Current Context : Maharashtra’s Chief Minister, Devendra Fadnavis, has launched the Solar Agriculture Feeder Project 2.0, also known as the Mukhyamantri Saur Krushi Vahini Yojana 2.0 (MSKVY 2.0).

• Objective: To provide farmers with reliable daytime solar power for agriculture and reduce dependency on conventional energy.
• Target: Solarize 30% of agricultural feeders by 2025 with 7,000 MW of decentralized solar projects.
• Budget: ₹100 billion (~$1.2 billion) allocated for the project.

Current Context : Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently laid the foundation stone for the Ken-Betwa River Linking Project and inaugurated Madhya Pradesh’s first floating solar power plant.

Ken-Betwa River Linking Project

• Objective: Transfers surplus water from the Ken River to the Betwa River to address water scarcity in Bundelkhand (Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh).
• Irrigation and Water Supply: Provides irrigation to 1.08 million hectares and drinking water to 6.2 million people.
• Hydropower: Generates 103 MW of hydropower.

Madhya Pradesh Floating Solar Power Plant

• Location: Omkareshwar Dam reservoir in Khandwa district.

Capacity: Planned 600 MW, with the first phase generating 90 MW.

Current Context : Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid tribute to Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya on his 162^nd birth anniversary.

• During the commemoration, PM Modi released the first series of 11 volumes of the ‘Collected Works of Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya’ at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi.

About Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya

• Birth: December 25, 1861, in Allahabad, India.
• Education: Founder of Banaras Hindu University (BHU) in 1916, served as Vice-Chancellor (1919-1938).
• Freedom Struggle: Prominent leader in the Indian independence movement, associated with Indian National Congress and Hindu Mahasabha.
• Journalism: Founded Hindi newspaper ‘Abhyudaya’ (1907) and English newspaper ‘The Leader’ (1909).

Awards: Posthumously awarded the Bharat Ratna in 2014.

Current Context : Aisake Valu Eke has been elected as the new Prime Minister of Tonga, following the resignation of his predecessor, Siaosi Sovaleni.

About Tonga:

• Geography: Tonga is an archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean, comprising over 170 islands, with about 36 inhabited.
• Location: Situated south of Samoa, southeast of Fiji, and northeast of New Zealand.
• Capital: Nuku’alofa.

Political System: Constitutional monarchy; the only remaining Polynesian monarchy.

Current Context : Maia Sandu has been re-elected as President of the Republic of Moldova.

About the Republic of Moldova:

• Geography: Landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered by Ukraine to the east and Romania to the west.
• Capital: Chișinău.
• Languages: Romanian is the official language; Russian, Gagauz, and Ukrainian are also spoken.
• Economy: Moldova remains one of the poorest countries in Europe, with significant portions of the labor force engaged in agriculture.

Current Context : Dr. Manmohan Singh, former Prime Minister of India, passed away on December 26, 2024, at the age of 92.

About

Birth: September 26, 1932, in Gah, Punjab (now in Pakistan).

Academic and Professional Career:

• Held positions at institutions like the Reserve Bank of India, the Planning Commission, and the Ministry of Finance.
• Governor of the Reserve Bank of India from 1982 to 1985.

Political Career:

• Finance Minister of India (1991-1996) under Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao.
• Prime Minister of India (2004-2014), serving two consecutive terms.

Awards and Honors:

• Padma Vibhushan (1987) – India’s second-highest civilian honor.
• Jawaharlal Nehru Birth Centenary Award (1995).
• Outstanding Parliamentarian Award (2002).
• Lifetime Achievement Honour by the India-UK Achievers Honours (2023).

Current Context : Arunish Chawla, a 1992-batch IAS officer from the Bihar cadre, has been appointed as the new Revenue Secretary in the Ministry of Finance.

• Prior to this appointment, he served as the Secretary in the Department of Pharmaceuticals within the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers.
• Chawla holds a doctorate in Economics from the London School of Economics.

Current Current : Justice Gurmeet Singh Sandhawalia has been appointed as the Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court.

Justice Sandhawalia was the senior-most puisne Judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

About

Justice Sandhawalia graduated with a BA (Hons) from DAV College, Chandigarh, in 1986, and obtained his law degree from the Department of Laws, Panjab University, Chandigarh.

Current : India has made significant strides in the Network Readiness Index (NRI) 2024, improving its position by 11 places to rank 49th among 133 countries, up from 60th in 2023.

• Overall Score:Increased from 49.93 in 2023 to 63 in 2024.

Top 5 Countries:

1. United States (1^st), Singapore (2^nd ), Finland (3^rd ), Sweden (4^th), Republic of Korea (5^th)

Bottom 5 countries in the ranking are:

• Burundi(Rank 133), Chad (Rank 132), Yemen (Rank 131), Haiti (Rank 130), Angola (Rank 129)

About the Network Readiness Index:

• The Network Readiness Index (NRI) 2024, published by the Portulans Institute and Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford, evaluates the digital readiness of 133 economies based on four pillars:

1. Technology
2. People
3. Governance
4. Impact

• These pillars encompass 54 variables, assessing how nations leverage information and communication technologies for economic and social development.

Current Current : President Droupadi Murmu has appointed new governors for five Indian states, implementing significant changes in regional leadership.

New Appointments and Transfers:

• Manipur:Ajay Kumar Bhalla, former Union Home Secretary, has been appointed as the Governor of Manipur.
• Bihar:Arif Mohammed Khan, previously serving as the Governor of Kerala, has been transferred to Bihar.
• Kerala:Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar, formerly the Governor of Bihar, has been reassigned to Kerala.
• Odisha:Hari Babu Kambhampati, who was the Governor of Mizoram, has been transferred to Odisha.
• Mizoram:General Dr. Vijay Kumar Singh, a retired Army Chief and former Union Minister, has been appointed as the Governor of Mizoram, succeeding Hari Babu Kambhampati.

Constitutional Provisions

• Appointment: Appointed by the President of India under Article 155; serves a 5-year term at the President’s pleasure.
• Qualifications: Must be an Indian citizen, at least 35 years old.

Transfer & Removal: Transferred or removed by the President without fixed criteria (Doctrine of Pleasure).