UPSC Current Affairs Pointers of the past week | October 20 to October 26, 2025

Report

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

• State of Climate Action Report

— Ahead of COP30, the State of Climate Action Report 2025 was published by Change Lab, as a joint effort of the Bezos Earth Fund, Climate Analytics, the Climate High-Level Champions, ClimateWorks Foundation and World Resources Institute.

— According to the report, not a single one of the 45 indicators assessed is on track to meet the 2030 targets needed to achieve the Paris Agreement of limiting global warming to 1.5°C by the end of this decade.

— The report highlighted the key areas where acceleration is needed. The world needs to phase out coal more than ten times faster — equivalent to retiring nearly 360 average-sized coal-fired power plants each year and halting all projects in the pipeline.

— There is a need to reduce deforestation nine times faster. The current levels are far too high — roughly equivalent to permanently losing nearly 22 football (soccer) fields of forest every minute in 2024.

 

Event

Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh lays a wreath during Police Commemoration Day at the National Police Memorial, in New Delhi on Tuesday. (@SpokespersonMoD X/ ANI Photo)

• Police Commemoration Day

— The Police Commemoration Day is observed, every year on October 21, to remember the sacrifices of ten policemen who died in Chinese firing in 1959.

— So far since Independence, 34,418 Police personnel have sacrificed their lives for safeguarding the integrity of the nation and providing security to the people of this country.

 

Polity

• Rule 3(1)(d) of the IT Rules 2021

— The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has notified amendments to the IT Rule, 2021. It amends Rule 3(1)(d) of the IT Rules, 2021, which governs intermediary takedown obligations.

— The amendment, which will come into force from 15th November, 2025 provides additional safeguards to ensure senior-level accountability, precise specification of unlawful content, and periodic review of government directions at higher level.

— According to the amendment, content blocking intimations to social media platforms like YouTube, Instagram and X can be sent by a senior officer not below the rank of Joint Secretary (JS), or equivalent, and a Director or an officer equivalent in rank where a JS has not been appointed.

— In case of police authorities, only an officer not below the rank of Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG), specially authorised, can issue such intimation.

— A periodic review mechanism has been introduced, requiring all intimations under Rule 3(1)(d) to be reviewed monthly by an officer of the rank of Secretary or equivalent in the Appropriate Government, ensuring that actions remain necessary, proportionate, and lawful.

• PM-SHRI

— The CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) government in Kerala has agreed to implement the PM-SHRI scheme. This has drawn fire not only from the opposition Congress, but also from within the LDF.

— The Centre’s PM Schools for Rising India (PM-SHRI) scheme was approved in 2022. It seeks to develop 14,500 schools to “showcase” aspects of the NEP 2020. These schools are to be “exemplars” for other schools in their region.

— The scheme is for existing elementary, secondary, and senior secondary schools run by the central government and state and local governments across the country.

 

Art and Culture

Images from Guru Charan Yatra. (Source: X/@HardeepSPuri)

• Guru Charan Yatra

— Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged people to have darshan of the sacred ‘Jore Sahib’ during the Guru Charan Yatra, from New Delhi to Bihar’s Patna Sahib Gurudwara, which commenced on October 23.

— The Jore Sahib, meaning holy or sacred shoes, are a pair of footwear belonging to Guru Gobind Singh, the last of the ten Sikh Gurus, and his wife Mata Sahib Kaur.

— It is considered a sacred relic as it is revered as the personal belongings once worn by the Sikh spiritual leaders.

— The pair of footwear, measuring 11″ by 3½” for the right foot of the ‘Dasam Pita’, or Tenth Father, and 9″ by 3″ for the left foot of Mata Sahib Kaur, are sacred relics deeply revered in Sikhism.

— Guru Gobind Singh, the last human Guru of the Sikhs, founded the Khalsa Panth, or the community of the pure. He declared the Guru Granth Sahib as the eternal successor.

• Ningol Chakouba festival

— The Manipur government organised the 46th ‘Fish Fair-cum-Fish Crop Competition’ at Hatta Kangjeibung, Imphal, which is a part of the Ningol Chakouba festival.

— Ningol Chakouba festival falls on the second lunar day of the Manipuri calendar’s Hiyangei month (November). Ningol means ‘married woman’ and Chakouba means ‘invitation for a feast’.

— On this day, married women are invited to their parents’ home for a feast. The invitation comes from the son(s) of the parental family of the Ningols, generally a week in advance.

— The essence is to strengthen the bond of affection among the brothers and sisters, daughters and parents of a family.

International 

• JAIMEX-25

— Indian Naval Ship (INS) Sahyadri participated in the Sea phase of JAIMEX-25 (Japan India Maritime Exercise) from 16 to 18 Oct 2025 and made a port call at Yokosuka, Japan, on 21 Oct 2025 for the Harbour phase.

— JAIMEX, earlier known as JIMEX, has been conducted since 2012. It comprised of complex tactical drills in all dimensions of Naval warfare to enhance interoperability between two key maritime forces in the Indo-Pacific.

(Source: indiannavy.gov.in)

Critics have equated the Kafala system to modern-day slavery. (Photo: Reuters)

• Kafala System

— Recently, Saudi Arabia has decided to replace the Kafala System with a contractual model, giving migrant workers more rights and freedom to work in the kingdom.

— The Kafala System refers to a binding contract between migrant workers and their local sponsor, under which they can only work for the specific employer throughout the period of their residence in the country.

— Under the Kafala System, the employer, who is also the sponsor of the migrant workers, had an undue legal advantage over them as they were not allowed to switch jobs without the Kafala’s consent

— Due to its exploitative nature, especially on migrant workers who come to the Middle East for jobs, including domestic work, construction, etc, critics have often called it modern-day slavery.

— In 2009, Bahrain became the first country in the Middle East to abolish the Kafala system, while the UAE diluted its Kafala system in 2015, allowing migrant workers whose contracts have expired to obtain a new permit and remain in the country on a 6-month job seeker visa.

— Gulf Cooperation Council countries that still have the strict Kafala system in place are Kuwait, Qatar, and Oman.

• New member to ASEAN

—  East Timor was added as the newest member to the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on October 26.

— East Timor, also known as Timor-Leste, had long attempted to join ASEAN, given the organisation’s significance in maintaining economic, political and security coordination in the region.

— With a population of 1.4 million, East Timor is located in the Pacific Ocean to the north of Australia. It constitutes the eastern side of a larger island, while most of the western side is under Indonesian control.

— Current President Jose Ramos-Horta, 75, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1996. He was jointly awarded with Catholic priest and fellow East Timorese Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo, “for their work towards a just and peaceful solution to the conflict in East Timor”.

— It also marked ASEAN’s first expansion in years, after Cambodia last joined it in 1999.

— Members of ASEAN: Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Myanmar, Cambodia, East Timor, Brunei and Laos.

— The 47th ASEAN Summit is happening in Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia under the theme, “Inclusivity and Sustainability”.

• Sevilla Forum on Debt

— A new global platform to confront mounting debt challenges – the Sevilla Forum on Debt was launched on October 22, 2025, at the 16th United Nations Conference or Trade and Development (UNCTAD16) in Geneva.

— The Forum, a Spanish-led initiative supported by UNCTAD and the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), aims to serve as an open and inclusive space for dialogue and action on sovereign debt reform.

— The Forum marks one of the first tangible outcomes of the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4) held from 30 June – 3 July in Seville, Spain.

— Financing for development (FfD) is an ongoing process to align financial flows and policies with economic, social, and environmental priorities.

— Many countries face escalating debt burdens, declining investments, decreasing international aid, and increasing trade barriers. The Conference is seen as an opportunity to close the staggering $4 trillion annual financing gap, promoting development, bringing millions of people out of poverty, and helping achieve the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, which are currently lagging.

• United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD16)

— The 16th session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD16) took place from 20 to 23 October 2025 at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.

— The theme of the UNCTAD16 was “Shaping the future: Driving economic transformation for equitable, inclusive and sustainable development”.

— UNCTAD, a permanent organ of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly, was established in 1964 to promote trade, investment, and development in developing countries.

— It is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, with approximately 190 members.

 

Environment

• Global Forest Resources Assessment (GFRA) 2025

— India has climbed to the ninth spot globally in total forest area and retained its third rank in annual forest area gain, according to the Global Forest Resources Assessment (GFRA) 2025, released by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations in Bali.

— India accounts for 2% of the world’s forest areas, with a total of 72.74 million hectares, placing it just behind Indonesia.

— The world’s total forest area stands at 4.14 billion hectares, covering 32 per cent of the planet’s land. More than half (54 per cent) of this is concentrated in just five countries i.e. Russia, Brazil, Canada, the United States and China.

— According to the report, seven countries and areas – the Falkland Islands (Malvinas), Gibraltar, Holy See, Monaco, Nauru, Svalbard and Jan Mayen Islands, and Tokelau – reported having no forest at all.

Blackbucks are listed under Schedule 1 of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. (Wikimedia Commons)

• Blackbuck

— The blackbuck (Antilope cervicapra), which had become “locally extinct” in Chhattisgarh for almost 50 years, today hosts 190 blackbucks in the Barnawapara Wildlife Sanctuary of Chhattisgarh.

— In 2018, the Chhattisgarh government embarked on an ambitious venture to revive the blackbuck population. As part of the 2021–2026 revival plan, the Chhattisgarh State Wildlife Board translocated 77 blackbucks – 50 from the National Zoological Park in New Delhi and 27 from the Kanan Pendari Zoological Garden, Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh — to  Barnawapara Wildlife Sanctuary.

— Blackbuck is a graceful, medium-sized antelope that inhabits open grasslands of India and Nepal. They are found only in the Indian subcontinent. Males have corkscrew-shaped horns and black-to-dark brown coats, while females are fawn-coloured.

— The animals are mainly seen in three broad clusters across India-northern, southern, and eastern regions. Due to conservation efforts, IUCN was able to relax the blackbuck’s status to ‘Least Concern’ in 2017.

— It is listed under Schedule 1 of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. Hunting and poaching blackbucks is a non-bailable offence and can invite a jail term of up to six years. The Bishnoi community worships it.

• Boma technique

— Recently, the Madhya Pradesh forest department has used the helicopter-driven boma technique to capture the key antelope species from Shajapur district and shifted them to the safe zone of the Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary to save the standing crops.

— The Boma capturing technique, which is popular in Africa, involves luring animals into an enclosure by chasing them through a funnel-like fencing. The funnel tapers into an animal selection-cum-loading chute, supported with grass mats and green net to make it opaque for animals, which are herded into a large vehicle for their transport to another location.

A woman and a child ride a two-wheeler in the rain in Hyderabad on Saturday. (PTI)

• Cyclone Montha

— The IMD warned that a “Deep depression over the southeast Bay of Bengal is likely to intensify into a Cyclonic Storm” by October 27 and a Severe Cyclonic Storm by October 28. When it does hit the coast, it will be known as Cyclone Montha.

— The name “Montha”, suggested by Thailand, means “fragrant flower” or “beautiful flower.”

— As per the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), a cyclone is characterised by inward spiralling winds that rotate anticlockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere.

— It is also called a hurricane or typhoon in other parts of the world. India often witnesses tropical cyclones, known as such because they develop in the regions between the Tropics of Capricorn and Cancer.

MAINS VALUE ADDITION Recently, UNDP India has published an in-depth story on how women in Odisha are using poetry, storytelling, and community leadership as tools for climate resilience and awareness. It entails the story of local “climate champions” like Kanchan Jena from Balasore district who used poetry in local form for climate storytelling. She is part of an initiative called Enhancing Climate Resilience of India’s Coastal Communities (ECRICC) which is helping communities turn hardship into strength. These stories can be used as value addition in your Mains answer on the role of women, local communities, and new voices in the fight against climate change. “We went to the seashore, Sorrow filled our hearts Seeing the waste scattered around, Which never perishes. The sea is our ornament, So, why are you degrading it? From it we are securing our livelihoods, By selling the fish it bestows.” – Kanchan Jena (Source: UNDP India)

 

Defence

These systems come together to form a network-centric environment, where all sensors are digitally linked to rapidly share intelligence. (Credit: @IaSouthern)

• Trishul Joint Exercise

— The Pune headquartered Southern Command of the Indian Army undertakes a Joint Exercise ‘Trishul’ with the Navy and Air Force, with offensive manoeuvres in the creek and desert sectors, and amphibious operations off the Saurashtra coast.

— The exercise comprises joint multi-domain operational exercises encompassing Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR), Electronic Warfare (EW), and Cyber capabilities.

— In the initial days, they conducted two critical drills — Agni Drishti and the spectrum dominance exercise Trinetra.

— The network-centric warfare drill Agni Drishti aimed at integrating land, air, space, and unmanned Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) assets.

— Exercise Trinetra focused on electromagnetic spectrum operations and counter-unmanned aerial system kill-chains.

— The concept of spectrum dominance refers to the ability to control the electromagnetic spectrum for communications, surveillance, and combat advantage, while denying the same to the enemy.

 

Science and Technology

• OpenAI launched Atlas

— OpenAI has announced its own web browser called Atlas. This followed after artificial intelligence firm Perplexity announced its AI browser Comet.

— The web browser is the gateway to everything – search, docs, shopping, banking, research, entertainment. Owning that interface means companies can control how users reach the web, and observe and optimise user intent directly.

— Whoever owns the interface, owns user data, which can be used as a monetisation channel, the way Google does with its advertisement business.

 

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.)

• Thalassemia

— At least five thalassemia-affected minors have allegedly tested HIV positive in Jharkhand’s West Singhbhum district after receiving blood transfusions at Sadar Hospital in Chaibasa, prompting a high-level probe by the state Health Department.

— Thalassemia is an inherited genetic hemoglobinopathy, a group of disorders that lead to defective production of haemoglobin synthesis in the body. This results in low production of red blood cells and a lack of oxygenated blood supply to the body parts.

— Thalassemia is mainly classified into two types: Alpha-thalassemia and Beta-thalassemia. The main difference between these two is the involvement of alpha chain and beta chain production (of hemoglobin) respectively and clinical presentation.

 

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.)

“The Burning Earth” explores how centuries of environmental change have propelled human migration.

• Sunil Amrith

— Historian Sunil Amrith has been named the winner of the 2025 British Academy Book Prize for The Burning Earth: An Environmental History of the Last 500 Years, a panoramic account of how human ambition has transformed the planet, and how the planet, in turn, has shaped human history.

— Amrith has become the 13th winner of the British Academy’s non-fiction book prize which has been awarded annually since 2013. It recognises work that “searches for truth and reason in difficult places, and shines a light on the connections and divisions that shape cultural identity worldwide.”

• Sanae Takaichi 

— Sanae Takaichi has been elected Japan’s prime minister by its parliament, making her the first woman to hold the office.

— Takaichi will replace Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, ending a three-month political vacuum and wrangling since the Liberal Democratic Party’s disastrous election loss in July.

— Takaichi is among the Japanese politicians who have stonewalled measures for women’s advancement. Takaichi supports the imperial family’s male-only succession and opposes same-sex marriage and allowing separate surnames for married couples.

• Professor Eknath Vasant Chitnis

— Veteran space scientist Professor Eknath Vasant Chitnis passed away in Pune on Wednesday (22nd October). He was 100.

— Among the pioneers of the country’s space programme, Chitnis had played a key role in establishing the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro).

— His most significant contribution came through the Satellite Instructional Television Experiment (SITE) in 1975-76, which he directed. This project conducted educational programmes in 2,400 villages across six states using Nasa’s ATS-6 satellite, and laid the groundwork for the digital revolution.

 

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.)

• Chaman Border

— The Chaman border crossing between Pakistan and Afghanistan has partially reopened following a ceasefire between the two countries.

— The Chaman border was sealed when the Pakistan and Afghanistan conflict started, leaving nearly 400 containers carrying goods from the Karachi port stranded at the border.

• Iceland

— Iceland, one of the few places in the world to be free of mosquitoes, recorded its first sighting of the insect this month. Iceland is currently warming at four times the rate of the rest of the northern hemisphere. This has led to unprecedented glacier melt and frequent heatwaves.

— Mosquitoes, like all arthropods, are cold-blooded creatures and cannot regulate their body temperature in response to the surrounding environment. As a result, temperature is one of the biggest drivers of mosquito activity, and most of their species thrive in warmer weather.

— That is why global warming has enabled the insect to proliferate. Several studies have shown that with rising temperatures, mosquitoes can invade and thrive in habitats which once represented hostile environments.

— Only female mosquitoes are known to bite humans to get a “blood meal” — they extract proteins from our blood to produce their eggs. Higher temperatures result in a faster rate of blood meal digestion, making mosquitoes hungrier and leading to more bites.

— Note that male mosquitoes usually consume plant nectar, sweet plant secretions, and fruit juices.

Chief Minister Omar Abdullah will officially open Kashmir’s latest tourist spot – the Bagh-e-Gul Dawood at Cheshma Shahi.

• Bagh-e-Gul Dawood

— Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has officially opened Kashmir’s latest tourist spot – the Bagh-e-Gul Dawood– Kashmir’s first exclusive chrysanthemum garden – at Cheshma Shahi.

— Cradled between the bluish Zabarwan mountains and the shimmering Dal Lake, the terraced Bagh-e-Gul Dawood – or Chrysanthemum Garden – stands next to Srinagar’s other main attraction, the Tulip Garden.

 

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) Which of the following statements is correct about the Kafala System?

(a) It is a new remittance transfer system adopted by the EU for migrant workers.

(b) International trading system of the Gulf Cooperation Council for oil exchange.

(c) Set of rules that tourists have to follow while entering the GCC countries.

(d) It is a binding contract between migrant workers and their local sponsor.

(2) Consider the following statements about the Global Forest Resources Assessment (GFRA) report:

1. Released by UN FAO

2. India is globally ranked ninth in the total forest area

Which of the above-mentioned statements is/are correct?

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 only

(c) 1 and 2 only

(d) None

(3) Consider the following statements about the UNCTAD:

1. It is a permanent intergovernmental body established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1964.

2. It is headquartered in Washington, D.C.

Which of the following statements is.are correct?

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 only

(c) Both 1 and 2

(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Prelims Answer Key

1. (d)       2. (c)     3. (a)

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