DAILY GK 7-8 JAN 2025
1.
INDONESIA JOINS BRICS 10TH FULL MEMBER
·
Brazil, serving as the BRICS chair for 2025, announced
that Indonesia, world’s fourth-most populous nation,
has become a 10th full member of
the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China,
South Africa) alliance.
·
The inclusion of
Indonesia aligns with Brazil’s theme for
its presidency: “Enhancing Global South
Cooperation for a More Inclusive and Sustainable Governance.”
·
In 2024, BRICS countries agreed to admit Indonesia as a
member. This decision followed the guidelines set during the 2023 BRICS meeting
in Johannesburg, South Africa (SA).
·
BRIC was established as a formal group in 2006 with its original members: Brazil, Russia,
India, and China, headquartered in Shanghai, China.
·
In 2009, the first
BRIC Summit was held in Yekaterinburg,
Russia.
·
In 2010, the group evolved from BRIC to BRICS with the
inclusion of South Africa.
·
In 2024, BRICS expanded by adding four new members: Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab
Emirates (UAE). With Indonesia’s
inclusion in 2025, the group now has 10 members.
·
The 16th BRICS
Summit was held in Kazan, Russia,
under Russia’s chairmanship in 2024.
·
The 17th BRICS
Summit will be held in Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil in July 2025.
2. INDIA-MALAYSIA FIRST
SECURITY DIALOGUE
·
India and Malaysia held their 1st inaugural India-Malaysia
Security Dialogue in New Delhi to enhance bilateral cooperation.
·
It aims to strengthen defense
and security ties between the 2 nations for deeper cooperation in areas
crucial to their mutual interests.
·
This security dialogue follows the visit of Malaysian Prime
Minister (PM) Anwar bin Ibrahim in August
2024
·
Malaysia Capital- Kuala Lumpur
·
Currency- Malaysian ringgit (MYR)
3. AICTE DECLARED 2025 AS
‘YEAR OF AI’
·
The All-India Council for Technical
Education (AICTE) has announced 2025 as
the “Year of Artificial Intelligence (AI)” to shape
India as a global leader in AI.
·
A nationwide campaign “AI for all: The Future Begins
Here”will be held which include workshops, hackathons, and guest lecturers
to raise awareness about AI’s potential among the students. Also council
will organize workshops and certifications to
provide training to faculty in AI education.
4.
82ND GOLDEN GLOBES AWARDS 2025
·
The 82nd edition of Golden Globes Award 2025 was
held at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California, United States of
America (USA).
·
The Golden Globes Awards
are held annually and are presented by Hollywood Foreign Press
Association (HFPA).
·
The 2025 award recognizes
excellence in film both American and
International and American Television (TV) 2024.
·
American comedian and
actress Nikki Glaser made history
at the 2025 award ceremony as the 1st woman to
solo-host the event.
·
Best Performance by an
Actor in
a Motion Picture Drama- Adrien Brody, “The Brutalist”
·
Best Performance by an
Actress
in a Motion Picture Drama- Fernanda Torres, “I’m Still Here”
·
Best Motion Picture Drama-“The Brutalist” “A Complete Unknown”
·
Best Performance by an Actress
in a Television Series Musical or
Comedy-Jean Smart, “Hacks”
·
Best Performance by an
Actor in a Television Series Drama-Hiroyuki Sanada, “Shōgun”
·
Best Motion Picture Non-English Language-“Emilia Pérez” “All
We Imagine as Light”
·
Best Director Motion
Picture Brady Corbet, “The Brutalist”
5.
INDIA SUBMITS ITS 4TH BIENNIAL REPORT TO THE UNFCCC
·
India submitted its 4th Biennial Update Report (BUR-4)to the
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
·
The report updates the Third National Communication (TNC) and
contains the National Greenhouse Gas
(GHG) inventory for the year 2020.
·
As per the report, India’s
total GHG emissions, including land use, Land-Use Change and Forestry
(LULUCF) has decreased by 7.93% in 2020 compared to 2019, but it has increased by 98.34% since 1994.
·
While, India’s total
GHG emissions, excluding land use, LULUCF, stood at 2,959 million tonnes of Carbon Dioxide Equivalent (CO2e).
·
Also, after considering
the absorption by forestry sector and land resources, India’s net emissions were 2,437 million tonnes of CO2e.
·
UNFCCC Headquarters- Bonn, Germany
6.
6TH LEADS REPORT ACHIEVERS
LIST
·
Union Minister Piyush Goyal, Ministry of Commerce and
Industry (MoC&I) released the 6th edition
‘Logistics Ease Across Different States(LEADS) Report in New Delhi
·
Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Odisha and Tamil Nadu(TN) were awarded the top rank of ‘achievers’ amongst coastal States in the LEADS 2024 report.
·
Haryana,
Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand
were awarded the top rank of ‘achievers’ amongst
landlocked States
·
Chandigarh,
Delhi were awarded the top rank of ‘achievers’ amongst UT's
·
Assam, Arunachal Pradesh
were awarded the top rank of ‘achievers’ amongst
North Eastern states
·
LEADS was conceived on
the lines of the Logistics Performance
Index (LPI) of World Bank in 2018.
·
India ranked 38th
among 139 countries in the World Bank's
Logistics Performance Index Report 2023.
7. HENLEY PASSPORT INDEX 2025
·
London (the United
Kingdom, UK)-based Henley & Partners released the annual edition
of Henley Passport Index 2025.
·
As per the index, Singapore has
reclaimed its title as the world’s most
powerful passport with visa-free access to 195 out
of 227 destinations worldwide, followed by Japan which
secured 2nd rank with visa-free
access to 193 destinations.
·
India’s rank dropped from
80th spot (in 2024) to 85th spot (in 2025) on
the list, with visa-free access to only
57 destinations of the world, down from 62 visa-free destinations in 2024.
·
Several member states of the European Union (EU): France, Germany, Italy and Spain
witnessed a decline in their ranking from 2nd position (in 2024) to 3rd spot (in 2025).
·
These
EU countries are ranked along with Finland and South Korea, with access to
192 destinations with no prior visa required.
8.
NASA UNVEILED NEW MARS DESIGN “MARS CHOPPER”
·
The National Aeronautics
and Space Administration (NASA) has
unveiled the design of new mars drone named “Mars Chopper” for advanced exploration of
planet Mars.
·
It is a successor of
the ‘Ingenuity helicopter’ that roamed over the
surface of Mars for over 3 years after landing on its surface alongside the
Perseverance Rover in 2020.
·
Ingenuity Helicopter, a small helicopter which weighs 1.8
kilogram (kg).
·
Mars Chopper is produced by the Southern California (the United
States of America, USA)-based Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in partnership
with the California-based Ames Research Center(ARC).
·
It is a drone-like vehicle that is about the size of an
Support Utility Vehicle (SUV) with
6 rotors.
·
Each rotor has 6 blades, which are smaller in size compared
to blades of Ingenuity but allows for increased lift.
·
It can carry maximum 5 kg of equipment and enables one to
perform more complex tasks and can fly longer distances which is up to 3
kilometers(kms).
·
NASA Administrator– Bill Nelson
·
Headquarters– Washington
·
Established– 1958
9.
MASCOTS FOR KHO KHO WORLD CUP 2025
·
The Kho Kho Federation of
India (KKFI) unveiled the trophies and mascots for the 1st-ever Kho Kho World Cup to be held at the
Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium, New Delhi
·
The tournament will
feature 21 men’s and 20 women’s teams from 24 countries across 6 continents,
showcasing global talent.
·
The mascots, ‘Tejas’ and ‘Tara’, are
dynamic gazelles that represent the spirit of the tournament.
·
Tejas, symbolising
brilliance and energy, and Tara, representing
guidance and aspiration, were depicted in vibrant blue and orange sporting
attire adorned with traditional Indian motifs.
·
The tournament will feature 2 magnificent trophies, a blue trophy for the men’s
championship and a green trophy for
the women’s championship.
10. BORDER-GAVASKAR TROPHY
·
Australia beats India 3-1
in 5 match test series to win Border-Gavaskar Trophy
after 10 years and final test of the Series was held at the Sydney Cricket
Ground in Sydney, Australia.
·
India has won four consecutive
series (2016-17, 2018-19,2020-21 and 2022-23) including two in
Australia.
·
India won the 1st match series at
Perth by 295 runs but Australia won the 2nd one in
Adelaide, by 10 wickets.
·
The 3rd match ended in
draw in Brisbane but Australia won the 4th test in Melbourne by 184 runs and
then the final test in Sydney.
·
Jaspreet Bumrah wins Player of the Series award
