TODAY NEWS ON February 06, 2025

News Headlines for CAT, CLAT and IPM aspirants

Source: THE HINDU

National News

• 60.39% of voters turn up in crucial Delhi election
• PM Modi takes holy dip at Sangam during Maha Kumbh Mela
• UCC implementation in Uttarakhand: One live-in relation registered in 10 days
• Finance Ministry strongly advises against use of ChatGPT, DeepSeek on official computers, devices
• Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw meets OpenAI’s Sam Altman, discusses collaboration
• Amid a delay in holding Census, vital reports on births and deaths pending since 2020
• Milkipur Assembly byelection: Over 65% voting, surpasses 2022 turnout
• J&K leaders decry ‘mass detentions’ in Kashmir after Kulgam attack
• House panel seeks SOPs for timely completion of spiritual tourism projects
• Fort William, Army’s Eastern HQ, renamed Vijay Durg
• First Indian deportees from the U.S. lands in Amritsar
• Bombay HC to hear Volkswagen India’s plea against $1.4 bn tax notice on February 17

International News

• Trump signs executive order to bar transgender athletes from girls’ and women’s sports
• Stryker infantry vehicle deal with U.S. progresses; Javelin missile to be demonstrated again
• Tulsi Gabbard passes Senate committee vote, paving way to DNI confirmation
• Trump says U.S. will ‘take over’ Gaza Strip, own it, develop economically during Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit

Headlines in Detail
 

60.39% of voters turn up in crucial Delhi election

60. 39% of Delhi voters had cast their votes by closing time on Wednesday, sealing the city’s political fate for the next five years. The voter turnout figure for the high-stakes Delhi Assembly election is likely to rise as updates continue to come in from polling booths.

PM Modi takes holy dip at Sangam during Maha Kumbh Mela

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday (February 5, 2025) visited the Maha Kumbh Mela and took a holy dip at the Triveni Sangam. Mr. Modi said he felt “blessed to be at the Maha Kumbh” where he was “filled with a spirit of devotion”. The Prime Minister held ‘rudraksh’ beads in his hand during the bathing ritual. Dressed in a deep orange jersey and blue lowers, PM Modi offered prayers to the sun and the Ganga amid the chanting of mantras.

UCC implementation in Uttarakhand: One live-in relation registered in 10 days

Only one live-in relationship has been registered in Uttarakhand’s Uniform Civil Code (UCC) portal in the first 10 days of its implementation. “Officials claimed that five applications have been received from live-in couples for the mandatory registration. One has been granted registration while four others are being verified,” they said.

Finance Ministry strongly advises against use of ChatGPT, DeepSeek on official computers, devices

The Ministry of Finance has advised government officials to “strictly avoid” Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools, including ChatGPT and DeepSeek, on official devices as they “pose risks for the confidentiality of government data and documents”. Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, which runs ChatGPT, is currently in India to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw meets OpenAI’s Sam Altman, discusses collaboration

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman on Wednesday (February 5, 2025) said that the country is important for Artificial Intelligence and OpenAI, and added that India - with its full-stack model - should be among the leaders of the AI revolution. Mr. Altman, during a fireside chat with IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, said OpenAI tripled its users here in the last year. He gave a ringing endorsement to India’s efforts in building on AI at all levels of the stack, chips, models and “the incredible applications”.

Excited to do more together, OpenAI CEO tells IT Minister

In a brief onstage conversation with IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said that his remarks in 2022 that it was “hopeless” for Indian firms to compete with the United States on building a foundational Artificial Intelligence model were “taken out of context”. Those remarks have been in focus since the Chinese firm DeepSeek managed to build a foundational model at par with OpenAI and other leading firms’ AI models at a fraction of the cost. OpenAI was “really excited to do a lot more together” in India, Mr. Altman said.

Trump signs executive order to bar transgender athletes from girls’ and women’s sports

U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday (February 5, 2025) intended to ban transgender athletes from participating in girls’ and women’s sports. “With this executive order, the war on women’s sports is over,” Mr. Trump said at a signing ceremony in the East Room that included lawmakers and female athletes who have come out in support of a ban, including former collegiate swimmer Riley Gaines.

Amid a delay in holding Census, vital reports on births and deaths pending since 2020

With the decadal Census exercise pending since 2021 and unlikely to be conducted this year, at least two other key reports on births and deaths in the country have not been released by the Union Home Ministry for the past five years. The “Vital Statistics of India Based on the Civil Registration System” and “The Report on Medical Certification of Cause of Death” were last released for the year 2020. The annual “Crime in India” report by the National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB) for the year 2023 is also yet to be released.

Milkipur Assembly byelection: Over 65% voting, surpasses 2022 turnout

More than 65% of the total 3.70 lakh voters exercised their franchise in the bypoll to the Milkipur Assembly constituency of Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday (February 5, 2025), surpassing the turnout recorded in the 2022 Assembly polls .Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav alleged “fake voting” and rigging by officials, but senior police officers rejected the charge by saying that voting went on peacefully at all polling stations.

J&K leaders decry ‘mass detentions’ in Kashmir after Kulgam attack

Several Jammu and Kashmir leaders on Wednesday (February 5, 2025) raised an outcry in Kashmir over the alleged mass summoning and detentions of local youth after the killing of an ex-serviceman by militants in south Kashmir’s Kulgam two days ago. National Conference (NC) MP Syed Aga Ruhullah Mehdi said he was briefed on reports of over 500 individuals being rounded up by the Special Operations Group (SOG) of the J&K Police in “sweeping nocturnal raids across Kashmir”.

House panel seeks SOPs for timely completion of spiritual tourism projects

Expressing disappointment over the slow progress of important projects in the Spiritual Tourism Circuits and under the PRASHAD scheme, a Parliamentary committee has asked the government to develop a “clear-cut Standard Operating Procedure (SOP)” and obtain prior clearances and approvals from relevant authorities for timely completion of projects.

Fort William, Army’s Eastern HQ, renamed Vijay Durg

In the latest step toward eliminating colonial practices and mindsets within the armed forces, Fort William in Kolkata, the headquarters of the Eastern Army Command, has been renamed Vijay Durg. Additionally, Kitchener House inside Fort William has been renamed Manekshaw House, and South gate, formerly known as St. George’s Gate, is now Shivaji Gate.

Stryker infantry vehicle deal with U.S. progresses; Javelin missile to be demonstrated again

In the backdrop of U.S. President Donald Trump’s remarks to Prime Minister Narendra Modi that India buy more military equipment from them and amid the upcoming visit of Mr. Modi to Washington DC next week, several defence deals in the pipeline are in focus, among them the deal for co-production of Stryker infantry combat vehicles. The performance of Stryker in high-altitude was demonstrated for the Indian Army and negotiations are making progress, according to sources in the know.

First Indian deportees from the U.S. lands in Amritsar

A U.S. military aircraft carrying 104 illegal Indian immigrants landed at the Shri Guru Ramdas Ji International Airport in Amritsar on Wednesday (February 5, 2025) afternoon, sources said. The flight landed at 1.55 p.m. While 30 of the deportees are from Punjab, 33 each are from Haryana and Gujarat, three each from Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, and two from Chandigarh, the sources said.

Bombay HC to hear Volkswagen India’s plea against $1.4 bn tax notice on February 17

The Bombay High Court on Wednesday (February 5, 2025) said it would hear on February 17 a plea filed by Skoda Auto Volkswagen India challenging the tax demand of $1.4 billion by Indian customs authorities. The Volkswagen group, currently led in the country by Skoda Auto Volkswagen India, has been accused of deliberately misleading customs authorities through its mode of import of parts as individual units rather than as a component of a ‘completely knocked down’ (CKD) unit, which attracts higher import duty.

Tulsi Gabbard passes Senate committee vote, paving way to DNI confirmation

Hindu-American Tulsi Gabbard, U.S. President Donald Trump’s controversial pick to oversee spy agencies, has been approved by a key Senate committee for Director of National Intelligence (DNI) in a private vote, paving the way toward a wider Senate vote on her confirmation. The Republican-led Senate Select Committee on Intelligence approved Ms. Gabbard’s nomination in a closed committee vote of 9-8, along party lines. The full Senate is expected to vote on her confirmation as early as next week, the Washington Post reported.

Trump says U.S. will ‘take over’ Gaza Strip, own it, develop economically during Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit

In a surprise announcement, President Donald Trump said the U.S. “will take over” the war-ravaged Gaza Strip, “own it” and undertake economic development there that will create “unlimited numbers of jobs and housing.” Mr. Trump made these remarks on Tuesday (February 4, 2025) during a joint press conference in the White House with visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu standing beside him.