DAILY GK 24-25 MARCH 2025
1.
KHAJURAHO DANCE
FESTIVAL IN MP
·
139 Artists (classical dancers) achieved a ‘Guinness World Record’ by performing
continuously for over 24 hours, 9 minutes, and 26 seconds in
a grand ‘Classical Dance Relay Marathon’
at the inauguration of 51st Khajuraho Dance Festival held
in Madhya Pradesh (MP).
·
The Classical Dance Relay Marathon was inaugurated by Chief Minister
(CM) of MP, Mohan Yadav.
2.
INDIA’S FIRST
HYPERLOOP TEST TRACK
·
India achieved a major milestone in transportation with the unveiling of
the first hyperloop test track at Indian
Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras in Chennai).
·
The 422-meter (m)-long facility was developed with the support of the
Ministry of Railways (MoR).
·
Hyperloop Technology was
first proposed by Elon Musk in 2013,
aiming to revolutionize long-distance travel by significantly reducing travel
times.
·
The hyperloop technology
uses a magnetically levitated pod inside
a vacuum tube to eliminate friction and air resistance and could reduce
travel time between New Delhi and Jaipur (around 300 kilometer, km) to just 30
minutes.
·
The Hyperloop is a high-speed transportation system that involves moving capsules or pods through vacuum-sealed tubes at speeds of up to 1,100 km/hour (h).
·
The key technologies of the hyperloop system
include Vacuum Tubes: The pods move through tubes that are
evacuated to create a near-vacuum environment, significantly reducing air
resistance and enhancing speed.
·
Electromagnetic Propulsion: The system uses linear induction motors or
magnetic levitation technology to propel the pods at incredible speeds,
ensuring smooth and fast travel.
·
Capsules: The passenger and cargo pods are
designed for safety and comfort, equipped with advanced life support systems to
ensure a secure travel experience.
3.
8TH IOC IN OMAN
·
External Affairs Minister (EAM) Subrahmanyam Jaishankar participated
at the inaugural session of 8th Indian
Ocean Conference (IOC) in Muscat, Oman.
·
The conference, themed “Voyage to
New Horizons of Maritime Partnership,” aimed to enhance regional
cooperation and address shared challenges in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR).
·
EAM of India, S. Jaishankar
and Foreign Minister of Oman, Sayyid Badr Albusaid unveiled a
specially designed logo celebrating 70
years of diplomatic relations between India and Oman.
·
Book titled “Mandvi to Muscat: Indian
Community and the Shared History of India and Oman” was launched
·
On the sidelines of the
conference, EAM of India, S.Jaishankar held bilateral meetings with Foreign
Ministers from Brunei, Bangladesh, Iran, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Maldives,
Mauritius, and Nepal.
·
OmanCapital- Muscat.
·
Currency- Omani Rial (OMR).
4.
13TH MIDCOM MEETING
IN KUALA LUMPUR
·
The 13th meeting of
the Malaysia-India Defence Cooperation Committee (MIDCOM) was
held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
·
The meeting was co-chaired by Rajesh
Kumar Singh, Secretary of the Ministry of
Defence (MoD), India, and Lokman Hakim Bin Ali,
Secretary General (SG) of the MoD, Malaysia,
acknowledging the strengthening bilateral defence cooperation between their
Armed Forces.
·
Both nations reaffirmed their commitment to fully implement new
initiatives under the defence pillar of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP).
·
India and Malaysia exchanged the finalised
Terms of Reference (ToR) on the establishment of the Strategic Affairs
Working Group, which will act as a consultative mechanism intermediate between
MIDCOM and the two sub-committees to progress bilateral defence cooperation.
·
Malaysia assumed the chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN) 2025 under the theme “Inclusivity
and Sustainability”.
5.
‘’IMAGINE A WORLD
WITH MORE WOMEN IN SCIENCE’’ CAMPAIGN By UNESCO
·
The United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
launched the campaign “Imagine a world with more women in science”
to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of the International Day of
Women and Girls in Science (11 February 2025) with the support of
Canada’s International Development Centre (IDRC).
·
The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) has declared
11th February as International Day of Women and Girls in Science in 2015.
·
Using the hashtag #EveryVoice
In Science, this campaign builds on the momentum of the UNESCO Call to
Action Closing the Gender Gap in Science, which was launched during the 2024
celebration of this International Day.
6.
FATF PLENARY MEETING
·
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the global watchdog against financial crimes, conducted its
second Plenary under Mexico’s Elisa de AndaMadrazo Presidency
at Paris, France.
·
Kenya joined the FATF as a guest to enhance regional representation. Kenya joins the Cayman
Islands and Senegal who began participating in the guest initiative in October
2024.
·
Russia’s membership remains suspended (since February 2024) over
concerns about sanctions evasion.
·
Leadership Change: The Plenary selected Mr. Giles
Thomson, from the United Kingdom (UK) to be the next FATF Vice
President.
·
Laos or Lao People’s
Democratic Republic (PDR) and Nepal were added Increased
Monitoring (Grey List) due to strategic deficiencies in their
anti-money laundering/countering terrorism financing (AML/CFT) frameworks.
·
Philippines exited the Greylist after successfully addressing its
action plan.
·
Financial Action Task Force
Headquarters- Paris, France
·
Founded – 1989
·
The FATF Plenary meets three times a year, usually in February, June and
October.
7.
IDEX AND NAVDEX 2025
IN ABU DHABI
·
The 17th edition of the International Defence Exhibition (IDEX) and
the 8th edition of the Naval Defence and Maritime Security Exhibition (NAVDEX) were
held in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE) under
the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed
bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE.
·
Indian Coast Guard Ship (ICGS) Shoor, an
advanced Offshore Patrol Vessel, represented India’s maritime strength at
NAVDEX 2025.
·
Goa Shipyard Ltd (GSL) based in Goa presented
its locally designed Fast Patrol Vessels (FPVs) and Offshore Patrol Vessels
(OPVs) at NAVDEX 2025 in Abu Dhabi.
8.
AUSTRALIA INVESTS USD
16 MILLION TO STRENGTHEN ECONOMIC TIES WITH INDIA
·
The government of Australia unveiled a new
roadmap to expand its economic partnership with the Government of India(GoI) by
launching the `Australia-India Trade and
Investment Accelerator Fund (TIAF)’ with an investment of USD
16 million.
·
The strategy highlights four key “superhighways of growth” where
Australia has a competitive advantage: clean energy, education and
skills, agribusiness, and tourism.
·
Additionally, an extra USD
4 million will be allocated to expand the Maitri (Friendship)
Grants Program, which aims to strengthen business, cultural, and
people-to-people relations between Australia and India.
·
India is expected to become
the third-largest economy by 2030.
·
Australia President – Anthony Albanese.
·
Capital – Canberra.
9.
TOP 10 BUSIEST GLOBAL
AIRPORTS IN 2025
·
Luton (UK)-based air consultancy firm Official Airline Guide (OAG) released
its latest report about ‘World’s Busiest Airport in 2025’.
·
As per the report, Delhi Airport named Indira
Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) in New Delhi
ranked at 8th spot, among the top 10 busiest
airports globally as of February 2025.
·
DEL has had registered the highest capacity growth in February 2025 as
against the same month in 2024, with number of seats increasing by 3.4% to 3.6
million seats.
·
Dubai International Airport continues to be the busiest
airport in the world with 4.8 million seats.
·
USA-based Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International
Airport (ATL) continues to be world’s 2nd busiest
airport globally in 2025, with 4.6 million seats.
·
UK-based London Heathrow Airport (LHR) has
retained its position has Europe’s
busiest airport, and ranked at 5th spot globally
in 2025 with 3.85 million seats.
10.
GOA’S MOPA AIRPORT
WIN ‘SARVASHRESTHA SURAKSHA PURASKAAR’
·
Goa’s Manohar
International Airport (GOX), also known as Mopa Airport,
became the first airport in India to receive the
“Sarvashrestha Suraksha Puraskar (Golden Trophy)” at the National Safety Council
of India (NSCI) Safety Awards 2024 in the ‘Service Sector‘
category held in Mumbai.
·
The
SarvashresthaSurakshaPuraskar is awarded by the NSCI,
established by the Ministry of Labour
and Employement (MoL&E), Government of India (GoI), to recognize
organizations for exemplary Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) performance.
·
The airport is named
after Manohar Gopalkrishna Prabhu Parrikar, the
former Union Minister, Ministry of Defence (MoD) and Chief Minister (CM) of
Goa.
11.
SUNIL BHARTI MITTAL
PRESENTED WITH ‘HONORARY KNIGHTHOOD MEDAL’
·
Sunil Bharti Mittal, Founder and Chairman of New Delhi (Delhi)
based Bharti Enterprises, was honored with the ‘Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire
(KBE) for his contributions to strengthening business relations between the
United Kingdom (UK) and India.
·
The announcement was made in 2024, declaring Sunil Bharti Mittal as the first
Indian citizen to receive the KBE under King Charles
III.
·
In 2007, he was awarded the Padma Bhushan, India’s
3rd-highest civilian honor, recognizing his contributions to trade and
industry.
12.
NATIONAL
DHANWANTRI AYURVEDA AWARDS
·
The Ministry of AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga, and
Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, and Homoeopathy) bestowed the prestigious ‘National Dhanwantari Ayurveda Awards’
for 2025 on 3
distinguished practitioners in recognition of their outstanding contributions to the field of traditional
Indian medicine.
·
The awardees for National Dhanwantari Ayurveda Awards 2025 include Vaidya Tara Chand Sharma, Vaidya Maya Ram Uniyaland Vaidya Sameer GovindJamadagni.
·
Vaidya Tara Chand Sharma, known for his mastery as a Nadi Vaidya,
is also an distinguished author.
·
Vaidya Maya
Ram Uniyal , eminent scholar of
Dravyaguna Vigyana with over 60 years of service.
·
Vaidya Sameer Govind Jamadagni, founder of the Vishwa Vyakhyanmala national conference and
Vishwa Ayurveda Prabodhini.
·
The National Dhanwantari Ayurveda Award is
instituted by the Ministry of AYUSH.
·
Each awardee receives a citation, a trophy featuring the Statue
of Lord Dhanwantari, and a cash prize of Rs 5 lakh.
13.
2024 BURGUNDY PRIVATE
HURUN INDIA 500 LIST
·
According to the 2024 Burgundy Private Hurun India 500
list, released by Axis Bank Limited‘s Burgundy Private and Hurun
India, Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) based in
Mumbai, Maharashtra has retained its position as India’s most valuable company
for the fourth consecutive year with a valuation of Rs17,52,650
crore.
·
Following RIL, Mumbai based Tata Consultancy Services Limited(TCS) ranks
second with a valuation of Rs 16,10,800 crore , while Housing Development
Finance Corporation (HDFC) Bank Limited,
Mumbai, is in third place at Rs
14,22,570 crore .
·
The total worth of the 500 companies featured in the 2024 edition of the
list stands at Rs 324 lakh crore (approximately USD 3.8 trillion).
14.
THE WORLD REPUTATION
RANKINGS 2025
·
According to Times Higher
Education (THE)’ latest ‘World Reputation Rankings 2025’, Harvard University based
in the United States of America (USA) retained top
position as the world’s most reputed institution for the 14th consecutive
year, with an overall score of 99.9.
·
USA-based Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and
United Kingdom (UK)-based University of Oxford jointly
shared 2nd position on the list and
both secured the overall score of 99.7.
·
This year, only 4 Indian
universities/institutions featured on the list. Also, all these
institutions witnessed a drop in their rankings compared to the 2023 edition.
·
Bengaluru -based Indian Institute of Science (IISc) saw
drop in its ranking from 101-123 (in 2023) to 201-300, with overall score
within the range of 26.9-34.2.
·
Similarly, Indian Institute
of Technology Delhi (IIT-D) based in
Delhi, slipped to 201-300 (in 2025) from 151-175 (in 2023).
·
Indian Institute of Technology Madras
(IIT-M) based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu (TN), ranked in the range of 201-300,
down from 176-200 (in 2023).
·
Siksha ‘O’ Anusandhan (SOA),
which is a private deemed-to-be
university based in Bhubaneswar (Odisha) debuted in the latest edition of
rankings and has been ranked in the 201-300, with overall score of 26.9-34.2.
15.
UNESCAP SDG PROGRESS
REPORT 2025
·
The United Nations Economic
and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) published
the report titled “Asia
and the Pacific SDG Progress Report: Engaging Communities to Close the Evidence
Gap 2025”, which provides a comprehensive assessment of progress on the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and
their 169 targets in the Asia-Pacific region.
·
The Asia-Pacific SDG Progress Report 2025 stresses that urgent action is still needed in order to achieve the
17 SDGs by 2030 Agenda.
·
The report highlights
significant progress in the Asia-Pacific region on SDGs, including reducing
income poverty (SDG 1), addressing undernourishment (SDG 2), supporting
small-scale industries (SDG 9), reducing hazardous waste (SDG 12), mitigating
land degradation (SDG 15), and combating human trafficking and intentional
homicide (SDG 16).
·
The UNESCAP was originally
established as the United Nations(UN) Economic Commission for Asia and the Far
East (ECAFE) on March 28, 1947 and was renamed as ESCAP on August 1, 1974.
·
Headquarters– Bangkok, Thailand.
·
Established– 1947.
16.
SECURITY EXERCISE
‘SAGAR KAVACH’
·
A two-day coastal security
exercise, ‘SagarKavach’, conducted in West
Bengal .
·
The exercise was coordinated
by Kolkata(WB) based Coast Guard
Region(North East, NE).
·
The exercise also featured
coordinated sea and air surveillance by the Indian Coast
Guard(ICG) to enhance readiness against terror threats.
17.
INDIAN NAVY HANDS
OVER INS GULDAR TO MTDC
·
The Indian Navy (IN)
handed over an Indian Naval Ship (INS) Guldar, Landing Ship Tank, to the Maharashtra
Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) at Karwar, Maharashtra
on an ‘as is where is’ basis for
conversion into India’s first underwater museum and artificial reef.
·
The MTDC has taken the ship under
their charge to convert it into an underwater museum and artificial reef near
the Nivati Rocks, off the coast of Vengurla in Sindhudurg District,
Maharashtra.
·
The INS Guldar was built at Gdynia Shipyard, Poland, and was commissioned into the IN in 1985.
·
The ship was assigned to the Eastern Naval Command (ENC)
from 1985 to 1995.
·
Then it was transferred to the Andaman and Nicobar
Command (ANC), where it remained until its decommissioning in 2024.
18.
INDIA-JAPAN MILITARY
EXERCISE ‘DHARMA GUARDIAN’
·
The 6th edition of the India-Japan joint
military exercise, ‘Dharma Guardian,’ began at the East Fuji
Manoeuvre Training Area in Japan.
·
Japan Prime Minister (PM) – Shigeru Ishiba.
·
Capital – Tokyo.
·
Currency – Japanese Yen (JPY).
19.
DRDO CONDUCTED FLIGHT
TRIALS OF ‘NASM-SR’
·
The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO),
in collaboration with the Indian Navy (IN), successfully
conducted flight trials of first-of-its-kind, indigenously developed Naval Anti-Ship Missile Short Range (NASM-SR).
·
The tests were carried out at the Integrated Test Range (ITR) located at
Chandipur, off the coast of Odisha.
·
This missile will replace the Sea Eagle missiles which
are currently in use with the IN.
·
The missile was launched in
Bearing-only Lock-on after Launch (LOAL) mode,
initially guided by a broad target direction, then precisely hit a smaller
target.
·
DRDO is India’s premier agency
under the Department of Defence (DoD), Research and Development (R&D),
Ministry of Defence (MoD), Government of India (GoI).
·
Chairman- Dr. Samir Vankatpati Kamat.
·
Headquarters– New Delhi, Delhi.
·
Established-1958.
20.
ASIAN SNOOKER
CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE
·
India’s PankajAdvani won the 2025
Asian Snooker Championship’s men’s title, defeating Amir Sarkosh of Iran in the final.
·
He won the championship for the fourteenth time in the Asian Snooker and
Billiards tournaments.
·
The Asian Confederation of Billiards Sports (ACBS)
organized the Men’s, Women’s, and Men’s
under-21 Asian Snooker Championship, which was held in Doha, Qatar, was
hosted by the Qatar Billiards Sports Federation (QBSF).
·
Narantuya Bayarsaikhan of Mongolia defeated Ng On Yee of Hong
Kong, China in the women’s section of the 2025 Asian
Snooker Championship.
·
Shaheen Sabzi of Iran defeated Zihao Dong of China in
the under-21 men’s title of
the 2025 Asian Snooker Championship.
