Current Affairs – October 24 2025

{GS1 – A&C – Architecture} Lord Ayyappa Temple in Sabarimala

Context (TH): President Droupadi Murmu recently offered prayers at the Ayyappa temple in Sabarimala, becoming the first woman President to worship at the hill shrine.

About the Sabarimala Temple

President Droupadi Murmu recently offered prayers at the Lord Ayyappa Temple in Sabarimala, becoming the first woman President to worship at the hill shrine.
The Sabarimala temple is located in the Pathanamthitta district of Kerala, atop Sabarimala Hill at an altitude of about 1,260 metres.
It is dedicated to Lord Ayyappa (Dharma Shasta), revered as a Naishtika Brahmachari (eternal celibate).
The temple is surrounded by 18 hills & dense forests forming part of the Periyar Tiger Reserve in Kerala.
The Pathinettu Thripadikal (18 sacred steps) leading to the shrine are of great spiritual significance.
The temple was reconstructed in 1950 after being damaged by arson; the original stone idol was replaced with a Panchaloha (five-metal alloy) image.
Traditionally, women of menstruating age (10–50 years) were barred from entering the temple, a practice that sparked intense social and judicial debate.
The Supreme Court’s 2018 verdict allowed women of all ages to enter the shrine, marking a significant moment in the ongoing discussion of faith and gender equality.

About Sabarimala Temple Entry Case

A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was filed in 2006 by the Indian Young Lawyers Association (IYLA), challenging the ban on women’s entry to the temple.
Supreme Court Verdict: A five-judge Bench in 2018 declared the entry ban unconstitutional and discriminatory against women.
Constitutional Basis: The bench held that the prohibition violated Article 14 (Right to Equality), Article 15 (Non-discrimination), and Article 21 (Right to live with dignity) and infringed Article 25(1) (freedom of religion for all).
Denomination Status: The Court held that Lord Ayyappa’s devotees are not a separate religious denomination, thereby denying them protection under Article 26.
- Article 26 allows every religious denomination to manage its religious affairs, establish institutions, and own property, subject to public order, morality, and health.

Read More > Temple Entry Discrimination

{GS2 – MoCA – Schemes} 9 Years of UDAN Scheme

Context (ZN | NOA): The UDAN (Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik) scheme, launched on 21 October 2016, has completed 9 years.

Key Achievements of UDAN Scheme

649 regional routes (as of 2025) and 1.56 crore passengers served in 9 years.
3.23 lakh UDAN flights through 93 airports, 15 heliports, 2 water aerodromes.
₹4,300 crore disbursed as Viability Gap Funding (VGF) and ₹4,638 crore invested to support airlines.
Estimated 1 lakh+ direct & indirect jobs created (MoCA Report, 2025).
UDAN 5.5 Launched to enable a special bidding round for seaplanes and helicopters.
Expanded UDAN Framework (Post-2027) to focus on hilly, North-Eastern, and aspirational districts.

About UDAN Scheme

The primary objective of the scheme is to provide affordable and efficient air travel options to residents of tier-2 and tier-3 cities, remote areas, and regions with limited or no air connectivity.
Launched by the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) in October 2016 under the National Civil Aviation Policy (NCAP), with the Airports Authority of India (AAI) as the nodal implementing agency.
The scheme is applicable for 10 years (till 2026) and was honoured with the Prime Minister’s Award for Excellence in Public Administration (2020) under the Innovation Category.
It is supported through Viability Gap Funding (VGF) from the Regional Connectivity Fund, shared between the Centre (80–90%) and States (10–20%).
Airlines get fee waivers on parking and navigation, ~50% seats at subsidised fares, and state support for land, utilities, and security at concessional rates.

Read More > UDAN, India’s Aviation Sector

Context (NOA): The Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution has issued the Vegetable Oil Products, Production and Availability (Regulation) Amendment Order, 2025 (VOPPA 2025).

The VOPPA Order was initially established in 2011 under the Essential Commodities Act, 1955, to regulate the production, distribution, and trade of edible oils.

Objective: The amendment aims to prevent hoarding, improve market transparency, curb misreporting, and protect consumers from supply disruptions in the edible oil sector.
Key Provisions: It mandates online registration, monthly digital reporting, aligns definitions with the Essential Commodities Act, 1955, and strengthens enforcement with stricter penalties.
Significance: The amendment strengthens India’s food security and market stability by ensuring accurate data, enabling real-time monitoring, and facilitating timely policy intervention.

About Edible Oil Sector in India

Consumption: India is the second-largest consumer of edible oils after China, with annual per capita intake surpassing ICMR’s recommended levels.
Import Dependence: India imports 55–60% of its edible oil demand, making it the world’s largest importer, ahead of China and the USA.
- The dependence results from low oilseed yields, as small rainfed farmers use outdated practices and lack access to modern technology or irrigation support.
Import Composition: Palm oil accounts for about 56% of India’s edible oil imports, followed by soybean and sunflower oils.
Domestic Production: Dominant oilseeds include soybean (34%), rapeseed–mustard (31%), and groundnut (27%), collectively accounting for over 90% of total output.

Government Initiatives for Edible Oil Production

NMEO–Oil Palm (2021): A Centrally Sponsored Scheme aimed at achieving self-reliance in edible oil production by promoting oil palm cultivation in the North-East and Andaman–Nicobar Islands.
NMEO–Oilseeds (2024): Aims to boost yields in key oilseeds (mustard, groundnut, soybean) and expand secondary sources (rice bran, cottonseed) using modern seed varieties and technology.

{GS2 – IR – UN} Sevilla Forum on Debt *

Context (ANI): The Sevilla Forum on Debt was launched at the 16^th United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD16) to address the rising global debt crisis in developing countries.

The UNCTAD16 took place at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, hosted by Switzerland and UNCTAD. It focused on fair trade, the sovereign debt crisis, and enhancing inclusive multilateralism.

About the Forum

It is a new multilateral platform for dialogue and action on sovereign debt reform, uniting borrowers, lenders, international institutions, academics, and civil society.
Leadership: It is led by Spain and supported by the UNCTAD and the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA).
Objective: To promote responsible borrowing and lending practices to prevent future debt crises and strengthen global financial stability.
Institutional Origin: It is an outcome of the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4) and will complement the Sevilla Commitment.
- Sevilla Commitment is the first intergovernmental financing framework since 2015 aimed at bridging the funding gap in developing countries to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Current Debt Crisis Scenario

Global Debt Scale: The global public debt reached a record high of $102 trillion in 2024, with developing countries accounting for $31 trillion of that total.
Fiscal Strain: Around 3.4 billion people live in countries where debt interest payments are forcing severe cuts in essential social spending on health and education.

{GS3 – Envi – Species} Carbide Beetles as Bioindicators for Microplastics

Context (TH): Scientists recently identified Carabid beetles as a reliable bioindicator for monitoring microplastic contamination in terrestrial soils.

Human Link: Carabid beetles from tourism-heavy areas showed higher microplastic ingestion.
Bioindicator Value: Insects like carabids are ideal bioindicators due to their quick response to environmental stress and widespread distribution.

About Carabid Beetles

Carabid beetles, also known as ground beetles, constitute a diverse insect family (Carabidae) with more than 40,000 species worldwide.
Physical Traits: These beetles usually have dark or metallic bodies with ridged protective wing covers called elytra.
Defence Mechanism: When threatened, many species secrete a foul-smelling fluid from abdominal glands to deter predators
Habitat Preference: Highly adaptable, they thrive in forests, meadows, farms, wetlands, and urban landscapes in varied climates.
Geographical Spread: Found in nearly every terrestrial habitat except Antarctica; around 2000 species have been recorded in India.
Dietary Preference: Exhibit a highly diverse and opportunistic diet that includes insects, other invertebrates, weed seeds, and decaying organic matter.
Ecological Role: They aid pest control, improve soil aeration, decompose dead organic material, and recycle nutrients.

Read More > Microplastics

{GS3 – Envi – Species} Anagyrus lopezi *

Context (TH): The National Bureau of Agricultural Insect Resources (NBAIR) imported the parasitoid wasp Anagyrus lopezi to deploy biological control against the cassava mealybug pest.

Pest Identity: The cassava mealybug is a highly invasive pest native to South America that damages cassava crops by feeding on plant sap.
- First detected in Kerala in 2020, the pest infested over 1.4 lakh hectares of cassava and lowered productivity to below 10 tonnes per hectare.
Wasp Role: Anagyrus lopezi is a small, host-specific parasitic wasp from Central America known for suppressing cassava mealybug populations.
- The female wasp lays eggs inside the mealybug’s body. The larva then feeds on the pest from within, eventually killing it.

About Cassava Crop (Manihot esculenta)

Cassava (also called tapioca) is a perennial woody shrub native to South America, widely cultivated for its starchy edible roots.
Growth Conditions: The crop thrives in warm, humid climates (25-32°C), tolerates drought, and can grow on low-fertility lands.
Nutritional Value: Cassava helps regulate blood sugar and provides prebiotic fibre that supports digestion and controls appetite (aids weight loss).
Industrial Uses: Cassava starch serves as a binder in the pharmaceuticals, paper, and textiles industries, and is used to produce bioethanol and biodegradable plastics.
Global Standing: Nigeria is the largest cassava producer, Thailand leads in starch exports, and Cambodia ranks first in productivity (27 tonnes/ha).
Indian Output: Tamil Nadu and Kerala together account for more than 90% of India’s cassava production, with Tamil Nadu leading in both yield and cultivation area.

{GS3 – Envi – RE} India’s Renewable Energy Transition **

Context (DDN | PIB): India’s renewable strategy is shifting from just rapid expansion to focus on system integration and stability to achieve its 500 GW renewable energy capacity target by 2030.

India’s Current Renewable Landscape

Installed Capacity: India’s installed renewable capacity grew over fivefold from 35 GW in 2014 to 197 GW in 2025 (excluding large hydro projects).
Project Pipeline: Over 40 GW of renewable projects are in advanced stages of securing Power Purchase Agreements (PPA), Power Sale Agreements (PSA) and transmission connectivity approvals.
Annual Addition: India continues to add 15-25 GW of renewable capacity annually, sustaining one of the world’s fastest growth rates.
Transmission Corridors: Green Energy Corridors and high-capacity transmission lines from Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Ladakh will unlock over 200 GW of renewable generation potential.
Grid Capacity: Supported by the ₹2.4 lakh crore Transmission Plan, inter-regional grid capacity is expected to grow from 120 GW to 143 GW by 2027 and reach 168 GW by 2032.

India’s current renewable energy mix (excluding large hydro) comprises solar (64.63%), wind (26.96%), biopower (5.46%), small hydro (2.60%), and waste-to-energy (0.43%).

Changing Renewable Policy Directions

Tender Focus: New tenders now prioritise energy storage and Round-The-Clock (RTC) power, indicating a clear shift towards dispatchable renewable energy.
Manufacturing Policy: Earlier import-dependent solar capacity is now being replaced by self-reliant domestic manufacturing supported by the PLI scheme, duty exemptions, etc.
Grid Access: The 2025 General Network Access (GNA) framework replaces static grid connectivity with a time-segmented system that allocates transmission corridors based on generation hours.
- E.g., solar projects to use them during the daytime and wind or storage projects at night.
Market Mechanisms: Traditional long-term PPAs are evolving into Virtual PPAs (VPPAs). VPPAs offer flexibility by decoupling procurement from physical delivery.
Future Levers: Policy focus is expanding beyond land-based renewables to include offshore wind, pumped hydro storage, and green hydrogen for long-term diversification.

Government Initiatives for Renewable Energy

PLI Scheme for Solar PV Modules: Offers financial incentives to manufacturers of high-efficiency solar photovoltaic (PV) modules to boost domestic production and reduce imports.
Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS): Maintains grid stability and stores surplus renewable energy, targeting 236 GWh of storage capacity by 2031-32.
Green Energy Corridor (GEC): Builds dedicated transmission networks to transfer renewable energy from resource-rich states like Rajasthan and Gujarat to the national grid.
Ultra Mega Renewable Energy Parks: Provide developers with land and transmission facilities on a “plug-and-play” basis for large-scale renewable projects (minimum capacity: 500 MW).
Renewable Purchase Obligations (RPO): Require power distribution companies to procure a fixed share of electricity from renewable energy sources.
National Green Hydrogen Mission: Aims to make India a major producer of green hydrogen with a 5 MMT annual production target by 2030.

{GS3 – S&T – Tech} Storm Shadow Cruise Missile

Context (BBC): In October 2025, Ukraine launched UK-supplied Storm Shadow long-range cruise missiles to strike a Russian chemical plant in Bryansk.

Storm Shadow is an Anglo-French cruise missile (developed by the UK and France). In France, it is called the SCALP-EG.
It has a range exceeding 250 kilometres and is designed for precision strikes.
The missile can operate day and night, in all weather conditions, and is equipped with fire-and-forget technology, allowing it to independently navigate and strike after launch.
Its guidance system combines Inertial Navigation System (INS), Global Positioning System (GPS), and Terrain Reference Navigation (TRN), enabling accurate route control and terrain-following flight.
The BROACH (Bomb Royal Ordnance Augmented Charge) warhead features a two-stage design — the first charge pierces the target’s surface, and the second detonates inside, ensuring deep penetration.

INS uses onboard accelerometers and gyroscopes to continuously calculate a vehicle’s position and velocity without external signals, while TRN matches onboard terrain-height profiles with ground elevation data to correct and refine the missile’s flight path.

Read More > Russia-Ukraine war

{GS3 – S&T – Space} Chang’e-6 Lunar Samples *

Context (DDN): Chinese scientists have discovered rare meteorite fragments in the lunar soil sample brought back by the Chang’e-6 mission.

About the Chang’e-6 Mission

Chang’e-6 is a robotic spacecraft part of China’s lunar exploration program, designed to gather and return soil samples from the far side of the Moon.
In 2024, it became the first mission to return lunar soil from the Moon’s far side, collected from the South Pole–Aitken (SPA) Basin.

The South Pole–Aitken (SPA) Basin, the largest, oldest, and deepest known basin of its kind, is a massive, ancient impact crater on the far side of the Moon.

Refer For More > Chang’e-6 Mission

About the Findings in the Lunar Samples

Small fragments of CI chondrites were found in the lunar samples; they were preserved because the Moon lacks an atmosphere and geological activity.
CI chondrites are meteorites rich in water and organic compounds, originating from the cold, outer regions of the early solar system. They act as pristine records of the solar system’s chemical composition.
Implication: The findings suggest that the early Earth–Moon system was struck by more water-bearing asteroids than believed, shedding light on the shared origins of water on both Earth and the Moon.

{GS3 – Bio – Diseases} Fiji Eliminates Trachoma *

Context (WHO): According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), Fiji has become the 26^th country to eliminate trachoma as a public health problem.

Trachoma is a neglected tropical disease (NTD) and the first such disease to be eliminated in Fiji.
Significance: The achievement advances the WHO’s Roadmap for NTDs 2021–2030 to prevent, control, eliminate, and eradicate 20 diseases and disease groups by 2030.

Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs)

NTDs are a diverse group of communicable diseases prevalent in tropical and subtropical regions, mainly impacting impoverished and marginalised populations.
WHO currently recognises 21 diseases as NTDs, affecting over one billion people worldwide.

About Trachoma

Trachoma is a bacterial eye infection caused by Chlamydia trachomatis, leading to visual impairment and blindness if untreated.
Transmission: It spreads through direct contact with eye or nasal discharges of infected persons, and indirectly through contaminated objects or eye-seeking flies carrying the bacteria.
Health Burden: It remains the world’s leading infectious cause of blindness, mainly impacting women and preschool children in areas with poor sanitation.
Prevention Approach: The WHO-endorsed SAFE strategy (Surgery, Antibiotics, Facial cleanliness, and Environmental improvement) forms the basis of trachoma control.

About Fiji

The Republic of Fiji is an island nation in the South Pacific Ocean made up of over 330 islands, about one-third of which are permanently inhabited.
Capital: Suva, located on the southeast coast of the largest island, Viti Levu.
Topography: Most large islands are volcanic in origin, while smaller ones are coral formations; Mount Tomaniivi (1,324 m) is the highest peak.

Read More > Trachoma | India eliminates trachoma

{Prelims – In News} Triple Whammy Situation in South India

Context (TH): The Northeast Monsoon (NEM) of 2025 arrived four days earlier than usual over Tamil Nadu, creating a “triple whammy” situation.

Triple Whammy Situation

Early Onset of Northeast Monsoon: Heavy, short-duration rainfall episodes due to Bay of Bengal low-pressure systems.
Simultaneous Rainfall: Overlap between retreating Southwest Monsoon and the onset of NEM.
Dam and Catchment Overflow: Rapid inflow into reservoirs like Mullaperiyar forces excess discharge, aggravating flooding in downstream Tamil Nadu districts.