National Affairs
- Bihar’s special intensive revision (SIR) of voter rolls began, requiring nearly 3 crore voters to submit birth proofs; opposition fears this could lead to mass disenfranchisement under the guise of verification.
- Election Commission says the exercise will strengthen electoral rolls nationwide; critics call it a “backdoor NRC”.
- India imposed strict land and sea port restrictions on jute imports from Bangladesh to counter dumped, subsidised inflows, hurting local farmers and mill workers.
- Restrictions cover flax tow, waste yarn, jute bags, and woven fabrics; re-exports through Nepal or Bhutan to India are banned to stop circumvention.
- The domestic jute sector, crucial in West Bengal, Bihar, and Assam, supports over 4 lakh workers who face price suppression due to cheaper Bangladeshi imports.
International Relations
- Mass protests erupted in Bangkok as thousands demanded PM Paetongtarn Shinawatra quit over a Cambodia border row; army criticism and a leaked call with Hun Sen fuelled public anger.
- Protestors warned the fragile ruling coalition could collapse if partners don’t break away; Thailand’s military’s historic clout looms over the crisis.
- The US Supreme Court limited federal judges’ power to block nationwide policies in a ruling linked to Trump’s plan to restrict birthright citizenship.
- The ruling narrows lower court injunctions but does not immediately allow Trump’s policy to take effect; legal battles over birthright citizenship continue.
- US Congress’s new draft law dilutes the planned tax on foreign remittances from 3.5% to 1% and exempts transfers through bank accounts and cards, easing pressure on Indian diaspora remittances.
- NRIs welcomed the revision, which targets only cash and money order remittances, addressing concerns about rising costs of sending money home.
Economy & Trade
- India recorded a $13.5 billion current account surplus in Q4 FY25 (1.3% of GDP), reversing a Q3 deficit, driven by robust services exports and steady inward remittances.
- Goods trade deficit widened year-on-year but narrowed compared to the previous quarter; net services receipts rose due to strong IT and business services.
- FDI inflows dipped sharply in Q4 FY25, pointing to caution among investors even as personal transfer receipts, mainly remittances, increased.
- India’s jute port curbs highlight recurring tension with Bangladesh over underpriced exports and the limited success of anti-dumping duties.
- The move underscores India’s push for fair trade and self-reliance in traditional agro-industries that provide rural livelihoods.
Science, Health & Environment
- Digital fossil-mining technique from Japan helped scientists map 263 ancient squid beaks hidden in Cretaceous rocks, showing squids evolved diverse forms 30 million years earlier than thought.
- The discovery shows squids outlasted ammonites, quickly dominated ancient oceans, and laid the groundwork for modern marine food chains.
- A landmark genetic study mapped genomes of nearly 2,800 Indians, confirming strong founder effects due to caste endogamy and revealing thousands of undiscovered variants linked to diseases.
- The study stresses the need for more Indian representation in global gene data to develop precision medicine for local health burdens.
- Green chemistry trends gain momentum in India’s fuel and pharma sectors — cleaner solvents, reusable catalysts like calcium oxide in biodiesel, and improved atom economy make processes less toxic.
- Case study: Indian Oil’s use of Jatropha seeds for biodiesel and Hyderabad researchers’ green method for producing anti-cancer drug Tamoxifen with 100% atom economy.
States asked to lock boundary changes ahead of Census 2027
Context: The Registrar-General of India (RGI) has informed all States that preparations for the Population Census 2027 must begin, with the first phase, House Listing & Housing Schedule (HLO), tentatively starting April 1, 2026.
Key Highlights:
- All States must finalise and freeze administrative boundaries — districts, tehsils, and police station limits — by December 31, 2025, to ensure uniform data collection.
- The Census 2027 will be India’s first digital census, using mobile and web-based tools for data capture.
- An estimated 34 lakh enumerators and supervisors, mainly State government staff, and 1.3 lakh Census officers will be deployed.
- The exercise will reuse around 24 lakh Enumeration Blocks (EBs) marked for Census 2021, each covering 150–180 houses or 650–800 people.
- House listing generally runs from April–September, where every house or building gets a unique Census number.
- The postponed Census 2021, stalled by the COVID-19 pandemic, is now officially renamed Population Census 2027.
- For Census 2021, 31 household-related questions were planned in the first phase; updated questionnaires for 2027 will be gazetted later.
Noble rot fungus discovery
Context: A new study by researchers from Sichuan University (China) and the University of British Columbia (Canada) has revealed that the Botrytis fungus (known as noble rot in winemaking) and its relative Sclerotinia sclerotiorum have a unique chromosome arrangement, shaking up basic fungal genetics.
Key Highlights:
- Noble rot (Botrytis cinerea) is prized in vineyards for infecting grapes, dehydrating them, and concentrating sugars, producing premium sweet wines like Sauternes, Tokaji, and Trockenbeerenauslese.
- Unlike other fungi, no single nucleus in Botrytis or Sclerotinia contains a full chromosome set — instead, chromosomes are split between two or more nuclei.
- This unusual nuclear setup means Botrytis can’t be cloned, unlike animals and other fungi, where a single nucleus has the entire DNA blueprint.
- The discovery emerged when attempts to create UV-induced mutants of Sclerotinia unexpectedly showed no surviving non-mutant cells, hinting that the two nuclei share a single chromosome set.
- Detailed tests with molecular probes confirmed that each nucleus only carries three to eight chromosomes, and different ascospores show varied chromosome allocation.
Synthetic Human Genome Project (SynHG)
Context: Researchers in the UK have launched the Synthetic Human Genome Project (SynHG) — a new step beyond the original Human Genome Project (HGP), aiming not just to read but to write large segments of human DNA from scratch over the next five years.
Key Highlights:
- The original HGP (1990–2003) sequenced 92% of the human genome’s 3.1 billion bases, cost $2.7 billion, and advanced genetics, medicine, and policy on genetic data use.
- The SynHG aims to synthesize human DNA segments in the lab, creating a deeper understanding of DNA design, assembly, and control.
- Four institutions, including Oxford and Cambridge, are leading the project with initial funding of £10 million from the Wellcome Trust.
- Scientists stress the need to balance potential breakthroughs with safeguards for bioethics, safety, and societal impact.
- Concerns include the misuse of synthetic DNA to create “designer babies” (risking modern eugenics) or engineered microbes that could threaten ecosystems if accidentally released.
- SynHG is expected to fuel advances in biotechnology, regenerative medicine, and synthetic biology, but raises fresh debates about genome editing ethics and regulation
Bangladesh’s Upcoming Election
Context: Bangladesh’s interim government, led by Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus, has promised that the next general election will be the most credible and peaceful in the country’s history, following last year’s mass uprising that ousted the Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League.
Key Highlights:
- The Sheikh Hasina government was overthrown in July 2024 by a mass movement demanding the restoration of democracy.
- The interim government claims to have taken all necessary measures to ensure free, fair, and peaceful elections.
- The next general election is scheduled for the first half of April 2026.
- Yunus’s aide stressed the election will meet the aspirations of people who demanded democratic reforms after years of single-party dominance.
Canada’s new PM seeks pragmatic reset in India ties
Context: Canada’s new Prime Minister Mark Carney is adopting a pragmatic approach to manage historically complex ties with India — a shift from the tense Trudeau era as confirmed by ex-envoy Stewart Beck after the recent Modi–Carney meeting at the G7 summit.
Key Highlights:
- Ex-High Commissioner Stewart Beck said India–Canada ties have faced historic highs and lows, from India’s nuclear tests using Canadian tech to the 1985 Air India Kanishka bombing and enduring Khalistani separatism concerns.
- The 2023 Hardeep Singh Nijjar killing in Canada, which Trudeau linked to India, severely strained ties; Beck says Carney’s G7 meeting with PM Modi signals intent to turn the page.
- Carney invited PM Modi to the G7 hosted in Canada, framing it as India’s place at the global table, not just a bilateral favour — a pragmatic signal.
- Beck says sensitive issues like Khalistani extremism and diaspora protests (e.g., floats glorifying Gandhi’s assassination) need careful handling to rebuild trust.
- Despite uncertainties over the Nijjar case, Beck believes shared interests — Canadian pension funds investing in India’s infrastructure, collaboration in AI, biotech, climate tech — give both sides solid reasons to reset ties.
- The reset depends on trust-building, continuous dialogue, and balancing domestic sensitivities with strategic cooperation.
Congress criticises plan to revive mining in Sariska Tiger Reserve
Context: The Congress has strongly criticised the reported proposal to redraw the boundaries of Rajasthan’s Sariska Tiger Reserve, warning it would reopen over 50 closed mining operations and undermine nearly two decades of tiger conservation success.
Key Highlights:
- Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said the move would be “ecologically devastating”, fragmenting wildlife corridors and reversing conservation gains.
- Sariska’s tiger population hit zero in 2004 due to rampant poaching, which triggered national outrage and led to the creation of India’s Tiger Task Force in 2005.
- A controversial tiger relocation programme was launched for Sariska and Panna — today, Sariska’s tiger population stands at a record 48, showing India’s model of big cat revival works.
- Reports suggest the Centre and Rajasthan government are moving closer to approving boundary changes that would let mining firms resume extraction despite a Supreme Court order that had shut them down.
- Congress questioned the Union Environment Minister and Rajasthan’s Environment Minister, both from Alwar district, for allegedly supporting plans that would harm critical tiger habitat to benefit miners.
- No official response yet from the Centre or Rajasthan, but the issue has sparked wider debate on balancing mining interests with wildlife conservation and ecological integrity.
LoC in Ladakh declared reserved areas
Context: Ladakh administration has notified 52 villages near the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China and the Line of Control (LoC) with Pakistan as reserved areas under the Jammu & Kashmir Reservation Act, 2004, as amended for Ladakh in 2025.
Key Highlights:
- 18 villages in Leh district and 34 villages in Kargil district will now qualify for reservation benefits in government jobs, education, and other sectors.
- The move aims to support communities living in remote, strategic, and conflict-prone border areas, improving socio-economic inclusion and retaining local populations in sensitive zones.
- The declaration follows recommendations of a one-member Commission headed by Justice Bansi Lal Bhat, which identified eligible villages along the LAC and LoC.
- The Commission submitted its final report in December 2024, after which an internal committee validated the findings.
- The notification aligns with the Ladakh Reservation (Amendment) Regulation, 2025, which updated J&K’s reservation provisions for the Union Territory.
- The measure is seen as part of India’s broader policy to strengthen civilian settlement and resilience in forward areas adjoining international borders.
2025 Southwest monsoon
Context: The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has confirmed that the southwest monsoon has covered the entire country nine days ahead of its normal schedule, marking an unusually early and rapid seasonal advance.
Key Highlights:
- The monsoon normally covers all of India by July 8; this year it did so by June 29, reaching Delhi a day before its usual onset of June 30.
- This is the earliest full monsoon coverage since 2020, when it spanned the country by June 26.
- The monsoon hit Kerala on May 24, its earliest onset since 2009, when it arrived on May 23.
- It advanced quickly, covering central Maharashtra, Mumbai, and the northeast by May 29.
- A stagnation phase followed for about 18 days (May 29–June 16) before the monsoon regained momentum to reach the remaining parts of the country.
- The normal monsoon cycle: onset over Kerala by June 1, full coverage by July 8, retreat from northwest India by September 17, and complete withdrawal by October 15.
Indian Railways updated the Reservation Timeline
Context: The Indian Railways will now prepare the reservation chart eight hours before train departure, up from the current four hours, to give waitlisted passengers more clarity and time to plan, as part of a wider revamp of the Passenger Reservation System (PRS).
Key Highlights:
- For trains departing before 2 PM, the chart will be prepared by 9 PM the previous day to help passengers traveling from remote areas.
- The change aims to reduce uncertainty for waitlisted passengers by giving them early updates to arrange alternatives if seats are not confirmed.
- Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has directed phased implementation to avoid disruptions.
- The overhaul is part of a broader effort to make the PRS more passenger-centric, smart, and transparent.
- The upgraded PRS, under development by CRIS, will be ready by December and handle 1.5 lakh ticket bookings per minute, five times the current 32,000 per minute capacity.
- Ticket enquiry capacity will expand from 4 lakh to over 40 lakh per minute.
- New features: a multilingual, user-friendly interface, integrated seat choice, fare calendar, and easier access for Divyangjan, students, and patients.
Shukla conducts a skeletal muscle experiment at ISS
Context: Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, part of India’s historic human spaceflight mission with Axiom-4, has begun scientific research at the International Space Station (ISS), focusing on microgravity’s impact on human biology.
Key Highlights:
- Shukla is working on the Myogenesis experiment, studying how skeletal muscles degrade in space, which is a major health challenge for astronauts on long missions.
- The aim is to identify biological pathways behind muscle loss in microgravity and develop targeted therapies for both astronauts and patients with muscle-degenerative diseases on Earth.
- The experiment is proposed by the Institute of Stem Cell Science and Regenerative Medicine (InStem), Bengaluru.
- ISRO has shortlisted seven microgravity experiments for Shukla to conduct during his 14-day stay on the ISS to help build India’s microgravity research ecosystem.
- ISRO and NASA are collaborating on five joint science investigations and two in-orbit STEM demos as part of this mission.
- The crew has also started the Cerebral Hemodynamics study, using ultrasound to see how blood flow in the brain adapts to microgravity insights could improve treatment of stroke and hypertension on Earth.
- The Axiom-4 mission involves 60+ experiments representing 31 countries, expanding global collaboration in space medicine, life sciences, and technology.