DAILY GK 19-21 SEPT 2025

 DAILY GK 19-21 SEPT 2025 

1.       DULEEP TROPHY 2025

·         Central Zone, captained by Rajat Patidar, won the 62nd edition of the Duleep Trophy (2025-26), defeating South Zone (Runner) by 6 wickets in the final held in Bengaluru, Karnataka. 

·         Saransh Jain of Central Zone named the Player of the series.

·         This victory ended Central Zone’s 11-year wait, securing their 7th Duleep Trophy title

·         Duleep Trophy is domestic first-class cricket competition played in India since 1961-62, and the competition is established and organised by the BCCI.

·         Six zonal teams participated Central, East, North, North East, South, Wes).

 

2.       NABARD TO LAUNCH ‘CDCI PLATFORM’ FOR REGIONAL RURAL BANKS

·         The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) is set to launch a Centralised Digital Credit Infrastructure (CDCI) for Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) to enhance their competitiveness against Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) and Microfinance Institutions (MFIs).

·         The move follows the Government of India(GoI)’s ‘One State – One RRB’ policy, effective from May 1, 2025, which consolidated RRBs from 43 to 28, which operates with 92% branches in rural/semi-urban areas.

·         It is Designed to digitise and automate credit processing for various loan products, boosting efficiency and transparency.

 

3.       RBI IMPOSED RS 21 LAKH FINE ON PHONEPE 

·         RBI has imposed monetary fine of Rs 21 lakh on PhonePe Limited one of India’s leading fintech companies, for non-compliance with certain regulatory norms related to Prepaid Payment Instruments (PPIs).

·         RBI highlighted that PhonePe’s end-of-day balance in its escrow account on certain days fell short of the value of outstanding PPIs and payments due to merchants.

·         Prepaid Payment Instruments (PPIs): These payment instruments that facilitate purchasing of goods and services such as: transfer of funds, financial transactions and enable remittances, using the stored value within or on the instrument.

·         Escrow Account: It is a 3rd –party account where funds are held by two or more trusted parties for temporary time period and funds are only released when all terms of the arrangement have been met.

 

4.       RBI ROLLS OUT COMPREHENSIVE FRAMEWORK FOR PAS & PGS

·         RBI had issued ‘Reserve Bank of India (Regulation of Payment Aggregators) Directions, 2025’, providing detailed regulatory guidelines for Payment Aggregators (PAs) and recommended baseline technology standards for Payment Gateways (PGs).

·         As per the guidelines, non-bank PAs must obtain RBI authorization under the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007.

·         The entities interested in carrying PA business must be incorporated in India and maintain a minimum net-worth of Rs.15 crore (cr) at the time of application, which should be increased to Rs.25 cr by the end of the third Financial Year(FY).

·         The RBI has stressed that PAs should be professionally managed and adhere to a ‘fit and proper’ criteria for promoters and directors.

·         Any acquisition or change in management must be reported to the RBI within 15 days.

·         A non-bank PA shall maintain the funds collected on behalf of its merchants in a separate escrow account with any SCBs in India.

·         The RBI urges PGs to follow recommended security standards to strengthen the overall digital payment infrastructure.

 

5.       RBI SETS UP NEW INTERNAL MECHANISM

·         The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced a new institutional mechanism to periodically review its regulations, aimed at making the regulatory framework more effective, responsive and also aligned with the evolving requirements of the financial sector.

·         The RBI has constituted a Regulatory Review Cell (RRC) within its Department of Regulation (DoR), effective from October 1, 2025.

·         This RRC will oversee the systematic internal review of all regulations issued by the RBI and also each regulation will be revisited once every five to seven years, ensuring a structured and phased approach to regulatory assessment.

·         The RBI has also set up an independent Advisory Group on Regulation (AGR) to strengthen stakeholder engagement and channel industry feedback into the process.

·         The AGR will have an initial tenure of three years, renewable for another two years’ subject to review, with the flexibility to co-opt additional experts if required.

·         AGR chairman Rana Ashutosh Kumar Singh, MD, SBI and 5 other members.

 

6.       EXERCISE JAAL SHAKTI

·         The Indian Army (IA)’s 1st Armoured Division conducted ‘Exercise Jaal Shakti’, a combat-readiness drill to validate water obstacle crossing capabilities under operational conditions.

·         Exercise involved timed obstacle breaching, rapid bridge reinforcement, phased movement of tanks, Infantry Combat Vehicles (ICVs) , logistics columns, and commanders’ decision-making drills.

 

7.       MULTINATIONAL EXERCISE ‘PACIFIC REACH 2025’

·         The Indian Navy (IN)’s indigenously built Diving Support Vessel (DSV), Indian Naval Ship (INS) Nistar, participated in the 9th edition of the Exercise Pacific Reach 2025 (XPR 25) at Changi Naval Base, Singapore.

·         The biennial multinational submarine rescue exercise, XPR25, hosted by Singapore.

·         Over 40 nations participated as active or observers.

·         The exercise is conducted in two phases Harbour Phase & Sea Phase.

 

8.       HINDI DIWAS 2025 - SEPTEMBER 14

·         Hindi Diwas, also known as Hindi Day, observed annually on September 14, marks the Constituent Assembly’s 1949 decision to adopt Hindi in the Devanagari script as one of the 22 official languages of India.

·         At the Hindi Sahitya Sammelan in 1918, Mahatma Gandhi proposed making Hindi the national language.

·         In 1953, former Prime Minister (PM) Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru declared September 14 to be observed every year as Hindi Diwas.

 

9.       NATIONAL ENGINEER’S DAY 2025 – SEPTEMBER 15

·         National Engineer’s Day is celebrated every year on September 15 in India to honor the birth anniversary of Bharat Ratna Sir Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya, remembered as India’s first engineer for his great contributions to engineering and education.

·         Sir Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya served as the chief engineer of the Krishna Raja Sagara (KRS) Dam in Mysore (now Mysuru, Karnataka), which created Asia’s largest reservoir and transformed agriculture in Mandya, Karnataka.

 

10.    INTERNATIONAL DAY OF DEMOCRACY 2025 – SEPTEMBER 15

·         The United Nations (UN’s) International Day of Democracy(IDD) is observed globally on 15 September to encourage governments to strengthen and uphold democracy.

·         2025 Theme: “From Voice to Action”

·         Established by Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), the global organization of national parliaments.

·         Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) recognizes freedom of expression as a fundamental human right.

·         IPU Headquarters– Geneva, Switzerland.

 

11.    INTERNATIONAL DAY FOR THE PRESERVATION OF THE OZONE LAYER 2025 – 16 SEPTEMBER 2025

·         The United Nations (UN’s) International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer, or World Ozone Day (WOD) or Global Ozone Day, is annually observed across the globe on 16th September 

·         The theme is “From Science to Global Action.”

 

12.    WORLD PATIENT SAFETY DAY 2025 – SEPTEMBER 17 

·         World Patient Safety Day (WPSD), observed globally on September 17 by the World Health Organization (WHO)

·         2025 Theme: Safe care for every newborn and every child

·         2025 Slogan: Patient safety from the start!

·         WPSD was created in 2019 by the 72nd World Health Assembly(WHA) through Resolution WHA 72.6 “Global action on patient safety”.

 

13.    WORLD BAMBOO DAY 2025 – SEPTEMBER 18

·         World Bamboo Day was established in 2009 during the 8th World Bamboo Congress (WBC) in Bangkok, Thailand, by the World Bamboo Organisation (WBO).

·         Northeast Bamboo Conclave 2025 held in Guwahati (Assam), outlined a roadmap for developing a sustainable bamboo economy in India’s Northeast.

·         Theme: “Promoting Investments, CSR, and Bio-Economy”.

 

14.    WORLD WATER MONITORING DAY 2025 – SEPTEMBER 18

·         WWMD was established in 2003 by the American Clean Water Foundation (ACWF) as a global educational initiative.

·         The program was later renamed as the EarthEcho Water Challenge (EEWC), formerly known as the World Water Monitoring Challenge (WWMC), to enhance public awareness and engagement in global water conservation.

·         Initially, WWMD was observed on 18 October to honour the United States of America(USA) Clean Water Act of 1972.

·         In 2007, the official date was changed to 18 September to enable wider global participation, especially in regions where water bodies freeze in October.