CURRENT AFFAIRS 25TH FEBRUARY

Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually inaugurated the ‘Kisan Drone Yatra’ at Manesar, in Haryana, on February 19, 2022, and addressed a group of farmers.
As a part of the event, PM flagged off 100 Kisan drones in different cities and towns of India.
These Kisan drones will be used for crop assessment, digitization of land records, spraying of pesticides and other nutrients in farms across India.
The initiative will support the farmers and further boost the agricultural sector and drone sector of the country.
These drones have been manufactured by Chennai-based Garuda Aerospace, which has set a target of manufacturing 1 lakh Made in India drones in the next 2 years.

The 48th edition of the world famous Khajuraho Dance Festival began in Madhya Pradesh on February 20, 2021.
The week-long festival is organized annually since 1975, by the state Culture Department, MP Tourism and the Archaeological Survey of India.
The festival will culminate on February 26, 2022.
The Khajuraho Dance Festival is an internationally acclaimed cultural event, hosted at the magnificent city of Khajuraho located in the Chhatarpur district of Madhya Pradesh.
The festival highlights the richness of the Indian classical dance forms like Kathak, Odissi, Manipuri, Bharatnatyam, Kuchipudi, and Mohiniattam, to promote and encourage dance, artists, culture and heritage of India.

The Ministry of Women and Child Development has extended the PM Cares for Children Scheme till February 28, 2022.
Earlier the scheme was valid till December 31, 2021.
PM Cares for Children Scheme was launched by Prime Minister Modi on May 29, 2021 to support children who have lost both their parents due to COVID 19 pandemic.

The Union Minister of Development of North East Region, Tourism and Culture Sri G. Kishan Reddy addressed the ‘North East MSME Conclave: Building Competitiveness for Leveraging Opportunities’.
The conclave was organized by the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII).
The main objective of this conclave was to empower the MSME sector in the North East Region, which has immense potential for the development in the North East and support overall economic growth of the country.

Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan has been appointed as the brand ambassador for Thums Up. Thums Up is owned by Coca-Cola.
Earlier Shahrukh Khan was associated with the cold drink brand Pepsi Co.
Thums Up was acquired by The Coca-Cola Company in 1993.

India Ratings & Research (India Ratings) has revised downwards the GDP growth forecast of the country for 2021-22 (FY22) to 8.6 percent.
Earlier this was projected at 9.2 percent.

The Ramanujan Prize for Young Mathematicians for the year 2021 has been conferred upon Professor Neena Gupta, a mathematician of the Indian Statistical Institute in Kolkata.
She has received the award for her outstanding work in affine algebraic geometry and commutative algebra.
Prof Gupta is the fourth Indian and second female winner of the award from the country.

India’s K.N. Raghavan has been elected the new Chairman of the International Rubber Study Group (IRSG) for a period of two years.
Raghavan is currently the Executive Director of Indian Rubber Board and Head of the Indian delegation to IRSG.
India has taken over the chair of the IRSG from Cote d’Ivoire.
IRSG is an intergovernmental organisation of natural rubber (NR) and synthetic rubber (SR) producing and consuming countries.

Central Excise Day is celebrated in India on February 24 every year
The day aims to encourage the employees of excise department in carrying out the central excise duty in a better way.
The Central Excise Day also commemorates the Central Excise and Salt Act, which was enacted on February 24, 1944.

Veteran Malayalam film and stage actress KPAC Lalitha has passed away due to age related health issues. She was 74.
In her acting career spanning five decades, Lalitha starred in over 550 films, comprising both Malayalam and Tamil.
She had won two National Film Awards for Best Supporting Actress and four Kerala State Film Awards.
She also was the Chairperson of Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Academy for five years.