Daily Current Affairs and GK | 2 August 2025

Topic: Sports

1. Indian women wrestlers won a total of five medals at the 2025 U17 World Wrestling Championships in Athens.

• The five medals include two gold, two silver, and one bronze.
• Rachana made history by becoming the first Indian to win gold in the 43 kg women’s freestyle category.
• She defeated China’s Xin Huang with 3-0 score.
• Ashvini Vishnoi added to India’s tally with a gold in the 65 kg division.
• She beat Uzbekistan’s Mukhayyo Rakhimjonova, also by 3-0.
• Moni secured a silver medal in the 57 kg category. She lost a close final to Kazakhstan’s Madkhiya Usmanov by 5-6.
• Kajal brought home another silver in the 73 kg weight class. She was defeated by China’s Wenjin Qiu in the final.
• Komal Verma earned a bronze medal in the 49 kg category. She defeated Anhelina Burkina.
• Hardeep won India’s first medal after getting gold in the 110kg Greco-Roman wrestling.
• So far, Indian wrestlers have won total six medals at U17 World Wrestling Championships 2025. These include three gold, two silver and a bronze.
• U17 World Wrestling Championships 2025 is being held in Athens, Greece from July 28 to August 3.
• It features competitions in all three wrestling disciplines (men’s freestyle, Greco-Roman and women’s freestyle).

Topic: Summits/Conferences/Meetings

2. India to host AI Impact Summit 2026, leading global effort for responsible AI.

• India will host the AI Impact Summit in February 2026, highlighting its global leadership in democratising Artificial Intelligence for the public good.
• Union IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw informed Parliament that this aligns with PM Modi’s vision to use AI in solving real-world challenges in health, education, agriculture, and governance.
• The IndiaAI mission emphasizes safety, equity, privacy, and accountability, with core initiatives including the development of native Language Models using Indian datasets.
• Indian startups such as Sarvam AI, Soket AI, Gnani AI, and Gan AI are building open-source foundational models tailored to India’s linguistic diversity.
• To promote scalable innovation, the government is also working on expanding the country’s AI infrastructure.
• This includes improving access to GPU (graphics processing unit) computing power and enhancing the AIKosh dataset platform, which currently hosts over 1,000 datasets and 208 AI models.
• The mission is funding 30 AI-based public interest projects, while 10 startups are being mentored globally under the IndiaAI Startups Programme at Station F and HEC Paris.
• A new IndiaAI Safety Institute has been established to promote responsible AI development, focusing on deepfake detection, AI bias mitigation, and machine unlearning.
• A techno-legal framework, supported by laws like the Digital Personal Data Protection Act (2023) and IT Rules (2021), is guiding ethical AI growth in India.

Topic: Government Schemes and initiatives

3. PM-KISAN 20th Installment released by PM Modi from Varanasi.

• On 2 August, the 20th installment of the PM-KISAN Samman Nidhi Scheme was released by Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Varanasi.
• More than ₹20,500 crore was transferred directly into the bank accounts of over 9.7 crore farmers across the country.
• In addition to this, 52 development projects worth ₹2,200 crore were inaugurated and laid the foundation stone by the Prime Minister.
• Key infrastructure projects, including the widening and strengthening of the Varanasi-Bhadohi road and the Chhitauni-Shool Tankeshwar roads, along with a railway overbridge at Hardattpur to ease traffic on the Mohan Sarai-Adalpura road, were also inaugurated .
• Foundation stones were laid for power infrastructure works under the Smart Distribution Project, estimated at ₹880 crore.
• Redevelopment of 8 riverfronts and water purification work at various kunds was also inaugurated.
• Under the Jal Jeevan Mission, 47 new rural drinking water schemes were inaugurated.
• Four floating pujan platforms were installed at river ghats to enhance religious infrastructure.
• Several new projects related to education, healthcare, tourism, and cultural heritage were also launched, aiming to promote urban transformation, cultural revival, improved connectivity, and better quality of life.

Topic: Awards and Prizes

4. Nitin Gadkari honoured with 43rd Lokmanya Tilak National Award.

• On 1 August, the 43rd Lokmanya Tilak National Award was presented to Union Minister Nitin Gadkari at a ceremony held in Pune.
• The award was presented by the Lokmanya Tilak Smarak Trust in recognition of his exceptional service towards the nation’s progress.
• The organizers organized the award ceremony on August 1, the death anniversary of Lokmanya Tilak, at the Tilak Smarak Mandir in Pune.
• On this occasion, Gadkari emphasized the need to convert Lokmanya Tilak’s dream of Swarajya into Surajya through transparent governance.
• The role of youth and technocrats in shaping India into a global leader was strongly highlighted by the Minister.
• Lokmanya Tilak National Award:
  • Lokmanya Tilak was a prominent figure in India's freedom struggle in the early 20th century.
  • It was started in 1983.
  • The award comprises a cash prize of ₹1 lakh as well as a memento.
  • PM Narendra Modi, Indira Gandhi, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Dr. Manmohan Singh, Pranab Mukherjee, NR Narayana Murthy, and Cyrus Poonawalla are some of the recipients of this award.

Topic: Indian Economy

5. India's foreign exchange reserves rose sharply to $2.7 billion in July.

• India’s foreign exchange reserves saw a rise of $2.7 billion, reaching a total of $698.19 billion as per RBI data released on 1 August.
• The increase was led by foreign currency assets, which rose by $1.31 billion to $588.93 billion.
• Gold reserves also contributed to the rise, rising by $1.2 billion to $85.7 billion.
• Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) with the IMF increased by $126 million to $18.8 billion, while the IMF reserve position rose by $55 million to $4.75 billion.
• These gains were partially driven by positive revaluations of assets denominated in major currencies such as the Euro, Pound, and Yen.
• The RBI continues to intervene in the forex market to manage volatility and maintain liquidity, without targeting a fixed exchange rate.
• Gross FDI inflows into India surged to $8.8 billion in April 2025, compared to $5.9 billion in March and $7.2 billion in April 2024.
• Nearly 50% of these FDI inflows were attracted by India’s manufacturing and business services sectors.
• India ranked 16th globally for FDI inflows and led the Global South with $114 billion in greenfield digital economy investments from 2020 to 2024.
• Foreign portfolio investments also rose, with net investments of $1.7 billion in May 2025, supported by global optimism and strong corporate earnings.

Topic: National Appointments

6. Dr. A. Rajarajan appointed as new VSSC Director.

• Dr. A. Rajarajan has been appointed as the new Director of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), Thiruvananthapuram.
• He assumed charge on August 1, succeeding Dr. S. Unnikrishnan Nair, who retired on July 31.
• Dr. Rajarajan currently serves as the Director of Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR and is a veteran in the Indian space program.
• With nearly 40 years of experience, he is widely acknowledged for his expertise in composite materials essential for space systems.
• Under his leadership, SDSC SHAR made significant upgrades to launch infrastructure for key ISRO missions, including the Human Space Programme (Gaganyaan) and the Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV).
• He has also played a vital role in promoting private participation in India's space sector.
• He enabled Hyderabad-based start-up Skyroot Aerospace to launch Vikram-S and assisted Chennai-based Agnikul Cosmos in the successful launch of its maiden flight.

Topic: Awards and Prizes

7. Shah Rukh Khan and Vikrant Massey won Best Actor at the 71st National Film Awards for Jawan and 12th Fail respectively.

• Rani Mukerji was named Best Actress for Mrs Chatterjee Vs Norway.
• 12th Fail was awarded Best Film. Flowering Man won Best Non-Feature Film. The film was directed by Soumyajit Ghosh Dastidar.
• Piyush Thakur received the award for Best Director. God Vulture and Human was recognized as Best Documentary.
• Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani was awarded Best Popular Film for Wholesome Entertainment.
• Sam Bahadur received the award for promoting national, social, and environmental values.
• GV Prakash Kumar won Best Music Direction for Vaathi. Vaathi is a Tamil-language film.
• Shilpa Rao won Best Playback Singer for her song in Jawan.
• PVN S Rohit was awarded Best Playback Singer for a song in Baby. Baby is a Telugu film.
• Pookalam, a Malayalam film, received the Best Editing award.
• Naal 2, a Marathi movie, won award for Best Children’s Film.
• The Kerala Story was awarded award for Best Cinematography.
• Utpal Dutta was honored as Best Film Critic.

Topic: State News/ Telangana

8. During July, Telangana Police rescued more than 7,600 children under Operation Muskaan-XI.

• Out of these, 529 were identified as girls.
• The initiative was carried out by the Women Safety Wing in collaboration with departments like Women and Child Welfare, Labour, Health, NGOs, and child protection agencies.
• The mission focused on safeguarding children from abuse, neglect, and exploitation.
• More than 3,700 of the rescued minors came from states such as Odisha, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan.
• Additionally, four children were found to be from Nepal.
• Roughly 6,700 children had been subjected to child labour.
• Others were discovered in harmful conditions, including street begging and unsafe working environments.
• The authorities filed over 1,700 FIRs during the operation.
• More than 1,700 suspects were apprehended.
• The Labour Department levied fines exceeding ₹46 lakh under the Minimum Wages Act.
• Over 6,500 children were successfully reunited with their families.
• As part of rehabilitation, more than 2,600 migrant children were admitted into 29 Urban Bridge Schools.

Topic: International News

9. India is among the hardest hit South Asian countries under US President Donald Trump’s new retaliatory tariff list.

• India faces a 25 per cent tariff, while Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam face 20 per cent tariff.
• Pakistan, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, and Malaysia were each given a 19 per cent tariff.
• Myanmar and Laos received the highest tariffs in the region at 40 per cent, while Brunei matches India at 25 per cent.
• These tariffs include a 10 per cent baseline tariff introduced by the US in April.
• Trump has not yet announced the additional penalty he previously threatened India over its ties with Russia.
• Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal stated that the government is assessing the impact in consultation with exporters and industry stakeholders.
• India is continuing its engagement with the US on a bilateral trade agreement, with the first phase expected by Fall 2025 (October-November).
• India has decided not to retaliate against the US at the WTO while trade talks are ongoing.
• In FY25, the US was India’s top export destination with goods worth $86.51 billion.
• A tariff is a tax imposed by a government on imported or exported goods.
• It is typically used to protect domestic industries, generate revenue for the government or to retaliate against trade practices of other countries.

Topic: National Appointments

10. Vice Admiral Sanjay Vatsayan, AVSM, NM took over as the 47th Vice Chief of the Naval Staff on 01 August 2025.

• He joined the Indian Navy on 01 January 1988 after completing the 71st course at the National Defence Academy in Pune.

• With over 30 years of service, he is an expert in Gunnery and Missile Systems.
• In February 2020, he took command of the Eastern Fleet during a period marked by heightened maritime tensions following the Galwan Valley incident.
• For his leadership and distinguished service, he received the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal in 2021.
• At the Integrated Defence Staff, he served as Deputy Chief for both Operations and for Policy, Plans, and Force Development.