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Journalism of Courage
Every Monday, we bring you UPSC Current Affairs Pointers—a concise, exam-focused guide to help you stay ahead in your Prelims and Mains preparation.
If you missed the UPSC Current Affairs Pointers 2025 of the past week | September 1 to September 7, read it here.
— A couple of months ago, some Facebook pages, including one called Next Generation Nepal, began to post on the grim political situation in Nepal and the massive corruption in high places.
— No specific individuals appeared to be promoting the posts, but it was clear that most of them belonged to a generation that was born between 1996 and 2012, the cohort known as “Generation Z”, or ‘Gen Z’.
— The young people, teens and those in their 20s, expressed their anger and frustration at the corrupt political system — and the immunity that politicians who have run Nepal by turns since the republic was created in 2008, have given themselves from investigation or accountability.
— The criticism especially targeted the extravagant lifestyles of the children and wards of senior politicians, and expressions like ‘Nepo Babies’ and ‘Nepo Kids’ trended online.
— A couple of weeks ago, the government banned 26 social media platforms, including prominent ones like Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, X, and YouTube, for failing to register with the authorities by a certain deadline.
— The digital ban took away the primary avenue that Gen Z was using to vent, comment, and seek solidarity among themselves, and greatly aggravated their anger.
— The frustration boiled over last week, when large numbers of young people came out on the streets, and 19 were killed after police and security forces opened fire.
— Kathmandu is bracing for a new chapter in its turbulent political history as former chief justice Sushila Karki was sworn in Friday as Nepal’s interim prime minister (PM). The swearing-in ceremony took place at the presidential residence in Shital Niwas.
— The agreement to appoint Karki, 73, was reached after marathon negotiations between President Ramchandra Paudel, leaders of the Gen Z–led protest movement, and Nepal Army chief General Ashok Raj Sigdel. The deal came after days of unprecedented unrest that culminated in the resignation of Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli.
— C P Radhakrishnan was sworn in as the country’s 15th Vice-President in a brief ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on Friday. President Droupadi Murmu administered the oath of office to the 67-year-old at an event attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, several Union Ministers, and other dignitaries.
— He defeated B Sudershan Reddy by a margin of 152 votes.
— The electoral college for the V-P election comprises members of the two Houses of Parliament. Together, they number 788 – 245 MPs in the Rajya Sabha and 543 in the Lok Sabha. Of these, six seats are vacant in the Rajya Sabha and one in the Lok Sabha. Of the 781 who comprised the electorate, 767 cast their votes (98.2% turnout), of which 752 votes were found to be valid, Rajya Sabha Secretary General P C Mody, the Returning Officer for the election, said.
— Anuparna Roy on Sunday became the first Indian to receive the Best Director Award in the Orizzonti section at the 82nd Venice Film Festival for her film ‘Songs of Forgotten Trees’.
— For poet, singer, composer and filmmaker Bhupen Hazarika, whose centenary celebrations began on Monday (September 8) — exactly a year before he would have turned 100 — the Brahmaputra remained an enduring metaphor. So much so that his voice has often been equated with the river, next to which he grew up, lived and died.
— Born in Assam and rooted in the traditions of the Northeast, his songs – about the river, about the boatman, about other lesser-known folk idioms from and about a relatively overlooked and disturbed region, went on to become the links to the rest of the country. The universality of his themes, of solidarity, dignity, humanity, and resistance, has echoed for decades.
— Retired IAS officer Amit Khare, who served as advisor to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was Sunday appointed secretary to Vice-President (V-P) CP Radhakrishnan.
— The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet approved the appointment of Khare, a retired 1985-batch officer of Jharkhand cadre, on contract basis for three years, according to a government order.
— Gyanex is the Gaganyaan Analog Experiments. Before it sends the actual human spaceflight mission under the Gaganyaan programme, the ISRO has been conducting simulation missions — known as ‘analog’ experiments — during which selected astronauts are spending several days in confined spacecraft-like conditions.
— Apart from getting the astronauts accustomed to space-like conditions, these experiments are meant to help ISRO develop protocols for processes such as communication and resource management for a human space mission.
— The only thing missing in these Gaganyaan Analog Experiments, or Gyanex, is the absence of gravity.
— During the Gyanex missions, the astronaut designates, and others, live in a confined crew module and space station, carrying out all activities that the astronauts would have to do in space, including following the routine and conducting scientific experiments. The participants have access to only things that would be available on the space station or crew module. And, during this period, they eat the food developed by DRDO.
— These experiments are being conducted in a static mock-up simulator, a model of the spacecraft, in Bangalore.
— India wrapped up their campaign at the World Boxing Championships 2025 in Liverpool with four medals, including two golds.
— Jaismine Lamboria (57kg) and Minakshi Hooda (48kg) were crowned world champions, while Nupur Sheoran (80+kg) secured a silver and Olympian Pooja Rani (80kg) settled for bronze.
— India finished third at the CAFA Nations Cup and it was sealed with a victory on penalties (1-1 in full time, 3-2 in spot-kicks) against Oman. Only two teams out of the eight playing in the 2025 CAFA Nations Cup were placed below India on the FIFA Rankings.
— The 2025 CAFA Nations Cup was the second edition of the CAFA Nations Cup, the biennial international men’s football championship of Central Asia organized by the Central Asian Football Association (CAFA). The event was held in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan from August 29 to September 8. Iran were the defending champions.
— The final took place on 8 September at the Olympic City Stadium in Tashkent, between hosts Uzbekistan and Iran. Uzbekistan won the match 1–0 to claim their first CAFA Nations Cup title.
— In June 2025, it was confirmed the second edition would be co-hosted in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan on 29 August to 8 September 2025 for the six member associations along with Malaysia and Oman as the guest teams.
— On 15 July 2025, Malaysia announced their withdrawal from the competition, citing reasons including problems with logistics and players’ availability. On 30 July 2025, India was announced as the guest team, replacing Malaysia in Group B.
— Defence Minister Rajnath Singh Sunday approved the Defence Procurement Manual (DPM) 2025 — the document governing defence revenue procurements including those for spares and ammunition — which adds a new chapter to promote self-reliance through innovation and indigenisation, among other changes.
— Last promulgated in 2009, this manual was under revision in the Ministry in consultation with the Armed Forces and other stakeholders.
— Defence Minister Rajnath Singh Thursday virtually flagged off ‘Samudra Pradakshina’ — a historic and first Tri-service all-women circumnavigation sailing expedition from the Gateway of India in Mumbai.
— In the expedition, 10 women officers from the Indian Army, Navy and Air Force aboard the indigenously-built Indian Army Sailing Vessel (IASV) Triveni will cover over 26,000 nautical miles across the globe for nine months, braving treacherous waters, freezing winds and unpredictable storms. The 50-foot yacht Triveni has been indigenously-built in Puducherry.
— The crew, which set sail from Mumbai, will cross the Equator twice, round the three great Capes (Cape Leeuwin, Cape Horn and Cape of Good Hope) and cover all the major oceans, including the Southern Ocean and the Drake Passage.
— The crew will also make four port calls at Fremantle (Australia), Lyttelton (New Zealand), Buenos Aires (Argentina) and Cape Town (South Africa) and is scheduled to return to Mumbai in May 2026.
— The two onyx-colored aircraft took off within a minute of each other, disappearing over an expanse of red desert stippled with low shrubbery. The aircraft were MQ-28A Ghost Bats, 38-foot-long military drones that function as robot wingmen of sorts.
— Australia is investing heavily to develop and produce these so-called collaborative combat aircraft, which will help the country defend its shores at a time when military threats are encroaching ever closer and wiping out what was once its strongest bulwark against potential conflict: distance.
— Australia has invested about $650 million so far in a partnership with Boeing to develop the drones, which will be the first to be designed and manufactured in Australia in more than half a century.
— It is a tidal shift for the close American ally, which after decades of relying on the United States for its military equipment is trying to jump start its defense industry, one that had atrophied since the end of the Cold War.
— The Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP’s) lone Jammu and Kashmir MLA, Mehraj Malik (Doda), became the first sitting legislator to be booked under the stringent Public Safety Act (PSA), a law promulgated in 1978 by then Chief Minister Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah.
— The legislation, which has been dubbed by human rights groups as “lawless law” and “fascist law”, allows the government to detain any person above the age of 18 without trial for a period of two years as an administrative measure.
— The power to issue detention orders under the PSA lies with the District Magistrate, who is also the Deputy Commissioner of the district concerned. Police first prepare a case file, known as a dossier – a form of chargesheet – against the accused and submit it to the District Magistrate. The dossier explains why a person needs to be detained under the PSA. Based on the dossier, the officer decides if the order to detain the accused must be issued or not.
— In rare instances, mostly concerning ordinary residents and not political leaders, District Magistrates return dossiers, rejecting police recommendations.
— Nobel Laureate and economist Michael Kremer released the findings of a study on the use of personalised adaptive learning (PAL) software, an EdTech tool for Class 6-9 students in over 1,200 government schools in Andhra Pradesh.
— The study, which involved schools that adopted PAL and those that didn’t, showed that learning rates doubled among students who used it.
— PAL’s learning personalised to suit the needs of each student. It involves the use of a software on a tablet or computer to first determine the learning level of a student, and then tailor learning material and questions accordingly. It is designed to be dynamic – each student may get different material and questions based on what their initial level is.
— The software might take the form of a story or game, where students need to accumulate points or deal with ‘monsters’, and climb up levels.
— EdTech companies across the world that provide versions of this software, including AI-based ones. For instance, Squirrel AI, a Chinese EdTech company, focuses on adaptive learning.
— The use of the system is grounded in the understanding that each class has students at different levels of learning. For instance, in India, the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2024 report showed that only 44.8% of Class 5 students in government schools could read a Class 2 text.
— Use of PAL in India is scattered. Supported by different agencies, and promoted by the companies that develop the software, PAL has been in use in some government schools in Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and Telangana, besides Andhra Pradesh, where the state rolled it out for Math, English and Telugu in 2019.
— Research on the use of PAL in India points to an improvement in learning outcomes among students, but that does not necessarily reflect in school exam performance.
— Himachal Pradesh was on Monday declared a “fully literate state,” joining an elite club that only had three other states — Tripura, Mizoram, and Goa — and an Union Territory — Ladakh — as its members.
— Announcing the achievement, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said that the state has reached a 99.3 per cent literacy rate, way higher than the national benchmark of 95 per cent.
— The Union Environment Ministry has approved the capture of eight tigers from the Tadoba-Andhari and Pench reserves for their translocation to the Sahyadri Tiger Reserve in western Maharashtra, a move aimed at reviving the big cat’s population in the northern Western Ghats.
— The ministry’s approval is learnt to have come after the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), which is working with the Sahyadri reserve’s field staff, gave a positive appraisal of the preparations to host translocated tigers.
Initially, two tigresses will be translocated from the Tadoba Tiger Reserve, said Tushar Chavan, the field director of the Sahyadri reserve.
— The Sahyadri Tiger Reserve, named after the Sahyadri range in the Western Ghats, is spread over 1,165 sq km, straddling Kolhapur, Sangli, Satara and Ratnagiri districts. It was notified in 2010, combining the Chandoli National Park and Koyna Wildlife Sanctuary area.
— The technical committee of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) had recommended approval for the translocation project in October 2023. The translocation is part of the second phase of the long-term tiger recovery plan being implemented in the Sahyadri Tiger Reserve. In the initial stage, the state forest department and WII worked to strengthen the forest habitat and prey base.
— V Clement Ben, the Central Zoo Authority’s member secretary and a former director of STR, said the revival of tigers in Sahyadri Tiger Reserve is also crucial to protect the dense forests and watershed of rivers. “It will also help maintain connectivity of tiger habitats between northern Western Ghats and the tiger forests to the south in Goa and Karnataka,” he said.
— As per the NTCA’s management effectiveness evaluation of tiger reserves, the Sahyadri Tiger Reserve forms the catchment for Koyna and Warna rivers, which are crucial for livelihoods in neighbouring districts.
— At the Gyan Bharatam International Conference organised by the Ministry of Culture in New Delhi, PM Modi said India still possesses the world’s largest manuscript collection with approximately one crore manuscripts in its possession.
— The three-day event was being attended by around 1,100 participants, including conservation experts, scholars, historians, academics and custodians of manuscripts.
— Eight working groups deliberated on issues such as decipherment of ancient scripts such as Indus, Gilgit and Shankha; survey and documentation; digitisation tools; conservation and restoration; decoding manuscripts; and explore legal and ethical issues regarding access.
— The first-ever international manuscript heritage conference — ‘Reclaiming India’s knowledge legacy through manuscript heritage’ — coincided with the 132nd anniversary of Swami Vivekananda’s historic address at the Parliament of the World’s Religions held in Chicago in 1893.
— With the 400-crore Gyan Bharatam project, the government is aiming to create an institution on the lines of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) for the preservation and interpretation of India’s manuscripts.
— It was in the Union Budget 2025-26 that Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced a special mission for the survey, documentation, and conservation of India’s manuscript heritage. Officials say the initial outlay for the mission is estimated at Rs 400 crore, but since it’s not a time-bound project and will be institutionalised on the lines of the ASI, more funds can be allocated at a later stage.
— Launched as the ‘Gyan Bharatam Mission’, it intends to cover more than one crore manuscripts, officials say, adding that while the project will be headquartered in New Delhi, as part of the Ministry of Culture, regional centres will be set up across all states to ensure seamless coordination.
— Gyan Bharatam replaces the existing National Manuscripts Mission, which was launched in 2003, aiming to digitise all manuscripts in the country, but was moving at a slow pace.
— Digvijay Divas is observed annually to mark Swami Vivekananda’s historic speech at the World Parliament of Religions in Chicago on September 11, 1893.
— Sharing the speech, Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote on X, “This speech by Swami Vivekananda, delivered in Chicago on this day in 1893, is widely regarded as a watershed moment.”
— September 14 is observed as Hindi Diwas, or Hindi Day, to commemorate the Constituent Assembly of India making Hindi the official language of the Union government.
— The Constituent Assembly chose Hindi as the official — not the national — language of the country after extensive discussions over three days. Discussions were also held over what script should the Union adopt, what script should the numerals be in, and what should be the status of English. Hindustani (Hindi with more Urdu elements) and Sanskrit were among those proposed as official languages.
— At length, the Munshi-Ayyangar formula — named after Drafting Committee members K M Munshi and N Gopalaswamy Ayyangar — was adopted as a compromise solution.
— As part of the Munshi-Ayyangar formula, Article 343 of the Constitution as adopted in 1950 said, “The official language of the Union shall be Hindi in Devanagari script. The form of numerals to be used for the official purposes of the Union shall be the international form of Indian numerals.”
“Notwithstanding anything in clause (1), for a period of fifteen years from the commencement of this Constitution, the English language shall continue to be used for all the official purposes of the Union for which it was being used immediately before such commencement.”
— When the 15-year period came to an end, protests broke out over the fear of imposition of Hindi in large parts of non-Hindi speaking India, particularly in Tamil Nadu. The resistance resulted in the Centre passing the Official Languages Act, which stated that English would continue to be upheld as an official language along with Hindi.
— Union Home Minister Amit Shah on September 14, 2025 said that Hindi is not a competitor (spardhak) but a friend (sakhi) of other Indian languages, and that there is no conflict between the two.
— At the inauguration of 5th Akhil Rajbhasha Sammelan in Gandhinagar on Hindi Diwas, Shah said, “Hindi should not just be a language of conversation or administration. Hindi should be the language of science, technology, judiciary and the police. When these works happen in Indian languages, connection with citizens increases automatically.”
— The theme for this year’s celebration was “Promoting Literacy in the Digital Era”, highlighting the pivotal role of digital technology in enabling reading, writing, numeracy, and lifelong learning skills across the country.
— September 13 marks the 77th anniversary of Operation Polo, the military operation launched by newly independent India to annex the state of Hyderabad. Led by Major General Jayanto Nath Chaudhuri, Operation Polo lasted less than four days and brought to heel the Nizam who had been resolute in his decision not to accede to India.
— Hyderabad’s ambition to remain an independent state after the British left, was a cause of major concern for the Indian government. If realised, it could cut off north India from the south. Reginald Coupland, a constitutional expert cited by historian Ramachandra Guha in India after Gandhi (2007), had aptly described the situation: “India could live if its Muslim limbs in the north west and north east were amputated, but could it live without its midriff?”
— Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel put it more bluntly, famously saying that an independent Hyderabad would constitute a “cancer in the belly of India”.
— Indian Railways (IR) is introducing an Amrit Bharat Express train connecting Bihar and Tamil Nadu. The new Amrit Bharat Express will run between Jogbani and Erode Junction. The Amrit Bharat Express train is meant for low-income and middle-class families.
— While highlighting the importance of Mizoram as a major player in Centre’s Act East policy and its standing in the geopolitics of South East Asia, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Saturday inaugurated the ambitious 51.38-km Bairabi-Sairang rail line, connecting the capital Aizawl to the Indian Railways network for the first time.
— Aizawl, which is around 20km far from the satellite town Sairang, is the fourth northeastern capital after Guwahati, Agartala and Itanagar to be linked to the Indian Railways’ grid. Before this project, there was only a 5-km railway line inside Mizoram, up to the Bairabi station on the Assam-Mizoram border.
— PM added that Mizoram has a major role in both our Act East Policy and the emerging North East Economic Corridor. “With the Kaladan Multimodal Transit Transport Project and Sairang-Hbichhuah Railway line, Mizoram will also get connected to the Bay of Bengal through South East Asia. Due to this, trade and tourism will be boosted across North East India and South East Asia,” he said.
— The Kaladan Multi Modal Transit Transport Project links Kolkata to Sittwe port in Myanmar via sea link, before reaching Zorinpui in Mizoram. Beyond that, a network of road and rail projects such as the Bairabi-Sairang line and its proposed extension, the 223-km Sairang to Hbichhuah (on Mizoram’s border with Myanmar), is seen as India’s answer to flexing by Bangladesh and China.
— The Bairabi-Sairang line, which cuts through Kolasib and Aizawl districts of Mizoram, has 45 tunnels, 55 major bridges, 88 minor bridges, five Road over Bridges (ROBs) and six Road Under Bridges (RUBs), of which Bridge No. 196 or the Kurung Bridge is the highest at 114 metres, 42 metres taller than the Qutub Minar. On August 23, 2023, a steel girder on the Kurung bridge collapsed, killing at least 23 workers.
I. With reference to Sahyadri Tiger Reserve, consider the following statements:
1. It was notified in 2010, combining the Chandoli National Park and Koyna Wildlife Sanctuary area.
2. It forms the catchment for Koyna and Indravati rivers.
Which of the above given statements is/are true?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
II. With reference to 2025 CAFA Nations Cup, consider the following statements:
1. Iran won the finals agains host Uzbekistan.
2. India, a guest nation, finished third at CAFA Nations Cup.
Which of the above given statements is/are true?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
| Prelims Answer Key |
| I. (a) II. (b) |
(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.)
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