Current Affairs — 25 July 2026

1. DRDO's Indigenous Expendable Turbo Jet Engine

Core Context

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has long worked toward reducing India's dependence on imported aero-engines, a critical bottleneck in indigenous missile and unmanned systems development. The Gas Turbine Research Establishment (GTRE), based in Bengaluru, is DRDO's dedicated laboratory for gas turbine and jet engine technology, earlier known for developing the Kaveri engine programme for the Tejas fighter aircraft. An expendable turbojet engine, unlike a reusable aircraft engine, is a compact, low-cost, single-use propulsion unit designed for missiles and loitering munitions rather than long-term operation.

Latest Developments

• GTRE, in partnership with a Hyderabad-based private industry partner, delivered India's first fully indigenous Expendable Turbo Jet Engine of the 350 kg-thrust class.
• The engine has been developed primarily to power the Naval Anti-Ship Missile (Medium Range), or NASM-MR, extending the Indian Navy's maritime strike reach.
• The same engine architecture is expected to find dual-use application in unmanned aerial vehicles and armed drones.
• The achievement reflects deepening collaboration between DRDO laboratories and private aerospace manufacturers under the Atmanirbhar Bharat framework in defence production.

UPSC Prelims Pointers

• DRDO functions under the Department of Defence Research and Development, Ministry of Defence, and operates over 50 laboratories across the country.
• GTRE Bengaluru is India's premier laboratory for gas turbine engine research, earlier associated with the Kaveri engine project.
• An expendable turbojet engine differs from conventional aircraft turbofan or turbojet engines in being designed for a single mission rather than repeated use.
• The Defence Acquisition Procedure and the Positive Indigenisation Lists are related policy tools promoting domestic defence manufacturing that aspirants should recall alongside such achievements.

2. BHAVYA Rasayan Scheme for Chemical Parks

Core Context

India's chemical industry is among the world's sixth largest, yet it suffers from fragmented infrastructure and dependence on imported feedstock and specialty chemicals. To build globally competitive, plug-and-play manufacturing clusters for the sector, the Union Budget for financial year 2026-27 had announced a dedicated chemical parks scheme, which has now received Cabinet approval.

Latest Developments

• The Union Cabinet approved the Bharat Audyogik Vikas Yojana Rasayan, abbreviated as the BHAVYA Rasayan Scheme, with a total financial outlay of ₹3,030 crore.
• Of this, ₹3,000 crore is earmarked for developing Common Infrastructure Facilities and Basic Utilities within the parks, while ₹30 crore covers administrative expenditure.
• The scheme will run for five years, from FY 2026-27 to FY 2030-31, and will facilitate three dedicated Chemical Parks developed by State Governments through a Challenge Route, or competitive selection, mechanism.
• Each park requires a minimum contiguous area of 8 square kilometres, that is, about 2,000 acres, of encumbrance-free land, with the Centre providing up to ₹1,000 crore per park against a minimum State contribution of ₹500 crore.

UPSC Prelims Pointers

• The scheme falls under the Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers.
• The Challenge Route, or competitive bidding, mechanism is a recurring policy design also seen in schemes like the Smart Cities Mission, where States compete for central funding.
• Aspirants should distinguish Chemical Parks from Petroleum, Chemicals and Petrochemicals Investment Regions, or PCPIRs, an earlier scheme with a similar objective.
• India is a major global producer of dyes, agrochemicals, and specialty chemicals, and such infrastructure schemes aim to boost the sector's contribution to manufacturing GVA under the Make in India initiative.

3. Aditya-L1 and Chandrayaan-3 — Parliament Science Report

Core Context

India's space science missions continue to generate globally recognised research years after launch. Aditya-L1, India's first dedicated solar observation mission, was placed in a halo orbit around the Sun-Earth Lagrange Point 1, roughly 1.5 million kilometres from Earth, from where it can continuously observe the Sun without eclipses. Chandrayaan-3, which achieved a historic soft landing near the lunar south pole in August 2023, carried the Chandra's Surface Thermophysical Experiment, or ChaSTE, to study the Moon's thermal properties.

Latest Developments

• In a written reply in the Rajya Sabha, the Department of Space shared a consolidated science report on the peer-reviewed findings from both missions.
• Aditya-L1 has continued to study solar wind particles, the solar corona, near-ultraviolet emissions from the solar disc, and interplanetary magnetic fields.
• The ChaSTE probe on Chandrayaan-3 recorded the first-ever in-situ high-latitude lunar temperature profile, penetrating up to 10 centimetres into the regolith.
• The data revealed a sharp change in thermal conductivity at a depth of about 6 centimetres, indicating a distinct two-layer, cake-like structure of the lunar regolith, with the top layer acting as a natural insulating blanket that could help preserve subsurface water-ice.
• These findings are informing India's future deep space roadmap, including the Venus Orbiter Mission and Chandrayaan-4.

UPSC Prelims Pointers

• Lagrange Points are five positions in space where the gravitational pull of two large bodies, such as the Sun and Earth, balances the centripetal force, allowing a spacecraft to remain relatively stable; L1 lies between the Sun and Earth.
• Aditya-L1 was launched aboard a PSLV rocket from Sriharikota.
• Chandrayaan-3's Vikram lander touched down near the lunar south pole, making India the first country to achieve this and the fourth nation overall to soft-land on the Moon.
• Key instruments to remember include ChaSTE, RAMBHA, and ILSA on the lander, and Pragyan the rover on Chandrayaan-3, alongside VELC, SUIT, and ASPEX among Aditya-L1's payloads.

4. Indian Seafarers' Abandonment Crisis

Core Context

India is one of the largest suppliers of seafarers to the global shipping industry, ranking among the top three crewing nations worldwide. However, seafarers frequently face abandonment by shipowners, where vessels are left stranded without wages, provisions, or means to return home. This issue intersects labour rights, international maritime law, and India's foreign employment protections.

Latest Developments

• According to the latest report, Indian seafarers were the most abandoned nationality globally for the second consecutive year, with around 1,125 cases recorded by the end of 2025.
• This figure is nearly three times higher than in 2014, reflecting a worsening trend over the past decade.
• Globally, abandonment hit record levels last year, with over 6,200 seafarers abandoned across more than 400 ships, and unpaid wages amounting to over 25 million US dollars.
• India's Directorate General of Shipping has announced action against dozens of vessels linked to recurrent abandonment cases.

UPSC Prelims Pointers

• The Directorate General of Shipping, under the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, regulates merchant shipping and seafarer welfare in India.
• The Maritime Labour Convention, 2006, adopted by the International Labour Organization, sets global minimum standards for seafarers' working and living conditions, including provisions on abandonment.
• The International Transport Workers' Federation, a global union federation, tracks and reports on seafarer abandonment cases worldwide.
• India's Merchant Shipping Act governs registration of ships and seafarer employment conditions domestically.

5. Punjab's Sarbat.AI — Artificial Intelligence as a Mainstream School Subject

Core Context

The National Education Policy, 2020 emphasises integration of new-age skills, including coding and artificial intelligence, into the school curriculum from an early stage. States have been experimenting with different models to operationalise this vision, and Punjab has now taken a pioneering step by making AI a mainstream, rather than elective, subject.

Latest Developments

• Punjab became the first state in India to introduce Artificial Intelligence as a mainstream subject from Classes I to XII, under a programme named Sarbat.AI.
• The rollout will happen in a phased manner: Phase I will integrate AI into the Computer Science curriculum for Classes VIII to XII, while Phase II will extend age-appropriate AI lessons to Classes I to VII.
• The Punjab School Education Board will oversee curriculum design and implementation.
• The initiative is expected to eventually benefit over 25,000 schools and more than 31 lakh students across the state.

UPSC Prelims Pointers

• The National Education Policy, 2020 recommends introducing coding and computational thinking from Class VI onwards.
• The Central Board of Secondary Education already offers Artificial Intelligence as a skill subject at the secondary level under its Skill Education framework.
• Aspirants should note related national initiatives such as the National Programme on Artificial Intelligence and the AI for All awareness programme by NITI Aayog.
• Education being a subject in the Concurrent List allows both the Union and State Governments to legislate and design curricula, explaining why implementation models vary across states.

6. President Murmu's State Visit to Romania

Core Context

India's engagement with Central and Eastern European nations has traditionally been limited compared to its ties with Western Europe. Romania, strategically located at the crossroads of Europe with strong integration into the European Union, offers India a potential gateway to wider European markets, making high-level diplomatic visits significant for economic diplomacy.

Latest Developments

• President Droupadi Murmu undertook a historic three-day state visit to Romania, the first visit by an Indian Head of State to Bucharest in over three decades.
• She held official talks with the Romanian President and met the country's acting Prime Minister and parliamentary leadership, marking the resumption of high-level political dialogue after two decades.
• Addressing the India-Romania Business Forum, President Murmu described Romania as a natural and valuable partner for India, both as an investment destination and a gateway to the European market.
• Both countries agreed on a strategic plan to double bilateral trade over the next three years.
• The President was conferred an honorary doctorate, Doctor Honoris Causa, by the Bucharest University of Economic Studies, where she spoke on India's Viksit Bharat 2047 vision.

UPSC Prelims Pointers

• Romania is a member of the European Union and NATO, located in Southeastern Europe with the Black Sea as one of its borders.
• India-Romania diplomatic relations date back to 1948; Romania is also home to a small but active Indian diaspora and business community.
• Under the Constitution, the President represents India in international affairs though foreign policy is executed by the Union Council of Ministers; state visits are largely ceremonial but carry diplomatic and economic significance.
• Aspirants should track India's outreach to Central and Eastern Europe alongside its Indo-Pacific and Act East strategies for a comprehensive worldview.

7. ICMM Report on Water Risk in Global Mining

Core Context

As the world transitions toward clean energy, demand for critical minerals such as lithium, cobalt, and rare earth elements is rising sharply. Mining and mineral processing are highly water-intensive activities, and water scarcity in mining regions can directly threaten the reliability of critical mineral supply chains that underpin the global energy transition.

Latest Developments

• The International Council on Mining and Metals released an analysis showing that nearly two-thirds, about 65.7 percent, of mining and metals facilities worldwide are located in areas facing significant physical water risk.
• Competition for water between mining operations and other industrial or domestic users was identified as the greatest physical water risk facing the industry.
• Around 38 percent of facilities are situated in river basins experiencing either severe water competition or arid conditions, referred to as baseline water stress.
• The report was prepared using an updated Global Mining Dataset covering about 12,000 facilities, developed in partnership with the World Wide Fund for Nature's Water Risk team and the World Resources Institute.
• The findings call for coordinated, integrated land and water use planning at a regional scale to secure future critical mineral supplies.

UPSC Prelims Pointers

• The International Council on Mining and Metals is a global industry association representing leading mining and metals companies, headquartered in London.
• India's own Critical Minerals Mission and the National Mineral Policy aim to secure supply of strategic minerals; aspirants should link global water-risk findings with India's mineral security strategy.
• Baseline water stress refers to the ratio of total water withdrawals to available renewable surface and groundwater supplies in a region; the World Resources Institute's Aqueduct tool is a common global reference for this metric.
• Key critical minerals for the clean energy transition include lithium, cobalt, nickel, and rare earth elements, all of which feature prominently in India's Critical Minerals list notified in 2023.