Yearender 2025 | 100-m Aravalli rule, Gen Z wave, and Ragebait: Top 10 Buzzwords that defined this year

People walk outside the venue for the COP30 UN Climate Summit in Belem, Brazil. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)

#3 Mutirão

One keyword that was trending throughout the COP30 was “Mutirão”, originally from the Tupi-Guarani language and translated as “Global Mutirão” (meaning “collective efforts”). The COP30 presidency adopted it as a slogan to encourage climate action worldwide. The Indian government also expressed gratitude to the Brazilian spirit of Mutirao, which aims to create a framework that will integrate decentralized, bottom-up, and self-organized initiatives into an aligned global mobilization, rooted in solidarity, cooperation, and shared purpose.

#4 Yellow Line

From Donald Trump’s  20-point peace plan for Gaza to the on-and-off ceasefire in the region, an unmarked boundary called the yellow line has been gaining a lot of news recently. The Yellow Line is set out in the agreement between Israel and Hamas. It is an unmarked boundary that divides the Israeli-held part of Gaza from the rest, a “new border”. The yellow line has remained a flashpoint ever since, and there have been several instances of violence and violation of the ceasefire along the demarcation, with both sides blaming the other for the escalation.

#5 ‘100-m Aravalli rule’

As the year wound down, the spotlight unexpectedly shifted to one of India’s oldest mountain ranges—the Aravallis. The ongoing protests and criticism over the government’s new definition of the Aravalli Hills is something not to miss. Under the new definition, any landform that is at an elevation of 100 metres or more above the local relief (or local profile) will be considered as part of the Aravalli Hills, along with its slopes and adjacent land. This would exclude 91.3 per cent of 12,081 Aravalli Hills 20 metre or higher, spread across 15 districts in Rajasthan, making them vulnerable to illegal mining.

Explaining Operation Sindoor, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said that the action on the terror camps was undertaken through “precision capability”. (AP photo)

#6 Operation Sindoor

Named after the red vermilion often used in Hindu ceremonies and worn by married Hindu women, the Indian government responded to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack with the launch of Operation Sindoor at nine locations in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (POK)  to destroy the terror bases behind the attack. With this, the government established a new military red line, signaling a stern stance against future terrorist acts with potential military consequences for Pakistan.

#7 Carbon Tax

Climate change is not merely a trending term but the reality of our time. Starting January 1, the European Union will impose the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) or carbon tax on Europe’s imports of steel, aluminium, and a handful of other commodities. CBAM taxes certain products coming in from other countries based on their emissions footprint in their production process. For instance, if the imported steel was produced through a process that entailed higher emissions than the emissions standards for that product in Europe, it would be taxed.

#8 Gen Z wave of protests

This year was especially marked by the Gen Z-led youth protesters taking the streets across the globe, voicing anger at corruption, inequality, and government inaction. From Peru to Nepal, Gen Z activists took to the streets to express their anger and frustration at the corrupt political system in their countries. In Nepal, Gen Z protests culminated in the resignation of the prime minister in September.

Wegovy is made of semaglutide, a GLP 1A receptor agonist, which mimics the effects of the naturally occurring hormone GLP-1. (File Photo/Canva)

#9 Anti-obesity drugs from Ozempic to Wegovy

A class of glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists or GLP-1 RAs (Rybelsus, Wegovy, Ozempic and Mounjaro, their generic names semaglutide and tirzepatide) have, in a remarkably short time, become a major topic of conversation in India. They have taken over the Indian pharmaceutical market. These weight loss drugs mimic certain naturally-occurring gut hormones called incretins (GLP-1 is one such incretin) which is responsible for regulating blood sugar, reducing appetite, and slowing down gastric emptying.

# 10 GPS spoofing

In November, hundreds of flights were affected at the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) in Delhi due to technical glitches that were linked to GPS spoofing. It involves a device transmitting signals on the same frequencies used by GPS satellites, overwhelming or blocking the GPS receivers from acquiring or maintaining the right satellite signals.

Post Script

Dear Readers,

As the curtain is about to fall on 2025 and we step into 2026, we remain committed to providing exam-oriented content to support your preparation. UPSC Current Affairs Pointers, published every Monday, will continue to aid you in your journey towards UPSC Prelims 2026. Follow the UPSC section of The Indian Express. Your feedback is always welcome—write to me at khushboo.kumari@indianexpress.com

Subscribe to our UPSC newsletter. Stay updated with the latest UPSC articles by joining our Telegram channel – Indian Express UPSC Hub, and follow us on Instagram and X.

🚨 Click Here to read the UPSC Essentials magazine for December 2025. Share your views and suggestions in the comment box or at manas.srivastava@indianexpress.com🚨