Daily Current Affairs 2025  

22/01/2026

WhatsApp Email Facebook Share

CA-22/01/2026

• Born: 19 January 1926, Samlaipadar village, Bargarh district (then Sambalpur), Odisha.
• Family: Daughter of Dhananjay Giri; her uncle Ramachandra Giri was also active in nationalist movements.
• Education: Dropped out after class three but quickly immersed herself in Congress activities.

• At age 16, she became a prominent figure in the Quit India Movement (1942).
• She organized protests, mobilized villagers, and fearlessly opposed British rule.
• Her activism led to two years of imprisonment by colonial authorities.

• Founded an orphanage in Paikmal village, dedicating her life to the care of destitute children.
• Worked tirelessly for the welfare of tribals, women, and marginalized communities.
• Her humanitarian efforts earned her the title “Mother Teresa of Western Odisha”, bestowed by Biju Patnaik.

• Parbati Giri is remembered as both a freedom fighter and social reformer, embodying Gandhian values of service and sacrifice.
• She passed away on 17 August 1995, leaving behind a legacy of courage and compassion.

• Target Group: Workers in the unorganized sector (like daily wage earners, small traders, etc.).
• Eligibility:
  • Age between 18–40 years at the time of joining.
  • Must have a savings bank account linked with Aadhaar and a mobile number.
  • Since October 1, 2022, individuals who are or have been income-tax payers are not eligible.
• Pension Benefits: Guaranteed monthly pension of ₹1,000, ₹2,000, ₹3,000, ₹4,000, or ₹5,000 after age 60, based on contributions.
• Contribution Mode: Payments can be made monthly, quarterly, or half-yearly via auto-debit from the savings account.
• Nomination: Mandatory to provide spouse and nominee details during enrollment.
• Management: Administered by the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA).

• Triple Security:
  1. Lifelong pension for subscriber.
  2. Spouse continues pension after subscriber’s death.
  3. Nominee receives accumulated corpus after both pass away.
• Financial Inclusion: Encourages savings among low-income groups.
• Government Guarantee: Pension amount is assured by the Government of India.

• Lock-in Period: Contributions must continue until age 60; premature exit is restricted.
• Inflation Risk: Fixed pension (₹1,000–₹5,000) may lose value over decades.
• Eligibility Restriction: Taxpayers cannot join, limiting middle-class participation.

• Full Form: System for Accounting and Management of Pension (also called Comprehensive Pension Management System – CPMS).
• Purpose: To provide a paperless, transparent, and efficient pension management system for DoT pensioners.
• Users: Retired DoT employees, family pensioners, and migrated pensioners.

• Login Creation: Pensioners can create login credentials using their PPO number, Date of Birth, and registered mobile number. OTP verification ensures security.
• Pension Dashboard: Pensioners can view documents, download pension slips, and track requests.
• Life Certificate Submission: Digital Life Certificates (DLC) can be generated and submitted online, reducing the need for physical visits.
• Know Your PPO Number: Pensioners can retrieve their PPO number by entering account details and DOB.
• Transfer Requests: Pensioners can raise requests to transfer pension accounts between banks or circles.

• Organizers: Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) in collaboration with Software Technology Parks of India (STPI).
• Venue: NBCC Conference Hall, East Kidwai Nagar, New Delhi.
• Theme: AI in Telecommunication – part of the broader India–AI Impact Summit 2026.
• Audience: Policymakers, telecom operators, startups, OEMs, and researchers.

• Policy Impact: The summit emphasized the need for robust AI governance frameworks in telecom to balance innovation with consumer protection.
• Industry Transformation: AI is expected to drive network optimization, predictive analytics, and personalized services, reducing costs while improving efficiency.
• Startup Ecosystem: The event provided a platform for startups to showcase AI-powered telecom solutions, encouraging collaboration with larger operators.

• Data Privacy: Ensuring compliance with India’s evolving data protection laws.
• Ethical AI: Avoiding bias in AI-driven decision-making.
• Implementation Barriers: High infrastructure costs and skill gaps in AI adoption.
• Regulatory Balance: TRAI highlighted the importance of flexible yet secure policies to foster innovation without compromising safety.

• Initiative by: Department of Drinking Water & Sanitation (DDWS), Ministry of Jal Shakti.
• Purpose: To strengthen community-led water governance and ensure grassroots voices are heard.
• Format: Villagers from different states share experiences in their own regional languages with Union ministers and officials.
• Focus: Success stories, challenges, and transformation under the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM), which aims to provide safe tap water to every rural household.

• First Edition (Nov 2025):
  • Connected villages across 12 States/UTs.
  • Villagers narrated how access to tap water improved health, reduced water-borne diseases, enabled girls to attend school regularly, and freed women from hours of water collection.
  • It was described as a first-of-its-kind multilingual platform for rural dialogue.
• Second Edition (Dec 2025):
  • Covered 8 Gram Panchayat headquarters villages across 8 states.
  • Union Minister C.R. Patil interacted in Gujarati with Mehsana district villagers, while MoS V. Somanna spoke in Kannada with Udupi district villagers.
  • Emphasized Jan Bhagidari (people’s participation) and community-led implementation of JJM.

• Empowers rural communities: Direct dialogue ensures villagers’ concerns and achievements are recognized at the national level.
• Strengthens governance: Encourages transparency and accountability in water supply schemes.
• Cultural inclusivity: Multilingual format respects local identities and makes communication more effective.
• Social impact: Safe tap water reduces disease burden, improves education (especially for girls), and enhances quality of life.

• Scalability: Ensuring every village gets equal representation.
• Follow-up action: Dialogue must translate into policy adjustments and faster implementation.
• Technology access: Dependence on video conferencing may exclude the most remote communities.

• Kaladi (or Kalari) is a traditional ripened cheese made from cow or buffalo milk, native to the Udhampur district of Jammu & Kashmir.
• It is often described as the “mozzarella of Jammu” because of its stretchy texture and distinct milky flavor.
• Traditionally, Kaladi is pan-fried and eaten with chapati or served as a snack.

• The GI tag protects Kaladi’s authenticity, ensuring only cheese produced in its native region using traditional methods can be marketed under the name.
• It boosts local farmers and producers, giving them exclusive rights and preventing imitation.
• The tag also helps in branding and export opportunities, making Kaladi a potential culinary ambassador of Jammu & Kashmir.

• Under the One District One Product (ODOP) scheme, the government is working to upscale Kaladi using advanced food technologies.
• CSIR laboratories (like CFTRI Mysuru and IIIM Jammu) are tasked with:
  • Value addition (new recipes, diverse applications)
  • Shelf-life enhancement (better packaging, preservation)
  • Nutrient profiling (scientific characterization of Kaladi’s nutritional properties)
• The aim is to expand Kaladi’s reach to national and international markets while preserving its traditional flavor and texture.

Aspect Impact Cultural Heritage Preserves Jammu’s traditional dairy craft Economic Growth Supports local farmers & small producers Market Expansion Opens doors for national & global trade Food Innovation Enables recipe diversification & modern applications

• Established: 1948, by an Act of Parliament (Act No. LXI of 1948).
• Administrative Control: Ministry of Textiles, Government of India.
• Headquarters: Bengaluru.
• Nature: Statutory and autonomous body.
• Current Member Secretary: Shri P. Sivakumar, IFS.

• Research & Development: Scientific, technological, and economic research in the silk sector.
• Silkworm Seed Production: Establishing a national network for quality seed distribution.
• Policy Advisory: Advising the government on sericulture and silk industry matters.
• Standardization: Ensuring quality standards for silk production and trade.
• Schemes Implemented:
  • Silk Samagra: Comprehensive scheme for sericulture development.
  • SAMARTH: Skill development initiative for silk sector workers.

• Institutes & Units: 159 research institutes, farms, and labs across India.
• Livelihoods: Around 9.5 million people depend on sericulture for their income.
• Beneficiaries: Artisans, tribals, women, and marginalized communities.
• Global Vision: Aiming to make India a leader in silk production and innovation.

• Farm to Fabric Technologies: Innovations in pre-cocoon and post-cocoon sectors.
• Silk By-products: Applications in cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals.
• Medical & Biotech Uses: Silk in sutures, tissue engineering, and biomaterials.
• Sustainability: Eco-friendly practices and circular economy in silk industry.

• Discovered: 2009 in Andasibe-Mantadia National Park, Madagascar.
• Named after: Charles Darwin, on November 24, 2009 — exactly 150 years after On the Origin of Species was published.

• Size: Largest orb webs known, ranging from 0.09 to 2.8 m² (up to 30 sq ft).
• Span: Bridge lines can stretch up to 25 meters (82 ft) across rivers and streams.
• Purpose: These massive webs allow the spider to catch flying insects over water, a niche few other spiders exploit.

• Tensile strength: About 1.6 GPa, making it the toughest biological material ever studied.
• Comparison: Over 10 times tougher than Kevlar of the same size.
• Potential applications: Scientists study it for inspiration in biomaterials, engineering, and medicine.

• Belongs to the family Araneidae (orb-weavers).
• Has a hairy, textured body with long legs adapted for anchoring webs across wide gaps.
• Typically brown or dark-colored, blending with bark and foliage for camouflage.

• Scientific name: Rynchops albicollis
• Family: Laridae (same as gulls and terns)
• Conservation status: Endangered (IUCN Red List)
• Distribution: Patchy populations across South Asia, especially India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan.

• Bold black upperparts and white underparts.
• Bright orange beak and legs.
• Distinctive longer lower mandible used to skim water surfaces for fish.

• Prefers large, slow-flowing rivers with exposed sandbars and islands.
• Breeding grounds include Ganga, Chambal, Yamuna, and their tributaries.
• During non-breeding season, they may move to coastal estuaries.

• Flies low over water, dragging its lower mandible to catch fish and aquatic insects.
• This specialized feeding technique is rare among birds, making the skimmer unique.

• Habitat loss due to sand mining, dam construction, and river pollution.
• Disturbance of nesting sites on sandbars by humans and livestock.
• Declining population with fewer than 20,000 individuals estimated globally.

Download Pdf