24 October 2025

• Heritage: India unveiled plans for the Yuge Yugeen Bharat National Museum in the Central Vista's North and South Block buildings, to become the world's largest museum.
• Economy: India's Small Finance Banks framework was updated. RBI issued eligibility criteria for conversion to Universal Banks.
• Space: GalaxEye's Mission Drishti, India's largest privately-built satellite combining SAR and optical sensors, was profiled ahead of its Q1 2026 launch.
• Governance: The 8th ISA Assembly concluded with India pledging accelerated solar capacity expansion and launching the OSOWOG feasibility study.
• International: UN Day. The UN was established on 24 October 1945.

GS area: International Relations (United Nations)

24 October marks UN Day, the date the United Nations Charter entered into force in 1945.

• Charter signed: 26 June 1945, San Francisco. Entered into force: 24 October 1945 after ratification by the five permanent members and a majority of signatories.
• Original members: 51 countries. Current membership: 193 states.
• Principal organs: General Assembly, Security Council, Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), Trusteeship Council (suspended 1994), International Court of Justice, Secretariat.
• Headquarters: New York (Secretariat), Geneva, Vienna, Nairobi.
• Secretary-General (current): António Guterres (Portugal); second term began January 2022.
• India at the UN: founding member; has never been a permanent member of the Security Council; has been elected to the non-permanent Security Council seat eight times (most recently 2021-2022).
• UN budget: India is assessed at approximately 0.8 per cent of the regular budget, below its economic weight.
• UNSC reform: India advocates for permanent membership as part of G4 (with Germany, Japan and Brazil). The P5 veto is the central obstacle.

Static linkage: International organisations, India's foreign policy.

GS area: Economy (Banking, Financial Inclusion)

The RBI issued updated guidelines for Small Finance Banks (SFBs) seeking to convert into Universal Banks.

• SFBs' purpose: provide financial inclusion services, credit, deposits and payments, to unserved and underserved segments including small farmers, micro enterprises and low-income households.
• Origin: recommended by the Raghuram Rajan Committee (2009); Union Budget 2014-15 announced them; first SFBs began operations in 2016.
• Minimum capital: Rs 200 crore paid-up equity capital; promoters must hold 40 per cent initially, reducing to 26 per cent within 12 years.
• Mandatory requirements:
  • 75 per cent of Adjusted Net Bank Credit to Priority Sector Lending.
  • 50 per cent of loans must be Rs 25 lakh or below.
  • 25 per cent of branches in unbanked rural centres.
• Governed by: Banking Regulation Act 1949; SFBs maintain CRR and SLR like universal banks.
• Eligibility for Universal Bank conversion (RBI 2024 guidelines):
  • Only listed SFBs may apply.
  • Minimum net worth: Rs 1,000 crore.
  • Gross NPAs below 3 per cent; Net NPAs below 1 per cent for two consecutive years.
  • Profitable for at least five years.

Static linkage: Financial inclusion, banking regulation, RBI.

GS area: Art and Culture (Heritage, Governance)

India announced a major museum project within the Central Vista redevelopment programme.

• Location: North Block and South Block of the Central Vista complex, New Delhi.
• Theme: 5,000 years of Indian civilisation, from Indus Valley through the medieval and colonial periods to Independence.
• Scale: to become the world's largest museum when complete.
• First gallery opening: targeted for end-2026.
• Design: Arcop Associates, led by principal architect Kulapat Yantrasast. India-France joint design partnership.
• Key artefacts planned:
  • Indus Valley terracotta hourglass from Kalibangan (2500-1700 BC).
  • Gupta-era sculptures (5th century AD).
  • Chola bronzes (10th-11th century AD).
• Ministry: Ministry of Culture.

Static linkage: Cultural heritage, Central Vista, museums.

GS area: Economy (Agriculture, GI Tags, Trade)

Two GI-tagged Indian limes made their first air shipment to the United Kingdom.

• Indi Lime (Karnataka): from Vijayapura district. GI recognition granted in 2023. Vijayapura accounts for 58 per cent of Karnataka's lime production. The first-ranked lime variety to receive a GI tag after Assam Lime.
• Puliyankudi Lime (Tamil Nadu): from Tenkasi district. GI tag granted in April 2025. Kadayam variety. Juice yield: approximately 55 per cent. High Vitamin C content.
• Facilitator: APEDA (Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority) under the Ministry of Commerce.
• First-ever air shipment: both varieties shipped by air to the UK, the first-ever air export of GI-tagged Indian limes.
• GI tag significance: a Geographical Indication tag legally protects a product's origin and quality association. Products can be registered under the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act 1999.

Static linkage: Agricultural exports, GI tags, trade policy.

GS area: International Relations (India-Nepal, Energy)

India's POWERGRID Corporation signed agreements with the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) for cross-border transmission infrastructure.

• Transmission lines agreed:
  1. Inaruwa (Nepal) to New Purnea (Bihar), 400 kV line.
  2. Lamki, Dododhara (Nepal) to Bareilly (Uttar Pradesh), 400 kV line.
• Nepal's hydropower potential: estimated 83,000 MW. Currently harnessed: approximately 3,000 MW. India is Nepal's largest power export customer.
• India-Nepal Power Trade Agreement: India purchases surplus Nepalese hydropower. This makes Nepal's hydropower development commercially viable and gives India renewable energy.
• POWERGRID: a Central Public Sector Undertaking under the Ministry of Power. India's national power transmission utility.
• Strategic significance: cross-border power trade deepens economic interdependence, a key tool in India's neighbourhood policy.

Static linkage: India-Nepal relations, power sector, infrastructure.

• India's Access to Chinese Rare Earth Magnets: Indian firms received conditional import licences from China for neodymium-iron-boron (NdFeB) magnets. China imposed export restrictions in April 2025 but paused these for one year under a US-China trade deal. India's EV sector depends on NdFeB magnets for motors and power steering.
• Legal Metrology Amendment Rules 2025: medical device packages will now follow Medical Devices Rules 2017 for labelling (font size, Principal Display Panel) rather than the Legal Metrology Act, removing regulatory overlap.
• Kasargod Sea Cucumber: Kasargod district in Kerala reported sightings of sea cucumbers (echinoderms, not actual cucumbers) in inshore waters, relevant to marine biodiversity and the illegal dried sea cucumber trade.