DAILY GK 25-26 AUG 2025
1.
DEPUTY NSA
·
The Government of India (GoI) has appointed Anish Dayal
as the new Deputy National Security Advisor (NSA
·
Anish Dayal
is a 1988-batch IPS officer from Manipur cadre, and he retired from service in
December 2024.
·
He is
entrusted with the responsibility to handle internal affairs which
includes security in Jammu & Kashmir (J&K), the fight against Left-Wing
Extremism(LWE), and insurgency in the Northeast.
2. SEBI
EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS
·
Securities
Exchange Board of India (SEBI) appointed Amit
Pradhan, Avneesh Pandey, and Sanjay Chandrakant Purao as
its Executive Directors (EDs).
·
Amit Pradhan will take charge of the Legal Affairs Department (Vertical 1) and Prosecution &
Settlement Department.
·
Avneesh Pandey will oversee the Information Technology Department (ITD).
·
Sanjay Chandrakant Purao will handle the Corporation Finance Investigation Department(CFID), Recovery &
Refund Department, and Internal Investigation Department of SEBI.
3. CHETESHWAR PUJARA
ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT
·
Veteran
Indian cricketer Cheteshwar Arvind Pujara, widely
regarded as one of India’s greatest Test specialists,
announced his retirement from all formats of Indian cricket through social
media.
·
He
represented India in 103 Test matches, scoring 7,195 runs
at an average of 43.60, with 19 centuries and 35 fifties.
·
He also
played 5 One-Day Internationals (ODIs)
for India.
·
He Holds
the record for most balls faced by an Indian in a
Test innings – 525 balls.
4. VP
OF NDB
·
The Board
of Governors of the New Development Bank (NDB), a
multilateral bank established by BRICS
(Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) countries, has
appointed Dr. Rajiv Ranjan, as its new Vice-President (VP) and
Chief Risk Officer (CRO) for a period of 5
years.
·
He joined
the RBI in 1989 and has served in key roles, including Executive Director (ED)
and MPC member since 2022.
5. MD OF
SECI LIMITED
·
The Appointments
Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) headed by Prime Minister(PM)
Narendra Modi, approved the appointment of Akash Tripathi as
the new Managing Director (MD) of Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI)
Limited, a Public Sector Undertaking
(PSU) under the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE).
·
Previous Post: Additional Secretary, Ministry of
Power.
·
His
leadership will enhance SECI’s contribution towards achieving India’s 500 Gigawatt(GW) Renewable Energy(RE) capacity target
by 2030.
6. NEW ED AT
IMF
·
The
Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) chaired
by Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi has
approved the appointment of Renowned Economist Dr. Urjit Patel,
former Governor of Reserve Bank of India (RBI), to the post of Executive Director (ED) representing India
at International Monetary Fund (IMF).
·
As per
the official notification, Patel will remain at this post for a period of 3
years from the date he assumes charge, or until further orders,
whichever is earlier.
·
This
appointment came nearly 4 months after the Government of India (GoI) terminated
the term of Krishnamurthy Subramanian, former Chief
Economic Advisor (CEA) to GoI, who has been serving as India’s ED at IMF since
2022.
·
In
September 2016, Patel took over as the 24th Governor of RBI, succeeding
Raghuram Rajan.
·
Executive Board of IMF comprises 25 EDs, who are elected by member
countries of the IMF and the MD who serves as Chairman of the board.
·
These EDs
are arranged into 25 constituencies, or groups.
·
It is
responsible for administering day-to-day business of the IMF.
·
India is part of The Indian Group comprising countries namely India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Bhutan.
·
IMF Managing Director (MD)- Kristalina Georgieva.
·
Headquarters– Washington D.C., USA.
·
Established in- 1944.
7. BCCI
INTERIM PRESIDENT
·
Rajeev Shukla, Vice-President (VP) of the Board of Control
for Cricket in India (BCCI) since 2020, assumed charge as the interim President of BCCI after Roger Binny stepped down upon reaching the
age limit of 70 years as per BCCI rules.
·
Rajeev Shukla is a Member of Parliament in Rajya Sabha from
Chhattisgarh, he earlier chaired the Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2011.
·
The current age cap for office bearers is 70 (Lodha Committee recommendations), but the new act allows those
aged 70-75 to contest if international governing body rules permit.
·
As per
the new rule, the office bearers must
step down after 9 years in total or 6 consecutive years.
8. PROMOTION
AND REGULATION OF ONLINE GAMING BILL
·
President
Droupadi Murmu gave her assent to the Promotion
and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, 2025, aiming to encourage electronic-sports (e-sports)
and online social games while
prohibiting harmful online money gaming services, advertisements, and
financial transactions related to them.
·
The
Promotion and Regulation of Online
Gaming Act, 2025 divides online games into four types: e-sports, social games, educational games, and online
money games.
·
Offences and
penalties: Offering
online money gaming services will be punishable with imprisonment for up
to three years, a fine up to Rs.1 crore,
or both.
·
Advertising
online money games will be punishable with imprisonment up to two
years, a fine up to Rs 50 lakh, or
both.
9. NEPAL
JOINED INTERNATIONAL BIG CAT ALLIANCE
·
Nepal has officially joined the International
Big Cat Alliance (IBCA) which is India-led international
initiative to protect 7 species of big cats, by
signing the framework agreement.
·
With the
joining of Nepal, the total number of
IBCA members reached to 13 (including India, Armenia,
Bhutan, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Eswatini, Guinea, Liberia, Nicaragua, Rwanda,
Somalia and Suriname).
·
The IBCA
was launched by the Prime Minister (PM)
Narendra Modi on April 09, 2023, during the event ‘Commemorating 50 years
of Project Tiger’ held in Mysuru,
Karnataka.
·
In
February 2024, the Union Cabinet chaired by PM Narendra Modi approved the establishment of IBCA with its headquarters
in India, with budgetary support of Rs 150 crore for
5 years i.e. from 2023-24 to 2028-29.
·
It is an
international alliance of 95 range countries as well
as non-range countries, mandated to conserve 7 big cat species,
namely Tiger, Lion, Leopard, Snow Leopard, Cheetah, Jaguar and Puma.
·
On
January 23 2025, IBCA, headquartered in New Delhi (Delhi) attained legal status
as a treaty-based intergovernmental organisation, after
5 countries namely: India, Nicaragua, Eswatini, Somalia, and Liberia, formally
signed the Framework Agreement.
·
It was
formally established by the Government of India (GoI), through the nodal agency i.e. National Tiger
Conservation Authority (NTCA) under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and
Climate Change (MoEFCC).
10. ALL
INDIA SPEAKERS’ CONFERENCE IN NEW DELHI
·
Union
Minister Amit Shah, inaugurated the two-day All
India Speakers’ Conference at the Delhi Legislative Assembly in
New Delhi, to commemorate the 100th anniversary
of Vitthalbhai Patel, a freedom fighter, becoming the first elected Indian President (Speaker)
of the Central Legislative Assembly.
·
He also
visited an exhibition, under the theme
“Veer Vitthalbhai Patel Gaurav Katha”, on the life of Vitthalbhai
Patel at the premises of Delhi Assembly.
·
He is the
elder brother of Sardar Vallabhai Patel
(also known as The Iron Man of India), a freedom fighter.
·
In 1925,
he was elected the first Indian President (Speaker) of the Central Legislative
Assembly, succeeding Frederick Whyte, a British civil servant.
11. FIJI
PM VISIT TO INDIA
·
The Prime
Minister (PM) of the Republic of Fiji, Sitiveni Ligamamada Rabuka, undertook
a 3-day official visit to India at the invitation of PM of India Narendra Modi.
·
9 Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs) and bilateral documents across various
sectors such as: agriculture, education, healthcare, mobility, defence, among
others; were exchanged.
·
PM of
Fiji Rabuka outlined his vision of an
‘Ocean of Peace’ which focuses on building a peaceful, stable, secure, and
sustainable future and well-being for the Pacific region.
·
Fiji Capital- Suva
12. INDIA’S
FIRST NATIONAL BIOFOUNDRY NETWORK
·
Union
Minister Jitendra Singh, Ministry of Science and
Technology (MoS&T) launched the India’s first ‘National Biofoundry Network’ and ‘Biotechnology
for Economy, Environment and Employment (BioE3) Challenge for
Youth’, marking the one year of
BioE3 Policy.
·
The National Biofoundry Network is a strategic
initiative under the BioE3 Policy, comprising six institutions such
as International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB),
Biotechnology Research Innovation Council -National Agri-Food
Biotechnology Institute (BRIC-NABI) Translational Health Science and Technology
Institute (THSTI), Institute of Pesticide Formulation Technology (IPFT),
National Centre for Cell Science (NCCS), and Advanced Centre for Treatment,
Research and Education in Cancer (ACTREC) of the Tata Memorial Centre.
·
It is a nationwide drive with the theme “Design Microbes,
Molecules & More”.
·
The
challenge invites participation from school students of class 6-12,
university students, researchers, faculty, startups, and Indian citizens to
design safe-by-default biological solutions addressing the challenged in
health, agriculture, environment, and industry.
·
100 best ideas will be selected and will receive funding of
up to Rs.25 lakhs in two tranches through
Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) to
support the development of proof-of-concept into solutions.
13. EXTENSION
OF PM SVANIDHI SCHEME TILL 31 MARCH, 2030
·
The Union
Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi approved the restructuring and extension of the Prime Minister
Street Vendor’s AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) Scheme, extending
its lending period from December 31, 2024, to March 31, 2030.
·
It is a
central-sector micro-credit scheme launched on 1st June 2020 by
the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) to provide handholding support to street vendors.
·
The
scheme is a joint responsibility of MoHUA and the
Department of Financial Services (DFS), under the Ministry of
Finance(MoF).
·
The loan
slabs have been revised in the
restructured scheme.
·
The 1st
tranche has been increased to Rs. 15,000 from the
earlier Rs. 10,000.
·
The 2nd
tranche enhanced to Rs. 25,000 from Rs. 20,000 and
the 3rd tranche remains unchanged at Rs. 50,000.
·
In order
to encourage digital adoption,
street vendors will now be able to earn cash
back incentives of up to Rs. 1,600 on retail and
wholesale transactions.
