DAILY GK 19-20 MAY 2025
1.
NEPAL’S YALA GLACIER DECLARED ‘DEAD’
·
The Yala Glacier in
Langtang Valley, Nepal, was declared “dead”
during Asia’s first glacier funeral, after losing 66% of its ice and retreating
784 meters since the 1970s, highlighting the severe impact of climate change in
the Hindu Kush Himalayan (HKH) region.
·
Yala is the third
glacier worldwide and the first in Asia, to
receive such a memorial, to receive such a memorial, following Iceland’s
Okjökull (Ok glacier) (2019) and Mexico’s Ayoloco (2021).
2. COLOMBIA JOINS CHINA’S BRI
·
Colombia officially joined China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) by
signing a cooperation pact during a meeting between Colombian President Gustavo
Petro and Chinese President Xi Jinping in
Beijing, China.
·
Launched in 2013,
the BRI is a global infrastructure and
investment strategy initiated by China to enhance connectivity and economic
integration across Asia, Africa, Europe, and Latin America.
3. WORLD’S FIRST COMMERCIAL-SCALE
E-METHANOL PLANT
·
The world’s first
commercial-scale e-methanol (electrolyzed methanol) plant began
operations in Kasso, Southern Denmark, marking a major
step in making shipping greener and fighting climate change.
·
The plant is jointly developed by
Denmark-based European Energy A/S and Japan-based Mitsui
& Co., Ltd.
4. BRICS ENERGY MINISTERS’ MEETING
·
BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India,
China, and South Africa) Energy Ministers’ Meeting 2025 under
the theme “Strengthening Global South
Cooperation for More Inclusive and Sustainable Governance” was held under
Brazil’s presidency in Brasilia, Brazil.
·
The Indian delegation at the meeting was
led by Union Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, Ministry
of Power (MoP), and Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA).
5.
POLIO OUTBREAK DECLARED IN PAPUA NEW GUINEA
·
World
Health Organization (WHO) declared a polio
outbreak in Papua New Guinea (PNG) after
detecting circulating Vaccine Derived
Poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2) in stool samples of
two asymptomatic children in Lae city, Morobe Province.
·
This
marks the first polio outbreak in the country since 2018.
·
PNG was declared polio-free in 2000
but faced a cVDPV1
outbreak in 2018, when 26 cases were confirmed in the same region.
·
The cVDPV2 strain detected in 2025 has
18–19 genetic mutations from the original vaccine strain, indicating prolonged
community transmission.
·
Polio, or poliomyelitis, is a highly infectious
viral disease that
primarily affects children under 5 years.
6.
58TH JNANPITH AWARD
·
President Draupadi conferred the 58th Jnanpith
Award on Sanskrit Scholar Jagadguru
Ramabhadracharya for Sanskrit
·
Lyricist Sampooran Singh
Kalra, popularly known as Gulzar,
was honoured for his contribution to Urdu literature
but was unable to attend the ceremony.
·
Jnanpith
Award, India’s highest literary honour, has been annually presented by the
BharatiyaJnanpith since 1965.
·
The
award recognizes the outstanding contributions towards literature in English and other Indian languages.
·
The
award carries a cash prize of Rs 11 lakhs, a bronze
statue of Vagdevi (Hindu Goddess Saraswati) and a citation.
7. SANSAD RATNA AWARDS 2025
·
Chennai based Prime Point Foundation (PPF)
announced the recipients of the Sansad Ratna Awards 2025, honouring 17 MP and 2 Parliamentary
Standing Committees(PSCs) for their exemplary
parliamentary performance in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.
·
Maharashtra leads with 7 awards,
followed by Uttar Pradesh (UP), Jharkhand, and Rajasthan (2 each). Odisha,
Kerala, Tamil Nadu (TN), and Assam secured 1 award each.
·
The nominations were finalized by the Jury
Committee headed by Hansraj Gangaram Ahir, who
serves as the Chairman of the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC).
8. INTERNATIONAL BOOKER PRIZE 2025
·
Bengaluru based writer, lawyer, and
activist Banu Mushtaq, along with translator Deepa
Bhasthi, won the International Booker Prize 2025 for
the Kannada short story
collection ‘Heart Lamp : Heart Lamp: Selected Stories’.
·
Banu Mushtaq became the first
Kannada author and the first
Muslim woman from India to win the International Booker Prize.
·
The book was translated into English by Deepa Bhasthi, who became the first
Indian translator and ninth female translator to win the
International Booker Prize.
·
The award carries a cash prize of 50,000 British
Pound Sterling(GBP)(USD 66,000) was shared equally between the
author Banu Mushtaq and the translator Deepa Bhasthi.
9.
WORLD’S TOP 100 MOST VALUABLE BRANDS
·
According to the Kantar BrandZ, “2025
World’s Most Valuable Global Brands ” report, 4 Indian companies
namely, Tata Consultancy Services (45th), HDFC Bank (56th), Airtel (66th) and
Infosys (73rd) were featured among the
top 100 most valuable brands.
·
Apple retains its top position
for the 4th year with a brand value of USD 1.3 trillion,
followed by Google with a valuation of USD 944
billion and Microsoft with a valuation of USD 884
billion at 2nd and 3rd position respectively.
10.
FORBES 2025 HIGHEST-PAID ATHLETES
·
Portuguese soccer player Cristiano
Ronaldo securing the top
position for the third consecutive year and fifth overall, total
earning of USD 275 million between May
2024 and May 2025.
·
USA
based basketball player Stephen Curry ranked second
on the list with total earnings of USD 156 million.
·
No Indian athletes were present in
the top 50 list for
this year.
