DAILY GK 21 NOV 2025

 DAILY GK 21 NOV 2025

1.       ROGER FEDERER ELECTED TO ITH CLASS OF 2026

·         Switzerland tennis legend Roger Federer was elected to the International Tennis Hall of Fame (ITHF) Class of 2026, in his first year of eligibility, becoming the only player to secure the required 75% votes and earning recognition for a career spanning over two decades.

·         The ITHF has three induction categories Player, Contributor, and Wheelchair, with the Player Category considered annually, and the Contributor and Wheelchair Categories eligible every four years on an alternating cycle.



·         Sportscaster and journalist Mary Carillo was elected to the ITHF Class of 2026 in the Contributor Category, becoming the first woman to regularly commentate on major tennis broadcasts.

·         From 1998–2022, he won 20 major singles titles, including 8 Wimbledon Championships, 6 Australian Open Tennis Championships, 5 US Open Tennis Championships (USA), and 1 French Open Tennis Championships, completing a career Grand Slam.

·         He held the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) World No. 1 ranking for a record 310 weeks, including 237 consecutive weeks, and finished as year-end No. 1 five times.

·         He Secured gold in doubles at the 2008 Beijing Olympics(China) and silver in singles at the 2012 London Olympics(the United Kingdom, UK).

 

2.       MATHURA POSHAK AND MEERUT BUGLE RECOGNIZED AS GI TAG PRODUCTS IN UP

·         Two distinguished Geographical Indications (GI) tag from Uttar Pradesh(UP), the traditional textile attire Glitter of Mathura Zari Poshak and the historically significant musical instrument Symphonyof  Meerut Bugle, have been placed at the top of the state’s GI registrations.

·         The Meerut Bugle originated in the late 19th century when Nadir Ali & Company set up a small manufacturing unit in Meerut’s JaliKothi area, marking the city’s first bugle-making factory.

·         Zari Poshak has its roots in India’s centuries-old weaving and embroidery traditions, known for the use of fine metallic threads (zari) crafted by skilled artisans.

·         A GI tag certifies that a product originates from a specific region and carries unique qualities linked to that place.

·         In India, it is governed by the GI Act, 1999 (effective from 15 September 2003) and granted by the GI Registry under Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade(DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce & Industry(MoCI).

·         The tag is valid for 10 years and can be renewed every 10 years.

 

3.       MISS UNIVERSE 2025

·         Fatima Bosch Fernandez from Mexico was crowned Miss Universe 2025 at the 74th Miss Universe pageant held in Bangkok, Thailand.

·         She was crowned by her predecessor Victoria Kjaer Theilvig (Denmark) who held the Miss Universe title in 2024.

·         Theme for the 2025 Miss Universe pageant, organised by the Miss Universe Organization(MUO), was ‘The Power of Love’, focusing on unity, empowerment and resilience.

·         Indian origin Miss Thailand Praveenar Singh secured the 1st runner-up spot, followed by Miss Venezuela Stephany Abasali, who was named 2nd runner-up.

·         Manika Vishwakarma (from Rajasthan) represented India in the competition, made it to the top 30 contestants but failed to make it to the top 12 list.

 

4.       24TH ASIAN ARCHERY CHAMPIONSHIP

·         The 24th edition of Asian Archery Championship 2025 was held in Dhaka, Bangladesh

·         India and South Korea tied with 10 medals each, but India, which secured 5 medals each in recurve and compound categories, topped the overall standings with 6 gold, 3 silver and 1 bronze medals compared to Korea’s 2 gold medals.

·         Bommadevara (B.) Dhiraj and AnkitaBhakat scripted history becoming the 1st-ever Indian male and female recurve archers to win individual gold medals at the Asian Archery Championships.

·         The event saw the participation of more than 200 archers from 30 countries across 10 events in archery i.e. 5 each in recurve and compound.

·         KaziRazib Uddin Ahmed Chapol, was elected the President of World Archery Asia (WAA) for a term of 4 years, during the WAA Congress held in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

 

5.       INDIA’S 26TH WOMAN GRANDMASTER

·         19-year-old Sarayu Velpula from Warangal (Telangana) became India’s 26th Woman Grandmaster (WGM) after securing her final Woman Grandmaster norm at the First League of Central Serbia 2025, which was held in Novi Pazar, Serbia.

·         The WGM title is the highest women-specific title, ranked above WIM, Woman FIDE Master (WFM), and Woman Candidate Master (WCM), and positioned just below the open Grandmaster (GM) and International Master (IM) titles.

·         To earn the WGM title, a player must secure three WGM norms over at least 27 rated games and achieve a FIDE rating of 2300 at least once in their career.

 

6.       INDIA-FRANCE BILATERAL AIR EXERCISE ‘GARUDA’

·         The Indian Air Force (IAF) and the French Air and Space Force (FASF) began the 8th edition of the bilateral air exercise ‘Garuda’ at the Mont-de-Marsan Air Base in France.

·         Exercise Garuda, launched in 2003, is a bilateral air combat exercise between the IAF and the FASF, conducted alternately in India and France to strengthen interoperability, coordination, and operational capabilities.

 

7.       8th INDIA-UK ARMY EXERCISE ‘AJEYA WARRIOR’

·         The 8th edition of joint bilateral military exercise ‘Ajeya Warrior’ between the Indian Army (IA) and the British Army held at the Mahajan Field Firing Ranges (MFFR) in Bikaner, Rajasthan.

·         This biennial exercise, aims to strengthen operational synergy in joint counter-terrorism operations in semi-urban environments under Chapter VII of the United Nations (UN) mandate.

·         The 7th edition was held at Salisbury Plains, UK in 2023.

·         This exercise held biennially since 2011.

 

8.       SBI TO DISCONTINUE MCASH FACILITY ON ONLINESBI AND YONO LITE

·         State Bank of India (SBI) announced that the mCASH sending and claiming facility on OnlineSBI and YONO Lite platforms will be discontinued on 30 November 2025, with the service becoming unavailable from 1 December 2025.

·         The discontinuation reflects SBI’s shift toward more secure, modern, and widely adopted digital payment systems.
mCASH-Use: The service allowed instant transfers using only the recipient’s mobile number or email ID, without requiring beneficiary registration.

·         Recipients accessed a secure link and 8-digit passcode sent via Short Message Service (SMS) or Electronic Mail (email) to claim the funds, then logged into the State Bank mCASH app using a registered Mobile Personal Identification Number (MPIN) to transfer the amount to any bank account and save account details with Indian Financial System Code (IFSC) for future use.

·         SBI advises customers to use Unified Payments Interface (UPI), Immediate Payment Service (IMPS), National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT), or Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) for third-party transfers, with UPI available through the Bharat Interface for Money (BHIM) SBI Pay app for money transfers, bill payments, recharges, and merchant transactions.