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GK Update

Fri 29 Aug, 2025

National News

Inauguration of the First National Biofoundry Network

  • The country’s first National Biofoundry Network was inaugurated under the leadership of Science and Technology Minister Jitendra Singh.
  • This network has been developed under the BioE3 Policy, which focuses on the development of bio-based products, environmental protection, and employment generation.

Related Facts:

  • A national-level collaborative platform of six premier institutions
  • Nodal Ministry: Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Ministry of Science and Technology

First Robotic Custom Laser Cataract Surgery

  • For the first time in India, Robotic Custom Laser Cataract Surgery was successfully performed at the Army Hospital Research & Referral (R&R), New Delhi.
  • The surgery used the ALLY System, a bladeless, computer-guided advanced technology.

Implementation of Revised National Action Plan for Glanders Eradication

  • The Department of Animal Husbandry & Dairying (DAHD) under the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying has implemented the Revised National Action Plan to combat Glanders – a contagious and fatal disease in equines (horses, mules, and donkeys).
  • Under the revised plan, the infected zone is limited to 2 km and the surveillance zone to 2–10 km.

Glanders Disease:

Causative agent: Burkholderia mallei bacteria Effect: Hazardous to both horses, mules, donkeys and humans Law: Notified under PCICDA, 2009

Launch of a New Module on UMMEED Portal

  • The Ministry of Minority Affairs has launched a new module on the UMMEED Portal for vulnerable groups such as widows, divorced women, and orphans.
  • Through this module, beneficiaries can apply online for financial assistance (maintenance) from Waqf properties.

Umeed Portal:

  • Launch: June 2025, Ministry of Minority Affairs
  • Objective: Digital platform for better management and monitoring of Waqf properties
  • Feature: Digital inventory and geo-tagging of all Waqf properties

State Specific News

Hosting of the 70th Filmfare Awards

  • Gujarat will host the 70th Filmfare Awards.
  • For this, a MoU was signed between Tourism Corporation of Gujarat Ltd. (TCGL) and Worldwide Media Pvt. Ltd. (a Times Group company).

Related Facts:

  • Earlier in the year 2024, this event will be held in Gift City, Gandhinagar.

Filmfare Awards:

  • Started in: 1954
  • Organized by: The Times Group (by Filmfare Magazine)
  • Objective: To honor outstanding contribution in Hindi Cinema (Bollywood)
  • First Award: 1954, Best Actor – Dilip Kumar (Film Daag), Best Actress – Meena Kumari (Film Baiju Bawra)
  • Trophy: Black Lady (Bronze Statue)
  • Significance: It is also called the "Oscar" of the Hindi film industry

Sports News

Commonwealth Weightlifting Championship 2025

  • Ajay Babu Valluri won Gold in Senior Men’s 79 kg category with a total lift of 335 kg (Snatch – 152 kg, a championship record, & Clean & Jerk – 183 kg).
  • Bedabrata Bharali clinched Gold in Junior Men’s 79 kg category with a total lift of 326 kg.

Commonwealth Weightlifting Championships 2025:

  • Venue: Gujarat, Ahmedabad (24 August to 30 August 2025)
  • Competition: 291 athletes from 30 Commonwealth countries will compete for a total of 144 medals in senior, junior and youth categories
  • The competition is also a qualifying event for the 2026 Glasgow Commonwealth Games

Appointments

Dinesh K. Patnaik

  • Dinesh K. Patnaik was appointed as India’s new High Commissioner to Canada in August 2025.
  • He is currently serving as India’s Ambassador to Spain and is a 1990 batch officer of the Indian Foreign Service (IFS).

Canada :

  • Capital: Ottawa
  • Largest city: Toronto
  • Languages: English and French (official)
  • Currency: Canadian dollar (CAD)

Dr. Urjit Patel

  • Former RBI Governor Dr. Urjit Patel was appointed as Executive Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in August 2025.
  • The appointment has been made by the Government of India for a three-year term.

Reserve Bank of India (RBI):

  • Established: On April 1, 1935 under the RBI Act, 1934
  • Nationalized: In 1949
  • First Governor: Sir Osborne Smith (1935-1937)
  • First Indian Governor: C.D. Deshmukh (1943-1949)
  • Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra
  • Dr. Urjit Patel's tenure: 2016–2018: 24th Governor of Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Governor of RBI at the time of demonetization (2016)

International News

India–Bhutan MoU

  • India and Bhutan signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to enhance technical cooperation in agriculture and allied sectors.
  • The MoU was signed in Thimphu by Devesh Chaturvedi, Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture (India), and Thinley Namgyel, Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture & Livestock (Bhutan).

Bhutan:

  • A landlocked country located in the Eastern Himalayas of South Asia
  • Capital: Thimpu
  • Language: Official language of the country is Dzongkha
  • King: Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck
  • Main religion: Vajrayana Buddhism
  • Currency: Bhutanese Ngultrum (BTN)
  • Borders: Tibet (China) to the north, India to the south, east and west
  • World's only carbon negative country
  • Official language: Dzongkha
  • Highest peak: Gangkhar Puensum

7th India–Saudi Arabia Joint Committee on Defence Cooperation Meeting

  • The 7th meeting of the India–Saudi Arabia Joint Committee on Defence Cooperation was held in New Delhi on 28 August 2025.
  • It was co-chaired by Mr. Amitabh Prasad, Joint Secretary (International Cooperation), Ministry of Defence, India, and Major General Saad Mohammed H. AlKathiri from the Saudi side.

Saudi Arabia :

  • Capital: Riyadh
  • Language: Arabic
  • Head of State: King Saliman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud
  • Currency: Saudi Riyal (SAR)
  • Borders: Jordan and Iraq to the north, Gulf and Qatar to the east, Yemen to the south, Red Sea to the west
  • Famous for: Mecca and Medina (Islam's holy sites), oil and energy resources

Science and Technology

Discovery of a Rare Quadruple Star System

  • Scientists have discovered an extremely rare quadruple star system in the Milky Way, named UPM J1040−3551 AabBab.
  • It consists of a pair of brown dwarfs orbiting a pair of red dwarfs.

Galaxy:

  • Definition: The giant galaxy in which our solar system is located.
  • Size: About 100,000 light years in diameter.
  • Shape: Spiral Galaxy
  • Center: Supermassive black hole named Sagittarius A*
  • Location of the Sun: In the outer arm of the galaxy (Orion Arm), about 26,000 light years from the center

India Needs $50 Billion Investment in Energy Storage by 2032

  • A new study by the India Energy & Climate Center (IECC), UC Berkeley, and Power Foundation (26 Aug 2025) highlights that India will require $40–50 billion (₹3–4 trillion) investment in energy storage by 2032.

Key Facts:

  • This investment could save consumers ~$7 billion (₹60,000 crore) annually.
  • India targets 500 GW non-fossil power capacity by 2030.
  • To achieve this, it needs 61 GW storage by 2030 and 97 GW by 2032, compared to the current 6 GW capacity.

Reports, Ranks and Indexes

Report on UDISE+ 2024–25 Released

  • The Ministry of Education has released a detailed report on the Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE+) 2024–25, presenting key insights and data on school education in India.

School Education 2024‑25 – Key Facts:

  • For the first time, the number of teachers in the country is 1 crore+
  • 6.7% increase (compared to 2022‑23)
  • Student-teacher ratio: Foundation: 10, Primary: 13, Middle: 17, Secondary: 21
  • Reduction in school dropout rate:
  • Primary: 3.7% → 2.3%
  • Middle: 5.2% → 3.5%
  • Secondary: 10.9% → 8.2%
  • Technological facilities: 64.7% schools have computers, 63.5% have internet.
  • Female teachers: 54.2%

Economy and Banking

India's first OOSAT inaugurated

  • CG Power's India's first end-to-end semiconductor outsourced semiconductor assembly and test (OOSAT) pilot line facility was inaugurated at Sanand, Gujarat, providing a complete solution for chip assembly, packaging and testing.

Semiconductors:

  • Materials that have electrical conductivity between conductors and dielectrics

Types:

  • Elemental semiconductors (e.g. silicon, germanium)
  • Compound semiconductors (e.g. gallium arsenide)

India's Index of Industrial Production: July 2025

  • India's Index of Industrial Production (IIP) has recorded a growth of 3.5 percent in July 2025.

Related Facts:

IIP growth rates for July 2025 across key sectors:

  • Mining: -7.2%
  • Manufacturing: 5.4%
  • Electricity: 0.6%
  • The overall IIP index increased from 149.8 in July 2024 to 155.0 in July 2025

Indices and growth rates for July 2025:

  • Primary goods: 147.6 (-1.7%)
  • Capital goods: 119.7 (5.0%)
  • Intermediate goods: 174.1 (5.8%)
  • Infrastructure/construction goods: 201.0 (11.9%)
  • Consumer durables: 136.3 (7.7%)
  • Consumer non-durables: 147.8 (0.5%)

Agreement between ADNOC and Indian Oil Corporation

  • Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) has signed a 15-year LNG supply agreement with Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) for the Ruwais LNG project.
  • Under this agreement, ADNOC will supply 1 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) per year to Indian Oil.
By 2029, Indian Oil will become ADNOC's largest LNG customer, with a total annual offtake of 2.2 million tonnes, of which 1.2 million tonnes will be from ADNOC's Dass Island operations and 1 million tonnes from the Ruwais LNG project.

 

Environment News

Significant Impact on GGS

  • A study conducted by IIT Indore and international collaborators revealed that due to climate change, the Gangotri Glacier has lost about 10% of its ice over the past four decades.

Related Facts:

  • The contribution of snowmelt has decreased from 73% to about 63%, while the contribution of rainfall and groundwater has increased.
  • The Ganges river originates from the Gangotri glacier, located in the central Himalayas
  • The average annual temperature has increased by 0.5°C during 1980-2020
  • Himalayan glaciers are losing an average thickness of 46 centimeters per year

Art and Culture

Onam Festival

  • Onam is a major 10-day annual Hindu festival of Kerala, celebrated in the Malayalam month of Chingam, which falls between August–September in the Gregorian calendar.
  • It is a harvest festival celebrated on the occasion of the return of the great King Mahabali to Earth, and it includes many activities such as floral rangoli (Pookkalam), traditional dances (Pulikali, Thiruvathira Kali), boat race (Vallam Kali), and a grand vegetarian feast (Onasadya).

Related Facts:

  • It is considered the beginning of the Malayalam New Year
  • Main Day: Thiruvonam
  • This year the celebrations began on Atham day on August 26, 2025, while the main day Thiruvonam will be celebrated on September 5, 2025.

Jain Paryushan Festival

  • Jain Paryushan is the most important and sacred festival of Jainism, which conveys the message of self-purification, penance, self-study, and forgiveness.
  • This festival is celebrated every year in the month of Bhadrapada, which falls between August–September.

Jainism:

  • Founder: Rishabhdev (First Tirthankara)
  • Prominent Tirthankara: Mahavir Swami (24th Tirthankara, 6th century BC)
  • Main principles: Ahimsa, Satya, Asteya (non-stealing), Brahmacharya, Aparigraha
  • Holy Scripture: Agama
  • Subsects: Digambara (celebrates Paryushan Parva: 8 days - Ashtanhika) and Shwetambara (celebrates Paryushan Parva: 10 days - Dasalakshana).

Important Days

Telugu Language Day

  • Telugu Language Day is celebrated every year on 29 August, marking the birth anniversary of the great Telugu poet and linguist Gidugu Venkata Ramamurthy.
  • The objective of this day is to highlight the significance of the Telugu language and honor the contributions of Gidugu Venkata Ramamurthy, who played a key role in language reform.
  • Born on 29 August 1863, he is renowned for his remarkable efforts in the development and promotion of the Telugu language.

Telugu Language:

  • Language Family: Dravidian Language Family
  • Spoken Area: Mainly Andhra Pradesh and Telangana
  • Speakers: Approximately 8.3 crores (Third most spoken mother tongue in India)
  • Script: Evolved from Brahmi script – Telugu script
  • Literature: Rich literature and poetry tradition, prominent poets – Nannayya, Tikkanna, Yerrapragada
  • Recognition: Included in the Classical Languages ​​of India (registered in 2008)
  • Special: Film industry "Tollywood" is also based in Telugu (Hyderabad, Ramoji Film City)

National Sports Day

  • National Sports Day is celebrated every year on 29 August, which marks the birth anniversary of hockey legend Major Dhyan Chand ('Hockey Wizard' in India).
  • It aims to promote the importance of sports, encourage physical fitness and honour the contribution of sportspersons.

Related Facts:

  • Theme of this year (2025): “Sports for promoting peaceful and inclusive society.”
  • Trick: “Dhyan Chand = Hockey = 29 August = National Sports Day”

Major Dhyan Chand:

  • Achievements: Won three consecutive gold medals for India in 1928 (Amsterdam), 1932 (Los Angeles), 1936 (Berlin) Olympics

Honours:

  • 1956: Padma Bhushan
  • 1979: National Sports Day declared in his name
  • 2021: Government of India renamed Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award as Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award
  • Death: 3 December 1979, New Delhi

 

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