Daily Current Affairs for UPSC IAS: 26th February 2025

Qualified Institutional Placement:

Shareholders of the Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Ltd. (IREDA) recently approved the company’s proposal to raise up to ₹5,000 crore through the Qualified Institutional Placement (QIP) of equity shares in one or multiple tranches.

• Qualified Institutional Placement (QIP) is a capital-raising mechanism through which public listed companies use to issue equity shares or convertible securities exclusively to Qualified Institutional Buyers (QIBs).
• QIBs include mutual funds, venture capital funds, pension funds, and other institutional investors.
• A QIP is, at its core, a way for listed companies to raise capital without having to submit legal paperwork to market regulators.
• It is common in India and other Southeast Asian countries.
• It provides a quicker and cost-effective alternative to traditional public offerings (IPOs and FPOs) while ensuring minimal dilution of management control.
• Earlier, since raising finance in the domestic market involved a lot of complications, Indian companies used to raise funds from the overseas markets.
• So to prevent this, SEBI in 2006 introduced the QIP process so as to make the raising of funds easier in the domestic market.
• QIP allows companies to raise funds domestically, reducing dependence on foreign investors through instruments like American Depository Receipts (ADRs), Global Depository Receipts (GDRs), or Foreign Currency Convertible Bonds (FCCBs).

TRIFED : In News

To promote tribal entrepreneurship and economic inclusion, TRIFED recently signed MoUs with Reliance Retail, HCL Foundation, and Torajamelo Indonesia.

• TRIFED is an organization under the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Government of India, dedicated to the socio-economic development of tribal communities.
• It was established in 1987 under the Multi-State Cooperative Societies Act, 1984, by the Government of India as a national-level cooperative body.
• Bringing about the socio-economic development of the tribals of the country by institutionalizing the trade of Minor Forest Produce (MFP) & Surplus Agricultural Produce (SAP) collected/cultivated by them.
• Objectives is to act as a facilitator and service provider for the tribal community to uplift production,Provide training to enhance artistic skills with modern technology to meet the requirements of the global market,To increase the promotion of tribal art and crafts for a stable livelihood,To identify target groups to monitor and evaluate the process and activities and provide input to the Ministry
• The approach involves capacity building of the tribal people through sensitization, formation of Self Help Groups (SHGs), and imparting training to them for undertaking a particular activity, exploring marketing possibilities in national as well as international markets, creating opportunities for marketing tribal products on a sustainable basis, and creating a brand.
• TRIFED has been doing the retail marketing of tribal products under the brand name of TRIBES INDIA.
• TRIFED promotes and creates a sustainable market through retail outlets, exhibitions such as Aadishilp, Aadichitra, OCTAVE; international fairs, and e-marketing.
• TRIFED has also been entrusted by the Govt. of India to implement its proposed Minimum Support Price Scheme for Minor Forest Produce.

Thames River : New Study

A new study has learned that climate change is increasing the potential for algal blooms in the United Kingdom’s River Thames despite a four-decade-long decline in phosphorus loads.

• Thames River is a 346-km river that flows through southern England.
• It is the longest river in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom, after the River Severn.
• Its source is at Thames Head, near Kemble in the Cotswold Hills, Gloucestershire County.
• It flows into the North Sea via the Thames Estuary.
• The Nore is the sandbank that marks the mouth of the Thames Estuary and the confluence point of the Thames and the North Sea.
• The Thames’ basin covers an area of approximately 16,130 sq.km.
• The river passes numerous popular cities along its way, such as London, Reading, Hendley-on-Thomas, Windsor and Oxford, where it is also called the Isis River.
• It provides two-thirds of London’s drinking water.
• It has been a vital transportation route since ancient times, facilitating trade and commerce between London and other parts of England.
• There are 16 bridges that cross the River Thames in Greater London alone, most prominently the Golden Jubilee Bridges and the Millennium Bridges for pedestrians.
• Main Tributaries: Lea, Leach, Churn, Coln, Windrush, Kennet, Evenlode, Ock, and Loddon.

INS Tamal:

The Indian Navy crew that will operate Tamal, the stealth frigate under construction in Russia, reached St. Petersburg recently in preparation for its commissioning.

• INS Tamal is a state-of-the-art stealth guided missile frigate.
• It is an upgraded Krivak-III class frigate, and is part of a significant $2.5 billion deal between India and Russia for four stealth frigates, two to be built in Russia and the other two to be manufactured at Goa Shipyard Limited.
• INS Tushil, the first of this, was commissioned into the Indian Navy in December 2024.
• INS Tamal will be the last warship to be commissioned outside India or imported. The country now designs and constructs its own warships.
• Following the delivery of INS Tamal, the Indian Navy will receive two additional frigates being constructed at Goa Shipyard Limited in India.
• INS Tamal is designed for blue water operations, capable of engaging in various naval warfare dimensions, including air, surface, underwater and electronic warfare.
• It measures 125 meters in length and has a displacement of 3,900 tonnes, blending Russian design with Indian technology.
• Approximately 26% of its components are sourced from Indian manufacturers.
• The frigate is equipped with a 76mm Super Rapid Gun Mount (SRGM), which enhances its naval artillery capabilities.
• Additionally, it has two Indigenous Triple Torpedo Launchers (ITTL) designed for 324mm torpedoes, allowing for effective anti-submarine warfare operations.
• INS Tamal carries an array of missile systems, including BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles and vertically launched Shtil surface-to-air missiles, providing it with formidable offensive and defensive capabilities.

Dwarf Galaxies:

A team of scientists in the US, led by Indian-origin astrophysicist Raga Deepika Pucha, recently discovered the largest samples of intermediate-mass black holes and dwarf galaxies with active black holes.

• They are small galaxies that typically contain just a few billion stars, unlike their larger cousins, which can hold hundreds of billions.
• They are the most abundant type of galaxy in the universe but are difficult to detect due to their low luminosity, low mass, and small size.
• They are most commonly found in galaxy clusters, often as companions to larger galaxies.
• Our Milky Way galaxy is orbited by more than 20 dwarf galaxies.
• They are thought to have been created by gravitational forces in the early stages of the creation of these larger galaxies, or as a result of collisions between galaxies, forming from streams of material and dark matter ejected from the parent galaxies.
• Because most of them come from galaxy collisions, many dwarf galaxies are grouped into irregular shapes.
• However, some dwarf galaxies have spiral arms or look like mini-elliptical galaxies.

SWAYATT Initiative:

The Government e Marketplace (GeM) commemorated six years of Startups, Women & Youth Advantage through eTransactions (SWAYATT) initiative at New Delhi

• SWAYATT Initiative was launched on 19th February, 2019.
• It was conceptualised with a clear objective of invigorating participation of women-led enterprises and youth in public procurement.
• SWAYATT is the GeM portal’s commitment to enhance ease of doing business and establish direct market linkages to annual public procurement for startups, women entrepreneurs, Micro & Small Enterprises (MSEs), Self Help Groups (SHGs) and youth, especially those from backward sections of the society.
• It is rooted in GeM’s foundational pillar of social inclusion.
• It is an online market platform that was set up in 2016 to facilitate the procurement of goods and services by government ministries, departments, public sector undertakings (PSU) etc.
• It has been envisaged as the National Procurement Portal of India.
• This portal was developed by the Directorate General of Supplies and Disposals (Ministry of Commerce and Industry) with technical support from the National e-governance Division (Ministry of Electronic and Information Technology).
• It is a completely paperless, cashless and system-driven e-marketplace that enables procurement of common-use goods and services with minimal human interface.

21st African-Asian Rural Development Organization:

21st African-Asian Rural Development Organization (AARDO) concluded and reaffirmed that development is strongest when rooted in community, driven by local knowledge, technology and south-south cooperation.

• It is an autonomous inter-governmental Organization comprising country governments of Africa and Asia which was established in 1962.
• The organization was set up with a view to promote coordinated efforts, exchange of experiences and cooperative action for furthering the objectives of development of the rural areas.
• The membership of the organization is open to all countries of the Afro-Asian region provided that it is a full or associate member of the United Nations or any of its specialised agencies, organisations and foundations concerned with the development of rural communities.
• Currently it comprises 32 countries of Africa and Asia as full members and 3 associate members.
• Functions is to collaborate with the appropriate international and regional organizations, including UN agencies, the national bodies, governmental or non-governmental,To organize and facilitate the conduct of international, regional and in-country training programmes to strengthen the institutional capacity of Afro-Asian member countries in sustainable agriculture and rural development, To initiate research and action research studies of specific or common interest and disseminate disaggregated data/statistics and information to member countries, To provide technical and financial supportto its member countries to undertake pilot projects for experimentation and replication
• It enjoys observer status with international organisations like Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
  Headquarters:New Delhi, India

PUNCH Mission:

NASA is gearing up for a new and first-of-its-kind solar mission called PUNCH mission that will closely observe the solar atmosphere.

• The Polarimetry to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere (PUNCH) mission will be launched by SpaceX .
• It will be a constellation of four, suitcase-sized satellites each weighing about 64 kg sent to the Low Earth Orbit (LEO).
• It will have three Wide Field Imagers (WFI) and one Narrow Field Imager onboard. Once every four minutes, each of the four cameras will capture three raw images using different polarising filters.
• In addition, each camera will capture an unpolarised image once every eight minutes.
• It is the first time that a solar mission has been specifically designed to make use of the polarisation of light to measure the corona and solar wind, that too, in 3D.
• It will provide scientists with new information which could lead to more accurate predictions about the arrival of space weather events on Earth and impact on humanity’s robotic explorers in space.
• It will measure polarised light using polarising filters, enabling scientists to look into the inner solar system.
• PUNCH’s four-camera setup will operate as a single, virtual instrument to generate large-scale imagery data, making it a unique information-loaded 3D image of the solar corona.
• Time Period: The expected mission life is two years.

Cali Fund Launched at CBD COP16 to Boost Biodiversity Finance:

A groundbreaking initiative in global biodiversity conservation was announced on February 25, 2025, with the launch of the Cali Fund at the 16th Conference of Parties (COP16) to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in Rome, Italy. This international fund aims to secure financial contributions from private companies that benefit from genetic data in their industries, ensuring they actively participate in biodiversity conservation efforts.The Cali Fund represents a major step towards sustainable biodiversity financing, aligning with the goals of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF) to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030.

IndusInd Bank Becomes Official Banking Partner of PGTI:

IndusInd Bank has announced its partnership with the Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) as its official Banking Partner. This collaboration aims to enhance the banking experience for Ultra High Net Worth Individuals (UHNIs) and High Net Worth Individuals (HNIs) under the PIONEER banking program. The partnership aligns with IndusInd Bank’s commitment to integrating lifestyle experiences with premium banking services, particularly in the field of sports.

Trump Appoints Dan Bongino as FBI Deputy Director:

President Donald Trump has appointed Dan Bongino, a former Secret Service agent and conservative commentator, as the new Deputy Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). This decision places a staunch Trump ally in a pivotal position within the nation’s premier law enforcement agency.

Pankaj Advani Wins 2025 Asian Snooker Championship:

India’s ace cueist Pankaj Advani secured the 2025 Asian Snooker Championship men’s title, defeating Amir Sarkosh of Iran in the final. This marks his 14th Asian title across snooker and billiards events. The championship, featuring men’s, women’s, and under-21 categories, was organized by the Asian Confederation of Billiards Sports and hosted by the Qatar Billiards Sports Federation in Doha, Qatar, from February 15-21, 2025.

Prime Minister Modi Inaugurates Historic Jhumoir Ensemble in Assam:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the largest-ever Jhumoir dance performance at Guwahati’s Sarusajai Stadium, commemorating the 200th anniversary of Assam’s tea industry. The event, titled ‘Jhumoir Binandini 2025,’ featured over 8,000 artists from the tea garden community, showcasing the rich cultural heritage of Assam.

Vijender Gupta Elected Speaker of Delhi Assembly:

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Vijender Gupta has been elected as the Speaker of the Delhi Legislative Assembly on February 20, 2025. His election is significant, not just for the BJP but also for Delhi’s legislative history, as Gupta takes charge of the very House where he once faced expulsion as a vocal opposition leader.