DAILY GK 7-8 APRIL 2025
1. 11TH BRICS ENVIRONMENT MINISTERS’
MEETING
·
11th BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) Environment
Ministers’ Meeting convened in BrasÃlia, Brazil
·
During the meeting, India emphasized the
necessity for collective leadership among BRICS nations to advance the 2030
Climate Agenda.
2. HUNGARY ANNOUNCES
WITHDRAWAL FROM ICC
·
The Government of Hungary has
announced to withdraw from the International Criminal Court (ICC) headquartered
in The Hague, Netherlands.
·
This decision came after
Prime Minister(PM) of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu visited Hungary.
·
Hungary became a member
of the ICC in 1999 when it signed the Rome Statute.
·
It is now set to become
the first European Union (EU) country to leave the court.
·
To officially leave, Hungary must send a written notice to
António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN).
·
The withdrawal of a state from the ICC becomes effective one
year after the submission of the formal withdrawal letter.
·
Till March 2025, only Burundi
and the Philippines have officially
withdrawn from the ICC.
·
Reasons Behind Hungary’s Withdrawal : In November 2024, the
ICC issued an arrest warrant against Benjamin
Netanyahu , accusing him of war crimes in Gaza.
·
These charges are linked to Israel’s military actions in
Gaza(Palestine), which began after Hamas-led fighters attacked southern Israel
on October 7, 2023.
·
That attack killed around
1,200 people and took over 250 hostages.
·
In response, Israel launched a
large-scale offensive in Gaza that, has killed over 50,000 people and caused
widespread destruction.
·
As a member of the ICC, Hungary is supposed to follow its
decisions — including arresting people with ICC warrants
·
The PM of Hungary, Viktor Orbán, is
openly supporting Israel and has stated that Hungary
will not arrest Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu and decided to withdraw from the
ICC.
·
The ICC is the world’s first permanent court to
prosecute individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and
aggression.
·
Headquarters – The Hague, Netherlands
3. PM MODI VISIT TO THAILAND
AND SRI LANKA
·
PM of India Narendra Modi
was on a two-day official visit to Thailand on the
invitation of the PM of Thailand, Paetongtarn Shinawatra.
·
PM of India Narendra Modi was on a two-day official
visit to Sri Lanka (SL) on the invitation of the President of SL, Anura Kumara Dissanayake.
·
During his visit to Sri Lanka, PM Narendra Modi was honoured with the SL’s highest civilian
award, the ‘Mithra Vibhushana’
4. UN ELECTS INDIA BY
ACCLAMATION TO ISAR
·
The
Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations
(UN) announced that India has been elected by
acclamation as a member of the UN
Intergovernmental Working Group (IWG) of Experts on International Standards
of Accounting and Reporting (ISAR)
for a 3 year term i.e. from 2025-2027.
·
ISAR is an IWG of Experts
on International Standards of Accounting and Reporting formed in 1983 by
UN-Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and
coordinated by Geneva (Switzerland)-based United Nations Conference on Trade
and Development (UNCTAD).
·
It conducts its annual sessions in Geneva, Switzerland
to address emerging issues in enterprise accounting and reporting.
·
It allows 34 formal members from different regions of the world to serve 3-year
term, that includes: Africa
(9), Asia (7), Latin America (6), Eastern Europe (3), and Western Europe and
other states (9).
5. INDIA-NEPAL MOU TO
ENHANCE JUDICIAL COOPERATION
·
The
Supreme Court(SC) of India signed
a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the SC of Nepal to
strengthen judicial cooperation between the two
nations in New Delhi
·
The MoU aims to enhance
mutual judicial cooperation through structured interactions, exchange visits,
short- and long-term training, and academic initiatives among judges and
judicial officers of both countries.
·
Chief Justice of India (CJI) –
Sanjiv Khanna
·
Established – 1950
6. MSRDC HONORED WITH SKOCH 2025 AWARD
·
The Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation
Limited (MSRDC) was conferred with the prestigious SKOCH
2025 Award for Gold category in ‘infrastructure’.
·
MSRDC won this award in recognition of successful
implementation of its flagship project named ‘Hindu Hrudaysamrat Balasaheb
Thackeray Maharashtra Samruddhi Mahamarg’.
·
SKOCH Awards, established in 2003, recognizes
the exceptional contributions of individuals, projects and institutions in the
field of governance, inclusive growth, technology excellence, corporate
leadership, citizen service delivery, and capacity building.
7. FRED DARRINGTON SAND
ART AWARD
·
Renowned Indian sand
artist Sudarshan Pattnaik has become the 1st Indian to
win the Fred Darrington Sand Master Award for
Excellence in Art and Culture in recognition of his exceptional contributions
to sand art.
·
The
Mayor of Weymouth Cllr Jon Orell presented
the award and medal to Sudarshan Pattnaik during the Sandworld 2025
International Sand Art Festival held at Weymouth
in the United Kingdom (UK).
·
In 2014, the Government of India (GoI) awarded him
Padma Shri, India’s 4th highest civil honour in the field of arts for his
contribution to the art of sand sculpting.
8. NATIONAL
MARITIME VARUNA AWARD 2025
·
Captain Rajesh Unni,
Founder of Singapore-based Synergy
Marine Group, was awarded the National
Maritime Varuna Award, the highest individual honour in India’s maritime sector by the
Government of India (GoI) during the 62nd National Maritime Day (April
5) celebrations held in Mumbai
·
The National Maritime Varuna Award recognises
individuals for their sustained and extraordinary contributions to India’s
maritime sector.
·
India’s first coastal green shipping corridor
will be developed between Kandla (Gujarat) and Tuticorin (Tamil
Nadu)
9. GLOBAL INDEX READINESS FOR
FRONTIER TECHNOLOGIES
·
United
Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)
released its latest ‘2025 Technology and Innovation Report’.
·
India
ranked at 36th spot (in 2024) among 170 countries on the ‘Readiness for
Frontier Technologies’ index, up from 48th spot secured in 2022.
·
The index has combined
key indicators for: Information and Communications Technology (ICT) deployment, skills, Research and
Development (R&D) activity, industrial capacity, and access to finance.
·
Among top 5 countries on the index, 4 are
USA (1st);Sweden (2nd); the Netherlands (3rd) and Switzerland
(4th) except: Singapore
(5th), the only country from Asia region.
·
UNCTAD Headquarters- Geneva, Switzerland
·
Established- 1964
10. FIRST-EVER PAI BASELINE
REPORT FOR FY23
·
The Ministry of
Panchayati Raj (MoPR) launched the first-ever ‘Panchayat
Advancement Index (PAI) baseline report’ for the
Financial Year 2022-23 (FY23) toward localizing
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
·
This transformative tool
evaluates the performance of over 2.5
lakh Gram Panchayats (GPs) across India using a comprehensive,
evidence-based framework aligned with the SDG 2030 Agenda.
·
The PAI is a composite index developed to assess the
performance of the Panchayats based on 9 themes of Localized SDGs (LSDGs),
including good governance, Poverty-Free and Enhanced Livelihoods, etc.
·
Of the 699 panchayats that have been ranked as Front Runners,
Gujarat led the pack with 346 GP as Front Runners, followed by Telangana with
270 Front Runners.
