DAILY GK 21 DEC 2025
1.
SHIKHAR DHAWAN AUTOBIOGRAPHY ‘THE ONE: CRICKET, MY
LIFE AND MORE’
·
Former Indian Cricketer ShikharDhawan unveiled
his autobiography titled “The One: Cricket, My Life and More”, published
by HarperCollins India.
·
He is the highest run-scorer of the 2013 International
Cricket Council (ICC) Champions Trophy.
2. RBI ISSUES GUIDELINES ON
TRANSACTION ACCOUNT ACROSS 7 CATEGORIES OF REGULATED ENTITIES
·
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) released the
final directions on ‘Maintenance of Cash Credit Accounts, Current
Accounts and Overdraft Accounts by Banks’, introducing key relaxations while maintaining the overall
principle-based framework.
·
The draft norms, which
were issued on October 1, covered transaction account
operations across seven categories of regulated entities, including Commercial
Banks (CB), Small Finance Banks (SFB),
Payments Banks (PB), Local Area Banks (LAB), Regional
Rural Banks (RRBs) and Co-operative Banks.
·
Cash Credit (CC) Account Exclusion: The RBI acknowledged that
CC facilities function differently from current and overdraft accounts as it is
mainly a working-capital facility tied to the value of the borrower’s current
assets.
·
Therefore, the Banks can now provide such CC facilities as
per the needs of the customer, without any restriction.
·
The amendments shall come into force from April
1,2026. Banks may however decide to implement the amendments in
entirety from an earlier date.
·
Current Account (CA) and Over Draft (OD) Account: Exposure
less than Rs 10 Crores (Cr): A bank may maintain a CA or OD
account without any restriction in case of customers where the aggregate
exposure of the banking system to the customer is less than Rs 10
Cr.
·
Exposure more than Rs 10 Cr: A bank may maintain
current accounts or OD accounts as per the needs of the customer provided that the
bank has either a minimum 10% share in banking
system’s aggregate exposure to the borrower; orA minimum 10% share
in the banking system’s aggregate fund-based exposure to the borrower.
·
Despite stakeholders request for a longer remittance window, the requirement to transfer funds
from collection account to designated transaction accounts (CC/OD/CA)
within two working days remains unchanged.
3. RBI DATA: INDIA’S BANKING
SECTOR HITS 20-YEAR NPA LOW
·
India’s banking sector has achieved a historic milestone,
recording its lowest level of Gross Non-Performing Assets (GNPAs)
in 20 years, which declined
from 11.46% (in 2018) to 2.31% (by March 2025), the lowest in 20 years.
·
Similarly, Net
NPA (NNPA) ratio dropped its lowest
in the last 2 decades i.e. to 0.52% compared to
6.1% (in 2018), driven by stronger provision buffers.
·
GNPAs of Public Sector
Banks (PSBs) declined from 9.11% (March 2021) to 2.58% (March 2025).
·
NNPAs of PSBs decreased from 1.24% in Financial
Year 2022-23 (FY23) to 0.52% (in FY25).
·
Domestic deposits and
credits
have nearly tripled in the last 10
years, with deposits increasing from Rs 88.35 lakh
crore (2015) to Rs 231.90 lakh crore (2025) and credit rising
from Rs 66.91 lakh crore (2015) to Rs 181.34 lakh crore
(2025).
·
The total business of
PSBs increased from Rs 203 lakh crore in Financial Year 22-23 (FY23) to
Rs 252 lakh crore (FY25).
·
The
net profit of these banks surged from Rs 1.05 lakh
crore to Rs 1.78 lakh crore during the same time period.
·
SCBs
registered their highest ever aggregate
net profit of Rs 4.01
lakh crore (in FY25 ) over Rs 3.5 lakh crore (in FY24).
4.
RBI APPROVES HDFC BANK GROUP TO ACQUIRE
STAKE IN INDUSIND BANK
·
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI)
approved HDFC Bank Limited, along with its group
entities, to acquire an aggregate
holding of up to 9.5% of the paid-up share
capital or voting rights in IndusInd Bank Limited.
·
The approval is valid for one year,
from 15 December 2025 to 14 December 2026, and the aggregate holding must not
exceed 9.50% at any time.
5. RBI RELEASES 10TH
EDITION OF HANDBOOK OF STATISTICS ON INDIAN STATES
·
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) released
the 10th edition of its “Handbook of
Statistics on Indian States 2024-25”, to provide a consolidated,
comparable statistical resource for India’s states and Union Territories (UTs).
·
The RBI’s “Handbook of Statistics on Indian States” was first published in 2016, providing
a comprehensive time series of socio-economic data from 1951 onwards.
·
The handbook is prepared
by the Regional Economy Monitoring Division (REMD) of the
Department of Economic & Policy Research (DEPR), with contributions from
various RBI Regional Offices.
·
It relies on multiple
data sources, including state government submissions, RBI surveys, and
third-party agencies, ensuring reliability and comprehensiveness.
·
Covering 1951 to 2024‑25,
it allows analysis of trends, structural changes, and regional disparities,
following a ‘one indicator–one table’ approach for
clarity and ease of use.
·
The RBI has phased out
older data series with outdated base years (e.g., 2004‑05 for State Domestic
Product) and replaced them with updated 2011‑12 series to enhance relevance and
accuracy.
·
This edition introduces a new External Sector section
and 11 new
state-wise statistical tables, alongside updates to the existing data
series.
6.
MOF UNVEILS NEW LOGO FOR RRBS
·
The Department of Financial Services (DoFS),
Ministry of Finance (MoF) unveiled a new and common logo for Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) to
signify a single and unified brand identity.
·
On the principle of “One State One RRB”, the
DoFS consolidated 26 RRBs across 11
states/Union Territories (UTs) effective from May
01, 2025.
·
At present, 28 RRBs serve the
country through an extensive network of over 22,000 branches across more than
700 districts.
·
The Logo elements- The three main
elements in the logo reflect themes of progress and growth in rural and remote
areas.
·
Upward Arrow:
This is a symbol of progress, which represents growth, development and
advancement in rural economies.
·
Hands: This
serves as a symbol of nurturing, reflecting care, support and assistance
to rural communities.
·
Flame: It
is the symbol of enlightenment, signifying warmth, knowledge and the
empowerment of rural populations.
·
Logo Colour: The logo design uses dark blue and green.
·
RRB are Regulated by Reserve
Bank of India (RBI) and supervised by National Bank for Agriculture and Rural
Development (NABARD).
7.
RBI Imposes Regulatory Restrictions
on Two UCBs in Assam and Gujarat
·
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) imposed
regulatory restrictions on two Urban Cooperative Banks (UCBs) :
The Gauhati Cooperative Urban Bank Limited in Assam
and The Valsad Mahila Nagrik Sahakari Bank
Limited in Gujarat due to their
weak financial position, liquidity stress, and unresolved supervisory concerns.
·
Eligible depositors can claim insurance up to Rs.
5 lakh, provided by the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee
Corporation (DICGC) under the DICGC Act,
1961.
·
Depositors may
withdraw up to Rs. 35,000 across all deposit accounts, with the bank
permitted to adjust outstanding loans against deposits.
8.
GOOGLE 8 MILLION FUNDING FOR INDIA’S
AI RESEARCH ECOSYSTEM
·
Global tech giant Google announced
a USD 8 million (approximately Rs 72.4 crore)
funding commitment to support four Government of India (GoI)–backed Artificial Intelligence (AI) Centres
of Excellence (CoEs), during the ‘Google’s Lab to Impact
Dialogue’, organised as part of the
India AI Impact Summit 2026, in New Delhi.
·
4 AI CoEs: As per the Google, USD 8
million research funding will be distributed among TANUH at
Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bengaluru, for non-communicable disease
treatment.
·
Airawat Research Foundation at
Indian Institute of Technology-Kanpur (IIT-K) will use the funds for AI-driven
urban governance.
·
The AI CoE for Education at
IIT-Madras (IIT-M) will create innovative solutions to enhance learning and
teaching outcomes;
·
ANNAM.AI at
IIT-Ropar will use the funds to develop data-driven solutions for agriculture
and farmer welfare.
·
Google has also Google announced USD 400,000 in
funding to support MedGemma-based collaborations for
developing Health Foundation Models and integrating AI into India’s Digital
Public Infrastructure(DPI), particularly in the healthcare sector.
·
Google pledged to provide
financial support of USD 50,000 each to startups
i.e. Gnani.AI and CoRover.AI to
develop Indic language voice and e-governance
solutions using Gemma.
·
It has also announced a USD 2 million founding grant to set up the
new Indic Language Technologies Research Hub at IIT-B.
·
Google has collaborated with the National Health Authority (NHA) for
the deployment of advanced AI for the
conversion of medical records into a globally acceptable, machine readable
format i.e. Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR) standards.
·
ReNew Energy Global Plc (ReNew), a
leading decarbonisation solutions company, signed a long-term agreement
with Google to enable the development of a new 150
Mega-Watt(MW) solar project in Rajasthan.
9. NATIONAL ENERGY
CONSERVATION DAY 2025– DECEMBER 14
·
National Energy Conservation Day (NECD) is
annually observed across India on 14th December to
promote energy saving and encourage adoption of efficient, sustainable energy
practices.
·
NECD is promoted by the
Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) under the Ministry
of Power (MoP).
·
The inaugural NECD was also observed on 14
December 1991.
·
The 35th NECA award structure
includes 28 subsectors across 7 broad
categories (industries, transport, buildings, institutions,
energy-efficient appliances, Innovation Awards for Professional, and Energy
Conservation Professionals & Influencers), with a new category for Social
Media Influencers and Digital Content Creators introduced
to acknowledge their role in promoting energy conservation awareness.
·
This year, the awards comprised 25 First Prizes, 5 Second Prizes,
26 Certificates of Merit (CoM), and 3 Certificates of Recognition (CoR)
under the Innovation Awards category.
10. VIJAY DIWAS 2025
– DECEMBER 16
·
Vijay Diwas, or Victory Day (Bijoy Dibos),
observed every year on 16 December across India and Bangladesh, to mark the historic
victory of the Indian Armed Forces over Pakistan in the 1971 Indo-Pak war.
·
The day marks the official surrender of the Pakistani Armed
Forces to the combined Indian and Mukti Bahini
(Bangladesh liberation forces) in Dhaka, Bangladesh, during the 1971
Bangladesh Liberation War.
·
16 December 2025 marks
the observance of the 54th Vijay Diwas.
·
The Indo-Pak War of 1971
was a 13-day military conflict between India and Pakistan, lasting from December 3
to December 16.
·
The Eastern Command of the
Pakistan military signed the Instrument of Surrender on December 16, 1971, in Dhaka
(Bangladesh).
·
The war victory was led by Prime Minister (PM) Indira Gandhi, Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw, and
Lieutenant General Jagjit Singh Aurora.
11. INTERNATIONAL DAY TO END
VIOLENCE AGAINST SEX WORKERS 2025 – DECEMBER 17
·
The International Day to End Violence Against
Sex Workers is observed globally on December 17 to
highlight violence, discrimination, and abuse faced by sex workers and to
advocate for their safety, equality, and human rights.
·
The day was first
observed in 2003 after the killing of 49 sex workers by the “Green River
Killer” in Seattle, Washington, USA.
·
Symbol- The red
umbrella, recognised globally as a symbol
of sex worker rights, originated in Venice, Italy, in 2001.
·
In 1956, India enacted the Immoral Traffic (Suppression) Act,
allowing sex work under legal limits
while banning solicitation.
·
In 2022, the Supreme Court(SC)
recognised sex work as a profession and upheld sex workers’ right to life and
dignity under Article 21.
·
Sex work in India is
mainly regulated under the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act (ITPA), 1956;
the Indian Penal Code (IPC), 1860; the Constitution of India, 1950; and the
Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015.
12. INTERNATIONAL MIGRANTS DAY
2025 – DECEMBER 18
·
The United Nations (UN’s) International Migrants
Day is annually observed across the globe on 18
December each year to recognize migrants’ contributions and
highlight the challenges they face, while emphasizing the importance of
protecting their rights.
·
2025 Theme: “My Great Story: Cultures and
Development”.
·
International Migrants Day was observed for the first time on 18 December
2000.
·
On 18 December 1990, the UNGA adopted the International
Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of
Their Families.
13. WORLD ARABIC LANGUAGE DAY
2025 – DECEMBER 18
·
The United Nations (UN) observes Arabic Language
Day on December 18 each year to mark
the adoption of Arabic as one of its six official languages in 1973 and to
promote multilingualism and linguistic equality.
·
2025 Theme: “Innovative Pathways for Arabic: Policies and
Practices for a More Inclusive Linguistic Future”.
·
The first World Arabic Language Day was celebrated on 18
December 2012.
·
Since 2010, the United Nations Department of Global
Communications (formerly the Department of Public Information) has observed
celebrations of each of the UN’s six
official languages annually, ahead of International
Mother Language Day on 21 February.
·
UNESCO-Sharjah Prize for Arab Culture: The UNESCO-Sharjah
Prize for Arab Culture is an international award established by
the government of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates(UAE), in collaboration with
UNESCO in 1998.
·
It aims to recognize
individuals, institutions, or organizations that have made significant
contributions to promoting Arab culture, heritage, and intellectual exchange.
14. NATIONAL MINORITY RIGHTS
DAY 2025 – DECEMBER 18
·
National Minority Rights Day, also known as Minorities Day, is
annually observed across India on 18th December to
raise awareness about the constitutionally guaranteed rights, freedom, and
equal opportunities of religious minorities.
·
In India, National Minorities Rights Day has been observed
since 18 December 2013.: Under Section 2(c) of the National Commission for
Minorities (NCM) Act, 1992, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Buddhists,
Jains, and Zoroastrians (Parsis) are recognized as minority
communities.
·
The
Jain community was accorded minority status later, in 2014.
·
Articles 29 and 30: Guarantee the preservation of
culture and grant religious and linguistic minorities the right to establish
and administer educational institutions, safeguarding them from undue state
interference.
·
Articles 350A and 350B: Ensure primary education in the
mother tongue for linguistic minorities and provide for a Special
Officer for Linguistic Minorities to monitor safeguards.
·
Article 347: Enables special
provisions for languages spoken by sections of a state’s population.
