Daily Current Affairs: 28 February 2025

Current affairs of 28 February 2025: Kremlin Rules Out Talks on Annexed Ukrainian Regions; India-EU Ties: Trust, Human Rights and Manipur Row; EU vs Trump: 25% Tariff Threat and Retaliation Plan, and 10 more topics. Key facts for every exam, with a quiz.

Take the quiz (10 questions)February 2025

In this issue: 13 topics

National Affairs

Delimitation: Southern States’ Fears over Lok Sabha Seats
India’s Drug Export NOC Reform and New Pharma Regulation
Bharat Ports Global Consortium and Maitri Trade Interface

Government Schemes

EPFO CBT Meeting: PF Interest Rate, Higher Pension and EDLI Changes

Banking & Finance

Banks Stay Cautious on NBFC Lending: Ind-Ra View

Economy

States’ Tax Share Cut From 41% to 40%: Centre’s Proposal
Fiscal Deficit Target: IMF’s 3% Advice vs Government View

International Affairs

Kremlin Rules Out Talks on Annexed Ukrainian Regions
India-EU Ties: Trust, Human Rights and Manipur Row
EU vs Trump: 25% Tariff Threat and Retaliation Plan
Trump’s March 2025 Tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China
Trump’s Gold Card: $5 Million US Residency Plan

Science & Technology

Amazon Ocelot Quantum Chip: Cat Qubits Explained

National Affairs

Polity & Governance

1. Delimitation: Southern States’ Fears over Lok Sabha Seats

Delimitation redraws parliamentary and assembly boundaries on population changes; southern states fear losing seats.
The 42nd Amendment (1976) froze it till 2000; the 84th Amendment (2001) extended the freeze to 2026.
Current seat allocation of 543 Lok Sabha and 250 Rajya Sabha seats rests on 1971 census data.

Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

Economy

2. India’s Drug Export NOC Reform and New Pharma Regulation

Blanket export NOC based on one year of export history replaces order-by-order approvals.
Annual NOCs to fall from about 15,000 to 5,000.
A ₹100 crore digital platform will link regulators, customs, GST and manufacturers.
Indian pharma exports grew 9%, nearly double the global rate, per McKinsey.

Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

Economy

3. Bharat Ports Global Consortium and Maitri Trade Interface

Bharat Ports Global is a consortium of IPGL, SDCL and IPRCL created to bid for international port projects.
Corridors in focus: INSTC (7,200 km), IMEC and the Eastern Maritime Corridor.
Maitri, a Virtual Trade Corridor interface between India and UAE, will use AI and blockchain.

Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

Government Schemes

Economy

4. EPFO CBT Meeting: PF Interest Rate, Higher Pension and EDLI Changes

CBT will decide the PF interest rate for 2025-26; the current rate is 8.25% and Finance Ministry approval follows.
About 70% of higher pension applications have been processed; target is 31 March 2025.
EDLI proposal: at least ₹50,000 to families, with more if death occurs within six months of joining.
Workers want a higher rate due to inflation.

Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

Banking & Finance

Economy

5. Banks Stay Cautious on NBFC Lending: Ind-Ra View

Banks will stay conservative in lending to NBFCs, per Pankaj Naik of India Ratings.
Exposure will be limited to higher-rated NBFCs.
NBFC loan pricing will stay high.

Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

Economy

Polity & Governance

6. States’ Tax Share Cut From 41% to 40%: Centre’s Proposal

The Centre plans to cut States' share of tax revenue from 41% to 40%.
The Finance Commission, headed by Arvind Panagariya, will examine it; effective FY 2026-27.
A 1% cut could give the Centre about ₹350 billion.

Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

Economy

7. Fiscal Deficit Target: IMF’s 3% Advice vs Government View

IMF advises India to cut the central fiscal deficit to 3% of GDP, with the combined deficit below 6%.
Government says moving SOE capital spending onto the Union budget makes 3% hard.
Debt-to-GDP is to fall to 50% by FY31 from 57.1% in FY25.

Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

International Affairs

International Relations

8. Kremlin Rules Out Talks on Annexed Ukrainian Regions

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called five Ukrainian regions an 'inseparable part' of Russia and non-negotiable.
The regions are Crimea (2014), Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson (2022).
Ukraine has seized territory in Russia's Kursk region.

Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

International Relations

9. India-EU Ties: Trust, Human Rights and Manipur Row

EC President Ursula von der Leyen said trusted friends are essential in a world of conflicts and competition.
India rejected European Parliament comments on Manipur violence as interference in an internal matter.
India-EU cooperation is growing on trade, security and geopolitics, but human rights remain a friction point.

Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

Economy

10. EU vs Trump: 25% Tariff Threat and Retaliation Plan

Trump said the EU was 'formed to screw the United States' and pledged a 25% tariff on all EU imports.
The European Commission planned countermeasures on bourbon whiskey, jeans and motorcycles.
US-EU trade worth about $1.3 trillion a year would be at risk in a full tariff war.

Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

Economy

11. Trump’s March 2025 Tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China

Tariffs on Canada and Mexico were due from 4 March 2025 at 25%, with 10% on Canadian energy products.
The existing 10% extra tariff on China was to be doubled.
Fentanyl and drug trafficking were cited as a reason; a reciprocal tariff policy was also planned.

Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

International Relations

12. Trump’s Gold Card: $5 Million US Residency Plan

The proposed gold card costs $5 million and grants green card privileges with a path to US citizenship.
It would replace the EB-5 investor visa, selling residency without a job-creating investment requirement.
Proceeds are expected to help reduce US debt; critics say it favours wealth over merit.

Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

Science & Technology

13. Amazon Ocelot Quantum Chip: Cat Qubits Explained

Amazon unveiled Ocelot, its first quantum computing chip, developed with Caltech.
It has five data-storing qubits and four qubits used to stabilise and correct errors.
Cat qubits help limit errors from heat, vibration and electromagnetic interference.
Amazon claims a 90% cost reduction versus most other quantum architectures.

Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

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Daily Current Affairs: 28 February 2025

In this issue: 13 topics

National Affairs

1. Delimitation: Southern States’ Fears over Lok Sabha Seats

2. India’s Drug Export NOC Reform and New Pharma Regulation

3. Bharat Ports Global Consortium and Maitri Trade Interface

Government Schemes

4. EPFO CBT Meeting: PF Interest Rate, Higher Pension and EDLI Changes

Banking & Finance

5. Banks Stay Cautious on NBFC Lending: Ind-Ra View

Economy

6. States’ Tax Share Cut From 41% to 40%: Centre’s Proposal

7. Fiscal Deficit Target: IMF’s 3% Advice vs Government View

International Affairs

8. Kremlin Rules Out Talks on Annexed Ukrainian Regions

9. India-EU Ties: Trust, Human Rights and Manipur Row

10. EU vs Trump: 25% Tariff Threat and Retaliation Plan

11. Trump’s March 2025 Tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China

12. Trump’s Gold Card: $5 Million US Residency Plan

Science & Technology

13. Amazon Ocelot Quantum Chip: Cat Qubits Explained

Test yourself