DAILY GK 8-9 FEB 2026
1.
IRAN’S FIRST FEMALE IOC
MEMBER
·
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) elected Soraya
AghaeiHajiagha, youngest current IOC member, as its 107th member with 95 votes during the 145th IOC Session in Milan, Italy.
·
She became the first
Iranian woman and the third
Iranian overall to be elected to the IOC, ending a more than 20-year
absence of Iranian representation.
·
She is a professional
badminton player from Iran.
·
IOC
was founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin in Lausanne,
Switzerland.
·
IOC
governs the Olympic movement, organizes
the games, selects host cities, promotes Olympic values, and supports athletes.
·
It comprises 107 members and ensures fair play, global sports
development, and gender equality worldwide.
2.
JAPANE PM
·
Japan’s ruling party Liberal Democratic Party (LDP),
led by the country’s 1st female Prime
Minister (PM) Sanae Takaichi, along with its
coalition partners secured a landmark victory in snap elections.
·
LDP alone won 316
seats, surpassing a 261-seat absolute majority required in the
465-member of the lower house of Japan’s
Parliament (the National Diet).
·
LDP’s
coalition partner, Japan Innovation Party (JIP),
known as Ishin secured 36 seats, bringing the total seats won by the ruling
coalition to 352 and a super-majority of two-thirds of seats.
3.
THAILAND’S ELECTION
·
Thailand’s
caretaker Prime Minister (PM), Anutin Charnvirakul,
leader of the conservative Bhumjaithai
Party (BJT), won the general election for the 500-member House of Representatives.
·
The
BJT won 194 seats (175 constituency and
19 party-list), falling short of the 251-seat majority.
·
The
People’s Party secured116 seats, Pheu Thai 76
seats, while Kla Tham won 57 and the Democrat Party 22.
4.
INDIA-USA AGREE ON
FRAMEWORK FOR INTERIM TRADE AGREEMENT
·
India and
USA agreed on a framework for an Interim
Trade Agreement(ITA),
marking a significant step towards a full USA-India Bilateral Trade
Agreement (BTA).
·
India
will reduce or remove tariffs on all industrial goods
and many agricultural and food products, including Animal feed such as
Distillers’ Dried Grains (DDGs), Red Sorghum, tree nuts,
fruits (fresh and processed), soybean oil, and wine and spirits, from the USA.
·
USA
will impose an 18% reciprocal tariff under Executive Order
14257 of April 2, 2025 on Indian exports such as textiles and apparel, leather
and footwear, plastics and rubber, chemicals, handicrafts, home decor, and some
machineries.
·
The USA will remove security-related tariffs on Indian aircraft and aircraft
parts, grant preferential access (quota-based) for auto parts exports, and
determine outcomes for pharmaceuticals based on the findings of national
security review of the USA.
·
India plans to
buy USD 500 billion worth products
over 5 years from the USA, including energy products, aircraft and parts,
technology products, precious metals, and coking coal.
5.
INDIA SIGNS DPI
COOPERATION MOUS WITH 23 COUNTRIES
·
The Government of India (GoI) signed
Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs)/agreements with 23 countries to
share and promote its Digital Public
Infrastructure (DPI) and
components of the India Stack framework.
·
The
list of countries which have signed MoUs on DPI
cooperation are: Armenia, Sierra Leone, Suriname, Antigua and Barbuda, Papua
New Guinea, Trinidad and Tobago, Tanzania, Kenya, Cuba, Colombia, Lao People’s
Democratic Republic (LPDR), Saint Kitts and Nevis, Ethiopia, Jamaica, Gambia,
Fiji, Guyana, Venezuela, Sri Lanka, Brazil, Lesotho, Maldives and Mongolia.
·
Under this initiative, India’s flagship digital payments
platform, the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) is
now operational in eight countries
including,the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Singapore, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri
Lanka, France, Mauritius, and Qatar.
·
In addition, the GoI
signed certain MoUs with countries like: Cuba, Kenya, the UAE, and LPDR for
cooperation on Digilocker, India’s 1st
digital document storage and verification platform.
·
India
Stack Global portal: It
facilitates access to 18 key digital platforms
(such as: Aadhaar, UPI, CoWIN, Digilocker, among others)that are part of
India’s DPI solutions, serving as a gateway for partner countries to adopt and
explore these platforms.
·
Global DPI Repository: It
was formally launched during India’s
Group-20 (G20) Presidency in 2023.
·
It acts as a global knowledge platform, with India
contributing the highest number of DPI solutions.
6.
INDIA’S 1ST QUANTUM
VALLEY IN AMARAVATI, AP
·
Union Minister of State
(MoS) (Independent Charge, IC) Dr.Jitendra Singh, Ministry of
Science and Technology (MoS&T) along with Nara (N.) Chandrababu
Naidu, Chief Minister (CM) of Andhra Pradesh (AP), laid the foundation stone for India’s
1st Quantum Valley, Amaravati Quantum Valley (AQV) at
Uddandarayunipalem village in Thullurmandal, Amaravati, AP.
·
This newly unveiled
project supported by the National Quantum
Mission (NQM), aims to be a global hub for emerging technologies like quantum computing and
Artificial Intelligence (AI).
·
The
new facility will mainly focus on Research & Development (R&D),
innovation, manufacturing, and skill development in areas like: quantum
computing, AI, cybersecurity, healthcare, defence, and finance.
·
The government plans to
complete the Quantum Valley complex by
August 2026 and install the quantum computer by December 2026.
7.
LARGEST WOOL PRODUCER
IN INDIA
·
Rajasthan became
the largest wool producer in India with
16,013.50 thousand kilograms (kg), accounting for
nearly 47.5% of national output.
·
As per government data,
Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) secured
second place with 7,770 thousand kg,
followed by Karnataka (3rd rank) (6,472 thousand kg).
·
India
has the second-largest sheep population in theworld,
with about 77.4 million sheep, and is also a major global wool producer, ranking ninth
worldwide in total wool output.
·
The total wool
production in Financial Year 2023-24 (FY24) was about 33.69
million kg.
8.
SEYCHELLES PRESIDENT
VISIT TO INDIA
·
The President of Seychelles Dr.
Patrick Herminie was on a five-day official visit to India at the
invitation of Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi.
·
The visit marks his
first visit to India since assuming office in October 2025 and coincides with
the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between India and
Seychelles, established in 1976.
·
India
and Seychelles adopted the India-Seychelles
Joint Vision for Sustainability, Economic Growth and Security through Enhanced
Linkages (SESEL), a framework aimed
at deepening cooperation across multiple domains.
·
India and Seychelles signed multiple Memoranda of Understanding
(MoUs) across sectors such as healthcare, meteorology, digital
transformation, ocean research, capacity building, culture, procurement, and
hydrography to strengthen bilateral cooperation.
·
The Government of
India(GoI) announced a Special Economic Package of USD 175 million,
including USD 125 million Line of Credit (LoC) and USD 50 million Grant
Assistance.
·
India donated 10 fully equipped ambulances and
1000 metric tons of grains to Seychelles.
·
India
also presented 10 utility vehicles and 5 Laser Radial class boats
with spares to the Seychelles Defence Force, boosting operational capability.
9.
NSO DATA: INDIA’S
UNEMPLOYMENT RATE DECLINES
·
The National Statistical Office (NSO) under
the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) released
the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) Quarterly Bulletin for the
quarter October-December 2025.
·
As per the report, the overall Unemployment Rate (UR)
declined to a 3-quarter low of 4.8% in the
3rd Quarter (Q3: October-December) of Financial Year 2025-26 (FY26).
·
The report further revealed
that the UR among persons aged 15 years
and above in rural areas dropped to 4% (in Q3FY26), from
4.4% in the previous quarter.
·
Similarly, the UR for the same age group in urban areas
decreased to 6.7% from 6.9% over the
same period.
·
The overall Labour Force Participation Rate
(LFPR) for individuals aged 15 and
above increased to 55.8% (in Q3FY26) compared to 55.1% (in
Q2FY26).
·
The overall Worker Population Ratio (WPR)
for individuals aged 15 years and above,
increased from 52.2% (in Q2FY26) to 53.1% (in Q3FY26).
