Are you ready for Prelims 2025? UPSC Current Affairs Pointers brings you essential current affairs of the past week, every Monday, to aid you in your Prelims and Mains preparation of UPSC, State PCS, and other competitive examinations. If you missed the UPSC Current Affairs Pointers of the past week | January 20 to January 26, 2025, from the Indian Express, read it here. Economy Economic Survey 2024-25 — The Economic Survey for 2024-25 was tabled by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Parliament on Friday. It is prepared by the Department of Economic Affairs in the Union Finance Ministry, under the guidance of the Chief Economic Advisor (CEA). — It projected a growth rate of 6.3-6.8 per cent for 2025-26 on the back of a “strong external account, calibrated fiscal consolidation and stable private consumption”, much lower than what is needed to become a developed country. Deregulation was the central theme of the survey. — The Survey has flagged two main concerns: rising trade protectionism leading to stagnation in the global economy and the dominance of China as the world's manufacturing superpower. — The report highlighted the lack of funding from developed countries to mitigate climate change in the Global South may prompt developing countries to “rework” their climate targets. — The Economic Survey 2024-25 has warned that excessive financialisation can harm the economy, with potentially severe consequences for a low-middle-income country like India. — Arguing that India’s workforce in low-skill and low-value-added services remain vulnerable to artificial intelligence (AI), the Economic Survey 2024-25 called for the creation of “robust institutions.” It proposed the concept of “stewarding institutions,” which would be “agile, crosscutting across sectors and up to date on the latest developments, so that they are equipped to identify both opportunities and threats." Union Budget 2025 — Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget 2025 on 1st February 2025. The budget is mentioned as an Annual Financial Statement in the constitution under Article 112 (for the central government) and Article 202 (for the state government). — The Budget consists of two parts. Part A consists of overview of the economy and highlights the concerns and priorities of the government- flagship schemes and major programmes . Part B of the speech deals with tax proposals in the Budget. — The Budget lists four engines of development that are agriculture, MSMEs, investments, and exports. The Budget aims to initiate transformative reforms across 6 domains: Taxation, power sector, urban development, mining, financial sector, and regulatory reforms. — The Finance Minister has announced that a Makhana Board will be established in the state of Bihar to increase the production, processing, and value addition of Makhana. A new scheme for the agriculture sector was also announced—Prime Minister Dhan Dhanya Krishi Yojana (PMDDKY). — The Budget raises the tax rebate limit from Rs 7 lakh to Rs 12 lakh under the New Tax Regime (NTR). A rebate means that income up to that limit will not lead to any tax liability, which effectively means that anyone with an annual taxable income of up to Rs 12 lakh, or a monthly income of up to Rs 1 lakh, will not be required to pay any income tax under the New Tax Regime. — In a major reform, the FDI limit in the insurance sector has been raised from 74% to 100%. This move is expected to attract global insurance giants and increase capital inflows. — Expenditure of major items in the Budget: Defence (4,91,732 Cr) > Rural Development (2,66,817 Cr) > Home Affairs (2, 33, 211 Cr) > Agriculture and Allied Sector (1,71,437 Cr) > Education (1,28,650 Cr). — The Budget announced the income tax relief by raising the tax rebate level to an annual income of Rs 12 lakh. This level has been Rs 7 lakh until now. — A new definition for micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs)was announced in the Budget. According to the new definition the investment limit to be classified as a micro-enterprise goes up to Rs 2.5 crore. — For small enterprises, this limit goes up to Rs 25 crore, and for medium ones, it becomes Rs 125 crore. Similarly, the turnover limit for these classifications goes up to Rs 10 crore for micro enterprises, Rs 100 crore for small ones, and Rs 500 crore for medium enterprises. Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) Programme — On 29th January, under the Ethanol Blended Petrol (EPB) programme, the government approved the revision of ethanol procurement prices for Public Sector Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) for the Ethanol Supply Year (ESY) 2024-25 starting from 1st November 2024 to 31st October 2025. — Ethanol is 99.9% pure alcohol that can be blended with petrol. This is unlike the 96% extra neutral alcohol that goes to make potable liquor or the 94% rectified spirit used in paints, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and other industrial products. — The EBP Programme aims to reduce the import dependence for energy requirements and boost the agriculture sector, wherein OMCs sell petrol blended with ethanol up to 20 percent to achieve the target of 20 percent blending of Ethanol by 2025-26. (Source: PIB) Unified Pension Scheme — Recently, the Central government notified the new Unified Pension Scheme as an option to National Pension System (NPS) for government employees. — The UPS, which will come into effect from April 1, is expected to benefit over 23 lakh central government employees. — The scheme will see a hike in the government’s contribution to 18.5 per cent of the combined sum of basic pay and dearness allowance from 14 per cent earlier, while the share of the employee will be the same at 10 per cent. — It will have an assured payout of Rs 10,000 for employees superannuating after qualifying service of 10 years and “full assured payout” after a minimum 25 years of qualifying service. — There will be two funds under the UPS: one, an individual corpus with employee contribution and matching central government contribution; and two, a pool corpus with additional central government contribution. Reports (FYI: The data provided in these reports can be used to substantiate your Mains answer and create a broad understanding of the topic. You don't need to mug up these data, the only purpose is to create an understanding, gains and losses that are made.) Annual Status of Education Report (Rural) — The NGO Pratham has released the Annual Status of Education Report (Rural) to measure basic reading and arithmetic levels among school children, attendance in school, and other indicators. — It is a nationwide rural household survey conducted by the NGO Pratham. The survey considered children in three age categories — pre-primary (ages 3 to 5), elementary (6 to 14), and older children (15 to 16). — According to the report, the basic reading levels for Class 3 children enrolled in government schools have been the highest since the survey began 20 years ago. — Reading level: The number of Class 3 children who can read a Class 2 textbook in government schools stands at 23.4%, up from 16.3% in 2022 and 20.9% in the pre-pandemic year of 2018. — Overall reading levels, across both government and private schools, too improved from 20.5% in 2022 to 27.1% in 2024, almost touching the pre-pandemic level of 27.3%. — Arithmetic levels, too, improved across both government and private schools. The percentage of Class 5 students who can read a Class 2 textbook has gone up from 42.8% in 2022 to 48.7% in 2024. — In line with the NEP’s focus on providing early childhood care and education to all children before Class 1, the percentage of children aged between 3 and 5 who enrolled in some form of pre-school rose in 2024 over 2018 and 2022. Annual Survey of Unincorporated Enterprises (ASUSE) 2023-24 — According to the report, the percentage of proprietary units headed by females in the unincorporated, non-agricultural enterprises increased to 26.2 per cent in 2023-24 from 22.9 per cent in 2022-23, with the highest share seen in manufacturing. — Of the total 12.06 crore workers employed in the unincorporated, non-agricultural enterprises, broadly informal in nature, female workers comprised 28.1 per cent of the total workers, — Manufacturing recorded the highest share of units headed by female proprietors (58.4 per cent) in 2023-24, followed by other services (14.22 per cent) and trade (13.69 per cent). — Among major states, the highest percentage of female-headed unincorporated establishments in 2023-24 were recorded in West Bengal (36.4 per cent), followed by Karnataka (35.20 per cent), Telangana (34.10 per cent) and Gujarat (32.20 per cent). Art and Culture Lezim/lazium — A scene from the trailer of the upcoming Bollywood film Chhava has led to controversy in Maharashtra. Actor Vicky Kaushal, who portrays the king, is seen performing the lezim (also spelt lazium) folk dance. Many criticised the scene. — Lezim, a small mallet, is made of a thin wood with pieces of metal strung together which clash and produce a sonorous sound when swinging. Lezim is as much a rigorous physical exercise, a drill, as a dance: the formations are in twos and fours and sometimes even a circle. — The dance is accompanied by a dhol or dhalgi (small dhol). No wind or string instruments are accompanying it, often there is no song accompaniment either, but of late, sometimes, a song is sung. — Vigorous movements, such as stepping, squatting, and jumping, form an intrinsic part of the dance. The drum beat usually starts at a slower pace and gradually speeds up, with the dancers performing faster movements in sync with the sound. — The lezim often featured in marriage processions in districts of the Konkan coast. Such events were accompanied by an “akhada”, which is “a party of persons skilled in performing many feats of physical skill”. Polity Domicile-based reservation in post-graduate medical courses — The Supreme Court held that domicile-based reservation for admission to post-graduate medical courses within the State quota is unconstitutional as it violates the Right to Equality under Article 14. — The court said that while such reservation may be permissible “to a certain degree” in MBBS courses, it is impermissible in PG medical courses. — What’s the domicile quota?: For postgraduate medical seats, the Centre conducts counselling for only 50% of the total intake while the rest is filled by state counseling bodies as per their own rules. Within this remaining 50%, states earmark a quota for ‘domicile’ candidates. National Critical Minerals Mission — On 29th January, the government approved a Rs 16,300-crore National Critical Minerals Mission (NCMM) to promote the exploration of critical minerals within the country and at offshore locations. — The mission will intensify the exploration of critical minerals within the country and in its offshore areas. It aims to create a fast-track regulatory approval process for critical mineral mining projects. — Under the mission, an additional Rs 5,600 crore is allocated to the National Mineral Exploration Trust (NMET) to finance risk coverage for foreign sourcing and to support exploration activities outside India. — As part of the mission, the government also plans to create four mineral processing parks and prepare separate guidelines for the recycling of critical minerals, with a focus on streamlining India’s massive informal recycling sector. International Cooperation OPEC+ — Donald Trump, who pledged in the campaign that he’d broker a quick end to the grinding conflict, in his first days in office has leaned in on the idea that OPEC+, the alliance of oil producing nations, holds the key to ending the war by reducing oil prices. — It was established in 1960 by the founding members Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela, OPEC has since expanded and now has 12 member states. Angola is the recent country to withdraw its membership effective 1 January 2024. — In 2016, OPEC countries signed a Declaration of Cooperation with non-OPEC oil-producing countries. It included Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Brunei Darussalam, Equatorial Guinea (which later joined OPEC), Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Mexico, Oman, the Russian Federation, Sudan and South Sudan. This grouping is known as OPEC+. — This move was largely made in response to dramatically falling oil prices due to US shale oil output. The United States is not a member of OPEC or OPEC+. (Source: opec.org) Environment Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF) — Over a year after a glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) ravaged parts of Sikkim and washed away a 60-metre-high rockfill concrete dam of the 1200-MW Teesta-III hydel project, an environment ministry panel has cleared a proposal to build a new 118.64-m-high concrete gravity dam in its place. — According to a study published in the prestigious Science journal, ice and sediment into the South Lhonak glacial lake was the trigger behind the devastating 2023 Sikkim flood and the lake remains “highly susceptible” to future GLOFs. — GLOFs are disaster events caused by the abrupt discharge of water from glacial lakes — large bodies of water that sit in front of, on top of, or beneath a melting glacier. As a glacier withdraws, it leaves behind a depression that gets filled with meltwater, thereby forming a lake. — GLOFs can unleash large volumes of water, sediment, and debris downstream with formidable force and velocity. The floodwaters can submerge valleys, obliterate infrastructure such as roads, bridges, and buildings, and result in significant loss of life and livelihoods. Science and Technology CAR T-cell — In a first, Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi has carried out the Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-cell (CAR T-cell) procedure on a 48-year-old patient suffering from Non-Hodgkin lymphoma. — CAR T-cell therapy is an advanced immunotherapy that harnesses the power of a patient’s own immune cells, specifically T-cells, to fight cancer. – T-cells are special cells (white blood cells that find and fight illness and infection) whose primary function is cytotoxic, meaning it can kill other cells. In CAR-T therapy, T-cells are genetically modified into cancer-fighting cells. — These supercharged cells are then put back into the body, and they go after cancer cells — especially in blood cancers like leukaemia and lymphomas. Paraquat — A 24-year old woman was awarded the death sentence by a Thiruvananthapuram court which found her guilty of poisoning her boyfriend in 2022 with a chemical herbicide called paraquat. — Paraquat, also known as paraquat dichloride or methyl viologen, is one of the world’s most-used herbicides. A toxic chemical, paraquat is primarily used to control the growth of weeds and desiccate crops like cotton before harvest. — The WHO classifies paraquat as Category 2 (moderately hazardous and moderately irritating) chemical. Its sale is banned in over 70 countries, including China and the European Union, due to its potent toxicity. However, it is widely used in the US and in India. DeepSeek AI — The year 2025 started with a bang with the emergence of DeepSeek as a foundational Large Language Model (LLM) from China that surpassed leading LLMs from OpenAI, Google and Anthropic on many benchmarks. — DeepSeek is a Chinese AI company located in Hangzhou. It was founded by entrepreneur Liang Wenfeng, who also serves as the CEO of the quantitative hedge fund High Flyer. It has launched its AI models—DeepSeek-V3 and DeepSeek-R1. — The R1 model is said to have been built with only around $6 million — OpenAI spent more than $100 million to train its GPT-4. DeepSeek’s model uses a “mixture of experts” approach, where multiple specialised sub-models work together to answer a question, instead of a single big model managing everything. — OpenAI also launched a new AI tool coyly named Deep Research, which is capable of gathering information from across the internet and synthesising it to create a comprehensive report at the level of a research analyst. Suzetrigine — The United States Food and Drug Administration on Thursday approved a new type of non-opioid painkiller, Suzetrigine. — Opioids are a class of drugs that “derive from, or mimic, natural substances found in the opium poppy plant”. Some common opioids include oxycodone, morphine, codeine, heroin, and fentanyl. — Prescription opioids are primarily used for pain relief. They do so by getting attached to opioid receptors in the brain cells to release signals that block the perception of pain and boost the feelings of pleasure or euphoria. — Unlike opioids, which numb the sensation of pain in the brain, suzetrigine works by targeting pain signals before they reach the brain. Persons in News (Just FYI: Noting historical personalities' anniversaries aids UPSC prep. UPSC often includes such personalities in questions, so revisiting their lives refreshes your static syllabus.) Shubhanshu Shukla — Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla is set to become the first Indian astronaut to travel to the International Space Station (ISS). — He has been picked to pilot the upcoming Axiom Mission 4, which is being organised in collaboration between private US space company Axiom Space and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). — The launch date for Axiom 4 mission, which Shukla will pilot, has not been finalised yet. The company says it would happen “no earlier than Spring of 2025”, which means anytime between March and June. The crew will travel in SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft. The astronauts will stay at the station for 14 days. — Shukla is one of the four Indian Air Force (IAF) officers selected for Gaganyaan, India’s own human spaceflight mission which is now tentatively slated for 2026. Sports (Just FYI: With the unpredictability of the UPSC examinations and questions like the ICC World Test Championship question 2021, you can’t be sure of anything. It is wise to know what it is and not go into too much detail.) Australia Open 2025 Women — USA’s Madison Keys won her for Grand slam - Australia Open- by defeating two times champion Aryna Sabalenka. — The 29-year-old also became the fourth-oldest first-time Grand Slam champion in the professional era after Flavia Pennetta, Ann Jones and Francesca Schiavone. Men — Jannik Sinner successfully defended his Australian Open crown by defeating Alexander Zverev. — The 23-year-old Italian is also the youngest man to win the trophy two years in a row since Jim Courier in 1992-93. 38th National Games — The Prime Minister inaugurated the 38th National Games on 28 January in Dehradun. — The National Games is being held in 11 cities across eight districts of Uttarakhand from January 28 to February 14. The theme for the event this year is “Green Games” emphasising the usage of environment-friendly items. — A special park, called the Sports Forest, will be developed near the venue, where more than 10,000 saplings will be planted by athletes and guests. ICC Men’s Cricketer of the Year — India pacer Jasprit Bumrah was named for the prestigious Sir Garfield Sobers Award for ICC Men’s Cricketer of the Year. — The pacer is thus the fifth winner of the award from India after Rahul Dravid (2004), Sachin Tendulkar (2010), Ravichandran Ashwin (2016) and Virat Kohli (2017, 2018). — He also became the fastest Indian pacer to reach 200 Test wickets with a bowling average of sub-20, which is also the best in history. Test Your Knowledge (Note: The best way to remember facts for UPSC and other competitive exams is to recall them through MCQs. Try to solve the following questions on your own.) A. Which of the following countries are not part of OPEC? 1. India 2. Russia 3. Kuwait 4. Azerbaijan 5. Angola Choose the correct option. (a) 1, 2, 4 and 5 (b) 2, 4, and 5 (c) 1, 3, 4, and 5 (d) 2, 3, and 5 B. Which one of the following is likely to be the most inflationary in its effects? (a) Repayment of public debt (b) Borrowing from the public to finance a budget deficit (c) Borrowing from the banks to finance a budget deficit (d) Creation of new money to finance a budget deficit C. Consider the following statements: 1. Ethanol is 80% pure alcohol that can be blended with petrol. 2. The government has set a target to achieve 20 percent blending of Ethanol by 2025-26 under Ethanol Blended Petrol (EPB) programme. Which of the following statements is/are correct? (a) 1 only (b) 2 only (c) Both 1 and 2 (d) Neither 1 nor 2 Previous Articles UPSC Current Affairs Pointers of the past week | January 20 to January 26, 2025 UPSC Current Affairs Pointers of the past week | January 13 to January 19, 2025 UPSC Current Affairs Pointers of the past week | January 6 to January 12, 2025 UPSC Current Affairs Pointers of the past week | December 30, 2024 to January 5, 2025 For your answers, queries and suggestions write at khushboo.kumari@indianexpress.com Subscribe to our UPSC newsletter. Stay updated with the latest UPSC articles by joining our Telegram channel – IndianExpress UPSC Hub, and follow us on Instagram and X. 🚨New Year Special: Click Here to read the January 2025 issue of the UPSC Essentials monthly magazine. Share your views and suggestions in the comment box or at manas.srivastava@indianexpress.com🚨
