UPSC Current Affairs Pointers of the past week | August 11 to August 17, 2025

Art and Culture

The invitation kit sent to the guests. (Image source: Rashtrapati Bhavan)

•  ‘At Home’ invite to Independence Day guests

— An invitation kit has been sent for this year by Rashtrapati Bhawan for the ‘At Home’ which was held on August 15 marking the 79th Independence Day.

— The invitation kits have been put together by the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, in collaboration with over 100 artisans, mostly women, from the four states.

— The invitee box is woven from sikki grass, a lesser known traditional craft from Bihar and a cloth bag with a hand-painted Madhubani tag to holds it.

— Inside the box is a bamboo frame carrying an invite and four other paintings, showcasing popular artforms from West Bengal, Odisha and Jharkhand, besides Bihar.

— The four paintings include Tikuli art, an 800-year-old folk painting style from Patna; Pattachitra, which is practised by the Patua community of Medinipur, Bengal; Talapatra Chitra, the palm leaf scrolls of Odisha; and Paitkar painting, an old tribal scroll tradition from Jharkhand’s Amadubi village.

• Dhirio or Dhiri

— During a discussion in the Goa Assembly, legislators across party lines demanded the legalisation of bull fighting in Goa which is locally referred to as dhirio or dhiri.

— Dhiri was a “part and parcel of every Church fest” and villagers from miles around would gather to witness the popular sport in which “two thorough-bred bulls fight each other”.

— A five-judge Bench of the Supreme Court on May 18, 2023 upheld the amendments made by the legislatures of Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, and Karnataka to The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (PCA) Act, 1960, allowing bull-taming sports like jallikattu, kambala, and bullock-cart races.

— Jallikattu is a traditional sport practiced in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, and Kambala is a buffalo race celebrated in Karnataka. 

 

Events

• International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples

— The International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples is observed on August 9 every year. This date was adopted in December 1994 by UN General Assembly.

— The theme of this year is “Indigenous Peoples and AI: Defending Rights, Shaping Futures”.

— UNESCO marks the celebration of the Day by sharing information on projects and activities that are relevant to the annual theme.

(Source: UNESCO)

India has built one of the most comprehensive and integrated organ transplant frameworks in the Global South (Source: Freepik)

• World Organ Donation Day 2025

— World Organ Donation Day is observed on August 13 every year, and this year’s theme is “Answering The Call“, as designated by the Organ Donation and Transplant Alliance.

— Ronald Lee Herrick was the first person to donate an organ. In 1954, he donated his kidney to his twin brother, and Dr Joseph Murray performed the successful organ transplant.

— Later, in 1990, he received the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine for pioneering breakthroughs in organ transplantation.

— In India, National Organ Day was observed on November 27th until 2022. It was later shifted to the 3rd of August, commemorating India’s first successful deceased-donor heart transplant on August 3rd, 1994.

Polity

• SabhaSaar

— A new artificial intelligence (AI)-powered tool named SabhaSaar has been rolled out in Tripura on Independence Day, August 15.

— This AI-tool will automatically generate minutes of meetings of gram sabhas, the primary body of the Panchayati Raj system, consisting of all registered voters of a gram panchayat.

— ‘SabhaSaar’ leverages the power of AI to generate structured minutes of meetings from gram sabha videos and audio recordings.

— Panchayat officials can use their e-GramSwaraj login credentials to upload video/audio recordings on ‘SabhaSaar’.

— A source said ‘SabhaSaar’ is built on Bhashini, an AI-powered language translation platform launched by the government to bridge literacy, language, and digital divides.

Himanta Biswa Sarma announced a new portal for getting gun licenses on Thursday.

• Assam’s new arms licence portal

— Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma announced the launch of an online portal through which “indigenous citizens” living in “vulnerable and remote areas” can apply for arms licences.

— In May, the Assam cabinet had approved a ‘Special Scheme for Grant of Arms Licenses to Original Inhabitants and Indigenous Indian Citizens in Vulnerable and Remote Areas of Assam’ with the rationale that possession of firearms would enable “indigenous citizens” to protect themselves from “demographic and security challenges.”

— The eligibility criteria for the grant of licences through this portal are that the applicant must be “an indigenous citizen from Assam” and must be at least 21 years old.

— Applicant must reside in a “vulnerable and remote area,” must not have a criminal background or pending cases, must be “physically and mentally fit,” and must have a training certificate under the Arms Rules, 2016.

— The acquisition of arms in India is governed by Arms Rules, 2016 framed under the Arms Act, 1959. Schedule I of the Arms Rules provides a list of prohibited, restricted and permitted arms and ammunition.

— Those in the prohibited and restricted categories are directly governed by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs. Licences for arms and ammunition in the permissible category are governed by State governments.

• SHRESTH

— Union Health Ministry has launched SHRESTH – State Health Regulatory Excellence Index, a first-of-its-kind national initiative to benchmark and strengthen state drug regulatory systems through a transparent, data-driven framework.

— It aims to drive improvements in the performance of state drug regulatory authorities across India, ensuring drug safety and quality standards are consistently met.

— Dr. Rajeev Singh Raghuvanshi, Drug Controller General of India, stated that SHRESTH will have 27 indices for Manufacturing States across five key themes: Human Resources, Infrastructure, Licensing Activities, Surveillance Activities and Responsiveness and 23 indices for Primarily Distribution States.

(Source: mohfw)

The apex court has directed the shifting of all stray dogs from all vulnerable localities in the city to areas where they can be rehabilitated. (File)

• Animal Birth Control (ABC) program

— While asking the authorities to shift Delhi’s stray dogs to shelters, the Supreme Court found it “unreasonable and absurd” that, under the Animal Birth Control (ABC) program, sterilised dogs are returned to the streets they were picked up from.

— The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, which aims to prevent “the infliction of unnecessary pain or suffering on animals”, is the primary animal rights legislation in India.

— Under the Act, the Centre in 2001 promulgated the ABC (Dogs) Rules. These rules mandated the sterilisation and immunisation of strays by local authorities supported by animal welfare organisations and private individuals. Humane methods were specified for capturing dogs.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses the nation from the Red Fort on the occasion of the 79th Independence Day, in New Delhi, Friday, Aug. 15, 2025. (PTI Photo)

• Key takeaways from the PM’s Independence Day speech

— The 79th Independence Day celebrations started off with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 103-minute address — the longest I-Day speech by any Indian PM till date.

— This year, the Prime Minister also broke Indira Gandhi’s record by delivering 12 consecutive speeches from the ramparts of Red Fort to stand next only to Jawaharlal Nehru who delivered 17 Independence Day addresses in a row.

— Mission Sudarshan Chakra: During the Independence Day Speech, Prime Minister Modi announced the launch of Mission Sudarshan Chakra.

• It is learnt to be an advanced, multi-tiered air defence system, aimed at creating a nationwide security shield to thwart enemy attacks across domains and strengthen the country’s deterrent and offensive capabilities.
• All public places will be covered by the expanded nationwide security shield by 2035.

— Demography Mission: A High-Powered Demography Mission will be launched to study the population change in the region.

— Reform Task Force: A dedicated Reform Task Force will be created to drive next-generation reforms. Its mandate includes accelerating economic growth, cutting red tape, and modernising governance.

— PM Viksit Bharat Rozgar Yojana: PM Modi launched Pradhan Mantri Viksit Bharat Rojgar Yojana for the youths of India. Under this Rs 1 lakh-crore scheme, the government will provide Rs 15,000 to the youths securing jobs in private companies.

— Tenfold rise in nuclear energy by 2047: Modi said India is rapidly working on 10 new nuclear reactors and has pledged to increase its nuclear energy capacity tenfold by 2047.

 

International

•  Baloch Liberation Army (BLA)

— On August 11, the United States designated the Pakistani separatist Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) and its wing the Majeed Brigade as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation (FTO).

— The BLA is among the most prominent flagbearers of Balochistan’s decades-long separatist movement. Pakistan has often accused India of fomenting separatism, a charge New Delhi has denied.

— An FTO designation for an organisation — under section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act — makes extending support to it criminal in the US. This support can include everything from logistical to intelligence to financial aid.

— Balochistan borders Afghanistan and Iran. With gas, oil, copper and gold deposits, it is the most resource-rich of Pakistan’s four provinces, but lags behind in development and economic growth.

• Second part of the fifth session (INC-5.2)

— The second part of the fifth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment (INC-5.2) took place from 5 to 14 August 2025 at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland.

— A new draft on the plastics treaty was shared on 13th August on the penultimate day of the global negotiations.

— The draft has left out provisions on plastic production cuts, chemicals of concerns, and no clear definition of plastics, threatening to derail consensus on an agreement.

— This leg of negotiations collapsed yet again, and the chair of negotiations decided to adjourn the session to resume it at a later date.

Read more about the First part of the INC 5.1 here.

• Equator Prize 2025 

— The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) announced the ten winners of the Equator Prize 2025.

— It was launched in 2002 to honor Indigenous and local communities using nature-based solutions.

— The theme of this year is “Nature for Climate Action,” with a special focus on youth- and women-led climate action

— One of the winners is Bibifathima Swa Sahaya Sangha (Bibifathima Self Help Group) from Karnataka, India.

— According to the UNDP, this women-led initiative supports over 5,000 farmers across 30 villages through millet-based multi-cropping, seed banks, and solar-powered processing.

(Source: UNDP)

Aquanauts Singh and Ramesh inside the spherical vessel.(Express Photo)

• French submersible Nautile

— Two Indian aquanauts – Cdr (Retd) Jatinder Pal Singh and R Ramesh – have taken dives to depths of nearly 4,000 metres and 5,000 metres in the Atlantic Ocean on board the French submersible Nautile.

— The Nautile gave the Indian team more than a seat — it gave them first-hand exposure to mission protocols, vessel handling, and recovery operations.

— This is the deepest an Indian has ever gone underwater. Until now, most submarine dives involving Indians were limited to 500 metres, with the previous record — 670 metres — held by one of the aquanauts, Cdr (Retd) Jatinder Pal Singh.

— The August 4 and 5 dives saw Singh reach 5,002 metres and R Ramesh touch 4,025 metres. During the missions, an Indian flag was unfurled alongside a French one.

— It is part of the preparation for Samudrayaan, India’s first manned deep-sea mission that aims to send three aquanauts to 6,000 metres by 2027 in the indigenously developed Matsya6000 submersible.

— Only five countries — the USA, Russia, China, France, and Japan — have so far carried out successful crewed deep-ocean missions; India is set to join this exclusive club.

President Donald Trump greets Russia’s President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday. (Photo: AP)

• Alaska Summit

— US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin meet in Anchorage, Alaska, to focus on reaching a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine. However, the summit ended without any concrete outcome.

— Russian President Vladimir Putin said that his summit with US President Donald Trump in Alaska had been “timely and extremely useful,” adding that Moscow respected Washington’s position on the Ukraine conflict and continued to seek a peaceful resolution.

— Putin is the first Russian leader to visit Alaska, which was sold to the US in 1867 for $7.2 million. He last visited the US in 2015 to attend events at the United Nations.

• E1 area settlement project

— Israeli far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced work would start on a long-delayed revival of the E1 development, east of occupied East Jerusalem.

— The construction on a tract of land east of Jerusalem named E1 has been under consideration for more than two decades, and is especially controversial because it is one of the last geographic links between the major West Bank cities of Ramallah and Bethlehem.

— The two cities are 22 kilometers (14 miles) apart by air. But once the E1 settlement project is completed, it will destroy the possibility of a direct route.

— Development in E1 was long frozen, largely due to U.S. pressure during previous administrations.

 

Environment

• Cloudburst 

— A massive cloudburst has struck the remote village of Chishoti in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kishtwar district.

— The cloudburst comes amid the ongoing Machail Mata pilgrimage in the area. Chishoti is the last point where pilgrims park their vehicles and embark on their journey on foot to the Machail Mata temple.

— A cloudburst refers to an extreme amount of rain that happens in a short period, sometimes accompanied by hail and thunder, and this has a precise definition.

— The India Meteorological Department (IMD) defines it as unexpected precipitation exceeding 100mm (or 10 cm) per hour over a geographical region of approximately 20 to 30 square km.

 

Science and Technology

• First private satellite network

— A private consortium of four space start-ups led by Bengaluru-based PixxelSpace has won the bid to build and operate the country’s first fully-indigenous commercial earth observation (EO) satellite constellation.

— The consortium will invest over Rs 1,200 crore to deploy 12 high-resolution satellites.

— The satellite will be equipped with panchromatic, multispectral, hyperspectral and microwave synthetic aperture radar (SAR) sensors.

— It is based on the Earth Observation satellite public-private partnership (EO-PPP) model, where the government provides strategic, technical and policy support while the private consortium takes charge of manufacturing, launches, operations and commercialisation.

• Four New Chip Plants

— The Union Cabinet has cleared four new semiconductor assembly and testing plants under its India Semiconductor Mission, which have a total financial outlay of Rs 4,594 crore.

— Two of these plants will come up in Odisha, and one each in Punjab and Andhra Pradesh.

— The new locations for the chip plants mark a break from a majority of the facilities which have been approved for construction in Gujarat. Of the 10 plants now approved, four are in Gujarat.

Diseases

(Just FYI: UPSC has consistently included questions on health and diseases in its examinations over the years. For instance, in 2014, a question about the Ebola virus appeared in the Prelims, and in 2017, a question about the Zika virus was featured. Therefore, it is crucial to stay updated on diseases that are currently in the news.)

• Rabies

— Recently, the Supreme Court asked the Delhi government, civic bodies and authorities of Noida, Gurugram and Ghaziabad to relocate stray dogs from the streets to dedicated shelters amidst rising cases of dog bites.

— Rabies is a viral disease that can infect any mammal, not just dogs. While dogs account for the majority of human rabies cases many other animals are possible carriers. These include cats, cattle, horses, goats, ferrets, bats, raccoons, skunks, foxes, coyotes, and monkeys.

— Wild mammals are significant transmission sources, especially bats and certain wild carnivores like raccoons and foxes. Domestic pets can contract rabies from wild animals and transmit it to humans. Birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish cannot contract or spread rabies.

— Survival from a rabies infection is extremely rare, according to doctors. Once symptoms appear, rabies is considered one of the deadliest infections known, with a nearly 100% fatality rate.

— Dog bites are dangerous due to the bacteria harboured in the animal’s mouth, which can cause serious infection, including staphylococcus, pasteurella, and capnocytophaga, once the skin is broken.

— If post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) — a series of rabies vaccines begun before the onset of symptoms — is not received, the outcome is fatal.

Amoebic meningoencephalitis is caused by Naegleria fowleri, known as the “brain eating amoeba”. (Representational image/File)

• Primary Amoebic Meningoencephalitis (PAM)

— Kerala’s health department has sounded an alert in Kozhikode district after three back to back cases of the rare primary amoebic meningoencephalitis (PAM) were reported in the region.

— Amoebic meningoencephalitis is caused by Naegleria fowleri, known as the “brain-eating amoeba”.

— It is a free-living amoeba found in warm, fresh water and soil, and infects people when it enters the body through the nose.

— The first case of PAM in India was reported in 1971, and the first case in Kerala was reported in 2016. From 2016 to 2023, the state had only eight cases. Last year, Kerala had 36 positive cases and nine deaths.

— One of the reasons for the spike in cases in Kerala has been increased testing for acute encephalitis syndrome (AES) – a condition that can be caused by various diseases, including amoebic meningoencephaliti.

— Acute Encephalitis Syndrome is an inflammation of the brain, usually due to an infection. AES affects central nervous system, mostly in children and young adults.

— It starts with high fever, then hampers neurological functions causing mental disorientation, seizure, confusion, delirium, coma.

 

Places in News

(Just FYI: The location of the place is important, considering that UPSC has asked several questions about places that were in the news, such as Aleppo and Kirkuk, in the 2018 UPSC Prelims. The best way to remember them is to plot them on a world map.)

Perito Moreno Glacier was named after the explorer Francisco Moreno, who pioneered studies in the region in the 19th century and defended the Argentinian territory in international border dispute against Chile. (Source: Thinkstock Images)

• Perito Moreno glacier

— Perito Moreno has been thinning at a sharply accelerated rate since 2019, scientists reported on August 7. And if the thinning doesn’t slow, it could kick-start a series of changes that might cause the ice to shrink even faster.

— The Perito Moreno glacier, also called the ‘White Giant’, is located near the city of El Calafate in the Argentine province of Santa Cruz, and comes under the Los Glaciares National Park — a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

• Etalin hydroelectric project 

— An expert panel of the Union Environment Ministry has recommended environmental clearance for the 3,087 MW Etalin hydroelectric project in Arunachal Pradesh’s Dibang valley.

— Etalin is a large run-of-river project on the Dri and Tangon Rivers.

— The Dri River, after meeting Mathun, flows downstream and is joined by Tangon near Etalin village, where it is called Dibang River.

— The major tributaries of Dibang River are Dri, Mathun, Talon, Eme, Ahi, Emra and Awa. Dibang River is a major left-bank tributary of the Brahmaputra River.

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.)

• Asian Surfing Championships 2025

— Ramesh Budihal won the bronze medal in the open men’s event at the Asian Surfing Championships 2025 on the beaches of Mahabalipuram in Tamil Nadu.

— This marks the first individual medal won by any Indian surfer at the continental championships.

— The Republic of Korea’s Kanoa Heejae (15.17) took the open men’s gold while Indonesia’s Pajar Ariyana (14.57) won the silver medal in Mahabalipuram.

• 15th Junior National Women’s Hockey Championship

— Jharkhand was crowned as the champions of the 15th Hockey India Junior Women National Championship 2025 after they defeated Haryana 2-1 in the final division ‘A’ in Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh.

 

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.)

(1) Consider the following pairs:

Prelims Answer Key

1. (c)     2. (a)   3. (a)

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