Daily Current Affairs Quiz 16th February 2025

**Notes:**

• The MEGA partnership focuses on economic growth and strategic cooperation between India and the US.
• It highlights trade, defense, and regional security agreements.

**Notes:**

• Constantine Tassoulas was elected on February 12, 2025.
• He is a senior member of the New Democracy party.

**Notes:**

• Ilie Bolojan assumed the role after the resignation of Klaus Iohannis.
• The transition period will last until the presidential elections in May 2025.

**Notes:**

• Jotham Napat was elected unopposed as the Prime Minister of Vanuatu.
• His nomination was supported by former PM Charlot Salwai.

**Notes:**

• Modi’s visit aimed at enhancing bilateral ties in AI, nuclear energy, and trade.
• It also reinforced people-to-people connections between India and France.

**Notes:**

• Tulsi Gabbard became the Director of National Intelligence in 2025.
• She is a former Congresswoman and 2020 US presidential candidate.

**Notes:**

• The Rajasthan government renamed Foy Sagar as Varun Sagar.
• This change reflects India’s effort to remove colonial names.

**Notes:**

• Saab & HAL signed an MoU to develop the LWS-310 system.
• The partnership aims to enhance India’s defense self-reliance.

**Notes:**

• RBI injected ₹2.5 lakh crore via a Variable Rate Repo (VRR) auction.
• This move aimed at stabilizing banking sector liquidity.

**Notes:**

• According to Bloomberg, Mukesh Ambani’s family ranked as Asia’s richest.
• Their wealth spans multiple industries, including telecom and energy.

**Notes:**

• Constantine Tassoulas, a senior member of the ruling New Democracy party, was elected by the Hellenic Parliament.
• He secured 160 votes in the 300-seat parliament.
• He succeeds Katerina Sakellaropoulou, Greece’s first female president.

**Notes:**

• Ilie Bolojan, the President of the Senate, has taken over as Romania’s interim President.
• This follows the resignation of Klaus Iohannis ahead of the May 2025 elections.
• Bolojan is known for his administrative expertise and political leadership.

**Notes:**

• Jotham Napat was elected unopposed as Vanuatu’s new Prime Minister.
• His nomination was proposed by Charlot Salwai.
• Ishmael Kalsakau confirmed that there were no other nominations.

**Notes:**

• PM Modi’s 2025 France visit focused on AI, nuclear energy, and trade cooperation.
• The visit emphasized historical ties and people-to-people connections.
• It reinforced India’s global influence in strategic sectors.

**Notes:**

• Tulsi Gabbard is the first Hindu to be appointed as Director of National Intelligence (DNI).
• She oversees 18 intelligence agencies and coordinates national security efforts.
• Gabbard is a former Congresswoman and Iraq War veteran.

**Notes:**

• The Rajasthan government renamed the 132-year-old Foy Sagar Lake to Varun Sagar.
• The move honors Indian heritage by erasing colonial remnants.
• King Edward Memorial Bhawan was also renamed Maharishi Dayanand Vishrant Grih.

**Notes:**

• Swedish firm Saab and India’s HAL signed an MoU for the LWS-310 system.
• The deal supports India’s ‘Make in India’ defense initiative.
• The system enhances self-reliance in electronic warfare technology.

**Notes:**

• RBI injected ₹2.5 lakh crore through a Variable Rate Repo (VRR) auction.
• This move aimed to stabilize banking sector liquidity.
• It ensures smooth credit flow and financial market stability.

**Notes:**

• Easebuzz received RBI’s final authorization as a payment aggregator.
• The approval allows it to streamline digital transactions securely.
• This strengthens its role in the growing fintech sector.

**Notes:**

• The Ambani family retained the top position in Bloomberg’s 2025 Asia rankings.
• They continue to dominate in business and wealth creation.
• The rankings highlight the legacy of Asia’s top business dynasties.

The consumer affairs secretary promotes the infusion of artificial intelligence into the e-jagriti portal to expedite consumer court case resolutions the portal streamlines consumer dispute redressal through features such as online case filing fee payment and ai-driven smart search for archived complaints

” Notes: Cuscuta dodder, an invasive weed native to north america, is threatening chengalpet forests and vedanthangal bird sanctuary of tamil nadu, endangering local ecology and migratory bird habitats. this parasitic vine lacks roots, infesting acres of trees in reserve forests and penetrating india’s oldest bird sanctuary. found on barringtonia trees crucial for bird nesting, it forms dense canopies before strangling and killing hosts. in india, it poses a significant problem in oilseeds, pulses, and fodder crops. globally, it’s listed as a ‘declared noxious weed’ in 25 countries. cuscuta seeds, with a hard coat, can survive up to 50 years in dry storage and 10 years in the field.”

” Notes: India won the 9th govtech prize at the 2024 world government summit in dubai for its innovative use of artificial intelligence (ai) in enhancing government services. the award recognizes the government of india’s ministry for road transport and highways’ transformative project, iraste. the emirates government service excellence program (egsep) manages the annual govtech prize and the “m-gov award”.”

” Notes:assam’s state government designates kaji nemu (citrus limon), a distinctive lemon variety native to the region, as the official ‘state fruit.’ state agriculture minister atul bora announced the decision, highlighting the fruit’s cultural, traditional and nutritional importance to the state and its people.”

” The australian under-19 (u19) cricket team won the International Cricket Council (icc) u19 men’s cricket world cup (cwc) 2024 title defeating India in the finals held in willowmoore park stadium in benoni, south africa. this marks australia’s fourth icc u19 men’s world cup title. australia previously won the title in 1988, 2002, and 2010.i. the 15th edition of u19 men’s cwc held from 19th january to 11th february 2024 was hosted by south africa.”

” The union cabinet chaired by Prime Minister (pm) narendra modi approved the following schemes and initiatives on 8th february 2024:i. the union cabinet approved the pradhan mantri matsya kisan samridhi sah-yojana (pm-mkssy), a central sector sub-scheme under the pradhan mantri matsya sampada yojana (pmmsy).ii. the union cabinet has approved the extension of the fisheries infrastructure development fund (fidf) for 3 years up to 2025-26 within the approved fund of rs 7522.48 crore and budgetary support of rs 939.48 crore.iii. the cabinet has approved the auction in eight spectrum bands for mobile phone services at a base price of rs 96,317 crore to improve the quality of telecom services and coverage for consumers. click here to read more”

” The department of administrative reforms and public grievances (darpg) under the ministry of personnel, public grievances and pensions has unveiled the national e-governance service delivery assessment (nesda) way forward annual report 2023.i. darpg organised 3 regional conferences on e-governance in bhopal (madhya pradesh), mumbai (maharashtra), and guwahati (assam), respectively.ii. a total of 16,487 e-services were provided across states/uts in december 2023, as against 11,614 in april 2023. click here to read more”

” Narendra modi, prime minister (pm) of india, along with mauritius pm pravind kumar jugnauth and sri lankan president ranil wickremesinghe, virtually launched india’s unified payments interface (upi) in mauritius and sri lanka. in addition to the upi, the rupay card service was also launched in mauritius.i. mauritius (african nation) becomes the first country outside asia to issue cards using rupay technology. click here to read more”

” On February 9, 2024, the reserve bank of India (rbi), in the exercise of powers conferred by section 35b of the banking regulation (br) act, 1949, has increased the remuneration ceiling of non-executive directors (neds) of banks from rs 20 lakh per annum to rs 30 lakh with immediate effect.i. rbi has permitted the branches of indian banks in gift–ifsc (Gujarat international finance tec-city International Financial Services Centre) to act as a trading member/trading and clearing member (tm/tcm) of india international bullion exchange ifsc ltd (iibx). it also allowed the indian banks authorised to import gold or silver to act as special category client (scc) of iibx.ii. on february 5, 2024, rbi, cancelled the licence of jai prakash narayan nagari sahakari bank ltd., basmathnagar, maharashtra. with effect from february 6, 2024, the bank ceases to carry on banking business as defined in section 5(b) read with section 56 of br act, 1949. click here to read more”

Researchers from kfri botanical survey of india and the kerala forest research institute have discovered a new fungus species trichoglossum syamviswanathii in the moist soil of bambusetum in thrissur kerala along the western ghats

” On february 9, 2024, the small industries development bank of india (sidbi) unveiled the crisil’s impact assessment report of the fund of funds for startups (ffs) namely ‘prabhaav‘.i. as of november 30, 2023, 129 alternative investment fund (aif) were sanctioned out of ffs across various segments. click here to read more”

The department of economic affairs (dea) of ministry of finance (mof) and asian development bank (adb) has signed a usd 200 million loan agreement (ordinary operations) for the ‘climate resilient brahmaputra integrated flood and riverbank erosion risk management(frerm) project in assam’.i. the loan has a principal repayment period of 15 years and the interest of the loan will be the sum of secured overnight financing rate (sofr) and 0.6% of proceeds of the loan withdrawn & 0.10% of expenditure to be financed out of proceeds of the loan.

” Mahindra defence systems limited and brazil-based embraer defense & security have signed a memorandum of understanding (mou) for the medium transport aircraft (mta) procurement project of the indian air force (iaf) in new delhi, delhi. as per the mou, both firms will be jointly developing c-390 millennium multi-mission aircraft which will be procured by iaf.i. the c-390 millennium is the most advanced military airlifter in the market which can carry a payload of about 26 tonnes. it flies at a speed of about 870 km/h (470 knots).”

” Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) has increased its paid-up share in SBI Cards & Payments Services Limited to 5.02% from 4.99%. For this purpose, LIC has made Open Market Purchases of about 3,01,084 shares of SBI Cards with an average cost of Rs.716 per share. The total shares of LIC have increased to 47,711,794 from 47,410,710.”