IIT Indore , in collaboration with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) , has launched ‘ AgriHub ’, an AI-driven Centre of Excellence (CoE) for the agritech sector. ® AgriHub will act as a collaborative platform for stakeholders to develop innovative solutions for Indian agriculture.

SwaRail SuperApp launched

® The Ministry of Railways has launched ‘ SwaRail ’ SuperApp , a one-stop destination for comprehensive railway-related services. ® The app, currently in beta testing , is developed by the Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS) .