DAILY GK 1-2 FEB 2026
1.
FIRST WOMAN DEPUTY CM
OF MAHARASHTRA
·
Sunetra Pawar, a Rajya Sabha Member of
Parliament (MP), was sworn in as Maharashtra’s Deputy Chief Minister becoming
the first woman to assume the post in the state’s history.
·
The Deputy CM post became vacant after a
tragic plane crash killed Ajit Pawar, leader of Nationalist
Congress Party (NCP) and late husband of Sunetra Pawar, on January 29, 2026.
·
Legislative Requirement: Currently Sunetra Pawar is not a
member of the Maharashtra legislature.
·
As per constitutional provisions, She will need to become a Member of Legislative
Assembly (MLA) or Member of the Legislative Council (MLC) within six months to continue holding
the Deputy CM post.
2.
MANIPUR CM
·
The Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP) Manipur Legislative leader Yumnam Khemchand Singh took
oath as the new Chief Minister (CM) of the State, nearly a
year after President’s rule was imposed.
·
BJP’s Nemcha Kipgen,
from the Kuki community, and Naga People’s Front Member of the
Legislative Assembly (MLA) Losii Dikho, from the Naga
community, took oath as deputy CM, with
Kipgen becoming the first woman to hold
the post in Manipur.
·
On February 13, 2025, 5 days after the
resignation of N.Biren Singh and breakdown of the constitutional machinery, the
president rule was imposed in Manipur
under Article 356 of the
constitution.
3.
NSO TO LAUNCH INDIA’S FIRST-EVER
NHIS & ASISSE
·
The National Statistical Office (NSO), under the
Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation (MoSPI), announced plans
to conduct India’s first-ever National
Household Income Survey (NHIS) and Annual Survey of Incorporated Service Sector Enterprises (ASISSE),
both scheduled to run for one year starting April 2026.
·
NHIS: It collects detailed data on household income, living conditions and income
distribution, enabling comparisons across regions and households and supporting
policy formulation and assessment of household well-being.
·
ASISSE: It covers the incorporated services sector using Goods and Services Tax
Network (GSTN) data and provides state- and industry-level estimates of
Gross Value Added (GVA), capital formation, employment and emoluments.
·
Digital Survey: Both NHIS and ASISSE will be conducted digitally using Computer Assisted Personal
Interviewing (CAPI).
4.
WINGS INDIA 2026
·
Union Minister Rammohan Naidu, Ministry
of Civil Aviation (MoCA), inaugurated Asia’s largest civil aviation event ‘Wings
India 2026’, at Begumpet Airport, Hyderabad,
Telangana.
·
The theme of Wings India 2026 was “Indian Aviation: Paving the Future- From
Design to Deployment, Manufacturing to Maintenance, Inclusivity to
Innovation and Safety to Sustainability”.
·
The 4-day biennial event was organised by the MoCA in collaboration
with the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and the Federation
of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).
·
Wings India 2026 Awards: Delhi International Airport Limited was awarded with the Best Airport of the Year.
·
Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) was
named the Best Contributor to
Atmanirbhar Bharat.
·
Uttarakhand, Telangana, and Gujarat were awarded with the ‘Best State for Promotion of Aviation
Ecosystem’ award at the event, while Andhra
Pradesh (AP) won the Best State with
a Dedicated Outlook for the aviation sector.
·
The Indian Public Sector aerospace manufacturer, HAL signed
an agreement with Russia’s United
Aircraft Corporation (UAC)for
cooperation in the production of
Superjet 100 (SJ-100), a twin-engine regional commercial
aircraft designed to carry a maximum 100 passengers, in India.
·
It also secured a contract worth over
Rs 1,800 crore from domestic entity Pawan Hans Limited, for
the supply of 10 Dhruv
New Generation (NG) helicopters, including associated spares, and
accessories.
5. PM NARENDRA MODI’S VISIT TO PUNJAB
·
Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi visit
coincided with the 649th birth anniversary of Sant
Guru Ravidas, a revered 15th-century saint.
·
He unveiled the new name of the Adampur
Airport as ‘Shri Guru Ravidass Maharaj Ji Airport, Adampur’,
in honour of Sant Guru Ravidas.
·
He virtually inaugurated the new civil terminal building at Halwara Airport
in Ludhiana (Punjab).
·
He visited Dera Sachkhand Ballan,
a major spiritual center of the Ravidassia
community in Jalandhar.
6.
INDIA JOINS
BRICS CENTRE FOR INDUSTRIAL COMPETENCIES
·
India joined
the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China,
and South Africa) Centre for
Industrial Competencies (BCIC) at an event
organised by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade
(DPIIT), in New Delhi.
·
BCIC promotes
Industry 4.0, smart manufacturing, sustainability, productivity improvement,
technology transfer, and knowledge exchange.
7. INDIA’S FIRST DISTRICT TO ACHIEVE 100%
INSURANCE COVERAGE
·
Alwar (Rajasthan)
became the first district in India to achieve 100% insurance
coverage under “Insurance for All by 2047”, a
joint initiative by the Government of India (GoI) and the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) a
statutory body under the Ministry of
Finance.
·
The
achievement covers a set of nine
villages where all eligible adults are now insured.
·
The premiums
for all eligible adults in these villages were funded by a Non-Government Organization
(NGO).
·
The insurance
policies were issued by the United India
Insurance Company Limited (UIIC).
8.
INDIA JOINS UN
‘HONOUR ROLL’
·
The Government of India(GoI) paid USD
35.18 million to the United Nations (UN)
Regular Budget for 2026.
·
Following this
contribution, India has now joined the
UN’s ‘honour roll’ alongside 51 other
member states who have paid their regular budget dues in full and on time.
·
India’s
overall assessed contribution to the United Nations (UN) budget
stands at USD 38.223 million, with USD
3.091 million offset against staff income taxes.
·
India
contributed 1.016% to the UN’s regular budget of USD 3.45 billion.
·
In December
2025, the 193-member UN General Assembly
(UNGA) approved a USD 3.45 billion regular
budget for the UN for the year 2026.
9.
INDIA’S FIRST
COOPERATIVE-SECTOR TAXI SERVICE ‘BHARAT TAXI’
·
Union Minister
Amit Shah, Ministry
of Cooperation and Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), launched India’s
first cooperative-sector ride-hailing service ‘Bharat
Taxi’, in New Delhi.
·
Bharat Taxi is
a cooperative-led ride-hailing platform
that enables booking of cars,
three-wheelers(3W), and two-wheelers(2W), providing an indigenous alternative
to private aggregator-based services.
·
Bharat Taxi is
operated by Sahakar Taxi Cooperative
Limited and major cooperative institutions, including IFFCO (Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Limited), AMUL (Anand Milk Union Limited), NCDC (National Cooperative Development
Corporation), NABARD (National Bank
for Agriculture and Rural Development),
NDDB (National Dairy Development Board),
KRIBHCO (Krishak Bharati Cooperative Limited), NAFED (National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of
India), and NCEL (National
Cooperative Electronics Limited).
·
Drivers are
known as Sarathis (charioteers) and are
placed at the centre of ownership, operations, and value creation.
·
Principle: ‘Sarathi Hi Malik’ (Driver
is the owner).
·
Under this
model, Bharat Taxi retains only 20% of
total earnings, with the remaining 80%
credited directly to the Sarathi’s (driver’s) bank account without any
delay.
·
Bike Didi: More
than 150 women drivers have joined the
platform.
·
Sarathi Didi: It offers a dedicated app window for women passengers,
where rides are provided exclusively by women drivers on two-wheelers.
·
The top five
Sarathis were felicitated for outstanding performance,
receiving personal accident and family
health insurance of Rs 5 lakh, reinforcing
driver welfare and cooperative ownership.
10.
DR. S.
JAISHANKAR’S VISIT TO USA
·
Union
Minister Dr. Subrahmanyam (S.) Jaishankar, Ministry
of External Affairs (MEA) was on a three-day visit to the USA to
participate in the Critical Minerals
Ministerial Meeting in Washington, D.C., the USA.
·
He announced India’s support for the Forum on Resource,
Geostrategic Engagement (FORGE), a newly
launched global initiative aimed at
strengthening cooperation on critical minerals supply chains.
·
FORGE will be chaired by the Republic
of Korea until June 2026.
·
President of the USA Donald
John (J). Trump launched ‘Project Vault’, a new strategic
minerals reserve initiative, with an aim to reduce the USA’s reliance on
foreign countries.
