DAILY GK 14 NOV 2025

 DAILY GK 14 NOV 2025

1.       MUMBAI RANKED AS ASIA’S HAPPIEST CITY

·         The Time Out, the United Kingdom (UK)-based media and lifestyle organization has recently published the City Life Index 2025, which ranks the happiest cities across Asia.

·         Mumbai (India) topped Asia’s happiness chart, with 94% of residents saying the city makes them happy.

·         Beijing and Shanghai in China ranked second and third, with 93% and 92% of residents reporting being happy.

·         Chiang Mai in Thailand and Hanoi in Vietnam rank in the top 4 and 5.

·         Seoul (South Korea), Singapore, and Tokyo (Japan) ranked lower on the happiness list.

·         Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE) ranked the world’s happiest city in 2025.

·         The 2nd place was occupied by Medellin in Colombia, followed by Cape Town in South Africa (SA).

 


2.       HOCKEY INDIA CENTENARY CELEBRATIONS

·         Union Minister Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya, Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (MYAS), inaugurated the centenary celebrations of Indian Hockey at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium in New Delhi.

·         The event commemorated 100 years of Indian hockey, marking its first international appearance in 1925.

·         Theme “100 Years of Indian Hockey: India ka Game”.

·         Hockey Men’s Junior World Cup 2025, set to take place from November - December 10, 2025, in TN.

 

3.       INDIA’S 91ST CHESS GM

·         21-year-old Raahul VS, from Chennai, Tamil Nadu, became India’s 91st Chess Grandmaster (GM) after winning the 6th ASEAN Individual Chess Championship in the Philippines with a round to spare, crossed the 2500 International Chess Federation (FIDE) rating required for the title.

·         Earned International Master (IM) title in November 2021 after achieving his 4th and 5th IM norms and crossing the 2400 rating mark.

·         Viswanathan Anand (1988): India’s first Grandmaster, who later became the country’s first World Chess Champion.

·         Koneru Humpy (2002): India’s first Woman Grandmaster, achieving the title at just 15 and becoming the youngest female GM in the world at that time.

·         Grandmaster Title Conferred By: Fédération Internationale des Échecs or International Chess Federation (FIDE), the world governing body of chess.

·         The Grandmaster (GM) title stands as the highest recognition in chess, above International Master (IM), FIDE Master (FM), and Candidate Master (CM).

·         To earn the full GM title, a player must achieve three GM norms in at least 27 games and reach a FIDE rating of 2500 at least once.

·         2500 Elo Rating: A player must achieve a FIDE rating of at least 2500 at any point in their career, even if the rating later falls below that level.

·         International Tournaments: GM norms must be earned in events featuring players from different countries.

·         Tournament Performance Rating (TPR): Each norm should reflect a performance level of around 2600 or above.

 

4.       FIRST INDIAN PARA ARCHER IN ABLE-BODIED NATIONAL TEAM

·         18-year-old para-archer Sheetal Devi, from the Union Territory (UT) of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), became the first Indian para-athlete selected for an able-bodied national archery team at an event held, at the National Centre of Excellence, Sonipat (Haryana).

·         She will represent India in the compound women’s team category at the Asia Cup Archery 2025 (Stage 3), scheduled in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

·         Selection Trials Were Conducted by Sports Authority of India (SAI).

·         Top 3 Archers Selected are 1st – Tejal Rajendra Salve (Maharashtra),2nd – Vaidehi Hirachandra Jadhav (Maharashtra),3rd – Sheetal Devi (J&K).

 

5.       UAE TO HOST 2026 ASIAN YOUTH ARCHERY CHAMPIONSHIP

·         The United Arab Emirates (UAE) Archery Foundation won the bid to host the 2026 Asian Youth Archery Championship, which will take place in Khorfakkan, UAE.

·         Virendra Sachdeva, President of the Archery Association of India (AAI), has been elected as an Executive Member of World Archery Asia (WAA) with the highest number of votes during the election held during the WAA General Assembly.

 

6.       2025 KHELO INDIA UNIVERSITY GAMES

·         Sports Authority of India (SAI), in collaboration with the Rajasthan State Sports Council and the Government of Rajasthan unveiled the Logo, Mascot, Torch, and Jersey for the 5th Edition of Khelo India University Games (KIUG) 2025.

·         The games are scheduled from 24 November to 5 December 2025, and are expected to bring together around 7,500 athletes from around 200 universities across India, competing in 24 sports disciplines.

·         Games Canoeing, Kayaking, Cycling, and Beach Volleyball are newly added in KIUG 2025.

·         Logo: The logo features Hawa Mahal, Ranthambore Fort, Sand dunes, Windmills, Pink color palette, a tribute to Jaipur, the “Pink City”.

·         Mascots: The mascots for KIUG 2025 are “Khamma” and “Ghani”, which embody Rajasthan’s spirit and culture.

 

7.       QUAD NAVAL EXERCISE MALABAR

·         The 29th edition of the multilateral Exercise Malabar (2025) began at Guam in the Northern Pacific Ocean (NPO), hosted by the United States of America (USA).

·         The nine-day Quad naval exercise, involve the navies of India, the USA, Japan, and Australia

·         The MALABAR Exercise was initiated in 1992 as a bilateral naval exercise between India and the USA to enhance interoperability and strengthen maritime cooperation between the two navies.

·         Japan became a permanent member in 2015, followed by Australia, which joined permanently in 2020, transforming MALABAR into a four-nation (Quad) naval exercise.

·         The 28th edition of Exercise Malabar, was held in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh (AP).

·         The exercise will be conducted in two phases :the Harbour Phase and the Sea Phase.

 

8.       INDO-SRI LANKA “EXERCISE MITRA SAKTHI”

·         The 11th edition of the India–Sri Lanka Joint Military Exercise ‘Mitra Shakti’ commenced at the Foreign Training Node, Belagavi, Karnataka.

·         Launched in 2013, Exercise Mitra Shakti (“Power of Friendship”) is an annual joint military exercise conducted alternately between India and Sri Lanka.

·         The 10th edition, held in 2024 at the Army Training School in MaduruOya, Sri Lanka.

·         Chief of Air Staff(CoAS)- Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh.

 

9.       INDIA-VIETNAM MILITARY EXERCISE VINBAX 2025

·         The 6th edition of Vietnam-India Bilateral Army Exercise (VINBAX), a bilateral military exercise between India and Vietnam, held in Hanoi, Vietnam.

·         The first edition of VINBAX was held in 2018 in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh (MP).

 

10.    ‘EXERCISE BRAHMASHIRA’ IN GUJARAT 

·         The Indian Army (IA) conducted’ Exercise Brahmashira’ in the Rann and Creek Sector of Kachchh, Gujarat, as part of the larger Tri-Services Exercise Trishul to validate integrated operational capabilities across land, sea, and air.

·         The exercise brought together the IA, Indian Navy (IN), Indian Air Force (IAF), Indian Coast Guard (ICG), and Border Security Force (BSF).