DAILY GK 17-18 SEPT 2025

 DAILY GK 17-18 SEPT 2025 

1.       INDIA RE-ELECTED TO CA AND POC OF UNIVERSAL POSTAL UNION 

·         India has been re-elected to the Asia Pacific Group of the Postal Operations Council (POC) and Council of Administration (CA) of the Universal Postal Union (UPU) for a term of 4 years from 2025 to 2028, representing the Asia Pacific Group

·         Election was held during the 28th Universal Postal Congress(UPC) held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE) 

·         Theme: “Leading the Change, Creating the Future”

·         India has been a member of UPU since 1876.

 

2.       INSPIRE AWARDS 2025

·         Muzaffarpur district of Bihar, topped the National Innovation Rankings in INSPIRE Award-MANAK (Million Minds Augmenting National Aspiration and Knowledge) for year 2025, submitting 7, 403 innovative student ideas (from both private and public schools), the highest among any state in India.

·         Muzaffarpur is followed by Bengaluru Urban of Bengaluru, Karnataka (with 7,306 ideas) which has retained the 2nd position in the latest rankings, followed by Bagalkot of Karnataka (6,826 ideas) ranked at 3rd position.

·         As per the latest rankings, 3 cities namely, Jaipur, Rajasthan (6,311 ideas), Vaishali (Bihar) and Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh (UP) (6,182 ideas) ranked at 6th spot.

·         INSPIRE Award-MANAK was launched under the ‘Innovation in Science Pursuit for Inspired Research (INSPIRE)’ scheme, is one of the flagship schemes of the Department of Science & Technology (DST) under the Ministry of Science & Technology(MoS&T).

·         It is being implemented by DST in partnership with National Innovation Foundation (NIF), autonomous body.

·         Objective is to tap 10 lakh original science- and society-based ideas from school children.

·         Eligible Students from Class VI to X.

 

3.       HINDI DRAMA ‘HOMEBOUND’ NOMINATED FOR OSCAR AWARDS 2026

·         Hindi-language drama ‘Homebound’ directed by NeerajGhaywan and produced by Karan Johar was selected as India’s official entry in the category- Best International Feature for the 98th Oscar Awards.

·         Homebound is a Hindi-language drama inspired by Basharat Peer’s 2020 New York Times essay titled “Taking Amrit Home”.

 

4.       INDIAN NAVY COMMISSIONS ‘INS ARAVALI’ 

·         The Indian Navy (IN) commissioned its new naval-based facility, ‘Indian Naval Ship (INS) Aravali’ at Gurugram, Haryana, in a ceremony presided over by Admiral Dinesh K. Tripathi, Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS).

·         The base will support the Information Management and Analysis Centre (IMAC) and the Information Fusion Centre–Indian Ocean Region (IFC–IOR) in Gurugram, strengthening threat assessment in the IOR.

·         Motto: ‘सामुद्रिकसुरक्षायाः सहयोगं– Translates to “Maritime Security through Collaboration”.

 

5.       INDIAN NAVY RECEIVES 2ND ASW-SWC ‘ANDROTH’

·         Indian Navy (IN) received “Androth”, second of the eight Anti-Submarine Warfare Shallow Water Craft (ASW SWC), built by the Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) in Kolkata, West Bengal (WB)

·         The name “Androth” is derived from the Androth Island in the Lakshadweep archipelago

It is about 77 metres (m) long and 10.5m wide, with a displacement of around 900 tons.

·         It can reach speeds of up to 25 knots (approximately 46 Kilometre per hour, Km/hr)

·         The ASW SWC ships are the largest Indian Naval warships powered by a Diesel Engine-Waterjet combination.

·         In 2019, 16 ASW-SWCs were approved by the Ministry of Defence (MoD), out of which 8 ships are built by GRSE and 8 ships by Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL) to replace the Abhay-class corvettes.

 

6.       INDIAN NAVY LAUNCHES THIRD SHIP OF DSC PROJECT

·         The Indian Navy(IN) launched ‘DSC A22 (Yard 327)’, the third ship of the five-ship Diving Support Craft (DSC) project, built by M/s Titagarh Rail Systems Ltd (TRSL) at Titagarh, Kolkata (West Bengal, WB).

·         In February 2021, the contract for building 05 x DSC was signed between the Ministry of Finance(MoD) and TRSL.

·         The first DSC, ‘DSC A20’, was launched on 31 August 2023.

·         Indigenous Development: The vessel was designed and built in accordance with IN regulations and the Indian Register of Shipping (IRS).

 

7.       WORLD BOXING CHAMPIONSHIPS 2025

·         The 2025 World Boxing Championships, the inaugural edition organized by World Boxing (WB), was held at the M&S Bank Arena, Liverpool, England.

·         540 boxers from 68 nations competed across 20 weight categories (10 men’s and 10 women’s).

The event served as a qualification stage for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games (LA28).

·         Russia and Serbia did not participate, as their federations remain aligned with the International Boxing Association (IBA).

·         Kazakhstan topped the medal standings with 7 gold, 1 silver, and 2 Bronze medals.

·         Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan dominated all 10 men’s golds and secured 13 out of 20 gold medals overall.

·         India fielded a 20-member contingent and secured 4 medals including 2 gold in women’s categories, finishing 3rd in the overall medal table

·         MinakshiHooda (Gold, Women’s 48kg): Defeated Kazakhstan’s Nazym Kyzaibay.

·         Jaismine Lamboria (Gold, Women’s 57kg): Beat Poland’s Julia Szeremeta (Paris 2024 silver medalist).

·         World Boxing Formed after the IBA’s expulsion from the Olympic movement, to ensure Olympic boxing governance.

·         President: Boris van der Vorst.

·         Headquarters: Lausanne, Switzerland.

·         Established: April 13, 2023.

 

8.       FIDE GRAND SWISS 2025

·         The FIDE Grand Swiss 2025, part of the qualification cycle for the 2026 World Chess Championship, was held in Samarkand, Uzbekistan

·         Anish Giri (Netherlands) won the Open section and Defeated GM Hans Niemann

·         GM Vaishali Rameshbabu (India) won the Women’s Grand Swiss edging GM Kateryna Lagno (Russia) on tiebreaks.

·         16-year-old Abhimanyu Mishra (USA) beat World Champion Gukesh Dommaraju (India) and became the youngest player to beat world champion.

 

9.       WOMEN’S HOCKEY ASIA CUP 2025

·         The 11th edition of Women’s Hockey Asia Cup 2025 took place in Hangzhou, China, from September 5 to 14, 2025. Eight top teams from Asia competed for the title and a direct spot in the 2026 Hockey World Cup.

·         India started strong by scoring an early goal but eventually lost 1-4 to China in the final on September 14. 

·         China claimed their third Asia Cup title and secured direct qualification to the World Cup, defeting India

·         With this win, China became the seventh team to qualify for the FIH Women’s World Cup 2026 in Belgium and the Netherlands.

·         Other qualified teams include the hosts and USA, Germany, Argentina and Spain.

 

10.    NEW JERSEY SPONSOR OF INDIAN CRICKET TEAM

·         Apollo Tyres Limited has been officially named as the new jersey sponsor of the Indian Cricket team until 2027.

·         The announcement came following the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the apex body of cricket in India, cancelled the contract of Indian team’s lead sponsor, Dream 11.

·         Dream 11’s contract was terminated due to the ban imposed by Government of India (GoI) on the companies which offers online gaming and betting services, under the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025.

·         The deal is valued at Rs.579.06 crore.