DAILY GK 3-4 JAN 2026
1. BEST INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT IN 2025
·
Singapore Changi
Airport (SIN) was awarded the Best International
Airport by Travel+Leisure India & South Asia, as
part of the 14th edition of India’s Best Awards.
·
The Changi Airport,
established in 1981, is equipped with indoor
gardens and attractions such as Jewel Changi with Rain Vortex, world’s tallest
indoor waterfall and butterfly gardens.
2.
HURUN
INDIA RICH LIST 2025
·
Indian-Origin
and British-Born JayshreeUllal, President and Chief Executive
Officer (CEO) of Arista Networks,
was named the wealthiest Indian-Origin
professional manager or executive on the ‘Hurun India Rich List 2025’ with
an estimated net worth of USD 5.7 billion (approximately Rs.
50,170 crores).
·
With
this achievement, she has overtaken prominent Indian-origin technology leaders,
including Google CEO SundarPichai and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, in terms of
personal wealth rankings within the global tech sector.
3. YOUNGEST
INDIAN TO SKI TO SOUTH POLE
·
Eighteen-year-old Kaamya
Karthikeyan, Skier from Mumbai, became the youngest Indian and second-youngest woman in the world to ski to the
South Pole of 2,385 meter (m), after trekking
115 Kilometer(km) in -30°C(degree Celsius) temperatures.
·
In 2019, she became the
youngest girl to scale Aconcagua
(Argentina) of 6,962 m, the highest peak in South Africa.
·
In 2023, she became the youngest Indian to summit Mount (Mt)
Everest from the Nepal side.
·
In 2024 and 2025, she completed the seven summits challenge.
4. WORLD
RAPID AND BLITZ CHESS CHAMPIONSHIPS
·
The 27th edition FIDE
World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championship 2025 held at Sports and
Events Complex, Qatar University, Doha, Qatar.
·
Norwegian chess Grandmaster (GM)
Magnus Carlsen clinched his sixth World Rapid championship title in the
Open category, while Russian GM Aleksandra Goryachkina from
Russia took the maiden FIDE Women’s
World Rapid Championship.
·
GM Magnus Carlsen clinched
his ninth World Blitz
Championship title in the Open category, while in the women’s section, Bibisara Assaubayeva of
Kazakhstan won the FIDE Women’s
World Blitz Championship 2025.
·
FIDE Headquarters –
Lausanne, Switzerland.
5. BOOK-MAHAMANA VANGMAY
·
Vice President (VP) of
India, C.P. Radhakrishnan released the book
titled ‘MahamanaVangmay: The Collected Works of Pandit Madan Mohan
Malaviya’, the second series of the monumental compilation of the
writings and speeches of Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya.
·
Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya was born on 25 December 1861 in Allahabad (Present Prayagraj), Uttar
Pradesh (UP). He was popularly called “Mahamana” for his spiritual and moral
stature.
·
He was the founder of
Banaras Hindu University (BHU).
·
In 2015, he was awarded the Bharat Ratna (Posthumous),
India’s highest civilian award, for his contributions in the field of Public
Affairs.
6.
INDIA
RANKS 3RD IN RARE EARTH RESERVES
·
India ranked 3rd in Rare Earth reserves with 6.9 million
tonnes (MT) of Rare Earth Oxide (REO) reserves,
accounting for around 6 to 7% of global reserves, in a report released by
Amicus Growth.
·
China ranked first
with 44 MT of REO and Brazil (approximately 21 MT) secured
second place.
·
Rare earth elements are a group of 17 metallic
elements with unique
magnetic, optical, and chemical properties and are high-grade, economically
extractable deposits.
·
In
2024, India produced around 2,900 tonnes,
which is less than 1% of global production, placing it 7th globally. China
produced about 270,000 tonnes in 2024, securing
first place.
·
The USA produced 45,000 tonnes and secured second place.
7.
SEBI
SIMPLIFIES THE PROCEDURE FOR ISSUING DUPLICATE SECURITIES
·
The
Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) simplified
the procedure of issuance of duplicate securities by increasing the threshold
and easing the documentation requirements.
·
The regulator has doubled the monetary threshold for simplified documentation from Rs 5 lakh
to Rs 10 lakh, making the process faster, more efficient and
investor-friendly.
·
This
implies that investors holding securities valued up to Rs 10 lakh will
now be required to submit fewer
documents.
·
The SEBI, a market regulator was constituted as a non-statutory body on April 12,1988 through a resolution of the
Government of India (GoI) and was established
as a statutory body in 1992.
·
Chairman
– Tuhin Kanta
Pandey
·
Headquarters
– Mumbai
8.
RBI
RELEASED THE REPORT ON TREND AND PROGRESS OF BANKING IN INDIA 2024-25
·
The
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) released the “Report on Trend and Progress of Banking in India
2024-25”, under the Section 36(2) of the
Banking Regulation Act (BRA), 1949.
·
At
end of Financial Year 2024-25 (FY25), India’s commercial banking sector
consisted of 12 Public Sector Banks (PSBs), 21 Private Sector Banks (PVBs), 44
foreign banks (FBs), 11 Small Finance Banks (SFBs), six payments banks (PBs),
43 Regional Rural Banks (RRBs), and two Local Area Banks(LABs).
·
The consolidated balance sheet of scheduled commercial banks (SCBs) (excluding
RRBs) increased by 11.2% during FY25 as compared with 15.5%
during FY24.
·
On the assets side, bank credit and investments increased by 11.5% and
9.2%, respectively, in FY25.
·
The share of PSBs in the consolidated balance sheet of SCBs declined to 54.9% at
End-March 2025 from 55.2% the previous year.
·
During
the first half of Financial Year 2025–26 (FY26) (April–September), the number of reported bank fraud cases
declined to 5,092.
·
However,
despite the reduction in incidents, the total
amount involved in these frauds increased by 30% to Rs
21,515 crore (Cr).
9.
SEBI MANDATES NISM
CERTIFICATION FOR AIF COMPLIANCE OFFICERS
·
The Securities and Exchange
Board of India (SEBI) mandated that compliance
officers of Alternative Investment Fund (AIF) managers must
obtain certification from the National
Institute of Securities Markets (NISM) by
passing the NISM Series-III-C: Securities Intermediaries Compliance (Fund)
Certification Examination, effective from January 1, 2027.
·
From
January 1, 2027, only individuals who have cleared the NISM Series-III-C
certification examination will be eligible to be appointed as, or continue to
serve as, compliance officers of AIF managers.
·
AIF
managers and existing compliance officers are
advised to proactively register for and complete the NISM Series-III-C
certification examination well ahead of the January 1, 2027 deadline.
·
In parallel, firms should update their internal compliance frameworks,
policies, and reporting systems to incorporate the new certification
requirement in compliance records and annual reports.
10. INDIA
BECOME WORLD’S 4TH LARGEST ECONOMY
·
The Government of
India (GoI) announced that India has overtaken Japan to
become the world’s 4th largest economy
with a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) valued at USD 4.18 trillion.
·
With this, India now lags behind only the United States of America
(USA) which continues to be the world’s largest economy, followed by China (2nd) and Germany (3rd).
·
As per the GoI’s official
data, India’s real GDP has increased
by 8.2% in 2nd Quarter (Q2: July-September) of Financial Year
2025-26 (FY26).
·
As of November 2025,
India’s foreign exchange reserves stood
at USD 686.2 billion, providing a strong import cover of over 11 months.
·
Current Account Deficit
(CAD) moderated from 2.2% of GDP in Q2 FY25
to 1.3% in Q2 FY26.
·
Inward
remittances rose by 10.7% year-on-year in Q2 FY 2025-26.
·
Foreign Direct Investment
(FDI): From April to September 2025, Gross FDI grew
19.4% to USD 51.8 billion.
11. RBI ISSUES GUIDELINES ON RISK WEIGHTING FRAMEWORK
FOR EXPOSURE OF NBFC TO INFRASTRUCTURE LOANS
·
The
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) released the final guidelines relaxing
the risk-weight norms for Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFC) involved
in the infrastructure financing.
·
Grace
Period: In case of
exposures attracting a lower risk weight under the extant guidelines but will
be subject to higher risk weights under these Directions, NBFCs can continue to
maintain the extant risk weights till the next review / renewal or March
31, 2027, whichever is earlier.
·
Under
the revised guidelines, the NBFC exposures will now become eligible for 75% risk
weight once 2% of the originally sanctioned project debt has
been repaid.
·
Similarly,
the 50% risk weight will be applied once 5% of the project
debt is repaid, compared with the earlier 10% threshold.
12. SEBI GETS PHASED CAPITAL, REVENUE AND COMPLIANCE TIMELINES FOR MERCHANT
BANKERS
·
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) notified
phased rollout of a revised net worth requirement for existing Merchant
Bankers (MBs) including higher capital adequacy,
liquid net worth, underwriting limits, among others.
·
The new framework was introduced by amending the SEBI (Merchant Bankers)
Regulations, 1992.
·
The Category-I merchant bankers are required to maintain a minimum net worth
of Rs 25 crore by January 02, 2027 and double
of this amount (Rs 50 crore) by January
02, 2028.
·
In addition to that, they are also required
to maintain Liquid Net Worth (LNW) of Rs 6.25 crore (by January 02, 2027)
and Rs 12.5 crore (by January 02, 2028).
·
Similarly, the Category-II
merchant bankers are also required to maintain Rs
7.5 crore and Rs 10 crore in
net worth across two phases
·
SEBI has mandated that total
underwriting obligations should not exceed 20 times a
merchant banker’s liquid net worth, while, it has given two years’ transition
period to the existing bankers to comply with this new rule.
·
SEBI has mandated all MBs to
generate minimum revenue requirement from permitted activities, for
instance: Rs 25 crore for Category-I and Rs
5 crore for Category-II, over a period of 3
years, failing of which could result in the cancellation of
registration.
13. WORLD BRAILLE DAY 2026 – JANUARY 4
·
The United Nations (UN’s) World Braille Day is
observed annually across the globe on 4th January to
mark the birth anniversary of Louis Braille and
underscores the importance of the Braille system for the visually impaired.
·
Louis Braille was born on January 4, 1809, in Coupvray, France, and lost his eyesight
completely by the age of 5 following an eye injury sustained at 3.
·
Inspired at age 12 by Charles Barbier’s “night writing,” he developed the Braille system, which he first published
in 1829 in his book Method of Writing Words, Music,
and Plain Songs by Means of Dots for the blind.
·
In 2005, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO) officially declared Braille to be as legitimate a
language as any other.
