DAILY GK 22-23 DEC 2025
1.
GOVT APPOINTS NEW ASGS
FOR THE SUPREME COURT
·
The Appointments Committee of the
Cabinet (ACC), headed by Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi,
approved the appointment of Senior Advocates Davinder Pal
Singh, Kanakamedala Ravindra Kumar, and Anil Kaushik as
Additional Solicitors General (ASGs) for India in the Supreme Court of
India(SCI).
·
The appointments are valid for three years from the date of
assuming office, or until further orders, whichever comes first.
· ASGs
support the Attorney General of India (AGI) and the Solicitor General of India
(SGI) in representing the Government of India (GoI) before the SCI.
2.
PV SINDHU ELECTED CHAIR
OF BWF ATHLETES’ COMMISSION FOR 2026-2029
· Two-time
Olympic Medallist and 2019 World Champion Pusarla Venkata (P.V.) Sindhu has
been elected Chair of the Badminton World Federation (BWF) Athletes’
Commission for a 3-year term (i.e. 2026-2029).
·
In addition to that, Sindhu will also serve as a member of the
BWF Council, lending a direct voice for players in the federation’s
governance body.
·
Sindhu succeeds GreysiaPolii (Indonesia),
who served as Chair of the commission for 2021-25 term.
·
P. V. Sindhu is a two-time Olympic medallist (Rio 2016 – Silver, Tokyo
2020 – Bronze) and the 2019 World Champion, making her one of India’s most
successful badminton players.
·
She will be supported by Debora Jille (The
Netherlands) who has been elected as Deputy Chair of the Commission
for 2026-2029 term.
3.
WHO GLOBAL SUMMIT ON TRADITIONAL MEDICINE
·
The 2nd edition of the World
Health Organization (WHO) Global Summit on
Traditional Medicine was held in New Delhi
·
The event, organized by WHO and the Ministry of Ayush (Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy,
Unani, Siddha, and Homeopathy), was held under the theme titled “Restoring Balance: The Science and
Practice of Health and Well-Being”.
·
India and Cuba signed an extension of a
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) focused on
Ayurvedic cooperation, which includes establishing an AYUSH Chair at a Cuban
Medical University and a Panchakarma Centre in Havana,
Cuba.
4.
UEF TRADE SUMMIT 2025
·
The United Economic
Forum (UEF) signed Memorandum of
Understandings (MoUs) with United Nations
Sustainable Development Council (UNSDC) during the UEF Trade Summit 2025, held in Chennai,
Tamil Nadu (TN).
·
The MoUs were signed by Ahmad
Buhari, President, UEF; and Dr. Ajmal Dastagir, Chairman (India),
Sustainable Development Council (SDC).
·
The summit, brought together over 4,000 delegates, over 20
industries, and around 80 global speakers, was held under the theme “Unnatha Thamizhagam-4Tn
for TN by 2047”, focusing on visionary economic growth and
sustainable development for the state and beyond.
5. SHANTI BILL 2025, OPENING
CIVIL NUCLEAR SECTOR TO PRIVATE PLAYERS
·
President Droupadi Murmu has granted assent to the Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of
Nuclear Energy for Transforming India (SHANTI) Bill, 2025, which
was passed by both houses of Parliament.
·
The SHANTI Act, 2025 allows private companies and Joint
Ventures(JV) to build, own, operate, and decommission nuclear power plants
under government licensing and regulatory oversight.
·
The Bill seeks to replace the Atomic Energy Act,
1962 and the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage (CLND)
Act, 2010, and open India’s nuclear power sector to private and
foreign participation.
·
It to expand India’s nuclear
power capacity from about 8.9 gigawatt (GW) to 100 GW by 2047 to
support clean energy goals, ensure energy security, and contribute to the
net-zero target by 2070.
·
The Bill permits Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) up to 49% in
the nuclear power sector.
·
The SHANTI Bill introduces a capacity-based, capped liability
regime, removes supplier liability,
limits operator penalties to Rs.1 crore, and mandates insurance or financial security up to Rs.1,500 crore per
incident.
6. VB-G RAM REPLACED MGNREGA
·
The President of India (PoI) Droupadi Murmu
officially approved the Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and
Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G) Bill, 2025, a significant
milestone in the transformation of rural employment policy.
·
The Act replaces
the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act
(MGNREGA), 2005.
·
As per the Section 5(1) of the
Act, the statutory wage employment
guarantee increases from 100 to 125 days per rural household in each financial year
(FY) to households whose adult members volunteer to undertake unskilled manual work.
·
The Section 6 of the Act
facilitates adequate availability of
agricultural labour during peak sowing and harvesting seasons, empowering
States to notify an aggregated pause period aggregating to sixty
days in a FY.
·
The full 125-days employment
guarantee remains intact and will be provided during the rest of the year,
ensuring both farm productivity and worker security.
7.
INDIA ACHIEVES 20% ETHANOL BLENDING WITH PETROL IN
NOVEMBER 2025
·
The Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas (MoPNG) announced
that India achieved 20% ethanol blending in petrol in
November 2025, achieving the target ahead of the original 2030 goal under the
Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) Programme.
·
In November 2025, ethanol blending in petrol reached 20%, up
from 19.97% in October, with PSU OMCs receiving 45.5 crore litres and 77.8
crore litres in storage.
8.
INDIA - NETHERLANDS MOU ON MARITIME HERITAGE
COOPERATION
· Government
of India (GoI) signed a Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) with the Netherlands, aimed
at strengthening cooperation on maritime
heritage.
· The
MoU supports the development of the National Maritime Heritage Complex (NMHC), under
the Ministry of Ports, Shipping & Waterways (MoPSW’s) Sagarmala Programme,
in Lothal, Gujarat.
· NMHC is a flagship
cultural and heritage project of the GoI launched in 2022,
being developed at Lothal, with an aim to showcase India’s rich 4,500-year-old
maritime history and its long connection with the seas.
·
Components includes Maritime museums, Light House Museum,
Harappan-era galleries, Naval and shipping galleries, interactive exhibits,
research institutes, and recreational spaces.
9.
PFRDA NOTIFIED AMENDMENTS TO PFRDA
· The
Pension Fund Regulatory and Development
Authority (PFRDA) which works under the Ministry
of Finance (MoF), notified ‘PFRDA (Exits and Withdrawals
under the National Pension System (NPS)) (Amendment) Regulations, 2025’, amending
the principal Regulations of 2015.
· These
amendments, primarily targeting the
Non-government sector (All Citizen Model and Corporate Sector), are now applied
uniformly to Common Schemes (CS) and the Multiple Scheme Framework (MSF),
while also streamlining certain provisions for government subscribers.
· For
all citizen models (including CS and MSF), PFRDA has now removed the mandatory 5-year lock-in period, a
minimum subscription time period before becoming eligible for premature exit.
· For
the All Citizen Model, the vesting
period, the minimum subscription
duration required to qualify for a normal exit, is 15 years or
until the subscriber reaches 60 years of age, whichever comes
first.
· For
both the All Citizen Model and the
Corporate Sector (CS & MSF), subscribers
can withdraw up to 80% of their corpus as a lump sum (from previous 60%), while the
remaining minimum 20% must
be used to purchase an annuity.
· PFRDA
has also increased the maximum age limit
to stay in NPS from existing 75 years to 85 years, and
has also clarified that this new age limit is applicable to both non-government
and government subscribers.
· The
requirement of 15-day prior intimation
has been removed across all sectors, allowing subscribers to continue
seamlessly under NPS without additional formalities.
· Withdrawal Limit: Before
60 years/superannuation (whichever is
later): Up to 4 withdrawals allowed, with a minimum
gap of 4 years between two withdrawals.
· After 60
years/superannuation (whichever is later):
No limit on frequency, subject to a
minimum interval of 3 years between withdrawals.
10. NCW LAUNCHES ‘SHAKTI
SCHOLARS
· The
National Commission for Women (NCW), under
the Ministry of Women and Child Development (MoWCD), launched ‘SHAKTI
Scholars: NCW Young Research Fellowship’, a research initiative,
to promote policy-oriented research on issues affecting women in India.
· It
includes women’s safety and dignity,
Gender-Based Violence (GBV), access to legal rights and justice,
Cybersecurity and digital safety, and Implementation of workplace sexual
harassment frameworks such as Prevention of Sexual Harasment (POSH).
· It
also includes Women’s leadership and
political participation, health, nutrition, and education, economic
empowerment and labour participation, and socio-cultural practices and
work-life balance.
· It
includes Indian citizens aged 21 to 30 years with at
least a bachelor’s degree, and independent researchers.
· Selected
SHAKTI Scholars receive a research grant of Rs 1,00,000 for
a six-month project, disbursed in installments based on research progress.
· Applications
can be submitted via electronic
mail(email) to NCW, with the deadline set for 31 December 2025.
11. PRADHAN
MANTRI GRAM SADAKYOJANA COMPLETES 25 YEARS
·
The Pradhan Mantri Gram
SadakYojana (PMGSY), launched on
25 December 2000 as one of India’s most transformative rural infrastructure
programmes, celebrated its 25th anniversary.
·
PMGSY has approved over 8,25,114 kilometre
(km) of rural roads and
completed around 787,520 km, achieving nearly 95% of the planned physical
progress as of December 2025.
·
The objective of PMGSY is to provide all-weather road connectivity to
unconnected habitations in rural areas by way of a single all-weather road, to
the eligible unconnected habitations of designated population size in the core
network.
·
The programme is implemented by the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) through the Rural
Roads Wing, in coordination with State Governments and Union Territories.
·
This is a
Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS).
·
The
funding pattern of PMGSY is in the ratio of 60:40 in respect of all the States except
Special Category States (8 North Eastern (NE) States: Jammu &
Kashmir(J&K), Himachal Pradesh (HP), Uttarakhand and Union Territories
(UTs) with Legislatures, for which the sharing pattern would be 90:10 and for
UTs without legislatures, the centre will provide 100% funding.
·
Phase-IV: Launched
in 2024, Phase IV of the PMGSY aims to provide all-weather road connectivity to
25,000 unconnected rural habitations based on Census 2011 population criteria.
12. HANSI NOTIFIED AS
23RD DISTRICT OF HARYANA
· The Haryana government
officially notified Hansi as the state’s 23rd
district, carved out from
Hisar district
· Carved
out of Hisar, it includes 110 villages
from Hansi and Narnaund constituencies,
covering 1.35 lakh hectares with a population of 5.4 lakh.
· Hansi
will have its own district headquarters, Deputy Commissioner’s office, and
District and Sessions Court to improve citizen-centric services, while Hisar
retains two sub-divisions with reduced Assembly segments.
