Daily Current Affairs and GK | 23 August 2025

Topic: Personality in News

1. Prominent NRI industrialist and philanthropist Lord Swaraj Paul passed away.

• He passed away in London at the age of 94.
• PM Modi condoled his death and highlighted his contributions to industry, charity, and public service in the UK.
• He also praised Paul's role in strengthening India-UK relations.
• Lord Swaraj Paul was born in Jalandhar, Punjab in 1931.
• In the 1960s, he moved to the UK for his daughter's medical treatment.
• Paul was made a life peer in the House of Lords in 1996.
• He was known for his charitable efforts, including saving the London Zoo.

Topic: Important Day

2. National Space Day 2025: August 23

• The Second National Space Day was celebrated in India on August 23, 2025.
• The theme of 2nd National Space Day is "India's journey from Aryabhatta to Gaganyaan and envisions the infinite possibilities ahead."
• On August 23, 2023, the Chandrayaan-3 mission completed the safe and soft landing of the Vikram lander on the lunar surface.
• With this, India became the fourth country to land on the Moon and the first to land near the Moon's south polar region.
• The soft landing was followed by the successful launch of the Pragyan Rover.
• The landing site was named 'Shiva Shakti' point (Station Shiva Shakti), and 23 August was declared "National Space Day."

Topic: Indian Polity

3. Five maritime bills passed by the Parliament to strengthen the blue economy.

• Parliament has passed five major maritime bills during the recently concluded Monsoon Session.
• On August 22, Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said that colonial-era maritime laws have been reformed, and this will boost the blue economy.
• The Bills of Lading 2025, Carriage of Goods by Sea Bill 2025, Coastal Shipping Bill 2025, Merchant Shipping Bill 2025, and Indian Ports Bill 2025 were cleared.
• The Bills of Lading 2025 will simplify legal documents to cut disputes and promote ease of business.
• The Carriage of Goods by Sea Bill 2025 replaced the 1925 Act by adopting the Hague-Visby Rules for reduced litigation and stronger international ties.
• The Coastal Shipping Bill 2025 aims to revive the 6% modal share and reduce logistics costs.
• Savings of about Rs 10,000 crore annually and lower pollution and congestion are targeted.
• The Merchant Shipping Bill, 2025, amended the outdated 1958 Act, making it possible to speed up the removal of wrecks and salvage operations.
• The Indian Ports Bill, 2025, replaced the old 1908 law and created a Maritime State Development Council for better national planning.
• It also gave more power to state maritime boards to manage smaller ports and established a mechanism for resolving disputes at the state level.

Topic: Summits/Conferences/Meetings

4. The 28th National Conference on e-Governance will be held in Visakhapatnam.

• The 28th National Conference on e-Governance will be hosted in Visakhapatnam on 22–23 September 2025.
• The event is being jointly organised by the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG), the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), and the Government of Andhra Pradesh.
• IIM Visakhapatnam has been chosen as the knowledge partner for the conference.
• The theme for 2025 is “Viksit Bharat: Civil Service and Digital Transformation.”
• Six plenary and six breakout sessions will be conducted during the event.
• Senior officials, thought leaders, academia, industry experts, and awardees will take part.
• Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu will inaugurate the conference.
• The National Awards for e-Governance 2025 will be presented by Dr. Jitendra Singh on 22 September.

Topic: Sports

5. Elavenil Valarivan won gold at the Asian Shooting Championship.

• Indian shooter Elavenil Valarivan secured the gold medal in women’s 10m air rifle at the 16th Asian Championship.

• The event was held in Shymkent on 22 August 2025.
• Valarivan scored 253.6 in the final to claim the title.
• It was her second continental gold, the first being in 2019 in Taiwan.
• China’s Xinlu Peng won silver with 253 points, while Korea’s Eunji Kwon got bronze with 231.2.
• Mehuli Ghosh of India finished fourth after scoring 208.9 in the final.
• Valarivan had qualified eighth with a score of 630.7.
• This became only the second senior individual gold for India in the championship.
• Earlier, Anantjeet Singh Naruka won the first senior gold medal for India in the men's skeet event.
• Double Olympic medalist Manu Bhaker won the bronze medal in the women's 10m air pistol event.

Topic: Summits/Conferences/Meetings

6. The GST Council will discuss the two-rate tax proposal in its September meeting.

• The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council will hold its 56th meeting in New Delhi on September 3–4, 2025.
• The meeting was announced in a memorandum issued on 22 August 2025.
• Reforming the GST system into a two-rate structure will be on the agenda.
• The Centre had forwarded its proposal for the new GST regime to the Group of Ministers.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi had called it a “Deepavali gift” during his Independence Day address.
• Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Chaudhary, chair of the GoM, said recommendations were sent to the Council.
• Kerala Finance Minister K.N. Balagopal expressed concerns over revenue losses to the states.
• He said the Group of Ministers has suggested to the GST Council that there should be a mechanism to compensate states if they incur any losses due to rationalization of rates.
• The GST Council meeting will be the first after more than eight months, the last being in December 2024.
• As per the rules, the Council is required to meet at least once in every quarter.

Topic: Indian Economy

7. RBI Executive Director Indranil Bhattacharyya has been appointed as an ex officio member of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC).

• The appointment was approved by the Central Board of the Reserve Bank of India.
• The Board held its meeting in Lucknow. RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra chaired the meeting.
• The Board discussed current global and domestic economic developments.
• It focused on geopolitical tensions and financial market trends.
• The functioning of key departments at the RBI’s Central Office was reviewed.
• Deputy Governors M. Rajeshwar Rao, T. Rabi Sankar, J. Swaminathan and Dr. Poonam Gupta attended the meeting.
• Monetary Policy Committee:
  • Monetary Policy Committee decides the benchmark interest rate in India.
  • Its meetins are held at least four times a year (specifically, at least once a quarter).
  • It has six members. These are three officials from the RBI (including the Governor) and three external members appointed by the Government of India.

Topic: Awards and Prizes

8. ICAR-Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) in Wokha, Nagaland has been named the best KVK in the North Eastern Region.

• The award was given by the ICAR-National Research Centre for Banana (ICAR-NRCB).
• It recognized the centre’s outstanding performance and significant impact.
• KVK Wokha was selected from over 200 nominations across the region.
• The award was presented at the 32nd Foundation Day and Kisan Mela.
• The event took place in Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu.
• Thungjano S Ezung from KVK Wokha dedicated award to all stakeholders in Nagaland’s agriculture and allied sectors.
• Nineteen farmers from Nagaland also attended the Kisan Mela.
• They participated to prepare for the upcoming banana festival in the state.
• The farmers are receiving training in integrated nutrient management.
• They are also learning about high-tech banana farming practices.
• This training will continue in Kerala starting on August 23.

Topic: Sports

9. India’s Kajal Dochak won a gold medal at the U-20 World Wrestling Championships.

• The event was held in Samokov, Bulgaria. The match ended with a close score of 8-6.

• She defeated China’s Yuqi Liu in the 72kg final. Kajal is 17 years old and hails from Haryana.
• She is also the reigning Under-20 Asian champion.
• Saarika won a bronze medal in the women’s 53kg category. She beat Poland’s Ilona Valchuk.
• Shruti secured bronze in the 50kg weight class. She defeated Germany’s Josephine Wrench with a 6-0 score.
• In men’s Greco-Roman wrestling, Suraj claimed bronze in the 60kg category.
• He defeated France’s Lucas Go Grasso.
• So far, Indian wrestlers have won nine medals at the championship.
• These include two gold, four silver, and three bronze medals.

Topic: International News

10. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) has declared famine in Gaza Governorate.

• Over 500,000 people are trapped in extreme hunger and desperation.
• More than half a million people are facing IPC Phase 5, the most severe level of food insecurity.
• This phase includes widespread starvation, destitution, and preventable deaths.
• An additional 1.07 million people, or 54 percent of the population, are experiencing emergency-level hunger.
• These individuals fall under IPC Phase 4.
• Another 396,000 people, or 20 percent of the population, are in crisis conditions. These are classified as IPC Phase 3.
• The humanitarian situation is expected to worsen in the coming weeks.
• From mid-August to the end of September 2025, famine is projected to spread.
• Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis governorates are expected to be affected next.
• By the end of September, 641,000 people could face famine-level hunger.
• This would account for nearly one-third of the total population.
• The number of people in IPC Phase 4 may rise to 1.14 million. That would represent 58 percent of the population.
• Malnutrition is escalating rapidly, especially among children and women.
• By June 2026, at least 132,000 children under five are expected to be acutely malnourished.
• This figure is double the estimate from May 2025.
• Of these, over 41,000 children will suffer from severe acute malnutrition.
• These children are at high risk of death due to complications.
• Nearly 55,500 pregnant and breastfeeding women need urgent nutritional care.
• Currently, all 320,000 children under five in Gaza are at risk of acute malnutrition.
• Conditions in North Gaza Governorate are believed to be just as bad or worse than in Gaza Governorate.
• However, lack of access has prevented official IPC evaluation in North Gaza.
• This shows critical gaps in humanitarian data collection and monitoring.
• The IPC is a global framework used to assess the severity of food insecurity.
• It categorizes food insecurity into five phases, from Minimal (Phase 1) to Famine (Phase 5).
• This is the first time famine has been officially confirmed in Gaza under the IPC system.