DAILY GK 16-18 APRIL 2025
1.
BAHRAIN GRAND PRIX
·
Oscar Piastri, an Australian
Formula One (F1) driver representing McLaren, won the Formula
1(F1) Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix (GP) 2025, held at
the Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir, Bahrain.
·
George Russell, representing Germany-based Mercedes, secured 2nd
place.
2.
ISL 2024-25 TITLE
·
Mohun Bagan Super Giant (MBSG),
a Kolkata based football club (FC), won the 11th edition of
the Indian Super League (ISL) 2024-25 by defeating Bengaluru FC with a score of
2-1 in the final match held in Kolkata.
·
With this victory, MBSG became the second
team in ISL history, after Mumbai City FC (2020-21), to win both the ISL
Winners Shield and the ISL Title.
·
Golden Boot (Top Scorer): Alaaeddine Ajaraie, North East
United FC.
3.
CRICKET RETURNS TO OLYMPICS AFTER 128 YEARS IN LA OLYMPICS
2028
·
Lausanne,
Switzerland based International Olympic Committee (IOC)
confirmed that cricket will make its
return to the Olympic Games at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, after a gap
of 128 years.
·
The sport will feature six teams each in men’s and women’s T20
tournaments.
·
The
United States of America (USA) is likely to secure a direct spot as the host
nation.
·
Other
teams will qualify based on the International Cricket Council (ICC) rankings.
4.
FREESTYLE CHESS GRAND SLAM 2025
·
Magnus Carlsen of Norway, the world’s top-ranked chess player, secured
victory at the Paris Freestyle Chess Grand Slam, held in
France.
·
Carlsen clinched the title by defeating
American Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura .
·
India’s Arjun
Erigaisi finished fifth.
5.
RBI’S 1ST BI-MONTHLY MONETARY POLICY OF FY 2025-26
·
RBI Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) held
its 54th meeting under the chairmanship of Shri Sanjay Malhotra, Governor, RBI.
·
The committee revised the Gross Domestic
Product (GDP) growth projection for FY 2025-26 (FY26) to 6.5%.
·
Reduce the policy repo rate by 25 basis points to 6.00 per cent with immediate effect.
·
The
standing deposit facility (SDF) rate
under the liquidity adjustment facility
(LAF) was adjusted to 5.75 per cent
and the marginal standing facility (MSF)
rate and the Bank Rate were set to 6.25 per cent.
·
Reverse Repo Rate-3.35%, Cash Reserve
Ratio-4.00%, Statutory Liquidity Ratio-18.00%.
6.
SEBI CONSTITUTED HLC TO REVIEW CONFLICT OF INTEREST FOR
OFFICIALS
·
Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI)
has announced the constitution of 6-member High-Level
Committee (HLC) under the chairmanship of Pratyush Sinha, former
Chief Vigilance Commissioner (CVC)to review provisions for its officials to disclose any conflicts of
interest.
·
SEBI
has relaxed disclosure norms for Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPI)
by doubling the asset threshold limit for granular beneficial ownership (BO)
disclosures from existing Rs 25,000 crore to Rs 50,
000 crore.
7.
SEBI CLARIFIES RS 10 LAKH MINIMUM INVESTMENT
FOR SIFS AT PAN LEVEL
·
SEBI has introduced a regulatory
framework for Specialized Investment Funds (SIFs),
effective from April 1, 2025.
·
Investors must maintain a minimum total investment of Rs. 10 lakh across all
SIF strategies under one AMC, calculated at the Permanent Account
Number (PAN) level.
·
SIFs are an investment
product, bridging
the gap between Mutual Funds (MFs) and Portfolio Management Services (PMS).
·
Eligibility Criteria for AMCs to Launch SIFs -The AMC must have a minimum of 3
years of operational history.
·
Must
maintain an Average Assets Under Management (AUM) of Rs 10,000
crore or more over the last 3 years.
·
Chairperson – Tuhin Kanta Pandey.
8.
RBI IMPOSES RS. 3.20 LAKH PENALTY ON CITIBANK
·
RBI imposed a monetary penalty of Rs. 3,20,000 on
New York based Citibank .
·
For
contravention of Section 10 (4) of FEMA, 1999, which
mandates adherence to the regulations governing foreign exchange transactions.
9.
NPCI REVISES UPI FRAMEWORK
·
National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI)
introduced significant revisions to the Unified Payments Interface (UPI)
framework, focusing on enhancing security and curbing fraud risks effective
from 4th April 2025.
·
NPCI has banned QR-based international UPI
transactions, specifically the “QR Share & Pay” method,
effective from April 4, 2025.
·
Indian users abroad, including
Non-Resident Indians (NRIs), will no longer be able to scan QR
codes shared via messaging apps like WhatsApp or other social media platforms
for making payments.
·
A limit of Rs.2,000 per
transaction has been set for QR Share
& Pay transactions made to non-verified offline merchants within India.
·
NPCI has prohibited merchants from
initiating collect requests to load prepaid wallets
or gift cards, which had been prone to exploitation in scams.
·
Users will now need to initiate wallet
reloads themselves, using “push requests” to enhance control
and reduce unauthorised deductions.
10.
NATIONAL FIRE SERVICE DAY 2025 – APRIL 14
·
National Fire Service Day (NFSD) is
observed annually on April 14 in India to pay
tribute to the brave firefighters who lost their lives in the line of duty,
particularly during the Bombay Dock Explosion of 1944.
·
The theme of NFSD 20a25 and FSW 2025
is “Unite to Ignite, a Fire Safe India – Fire
Safety, Contribute towards Nation Building.”
11.
WORLD ART DAY 2025 – APRIL 15
·
·
The WAD 2025 theme, “DNA – Do No Algorithm,” emphasizes human
creativity as a counter to AI-generated art.
12.
106TH ANNIVERSARY OF JALLIANWALA BAGH MASSACRE – APRIL 13
2025
·
13th April 2025 marks the 106th
anniversary of the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre,
which took place on 13th April 1919 in Amritsar,
Punjab.
·
On
April 13, 1919, hundreds of unarmed civilians, had gathered at Jallianwala Bagh to celebrate the annual Baisakhi fair.
·
Then
acting Brigadier-General Reginald Dyer
ordered his troops to open fire on the
large crowd, which had assembled peacefully to protest against the Rowlatt Act, a
repressive law that granted sweeping
powers to the colonial administration.
·
In 1919, the
British government appointed
the Hunter Commission, officially known as the
Disorders Inquiry Committee, to
investigate the Jallianwala Bagh massacre.
·
The commission was chaired by Lord William
Hunter, a former Solicitor-General of Scotland.
