Daily Current Affairs in Telugu | 24 February 2025 | Hareesh Academy | APPSC | TGPSC | Group-2 | SI

Harish Academy - Daily News Highlights

Welcome to Harish Academy's daily news summary! This document provides a concise overview of important national, international, state, and other news, including notable individuals, awards, books, and sports-related information.

Important Note for Exam Preparation: Candidates preparing for competitive exams should focus on recurring news topics from the past 6-12 months. Examples include IITs, volcanoes, indices/reports, joint military exercises, GI tags, UNESCO-related items, disaster areas, and controversial regions. Questions from these areas are highly likely.

1. Mount Ducono Volcano (Indonesia)

• Mount Ducono, an active volcano in Indonesia, has been frequently erupting, causing problems for nearby areas.
• This adds to the list of active Indonesian volcanoes previously in the news (e.g., Mount Semeru, Mount Sinabung, Mount Toba).

2. IIT Madras - Asia's First Global Hyperloop Competition

• IIT Madras is hosting Asia's first Global Hyperloop Competition from February 21st to 25th.
• This is a "superlative" event – the first of its kind in Asia.
• The competition will be held at the Discovery campus, a satellite campus of IIT Madras located approximately 36 km away.

3. NIT Rourkela - AI Equipment for Groundwater Quality

• Researchers at NIT Rourkela (Odisha) have developed a machine learning-based tool to analyze the quality of groundwater used for irrigation.
• The tool was tested in the Sundargarh district of Odisha, where agriculture is significant, and groundwater is the primary source of irrigation (87.9% vs 12.1% surface water).
• 76% of crops in the region are paddy, making groundwater quality crucial for farmers.

4. Domestic Tourist Attraction - Andhra Pradesh Ranks 4th

• According to a report released by the Ministry of Tourism (India), Andhra Pradesh ranks 4th in attracting domestic tourists.
• The top 10 states for domestic tourism in 2023, in order, are: Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh.

5. Bathouism Declared Official Religion in Assam (Bodoland)

• The Assam government has recognized Bathouism as an official religion in the Bodoland Territorial Region.
• Bathouism is practiced by the Bodo tribal community. The Bodo people have historically sought greater autonomy within Assam.

6. Capital Expenditure (India)

• Capital Expenditure (CAPEX): Spending that creates assets (e.g., infrastructure, education). This contrasts with Revenue Expenditure (day-to-day expenses like salaries).
• India's projected CAPEX for 2025-26 is ₹11,11,109 crores, which is 3.1% of GDP.
• While CAPEX is increasing, the growth is slow, and India lags behind countries like the USA in terms of capital expenditure as a percentage of GDP.

7. Higher Education Spending in India (NITI Aayog Report)

• NITI Aayog reports that India's spending on higher education is relatively high compared to many developed countries, despite the large population.
• Spending on University/Higher Education (2022): 0.62% of GDP.
• Spending on Technical Education (2022): 0.95% of GDP.
• For young people to get jobs, develop skills and compete, education is of high importance.

8. Number of State Universities in India

• The number of universities in India has nearly doubled in the last decade.
• According to the Ministry of Education (2021-22), there are 1168 universities of six different types.
• There are 423 state universities (as of 2021-22).
• Top 3 states with the highest number of universities: West Bengal, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh.

9. PM Modi to be Guest of Honor at Mauritius National Day

• Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be the Guest of Honor at the Mauritius National Day celebrations on March 12th.
• This visit follows recent trips to Paris and the United States, emphasizing the importance of India-Mauritius relations.

10. Shaktikanta Das Appointed as Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister

• Former RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das (1980 batch, Tamil Nadu cadre IAS officer) has been appointed as an additional Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister.
• He joins P.K. Mishra in this role.
• The appointment was approved by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet.
• Before becoming RBI governor sanjay malhotra was working as a principal secretary to the Prime Minister.

Thank you for using Harish Academy's news summary! We will continue to update this information with any missed items in future sessions.