4.5/5
Current Affairs 05th February 2026
IMPORTANT FACTS
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Karakoram Pass: Ladakh
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Zoji La Pass: Jammu & Kashmir
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Rohtang Pass: Himachal Pradesh
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Mana Pass: Uttarakhand
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Nathu La Pass: Sikkim
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Diphu Pass: Arunachal Pradesh
1. Nivedita Dubey: 1st Woman Officer inducted into AAI Board
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Historic Leadership Role: She assumed charge as Member (Human Resources) on January 30, 2026, becoming the first woman to hold a full-time functional Director-level position on the AAI Board.
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Extensive Experience: A seasoned aviation professional with over 30 years of experience, she joined AAI in 1995 and previously served as the first woman Regional Executive Director (Eastern Region), where she managed 12 airports.
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Strategic Responsibility: In her new role, she is responsible for AAI’s personnel policies, industrial relations, and workforce modernization, aligning the organization's human capital with the "AAI Vision 2047" roadmap.
Footnotes: AAI's Chairman: Vipin Kumar, HQ: New Delhi, Estd: 1995
2. Elon Musk Becomes 1st Person With $800 Billion Wealth
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The SpaceX-xAI Merger: The primary driver of this surge was the landmark merger between his aerospace firm, SpaceX, and his artificial intelligence company, xAI. This created a combined entity valued at approximately $1.25 trillion, adding roughly $84 billion to his personal fortune in a single day.
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Dominance of SpaceX: Following the merger, SpaceX has overtaken Tesla as Musk's most valuable asset. He holds a 43% stake in the newly unified company, a holding estimated to be worth over $540 billion.
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Unprecedented Wealth Gap: With this milestone, Musk's net worth is now roughly three times larger than that of the world's second-richest person (Larry Page), marking a level of wealth concentration that economists describe as practically unprecedented in modern history.
3. NGEL & Assago Signs MoU to Develop India’s First Green Urea Plant
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Pioneering Green Technology: The plant will produce 1,000 tonnes per day (TPD) of Green Urea by using renewable feedstock—specifically Green Ammonia and captured Carbon Dioxide ($CO_2$
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Strategic Hub Location: The project will be established within the Pudimadaka Green Hydrogen Hub near Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. NGEL will provide the core infrastructure, including renewable power and green hydrogen derivatives, to support the facility.
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National Impact & Self-Reliance: This initiative is a major step toward Atmanirbhar Bharat in the fertilizer sector. It aims to reduce India's reliance on imported urea (currently 8–10 million tonnes annually) and significantly decarbonize the country’s agricultural supply chain.
Footnotes: NGEL's CMD: Gurdeep Singh, HQ: New Delhi, Estd: 2022
4. Olympian Esha Singh clinches gold in 10m pistol event
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Second Career Title: This victory marks Esha's second senior individual Asian Championship gold in this event, following her first continental title win in Jakarta in 2024.
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A "Come-from-Behind" Win: After a shaky start that saw her languishing in 7th place after the first series, she mounted a steady comeback to finish with a winning score of 239.8, surpassing silver medalist Cheng Yen-Ching of Chinese Taipei.
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Double Gold Performance: Beyond her individual success, Esha teamed up with Manu Bhaker and Suruchi Singh to secure the Team Gold for India with a combined score of 1,726, leading the host nation to a dominant opening day at the championships.
5. Pro Wrestling League 2026 championship won by Haryana Thunders
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Nail-Biting Final Score: The Haryana Thunders defeated the Delhi Dangal Warriors with a narrow 5–4 margin. The championship was undecided until the very last bout, as the teams were tied at 4–4 after the first eight matches.
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Decisive Performance: The title was sealed by Paris Olympic silver medalist Iryna Koliadenko, who delivered a masterclass in the final women’s 62kg bout. She secured a dominant 16–0 technical superiority win over Delhi’s Anjli to clinch the trophy for Haryana.
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League Resurgence & Rewards: This victory marked the successful return of the PWL after a seven-year hiatus. As champions, the Haryana Thunders took home a prize purse of ₹1.5 crore, while the runners-up received ₹75 lakh.
6. Divakar Jayant Assumes Charge as DG of Navy
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Distinguished Career & Succession: A 1991-batch INAS officer with over 33 years of experience, Jayant succeeded Shri P. Upadhyay, who retired on January 31, 2026. He previously held leadership roles at major Naval Armament Depots in Mumbai, Visakhapatnam, and Alwaye.
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Technical Expertise: An Electrical Engineering graduate from IIT Delhi, he is a specialist in the life-cycle management of torpedoes and the planning of complex explosive infrastructure projects, which are critical for the Navy's submarine and surface warfare capabilities.
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Strategic Responsibility: In his new role, he oversees the policies, maintenance, and safety of the Indian Navy's entire armament inventory. His leadership is central to the modernization and indigenization of naval weapon systems under the "Aatmanirbhar Bharat" initiative.
Footnotes: Indian Navy's Chief: Admiral Dinesh Kumar Tripathi, Estd: 1950
7. Paradip Port Authority won Swachhata Pakhwada Awards 2025
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Top National Ranking: PPA secured the first position among all major Indian ports for its exemplary performance in cleanliness and sustainability. The award was presented by the Union Minister for Ports, Shipping, and Waterways, Sarbananda Sonowal, to PPA Chairman P.L. Haranadh.
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Three Core Pillars: The port’s success was driven by the effective implementation of three strategic pillars: Jan Bhagidari (massive community participation), Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam (extensive plantation drives, including 40,000 saplings at Paradip beach), and Safai Mitra Suraksha (focusing on the welfare and dignity of sanitation workers).
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Innovative Waste Management: Beyond routine cleaning, PPA was lauded for its "Waste to Wealth" initiatives, such as the Scrap to Structure project and awareness campaigns that successfully reduced single-use plastics across the port ecosystem.
Footnotes: PPA's Chairman: P.L. Haranadh, Estd: 1966
8. Padma Shri Awardee & Travel Writer Hugh Gantzer passed away
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Pioneer of Indian Travel Journalism: Alongside his wife, Colleen Gantzer (who passed away in 2024), he is credited with pioneering the genre of travel writing in India. Together, they authored over 30 books, wrote thousands of articles, and produced the iconic 1980s Doordarshan series, Looking Beyond, which made them household names.
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Joint Padma Shri Recognition: In 2025, the couple was jointly awarded the Padma Shri for their extraordinary contribution to travel journalism. Hugh famously noted that he would only accept the honor if it recognized both him and Colleen, as they had always written "in one voice" for over five decades.
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Naval Veteran & Environmentalist: Before his literary career, he served as a Commander in the Indian Navy (retiring in 1974). In his later years, he became a fierce guardian of Mussoorie’s ecology, serving on a Supreme Court-monitored committee and successfully lobbying Prime Minister Indira Gandhi to ban limestone mining in the region.
WHAT HAPPENED TODAY?
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1957 – Gamel Abdel Nasser became President of Egypt.
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1971 – The Apollo 14 mission successfully landed on the Moon.
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