Current Affairs Quiz — 24 January 2025
Daily news by your exam, state and topic — each with a short summary, key facts and MCQs.
Which state topped NITI Aayog's inaugural Fiscal Health Index 2025?
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Correct answer: D — Odisha
PIB 2095974: Odisha topped with a score of 67.8, followed by Chhattisgarh (55.2) and Goa (53.6).
Who launched NITI Aayog's Fiscal Health Index 2025 on 24 January 2025?
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Correct answer: A — Arvind Panagariya
PIB 2095974: 16th Finance Commission Chairman Arvind Panagariya launched the inaugural FHI 2025.
Which of the following is NOT one of the five sub-indices of NITI Aayog's Fiscal Health Index 2025?
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Correct answer: D — Ease of Doing Business
PIB 2095974: the sub-indices are Quality of Expenditure, Revenue Mobilisation, Fiscal Prudence, Debt Index and Debt Sustainability.
Which state ranked second in NITI Aayog's Fiscal Health Index 2025?
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Correct answer: A — Chhattisgarh
PIB 2095974: Odisha (67.8) was followed by Chhattisgarh (55.2) and Goa (53.6).
Which two Indian cities became the first to receive Wetland City Accreditation under the Ramsar Convention in January 2025?
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Correct answer: A — Indore and Udaipur
TOI: Indore and Udaipur were accredited; Bhopal was nominated but not accredited.
Consider the following statements about Wetland City Accreditation in January 2025: 1. Indore and Udaipur were among 31 newly accredited cities. 2. Bhopal, also nominated by India, was accredited in the same round. 3. Accreditation requires meeting six international criteria. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
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Correct answer: B — 1 and 3 only
TOI: Indore and Udaipur were among 31 new cities and accreditation needs all six international criteria; Bhopal was nominated but not accredited.
The latest round of Wetland City Accreditation announced in January 2025, which included Indore and Udaipur, took the global list of accredited Wetland Cities to how many cities?
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Correct answer: C — 74
TOI: the independent Advisory Committee on Wetland City Accreditation accredited 31 new cities, taking the global list to 74. (85 is the number of Ramsar sites in India.)
NUCFDC, whose corporate office was inaugurated in Mumbai on 24 January 2025, is the umbrella organisation for which institutions?
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Correct answer: B — Urban cooperative banks
PIB 2095982: the National Urban Cooperative Finance and Development Corporation is the umbrella organisation for urban cooperative banks.
How many urban cooperative banks does India have, according to the Cooperation Minister on 24 January 2025?
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Correct answer: C — 1,465
PIB 2095982: India has 1,465 urban cooperative banks, nearly half in Gujarat and Maharashtra, and 49 scheduled cooperative banks.
'SANJAY', flagged off on 24 January 2025, is what kind of system?
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Correct answer: D — Battlefield surveillance system
PIB 2095712: SANJAY is the Battlefield Surveillance System that fuses sensor inputs into a Common Surveillance Picture.
Consider the following statements about SANJAY: 1. It was jointly developed by the Indian Army and Bharat Electronics Limited. 2. It was developed at a cost of ₹2,402 crore under the Buy (Indian) category. 3. Its induction is to be completed in a single phase in March 2025. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
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Correct answer: B — 1 and 2 only
PIB 2095712: SANJAY was developed by the Army and BEL at ₹2,402 crore under Buy (Indian); induction is in three phases from March to October 2025.
Karimnagar Smart City, where Union Minister Manohar Lal inaugurated projects on 24 January 2025, is in which state?
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Correct answer: B — Telangana
PIB 2095823: the minister visited Karimnagar Smart City, Telangana, on 24 January 2025.
How many projects is Karimnagar Smart City implementing, according to the Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry in January 2025?
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Correct answer: C — 50
PIB 2095823: Karimnagar Smart City is implementing 50 projects worth ₹1,117 crore, of which 36 are complete.
Consider the following about Karimnagar Smart City (January 2025): 1. Its 50 projects are worth ₹1,117 crore. 2. Over 1 lakh tonnes of legacy waste has been processed. 3. Smart classrooms were developed in 53 government schools. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
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Correct answer: D — 1, 2 and 3
PIB 2095823: 50 projects worth ₹1,117 crore, over 1 lakh metric tonnes of legacy waste processed and smart classrooms in 53 government schools.
Which ministry was the top procurer on the Government e Marketplace in FY 2024-25 as of January 2025?
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Correct answer: A — Ministry of Coal
PIB 2095901: the Ministry of Coal emerged as the top procurer with transacted order value of nearly ₹1.63 lakh crore.
What share of GeM's gross merchandise value in FY 2024-25 (as of 23 January 2025) came from the services segment?
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Correct answer: C — 62%
PIB 2095901: services accounted for ₹2.54 lakh crore, 62% of total GMV; products were 38%.
What was GeM's gross merchandise value for FY 2024-25 as on 23 January 2025?
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Correct answer: C — ₹4.09 lakh crore
PIB 2095901: GeM clocked a GMV of ₹4.09 lakh crore as on 23 January 2025, nearly 50% above the same period last year.
The 258.94 km railway quadrupling project evaluated at the 86th NPG meeting links Vadodara with which city?
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Correct answer: D — Ratlam
PIB 2096204: the project adds a third and fourth line between Vadodara (Gujarat) and Ratlam (Madhya Pradesh).
The Network Planning Group under PM GatiShakti is chaired by an official of which department?
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Correct answer: A — DPIIT
PIB 2096204: the 86th NPG meeting was chaired by E. Srinivas, Joint Secretary, DPIIT.
'Digi Vidya', under which smart classrooms were inaugurated in Jharkhand on 24 January 2025, is a CSR initiative of which group?
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Correct answer: B — Coal India subsidiaries
PIB 2095895: Digi Vidya is a CSR initiative of Coal India's subsidiaries.
How many government schools were upgraded with smart classrooms in the first phase of Coal India's Digi Vidya initiative?
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Correct answer: C — 272
PIB 2095895: 272 government schools were upgraded with smart classrooms in the first phase.
Through which app and portal can citizens report suspected fraud communications such as spoofed calls to the DoT?
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Correct answer: A — Sanchar Saathi
PIB 2095917: DoT urged citizens to report suspected fraud communications on the Sanchar Saathi mobile app and portal.
Consider the following statements about DoT's action against spoofed international calls (January 2025): 1. Telcos blocked more than 20 foreign carriers handing over spoofed calls. 2. The prevention system blocked about 1.35 crore spoofed calls in its first 24 hours. 3. The prevention system was imported from a foreign vendor. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
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Correct answer: B — 1 and 2 only
PIB 2095917: telcos blocked more than 20 carriers and the system blocked about 1.35 crore spoofed calls in 24 hours; the system is indigenously developed.
How many new employees were enrolled under the ESI Scheme in November 2024, as per ESIC's provisional payroll data?
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Correct answer: B — 16.07 lakh
PIB 2095848: 16.07 lakh new employees were added in November 2024, against 15.92 lakh in November 2023.
What share of new ESI registrations in November 2024 belonged to the age group of up to 25 years?
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Correct answer: C — About 47%
PIB 2095848: 7.57 lakh employees, around 47.11% of total registrations, were up to 25 years of age.