Daily Current Affairs and GK | 12 December 2025

Topic: Art and Culture

1. The 26^th edition of Hornbill Festival of Nagaland ended on 10 December at Unity Plaza, Naga Heritage Village, Kisama.

• The festival is called the “Festival of Festivals.”
• This year's fsetival showed ten days of vibrant cultural performances and international participation.
• Arunachal Pradesh Minister Pasang Dorjee Sona, Malta’s High Commissioner Reuben Gauci, and Ireland’s Deputy Ambassador Raymond Mullen were the special guests at closing ceremony.
• The traditional lighting of the bonfire marked formal end of this year's celebrations.
• Over the past nine days, visitors experienced Naga tribal traditions, which included traditional sports and indigenous games to ethnic cuisines and handcrafted art.
• Nagaland and Manipur Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla inaugurated the festival as Chief Host.
• Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio served as the Host on December 1st.
• This year, Austria, France, Ireland, Malta, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom were the partner countries. Arunachal Pradesh was the State Partner.
• The Hornbill Festival is celebrated annually from December 1st to 10th.
• It is a major event promoting Nagaland’s tribal culture and global cultural engagement.

Topic: Sports

2. Germany won a record-extending 8th Men’s Junior World Cup title.

• On 10 December, defending champions Germany was crowned champions of the FIH Men’s Junior World Cup after defeating Spain 3-2 in a shoot-out in Chennai.
• The match ended 1-1 in regulation time before the game was decided through shootout attempts.
• Germany, playing their 10th final, secured their eighth title in the tournament’s history.
• The 13-day event began on November 28 and was held across Chennai and Madurai.
• Germany took the lead through Justus Warweg in the 26th minute before Spain equalised via Nicolas Mustaros.
• In the shoot-out, Germany recovered from two early misses to convert the next three attempts under pressure.
• Spain scored once through Pablo Roman but missed crucial later attempts through Aleix Bozal and Andrés Medina.
• Goalkeeper Jasper Ditzer delivered match-winning saves that sealed Germany’s title victory.
• Earlier, India beat Argentina 4-2 to win the bronze medal for the first time, adding to their tally of two golds and one silver.

Topic: Awards and Prizes

3. Supriya Sahu awarded the UNEP Champions of the Earth Honour.

• Supriya Sahu, Additional Chief Secretary for Environment, Climate Change and Forests, was awarded the UNEP 2025 Champions of the Earth award for her climate leadership.
• She was selected by UNEP for her inspiration and action in tackling urgent environmental challenges.
• During her tenure as secretary over the past four years, she has established Tamil Nadu as a global leader in the fields of climate mitigation, adaptation, and heat resilience.
• Her initiatives were highlighted for integrating governance and nature-based solutions to protect vulnerable communities and reduce emissions.
• She stated in her acceptance that government plays a central role in climate action, but real change begins when people lead.
• She stressed that climate action must become a people’s movement for long-term results.
• UNEP noted that a mix of low-tech and high-tech interventions under her tenure helped safeguard communities.
• UNEP stated that her initiatives have shown how integrated governance and nature-based solutions, along with a mix of low-tech and high-tech approaches, can protect vulnerable communities while also reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Topic: Government Schemes and Initiatives

4. On 10 December, the Sujalam Bharat App was launched by the Union Minister of Jal Shakti, C.R. Patil.

• The Sujalam India app is a crucial digital initiative designed to transform rural drinking water governance by putting comprehensive and real-time information into the hands of both citizens and institutions.
• The app was developed with support from Bhaskaracharya National Institute for Space Applications and Geo-informatics (BISAG-N) to provide geo-referencing, monitoring, and management tools under Jal Jeevan Mission.
• The initiative was described as a major step toward transparency and community ownership in rural water systems.
• The Sujalam Bharat platform was emphasised as essential for timely data integration by the DDWS Secretary.
• BISAG-N detailed the app’s technological architecture and how it supports structured digital operations and maintenance of rural water supply schemes.
• Representatives from all States and Union Territories participated online, reinforcing nationwide commitment to strong water governance.
• This is a major step towards making the Sujalam Bharat database operational.
• Every scheme and its service area will be assigned a unique Sujalam Bharat – Sujal Village ID, which will clearly indicate which scheme is providing water to which households.
• Training and orientation were conducted to guide States/UTs in using the app, geo-referencing assets, and integrating data on the platform.
• The Sujalam Bharat Database will integrate water sources, designs, asset inventories, supply reliability, water quality, and O&M information into a unified digital view.
• The digital registry will support long-term sustainability and planning, with PM Gati Shakti GIS integration enabling precise mapping of rural water networks.

Topic: MoUs/Agreements

5. An MoU signed between Gati Shakti Vishwavidyalaya and Amazon.

• Gati Shakti Vishwavidyalaya (GSV), India’s leading university for the transportation and logistics sector, and Amazon, the world’s leading e-commerce company, signed a Memorandum of Understanding.
• An MoU was signed to promote knowledge sharing and joint curriculum development.
• The MoU was aimed at enabling joint research activities and data-driven work in the warehousing sector.
• One of the key elements of the MOU is the creation of an Amazon Chair Professorship at GSV to conduct research in the warehousing sector using a data-driven decision-making framework.
• The collaboration was described by the Vice Chancellor as crucial for shaping the future of India’s logistics sector.
• Prof. Manoj Choudhary said the partnership would provide valuable industry insights for planning, innovation, and design in logistics and transportation.
• GSV, established as a Central University in 2022, operates under the Ministry of Railways and covers all major transportation sectors.
• The university focuses on railways, highways, maritime, shipping, inland waterways, aviation, and logistics networks.
• Sh. Ashwini Vaishnaw (Union Minister for Railways, Information & Broadcasting, Electronics & Information Technology) heads the university as its Chancellor.

Topic: International Appointments

6. Amin Vahdat named Google’s Chief Technologist for AI Infrastructure.

• The appointment comes during an intense competition among tech giants to secure computing capacity for AI dominance.
• The change was described by Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian as establishing AI infrastructure as a major company priority.
• Capital expenditures were expected to exceed $90 billion by year-end due to massive AI-related investments.
• Google is betting on its in-house designed tensor processing units (TPUs) and large-scale infrastructure to stay competitive.
• Microsoft has expanded investments in data centres and strengthened its partnership with OpenAI.
• Amazon continues to grow its custom chip offerings for AWS to enhance AI processing capabilities.
• The industry-wide push highlights how AI requirements are reshaping corporate strategies and technology spending.
• Sundar Pichai has stressed disciplined expenditure supported by a $155-billion cloud backlog to drive Google’s AI ambitions.

Topic: Personality in News

7. Shivraj Patil passed away at the age of 91 on 12 December 2025.

• He is a senior Congress leader and former Union Home Minister.
• He served as 10th Speaker of the Lok Sabha from 1991 to 1996 and held several Union Cabinet posts.
• He was elected to the Lok Sabha from Latur seven times. He was India’s Home Minister during 2004-2008.
• He served as the Governor of Punjab during 2010-2015. He was the Administrator of Chandigarh during this period.
• He held cabinet responsibilities (including the Defence Ministry) under Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi.

Topic: State News/Manipur

8. President Murmu launched and laid foundation stone of projects worth about ₹1,387 crore in a ceremony held at the City Convention Centre in Imphal.

• President Murmu is on a two-day visit to Manipur. She arrived in Imphal as part of visit.
• President inaugurated twelve projects worth around ₹207 crore.
• Additionally, she laid foundation stones for fourteen projects worth around ₹1,180 crore.
• The projects cover areas including health sector, education, road and highways, tribal development, agriculture, electricity, security and administrative sports, infrastructure, drinking water and others.
• A Moirang Phee textile and a Sagol Kangjei painting was presented to President by Governor of Manipur Ajay Kumar Bhalla.
• President Murmu visited the historic Mapal Kangjeibung polo ground and saw a polo exhibition match there.
• President Murmu will participate in the Nupi Lal Day 2025 observance and offer floral tributes at the Nupi Lal Memorial Complex.
• 86th Nupi Lal Day commemorates two women-led movements against the British colonial policies in 1904 and 1939.
• President Murmu will visit Senapati district and launch more projects and inaugurate completed works.

Topic: National News

9. India has launched its first indigenously built hydrogen fuel cell passenger vessel into commercial service in Varanasi.

• The vessel’s inaugural run was flagged off by Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal from Namo Ghat.
• The vessel has been designed and constructed by Cochin Shipyard Ltd. It is being operated by the Inland Waterways Authority of India.
• This is the country’s first inland vessel powered by hydrogen fuel cells and uses a Low Temperature Proton Exchange Membrane fuel cell system, which releases only water as its output.
• The vessel is a 24-metre air-conditioned catamaran, which can accommodate 50 passengers and run for about eight hours on one hydrogen fill.
• It is equipped with a hybrid system. This system integrates hydrogen fuel cells, batteries and solar power.
• Its service speed is about 6.5 knots and is certified by the Indian Register of Shipping.
• The vessel operates with no noise, no smoke and no emissions.
• Its first commercial journey is a five-kilometre stretch from Namo Ghat to Lalita Ghat.

Topic: MoUs/Agreements

10. The protocol of the Joint Commission for Economic Cooperation has been signed by India and Italy.

• This lays out a roadmap to make their economic ties more stronger.
• Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and Italy’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Antonio Tajani signed the protocol.
• Goyal said that India and Italy also concluded several industry partnerships across multiple sectors.
• The India–Italy Business Forum was organised in Mumbai on December 11 during visit of Tajani.
• Goyal addressed the form and said that this was the third major bilateral business event between two countries in eight months.
• He added that both countries are working to advance the India–EU Free Trade Agreement.
• He highlighted ongoing progress under the Italy–India Joint Strategic Action Plan in key areas.
• These areas include trade, investment, research, innovation and people-to-people ties.
• Tajani announced that Italy aims to achieve 700 billion euros in exports by 2027. He said that Italy views India as a critical partner.