Current Affairs

Indian Railways inaugurated the Bairabi–Sairang line in September 2025, providing Mizoram’s first rail link to Aizawl. In 2025, rail connectivity reached the Kashmir Valley via the completed Udhampur–Srinagar–Baramulla Rail Link and Aizawl in the Northeast. Major milestones included the new Pamban vertical-lift sea bridge, Dedicated Freight Corridor expansion, Kavach 4.0 deployment, freight diversification concerns, safety reforms, and progress toward 2030 freight, passenger, and decarbonisation targets.

The European Union implemented the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism from January 1, imposing a carbon-related levy on selected carbon-intensive imports to prevent carbon leakage. CBAM covers sectors such as steel, aluminium, cement, fertilisers and power, targeting goods from countries with lower environmental standards. The measure is expected to impact India’s steel and aluminium exports, has drawn CBDR-related criticism, and faces dispute actions by developing countries.

The Union Finance Ministry notified a comprehensive overhaul of tobacco taxation effective February 1, 2025, following the Central Excise (Amendment) Act, 2025. The reform ends GST Compensation Cess on tobacco, revises GST slabs, introduces new excise duties and a cess under the Health Security-cum-National Security Act, 2025, and mandates retail sale price–based GST valuation for smokeless tobacco products.

The Defence Research and Development Organisation conducted a salvo launch of two indigenous Pralay surface-to-surface missiles, validating the operational readiness of the system. Pralay is a short-range, solid-propellant, quasi-ballistic missile with a range of 150–500 km, capable of carrying conventional warheads, launched from mobile platforms, and designed for high accuracy, manoeuvrability, and precision strikes against tactical targets.

Delivery workers’ strikes renewed focus on gig worker welfare under the Code on Social Security, 2020, which defines gig work outside traditional employment. Welfare delivery is enabled through e-Shram registration, Ayushman Bharat health cover, and ₹2 lakh accident insurance under PMSBY. Eligibility is linked to minimum workdays. Rajasthan enacted the Platform-Based Gig Workers Act, 2023, as a state-level legal framework.

In September 2025, the United States announced a 100% tariff on branded and patented pharmaceutical imports effective October 1, 2025, raising concerns for India’s export-oriented pharma sector. India supplies 40% of U.S. generics and derives 35% of pharma exports from the U.S. market. Extension of tariffs to generics could reduce export revenues and marginally impact GDP growth.

NASA research on near-Earth asteroid Bennu, based on samples returned by the OSIRIS-REx mission, detected sugars, amino acids and all five nucleobases. Bennu is a carbon-rich Apollo asteroid, originally designated 1999 RQ36, that passes close to Earth about every six years. The findings support theories on extraterrestrial sources of life’s basic chemical components.

A Task Force chaired by Olympic medalist Abhinav Bindra submitted a roadmap to reform India’s sports governance into a professional, accountable, and athlete-centric system. The report highlights governance deficits, fragmented training, and weak athlete career pathways, and proposes institutional reforms, performance-linked accountability, capacity building mechanisms, and a National Sports Governance Act, 2025, aligned with Khelo India and Khelo Bharat Niti-2025 objectives.

The Ministry of Science and Technology developed PathGennie, an open-source computational framework for drug discovery simulations. The software accelerates modelling of rare molecular events by tracking ligand unbinding pathways and estimating drug residence time, a key determinant of therapeutic effectiveness. PathGennie avoids force-based distortions, captures multiple competitive pathways, and is compatible with machine-learning–based simulation pipelines.

Air Marshal Tejinder Singh assumed charge as Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Indian Air Force’s South Western Air Command on January 1, 2026. A fighter pilot commissioned in 1987, he has over 4,500 flying hours and has held key operational and staff appointments, including AOC-in-C Training Command, Deputy Chief of the Air Staff, and senior operational roles, and is a recipient of the Vayu Sena Medal and Ati Vishisht Seva Medal.

Assam constituted its 8th State Pay Commission, becoming the first state to initiate pay revision before the expiry of the 7th Pay Commission on January 1, 2026. The decision was announced by Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, with former Assam Chief Secretary Subhas Das appointed as chair. The commission will review salaries, allowances, and pensions of state government employees.

The Union government notified appointments and a transfer of Chief Justices for the Kerala, Patna and Meghalaya High Courts based on Supreme Court Collegium recommendations made on December 18, 2025, under Articles 217 and 222 of the Constitution. Justice Soumen Sen was transferred to Kerala, Justice Sangam Kumar Sahoo appointed to Patna, and Justice Revati Prashant Mohite Dere appointed to Meghalaya High Court.