DAILYGK 6-7 AUG 2025
1. MOLDOVA BECOMES 107TH MEMBER
OF THE ISA
·
Republic of Moldova has
officially became the 107th member of the
International Solar Alliance (ISA).
·
ISA was jointly launched by India and
France during the 21st Conference of Paris (COP21) under the
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change(UNFCCC) in Paris(France)
in 2015.
·
ISA is partnered with Multilateral
Development Banks (MDBs), Development Financial Institutions (DFIs),
private and public sector organizations, civil society, and other international
institutions.
·
It consists of a total of 124 Member
and Signatory countries, of which over 100 countries submitted documents of
ratification to become full members of the ISA.
·
ISA is the first international
inter-governmental organization to be headquartered in India.
·
Moldova Capital – Chisinau.
2. GLOBAL AI CITY INDEX 2025
·
The market research firm Counterpoint
Technology Market Research released the “Global
Artificial Intelligence (AI) City Index 2025”, in which Bengaluru
(Karnataka) has secured the 26th rank in the index, emerging as India’s
top AI Research & Development (R&D) and data centre hub.
·
Singapore secured the top position
in the Global AI City Index 2025, followed by Seoul (South Korea) and
Beijing (China).
·
Dubai (UAE) and San
Francisco (USA) also featured among the top five in the Global AI
City Index 2025.
·
Bengaluru (Karnataka, India),
Riyadh (Saudi Arabia), Hangzhou (China), and São Paulo (Brazil) are among the
fastest-growing AI cities globally.
·
Microsoft emerged as the most
active player in expanding AI infrastructure and initiatives. It extended its
AI data center presence, launched training programs, and established innovation
hubs.
3. INDIA, PHILIPPINES JOINT NAVAL
EXERCISES
·
The navies of India and the Philippines conducted
their 1st bilateral ‘Maritime Cooperative
Activity (MCA)’ exercises in the South China Sea or ‘West
Philippine Sea (WPS)’.
·
Indian Naval Ships (INS) that participated
in these MCAs: guided missile destroyer INS Mysore; tanker INS Shakti and
corvette INS Kiltan.
·
These exercises have included joint
operations with treaty ally the United States of America (USA), as well as with
Japan, Australia, France, and Canada.
4.
43RD LOKMANYA TILAK NATIONAL AWARD
·
Union Minister Nitin Gadkari,
Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (MoRTH) has been honoured with
the 43rd Lokmanya
National Award at a ceremony held in Pune, Maharashtra.
·
The award, presented annually on the death
anniversary of BalaGangadharTilak (also known as LokmanyaTilak).
·
Prize: The award includes
a cash prize of Rs. 1 lakh, a citation, and a memento.
5. ‘PARIKSHA PE CHARCHA
2025’ CREATES A GUINNESS WORLD RECORD
·
Prime MinisterNarendraModi’s flagship
platform Pariksha Pe Charcha (PPC), organised by the
Ministry of Education (MoE) in collaboration with MyGov, has been conferred with
the Guinness World Record on title the “Most people registered on a Citizen
Engagement Platform in one month”.
·
This recognition marks the accomplishment
of 3.53 crore valid
registrations in one month during the 8th edition
of the PPC program.
·
It is an annual worldwide program where
students, teachers, and parents can directly connect during exam time.
·
It was launched in 2018 as a national movement,
under the MoE, to align with the goals of the NEP 2020, and to promote
stress-free education to students.
6. FORTUNE 100 MOST POWERFUL PEOPLE
IN BUSINESS LIST
·
Fortune, an American global
business magazine, released the 2nd edition of
the “Fortune 100 Most Powerful People in Business List”.
·
Jensen Huang, Chief Executive Officer
(CEO) and President of NVIDIA, an American Technology company, has topped the
list.
·
MukeshAmbani, Chairman and Managing
Director (CMD) of Reliance Industries Limited(RIL) has been ranked 56th in
the 2025 list.
·
Four Indian origin business leaders
have
featured on the list, including SatyaNadella, SundarPichai, CEO of Alphabet
(Rank 6), Neal Mohan, CEO of Youtube (83), and Dr.ReshmaKewalramani.
·
The list includes 19 women, including
Julie Sweet, Chairperson and CEO of Accenture (Rank 11), Jane Fraser, CEO of
Citigroup (12), Lisa Su, Chairperson and CEO, AMD (14), and Ana Botin,
Executive Chairman of Banco Santander (20).
7. DHRUVA SPACE TO LAUNCH FIRST
COMMERCIAL SATELLITE
·
Dhruva Space will launch its
first commercial satellite mission, Launching Expeditions for Aspiring
Payloads (LEAP)-1, aboard SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket in
3rd Quarter of 2025.
·
The mission will host 2 Australia payloads
such as Nexus-01 and OTR-2.
·
The Mission will carry 2 international
payloads on its home-built P-30 platform via SpaceX Falcon 9.
·
Ojective: The LEAP-1 mission patch
includes elements representing India, Australia, and the United States. It also
features symbols for artificial intelligence and Earth imaging.
8. ISRO INAUGURATES HOPE
ANALOG MISSION IN TSO KAR VALLEY, LADAKH
·
Dr. V. Narayanan, Chairman of Indian
Space Research Organisation (ISRO) inaugurated the Himalayan Outpost for
Planetary Exploration (HOPE) analog mission set
up in Tso Kar Valley, Union Territory (UT) Ladakh, situated at an altitude
of 4,530 meters.
·
The 10-day long mission, is designed to
simulate Mars-like conditions and will serve as a
testbed for future crewed missions to the Moon and beyond.
·
It marks India’s first comprehensive
planetary simulation designed to aid future human missions to the Moon and
Mars.
·
The mission aims to extend the
human presence across the solar system, from human space flight missions to Low
Earth Orbit (LEO) and to achieve Indian Crewed Lunar Landing by 2040.
·
The mission is operated by Protoplanet, a
private space company based in Bengaluru (Karnataka) and supported by Human
Space Flight Centre (HSFC) of ISRO.
·
The main reason for selecting
Tso Kar Valley for the mission is due to its striking resemblance with
early Mars, due to high Ultra Violet (UV) flux, low air pressure, cold extremes
and saline permafrost.
9. INDIAN ARMY INDUCTS ‘MMME MK-II’
·
The Indian Army (IA) formally
inducted the Mechanical Minefield Marking Equipment Mark-II (MMME
Mk-II), a cutting-edge semi-automatic minefield marker, indigenously
built by BEML Limited.
·
This newly inducted equipment is built on
a robust BEML TATRA 6×6 high-mobility vehicle and
integrates mechanical, electric, and electronic sub-systems.
·
It is capable of marking/fencing at a
minimum speed of 1.2 kilometer/hour (km/hr),
with a standard inter-picket spacing of 15 metre(m).
10. HUNGARIAN GRAND PRIX 2025
·
British Formula One (F1) driver Lando
Norris, representing UK-based McLaren Racing Limited, win the 40th
edition of the Hungarian Grand Prix held at
Hungaroring circuit, Mogyoród, Hungary.
·
Teammate Oscar Piastri of
Australia finished 2nd.
11. INDIA
AND ENGLAND’S ANDERSON–TENDULKAR TROPHY 2025
·
The series ended in a 2–2
draw, with India winning the final Test at The Oval by
six runs to level the series.
·
Shubman Gill (India) and Harry
Brook (England) were jointly adjudged Player of the
Series – the first such instance in Test history.
·
Highest Run-Scorer: Shubman Gill
– 754 runs with an average of 75.40.
·
This also marks the highest aggregate by
any visiting captain and surpassing records by Graham Gooch (752 runs) and
Sunil Gavaskar (732).
·
India’s series aggregate of 3,809
runs set a team record for a five-match series.
12. RBI ANNOUNCED 3 CONSUMER-CENTRIC
SCHEMES TO DRIVE FINANCIAL INCLUSION
·
Sanjay Malhotra, Governor of
the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced 3 schemes aimed
to boost financial inclusion among consumers during his address following the
conclusion of 3rd bi-monthly Monetary Policy Committee (MPC)
meeting of Financial Year 2025-26 (FY26) was held in Mumbai.
·
Conducting doorstep banking camps: As
per RBI directions, all banks will conduct doorstep banking camps from July
01, 2025 to September 30, 2025 at Panchayat level.
·
The RBI announced a major outreach
campaign for rural and unbanked populations to commemorate 10 years of the
Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY).
·
Simplified Settlement Process for Deceased Customers: Banks
have been directed to simplify the claim settlement process for deceased
account holders under the Banking Regulation Act, 1949.
·
Expanding Functionality of RBI Retail: RBI
plans to expand the functionality of its retail
direct platform to allow retail investors to invest in Treasury Bills (T-Bills) through
Systematic Investment Plans (SIPs).
13. RBI RELAXED PROCEDURES FOR OPENING
SPECIAL RUPEE VOSTRO ACCOUNTS
·
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI)
has relaxed norms for opening Special Rupee Vostro
Accounts (SRVAs) and allowed banks to open these
accounts for foreign correspondent banks without its prior approval.
·
This RBI decision, effective immediately,
streamlines the process introduced in July 2022 for settling cross-border trade
transactions in Indian Rupees (INR).
·
Special Rupee Vostro Accounts (SRVAs):is
an additional arrangement for the settlement of international trade through INR
and helps to reduce dependence on hard (freely convertible) currency and
enhances financial stability.
·
Earlier, banks were allowed to open
SRVAs of correspondent banks, with prior approval of
RBI for situations like: invoicing, payment, and settlement of exports/imports
in INR.
14.
NCAER’S BUSINESS CONFIDENCE INDEX
·
The National Council of Applied Economic
Research (NCAER) released the results of its Business
Expectations Survey, conducted in June 2025, which covered 479
companies across six major Indian cities.
·
As per the Survey, India’s Business
Confidence Index (BCI) surged to 149.4 in
the Quarter 1 (Q1-April-June) of the Financial Year 2025-26 (FY26), from the
139.3 in the Q4 of the FY25.
·
The index is based on four key
components such as Improvement of overall economic conditions, Improved
financial position of the firms, positive assessment of investment climate, and
high or optimal capacity utilization.
·
The share of positive responses
across the four components remains above 60%.
·
The firms which anticipate increasing
the import of raw materials have increased from 46.1% to 54.3%.
·
Most respondents anticipated an increase
in production (78.7%) and domestic sales (79.1%) over the next six months,
while export sentiment also improved to 66.5% in Q1 of FY26.
