Daily Current Affairs: 15 & 16 August 2025

Current affairs of 15 & 16 August 2025: Mission Sudarshan Chakra: India’s Multi-Layered Defence Shield; National Deep Water Exploration Mission: Offshore Oil and Gas; Next-Generation GST Reform: Two-Slab Plan Announced, and 11 more topics. Key facts for every exam, with a quiz.

Take the quiz (15 questions)August 2025

In this issue: 14 topics

National Affairs

National Deep Water Exploration Mission: Offshore Oil and Gas
Next-Generation GST Reform: Two-Slab Plan Announced
Nagaland Governor La. Ganesan Dies at 80

Banking & Finance

Payment Aggregator vs Third-Party PA: Key Differences
Participating (Par) Insurance Products: How Bonuses Work
UPI P2P collect requests to end on 1 October 2025
Bank Credit-Deposit Ratio Stays Below 80%, Says CareEdge
RBI Plans Continuous Cheque Clearing Instead of Batches
SBI Life Smart Shield Plus: Features of the New Term Plan
PSB Naari Shakti: Punjab & Sind Bank’s Women Savings Account

International Affairs

Global Plastic Treaty Talks End in Deadlock at Geneva

Science & Technology

Black hole triggers a new type of supernova 700 million light-years away

Defence & Security

Mission Sudarshan Chakra: India’s Multi-Layered Defence Shield

Awards & Persons

Sarvottam Yudh Seva Medal awarded to 7 officers for Operation Sindoor

National Affairs

Economy

1. National Deep Water Exploration Mission: Offshore Oil and Gas

The PM announced the National Deep Water Exploration Mission on the 79th Independence Day.
Focus areas: the Andaman Sea and deep waters off the Andhra coast.
Over 1 million sq km of former 'No-Go' areas are opened for bidding.

Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

Polity & Governance

2. Next-Generation GST Reform: Two-Slab Plan Announced

PM announced on 79th Independence Day a GST overhaul to roll out by Diwali 2025.
Plan: two slabs, 5% and 18%, plus a special 40% rate for select goods.
Proposal goes to states and a Group of Ministers for final approval.

Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

Polity & Governance

3. Nagaland Governor La. Ganesan Dies at 80

La. Ganesan, Governor of Nagaland, died on 15 August 2025 in Chennai at the age of 80.
He was the 21st Governor of Nagaland, serving from February 2023 until his death.
He earlier served as Governor of Manipur and held additional charge of West Bengal in 2022.
President Droupadi Murmu gave Manipur Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla additional charge of Nagaland.

Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

Banking & Finance

Economy

4. Payment Aggregator vs Third-Party PA: Key Differences

IRCTC Payments Limited has RBI's in-principle nod to operate as a Payment Aggregator.
A PA pools customer money in an escrow account; a Third-Party PA only supplies technology.
PAs need RBI authorisation under the PSS Act, 2007.

Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

Economy

5. Participating (Par) Insurance Products: How Bonuses Work

Life insurers are shifting towards participating (par) products and away from ULIPs and aggressively priced non-par products.
Par policyholders share the insurer's surplus as bonuses or dividends, which are not guaranteed.
Bonus types: reversionary, cash and terminal.

Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

Banking & Finance

6. UPI P2P collect requests to end on 1 October 2025

NPCI will end UPI's P2P collect request from 1 October 2025.
The step responds to rising fraud and misuse.
Collect requests let a receiver ask for money, which the payer approves.

Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

Banking & Finance

7. Bank Credit-Deposit Ratio Stays Below 80%, Says CareEdge

CareEdge Ratings said banks' credit-to-deposit (CD) ratio remains under 80%.
Lending growth continues to trail deposit growth.
The CD ratio shows what share of deposits has been lent out; RBI uses it as a financial stability indicator.

Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

Economy

8. RBI Plans Continuous Cheque Clearing Instead of Batches

RBI announced a shift from batch-based Cheque Truncation System to continuous cheque clearing.
Cheques will be processed through business hours, 10 AM to 4 PM, and cleared in a few hours.
Drawee banks must give positive or negative confirmation in real time.
Customers must get funds immediately after settlement, within 1 hour at most.

Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

Banking & Finance

9. SBI Life Smart Shield Plus: Features of the New Term Plan

Smart Shield Plus is a pure risk life plan from SBI Life with no investment component.
It offers Level Cover, Increasing Cover and Level Cover with Future Proofing.
Increasing Cover raises the sum assured 5% yearly, up to 200%.

Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

Banking & Finance

10. PSB Naari Shakti: Punjab & Sind Bank’s Women Savings Account

Punjab & Sind Bank launched the PSB Naari Shakti savings account for women.
It has two variants: PSB Pink and PSB Smile.
Perks include cancer cover, group accident insurance and a free Platinum RuPay debit card.

Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

International Affairs

Environment & Ecology

11. Global Plastic Treaty Talks End in Deadlock at Geneva

INC-5.2, the second part of the fifth plastics treaty session, was held in Geneva in August 2025 and ended without consensus.
It was the second failure in eight months, after INC-5.1 in Busan in late 2024.
The High-Ambition Coalition, including Norway, the EU and the UK, wants binding production cuts.
The Like-Minded Group, supported by China and India, opposes production caps.

Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

Science & Technology

12. Black hole triggers a new type of supernova 700 million light-years away

A new type of supernova, triggered by a black hole, was detected about 700 million light-years away.
The black hole siphoned material from a massive companion star; both were each roughly 10 times the Sun's mass.
AI algorithms scanning for unusual cosmic explosions in real time helped detect it.
It is the first observed black-hole-triggered supernova.

Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

Defence & Security

Government Schemes

13. Mission Sudarshan Chakra: India’s Multi-Layered Defence Shield

On the 79th Independence Day (August 15, 2025), the Prime Minister announced Mission Sudarshan Chakra.
It builds a multi-layered shield for strategic, civilian and religious sites; nodal ministry is Defence.
Systems expand and upgrade gradually till 2035.

Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

Awards & Persons

Defence & Security

14. Sarvottam Yudh Seva Medal awarded to 7 officers for Operation Sindoor

Seven officers were named for the Sarvottam Yudh Seva Medal for Operation Sindoor, announced on the eve of the 79th Independence Day.
The SYSM is India's highest wartime distinguished service decoration and is conferred by the President.
Only 10 people have received it so far, including three earlier recipients from Operation Pawan and the Kargil period.
The 2025 list has four Air Marshals, two Lieutenant Generals and one Vice Admiral.

Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

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Daily Current Affairs: 15 & 16 August 2025

In this issue: 14 topics

National Affairs

1. National Deep Water Exploration Mission: Offshore Oil and Gas

2. Next-Generation GST Reform: Two-Slab Plan Announced

3. Nagaland Governor La. Ganesan Dies at 80

Banking & Finance

4. Payment Aggregator vs Third-Party PA: Key Differences

5. Participating (Par) Insurance Products: How Bonuses Work

6. UPI P2P collect requests to end on 1 October 2025

7. Bank Credit-Deposit Ratio Stays Below 80%, Says CareEdge

8. RBI Plans Continuous Cheque Clearing Instead of Batches

9. SBI Life Smart Shield Plus: Features of the New Term Plan

10. PSB Naari Shakti: Punjab & Sind Bank’s Women Savings Account

International Affairs

11. Global Plastic Treaty Talks End in Deadlock at Geneva

Science & Technology

12. Black hole triggers a new type of supernova 700 million light-years away

Defence & Security

13. Mission Sudarshan Chakra: India’s Multi-Layered Defence Shield

Awards & Persons

14. Sarvottam Yudh Seva Medal awarded to 7 officers for Operation Sindoor

Test yourself