DAILY GK 8-9 DEC 2025

DAILY GK 8-9 DEC 2025 

1.       NRAI PRESIDENT

·       Kalikesh Narayan Singh Deo was re-elected as the President of the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) for the first four four-year term (2025–2029), succeeding Raninder Singh, during the General Body meeting held in Mohali (Punjab).

·       Pawan Singh was elected unopposed as the new Secretary General.

·       Senior Vice President: Amit Sanghi from Telangana was elected through an electoral contest.

·       Vice Presidents: Kanwar Sultan Singh and Sushma Singh hold the vice-presidential positions.

 

2.       NATIONAL HANDICRAFTS AWARDS FOR 2023 AND 2024

·       The President of India, Droupadi Murmu, presented the Shilp Guru Awards and National Handicraft Awards for 2023 and 2024.

·       National Awards: Instituted in 1965, the National Handicrafts Awards honor exceptional craftspersons for artistic excellence and contribution to India’s cultural heritage.

·       Shilp Guru: Introduced in 2002, the Shilp Guru Awards are the highest national recognition in the handicrafts sector, celebrating master craftspersons.

·       A total of 48 awards were given in the 2023–2024 cycle, including 12 Shilp Guru Awards and 36 National Awards, of which 2 were special Design & Innovation Awards for artisan-designer collaboration.

·       Among the awardees, 20 were women artisans.

 

3.       RUSSIAN PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN’S VISIT TO INDIA

·       President of Russia Vladimir Putin was on a two-day official visit to India in December 2025, at the invitation of Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi, to attend the 23rd India–Russia Annual Summit.

·       PM Narendra Modi hosted a private dinner for Russian President Vladimir Putin at Hyderabad House in New Delhi, gifting him a Russian-language edition of the Bhagavad Gita as a gesture of goodwill.

·       PM Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin participated in the 23rd India–Russia Annual Summit held at Hyderabad House in New Delhi.

·       During the Summit, a Joint Statement was released highlighting key agreements, areas of cooperation, and shared strategic priorities between the two countries.

·       Both the leaders welcomed the adoption of the Programme 2030 for strategic economic cooperation and emphasized removing trade barriers, improving logistics, payment systems, and connectivity to reach a USD 100 billion trade target by 2030.

 

4.       NEGD & MEA LAUNCH ‘PVR FEATURE’ ON DIGILOCKER

·       National electronic (e)-Governance Division (NeGD), under Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), in collaboration with the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) launched the ‘Passport Verification Records (PVR)’ feature to the Digi Locker platform.

·       The feature ensures faster processing, reduced paperwork, secure and tamper-proof records, enables easy digital sharing and verification, and supports paperless, eco-friendly governance.

·       DigiLocker is A secure cloud-based digital document wallet, launched by MeitY, in 2015, under the Digital India initiative.

 

5.       INDIAN ARMY MAKES FIRST-EVER ASCENT OF MOUNT KANGTO, AR

·       An 18-member Indian Army (IA) Eastern Command (EC) mountaineering team successfully summited Mount Kangto, Arunachal Pradesh’s (AR) highest peak (7,042 metres (m)/23,103 feet (ft)), marking the first-ever recorded ascent of the previously unconquered sentinel of the Kameng Himalayas, AR.

·       The achievement embodied the IA’s ethos: “Nothing is impossible for the Indian Army.”

·       Mount Kangto straddles India-China border in West Kameng district of AR; symbolises Army’s high-altitude operational mastery.

 

6.       GELS 2025

·       The Global Energy Leaders’ Summit (GELS) 2025, India’s first dedicated summit focusing on energy sufficiency, sustainability, and innovation, was held in Puri, Odisha.

·       The 2025 edition marks the inaugural edition of GELS.

·       GELS 2025 was held under the theme “Powering India: Sufficiency, Balance, Innovation”.

 

7.       FIRST STATE TO DIGITIZE 100% OF VOTER ROLLS UNDER SIR

·       Rajasthan became the first state to complete 100% digitisation of its 5.46 crore voter rolls under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) – 2026 exercise.

·       Rajasthan, every entry in the voter list has been digitised, verified, and mapped.

·       SIR is a nationwide program conducted by the Election Commission of India (ECI) to update and verify voter lists, remove duplicates or deceased voters, enroll new voters, ensure each other’s voter data is correct and mapped to the correct polling station.

·       SIR-2026 aims to bring all states to full digital and geographic verification standards.

·       Draft electoral roll releases December 16, 2025; claims-objections window Dec 16-Jan 15, 2026; final publication February 14, 2026.

 

8.       INDIA’S NUCLEAR POWER GENERATION CAPACITY TO REACH 21,880 MW BY 2032

·       The Government of India (GoI) announced that India’s nuclear power generation capacity is expected to increase from the existing 8,780 MegaWatt (MW) to 9,480 MW by the end of Financial Year 2025-26 (FY26) i.e. on March 31, 2026; 13,480 MW (by FY30) and 21,880 MW (by FY32).

·       The Nuclear Energy Mission for Viksit Bharat has set the target to achieve nuclear power generation capacity of 100 Giga Watt (GW) by 2047, which will further help India in realizing its target of Net Zero by 2070.

·       Dr.Homi J. Bhabha founded the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) in 1945 and the Atomic Energy Establishment, Trombay (AEET) in 1954 to promote nuclear research in India.

·       Following his death in 1966, AEET was renamed the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC).

 

9.       DOT MANDATES SIM-BINDING FOR MESSAGING APPS

·       The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has issued directions to major mobile application-based communication services, including WhatsApp, Telegram, Signal, Snapchat, Share Chat, JioChat, Josh, and Arattai, to enforce mandatory SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) binding and periodic logout for web sessions under Telecom Cybersecurity Amendment Rules, 2025.

·       Apps must stay continuously linked to the user’s active India-based SIM, with access blocked if the SIM is removed or inactive.

·       Web/desktop versions must auto-logout every 6 hours, requiring QR(Quick Response) based re-linking to prevent misuse of long-lived sessions abroad.

·       Companies must implement the measures within 90 days and submit compliance reports to the DoT within 120 days.

 

10.    INDIA’S FIRST ALL-ELECTRIC TUG PROJECT

·       Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways (MoPSW), virtually flagged off the steel-cutting ceremony of India’s first all-electric green tug, marking a major milestone in sustainable maritime operations.

·       The tug is being built for Deendayal Port Authority (DPA), Kandla, Gujarat under the Green Tug Transition Programme (GTTP).

·       The green tug will feature a 60-tonne bollard pull capacity and will operate with zero carbon emissions, silent operations and improved energy efficiency.

·       The GTTP, launched by MoPSW, aims to induct 50 green tugs by 2030, with 16 tugs planned under Phase-1 (2024–2027) across major Indian ports.