Current Affairs – November 12, 2025

{GS2 – Polity – Bodies – Constitutional} CAG’s New Centralised Audit Cadres *

• Context (TH): CAG of India has approved the creation of two specialised cadres, the Central Revenue Audit and Central Expenditure Audit cadres under the Indian Audit & Accounts Department (IA&AD).

About the New Reforms

• Objective: To ensure domain expertise, uniform auditing standards, and efficient manpower utilisation across ministries and departments.
• Central Revenue Audit (CRA) Cadre: To focus on audits of Central receipts, including direct and indirect taxes, customs, and non-tax revenues.
• Central Expenditure Audit (CEA) Cadre: To specialise in auditing Central Government expenditure and budgetary performance.
• Workforce Integration: The two cadres will consolidate over 4,000 audit professionals from various dispersed State Audit offices under a centralised command structure.

Read More > CAG

{GS2 – IR – Bilateral Relations} India-Bhutan Bilateral Relations **

• Context (IE): PM Narendra Modi recently inaugurated the 1,020 MW Punatsangchhu-II hydropower project during his official state visit to Bhutan.

• PM Modi also attended the 70^th birthday celebrations of Jigme Singye Wangchuck, the revered Fourth King and father of the current monarch.

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Evolution of India-Bhutan Relations

• Treaty of Punakha (1910): Made Bhutan a protected state of British India, allowing Britain to control its foreign policy and defence affairs during regional unrest.
• Treaty of Peace and Friendship (1949): Recognized Bhutan’s sovereignty and established perpetual peace and friendship. Bhutan agreed to be guided by India in external affairs.
• Agreement on Trade, Commerce and Transit (1972): Created a free trade regime and allowed duty-free movement of Bhutan’s exports and imports through India.
• Agreement on Cooperation in Hydropower (2006): Provided a framework for India to support Bhutan’s hydropower projects and facilitate the import of surplus electricity.
• Revised India–Bhutan Friendship Treaty (2007): Ended the 1949 guidance clause and reaffirmed equal partnership based on mutual interests.

Significance of Bhutan for India

• Strategic Buffer: Bhutan’s position between India and China acts as a protective buffer for India’s northern borders and security interests.
• Siliguri Corridor: Its proximity to the Siliguri Corridor helps India safeguard its critical land link to the northeastern states.
• Policy Anchor: Strong ties with Bhutan support India’s ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy through cooperation in trade, infrastructure, and security.
• Reliable Partner: Bhutan remains India’s most trusted regional ally, ensuring lasting strategic cooperation and mutual stability.
• Diplomatic Alignment: Bhutan’s alignment with India in regional and global forums strengthens India’s diplomatic influence and balances China’s growing presence.

Challenges in India-Bhutan Relations

• Chinese Engagement: China’s increasing border talks and infrastructure projects challenge India’s traditional strategic influence in Bhutan.
• Economic Diversification: Bhutan’s efforts to diversify its economy and seek new partners may lead to policy differences over trade and investment priorities.
• Connectivity Constraints: The mountainous terrain and limited road and rail networks hinder trade and regional integration, while environmental concerns delay new connectivity projects.
• Perception Gap: A section of the Bhutanese view India’s dominant role as overbearing, reinforcing the perception of India as a ‘big brother’.
• Border Security: Despite joint operations like ‘All Clear’ (2003-04), insurgent groups still exploit the porous border areas as temporary hideouts.

{GS3 – IE – Development} India’s Development Cooperation

• Context (ORF): India has evolved from being a major aid recipient to a proactive development partner, championing South–South Cooperation (SSC) through inclusive capacity-building models.

Current Status of India’s Development Cooperation

• India–UN Development Partnership Fund: Established in 2017 under UNOSSC, with India committing US$150 million over 10 years; has supported 85+ projects across 65 countries.
• Geographical Priority: Targets Least Developed Countries (LDCs), Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs), and Small Island Developing States (SIDS).
• India–UN Global Capacity-Building Initiative (2025): Enhances training, knowledge exchange, and institutional learning to complement project-based funding.
• Focus Sectors: Renewable energy, digital infrastructure, climate-resilient agriculture, women-led enterprises, and ecosystem restoration.
• Demand-Driven Model: Projects proposed by partner governments, ensuring national ownership.
• Implementation Approach: Collaboration with UN agencies ensures transparency and scalability.

Significance of India’s Distinct Model of South–South Cooperation

• Blended Financing: Combines grants and technical expertise, ensuring sustainability.
• Knowledge Transfer: Draws on India’s domestic successes, Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI), renewable energy missions, and Agri-innovation ecosystems.
• Global Credibility: The Fund has become a flagship model of equitable, evidence-based cooperation, endorsed during India’s G20 Presidency (2023).
• Principled Partnership: Focuses on solidarity, not leverage, guided by Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (“The world is one family”).

Challenges in India’s Development Cooperation Framework

• Fragmented Coordination: Absence of a centralised monitoring authority across. E.g. NITI Aayog’s 2024 review found overlap among 30+ ongoing capacity-building initiatives.
• Impact Measurement Deficit: No real-time results dashboard linking projects to SDGs or social impact outcomes. E.g. 40% of funded projects lack consolidated evaluation reports (MEA 2025).
• Resource Constraints: India’s Official Development Assistance (ODA) outflows (~$2.6 billion in 2024) remain modest compared to China or Japan, constraining scale.
• Regional Complexity: Political sensitivities in South Asia and Africa occasionally slow implementation or create duplication with other donor programs.
• Limited Private Sector Integration: Only 12–15% of India’s development cooperation projects involve private-sector participation, compared to 40–45% in OECD countries (OECD Development Report, 2024)
• Low Documentation: India allocates less than 0.5% of its total development assistance budget to public communication and evaluation, whereas OECD donors allocate around 3–5% (NITI Aayog Review, 2024)

Way Forward

• Institutionalise Coordination: Establish a National Development Cooperation Authority (NDCA) to unify capacity-building initiatives. E.g. Japan’s JICA for coherent strategy and impact alignment.
• Real-Time Impact Dashboard: Consolidate project data, SDG linkages, and outcome mapping for transparency similar to UNDP’s Data Futures Platform, enabling open-access accountability.
• Regional Scaling: Replicate successful pilots across geographies like Pacific renewable projects in Africa, and East African climate-smart agriculture in South Asia.
• Evaluation and Communication: Commission independent reviews and build an India Development Cooperation Portal showcasing global good practices.
• Deepen Multilateral Linkages: Collaborate with BIMSTEC, African Union (Agenda 2063), and Pacific Islands Forum to institutionalise cross-regional cooperation.

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{GS3 – Envi – Conservation} National Biodiversity Authority Releases ABS Funds

• Context (NOA): The National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) released ₹43.22 lakh in patent-linked Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) funds to reward biodiversity contributors.

• These funds were generated from Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) applications that used Indian biological resources for commercial or research purposes.
• The funds will be distributed to local communities, with Andhra Pradesh getting the largest share.

About Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS)

• ABS refers to the framework that governs how genetic resources are accessed and how the benefits from their use are equitably shared between users and providers.
• It is a core principle of the Nagoya Protocol (2010), an international agreement under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).
• Implementation: Through a three-tier mechanism under the Biological Diversity Act, 2002, involving the NBA, State Biodiversity Boards (SBBs), and local Biodiversity Management Committees (BMCs).

About National Biodiversity Authority (NBA)

• NBA is a statutory autonomous body created in 2003 under the Biological Diversity Act, 2002.
• Based in Chennai, it functions under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC).
• It regulates access to biological resources, monitors benefit-sharing compliance, and provides policy advice to the Central Government. It holds the power of a civil court

Read More > Access and Benefit Sharing Rules | NBA

{GS3 – Envi – Pollution} Citizen Protest Over Toxic Air as Delhi’s AQI Turns ‘Severe’ *

• Context (IE | TH ): A peaceful citizen protest was held at India Gate, New Delhi, against the worsening air pollution levels as the city’s overall Air Quality Index (AQI) deteriorated to the ‘Severe’ category.

• The alarming situation prompted the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) to invoke Stage-III of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) across the National Capital Region (NCR).

Key Issues Highlighted by Protesters

• Air quality in Delhi has reached hazardous levels, making breathing a survival act, particularly for children, the elderly, and asthma patients.
• Citizens expressed that the right to clean air is a basic right, not a privilege.
• Despite being peaceful and non-political, protesters were detained and prevented from moving by barricades, indicating a shrinking democratic space for environmental activism.

About Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP)

• GRAP is a region-specific emergency action framework to control air pollution in Delhi-NCR, prescribing graded measures based on the severity of air quality.
• It classifies actions under four stages: Poor (AQI 201–300), Very Poor (301–400), Severe (401–450), and Severe Plus (above 450), with escalating restrictions at each level.
• The plan includes coordinated steps such as vehicular restrictions, dust control, curbing industrial emissions, and promoting public transport.

Key Measures Under GRAP Stage-III

• Ban on construction and demolition activities across Delhi-NCR to curb dust pollution.
• Prohibition on BS-III petrol and BS-IV diesel four-wheelers in Delhi, Gurugram, Faridabad, Ghaziabad, and Gautam Buddha Nagar.
• Shift to hybrid learning mode for students up to Class V in Delhi and the above NCR districts.
• Continuation of restrictions under Stage-I (Poor) and Stage-II (Very Poor) categories already in force.

Read More> Controlling Air Pollution | Air Quality Monitoring

{GS3 – S&T – Issues} Struggle to Produce Indian Nobel Laureates

• Context (IE): India has not produced a Nobel laureate in science in nearly a century, despite a vast scientific talent base and expanding research network.

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Current Status of Indian Science and R&D

• Low Research Investment: India’s R&D expenditure remains at 0.7% of GDP, far below China (2.4%), Japan (3.3%), and South Korea (4.9%) (UNESCO, 2023).
• Public-Dominated Research: Over 80% of total R&D spending comes from government sources, while the private sector’s share remains under 15% (DST, 2024).
• Talent Drain: India contributes nearly 10% of global STEM graduates, yet loses thousands of researchers annually to advanced ecosystems abroad.
• Publication–Innovation Gap: India ranks 3rd globally in research output but only 36th in citation impact (Scopus, 2024), reflecting a focus on volume, not value.
• Fragmented Institutions: The country hosts over 1,400 R&D institutions, but many operate in silos with limited inter-agency collaboration

Barriers to Scientific Excellence in India

• Opaque Recruitment: Hiring in major research institutions lacks transparency, with reports of regional bias and patronage overshadowing merit-based selection (CAG, 2022).
• Weak Research Infrastructure: Equipment shortages and maintenance delays, especially in universities, result in under-utilisation of up to 40% of laboratory capacity (NITI Aayog, 2023).
• Leadership Deficit: Top posts in bodies like the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research and Department of Biotechnology (DBT) often remain vacant for long periods (Parliamentary Committee, 2020).
• Overlapping Governance: The 2021 NITI Aayog Science and Technology Index found overlapping mandates among agencies, causing duplication and underutilisation of research grants.

Way Forward

• Younger Leadership: Reserve half of top posts – Directors, Vice-Chancellors, and Secretaries of DST/DBT/CSIR – for mid-career scientists (40–50 years), replicating the reformist model once led by Homi Bhabha and Vikram Sarabhai.
• Higher R&D Spending: Raise research outlay to 3% of GDP as envisaged in STIP-2020, with separate funds for basic sciences, clean energy, and space technology to build global-scale labs.
• Industry Collaboration: Provide tax credits and grants for companies partnering with public labs – similar to the ISRO-L&T and DRDO-Tata Advanced Systems models to scale applied research.
• Outcome-based evaluation: Under the National Research Foundation (NRF), rank institutions by patents, technology transfers, and societal impact instead of publication count.

Read More About Nation Building Through Science & Innovation

{GS3 – S&T – Space} Aditya L1 Observes Coronal Mass Ejection *

• Context (TH): The VELC onboard Aditya-L1 has enabled the first spectroscopic observation of a coronal mass ejection (CME) in the visible wavelength range.

• Scientists from the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA) and NASA have collaborated to estimate the key parameters of the observed CME.

About Coronal Mass Ejections

• A coronal mass ejection (CME) is a massive release of hot, magnetised gas and charged particles from the Sun’s outer layer, the corona.
• Cause: It occurs when magnetic field lines on the Sun abruptly break and reconnect, releasing a significant amount of energy that sends material into space.
• Effect on Earth: CMEs directed toward Earth can cause geomagnetic storms, disrupting satellites, power grids, and communications; they can also create auroras.

Key Findings and Parameters

• Electron Density: The CME contained about 370 million electrons per cubic centimetre—much higher than the 10–100 million in the normal corona.
• Energy: Its energy was estimated at 9.4 × 10^21 joules, which significantly exceeds the energy of WWII atomic bombs.
• Mass and Speed: The CME had a mass of about 270 million tonnes and an initial velocity of 264 km/sec, with plasma temperatures reaching nearly 1.8 million Kelvin.

Read More > Aditya L-1 Mission

{Prelims – PIN Africa} Lake Turkana

• Context (NS): A recent study found that changes in Lake Turkana’s water levels affected fault movement and magma generation, showing a direct link between climate change and tectonic processes.

Key Findings of the Study

• Climate-Rift Link: Climate change–driven shifts in Lake Turkana’s water levels directly influenced crustal pressure and earthquake activity in the East African Rift Valley.
• Dry-Phase Unloading: During dry periods, falling lake levels reduce water pressure, letting faults move faster and causing more earthquakes.
  • Magma Uplift: Reduced surface pressure lets magma melt and rise faster, triggering more earthquakes and eruptions.
• Wet-Phase Stability: In wetter periods, added water weight presses the crust down, slowing fault slips and reducing earthquake frequency.
• Geological Evidence: Geological records show faster fault slips and stronger earthquakes after 5,000 years ago, when the region became drier.

About Lake Turkana

• Lake Turkana is the world’s largest permanent desert lake and the largest alkaline lake, mainly situated in Kenya’s Great Rift Valley. Its northern end extends into Ethiopia.
• World Heritage Site: Known as the “Jade Sea” for its turquoise colour, its basin was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997
• Hominin Site:  The Turkana Basin is a significant paleoanthropological site, often referred to as the “Cradle of Humankind” due to numerous hominin fossil discoveries.
• River Flow: Three rivers, Omo, Turkwel, and Kerio, feed the lake, with the Omo River contributing nearly 90% of the total inflow.
• Nile Crocodile: It has the world’s largest breeding colony of Nile crocodiles, concentrated on its Central and South Islands.

{Prelims – S&T} DNA Pioneer James Watson

• Context (TH): Nobel laureate James Watson, who co-discovered the double-helix structure of DNA, has recently died.

• He received the 1962 Nobel Prize with Francis Crick and Maurice Wilkins for discovering DNA’s structure and self-duplication mechanism.

About DNA

• Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is a molecule that contains genetic instructions essential for growth, reproduction, and biological functions in all living organisms.
• It is the hereditary material passed from parents to offspring, forming life’s unique genetic blueprint.
• Structure: DNA has a double-helix shape like a twisted ladder. Its sides have sugar and phosphate molecules, and the rungs are made of four nitrogen bases—adenine, thymine, guanine, and cytosine.
• Location: In eukaryotes, DNA is found in the nucleus and mitochondria, whereas in prokaryotes, it exists as circular chromosomal DNA in the cytoplasm..
• Function: Specific DNA segments known as genes guide the production of proteins that regulate traits and body functions.
• Key Applications: DNA fingerprinting aids forensic and paternity tests; sequencing helps diagnose genetic disorders, supports evolutionary studies, and improves precision medicine.

Read More > Nucleic acids – DNA and RNA | DNA Analysis

{Prelims – Diseases} Rift Valley Fever

• Context (TH): WHO has confirmed a Rift Valley Fever outbreak in Mauritania & Senegal, West Africa.

About Rift Valley Fever

• It is a viral zoonotic disease caused by a Phlebovirus (Phenuiviridae family).
• It affects livestock such as sheep, goats, and cattle, and humans are mostly infected via Mosquito bites or direct contact with infected animal fluids.
• No human-to-human transmission confirmed so far.
• RVF is a notifiable animal disease under the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH).
• 90% of cases, RVF presents with mild flu-like illness (fever, headache, muscle pain).
• Treatment: No specific antiviral treatment is currently effective.
  • No licensed human vaccine exists, but animal vaccines are better used between outbreaks.

{Prelims – Defence} India’s Defence Manufacturing Landscape

• Context (NOA): Defence Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated the Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs) Bhavan in New Delhi and highlighted the central role of DPSUs in India’s defence manufacturing.

• Record Output: Defence production hit an all-time high of ₹1.51 lakh crore in FY 2024-25, marking an 18% growth over FY 2023-24 and nearly doubling since FY 2019-20.
  • Sectoral Contribution: DPSUs accounted for 71.6% of total output, while the private sector contributed 23%.
• Export Record: Defence exports increased to ₹23,622 crore in FY 2024-25, marking a 12% rise from the previous year.
  • DPSU Export: DPSUs contributed ₹8,389 crore to total exports, a 43% increase year-on-year.

Read More> India’s Defence Modernisation

{Prelims – Exercises} Mitra Shakti-XI

• Context (PIB): The 11^th edition of the India–Sri Lanka Joint Military Exercise, “Mitra Shakti-XI – 2025”, has begun at the Foreign Training Node in Karnataka, India.

• Objective: To improve coordination and strengthen joint sub-conventional operations under the United Nations mandate.
• Representation: The exercise involves Indian troops from the RAJPUT Regiment and Sri Lankan troops from the GAJABA Regiment, along with Air Force personnel from both countries.
• Focus Areas: Includes counter-terrorism operations, heliborne raids, drone deployment, counter-unmanned aerial systems (C-UAS) operations, Army Martial Arts Routine (AMAR), and yoga.
• Significance: The exercise enhances India–Sri Lanka defence cooperation, deepens bilateral relations, and promotes regional peace and stability.

Read More > India-Sri Lanka Relations

{Prelims – Awards} National Water Awards 2024

• Context (PIB): The Ministry of Jal Shakti has announced the winners of the 6^th National Water Awards for the year 2024.
• The awards were instituted in 2018 to recognise exceptional efforts in water conservation and management across the country.
• Objective: To raise public awareness about the importance of water and promote community participation towards a “Jal Samridh Bharat” (Water-Prosperous India).
• Categories: The 2024 edition featured 10 categories, recognising states, individuals, institutions, panchayats, industries, and non-governmental organisations.
• Key Winners: A total of 46 winners were announced.
  • Best State: Maharashtra secured the first prize, with Gujarat in second place and Haryana in third.
  • Best Urban Local Body: Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation, Maharashtra.
  • Best Village Panchayat: Dubbiganipalli (Andhra Pradesh) and Payam (Kerala) won jointly.

{Prelims} One Liners

• In News – COP32 in Ethiopia (DDN): Ethiopia will host the 32^nd Conference of the Parties (COP32) to the UNFCCC in 2027. The COP presidency & venue rotate among five UN-recognised regional groups: Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, Central and Eastern Europe, and Western Europe & Others.