Sapere Aude || The Quizarc Newsletter. Vol 11
Eleventh edition of Quizarc's "week in review" newsletter
This is Business
💰The Union Bugdet
Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman presented Union Budget 2025-26 in the Parliament. The major takeaways from the budget are:
A Makhana Board to be established in Bihar to improve production, processing, value addition, and marketing of makhana.
Revision in classification criteria for MSMEs: The investment and turnover limits for classification of all MSMEs to be enhanced to 2.5 and 2 times respectively.
PM SVANidhi Scheme to be revamped with enhanced loans from banks, UPI linked credit cards with ₹ 30,000 limit, and capacity building support
An Urban Challenge Fund of ₹ 1 lakh crore announced to implement the proposals for ‘Cities as Growth Hubs’, ‘Creative Redevelopment of Cities’ and ‘Water and Sanitation’, allocation.
‘BharatTradeNet’ for international trade to be set-up as a unified platform for trade documentation and financing solutions.
The FDI limit for the insurance sector to be raised from 74 to 100 per cent, for those companies which invest their entire premium in India.
36 lifesaving drugs and medicines fully exempted from Basic Customs Duty.
No personal income tax payable up to income of Rs 12 lakh under the new taxregime. This limit will be Rs 12.75 lakh for salaried tax payers, due to standard deduction of Rs 75,000.
India’s Fiscal Deficit: ₹1,56,89,36 crore (4.4% of GDP).
🚆The Ministry of Railways launched the ‘SwaRail’ SuperApp to integrate multiple railway services into one platform.
Quizarc Insight
Currently in beta, the app offers ticket bookings, platform and parcel bookings, train and PNR inquiries, food ordering, and Rail Madad for complaints and assistance.
🏦RBI cuts repo rate by 25 BPS to 6.25%, the first time in nearly five years.
Quizarc Insight
The repo rate is the interest rate at which the Reserve Bank of India lends money to commercial banks.
🤑CheQ, an Indian fintech company, has launched Wisor, India’s first AI-driven credit card expert.
Quizarc Insight
In 2022, Aditya Soni founded the fintech startup CheQ, which helps users manage and pay their credit card bills and in credit management.
🦾Tata Steel has become the first Indian company to develop pipes designed for transporting hydrogen.
Quizarc Insight
The API X65 pipes are produced at Tata Steel’s Khopoli plant and made from steel at its Kalinganagar facility.
From the world of AI
🐋Italy blocked DeepSeek’s highly popular app over concerns about user data, and authorities in France and Ireland said they planned to question the firm over its privacy measures.
Quizarc Insight
The Chinese firm said it used Nvidia H800 chips, which were legal to export in 2023, but it is alleged that cutting-edge AI chips are regularly smuggled into China via third countries.
🈶Alibaba launched a new AI model called Qwen2, claiming it outperforms DeepSeek, ChatGPT, and Llama in natural language processing.
Quizarc Insight
Alibaba’s company's name came from the character Ali Baba from the Middle Eastern folk-tale collection One Thousand and One Nights because of its universal appeal.
🦢Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey’s Block launched “codename goose,” an AI assistant for engineers that can alter code, look for bugs, and more.
Quizarc Insight
Block (formerly Square) is an American technology company that provides financial services to consumers and merchants.
💼LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman and oncologist Dr. Siddhartha Mukherjee announced Manas AI, a startup that will use AI to speed up the drug discovery process, starting with cancer treatments.
Quizarc Insight
Manas AI is named after the Sanskrit word "manas," which means "mind."
🎼ByteDance launches OmniHuman-1, an AI model designed to generate ultra-realistic human videos from a single still image.
Quizarc Insight
ByteDance is in the midst of a controversy regarding TikTok in USA.
🔎Google opens its most powerful AI model Gemini 2.0 to everyone.
Quizarc Insight
Google's AI model is named Gemini because it's a combination of Google DeepMind and Google Brain, and the word "Gemini" means "twins" in Latin.
֎OpenAI launches Deep Research, an agent for scanning the internet and generating reports.
Quizarc Insight
SoftBank Group is in talks to lead a funding round of up to $40 billion in OpenAI at a valuation of $300 billion, which will make it the most valuable startup in the world.
⚛Kovai.co, a Coimbatore based AI startup, awarded 14 crore in bonuses to 140 employees.
Quizarc Insight
Founded in 2011, Kovai.co provides SaaS solutions to clients like BBC and Boeing.
🤖Perplexity, a leading startup in AI search, is facing an alleged trademark violation over its use of the name “Perplexity,” which it has sported since 2022.
Quizarc Insight
Perplexity Solved Solutions, an HR software provider founded in 2017, applied for the trademark in October 2021.
📖Bookshop.org launches new e-book platform that exclusively supports local bookstores.
Quizarc Insight
The online retailer launched in 2020 with the explicit goal of connecting readers to their local bookstores. The addition of Bookshop's e-book platform promises that 100% of the profits from e-book sales will go back to the indie sellers.
🎮Electronic Arts shares sank more than 15% tripped up by a surprise slowdown in spending on the soccer franchise that has shaped its gaming empire.
Quizarc Insight
EA launched their FC series of football games after EA and FIFA's partnership of 30 years came to an end in 2022 upon the termination of their licensing agreement.
🍯Honeywell to split into three companies, separating its aerospace unit from its automation business and spinning off its advanced materials arm.
Quizarc Insight
Indian origin Vimal Kapur is the current CEO of Honeywell.
👔Layoffs:
Workday—a human resource management software provider laid off 1,750 people, or about 8.5% of its workforce, as it shifts to investing in AI.
Cruise to slash workforce by nearly 50%, or roughly 1,000 employees, after owner General Motors ended funding to robotaxi unit.
🏎️From the world of Auto
ⒽHonda’s merger with rival automaker Nissan aimed at bolstering the Japanese automakers against competition from fast-growing Chinese electric vehicle manufacturers is nearing collapse.
Quizarc Insight
The companies had said in December they were exploring joining forces to form the world’s third-largest carmaker. But negotiations stumbled over their competing visions for the future company, with Nikkei reporting that Honda proposed Nissan operate as its subsidiary, a suggestion the smaller firm rejected.
🚗Toyota Motor retained its crown as the world’s top-selling automaker for the fifth straight year in 2024, selling 10.8 million vehicles despite a 3.7% drop in group sales.
Quizarc Insight
The decline stemmed from a slump in Japan, impacted by governance issues at Daihatsu.
🚘Volkswagen has sued Indian authorities to quash what it calls an "impossibly enormous" tax demand of US $1.4 billion.
Quizarc Insight
Volkswagen’s Indian unit, Skoda Auto Volkswagen India, also told the High Court in Mumbai that the tax dispute puts at risk its US $1.5 billion investments in India.
㉦A streamlined Mercedes raced by Formula 1 greats Stirling Moss and Juan Manuel Fangio in 1955 set a record for a grand prix car on Saturday, selling at auction for $53 Million.
Quizarc Insight
The sleek, silver W196 R Stromlinienwagen, one of only four complete examples in existence, was sold by RM Sotheby's at the Mercedes museum in Stuttgart, Germany, on behalf of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
ᯤSpotify recorded its first annual profit in its 16-year history after adding paid subscribers and cutting costs.
Quizarc Insight
The Stockholm-based streaming giant has expanded its offering beyond music into podcasting — it hosts The Joe Rogan Experience, the world’s most successful show.
𝕏 X is partnering with Visa to offer real-time payments on the social platform.
Quizarc Insight
The X Money Account service, set to launch later this year, will create an in-platform digital wallet and connect to users’ debit cards to allow for peer-to-peer payments and transferring funds to personal bank accounts. X will use Visa’s instant money transferring service, Visa Direct, to support the new services.
📱The Seoul High Court acquitted Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong of all charges related to a 2015 merger between Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries.
Quizarc Insight
Samsung started as a grocery trading store in 1938, founded by Lee Byung-Chull.
👱Donald Trump signs executive order seeking to establish first-ever US sovereign wealth fund—a government-owned fund that invests in various financial assets; fund would require congressional approval.
Quizarc Insight
Norway’s Government Pension Fund is the largest Sovereign wealth fund in the world, with assets worth $1,738 Billion.
💸Vanguard cuts fees on nearly half of its US funds in largest fee reduction in firm's history.
Quizarc Insight
It’s the first major action by Vanguard’s new CEO Salim Ramji, who took over six months ago. He told the Wall Street Journal the firm was able to cut the fees because it had taken in so much new money from clients last year.
💲Ethiopia is no longer the most populous country without a bourse as it opens its first stock market since Emperor Haile Selassie.
Quizarc Insight
With no brokers and only one listed stock, the exchange enjoyed a relaxed start to life.
🤑30-second commercial spots for Super Bowl LIX have sold for $8 million each, up from $7 million last year.
Quizarc Insight
Over 126 million people tuned in to the Super Bowl this year, making it the most-watched US broadcast on record.
📈Rise and Fall, a reality show hosted by Ashneer Grover that will premiere on MX Player in 2025.
Quizarc Insight
In this adaptation of a British series, 16 contestants live in a skyscraper divided into two groups: Rulers and Workers.
📦Workers at a Whole Foods Market in Philadelphia become the first unionized store in Amazon’s grocery chain.
Quizarc Insight
John Mackey, the last remaining co-founder of Whole Foods Market, sold the company to Amazon for $13.7 billion in 2017.
🚚UPS will reduce the amount of Amazon volume it delivers by more than 50% by the second half of 2026.
Quizarc Insight
UPS CEO Carol B. Tome said that Amazon business dilutes their profit margins.
💳MobiKwik becomes first fintech to fully launch CBDC with RBI.
Quizarc Insight
A central bank digital currency (called E-rupee in India) is a digital form of a country's currency that's issued by the central bank.
💰Sharan Hegde's 1% Club becomes first finfluencer-led company to get SEBI RIA license.
Quizarc Insight
The 1% Club is an exclusive community and academy empowering individuals to make informed financial decisions.
😷Tech millionaire and bio hacker Bryan Johnson walked out of Nikhil Kamath’s podcast citing poor AQI.
Quizarc Insight
Johnson is the founder and former CEO of Kernel, a company that creates devices that monitor and record brain activity, and OS Fund, a venture capital firm that invests in early-stage science and technology companies.
🤌It’s curtains for celebrity chef Salt Bae’s Las Vegas Strip restaurant.
Quizarc Insight
Chef Nusret Gökçe, better known as Salt Bae became an internet sensation because of the way he salts steak.
👴🏻62-year-old founder of software company Vakrangee, Dinesh Nandwana suffered a heart attack and died during an ED raid on his premises.
Quizarc Insight
Vakrangee, which operates a network of one-stop digital convenience stores, has undergone several iterations over its lifetime.
🔻Doritos has revealed a square version of its chip - the first time the iconic triangular shape has ever been changed.
Quizarc Insight
Accidentally created at Disneyland, California, in the 1960s, Doritos became the first tortilla chip available nationally in the United States.
📞Vodafone makes world’s first atellite video call from a regular 4G/5G smartphone.
Quizarc Insight
The video call was made from a remote location in the Wales Mountains, an area where no terrestrial mobile network exists
🚗Shantanu Naidu, known for his close link with the late industrialist Ratan Tata, has been promoted to General Manager, Head of Strategic Initiatives, at Tata Motors.
Quizarc Insight
Goodfellows, a startup that connects elderly people with younger companions was founded by Shantanu in 2021.
💲 US terminated the de minimis rules, which had previously allowed goods valued under $800 to enter the country duty-free. In India, this value is Rs 5,000 or $60.
Quizarc Insight
India’s de minimis threshold is significantly lower compared to many other countries. Goods valued at Rs 5,000 or less can be imported without incurring customs duties when shipped via courier or postal services.
🏍️Ola Electric has launched the Roadster X series electric motorcycle at Rs 1.55 lakh.
Quizarc Insight
This launch comes as Ola Electric’s market share has sharply declined from 49% in June 2024 to below 19% in December, though it rebounded to 24.91% in January 2025.
🥚Waffle House is adding a temporary 50-cent-per-egg surcharge at its ~2.1k US locations due to the ongoing egg shortage.
Quizarc Insight
The chain serves 272m eggs annually — its most-ordered menu item.
⚯ ͛ Britannia in collaboration with Warner Bros has launched Pure Magic Choco Frames, a limited-edition Harry Potter-themed chocolate biscuit.
Quizarc Insight
Britannia has introduced biscuits featuring designs of the four Hogwarts houses—Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff.
🍔Zomato rebrands itself as Eternal Ltd, a name which was initially used internally to differentiate between the company and the Zomato brand after the Blinkit acquisition.
Quizarc Insight
Eternal will comprise four major businesses – Zomato, Blinkit, District, and Hyperpure.
🍚Amul to set up world’s largest curd manufacturing plant in Howrah.
Quizarc Insight
India is the world's largest producer of milk, contributing about a quarter of the world's milk production.
MELA
📕Bill Gates reflects on his youth, beginnings of Microsoft, in new memoir called Source Code.
Quizarc Insight
Gates released a memoir in1995 titled The Road Ahead.
🐉Onyx Storm, the third volume in Rebecca Yarros’s planned five-volume “Empyrean” series, has become the fastest-selling adult novel in 20 years after the latest update to Violet Sorrengail’s journey sold 2.7+ million copies in its first week on the market.
Quizarc Insight
The final book in the Harry Potter series sold 8.3 million copies within 24 hours.
🖼‘Mona Lisa’ will get its own room under a 10-year renovation of the Louvre in Paris.
Quizarc Insight
The renovation project, branded “Louvre New Renaissance,” will include a new entrance near the River Seine, to be opened by 2031, and the creation of underground rooms.
🎬The Sci-Fi Science Film Festival of India was inaugurated by Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant in Panaji.
Quizarc Insight
This year’s theme, “Green Revolution,” honors Dr. M. Swaminathan and aims to inspire youth toward a sustainable future.
🎥Parthenope, a movie directed by Oscar-winning filmmaker Paolo Sorrentino, releases in theatres.
Quizarc Insight
Parthenope is about a woman who is obsessed with anthropology and wants to study it from birth to old age.
🎧Bruno Mars becomes the first artist to cross the 150 million monthly listeners threshold on Spotify.
Quizarc Insight
“Die With a Smile,” his duet with Lady Gaga, has amassed nearly 1.7 billion Spotify streams since its release in Aug. 2024.
🎞️Juliette Binoche will be the jury president for the 78th Cannes Film Festival in 2025, making her the second woman to lead the jury in a row.
Quizarc Insight
Greta Gerwig was the jury president for the 77th Cannes Film Festival in 2024.
📺'Silsila', 'Awara, 'Aradhana' and 'Chandni' are set for re-release in theatres on Valentine’s day week.
Quizarc Insight
Aradhana was restored in 4K by NFDC--National Film Archive of India under the National Film Heritage Mission.
📀Mumbai police close Coldplay ticket scam case against BookMyShow.
Quizarc Insight
The inquiry was closed after no evidence of manipulation was found during the investigation.
👦🏻UNICEF names Khaby Lame as a Goodwill Ambassador.
Quizarc Insight
Lame is TikTok's most-followed creator.
🕵🏻Fraud charges filed against Dadasaheb Phalke film festival organisers.
Quizarc Insight
A case has been registered against the founder of the festival Anil Mishra and his son Abhishek who are accused of cheating the public and the government by selling tickets for the festival online for the bogus ceremony for as high as Rs 2.50 lakh for a couple.
🚨Sonu Sood faces arrest warrant in Rs 10 Lakh fraud case.
Quizarc Insight
Sonu Sood clarified on Instagram that the news about his arrest warrant is sensationalised, stating he was summoned as a witness in a third-party matter.
🍿After Tumbbad, Sohum Shah is back with a thriller Crazxy.
Quizarc Insight
In 2024 Tumbbad became the highest grossing re-released movie in India.
💋Udit Narayan found himself in the centre of controversy after he kissed a fan during a live concert.
Quizarc Insight
He was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2016 for his contribution towards arts and culture.
🌦️Punxsutawney Phil made his annual weather forecast, his first as a father after he and his wife, Phyllis, welcomed two groundhog pups into the family last spring.
Quizarc Insight
The 1993 movie Groundhog Day tells the story of a cynical television weatherman covering the annual Groundhog Day event in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, who becomes trapped in a time loop, forcing him to relive February 2 repeatedly.
🎤Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath are reuniting for one last time, to play a fund-raising concert in Birmingham on 5 July.
Quizarc Insight
The heavy metal pioneers will headline a spectacular one-day festival at Villa Park, featuring dozens of bands they inspired, including Metallica, Pantera, Slayer, Gojira and Anthrax.
👨🎤FireAid concert raises more than $100M for Los Angeles wildfire relief efforts.
Quizarc Insight
More than 30 artists, including Olivia Rodrigo, Rod Stewart, Dr. Dre and Joni Mitchell, took turns performing; comedians like Billy Crystal — who lost his home in the fires — and Quinta Brunson also addressed the audience.
4️⃣"The Fantastic Four" teaser officially drops.
Quizarc Insight
The teaser showcases the Fantastic Four's origins, exploring their transformation and the challenges they face as they embrace their powers.
🔪Salman Rushdie is set to testify about the stabbing attack in New York that damaged his liver and blinded him in one eye, an account detailed in his 2024 memoir Knife.
Quizarc Insight
The trial of Hadi Matar, a US-Lebanon citizen, was delayed after his lawyers unsuccessfully argued the book could be used as evidence.
👩🎤Vladimir Putin signed a decree reviving a Soviet alternative to the Eurovision song contest, which banned Moscow following its invasion of Ukraine.
Quizarc Insight
Unlike Eurovision, which the Kremlin has criticized as a “Europe-wide gay parade,” Intervision will focus on “traditional universal, spiritual, and family values” according to documents Reuters obtained.
👠Lady Gaga revealed her new single Abracadabra at the Grammys.
Quizarc Insight
Gaga was also the first female artist to have four singles ("Just Dance", "Poker Face", "Bad Romance" and "Shallow") each sell at least 10 million copies globally.
🏆Indian-origin musician Chandrika Tandon wins best New Age album Grammy.
Quizarc Insight
She won the Grammy award for her album Triveni, a collaborative effort also featuring the music of three-time Grammy-winning South African flautist Wouter Kellerman and Japanese-origin cellist Eru Matsumoto.
🎨Galleries in the UK, US, and China will host celebratory exhibitions and other activities this year in honor of British landscapist J.M.W. Turner’s 250th birthday.
Quizarc Insight
UK’s most prestigious art prize is named for him, and his likeness is on the £20 note.
♱Buffy the Vampire Slayer sequel series in the works featuring original show star Sarah Michelle Gellar.
Quizarc Insight
Angel is an American supernatural television series, a spinoff of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Grammy Awards:
The most-nominated and most-awarded artist in Grammy history, Beyonce won her first Album of the Year award for Cowboy Carter, which also was honored with best country album.
Kendrick Lamar took home record of the year and song of the year for “Not Like Us.” Chappell Roan was named best new artist.
The Beatles won a Grammy for the song Now and Then created with the help of artificial intelligence — the first such track to receive the honor.
🏛️A museum in Italy will showcase mementos of British poet Lord Byron’s affair with a married Italian noblewoman — including peeled fragments of his sunburnt skin that she lovingly preserved.
Quizarc Insight
Byron, one of the great Romantic poets and a serial philanderer, followed Countess Teresa Gamba Guicciolo to the northern city of Ravenna in 1819, residing in the home she shared with her husband, along with his pet monkeys and eagle.
🎸American children's music group Kidz Bop that produces family-friendly covers of pop songs, released its 50th studio album.
Quizarc Insight
Zendaya was a member of Kidz Bop Kids in 2010 and appeared on the album Kidz Bop Dance Party.
Its in the game
🏏BCCI Awards 2025:
Col. C. K. Nayudu Lifetime Achievement: Award Sachin Tendulkar
Polly Umrigar Award for Best International Cricketer Men: Jasprit Bumrah
Best International Cricketer - Women: Smriti Mandhana
🏆Abhishek Sharma scored India's second-fastest T20I century in 37 balls against England.
Quizarc Insight
Rohit Sharma's 35-ball effort against Sri Lanka in 2017 is the fastest by an Indian.
🏏G Trisha excels with bat and ball as India become back-to-back Under-19 champions.
Quizarc Insight
India beat South Africa by 9 wickets in the final, securing back-to-back trophies.
🎤Atif Aslam voices Men’s Champions trophy 2025 official anthem Jeeto Baazi Khel ke.
Quizarc Insight
The 2025 ICC Champions Trophy marks the tournament’s return after eight years, with defending champions Pakistan serving as co-hosts alongside Dubai in a hybrid model.
💥Former India cricketer and head coach Rahul Dravid got into an argument with a Bengaluru auto driver after a minor collision in his hometown.
Quizarc Insight
Netizens compared the incident to the Cred ad “Indiranagar ka Gunda”.
🏏Dinesh Karthik has surpassed MS Dhoni to become the highest run-scoring Indian wicket-keeper in T20 cricket.
Quizarc Insight
Karthik’s total T20 runs now stand at 7,451 in 361 innings
♟️Indian Grandmaster Iniyan Panneerselvam won the 9th Johor International Open Chess Tournament in Malaysia.
Quizarc Insight
The 22-yearold from Erode, Tamil Nadu also triumphed at the Chennai Open earlier in January.
♟️Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa came from behind to beat world champion D. Gukesh 2-1 in the tiebreaker to win the Tata Steel Masters chess tournament.
Quizarc Insight
While Gukesh lost to compatriot Arjun Erigaisi, Praggnanandhaa too suffered a shocking defeat at the hands of Germany's Vincent Keymer, but despite the losses they still managed 5.5 points each to remain joint leaders.
🥇Greg Bell, the oldest living Olympic gold medalist in athletics, passed away at 94.
Quizarc Insight
Known for his long jump achievements, Bell also made significant contributions to dentistry.
🏟The Asian Winter Games 2025 open in Harbin, China.
Quizarc Insight
This is the second time that Harbin has hosted the event, and the third time China has hosted the Asian Winter Games.
🏈Buffalo Bills’ Josh Allen edges Baltimore Ravens Lamar Jackson to win NFL’s Most Valuable Player award.
Quizarc Insight
Peyton Manning was named NFL MVP a record five times, more than any other player in history.
🏃Donald Trump signs executive order banning transgender athletes from competing in women's and girls' sporting events that receive federal funds, including the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
Quizarc Insight
The order, titled “Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports,” gives federal agencies wide latitude to ensure entities that receive federal funding abide by Title IX in alignment with the Trump administration's view, which interprets “sex” as the gender someone was assigned at birth.
🏏Ravindra Jadeja becomes the only Indian spinner to achieve 6,000 runs and 600 wickets.
Quizarc Insight
Shakib Al Hasan, Kapil Dev, Shaun Pollock, Daniel Vettori and Wasim Akram are the only other players with this record.
🕹️The Sims celebrates its 25th anniversary.
Quizarc Insight
To celebrate the birthday, Electronic Arts is rereleasing the original game and The Sims 2 in a $39.99 bundle.
🚣🏻♀️Ananya Prasad became the first woman of colour to row solo across the Atlantic.
Quizarc Insight
It took her 52 days, 5 hours, and 44 minutes to traverse the Atlantic Ocean alone.
⚽︎Sexual assault trial against former Spanish Football Federation President Luis Rubiales begins.
Quizarc Insight
Rubiales is accused of an unwanted kiss on Spanish star Jenni Hermoso following Spain's victory at the 2023 Women's World Cup
General
🛫A regional jet operated for American Airlines collided with a military helicopter as the plane attempted to land at Ronald Reagan National Airport.
Quizarc Insight
Sixty-four people were on the flight, including members of the US Figure Skating community perished in the crash.
📢Washington plans to slash USAID’s staff from more than 10,000 to less than 300, leaving a huge gap in global humanitarian aid.
Quizarc Insight
The US spends less than 1% of its federal budget on foreign aid, but contributes nearly 40% of global humanitarian assistance.
📜US President Donald Trump agreed to delay 25% tariffs against Mexico and Canada for a month after conversations with the countries’ leaders Monday.
Quizarc Insight
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum agreed to send an additional 10,000 troops to the border as part of the deal, which rallied markets after fears of a trade war sparked a global stock selloff. And Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he agreed to border security reinforcements and a tougher drug crackdown.
🗳️BJP to form govt in Delhi after over 26 years.
Quizarc Insight
BJP won 48 of the 70 seats in the Assembly polls and The Aam Aadmi Party secured victories in 22 seats.
👩👩👧👧Judges’ Choice for Best Tableaux in Republic day parade:
Uttar Pradesh: Mahakumbh 2025 – Swarnim Bharat: Virasat aur Vikas The tableau highlighted the grandeur of Mahakumbh 2025, one of the largest religious gatherings in the world.
Tripura: Eternal Reverence: The Worship of 14 Deities in Tripura – Kharchi Puja This tableau depicted the Kharchi Puja, a traditional festival of Tripura that honors 14 deities.
🌲The Jammu & Kashmir Forest Research Institute launched the ‘Digital Tree Aadhar’ initiative to protect and monitor Kashmir’s chinar trees, threatened by urbanization and infrastructure projects.
Quizarc Insight
Modeled after India’s Aadhaar system, each tree will receive a unique digital identity with geo-tagging, QR codes, and metal cards for public scanning.
🏭Avaada Group has partnered with Casale to establish India's largest green ammonia plant in Gopalpur, Odisha.
Quizarc Insight
The plant will have a daily capacity of 1,500 tons and will be powered by renewable energy.
🍎Hariman Sharma, a farmer from Himachal Pradesh, has been awarded the Padma Shri for developing the HRMN-99 apple variety, which revolutionized apple cultivation.
Quizarc Insight
This self-pollinating, low-chilling variety thrives in tropical and subtropical regions, expanding apple farming beyond traditional temperate zones and benefiting both farmers and consumers.
💔Guillain-Barré Syndrome, a rare neurological disorder where the immune system attacks the peripheral nervous system, has seen a rise in cases in Pune, Maharashtra.
Quizarc Insight
Symptoms include muscle weakness, numbness, and paralysis in severe cases.
📕Uttarakhand became the first state in India to implement the Uniform Civil Code.
Quizarc Insight
UCC aims to ensure uniformity in personal laws, offering equal rights and responsibilities for all citizens, regardless of religion or community.
🏛Alexander Lukashenko won a seventh term as President of Belarus, with 86.8% of the vote, a result widely criticized as fraudulent.
Quizarc Insight
Opposition candidate Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya received around 3% and called the election a "farce", urging global rejection of the results.
✊Thousands of protesters set fire to the 32 Dhanmondi, the residence of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in Dhaka.
Quizarc Insight
Affectionately called Bangabandhu, Rahman was a Bangladeshi politician, revolutionary, statesman and activist, who was the founding president of Bangladesh.
📣Vice President Sara Duterte of the Philippines was impeached by the House of Representatives, where 215 of 306 legislators voted against her just weeks before midterm elections.
Quizarc Insight
The decision follows allegations that Duterte misused public funds and plotted to assassinate President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the first lady, and the lower house speaker.
🛕Johannesburg is now home to the largest Hindu temple in Africa.
Quizarc Insight
The BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, located in Northriding spans an impressive 37,000 square meters.
🧳Jewar International Airport in Uttar Pradesh, set to be Asia’s largest, will begin operations in April.
Quizarc Insight
The airport is being developed by Yamuna International Airport Private Limited (YIAPL), a subsidiary of Zurich Airport International AG.
💉Polio is surging in Pakistan after years of decline, as militant groups target vaccination programs.
Quizarc Insight
In Pakistan and Afghanistan, there is a widespread belief that vaccination campaigns are a front for Western spying — a view driven in part by the CIA using a fake program in its hunt for Osama bin Laden.
🕓The Doomsday Clock symbolising how near humanity is to destruction has been moved one second forward to 89 seconds to midnight - the closest it has ever been.
Quizarc Insight
The Doomsday Clock's origin can be traced to the international group of researchers called the Chicago Atomic Scientists, who had participated in the Manhattan Project.
🦠Niger became the first African country to eliminate onchocerciasis (river blindness) as a public health threat, joining Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, and Mexico in this achievement.
Quizarc Insight
This milestone reflects significant progress in controlling neglected tropical diseases, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, and underscores global efforts to tackle parasitic diseases.
🧊Recent findings show the Magnetic North Pole is shifting rapidly toward Siberia and Russia, impacting navigation, animal migration, and communication systems.
Quizarc Insight
Earth’s geomagnetic field is dynamic, caused by molten metals in the outer core. The Magnetic North Pole was first located in 1831 by James Clark Ross and has been moving ever since.
🚀Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla will become the first Indian astronaut to pilot a space mission to the International Space Station as part of Axiom Mission 4, a private spaceflight scheduled for spring 2025.
Quizarc Insight
The mission, in collaboration with NASA, will see astronauts conduct research, educational outreach, and commercial activities aboard the SpaceX Dragon capsule.
🌌NASA discovers a 109 ft asteroid that has 1.2% chance of smashing into Earth in 2032.
Quizarc Insight
The asteroid has been given a Level 3 rating on the Torino Impact Hazard Scale, which indicates a close encounter.
🛰️ISRO launches historic 100th mission from Sriharikota, placing NVS-02 satellite in orbit for NavIC regional navigation system.
Quizarc Insight
Navigation with Indian Constellation (NavIC) is a satellite-based navigation system that provides positioning services for India and the surrounding region.
🌕India overtakes China as the world’s largest consumer of gold jewellery.
Quizarc Insight
India consumed 563.4 tons of gold in 2024, while China's consumption stood at 511.4 tons.
🧑🏻🚀Sunita Williams has set a new record for the longest spacewalking time by a woman, surpassing Peggy Whitson’s previous record.
Quizarc Insight
Williams now has 62 hours and 6 minutes of spacewalking time across nine spacewalks.
🌌NASA's Hubble Space Telescope managed to capture an incredible image of a galaxy that looks like a bullseye.
Quizarc Insight
LEDA 1313424, aptly nicknamed the Bullseye, is two and a half times the size of our Milky Way and has nine rings — six more than any other known galaxy.
📜With the help of artificial intelligence, researchers have revealed some of the text inside a 2,000-year-old scroll that was charred during Mount Vesuvius' eruption in 79 C.E.
Quizarc Insight
The scroll, named PHerc. 172, is one piece to a larger puzzle — for years, researchers have pursued restoration of the Herculaneum papyri, a series of over 1,800 scrolls burned and carbonized during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius.
🐳Humpback whale songs, among the most complex examples of animal communication, share hallmarks of language once thought unique to humans.
Quizarc Insight
In two new studies, scientists found that the songs can be broken up into repeatable units that string together to make phrases; this kind of sequential structure likely evolved to make whale songs easier to learn and pass down.
🦴69-million-year-old skull fossil of an extinct duck-like bird named Vegavis iaai suggests that some Antarctic birds survived the Cretaceous extinction.
Quizarc Insight
The discovery challenges the idea that modern birds only evolved after the asteroid impact that ended the dinosaur era.
🙌🏻The Aga Khan, philanthropist and spiritual leader, dies aged 88.
Quizarc Insight
Aga Khan is a title held by the Imām of the Nizari Ismāʿīli Shias.
⚰️The Karnataka "Right to Die with Dignity" bill allows terminally ill patients to request the withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment.
Quizarc Insight
Euthanasia, also called mercy killing is the act of ending a person's life to relieve suffering.
Brand in focus
🍗KFC
KFC is removing the doors from its outlets in Dubai to show that they are open 24/7. They are then putting those exact same doors in popular areas around the city with clever messages like: “Who needs doors if you're always open?
Headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, KFC is the world's second-largest restaurant chain (as measured by sales) after McDonald's. It was founded by Colonel Harland Sanders, who began selling fried chicken from his roadside restaurant during the Great Depression.
Ad in focus
🛵Uber Eats Super Bowl ad
Uber Eats has created a new tradition of pulling out the huge stars, and multiple of them, in their Super Bowl commercials since they joined the Big Game ad scene.
The ad Uber Eats combined top three elements of a Super Bowl spot – spectacle, celebrity, and cleverness – building on their brilliant, season-long concept that football is just a plot to sell food. The A-list cameos – including Sean Evans, Charli XCX and Greta Gerwig with Matthew McConaughey in the lead cooked up a perfect storm.
Pop Culture recommendation
🐭Maus
Maus: A Survivor's Tale, is a graphic novel by Art Spiegelman which depicts him interviewing his father about his experiences as a Polish Jew and Holocaust survivor.
The first and only graphic novel to win a Pulitzer Prize, Maus is a brilliant read from start to finish.
And that’s a wrap for this edition of Quizarc’s Sapere Aude newsletter.
Bonus: Know some interesting facts about the Kumbh Mela here.
Let us know about your opinions about it in the comments or by emailing at query@quizarc.com.
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