Current Affairs: 23rd Sept 2025

Jaishankar, Rubio meet amid trade, visa tensions

Context: External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar met with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in an apparent bid by both sides to repair relations ruptured by a number of U.S. actions, including the 50% tariffs on Indian goods and an increase in H-1B visa fees.

• Talks on the sidelines of the 80th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) came even as Indian and U.S. trade negotiators prepared for their next round of talks.
• Mr. Jaishankar and Mr. Rubio: “Our conversation covered a range of bilateral and international issues of current concern. [We] agreed on the importance of sustained engagement to progress on priority areas.
• During his last visit, Mr. Jaishankar and Mr. Rubio had held the Quad Foreign Minister’s Meeting along with their counterparts from Australia and Japan.
• No date has yet been announced for the Quad summit, which would bring U.S. President Donald Trump and other Quad leaders to Delhi for the meeting due in November.
• U.S. President Trump will address the UNGA on Tuesday, while Mr. Jaishankar will address the Assembly on September 27.
• According to media reports, Mr. Trump is expected to repeat claims on “stopping wars”, including conflicts such as India-Pakistan, Egypt-Ethiopia, Rwanda-Congo, Thailand-Cambodia, Israel-Iran, and Azerbaijan-Armenia.

Children in urban slums are suffering from moderate child food poverty: Study

Context: A recently-published study to estimate “child food poverty” among children aged between 2 and 5 in urban slums found that they lacked adequate nutrition in energy and protein. Most children in urban slums were suffering from moderate child food poverty and had poor feeding practices.

• Inadequate dietary intake in early childhood can lead to failure of children reaching their growth potential.
• The study, “A Prospective Observational Study to Determine the Energy and Protein Adequacy in Children Aged Two to Five Years in the Urban Field Practice Area of Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute, Bengaluru, India” was published in Cureus, an open access general medical journal.
• Rose Treesa Mathew and Jyothi Jadhav from the Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute, Bengaluru, are the main authors.

WHO growth charts

• The study was conducted among 110 children selected using a simple random sampling method, and data were collected using a pretested, semistructured questionnaire from October 2024 to December 2024.
• Malnutrition was assessed by plotting appropriate WHO Growth Charts. Child food poverty was measured using the UNICEF and WHO dietary diversity score. Of 110 participants, the adequacy of nutrition in energy and protein was found in 30 participants (27.27%) and 18 participants (16.36%), respectively.
• The proportion of moderate child food poverty was found to be 71 (64.54%). Unhealthy snacking patterns and poor feeding practices were present. Age, parents’ education, socio-economic status, type of family, and birth order of the child were found to be significantly associated with nutritional adequacy.

Updated evidence

• “The study was needed because malnutrition and food poverty remain high among pre-school children in India, even with long-standing government nutrition programmes. Previous research suggested very low adequacy of energy and protein intake in this age group, but there was limited recent data from urban slum populations. This study aimed to provide updated evidence on the quality of diets and associated risk factors among young children in Bengaluru’s slums,” she said.
• “Fewer than 8.69 % met both energy and protein needs. Around two-thirds faced ‘moderate child food poverty,’ meaning their diets lacked diversity.
• Processed snacks like biscuits and chips were common, while fruits, pulses, and meat were less consumed.
• Children from poorer households, nuclear families, and with less-educated mothers were more at risk. Food restrictions during illness further worsened nutrition,” she said.
• She added that the problem is not unique to Bengaluru and similar patterns of inadequate diets and child food poverty are reported across India and in other low-income settings worldwide.

On policymaking

• What should policymakers take as a lesson from it? “Ensure affordable access to protein-rich and diverse foods, not just calories, use anganwadi and community health workers to deliver nutrition education and support to mothers, counter harmful feeding practices and reduce reliance on ultra-processed snacks, consider taxing ultra-processed and junk foods to reduce their consumption,” she said.
• She further suggested introducing pictorial warnings or labels on packaged foods—similar to the veg/non-veg pictograms—to help parents easily recognise “junk” foods and make healthier choices, as well as address the socio-economic roots of food poverty through subsidies, school/anganwadi meals, and poverty alleviation.

BBMP’s e-Khata wins National Award 2025

Context: The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike’s (BBMP) e-Khata initiative has been conferred with theNational eGovernance Award 2025 at the 28th National eGovernance Awards held in Visakhapatnam.

• Recognised for its transformative impact on digitising property records, enhancing transparency, and improving citizen service delivery.

Basic structure: There can be no restriction in a public event on the basis of religion

Context: The Supreme Court of India recently reaffirmed that secularism is a fundamental principle and part of the basic structure of the Constitution of India.

• While this is a welcome restatement, it is concerning that the Court has to periodically reiterate this foundational aspect of Indian nationhood.
• The need arose from a misguided petition that sought to communalise a moment of celebration for all Indians.
• The Karnataka government had invited International Booker Prize-winning Kannada writer Banu Mushtaq, who is Muslim, to inaugurate the Mysuru Dasara festival at the Chamundeshwari Temple.
• This festival, a State-sponsored cultural event that is not purely religious, serves as an occasion for all communities to come together and share in the joy of the festival.
• The petition filed in the Court alleged that Ms. Mushtaq’s participation violated Articles 25 and 26 of the Constitution, which guarantee freedom of religion.
• A Bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta rightly dismissed the petition, clarifying that the Dasara festival is a State event, not a private religious ceremony.
• The Court emphasised that the State cannot discriminate based on religion when organising public events and questioned whether the petitioner had even read the Constitution’s Preamble, which unambiguously promotes equality and secularism.
• The Karnataka High Court had previously upheld the government’s decision, stating that a person of one faith participating in the events of another does not violate anyone’s constitutional right.
• The constitutional right to practise and profess religion cannot be interpreted as a right to restrict others from participating in a faith’s practices. Restricting participation in any public gathering based on religion is indefensible in a pluralistic society. Although some places of worship still limit access to certain groups, such practices remain a source of legal and ethical debate.
• Those who perceive a threat to their religion from someone who is voluntarily and happily joining its festivities are either cynical or cunning.
• In fact, over many centuries and across different geographies, festivals and pilgrimages have united India’s diverse population, often transcending social barriers.
• The acceptance of this shared, mixed cultural heritage is a common thread among all Indian political parties, even amid their disagreements. However, a new group of political opportunists is exploiting this harmony by creating communal rifts, turning the logic of coexistence on its head. As the Supreme Court has demonstrated, these individuals need to be held accountable.

Supreme Court judge says it’s high time defamation was decriminalised

Context: The remark mirrors the top court’s anxiety over the rampant use of the criminal defamation law, and reopens the question of whether ‘defamation of any person by a private person can be treated as a crime, for it does not serve public interest’.

• A Supreme Court judge voiced his exasperation at the increasing use of criminal defamation law by private individuals and political parties to get even, highlighting the need “to decriminalise” slur.
• “I think time has come to decriminalise this,” Justice M.M. Sundresh remarked
• Less than a decade ago, the Supreme Court upheld the Constitutional validity of criminal defamation, saying it protected reputation, a part of the fundamental right to life.
• The top court, in Subramanian Swamy versus Union of India, in 2016, had concluded that the criminal defamation law was a “reasonable restriction” to the right to free speech and expression enshrined in Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution.
• Justice Sundresh’s single remark, mirroring the court’s anxiety over the ramped-up use of the criminal defamation law, reopens the question raised in the Subramanian Swamy case as to whether “defamation of any person by a private person can be treated as a ‘crime’, for it does not serve any public interest”.
• The judge made the oral observation while heading a Bench hearing a petition filed by the Foundation for Independent Journalism, which manages The Wire news website, and a journalist, to quash summons issued to them by a court in a criminal defamation case filed by former Jawarharlal University Professor Amita Singh.
• Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, for the petitioners, referred to the multiple times the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, had approached the top court to stay summons issued against him by trial courts on the basis of criminal defamation complaints filed by private individuals.
• In January, the top court stayed criminal defamation proceedings against Mr. Gandhi for his remarks against Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
• In its March 2025 judgment in the Imran Pratapgarhi case, the Supreme Court had quoted that words or acts claimed to be criminally defamatory “must be judged from the standards of reasonable, strong-minded, firm and courageous men, and not those of weak and vacillating minds, nor of those who scent danger in every hostile point of view”.

Justice Kant flags need for evaluation of judges

Context: The Supreme Court judge Justice Surya Kant highlighted the necessity of putting in place a “performance evaluation” mechanism for judges, with specific parameters and guidelines, to gauge and steer workflow on the Bench.

• Justice Kant, who is next in line to be the Chief Justice of India, said he was not trying to be a “school principal” but underscored the value of introspection in every institution.
• The remarks of the judge came while hearing a bail petition in a murder case from Jharkhand.
• “There are judges who work day in and day out. Their disposal rate is outstanding. Unfortunately, there are judges who cannot deliver for reasons good or bad. We do not know. That depends on the circumstances,” Justice Kant noted.
• The judge pointed out the disposal rate for criminal appeals were different from bail cases.
• Disposing one criminal appeal a day after extensive hearing cannot be used as a parameter for deciding on bail pleas. “Judges must know what is the task before them and must deliver. This is the legitimate expectation of the public at large,” Justice Kant said.
• Justice Kant said every jurist must self-evaluate. Cases cannot be allowed to piled up. He also said that adjournments cannot be a solution. Constant adjournments were demoralising, and even dangerous, he added.

54 vessels are being built for Navy; 10 to join fleet this year

Context: India has set a target of expanding naval strength to over 200 warships and submarines by 2035; exercise to enhance maritime security, build partner capabilities, promote regional cooperation.

• The Indian Navy is undertaking its largest-ever shipbuilding programme, with 54 vessels currently under various stages of construction in Indian shipyards.
• The initiative is central to India’s long-term maritime strategy, aimed at safeguarding national interests, and countering regional challenges from China and Pakistan.
• Positioned as a “first responder” and “preferred security partner” in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR), the Navy is advancing India’s “SAGAR” (Security and Growth for All in the Region) vision.
• The shipbuilding exercise will strengthen the Navy in enhancing maritime security, build partners’ capabilities, and promote regional cooperation.
• According to senior officials, several ships are nearing delivery, with a few to be commissioned this year. All 54 vessels are expected to join the fleet by 2030.
• India has set a target of expanding naval strength to over 200 warships and submarines by 2035, with the possibility of reaching 230 by 2037.
• The indigenous drive is being powered by the government’s Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative. Each project not only strengthens self-reliance in defence manufacturing, but also generates substantial employment across ancillary industries, an official said.
• “The Indian Navy has transformed from a ‘Buyer’s Navy’ to a ‘Builder’s Navy’, with significant number of warships under construction in Indian shipyards,” the senior official noted.
• The Navy is also set to commission up to 10 domestically built warships by December 2025, marking one of the largest single-phase inductions in recent years.

Transition point

• This year also marks a transition point in India’s naval modernisation. On July 1, the Navy commissioned INS Tamal, a stealth multi-role frigate built in Russia — its last major warship constructed abroad. It was also the eighth Krivak-class frigate inducted over the past two decades.
• At home, momentum in indigenous shipbuilding continues. The recent delivery of INS Androth, the second in a series of eight Anti-Submarine Warfare Shallow Water Craft (ASW-SWC) being built by Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE), Kolkata, underscores the progress. With more than 80% indigenous content, Androth stands as a testament to India’s growing capabilities, said another senior official.
• The Navy’s expanding shipbuilding programme highlights not just an increase in fleet size, but a strategic leap towards achieving long-term maritime self-reliance.

Number of polluted river sites are showing a slight reduction: CPCB

Context: The number of locations in Indian rivers unfit to bathe saw an incremental dip to 807 in 2023 from 815 in 2022, according to a report by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) made public. There was, however, a reduction in the number of river locations considered “most polluted”.

• The agency monitors and compiles data in two-year phases on river health — specifically measuring a parameter called biological oxygen demand (BOD) of India’s rivers.
• BOD is proxy for organic matter dissolved in water with a low number indicating a healthy river.
• A BOD greater than 3 milligrams per litre indicates rising pollution and is considered unfit for bathing.
• Two continuous locations exceeding the criterion in a single river is counted as a ‘polluted river stretch’ (PRS).

PRS of rivers

• In 2023, there were 296 PRS/locations found in 271 rivers. In 2022, there were 311 PRS/locations in 279 rivers.
• Maharashtra (54) had the highest number of PRS or locations followed by Kerala (31), Madhya Pradesh and Manipur with 18 each, and Karnataka (14). However, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand had the highest number — five — of stretches or locations in ‘Priority 1’.
• In the 2022 assessment, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh had the highest number of ‘Priority 1’ river stretches (6), Maharashtra had the highest number of polluted river stretches at 55, followed by Madhya Pradesh (19), Bihar (18), Kerala (18), Karnataka (17), and Uttar Pradesh (17).
• PRS with a BOD exceeding 30 mg per litre are considered ‘Priority 1’, meaning, the most polluted and thus needing urgent remediation. In the latest assessment, the number of ‘Priority 1’ stretches reduced to 37 from 45 over the 2022 assessment.
• The CPCB network monitors water quality at 4,736 locations across the country including rivers, lakes, creeks, drains and canals.

‘India’s H-1B visa dependence on a decline in last 6-8 years’

Context: Though most Indian IT firms still have considerable dependence on H-1B visas as percentage to staff base in the U.S., this proportion has been on the decline over last 6-8 years, industry observers said.

• For instance, 2016 saw 8,473 H-1B visa approvals for the top six tech providers comprising TCS, Infosys, Wipro, HCL Tech, Tech M and LTIMindtree against 43,860 applications while in 2024, these players received 7,105 H1-B visa approvals against 24,269 applications, as per Equirus Securities, a brokerage tracking tech sector.
• Interestingly, so far in CY2025, these firms received 2,144 H-1B visas against a total of 14,056 applications they put in cumulatively, indicating a huge slide in the number of applications from earlier years. Equirus Securities also observed there was a negative growth (CAGR) both in terms of total visa approvals and the total number of applications they submitted between 2016 and 2024 at -2.2% and -7.1%, respectively.
• Avinash Vashistha, chairman and CEO, Tholons, a GCC consulting and IT services firm and former chairman and CEO Accenture India, “The new visa fee structure will force both Indian tech providers and U.S counterparts to tweak talent strategies and talent deployment to reduce dependence on H1-B visas.”

Reassess dependence

• With higher costs and added friction for sponsoring foreign workers, many firms were already reassessing dependence on U.S. visas and leaning more heavily on Global Capability Centres (GCCs) or Dedicated Delivery Centres (DDCs), observed Sachin Alug, CEO, NLB Services, a staffing solutions firm based in Atlanta.
• Atul Gupta, partner- labour and employment, Trilegal, a full-service law firm, said, “Indian service providers and U.S clients will need to think hard about which roles and positions warrant such a steep investment,” Mr. Gupta further said adding, it was quite likely many positions (jobs) would shift to neighbouring countries in the same or similar time zone (like Canada or Mexico) or come back to India.
• Therefore, it opened up additional opportunities for Indian tech firms to boost value proposition in handling more core services from India and strengthening GCC capabilities.
• Prawega Tech Solutions, Founder CEO, Vasishta Haavanur said the $1,00,000 visa regime would only further shrink operating margins of Indian tech firms.
• Meanwhile, several mid-cap tech firms in India such as Mphasis, Hexaware, Persistent Systems, Cyient, said they have been reducing reliance on H-1B visa in the last couple of years by raising local hiring (in the U.S)and deploying AI. The visa fee hike came up even as Indian IT sector is worried about the possible slapping of tariffs on software exports to U.S.
• “Well, tariffs on software exports is the only thing that is left now. If that happens, even if it is 10% or 25%, it would mean the death knell for India’s current tech ecosystem,” cautioned B.S Murthy, CEO, Leadership Capital, a CXO advisory firm.

France and other countries prepare to recognise a Palestinian state at UN

Context: More than 140 world leaders to descend on New York for the annual United Nations General Assembly; one world leader who will miss the gathering is Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian President whom Washington denied a visa, sparking rebuke.

• France and other countries prepared to recognise a Palestinian state as the UN’s centerpiece diplomatic week got underway, following a rash of Western governments in symbolically endorsing statehood and sparking Israel’s wrath.
• Recognition by Britain, Canada, Australia and Portugal on Sunday of a Palestinian state piled pressure on Israel as it intensifies its war in Gaza, which has killed tens of thousands, devastated the enclave and drawn rebukes from allies.
• President Emmanuel Macron has indicated France will follow suit as he prepares to host a meeting with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohamed Bin Salman on the moribund two-state solution — Palestinian and Israeli co-existence.
• “They want a nation, they want a state, and we should not push them towards Hamas,” Mr. Macron said on Sunday. He also said he would make the release of hostages taken by Hamas during its October 7, 2023, attack on Israel a precondition of opening an embassy to the Palestinian state.
• Israel’s Foreign Ministry said the recognition moves do not “promote peace, but on the contrary further destabilises the region and undermines the chances of achieving a peaceful solution.”
• More than 140 world leaders will descend on New York this week for the annual United Nations General Assembly, which will be dominated by the Palestinian question.

Abbas to speak

• One world leader who will miss the gathering is Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian President whom Washington denied a visa, along with his officials. That earned a rebuke from the General Assembly, which will be the focus of world leaders’ speeches and protest walkouts this week. The assembly voted 145 to five to exceptionally allow Mr. Abbas to speak via video link.

‘Russia to stick to nuclear arms limits for one more year’

Context: Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday that Moscow will adhere to nuclear arms limits for one more year under the last remaining nuclear pact with the U.S. that expires in February, and he urged Washington to follow suit.

• Mr. Putin declared that the termination of the 2010 New START would be destabilising and could fuel proliferation of nuclear weapons.
• “To avoid provoking a further strategic arms race and to ensure an acceptable level of restraint, we believe it is justified to try to maintain the status quo established by the New START Treaty during the current, rather turbulent period,” Mr. Putin said in televised remarks.
• “Therefore, Russia is prepared to keep adhering to the central quantitative limitations of the New START Treaty for one year after Feb. 5, 2026.” Arms control advocates long have voiced concern about the treaty’s looming expiration and warned that it could fuel a new round of nuclear arms race and increase the risk of a nuclear conflict.