Current Affairs – October 20-21-22-23 2025

{GS1 – A&C – Architecture} Veerasozhapuram Shiva Temple

• Context (TC): The Amman shrine in a Lord Shiva Temple at Veerasozhapuram, Tamil Nadu, has collapsed due to heavy rainfall.

• The temple was built by King Rajendra Chola about 1,500 years ago.
• Architectural Symbolism: The temple has four Nandis symbolising the four Vedas and Shiva’s guardianship in every direction.
• Epigraphic Evidence: Inscriptions record land endowments during the reigns of Kulothunga Chola I and Pandya king Kulasekara Pandiyan, showing ongoing royal support across dynasties.

{GS2 – Governance – Laws} Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines & Digital Media Ethics Code) Amendment Rules

• Context (NOA): The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has notified the IT (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Amendment Rules, 2025.

• Objective: The amendment seeks to prevent the misuse of AI for deepfakes, misinformation, and election manipulation by helping users recognise synthetic content.
• Amendment Scope: The 2025 notification amends Rule 3(1)(d) of the IT Rules, 2021, introducing safeguards to make online content removal transparent and proportionate.

Key Provisions of the IT Amendment Rules 2025

• Authority Restriction: Only officers of or above the rank of Joint Secretary in ministries, or Deputy Inspector General (DIG) in police, are authorised to issue takedown requests.
• Reasoned Orders: Each takedown order must specify the violated statute, legal justification, and precise URL or content identifier.
• Monthly Review: Senior officials shall conduct monthly reviews of all Rule 3(1)(d) takedown orders to ensure procedural compliance.

Proposed Amendments on Synthetic Content

• MeitY has also released a separate draft amendment to the IT Rules, 2021, seeking public feedback on provisions to regulate AI-generated synthetic content and deepfakes.

• Definition Clause: The rules define synthetic information as any content artificially or algorithmically created or modified using computer resources to appear authentic or real.
• Labelling Mandate: Intermediaries must clearly label all synthetically generated or AI-modified content to inform users of its artificial origin.
• User Declaration: Social media platforms must require users to declare whether uploaded content is synthetically generated or AI-altered.
• Verification: Significant Social Media Intermediaries (with 5 million+ registered users) must adopt reasonable and proportionate tools to verify user declarations and detect synthetic content.
• Safe Harbour: Intermediaries will retain their “safe harbour” immunity under Section 79 of the IT Act if they act in good faith to remove synthetically generated content.

{GS2 – Governance – Initiatives} NITI Aayog We Rise Initiative

• Context (PIB): NITI Aayog’s Women Entrepreneurship Platform (WEP) and DP World launched the Women Entrepreneurs Reimagining Inclusive and Sustainable Enterprises initiative (“We Rise”).

• The initiative is part of WEP’s Award to Reward (ATR) programme.

Key Highlights of the Initiative

• Objective: To enable women-led Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) with high growth potential to access global trade networks and enhance export readiness.
• Scale: Initial support to make 100 women entrepreneurs export-ready through trade facilitation, mentorship and strategic partnerships.
• Market access: Selected entrepreneurs will get opportunities to showcase at Bharat Mart in Dubai’s Jebel Ali Free Zone (JAFZA), a B2B/B2C marketplace that connects Indian sellers to global buyers.
• Ecosystem linkage: Started in 2018 and a PPP from 2022, WEP will use its network of 90,000+ women entrepreneurs and 47 partners to find and help beneficiaries.

{GS2 – Governance – Initiatives} AI for India 2030 Initiative

• Context (PIB): The Principal Scientific Adviser (PSA) to the Government of India released three publications under the AI for India 2030 initiative.

• Publications: ‘AI Playbook for Agriculture’, ‘AI Playbook for SMEs’, & ‘AI Sandbox Ecosystem White Paper’.

About AI for India 2030

• The AI for India 2030 is a strategic multi-stakeholder platform aligned with the IndiaAI Mission to position India as a global AI leader by 2030.
• Establishment: Jointly launched in 2024 by MeitY, the Office of the PSA, NASSCOM, and the World Economic Forum’s Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (C4IR) India.
• Primary Goal: To design inclusive, ethical, and scalable frameworks for responsible AI adoption across India’s digital economy.

Key Workstreams

1. AI Playbooks: Sector-specific practical guides for AI deployment in areas like agriculture and SMEs.
2. AI Sandbox: Controlled regulatory environment to test and validate AI models before large-scale rollout.

Read More> AI for Viksit Bharat

{GS3 – IE – Infrastructure} Golden Quadrilateral 2.0

• Context (LM): India plans to launch Golden Quadrilateral 2.0, a high-speed expressway network under the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.

• It will expand on the Golden Quadrilateral and North-South and East-West (NS-EW) Corridors.

• Objective: To reduce congestion on existing highways and reduce the country’s high logistics costs.

• Significance: It will improve connectivity, address modern traffic needs, connect economic corridors, and support India’s Viksit Bharat 2047 goals.

{GS3 – IE – Exports} Authorised Economic Operator (AEO) Programme

• Context (LM): The WTO Secretariat’s 2025 Compendium on MSME-Related Trade Facilitation Measures hailed India’s AEO programme for increasing MSME participation in global trade.

About the AEO Programme

• The AEO is a voluntary compliance programme under the World Customs Organisation (WCO) SAFE Framework of Standards (SAFE FoS) to secure and facilitate global trade.
• The Objective is to enhance international supply chain security and facilitate the movement of legitimate goods in compliance with supply chain security standards.
• The AEO programme was introduced as a pilot project in 2011 by the Customs Department as part of a broader framework for ease of doing business.
• In India, the Directorate General of Inspection (DGICCE) has been designated as the nodal implementing agency, and it is administered by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC).
• India’s AEO Programme is in sync with the commitments made under Article 7.7 of the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA).

Read More> AEO Status, MSME Sector

{GS3 – Agri – Sustainability} New Report Warns of Threat to Farmers’ Rights

• Context (DTE): A recent report shows that Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) are being used to impose strict intellectual property (IP) rules on seeds, eroding farmers’ rights.

Key Findings of the Report

• Corporate Control: The report reveals that countries in the Global South are being pressured through trade negotiations to adopt seed laws aligned with the 1991 Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV), the most restrictive global framework on plant seeds.
• Monopoly Rights: The UPOV 1991 framework grants corporations 20-25 years of monopoly over new plant varieties while prohibiting farmers from saving, reusing, or exchanging patented seeds.
• Traditional Rights: Such provisions erode farmers’ traditional seed-sharing practices, undermining local biodiversity, indigenous knowledge, and community-led conservation systems.

{GS3 – IS – Issues} Largest Maoist Mass Surrender in Bastar

• Context (TH): Over 210 Maoist cadres surrendered in Chhattisgarh’s Bastar, marking the largest mass surrender in India’s counter-insurgency history.

• Symbolic Gesture: Each cadre was given a red rose and a copy of the Constitution, symbolizing reconciliation and a renewed faith in democracy.
• Rehabilitation Drive: Carried out under the Bastar Police’s ‘Puna Margem’ initiative, the program addresses extremism through integrated security, welfare, and outreach efforts.
• Policy Support: The Chhattisgarh Naxal Surrender and Rehabilitation Policy 2025 offers financial support, education, and employment opportunities to help Maoists reintegrate into society.
• Strategic Alignment: The initiative aligns with India’s ‘SAMADHAN‘ counter-insurgency doctrine, merging development with security measures for lasting peace.

Read More> Left-Wing Extremism | Decline of the Maoist Movement

{GS3 – Envi – Conservation} Global Forest Resource Assessment 2025

• Context (NOA | BS): The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has published the Global Forest Resource Assessment (GFRA) 2025 report on global forest cover and management trends.

Key Highlights of the Report

• Forest Cover: The world’s total forest area stands at 4.14 billion hectares, covering around 32% of the Earth’s land surface.
• Forest Concentration: Over 54% of global forests are concentrated in five countries — Russia, Brazil, Canada, the United States, and China.
• Forest Loss: The annual rate of net forest loss decreased significantly from 10.7 million hectares in the 1990s to 4.12 million hectares during 2015–2025.
• Regional Trends: Asia is the only region to record a net increase in forest area between 1990 and 2025, led by China and India.
• India’s Position: India has risen to 9^th place globally in total forest area (from 10^th in 2020) and maintained 3^rd position in annual forest area gain.
• Protection & Management: About 20% of global forests are now legally designated as protected areas, and 55% are managed under long-term conservation plans.

{GS3 – Envi – Species} Diabetic Wound Healing

• Context (TH): Researchers from Nagaland University’s Department of Biotechnology discovered that a naturally occurring plant compound can accelerate diabetic wound healing when administered orally.

Key Findings of the Research

• Sinapic acid is an antioxidant found in edible plants like mustard, oats, sesame, and berries, which activates the SIRT1 pathway, promoting tissue repair, angiogenesis, and inflammation control.
• Lower dose (20 mg/kg) is effective than higher dose (40 mg/kg) (Inverted Dose-Response pattern).
• Accelerates healing of diabetic foot ulcers, a major cause of limb loss and offers a low-cost oral solution for patients in rural and resource-limited settings.

About Diabetes

• Definition: Diabetes mellitus is a chronic, progressive non-communicable disease (NCD) characterised by high blood sugar (hyperglycaemia) due to insufficient or ineffective insulin.
• Causes: The pancreas fails to produce enough insulin, and body cells resist insulin’s action.
• Health Impact: Long-term high blood glucose damages nerves, blood vessels, kidneys, and eyes.
• Global Data: 422 million people have diabetes globally, and 1.5 million deaths annually are attributed directly to diabetes. (WHO, 2024)

Read More> Diabetes

{GS3 – Envi – Species} Declining Spotted Deer in Konark-Balukhand Wildlife Sanctuary

• Context (TT): The spotted deer population in Odisha’s Konark-Balukhand Wildlife Sanctuary has declined sharply due to habitat degradation and poor monitoring.

• Census Records: The 2016 census recorded 4,315 chitals, a decrease from 5,280 in 2012-13.
• Decline Drivers: Vehicle collisions along the Puri–Konark Marine Drive, illegal hunting, habitat degradation, and drying water bodies. Cyclone Fani (2019) further worsened the ecological balance.

About Spotted Deer (Axis axis)

• The spotted deer (Axis axis), also known as Chital, is a medium-sized deer species native to the Indian subcontinent and Sri Lanka.
• Appearance: It has a reddish-brown coat covered with white spots. The species is highly sexually dimorphic, with males being much larger and having three-pronged antlers (shed annually).
• Habitat Preference: Chitals prefer dense deciduous forests, semi-evergreen forests, and open grasslands with ample water supply.
• Social Structure: They are highly gregarious and live in matriarchal herds composed of females, juveniles, and a few males.
• Symbiotic Relation: Chitals share a symbiotic relationship with langurs. Langurs warn them about predators from treetops, while deer sense ground-level threats and feed on fruits dropped by langurs.
• Distribution: Found throughout India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka, with introduced populations in Australia and the United States.
• Major Threats: Poaching, road kills, habitat loss, invasive alien species (i.e., Lantana camara), etc.
• Conservation Status: IUCN: Least Concern; WPA: Schedule III

{GS3 – Envi – Pollution} Light Pollution

• Context (TM): India’s rapid urban expansion and “24×7 illumination” model have ignored the health and ecological costs of light pollution, which is the excessive or misdirected artificial lighting that disrupts natural darkness and circadian balance.

Causes of Light Pollution

• Unregulated Urban Lighting: India lacks BIS norms for outdoor light levels, which leads to overuse of high-intensity LEDs in streets, billboards, and buildings without luminance standards.
• Architectural Illumination: Excessive façade and monument lighting for tourism and “smart city” beautification drives. (E.g., Kolkata Illumination Project uses 450+ lights per building.)
• Policy Blind Spot: Light pollution is absent from the Environmental (Protection) Act, 1986.
• Low Awareness: 57% of Indians have never heard of light pollution (CPCB 2023).

Impacts of Light Pollution

• Disruption of Circadian Rhythm: Artificial light at night suppresses melatonin production, disturbing sleep-wake cycles, exposing to 30–40% higher risk of breast & prostate cancers.
• Immune & Metabolic Disorders: WHO flagged chronic exposure to blue light as a risk for metabolic syndrome, diabetes, and immune suppression, which leads to a higher Alzheimer’s risk factor.
• Mental Health & Productivity Loss: Urban residents exposed to constant glare report ~20% higher insomnia prevalence (AIIMS Sleep Research Centre, 2022).
• Biodiversity Impact: Light disrupts migratory patterns of birds, insects, and turtles (UNEP, 2022).

Way Forward

• Regulatory Framework: Include light pollution under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986; set illumination codes via BIS. E.g. EU Eco-Design Directive)
• Smart Urban Design: Use warm, downward-directed LEDs and adaptive dimming in streets, monuments, and billboards. E.g. Germany “Smart dimming” in urban design to reduce circadian disruption.
• Awareness Campaigns: Launch a national “Right to Dark Sky” campaign under Mission LiFE.
• Ecological Monitoring: CPCB to integrate night-sky radiance in its Environmental Quality Index and encourage Dark Sky Tourism zones. E.g. Pangong–Hanle belt, Ladakh.

{Prelims – Sci – Bio – Diseases} Monoclonal Antibody Against Malaria

• Context (DD): A new monoclonal antibody named MAM01, developed by the University of Maryland School of Medicine, has shown complete protection against malaria infection in a clinical trial.

About Monoclonal Antibody

• Definition: Laboratory-engineered proteins that mimic the immune system’s ability to fight pathogens such as viruses, bacteria, or parasites.
• Advantages: It can be specifically designed to target certain antigens, provides instant immunity (unlike vaccines that need multiple doses) and can last for several months with a single injection.

About Malaria

• Causative Agent: Plasmodium parasite transmitted through Anopheles mosquitoes.
• Types of Parasites: 5 Plasmodium parasite species cause malaria in humans, and 2 of these species – P. falciparum and P. vivax pose the greatest threat. The other malaria species that can infect humans are P. malariae, P. ovale and P. knowlesi.
• Global Burden: Over 600,000 deaths annually, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa (WHO, 2024).
• India’s Situation: Among the 11 high-burden countries (World Malaria Report, 2023) and India targets Zero Malaria by 2030 under the National Framework for Malaria Elimination (NFME 2016–2030).
• Vaccines: RTS, S/AS01 (Mosquirix) and R21/Matrix-M.

Read More> Malaria

{Prelims – In News} Centre for Sustainable Energy

• Context (NOA): Coal India Limited (CIL) and IIT Madras have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to establish a Centre for Sustainable Energy at IIT Madras.

• Objective: The Centre aims to ensure India’s long-term energy security while supporting the national goal of achieving Net-Zero Emissions by 2070.
• Key Feature: It will act as a global hub for innovation, technology advancement, and interdisciplinary research in Carbon Capture, Utilisation, and Storage (CCUS), as well as alternative fuels.
• Significance: The partnership signifies CIL’s shift from a traditional coal producer to a clean energy leader, strengthening academia–industry collaboration for India’s green transition.

Read More > Clean Energy Transition in India

{Prelims} One Liners

• In News – Global Village (NOA): Global Village is Dubai’s annual flagship multicultural entertainment festival. The 2025 edition is celebrating its 30^th anniversary with “A More Wonderful World“.
• Sports – FIDE Chess World Cup 2025 (NOA): The official logo for the FIDE Chess World Cup 2025 was unveiled, featuring three trapezoidal panels representing the spirit of chess and the host state of Goa. The official anthem, titled “It’s Your Move”, was also released.