UPSC Current Affairs Pointers of the past week | August 4 to August 10, 2025

Reports

(FYI: The data provided in these reports can be used to substantiate your Mains answer and create a broad understanding of the topic.)

• Lancet Countdown on health and plastics

— The Lancet Report warned of a grave threat from plastics to human and planetary health, but said the harm can be mitigated through effectively implemented policies.

— The medical journal also launched a health-focused global monitoring system on the manufacture and use of plastics, called the Lancet Countdown on health and plastics. This is similar to the Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change it had launched to monitor the health impacts of climate change.

— Plastic is durable and persists for decades in the environment, an estimated 8 Gigatons of plastic waste – 80% of all plastic ever made – now pollutes the planet – a massive problem by any measure.

— Plastics contain more than 16,000 chemicals. These chemicals leak out of plastic products during use and get into people, especially children.

— It includes chemicals that are known to be human carcinogens, neurotoxicants, and endocrine disruptors, as well as many more that have never been tested for toxicity and whose dangers are still unknown.

• New paper on diabetes in India in the Lancet journal

— According to a new paper published in ‘The Lancet Global Health’ journal, “at least one in five people aged 45 and older had diabetes in India in 2019.

— Significantly, two out of five people with diabetes (or 40 per cent of those diagnosed) were unaware of their condition.

— 46 per cent of the people identified regained control of their blood sugar levels, 59 per cent achieved blood pressure control and six per cent took a lipid-lowering medication to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.

— The Lancet paper is based on the findings from the Longitudinal Aging Study in India (LASI) that surveyed nearly 60,000 adults in India aged 45 years and older between 2017 and 2019 to estimate the prevalence, awareness, treatment and control of diabetes.

— The study also provides updated evidence on the patterns of diabetes within India. States in southern India tend to have a higher rate of diabetes after adjusting for age, while others in central and northeastern India have a lower rate.

Do you know? Obesity is leading to an increasing cases of diabetes in India.

 

Events

On August 15, 1947, the values promoted by the Swadeshi Movement were symbolically represented when Jawaharlal Nehru unfurled a hand-spun Khadi flag, marking India’s independence. (Source: Wikipedia Commons)

• National Handloom Day

— The observance of National Handloom Day was inaugurated on August 7, 2015, by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

— This year marks the 11th anniversary to be celebrated on 7th August 2025, with the theme “Weaving Innovation into Tradition.”

— This date was chosen to commemorate the launch of the Swadeshi Movement on August 7, 1905. The Swadeshi movement was launched after Lord Curzon announced the division of Bengal into two provinces – East Bengal and Assam (predominantly Muslim), and the western province called Bengal (primarily Hindus) on July 19, 1905.

• August Kranti Diwas

— August Kranti Diwas, also known as the Quit India Movement Day, marks the historic Quit India Movement.

— It was launched on August 8, 1942, calling for the immediate withdrawal of British forces from the country under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi.

 

Environment

The injections being administered to rhinos. (IAEA photo)

• Rhisotope Project 

— The University of the Witwatersrand, supported by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), formally launched the Rhisotope Project, an anti-poaching campaign.

— It injects radioactive isotopes into rhino horns. The method is harmless for the rhinos and allows customs agents to detect trafficked horns. Five rhinos were administered radioactive isotope injections in the Waterberg Biosphere Reserve, South Africa.

— According to the IAEA, radioactive isotopes or radioisotopes are the unstable form of an element that emit radiation to transform into a more stable form. The radiation can be traced and typically causes changes in the substance it falls upon.

— Through a non-invasive procedure, rhino horns are tagged with low doses of radioactive isotopes, allowing for their ready detection by radiation portal monitors (RPMs) already deployed at borders, ports, and airports worldwide to identify unauthorised nuclear materials.

• INS Guldar — waits to be sunk

— INS Guldar, a decommissioned Navy warship, will soon be deliberately sunk — or ‘scuttled’ — to breathe new life into its metal bones, transforming it into an artificial reef and an underwater tourist attraction. It will be India’s first underwater museum as well.

— Though scuttled ships have been used to create artificial reefs elsewhere in the world, this is the first such attempt in India.

— Scuttling is usually a wartime tactic involving the deliberate sinking of a vessel — in case of an emergency or to prevent it from falling into enemy hands. It follows the Archimedes principle.

— The ageing INS Guldar, a Kumbhir-class landing ship designed for amphibious warfare and capable of beach landings, was once part of India’s peacekeeping mission in Sri Lanka. Built at Poland’s Gdynia Shipyard, INS Guldar was commissioned into the Indian Navy nearly four decades ago, in 1985.

• Archimedes Principle

— In physics, the Archimedes Principle refers to the law of buoyancy (the ability or tendency of something to float in water or other fluids).

— According to the principle, when an object is completely or partially submerged in a fluid, whether gas or liquid, it is acted upon by an upward force (buoyancy) equal to the weight of the fluid it has displaced.

— The force acting downward on the object is the weight of the object. The upward force is the one given by the Archimedes Principle. The difference between the two forces is the net force acting on the object.

— If the buoyant force is more than the weight, the object rises; if it is less, the object sinks. If the net force is zero, the object remains in place, and neither rises nor sinks.

 

International 

India and the Philippines are celebrating 75 years of establishment of diplomatic relation. (PTI Photo)

• India and the Philippines conduct a naval drill

— India and the Philippines began the two-day “bilateral maritime cooperative activity” on Saturday (2nd August) in waters close to the Scarborough Shoal, a focal point of the maritime dispute between China and the Philippines.

— The Scarborough Shoal, also known as Huangyan Island, is located in the South China Sea.

— India delivered the first batch of BrahMos missile system to the Philippines on April 19, 2024, making it the first foreign nation to acquire the missile weapon system.

— BrahMos is an extremely versatile stand-off range ‘fire-and-forget’ type supersonic cruise missile that has proved its capabilities in land-based, ship-based, air-launched, and submarine-based versions.

— It is a two-stage missile with a solid propellant booster engine. BrahMos Integration and Testing Facility Centre was recently inaugurated by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh in Lucknow.

— The Philippines ranks sixth among the 10 ASEAN member states in trade with India. In 2023–24, bilateral trade was $3.5 billion: Indian exports accounted for approximately $2 billion, while imports from the Philippines reached about $1.5 billion.

— India and the Philippines announced a strategic partnership after bilateral talks between Modi and visiting Philippine President Ferdinand R Marcos Jr.

— India and the Philippines are celebrating 75 years of establishment of diplomatic relations and the two leaders released a postage stamp to commemorate the occasion.

• Peace Agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia 

— Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a US-brokered peace agreement on Friday (8th August) during a meeting with US President Donald Trump.

— The agreement includes exclusive US development rights to a strategic transit corridor through the South Caucasus that the White House said would facilitate greater exports of energy and other resources.

— Armenia and Azerbaijan have been at odds since the late 1980s when Nagorno-Karabakh – a mountainous Azerbaijani region that had a mostly ethnic Armenian population – broke away from Azerbaijan with support from Armenia.

— Both Armenia and Azerbaijan won independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. Azerbaijan took back full control of Nagorno-Karabakh in 2023 in a military offensive, prompting almost all of the territory’s remaining 100,000 Armenians to flee to Armenia.

— Nagorno-Karabakh is a mountainous region officially recognised as part of Azerbaijan. But its 1.2 lakh population is predominantly ethnic Armenian, having close cultural, social, and historical ties with Armenia.

— Nagorno-Karabakh is an ethnic Armenian enclave in Azerbaijan. The Armenians are Christians, while Azeris are Muslims. The conclave is connected to Armenia through the 5-km Lachin Corridor.

 

Polity

• Rudrastra – India’s longest freight train

— On August 7, the national transporter successfully operated “Rudrastra,” a long freight train formed by combining six empty BOXN rakes, from Ganjkhwaja station of the Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay (DDU) Division.

— This freight train is about 4.5 km long, and is the longest freight train of Indian Railways till date.

— The initiative, undertaken by the DDU Division of the East Central Railway (ECR), is aimed at boosting freight capacity.

 

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.)

• Shibu Soren

— Shibu Soren, popularly known as “Guruji”, passed away at 81 in Delhi on 4th August.

— Soren, who belonged to the Santal tribe, was born on January 11, 1944, in the Nemra village of Ramgarh in the then Bihar province.

— He took to public life at a young age, forming the Santal Navyuvak Sangh at just 18, and fought moneylenders who lent to tribals at exorbitant rates.

— Along with the Bengali Marxist trade unionist A K Roy and Kurmi-Mahato leader Binod Bihari Mahato, the Soren formed the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) in late 1972. The following year, Binod Bihari Mahto became president of the party, with Shibu Soren as the general secretary.

— Soren was elected to the Lok Sabha in 1980 and became president of his party in 1986. He represented JMM from Dumka in 1989, 1991, 1996 and 2004. In 1998 and 1999, however, he lost the parliamentary election.

— In 2000, when Atal Bihari Vajpayee was Prime Minister, Bihar was bifurcated to create Jharkhand from South Bihar, bowing to the long-standing demand in the region. Jharkhand officially became a state on November 15, 2000.

Satya Pal Malik, former Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, passed away on Tuesday at the age of 79. (PTI file photo)

• Satya Pal Malik

— Former Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satyapal Malik passed away on 5th August. He was 79.

— Malik, who hails from the Baghpat district of Western UP, first served as an MLA in the state Assembly in 1974-77, having been elected on a ticket of Chaudhary Charan Singh’s Bharatiya Kranti Dal.

— He was later appointed as a Member in the Rajya Sabha by Lok Dal in 1980, but joined the Congress party in 1984. He was once again appointed to the Rajya Sabha in 1986.

— He joined the BJP in 2004 after resigning from the Congress party and a short stint Janata Dal. Malik held multiple senior posts in the party, including the head of the parliamentary committee that looked into the land acquisition Bill.

— In 2017, Satya Pal Malik was appointed as the Governor of Bihar and was transferred to Jammu and Kashmir in 2018. During his tenure as the J&K Governor, the Centre scrapped Article 370.

 

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.)

• Mosque–Cathedral of Córdoba

— Recently, a fire broke out at La Mezquita, the historic mosque-turned-cathedral in Córdoba, Spain, but the monument was saved after firefighters quickly contained the blaze.

— Built between the 8th and 10th centuries under Abd al-Rahman, an emir of the Umayyad dynasty, La Mezquita is regarded as a masterpiece of Islamic architecture.

— It was constructed on the site of an earlier church and served as a mosque until the Christian reconquest of Córdoba in the 13th century under King Ferdinand III of Castile.

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.)

Indian players representing Velammal MHS School pose at the Closing Ceremony of the 2025 World Schools Team Championship. (PHOTO: FIDE via Michal Walusza)

• 2025 World Schools Team Championship

— India’s Velammal MHS School claimed the gold medal at the 2025 World Schools Team Championship in Alexandria, Virginia after winning all eight of their matches.

— The World Schools Team Championship 2025 was organised at Episcopal High School, located in the historic city of Alexandria, just outside Washington, D.C, from 2nd-7th August, 2025.

— Kazakhstan’s National School of Physics and Mathematics ultimately clinched the silver medal, finishing on the same number of match points as The Harker School (USA), but edging them out on tiebreaks.

— The Harker School took a well-deserved third place, just ahead of Astana 2 RSPM, who narrowly missed the podium.

 

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:

How many pairs given above are correctly matched?

(a) Only one pair

(b) Only two pairs

(c) Only three pairs

(d) All four pairs

(2) Which of the following statements is correct about the Archimedes Principle?

(a) It is the law of buoyancy, i.e., the ability or tendency of something to float in water or other fluids.

(b) If the buoyant force is greater than the weight, the object sinks

(c) If the buoyant less than the weight, the object floats

(d) If the net force is zero, the object either rises or sinks

(3) Consider the following statements about the National Handloom Day:

1. National Handloom Day was inaugurated on August 7, 2015.

2. It was chosen to commemorate the launch of the Swadeshi Movement on August 7, 1905.

3. The theme of this year is “Weaving Innovation into Tradition.”

Which of the statements given above are correct?

(a) 1 and 2 only

(b) 2 and 3 only

(c) 1 and 3 only

(d) 1, 2 and 3

Prelims Answer Key

1. (d)     2. (a)    3. (d)

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