DAILY GK 26-28 FEB 2026
1. 2026
WINTER OLYMPICS
·
The XXV Winter
Olympic Games, officially known as Milano Cortina 2026, were
held across multiple venues in Lombardy and Northeast Italy, including Milan, Cortina d’Ampezzo, Bormio, and
Val di Fiemme, marking the first time
two cities officially co-hosted the Games.
·
Norway topped
the medal tally with 18 gold, 12 silver,
and 11 bronze medals (total 41), followed by USA with 12 gold, 12 silver, and 9 bronze medals
(total 33).
·
Netherlands secured
third place with 10 gold, 7 silver,
and 3 bronze medals (total 20).
·
Events were held across
four clusters—Milan (ice events), Cortina d’Ampezzo (women’s alpine and sliding
sports), Valtellina/Livigno (freestyle and snowboard), and Val di Fiemme
(Nordic events).
·
The Games were organised
under the International Olympic Committee (IOC) during the presidency of Kirsty Coventry, marking the first
Olympics under her leadership.
·
Games featured 16 winter sports.
·
Host
nation Italy finished fourth in the medal
standings with 10 gold, 6 silver, and 14 bronze medals (total 30)
·
India
fielded a two-member contingent—Arif Mohammad Khan (Alpine Skiing), who
registered the nation’s best-ever finish in men’s slalom, and Stanzin Lundup (Cross-Country
Skiing)—though the country did not
secure a medal.
2.
KHELO INDIA
WINTER GAMES 2026
·
The Indian Army (IA)
successfully defended its team
championship title at the 6th edition of the
Khelo India Winter Games (KIWG) 2026, which concluded its
second leg held at Gulmarg Golf Course, J&K.
·
The Indian Army (IA)
having secured a total of nine gold medals, eight from Gulmarg and one from the first leg of KIWG 2026 which was held in Leh, Ladakh.
·
The IA emerged as overall champion with a
total of 23 medals including 9 gold, 6
silver and 8 bronze followed by Himachal
Pradesh (HP) with a total of 14 medals including 6 gold, 7 silver and 1 bronze and Haryana secured third place with 7 total medals
including 4 gold, 1 silver and 2 bronze.
·
The Games were hosted by the
Jammu & Kashmir Sports Council (JKSC) and managed by the
Sports Authority of India (SAI).
·
Mascot: Sheen-E-She (Shan), the Snow Leopard.
3. INDIA-USA
JOINT EXERCISE VAJRA PRAHAR
·
The Indian Army (IA) and
USA commenced the 16th edition of the India-USA
Joint Special Forces Exercise ‘VAJRA PRAHAR’ at the Special
Forces Training School (SFTS), Bakloh, Himachal Pradesh (HP).
·
Aim: The
exercise is conducted to strengthen combined capabilities for carrying out
joint Special Forces operations in mountainous terrain.
4.
EXERCISE AGNI VARSHA BY
INDIAN ARMY
·
Indian Army (IA) conducted
‘Exercise Agni Varsha’ at the Pokhran Field Firing Ranges in Pokhran, Rajasthan, to test
and demonstrate its operational readiness and combat capabilities in a
realistic battlefield environment.
·
The Integrated Fire and
Manoeuvre Exercise was led by the IA’s Southern Command.
5.
INDIA -JAPAN MILITARY
EXERCISE DHARMA GUARDIAN
·
The 7th edition
of the annual joint military Exercise DHARMA GUARDIAN between India and Japan,
began at Foreign Training Node, Chaubattia, Uttarakhand.
The exercise aims to strengthen military-to military cooperation,
enhance interoperability between IA and JGSDF.
6.
NPCI EXTENDS ‘UPI ONE
WORLD’ WALLET SERVICE
·
The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) extended
the ‘UPI(Unified Payments Interface) One World’ wallet for
foreign delegates from more than 40 countries who participated at India
Artificial Intelligence (AI) Impact Summit 2026 held in New Delhi.
·
NPCI has also launched the Finance Model for India (FiMI), an
AI-based small language model, designed to resolve UPI-related disputes,
customer service, regulation and ecosystem queries.
·
NPCI
has collaborated with Razorpay to
launch AI-powered UPI pilot, enabling
the users to order food, groceries, and daily essentials from Zomato,
Swiggy, and Zepto using the UPI within the same conversation.
·
NPCI entered into a
strategic partnership with Nvidia to boost and advance its
sovereign AI model capabilities purpose-built for India’s payments ecosystem.
7.
MOCI REVISED BASE
YEAR OF INDIA’S MERCHANDISE TRADE INDICES
·
The Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics (DGCI&S) under
the Ministry of Commerce & Industry (MoC&I), revised the base year of India’s merchandise trade indices from
2012-13 to 2022-23, to measure changes
in the unit values (prices) of India’s exports and imports over time.
·
The revision of base year
was made on the recommendations of DGCI&S-constituted committee, headed by
Professor (Prof.) Nachiketa Chattopadhyay.
·
The updated series
features: Monthly, quarterly and annual indices,Principal Commodity (PC) classification wise trade indices;
Standard International Trade Classification-wise (SITC) trade indices.
·
Broad
Economic Category-wise (BEC) trade indices.
·
Bilateral
and region-wise trade indices of top 20 export
and import partner nations of India.
·
Terms
of trade (gross terms of trade, Net terms of trade and
Income terms of trade).
8. INTERNATIONAL
MOTHER LANGUAGE DAY 2026 – FEBRUARY 21
·
The United Nations (UN’s)
International Mother Language Day (IMLD) is annually observed across the
globe on 21 February to promote linguistic diversity.
·
2026 Theme: “Youth
voices on multilingual education”.
·
The first International
Mother Language Day (IMLD) was observed on 21 February 2000.
9. WORLD
THINKING DAY 2026 – FEBRUARY 22
·
World Thinking Day (WTD) is
celebrated annually across the world on 22 February by Girl Scouts and Girl Guides in 153
countries to promote international friendship, sisterhood, and empowerment
of girls and women.
·
2026 Theme: “Our
Friendship”.
·
In 1926, delegates
from Girl Guide and Girl Scout organisations worldwide met in the United States
of America (USA) for the 4th WAGGGS
World Conference, where they decided to establish Thinking Day as a special day for Girl
Guides and Girl Scouts.
·
In 1999, during
the 30th World Conference held in Dublin, Ireland, the day was renamed ‘World Thinking Day’.
·
The day is annually
organized by the WAGGGS.
·
February 22 was chosen
because it marks the birthday of Lord
Robert Baden-Powell, Founder of the Boy Scout Movement and the first Chief
Scout of the World, as well as his wife
Olave Baden-Powell, the World Chief Guide.
10.
CENTRAL EXCISE DAY 2026 – FEBRUARY 24
·
The Central
Excise Day is annually observed across India on 24th
February to commemorate the enactment of the Central
Excise and Salt Act, 1944, and to honour the contributions of the
Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) in
tax administration and national development.
·
The Central Excise and Salt Act, 1944 was
the first comprehensive legislation imposing excise duties on goods
manufactured in India and consolidated 11 earlier excise laws into a unified
framework.
·
In 1966,
the Central Excise and Salt Act, 1944 was renamed
as the Central Excise Act, 1944, and in 1985, the Central Excise Tariff Act was enacted to prescribe
detailed schedules outlining duty rates and valuation principles.
11.
NATIONAL PROTEIN DAY
2026 – FEBRUARY 27
·
National Protein Day is annually observed across India on 27 February to
educate people about the crucial role of protein in
maintaining health, supporting growth and development, and promoting diverse
protein-rich dietary options.
·
National Protein Day began
in India in 2020 with the launch of the “Right to Protein” (RTP)
campaign, a national-level public health initiative to raise
awareness about the importance of adequate protein consumption.
·
The first-ever National
Protein Day was observed on 27th February 2020.
12.
WORLD
NGO DAY 2026 – FEBRUARY 27
·
World Non-Governmental
Organisation (NGO) Day is observed
annually across the globe on 27th February to
recognize, celebrate, and honor the contributions of NGOs and Non-Profit
Organizations (NPOs) in promoting social welfare, human rights, and sustainable
development.
·
2026 Theme: While there is no single official
global theme, many organizations recognized “Restoring Dignity
Through Inclusion” as the theme for 2026.
·
World NGO Day was created
in 2009 in the European Union (EU) by Marcis Liors Skadmanis,
a Latvian-British tech entrepreneur and philanthropist from the United Kingdom
with support from Civic Alliance Latvia (CAL), a member of the Baltic Sea NGO
Forum (BSNF).
·
The first global World NGO Day event was held
on 27 February 2014 by the Ministry for Foreign
Affairs of Finland (MFAF) in Helsinki, Finland.
