1 10 years of Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana
Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana (SSY) stands as a ray of hope and empowerment for millions of young girls across the country, reflecting the Government’s unwavering commitment to nurture their dreams and aspirations. Launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 22 January 2015 as the Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao Abhiyaan , this visionary scheme weaves the threads of financial security and social empowerment. The scheme allows parents to open Sukanya Samriddhi Account for girls in any post office or designated commercial bank branch. It starts with a minimum initial deposit of Rs 250 and subsequent deposits can be made in multiples of Rs 50, provided that at least Rs 250 is deposited in a financial year . The total annual deposit limit is limited to Rs 1,50,000; any excess amount will not earn interest and will be refunded. Funds can be deposited for a period of up to fifteen years from the date of opening the account. According to the Finance Ministry, currently interest is being given on this scheme at the rate of 8.2 percent.
2 Amitabh Kant wrote a book on G20 presidency and summit
PM Modi praised Amitabh Kant for writing a book about India’s G20 presidency and Summit 2023. G20 Sherpa and former CEO of NITI Aayog Amitabh Kant met PM Modi and presented him his book ‘ How India Scaled Mount G20 ‘. Amitabh Kant shared the pictures of the meeting on social media platform X and gave this information. Let us tell you that the 18th summit of the G20 was successfully held at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi during September 9-10, 2023. The behind-the-scenes efforts that ensured the grand success of the conference have now been revealed in Sherpa Amitabh Kant’s new book, ‘How India Scaled Mount G20: The Inside Story of the G20 Presidency’.
3 Donald Trump abolished birthright citizenship
US President Donald Trump on Monday signed an executive order to end birthright citizenship in the US . The order will ensure that children of foreign passport holders will no longer be considered US citizens. This includes those who are legally living in the country, such as those on tourist, student and work visas. Birthright citizenship is the legal principle according to which children acquire citizenship of the country in which they are born, regardless of the nationality or immigration status of their parents. The 14th Amendment to the US Constitution has long been read as granting citizenship to almost all children born on American soil. It was adopted in 1868 after the Civil War to clarify the status of formerly enslaved people. It states that “all persons born or naturalized in the United States, are citizens of the United States.”
4 Donald Trump takes a big step after becoming President, announces America’s withdrawal from WHO
President Donald Trump announced that he is withdrawing the US from the World Health Organization . This is a major move, as he ended his relationship with the UN public health agency on the very first day of taking office. In fact, Trump has long been a critic of the WHO and his administration formally withdrew from the organization in July 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic was spreading. The executive order cites “the organization’s mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic originating in Wuhan, China, and other global health crises, its failure to adopt urgently needed reforms, and its inability to demonstrate independence from improper political influence by WHO Member States” as reasons for the US withdrawal.
5 America pulled out of Paris Climate Agreement
After taking oath as the US President , Donald Trump signed many important decisions. In this sequence, President Donald Trump on Monday defended his decision to withdraw America from the Paris Climate Agreement and blamed China. Earlier, in his first term in 2017, he had blamed India for this. Thus, America is once again out of the Paris Climate Agreement. Trump started working even before the celebrations were over and signed an order and canceled many rules of the Biden administration.
6 President Donald Trump reversed Obama’s order, changed the name of North America’s highest peak
US President Donald Trump signed an executive order to rename North America’s highest mountain peak as ‘Mount McKinley’ . The 47th president changed the name to ‘ Denali ‘ from former President Barack Obama . However, the surrounding national park will continue to be called ‘ Denali National Park and Preserve Area ‘, according to the order signed on Monday. William McKinley, the 25th president of the United States, never visited Alaska or had any direct connection to the mountain, which was named in his honor in 1917. In 2015 , Obama officially renamed the mountain to ‘ Denali ‘, a name used for centuries by Alaskan natives and translated to “The High One” in the Koyukon Athabaskan language.
7 Trump Administration includes 6 Indians
There are 6 Indian origin people in Trump administration – Vivek Ramaswami, Kashyap Kash Patel, Jay Bhattacharya, Shriram Krishnan, Harmeet Dhillon and Usha Vance. Vivek Ramaswami, who is an Indian-origin American industrialist, writer and politician, has been made the head of Department of Government Efficiency i.e. DOGE. Kashyap Kash Patel has been made the next director of FBI i.e. Federal Bureau of Investigation. 44-year-old Kash is a lawyer by profession. Physician and economist Jayant Bhattacharya or Jay Bhattacharya has been chosen to lead the National Institute of Health. Usha Vance is the wife of US Vice President JD Vance i.e. she has become the Second Lady of the United States. Businessman and venture capitalist Shriram Krishnan has been appointed as the White House’s Senior Policy Advisor on Artificial Intelligence (AI). Donald Trump has appointed Indian-origin advocate Harmeet Kaur Dhillon as Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights in the Department of Justice.
8 Commerce Department launches Diamond Imprest Authorisation Scheme to boost global competitiveness of diamond trade
The Department of Commerce, Government of India has launched the Diamond Import Authorization (DIA) Scheme on 21st January, 2025. The scheme aims to enhance the global competitiveness of India’s diamond business . The scheme offers a streamlined system for duty free import of natural cut and polished diamonds , thus promoting value addition and exports. The scheme will come into effect from 01.04.2025. The scheme allows duty free import of natural cut and polished diamonds weighing less than ¼ carat (25 cents). The scheme has a mandatory export obligation with 10 per cent value addition. All diamond exporters having two star export house status or above and exporting US$ 15 million per annum are eligible to avail benefits under the scheme. The scheme has been formulated in the context of the remunerative policies adopted in many natural diamond mining countries like Botswana, Namibia, Angola etc. where diamond manufacturers are mandated to open cut and polishing facilities for a minimum percentage of value addition. The scheme aims to maintain India’s position as a global leader in the entire value chain of the diamond industry.
9 Defence Ministry signs Rs 1,561 crore deal with Heavy Vehicles Factory, Armoured Vehicles Nigam Limited for procurement of 47 T-72 Bridge Laying Tanks for Indian Army
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has signed an agreement with Heavy Vehicles Factory, a unit of Armoured Vehicles Nigam Limited, for procurement of 47 Tanks-72 Bridge Laying Tanks (BLT) for the Indian Army at a total cost of Rs 1,560.52 crore . The agreement was signed by senior officials of the Ministry of Defence and Heavy Vehicles Factory/Armoured Vehicles Nigam Limited in presence of Defence Secretary Shri Rajesh Kumar Singh in New Delhi on January 21, 2025. Bridge Laying Tank is a critical equipment used by mechanised forces to construct bridges during offensive/defensive operations . It provides integral bridge laying capability to the fleet of tanks and armoured vehicles. This enhances mobility and offensive capability on the battlefield.
10 DRDO conducts ground testing of scramjet engine
Defence Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL), a Hyderabad- based laboratory of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO ), has taken the initiative to develop long duration supersonic combustion ramjet or scramjet powered hypersonic technology . DRDL has recently developed these technologies and demonstrated a state-of-the-art Active Cooled Scramjet Combustor ground test for 120 seconds for the first time in India . The successful ground test is a significant milestone in developing next generation hypersonic missions. Hypersonic missiles are a class of advanced weapons that travel at speeds in excess of Mach 5 i.e. five times the speed of sound or more than 5,400 km/h . These advanced weapons have the capability to bypass existing air defence systems and carry out fast and high impact attacks. Many countries including the US, Russia, India and China are actively using hypersonic technology. The key to hypersonic vehicles are scramjets.
11 ICSI elects Dhananjay Shukla as President for 2025
The Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI) has appointed Dhananjay Singh as President and Pawan G. Chandak as Vice President. Shukla is an expert in corporate law, securities law and taxation . He has also been the Vice President of ICSI for the year 2024. At the same time, Pawan G. Chandak is a company secretary, as well as an expert in labor law, labor welfare. Pawan was also elected to the Western India Regional Council (WIRC) of ICSI for the term 2019-2022 and served as the Secretary of the region in 2019.
12 Centre organised a National Conference of District Magistrates on PM-Janman
The central government organized a national conference of District Magistrates on Pradhan Mantri Jansatta Adivasi Nyay Maha Abhiyan (PM-Janman) in New Delhi on January 21. The conference focused on 6 main areas under PM Janman. These include housing, roads, Anganwadi, school hostels, multi-purpose centers and Van Dhan Vikas Kendra . A total of 88 districts from 18 states participated in this program. PM-Janman was launched in Jharkhand on November 15, 2023 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the occasion of Tribal Pride Day . The government aims to ensure that the benefits of PM Janman reach every person in all the 18 states participating in the conference.
13 Now SIM card will work for 90 days even without recharge, TRAI issued new rules
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has issued new rules regarding the validity of SIM cards . Under this, now the SIM card will continue to work for 90 days even without recharge . Actually, these new rules will help customers to avoid frequent recharge and reduce expenses. According to TRAI’s Consumer Handbook, after the recharge is over, your SIM remains active for 90 days. Now this means that even after the recharge is over, your number will remain active for three months. According to TRAI, if there is no recharge on your number for 90 days and there is a prepaid balance of Rs 20 left in it, then the company gives additional validity of 30 days by deducting Rs 20. In this way, the customer’s number can remain active for 120 days more without recharge. At the same time, BSNL’s SIM card will remain for 180 days without recharge. Apart from this, according to the new rules of TRAI, Jio, Airtel, Vodafone, Idea users are also going to get this big relief.
14 10th anniversary of Beti Bachao Beti Padhao scheme
The Union Ministry of Women and Child Development is going to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP) scheme . The programs organized on the occasion of completion of ten years of this scheme will start from January 22 and will continue till March 8. That is, this celebration will conclude on International Women’s Day. Union Health and Family Welfare Minister JP Nadda, Union Women and Child Development Minister Annapurna Devi and Minister of State Savitri Thakur will also attend the inaugural ceremony of the program to be held on Wednesday at Vigyan Bhavan. Representatives of international organizations like United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), United Nations Women Organization, United Nations Development Program (UNDP), United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), World Bank and German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) will also participate in this program. Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Abhiyan was launched on 22 January 2015 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Panipat, Haryana to eliminate gender imbalance and declining Child Sex Ratio (CSR) in India. The Beti Bachao Beti Padhao campaign was launched in response to the alarming situations of gender imbalance and declining child sex ratio and grew from a policy initiative to a national movement.