DAILY GK 10-11 MAY 2025
1. NEW
POPE ELECTED IN VATICAN CITY
·
USA
based Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost has been
elected as the 267th Pope of the Catholics Church.
·
He
adopted the name Pope Leo XIV and is the first pope
from the USA.
·
He
succeeds Pope Francis, who died on 21st April 2025.
·
Following the death of Pope Francis, 133
red-robed cardinals across the globe were brought together at the Papal
Conclave in the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City, to select the new successor.
·
Colour Smoke tradition:
Black and White smoke is used to signal about the
election of the new pope. Black
indicates no pope is selected and the voting is restarted. White smoke indicates the selection of
a new pope.
·
Robert Prevost, holds dual citizenship of USA
and Peru
2.
CBI DIRECTOR
·
Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) approved
a one-year extension in the tenure of Praveen
Sood a 1986-batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer of the
Karnataka cadre as Director of the Central Bureau of
Investigation (CBI).
·
The
extension was approved based on recommendations by the high-level selection
committee, chaired by Prime Minister(PM) Narendra Modi, and comprising Justice
Sanjiv Khanna, Judge of the Supreme Court of India(SCI), and Rahul Gandhi, Leader
of Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha.
3. CHAIRMAN
OF BRICS CHAMBER OF COMMERCE & INDUSTRY
·
Harvansh P. Chawla, a renowned senior corporate legal expert,
was appointed as the Chairman of the New Delhi based
BRICS Chamber of Commerce & Industry (BRICS CCI) to
strengthen ties among BRICS nations
(Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa).
·
The
appointment is aligned with the upcoming 17th
BRICS Summit, scheduled to be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
4. MCC
PRESIDENT
·
Former England Men’s Cricket Selector, Edward
Thomas Smith was appointed as the President of Marylebone
Cricket Club (MCC), London, England.
·
He was
appointed by the current president of MCC, Lord King
of Lothbury
5. CHAIRMAN
OF UPSC
·
The
Government of India (GoI) appointed Dr. Ajay Kumar,
former Defence Secretary, Ministry of Defence (MoD) and retired Indian
Administrative Service (IAS) officer of the 1985 Kerala cadre, as the new Chairman of
the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) for 6
years or until reaching the age of 65, whichever is
earlier.
·
The
appointment was approved by President of India Droupadi Murmu, under Article
316(1) of the Constitution of India
·
The UPSC is responsible for conducting civil
services examinations to recruit officers for prestigious roles like the Indian
Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Foreign Service (IFS),
and Indian Police Service (IPS).
·
The commission is headed by a Chairman and
can have a maximum of 10 members.
6. CHAIR
OF COORDINATION COMMISSION FOR THE BRISBANE 2032 OLYMPIC GAMES
·
The International
Olympic Committee (IOC) Executive Board
member, Mikaela Cojuangco Jaworski, has been appointed as
the new Chair of the IOC Coordination
Commission, for the 2032 Olympic games, to
be held at Brisbane, Australia.
·
The
appointment was made by IOC President, Thomas Bach, at an Executive Board
meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland.
·
She will
succeed Kristy Coventry, who is set to become the IOC
President in June 2025
·
As a Commission Chair, Mikaela
Cojuangco Jaworski will oversee
the planning and delivery of the 2032 Brisbane Olympic Games
·
IOC is a non-governmental organization that
is responsible for organizing Olympic games and overseeing the Network of
National Olympic Committees (NOCs), International Federations, Athletes and
other stakeholders.
·
President –
Thomas Bach
·
Headquarters –
Lausanne, Switzerland, Establishment – 1894
7. EXECUTIVE
CHAIRMAN OF NALSA
·
President Draupadi Murmu has appointed
Justice Surya Kant, Supreme Court (SC) Judge, as
the Executive Chairman of National Legal Services
Authority (NALSA),
·
He will
succeed Justice B R Gavai, Judge, Supreme Court of India.
·
He is currently the Chairman of the Supreme
Court Legal Services Committee (SCLSC).
·
The NALSA is a statutory body established
under the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987, which came into effect on
November 9, 1995.
8. GOVT
DOUBLES CREDIT GUARANTEE COVER TO Rs20 CRORE
·
The government has
doubled the maximum guarantee cover under the Credit Guarantee
Scheme for Startups (CGSS) from Rs10 crore to Rs20 crore per
borrower to improve access to capital for startups.
·
For loans
up to Rs10 crore, the guarantee now covers 85% of the default amount, while for
loans above Rs10 crore, the coverage is 75%, aimed at boosting credit
availability.
·
The
expanded scheme is expected to drive innovation, reduce lending risks, and
encourage more financial institutions, including banks, NBFCs, and AIFs, to
provide credit to startups.
9. FOODGRAIN
PRODUCTION TARGET FOR 2025-26
·
India sets food
grain production target at 354.64 million tonnes for the 2025–26 crop year,
up from 341.55 million tonnes in 2024–25, buoyed by expectations of a better
monsoon.
·
Current
production has reached 330.92 million tonnes from the Kharif and Rabi seasons
in 2024–25; estimates for the summer (zaid) season are still awaited.
·
For rice,
the government aims to produce 147.35 million tonnes in 2025–26, compared to
136.44 million tonnes estimated from Kharif and Rabi in the current year.
·
For
wheat, which is grown only in the Rabi season, the target is set at 117.40
million tonnes for 2025–26, slightly higher than the 115.43 million tonnes
estimated in 2024–25.
10. OPERATION
SINDOOR
·
The
Indian Armed Forces carried out ‘Operation Sindoor’,
targeting nine terrorist camps in Pakistan and
Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK) which
were identified as launchpads for attacks being planned against India.
·
Operation
Sindoor was carried out in response to the deadly terror attack in Pahalgam,
Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) in April 2025.
·
The
action was named “Operation Sindoor” to honour the women who
lost their husbands in the Pahalgam terror attack which was termed as one of
the biggest terror attacks after the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019.
·
As part of the operation, nine
places connected to terrorist activities were struck in Pakistan
and PoJK. These strikes were done with care, avoiding any Pakistani military
sites, and were launched from Indian airspace.
·
Two women officers Colonel
Sofiya Qureshi and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh co-led
the official media briefing on Operation Sindoor, marking a significant moment
in Indian military history.
11. CLAIMS
SETTLED UNDER PMFBY
·
According
to the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (MoA &
FW) data presented to the Lok Sabha in April 2025, 97% i.e.
Rs 1,34,353 crore of all reported claims under the
Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) and
the Restructured Weather Based Crop Insurance Scheme (RWBCIS) have
been settled across India.
·
Top 3
Indian States achieved 100% claim settlement under the schemes: Goa,
Chhattisgarh, Telangana, and Tamil Nadu (TN).
·
Top 3 states filed
the highest claims under the schemes in last 6 years (from Financial
Year 2018-19 to FY24) are Maharashtra ,
Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh
·
Top 3 states
paid highest claims during last 6 years are Maharashtra,
MP and Rajasthan
·
Top 3 states/UTs paid
lowest claims during last 6 years: Goa and Andaman &
Nicobar Islands , Sikkim and Manipur
12. ATAL PENSION YOJANA:
COMPLETES 10 YR
·
Atal
Pension Yojana (APY), a flagship social security
scheme of Government of India (GoI) under Ministry of Finance (MoF) was
launched on May 09, 2015 and came into operationalisation on June 01, 2015, designed to provide social security to
unorganised sector workers and to ensure financial stability for the poor
and underprivileged section of the society.
·
It
is a voluntary savings scheme for retirement which offers defined
pension benefits, linked to the age of joining and amount of contributions.
·
Initially, APY is open for all citizens of
India aged between 18 and 40.
·
Later, individuals paying income tax are not
eligible to join the scheme with effect from October 01, 2022.
