Current Affairs – December 24, 2025

{GS2 – Social Sector} Internationalisation of Higher Education **

• Context(TH): NITI Aayog released a comprehensive road map to internationalise India’s higher education system, aiming to correct the sharp inbound–outbound imbalance.

Significance of Internationalisation of Higher Education

• Brain Drain Control: The 1:28 mobility ratio reflects significant talent loss, reinforced by 16 lakh citizenship renunciations since 2011.
• Fiscal Stability: Outward remittances for education rose by ~2000% in a decade, linking higher education policy directly to balance-of-payments health.
• Trade Deficit Impact: Overseas education spending equals ~75% of India’s trade deficit (FY25), making domestic capacity expansion economically critical.
• Soft Power Gain: Raising inbound students to 7.9–11 lakh by 2047 can boost India’s global influence and knowledge exports.

Challenges Faced for Internationalisation of Higher Education

• Funding Constraints: 41% of Indian institutions identify limited scholarships and financial aid as the biggest hurdle to attracting foreign students.
• Quality Perception: Around 30% of institutions report a weak global perception of Indian education quality, despite its scale and diversity advantages.
• Campus Readiness: Gaps in housing, student services and internationalised curricula reduce India’s competitiveness as a study destination.
• Regulatory Friction: Visa rules, tax compliance, banking access and tenure norms raise entry barriers for foreign faculty and researchers.

Reforms Proposed by NITI Aayog

• Vishwa Bandhu Schemes: Introduce scholarships and fellowships to attract foreign students, researchers and faculty to Indian universities at scale.
• Bharat Vidya Kosh: Set up a $10 billion national research sovereign fund, with 50% diaspora/philanthropy contribution matched by government support.
• Academic Mobility: Launch an EU’s Erasmus+ like multilateral mobility programme (“Tagore Framework”) tailored to groupings such as ASEAN, BRICS and BIMSTEC.
• Foreign Campuses: Ease norms for international campuses and campus-within-campus models to globalise Indian academic ecosystems.
• Ranking Reform: Expand NIRF to include parameters like outreach, inclusivity and global partnerships to incentivise international engagement.
• Diaspora Outreach: Create Bharat ki AAN (Alumni Ambassador Network) to brand Indian higher education through globally placed alumni.

{GS3 – IE} Export Concentration in Few States **

• Context (TH): RBI Handbook of Statistics on Indian States 2024-25 showcases export performance masked by a growing regional imbalance, raising concerns about inclusive growth.

Structural Reasons Behind Export Concentration

• Value Over Volume: Global merchandise trade growth has slowed to 0.5–3%, pushing capital towards high-complexity, high-value clusters rather than low-skill regions.
• High Global Concentration: Since the top 10 global exporters control ~55% of world merchandise trade, India’s smaller exporting base faces tougher entry barriers and higher competitive pressure.
• Capital Deepening: Fixed capital investment rose ~10.6% (ASI 2022–23) while factory employment grew only 7.4%, raising capital per worker to ₹23.6 lakh.
• Employment Stagnation: Manufacturing’s share in total employment remains stuck at ~11.6–12%.
• Financial Asymmetry: High-export States show credit–deposit ratios above 90%, while States like Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh remain below 50%, indicating capital flight.

Implications for the Indian Economy

• Urban Congestion Costs: Export clustering in coastal metros has raised stress; E.g., industrial land prices in major export corridors have risen 2–3 times in a decade, discouraging decentralisation.
• Regional Income Divergence: Export-heavy States report per-capita incomes 2–3 times higher than low-export States, reinforcing long-term regional inequality.
• External Dependence Risk: India’s exports to the US and EU form ~40% of total exports, so a demand slowdown there can quickly transmit stress to export-linked States and sectors.
• Policy Measurement Gap: Using export growth alone as a success metric can mislead, because national aggregates may rise even when many States see limited export dynamism and spillovers.
• Forex Vulnerability: Merchandise exports are dominated by a few States, while India still ran a current account deficit of ~1.1% of GDP (FY24), making forex stability sensitive to regional export shocks.

Way Forward

• Financial Rebalancing: Improve local credit flow in hinterland States; E.g., targeted lending mandates and regional development finance institutions.
• Place-Based Policy: Tailor industrial strategy to State-specific strengths; E.g., agro-processing in eastern India and logistics-linked manufacturing in the north.
• Employment Focus: Complement export policy with labour-absorbing sectors; E.g., Vietnam’s export strategy combined electronics exports with large-scale textiles, footwear and food-processing clusters.
• Capability Building: Invest in skills, logistics and supplier ecosystems in lagging States; E.g., district-level industrial capability hubs rather than isolated parks.

{GS3 – IE} Electronics Sector in India

• Context (DDN): The Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology recently said that India’s electronics sector is creating large-scale blue-collar jobs, especially for women.

India’s Electronics Sector

• Production: Domestic electronics output reached ₹11.32 lakh crore in FY2024–25, a six-fold increase over the last decade (2014–15).
• Export: Electronics became India’s third-largest export category in FY2024–25 and FY2025–26, with exports exceeding $40 billion.
• Mobile Manufacturing: India is the world’s second-largest mobile phone manufacturer, with exports touching ₹2 lakh crore after a rapid decade-long growth.
• Employment Base: The electronics sector employs about 25 lakh people nationwide and is India’s largest employer of women in organised manufacturing.
• National Target: The government aims to build a $500 billion electronics manufacturing ecosystem by FY 2030–31, with $120 billion in exports by FY 2025-26.

Key Government Initiatives

• PLI Scheme 2.0: The Production-Linked Incentive scheme offers around 5% incentives on incremental sales of IT hardware such as laptops, tablets, and servers manufactured in India.
• ECMS 2025: The Electronics Components Manufacturing Scheme promotes ‘passive components’ and sub-assemblies to reduce import dependence.
• SPECS: The Scheme for Promotion of Manufacturing of Electronic Components and Semiconductors offers 25% capex incentives for component manufacturing.
• DLI Scheme: The Design Linked Incentive scheme supports domestic chip design through financial and infrastructure assistance.
• EMC 2.0: Modified Electronics Manufacturing Clusters create world-class electronics infrastructure, including semiconductor parks.
• Skilling Push: The ‘Chip-in’ programme aims to train industry-ready engineers to meet demand for one million skilled workers by 2030.

Read More > India’s Electronics Export Boom | India’s Electronic Hardware

{GS3 – IS} India’s First National Counter-Terrorism Policy **

• Context (TH): The Union Home Ministry is set to introduce India’s first National Counter Terrorism Policy and Strategy.

Key Pillars of the New Counter-terrorism Policy

• Unified SOP: Establishes a common Standard Operating Procedure for all Indian states to ensure uniform responses to terror incidents.
• Online Radicalisation: Prioritises countering digital radicalisation occurring via social media platforms and encrypted messaging applications.
• Border Misuse: Addresses exploitation of the open Nepal border, where terrorists enter Nepal on foreign passports and infiltrate India via UP-Bihar border routes.
• Data Integration: Expands use of the National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID) to enable shared database access for early threat detection.
• Terror Financing: Targets terror funding through foreign-funded conversion networks, Aadhaar spoofing, and narcotics-based finance channels.
• Information Sharing: Shifts law enforcement culture from a “need-to-know model” toward a “duty-to-share approach”.

Need for a New Counter-Terrorism Policy

• Jurisdictional Gap: Despite NIA’s federal mandate, immediate jurisdiction rests with local police, causing coordination delays in the initial ‘Golden Hours’ after terror attacks.
  • UAPA cases handled by state police show 20-30% convictions, compared to 95% under NIA.
• Border Exploitation: Weak border management allows terror networks to infiltrate India via open borders like Nepal.
  • Following the Pahlgam attack, 35 infiltrators attempted entry through the Indo-Nepal border.
• Technological Asymmetry: Rising terrorist use of drones and cryptocurrency outpaces the technical capacity of most police stations. In 2025, micro-payload drone drops increased by 30%.
• Digital Radicalisation: Self-radicalisation via encrypted apps bypasses conventional intelligence collection and surveillance systems.
  • Global Terrorism Index 2025 reports 93% of fatal attacks in Western countries involve lone-wolf actors.

India’s Current Counter-Terrorism Framework

Legislative Framework

• Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act 1967: Allows designation of persons and organisations as terrorists, with asset seizure and up to 180 days’ detention without charge sheet.
• National Investigation Agency Act 2008: Gives the National Investigation Agency nationwide jurisdiction to investigate terror offences without state permission.
• National Security Act 1980: Permits preventive detention of persons for acts prejudicial to national security and public order.
• Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 2024: Defines “terrorist act” under Section 113, bridging the gap between local police action and NIA investigations.

Institutional Architecture

• National Investigation Agency: Serves as the primary federal agency for terror prosecution, with nearly 95% conviction in UAPA cases.
• National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID): Links 21 databases, including banking and travel records, to detect suspicious patterns and trace terror financing.
• Specialised Units: National Security Guard (NSG) and state Anti-Terrorism Squads (ATS) serve as primary strike forces for urban terror incidents and hostage rescue.
• National Security Council Secretariat: Headed by the National Security Adviser (NSA), it coordinates inter-agency responses and integrates defence, intelligence, and diplomacy.

Strategic Doctrine

• Decisive Retaliation: Treats any terror attack as an act of war, allowing India to choose timing, scale, and nature of response.
• Sponsor Liability: Removes distinction between terrorists and sponsoring states, holding both equally accountable for terror actions.
• Punitive Deterrence: Shifts from ‘deterrence by denial’ to ‘deterrence by punishment’, inflicting unacceptable damage to deter future attacks.
• Net Security: Frames counter-terror actions as defence of global norms rather than bilateral disputes.

{GS3 – S&T} ISRO Launches Heaviest Satellite BlueBird Block-2 **

• Context (TH | NIE | PIB): ISRO successfully launched the BlueBird Block-2 satellite (BlueBird-6) aboard the Launch Vehicle Mark 3 (LVM3).

• The launch was conducted by NewSpace India Limited (NSIL), the commercial arm of ISRO, from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota.
• It marked the sixth operational flight of LVM3, designated as LVM3-M6.
• Significance: The launch marked two milestones for India – deployment of the heaviest satellite from Indian soil and the largest commercial communications satellite into the Low Earth Orbit (LEO).

About BlueBird Block-2 Satellite

• It is a next-generation communications satellite developed by a U.S.-based company.
• It enables 4G/5G voice and video calls, data transfers, and messaging directly to phones without needing specialised ground equipment or antennas.
• Key Features: It carries a 223 sq m phased-array antenna and weighs about 6,100 kg.
• Capacity gain: It delivers nearly ten times higher data capacity, enabling continuous 24/7 coverage.

About Launch Vehicle Mark-3 (LVM3)

• The LVM3, earlier called GSLV Mk-III, is ISRO’s most powerful and heaviest launch vehicle; it is also known as “Baahubali“.
• It is a three-stage launch vehicle consisting of two solid motors (S200), a liquid propellant stage (L110), and a cryogenic-fueled upper stage (C25).
• Payload Capacity: It can lift about 4,000 kg to Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) and nearly 8,000 kg to Low Earth Orbit (LEO).
• Key Feature: It is powered by the indigenous CE-20, India’s largest cryogenic engine.
• Key Missions: It launched Chandrayaan-2, Chandrayaan-3, LVM3-M6, and is designated for the Gaganyaan human spaceflight mission.

{GS3 – S&T} Directed Energy Weapons (DEWs)

• Context (TH): Hyderabad-based aerospace and defence firm Apollo Micro Systems secured DRDO approval to access Directed Energy Weapon system technologies.

About Directed Energy Weapons (DEWs)

• Mechanism: DEWs use focused energy beams to disable or destroy targets without physical projectiles.
• Energy Source: They rely on electromagnetic waves or subatomic particles instead of kinetic force.
• Engagement: DEWs operate at or near light speed, offering near-instant strikes with very high precision.

Types of DEWs

1. High-Energy Laser: Emit concentrated infrared or visible light to thermally damage targets.
2. High-Power Microwave: Generate electromagnetic pulses that disrupt electronic circuits.
3. Particle Beams: Accelerate electrons, protons, or ions to disrupt molecular structures of targets.
4. Millimetre Wave Weapons: Emit electromagnetic waves causing intense skin heating without permanent physical injury.

Key Advantages

• Low Cost: The “cost per shot” is much lower than missiles or ammunition.
• No Reload: Continuous firing is possible without reloading, provided a stable power source exists
• High Stealth: Strikes are silent, often invisible, and travel too fast for targets to evade.

Operational Challenges

• Weather Limits: Rain, fog, and dust reduce range by scattering energy beams.
• Heat Limits: Extreme heat needs advanced cooling to prevent component failure.
• Power Needs: Long-range use needs massive electricity and specialised generators.

{Prelims – Agri} Purple Revolution

• Context (PIB): The Aroma Mission team, which led India’s Purple Revolution, received the Rashtriya Vigyan Team Puraskar 2025 at the Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar ceremony.

About India’s Purple Revolution

• It was launched in 2016 by Ministry of Science and Technology to promote aromatic crops based agro-economy; it is also known as the “Lavender Revolution.”
  • The initiative was launched on a pilot basis in the Doda district of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), now known as the “Lavender Capital of India.”
• It is implemented through Council of Scientific and Industrial Research‘s (CSIR) “Aroma Mission” with technical assistance from the Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine (IIIM), Jammu.
• The mission provides free Lavender saplings and training for farmers, while installing 50 distillation units to facilitate on-site processing.
• Lavender-J&K model is now being replicated with new aromatic crops like lemon grass and citronella in other Himalayan states, including in the North East of India.

Read More > India’s First Green Revolution

{Prelims – Species} Raccoon Roundworm (Baylisascaris procyonis)

• Context (IT): A recent study has found widespread Baylisascaris procyonis infection in wild raccoon populations across nine European countries.

About the Raccoon Roundworm (Baylisascaris procyonis)

• Parasite: Baylisascaris procyonis is a parasitic nematode inhabiting the small intestines of raccoons.
• Human Risk: The parasite is harmless to raccoons but causes severe, often fatal neurological disease in humans and animals.
• Larval Migration: After ingestion, larvae hatch and migrate through the brain, spinal cord, eyes, liver, lungs, and heart.
• Clinical Onset: Symptoms appear one to four weeks after exposure, and include nausea, fatigue, poor coordination, seizures, and coma.
• Diagnosis: Detection remains difficult due to the absence of commercial tests. Albendazole is the primary but limited treatment.
• Global Spread: Native to North America, the parasite is an emerging zoonotic threat in Europe and parts of Asia.
  • The transmission risk in India remains negligible due to the absence of wild raccoons.

{Prelims – S&T} Discovery of Exocyst-Mediated Autophagy Pathway

• Context (PIB): Indian researchers have identified key regulators of autophagy, offering new therapeutic pathways for neurodegenerative diseases and cancer.

More about Exocyst-Mediated Autophagy Pathway

• Scientists identified that the exocyst complex is essential for building the cell’s autophagosomes.
  • Exocyst complex is a group of eight proteins previously known for its role in secretion, aiding the transport of important molecules to the cell surface.
• In the absence of the exocyst complex, autophagy is disrupted, causing toxic waste accumulation and neuronal cell death.
• Researchers used yeast cells to map these complex mechanisms, since autophagy mechanisms remain highly conserved across species.
• Significance: Exocyst targeting may restore neuronal waste clearance in Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, slowing progression; autophagy modulation can suppress early cancers or weaken advanced tumours.

{Prelims – S&T} AI-Agent AILA

• Context (NOA | IE): Researchers developed an AI- Agent AILA – Artificially Intelligent Lab Assistant.

• AILA utilises an agentic framework to plan, execute, and analyse real-world scientific experiments with human-like scientific adaptability.
• It is developed by IIT Delhi in collaboration with institutions from Denmark and Germany.
• Paradigm Shift: Unlike Generative AI models, AILA interacts with physical hardware, designs workflows, and adapts decisions using live feedback.
• Instrument Control: It can operate the Atomic Force Microscope (AFM), an advanced instrument used for nanoscale material examination.
• Operating Method: It uses a natural language interface, converting English instructions into executable code to control lab equipment.
• Time Efficiency: AILA reduces parameter optimisation time from 24 hours to nearly 7–10 minutes.
• Key Concern: The research showed occasional deviation of the AI agent from instructions, highlighting the need for robust safeguards to prevent equipment damage.

{Prelims – Defence} INSV Kaundinya *

• Context (PIB): Indian Navy’s pioneering Stitched Sailing Vessel INSV Kaundinya has been cleared for her maiden voyage.

About INSV Kaundinya

• Indian Navy’s first “ancient stitched ship,” a recreation of a 5^th century sailing vessel depicted in the Ajanta Cave paintings (Cave 17) and historical texts like the Yuktikalpataru.
• The ship is built by traditional artisans from Kerala, under a collaborative project between the Ministry of Culture and Indian Navy. It is named after the ancient Indian mariner Kaundinya I.
• The 19.6m long vessel was constructed using the traditional “Tankai method”, joining wooden planks with coconut coir rope and natural resins instead of metal nails or welding.
• INSV Kaundinya will be flagged off from Porbandar, Gujarat, on December 29 to Muscat, Oman.

Read More > India’s Shipbuilding Sector

{Prelims – In News} SHAKTI Scholars Young Research Fellowship

• Context (NOA): The National Commission for Women (NCW) has launched the ‘SHAKTI Scholars’ young research fellowship programme.

• The program aims to support young scholars doing policy-relevant research on women’s issues in India.
• The fellowship is open to graduate citizens between 21 to 30 years of age, and selected candidates will be awarded ₹1 lakh in multiple phases to undertake a six-month research study.

Read More > Gender Inequality in India