Current Affairs: 9th October 2025

• Trade deal is a launchpad for growth, says British PM

Context: India-U.K. Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement presents unparalleled opportunities, says Starmer as he begins two-day visit; he will hold wide-ranging talks with Narendra Modi.

• The opportunities waiting to be seized under the India-U.K. Free Trade Agreement are “unparalleled”, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in Mumbai as he kick-started his first visit to India after assuming charge.
• “It’s the biggest deal we’ve struck since we left the European Union,” Mr. Starmer said. “I think it’s also the biggest deal that India has ever struck, so it’s hugely important.”
• Mr. Starmer, accompanied by a delegation of nearly 100 entrepreneurs, cultural representatives, and university Vice-Chancellors, arrived in Mumbai for a two-day visit to take advantage of the opportunities brought about by the India-U.K. Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement signed in July.
• “It’s not just a piece of paper, it’s a launchpad for growth. With India set to be the third biggest economy in the world by 2028, and trade with them about to become quicker and cheaper, the opportunities waiting to be seized are unparalleled,” he said.
• “Welcome Mr. Starmer on your historic first visit to India,” Mr. Modi said on X. “Looking forward to our meeting tomorrow for advancing our shared vision of a stronger, mutually prosperous future.”
• “During the visit, on October 9 in Mumbai, the two Prime Ministers will take stock of progress in diverse aspects of the India-U.K. Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in line with ‘Vision 2035’, a focused and time bound 10-year road map of programmes and initiatives in key pillars of trade and investment, technology and innovation, defence and security, climate and energy, health, education and people to people relations,” the External Affairs Ministry said.
• Both leaders would engage with business and industry leaders regarding the opportunities presented by the trade agreement. “They will also exchange views on issues of regional and global importance,” it added.
• The India-U.K. CETA aims at boosting bilateral trade by £25.5 billion annually. It provides substantial tariff reductions on a range of goods, including textiles, whisky, and cars, enhancing competitiveness for exporters in both markets.
• Specifically, the U.K. will offer duty-free access on 99.1% of its tariff lines, covering 100% of the trade value immediately upon enforcement.

Investments and visas

• Mr. Starmer’s trip to India has yielded positive statements from some U.K. companies, such as Rolls-Royce, about their future plans in India.
• “We have deep ambitions to develop India as a home for Rolls-Royce, building on our strong and successful partnership,” Tufan Erginbilgic, CEO of Rolls-Royce, said in Mumbai. “Our competitively advantaged technologies across air, land, and sea applications position us to successfully build in-country capabilities and foster strategic partnerships that will accelerate India’s progress towards a Viksit Bharat,” he said.
• Mr. Starmer, however, reportedly indicated that the U.K. would not be revisiting its visa requirements for Indians. According to the BBC, Mr. Starmer reportedly said that no business leaders he had met so far raised the question of visas. It added that, during the flight to India, Mr. Starmer said that visas “played no part” in the CETA and that the situation had not changed.
• Mr. Starmer also visited the Yash Raj Films (YRF) studio, where he met Indian producers and film stars, such as Rani Mukherjee.
• The British Prime Minister is reportedly keen to strengthen cultural ties between India and the U.K. and promote collaboration between the film industries of the two countries.
• The U.K. government issued a release saying that three new Bollywood movies would be made in the U.K. from next year, with YRF having confirmed plans to bring their major productions to locations across the U.K. from early 2026.
• Commerce and Industries Minister Piyush Goyal met Peter Kyle, the U.K.’s Secretary of State for Business and Trade, in Mumbai with a view to moving forward with the operationalisation of the India-U.K. CETA, the Commerce and Industry Ministry said in a statement. Mr. Kyle is part of the delegation accompanying Mr. Starmer.

• IISc, IIT-M join forces with GBA for World Bank-funded water security and resilience project

Context: The Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) has roped in the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT-M) to drive the progress of its ambitious World Bank-funded Bengaluru Water Resilience Project.

• The project will receive over ₹3,500 crore in funding from the World Bank, with key stakeholders including the GBA, BWSSB, Minor Irrigation, and the Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre (KSNDMC).
• The project is expected to be modelled on IISc’s Urban Flood model for Bengaluru, with crucial modifications to align with GBA’s objectives. This development follows discussions between GBA officials and World Bank representatives.
• M. Maheshwar Rao, Chief Commissioner of GBA, stated that the initial meeting with World Bank officials was fruitful and that the water resilience project will soon move into the implementation phase. “Not just this, but the World Bank has offered technical assistance for GBA projects, which are currently under discussion and will be explored,” Mr. Rao.
• In addition to IISc and IIT-M, the project will involve the Karnataka State Natural Disaster Management Authority (KSDMA), Bengaluru-based WELL Labs, and think tank CSTEP. Munish Moudgil, Special Commissioner (Revenue), GBA, confirmed that the two private agencies will contribute their services under a non-financial memorandum.
• A GBA source involved in the project explained that the civic authority aims not only to mitigate flooding caused by poor stormwater drain infrastructure but also to improve overall water security in the city. This includes rainwater storage and harvesting, watershed development, and addressing long-term challenges such as floods, droughts, and other climate-related risks.
• For example, the project will strengthen stormwater drains (SWDs), prevent the concretisation of drains and lakes to raise underground water levels, identify natural solutions for flood-prone areas, and establish maintenance plans for SWDs during summer months.
• The implementation of the project will be managed by Bengaluru Smart Infrastructure Ltd. (BSMILE), a special-purpose vehicle established for mega projects.

• Neeriddare Nale scheme to be launched

Context: The State government will implement the Neeriddare Nale (water is future) initiative across 525 gram panchayats in 27 taluks of 15 districts, which have been identified as areas where the groundwater is exploited.

• Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar will formally launch the programme.
• Minister for Minor Irrigation, Science and Technology N.S. Boseraju told reporters here that the initiative aimed to lay a strong foundation for a water-secure and prosperous Karnataka by improving groundwater levels.
• The Neeriddre Nale concept seeks to create public awareness about water conservation, develop strategic plans for sustainable water management, and make citizens active partners in protecting water resources.
• In the first phase, the project will cover 525 groundwater-stressed gram panchayats, including over 100 GPs in Kalyana Karnataka, where groundwater depletion is the most severe, Mr. Boseraju said.

• U.S. Senate confirms Sergio Gor as Indian Ambassador, Kapur as regional official

Context: After months of rocky relations, the India-U.S. engagement is set to get a boost as the U.S. Senate confirmed the nominations of Sergio Gor as Ambassador to India and S. Paul Kapur, an American of Indian origin as the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia.

• Mr. Gor has also been appointed U.S. President Donald Trump’s special envoy on South and Central Asia, a new post that did not require confirmation. His role in the region has been watched keenly, and with some misgivings in New Delhi, especially as Mr. Gor met with leaders of Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Bhutan in New York last month, and Pakistani leadership had travelled to Washington.
• Officials did not indicate a date for Mr. Gor to take up his post as Ambassador in Delhi, but did not rule out his arrival in the next few weeks in his role as special envoy, ahead of a possible meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Mr. Trump on the sidelines of the upcoming ASEAN-related summits in Kuala Lumpur on October 26-27, where they may repair ties and discuss scheduling the Quad summit.
• At the Senate hearing on September 11, Mr. Gor, who said the U.S.-India relationship would “define the 21st century”, indicated that he and U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau would travel to the region in October, and set out the tasks before him. Mr. Gor said that he would work to advance the India-U.S. trade relationship so that it is “fair” to American businesses, adding that “India’s protectionist policies and regulatory barriers have prevented [the two countries] from fully realising this partnership”. He also said that “getting” India to stop buying Russian oil is a “top priority”.
• Mr. Gor and Mr. Kapur, who will be the point-persons for India and the region, were confirmed among 107 nominees in a single vote with 51 Senators in favour and 47 against, who convened despite the U.S. government shutdown.
• “Ambassador Gor’s confirmation is a signal to New Delhi that the U.S.-India relationship is a top priority for the administration and the region, and together, through the right diplomatic channels, [India and the U.S.] can iron out the creases and reach consensus,” Mukesh Aghi, president and CEO of the U.S.-India Strategic Partnership Forum, said, referring to Mr. Gor as a “trusted confidant” of Mr. Trump, and Mr. Kapur as a “stellar academic and a South Asia scholar who is second to none in understanding the security of the region and New Delhi’s concerns vis-a-vis Beijing and Islamabad”.

Kapur, a seasoned hand

• While Mr. Gor, a 38-year-old close Trump aide and MAGA (Make America Great Again campaign) insider, has no previous experience on India, Mr. Kapur is an experienced analyst on India and the region, known well in South Block. He has worked in the U.S. State Department’s policy planning division in 2020-21. The author of several books and papers on Pakistan-sponsored jihadist groups in South Asia, U.S.-India relations, and India and Pakistan’s nuclear programmes, Mr. Kapur has been a frequent visitor to the region and was a visiting fellow at the Delhi-based Observer Research Foundation until recently.
• EC to facilitate elderly to vote using postal ballot in Bihar

Context: The Election Commission will facilitate the elderly, Persons with Disabilities (PwD), and service electors to vote using postal ballots in the Bihar Assembly polls.

• “Such electors can avail themselves of this facility using Form 12 D and submit to the Returning Officer through their Booth-Level Officer within five days of the issuance of the notification of election. Polling teams will collect their votes at their homes,” said the poll body.
• The electors on essential services on the date of poll can apply for the postal ballot facility through the designated nodal officer of their respective department.

• Draft labour policy unites social security schemes

Context: It aims at creating universal, portable social security accounts for all workers by 2030; it also seeks to raise women’s labour participation to 35%, offer single-window digital compliance for MSMEs.

• Universal and portable social security is a major component of the draft National Labour and Employment Policy, which proposes to create a universal account by integrating the Employees Provident Fund Organisation, Employees State Insurance Corporation, Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana, e-SHRAM, and State welfare Boards.
• The draft policy, known as the Shram Shakti Niti, 2025, was released for public consultation.
• The proposals include the implementation of the Occupational Safety and Health Code with risk-based inspections, gender-sensitive standards, and the convergence of various skills schemes. The draft policy presents a renewed vision for a fair, inclusive, and future-ready world of work aligned with the national aspiration of a developed India by 2047, Union Labour Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said.
• “Rooted in India’s civilisational ethos of śrama dharma, the dignity and moral value of work, the policy envisions a labour ecosystem that ensures protection, productivity, and participation for every worker. It seeks to create a balanced framework that upholds workers’ welfare while enabling enterprises to grow and generate sustainable livelihoods,” Mr. Mandaviya said.

Policy outcomes

• Expected outcomes of the policy include universal worker registration and social security portability, near-zero workplace fatalities, increased female labour-force participation, a sharp reduction in informal jobs through digital compliance, AI-driven labour-governance capacity in all States, the creation of millions of green and decent jobs, and a fully converged “One Nation Integrated Workforce” ecosystem.
• The draft policy seeks to increase women’s participation in the labour force to 35% by 2030, and expand entrepreneurship and career guidance initiatives for youth. It also proposes a single-window for digital compliance, with self-certification and simplified returns for MSMEs. Promotion of green jobs, AI-enabled safety systems, just-transition pathways for workers, and a unified national labour data architecture ensuring inter-ministerial coherence and transparent monitoring are also part of the policy document.

Accountability plan

• Policy implementation will proceed in three phases. Phase I (2025–27) focuses on institutional setup and social-security integration.
• During Phase II (2027–30), the nationwide rollout of universal social security accounts, along with skill-credit systems, and district-level Employment Facilitation Cells. Phase III (beyond 2030) will bring in paperless governance, predictive analytics, and continuous policy renewal.
• “Progress will be tracked through real-time dashboards, a Labour & Employment Policy Evaluation Index (LPEI) benchmarking States, and an Annual National Labour Report to Parliament,” the document says.

• After delays, IAF set to receive first Tejas Mk1A fighter jet

Context: The Indian Air Force (IAF) is set to receive its first light combat aircraft (LCA) Tejas Mk1A on October 17 during a ceremony in Nashik, marking a significant milestone in India’s indigenous fighter jet programme.

• According to officials, two Tejas Mk1A jets will be handed over to the IAF in the presence of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. He will visit the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) facility and interact with the staff involved in production.
• HAL’s contract to deliver 83 Tejas Mk1A aircraft — originally scheduled to begin in February 2024 — has faced delays primarily due to slow engine deliveries from General Electric (GE Aerospace). With only one or two engines being supplied per month, HAL now targets completing deliveries within four years.
• Negotiations for an additional 97 Tejas Mk1A fighters are in the final stages, with talks between the Ministry of Defence and GE Aerospace under way.
• Defence analysts point out that the IAF is operating with 29 squadrons and that it may take at least five years to bridge the capability gap. Even months after Operation Sindoor, no significant progress has been made in replenishing the depleted fighter squadrons. Recently, two MiG-21 squadrons have been decommissioned.
• IAF chief Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh recently voiced his concern, “Hungry mouths are ready; we are waiting for the food,” he said, emphasising that to maintain optimal strength, the force requires two squadrons — 30 to 40 aircraft — produced every year. Meanwhile, the IAF’s proposal to acquire 114 multi-role fighter aircraft (MRFA) continues to progress through procedural stages.
• The Defence Ministry is considering a plan to procure “Made in India” Rafales, with at least 18 expected to be delivered off-the-shelf in the near term.

• WHO seeks clarification from India if cough syrup has been exported to other countries

Context: The World Health Organization (WHO) has sought clarification from India on whether the cough syrup linked to over 15 child deaths in the country have been exported to other countries, a senior official of the global health agency said.

• The WHO is yet to issue a Global Medical Products Alert on Coldrif syrup, the cough syrup which has allegedly caused the child deaths in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. The official added that the need for an alert will be investigated only after receiving a response from Indian health authorities.
• So far at least 17 children aged below five have died in India allegedly after consuming cough syrup containing a toxic compound diethylene glycol (DEG). Coldrif was manufactured by Sresan Pharmaceuticals, based in Tamil Nadu. The company is currently under investigation.
• The Central government, in an order dated December 18, 2023, had said that the fixed-dose combination (FDC) of chlorpheniramine maleate IP 2mg and phenylephrine HCl IP 5mg drop/ml “should not be used in children below four years of age.”
• Prescribed to treat symptoms of cold and cough, including runny nose, sneezing and sore throat and watery eyes, Coldrif contains chlorpheniramine maleate, paracetamol and phenylephrine.
• The Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation issued a directive to all State and Union Territory Drug Controllers, calling for strict enforcement of the Drugs Rules, 1945, with specific emphasis on the mandatory testing of raw materials and finished pharmaceutical products before release in the market.

• India to boost solar pumps scheme in Africa, island nations

Context: The Union government is looking to showcase the PM-KUSUM (Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthan Mahabhiyan) programme to several African countries and island nations, Union Minister for Renewable Energy (MNRE) Pralhad Joshi said.

• “We are looking to showcase both the PM-KUSUM and the PM Surya Ghar (for rooftop solar installations) programme in countries which have problems with connectivity. We are doing this in Africa and island countries through the ISA (International Solar Alliance) platform,” Mr. Joshi said at a curtain-raiser event for the ISA’s eighth General Assembly, scheduled later this month.

• The ₹34,000-crore PM-KUSUM programme is meant to boost solar energy infrastructure in agriculture by setting up 100 GW of solar power plants in farmer-owned land. Launched in 2019, it was to have added a solar capacity of 308 GW by 2022, but has missed targets. The Centre then set a new target, of 348 GW with a deadline of March 2026.

• As of September 30, only one part of the scheme, where 17.5 lakh standalone solar pumps were to be installed has made notable progress. About 70% of the pumps have been installed. On the other hand, only 6% of decentralised grid-connected renewable energy power plants, and 16%-25% of grid-connected solar pumps have been installed.

• ‘NMIA set to make Mumbai one of Asia’s biggest aviation hubs’

Context: Navi Mumbai International Airport will connect Maharashtra farmers to supermarkets in Europe, Middle East; reduce export costs for SMEs: PM

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the first phase of the Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA) and said the airport would play a major role in establishing the region as one of Asia’s largest connectivity hubs.
• He also remarked that the new airport would connect Maharashtra’s farmers to supermarkets in Europe and the Middle East, enabling fresh produce, fruits, vegetables, and fishery products to reach global markets swiftly.
• He noted that the airport would reduce export costs for nearby small and medium industries, boost investment, and lead to the establishment of new enterprises. The greenfield NMIA is built at a cost of about ₹19,650 crore.
• It is expected to become operational in December this year. As the second international airport for the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, NMIA will work in tandem with Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) to ease congestion and elevate Mumbai to the league of global multi-airport systems. To be run by the Adani Group, the airport will handle 90 million passengers annually and 3.25 million metric tonnes of cargo. Among its unique offerings is an Automated People Mover (APM), a transit system planned to connect all four passenger terminals, as well as a landside APM linking the city-side infrastructure.
• The airport will feature a dedicated storage for Sustainable Aviation Fuel, solar power generation of approximately 47 MW, and EV bus services.
• NMIA will also be the first airport in the country to be connected by water taxis.

• PM pitches India as global data hub

Context: Prime Minister Narendra Modi pitched India as a potential ‘global data hub’, emphasising the importance of “issues like storage, security and sovereignty” of data that is generated globally. “The world wants reliable partners for the design and manufacturing of telecom equipment,” he said.

• “Can’t Indian companies become reliable global suppliers and design partners?” Mr. Modi asked, while speaking at the inauguration of the India Mobile Congress, conducted by the Department of Telecommunications. The established telcos in India “provide stability, scale and direction” in the telecom sector, and their role is “continuously increasing,” Mr. Modi said.
• Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said in his remarks that India hoped to secure at least “10% of 6G patents,” to establish the country’s presence in developing the subsequent generation of telecommunications technology. Mr. Scindia called on Indian firms to “design here, solve for here, and scale for everywhere.”
• At a roundtable held during the event with States and Union Territories, officials discussed issues in implementing the roll out of the 4G saturation scheme, which aims to provide high speed fibre optic connectivity to all of India’s gram panchayats.
• Tamil Nadu IT Minister Palanivel Thiaga Rajan urged Mr. Scindia during the discussion to “cap the market share” of telcos, to maintain a healthy market. Mr. Scindia responded saying the telecom sector was “deregulated”.
• Mr. Rajan also requested changes to the Right of Way portal, explaining the site did not address State-level issues, which was why TN had not signed on to the model Right of Way rules. The rules provide a framework for applications to local authorities for laying fiber cables and installing telecom equipment.

• RBI envisages unified markets interface

Context: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has conceptualised a unified markets interface (UMI) to tokenise financial assets and enable settlements using central bank digital currency.

• At the Global Fintech Fest 2025, RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra said, “This interface will have the capability to tokenise financial assets and settlements using wholesale CBDC. Early efforts and results from the inaugural pilot in improving market efficiency here are encouraging.”
• The event also saw the launch of other features such as UPI Reserve, Internet of Things compatibility of UPI, among others.

• Scientists win Chemistry Nobel Prize for bridging metals and organics

Context: An Australian, a Japanese and a Jordanian-American scientists were announced winners of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for discovering and creating a class of materials, called metal-organic frameworks (MOF).

• Metallic and organic substances are as far apart in the chemical world as Australia and the U.S. geographically and it was inconceivable that stable, useful products could be made out of materials formed by integrating them.
• But beginning Richard Robson’s initial conception of them in the mid 1970s, sparked from a science project for his Melbourne University students; to Susumu Kitagawa’s dogged determination, in Kyoto University, at creating porous molecules — despite knowing that they were “useless” — but tinkering with them until he created the right kind of structures that were useful enough to work as a filter whilst remaining flexible and pliant; to finally Omar Yaghi at the University of California, Berkley, making a variety of metal-organic frameworks, as he named them, that were capable of drawing water vapour out of desert air at night and releasing them as water in the day.
• The three will equally share the prize of 11 million Swedish kroner, about ₹1 crore.
• Following the laureates’ groundbreaking discoveries, chemists have since built tens of thousands of different MOFs. Some of these may contribute to solving some of humankind’s greatest challenges, with applications that include separating PFAS (a family of chemicals that are believed to be toxic) from water, breaking down traces of pharmaceuticals in the environment, capturing carbon dioxide or harvesting water from desert air, a press statement noted.

Molecular kit

• Researchers have developed a molecular kit with a wide range of different pieces that can be used to create new MOFs. These have different shapes and characters, providing incredible potential for the rational —or AI-based — design of MOFs for different purposes.
• First of the block and inspired by a project to make wooden block representations of chemical bonds, Mr. Robson began by testing the inherent properties of atoms in a new way. He combined positively charged copper ions with a four-armed molecule; this had a chemical group that was attracted to copper ions at the end of each arm. When they were combined, they bonded to form a well-ordered, spacious crystal. It was like a diamond filled with innumerable cavities.
• Mr. Robson immediately recognised the potential of his molecular construction, but it was unstable and collapsed easily. However, Mr. Kitagawa and Mr. Yaghi provided this building method with a firm foundation; between 1992 and 2003 they made, separately, a series of revolutionary discoveries.
• Mr. Kitagawa showed that gases can flow in and out of the constructions and predicted that MOFs could be made flexible.
• Mr. Yaghi created a very stable MOF and showed that it can be modified using rational design, giving it new and desirable properties.
• Initially, it was challenging for the broader scientific community to appreciate MOF as they didn’t seem to be much better than a class of materials called zeolites. But things changed when they succeeded in developing soft MOFs — a step up over zeolites that were hard.