Environment: India adds two new Ramsar wetland sites bringing its total to 96. Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh each gain their first or an additional listing.
Energy: Parliament introduces the SHANTI Bill, which would replace the Atomic Energy Act 1962 and open India's nuclear value chain to private investment.
Economy: The Cabinet raises the FDI cap in insurance to 100 per cent. The sector has seen a step-by-step liberalisation from 26 per cent in 2015 to full foreign ownership in 2025.
Coal: The CoalSETU policy creates an auction-based window for industrial buyers to secure long-term coal linkages.
Astronomy: The Geminid meteor shower peaks on 13 to 15 December. It is unique because it originates from an asteroid, not a comet.
1. New Ramsar sites: Siliserh Lake and Kopra Jalashay
GS area: GS-3 (Environment, Ecology, Wetlands)
India designates two new Ramsar sites in December 2025. Total Ramsar sites in India reach 96.
Siliserh Lake: Located in Alwar district, Rajasthan. Situated within the buffer zone of Sariska Tiger Reserve. Built in 1845 as a water supply reservoir. It hosts 149 bird species and 17 mammal species. It receives Ramsar Site number 2581.
Kopra Jalashay: Located near Bilaspur in Chhattisgarh. It is Chhattisgarh's first Ramsar site. Receives Ramsar Site number 2583.
Ramsar Convention: The Convention on Wetlands was adopted at Ramsar, Iran in 1971. It entered into force in 1975. India acceded in 1982. The convention's conservation philosophy is the "wise use" of wetlands.
India's Ramsar record: With 96 sites, India now has more Ramsar-designated wetlands than any other country in Asia. Total wetland area covered: approximately 1.33 million hectares.
What Ramsar designation does: It does not impose central government ownership. It requires signatory governments to promote the conservation and wise use of listed wetlands through national land-use planning.
GS area: GS-3 (Energy, Science and Technology) and GS-2 (Governance, Parliament)
The Sustainable Harnessing of Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India (SHANTI) Bill is introduced in Parliament. It is the most significant proposed reform to India's nuclear law in six decades.
Parent law: Replaces the Atomic Energy Act 1962. That act consolidated all nuclear activity under the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) and the government-owned Atomic Energy Commission.
Private sector entry: The Bill opens the nuclear fuel cycle (mining, enrichment, fuel fabrication, power generation, waste management) to licensed private players for the first time.
Legal consolidation: Provides a unified legal framework replacing a patchwork of rules and notifications under the 1962 Act.
Nuclear liability reform: Addresses the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act 2010 (CLNDA), which had deterred foreign nuclear suppliers because of its Section 17(b) right-to-recourse clause. The SHANTI Bill is expected to modify liability provisions to align with international norms.
Safety authority: Establishes an independent nuclear safety authority to replace the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB), which currently operates within DAE. The AERB's dual role (promoter and regulator) was a recognised conflict of interest.
Nuclear tribunal: Creates a dedicated tribunal for disputes and liability claims, replacing recourse to civil courts.
SMR support: Provides a regulatory pathway for Small Modular Reactors. SMRs are reactors with less than 300 MW capacity. They are suited for industrial heat applications and remote grids.
2047 target: India's goal is 100 GW of nuclear capacity by 2047 (Viksit Bharat centenary).
Static linkage: Atomic Energy Act 1962; AERB; Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act 2010; Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty; Paris Agreement (India's NDC).
3. MGNREGA proposed renaming and reform
GS area: GS-2 (Governance, Social Justice) and GS-3 (Economy, Rural Development)
The government proposes renaming MGNREGA to the Pujya Bapu Gramin Rozgar Yojana and amending its operational provisions.
Name change: Proposed new name is Pujya Bapu Gramin Rozgar Yojana. The name invokes Mahatma Gandhi (Bapu).
Employment guarantee increase: Guaranteed workdays proposed to rise from 100 to 125 days per household per year.
Exclusion clauses: States with higher per-capita incomes may be exempted from certain provisions. This introduces an economic-indicator conditionality.
Water conservation amendment (September 2025): An amendment mandates that at least 65 per cent of MGNREGA funds in blocks with over-exploited groundwater must be spent on water conservation works.
MGNREGA basics: Enacted in 2005 (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act). Guarantees 100 days of unskilled wage employment to any rural household whose adult members demand work. Wages are linked to state-notified rates.
Funding: Centre pays 100 per cent of unskilled labour cost and 75 per cent of material cost.
Static linkage: MGNREGA 2005; Rural Employment; Panchayati Raj; Minimum Wages Act; Right to Work as a Directive Principle.
4. CoalSETU policy
GS area: GS-3 (Economy, Energy Policy)
The government introduces CoalSETU as a new auction-based window within the National Resource Scheduling Linkage Policy for domestic industrial coal buyers.
What it is: A new auction-based coal linkage window. Industrial consumers can bid for long-term coal supply linkages directly.
Who can participate: Any domestic industrial buyer except traders. Coking coal users are also excluded.
Export provision: Up to 50 per cent of coal secured through CoalSETU may be exported by the buyer.
Washed coal: Beneficiated (washed) coal is allowed under CoalSETU linkages.
Coking coal exclusion: Coking coal (used in steel making) is excluded. It continues to be handled through separate allocation mechanisms.
Policy objective: Reduce coal supply uncertainty for industrial consumers and improve coal sector revenue through market-determined price discovery.
NRS Linkage Policy: National Resource Scheduling Linkage Policy is the overarching framework governing coal supply linkages to power and non-power consumers.
Static linkage: Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Act 2015; Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act; National Coal Policy; Energy Security.
5. Indian Ocean Blue Economy
GS area: GS-2 (International Relations) and GS-3 (Economy, Ocean Resources)
India leads advocacy for the "Common Heritage of Mankind" principle in Indian Ocean Blue Economy governance at the Blue Economy Future Forum (BEFF) 2025.
Common Heritage of Mankind: A principle articulated in UNCLOS (United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea) for seabed resources in the international area (Area). Resources belong to all of humanity, not to any single state.
India's UNCLOS role: India championed this principle during the UNCLOS III negotiations (1973 to 1982).
BEFF 2025 outcomes: Participating nations announced 8.7 billion euros in new investment pledges for ocean-related projects. Existing ocean investments total 25 billion euros.
Green shipping corridors: Proposed routes where shipping companies commit to zero-emission vessels on specific trade lanes.
India's Blue Economy policy: The Blue Economy Policy (2023) identifies fisheries, aquaculture, shipping, offshore energy and seabed mining as priority sectors. India has an Exclusive Economic Zone of 2.37 million sq km.
Static linkage: UNCLOS; EEZ; India's Blue Economy Policy; Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA); Sagarmala Programme.
6. Savarkar's poem: 115-year anniversary
GS area: GS-1 (Modern Indian History, Literature)
Veer Savarkar's Marathi poem "Sagara Pran Talamalala" (O Sea, My Life Throbs) marks 115 years since its composition around 1909.
Composition context: Savarkar wrote the poem while under British surveillance in Brighton, England, around 1909. He was awaiting extradition to India on charges related to the Indian independence movement.
Musical legacy: The poem was set to music by Hridaynath Mangeshkar and sung by Lata Mangeshkar. This version became iconic in Maharashtrian cultural memory.
Savarkar's major works: "The Indian War of Independence 1857" (published 1909 in London, banned by the British) and "Hindutva: Who is a Hindu?" (1923). The 1857 work was the first to describe the 1857 uprising as a war of independence rather than a mutiny.
Political legacy: Savarkar was the founding ideologue of Hindutva as a political concept. He was president of the Hindu Mahasabha from 1937 to 1943.
Static linkage: Indian National Movement; 1857 uprising; Hindutva ideology; Freedom Fighters of Maharashtra.
7. UPSC centre of choice for PwBD candidates
GS area: GS-2 (Governance, Social Justice) and GS-2 (Constitutional Provisions for Disabled)
UPSC introduces a Centre of Choice guarantee for all Persons with Benchmark Disabilities appearing in its examinations.
Provision: PwBD candidates are guaranteed their preferred examination centre. Additional capacity will be created at any centre where demand exceeds current infrastructure.
Planning basis: UPSC conducted a 5-year analysis of overcrowded examination centres to identify and resolve chokepoints.
Legal basis: Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act 2016 (RPwD Act). Section 32 provides for reservation in government posts. The broader spirit of the Act requires accessibility in public services.
Benchmark disability: Defined under the RPwD Act as a person with at least 40 per cent disability as certified by a competent authority.
Types covered: The guarantee applies across all UPSC examinations including the Civil Services Examination.
Static linkage: Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act 2016; UPSC Constitutional role (Article 315); Accessibility and Inclusion.
8. Cabinet approves 100% FDI in insurance
GS area: GS-3 (Economy, Investment) and GS-2 (Parliament, Governance)
The Cabinet approves full foreign direct investment (100 per cent) in the insurance sector through the Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill 2025.
Previous cap: 74 per cent. This was set by the Insurance Laws (Amendment) Act 2021.
Liberalisation history: 26 per cent (Insurance Laws Amendment Act 2015); 49 per cent (2016 via FDI policy revision); 74 per cent (2021); 100 per cent (2025).
Acts amended: Insurance Act 1938; Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority Act 1999; Life Insurance Corporation Act 1956.
Regulatory body: Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI). Established under the IRDA Act 1999.
Condition: Foreign investors owning more than 49 per cent must invest as per Indian regulations and the insurance premium revenues must remain within India.
India's insurance penetration: About 4 per cent of GDP. Global average is approximately 7 per cent. The low penetration makes India one of the most attractive insurance markets globally.
Static linkage: FDI Policy; Insurance Regulatory Framework; IRDAI; LIC and public sector insurance; Financial Sector Reforms.
9. Tapanuli Orangutan and cyclone threat
GS area: GS-3 (Environment, Biodiversity)
Cyclone Senyar may have killed between 6 and 11 per cent of the total remaining Tapanuli orangutan population. The species' survival margin is extremely narrow.
Species: Pongo tapanuliensis. Described as a distinct species only in 2017. Classified as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List.
Title: The rarest great ape on Earth.
Population: Fewer than approximately 800 individuals.
Habitat: Restricted to the Batang Toru Ecosystem in North Sumatra, Indonesia. No other confirmed population exists anywhere.
Distinguishing features: Smaller skull, thicker and frizzier orange fur compared to Bornean and Sumatran orangutans.
Cyclone impact: Cyclone Senyar's path through North Sumatra may have killed 50 to 90 individuals. This represents 6 to 11 per cent of the total population.
Threats: Habitat loss from palm oil plantations, hydropower dams and road construction. Cyclone frequency is expected to increase under climate change.
Static linkage: IUCN Red List; Convention on Biological Diversity; Tropical deforestation; Indonesia and India's biodiversity diplomacy.
10. Geminid meteor shower
GS area: GS-3 (Science, Astronomy)
The Geminid meteor shower peaks between 13 and 15 December 2025. It is the most prolific annual meteor shower by observable rate.
Peak rate: Up to 100 to 120 meteors per hour under dark-sky conditions.
Radiant: The shower appears to originate from the constellation Gemini. The radiant point is near the star Castor.
Parent body: Asteroid 3200 Phaethon. This is unique: all other major annual meteor showers originate from cometary debris. Geminids come from an asteroid.
Why an asteroid produces a shower: Solar heating during Phaethon's close perihelion passage causes surface material to dislodge. This is called thermal fracturing or radiation pressure. The mechanism is still being studied.
Viewing: Visible globally. Best after midnight local time when the radiant is high in the sky.
Static linkage: Asteroids, comets and meteor showers; Planetary science; ISRO's Aditya-L1 and solar observation.
11. Briefly noted
Saiga antelope recovery: The saiga antelope was downlisted at CITES CoP20 after a dramatic population recovery in Central Asia from fewer than 50,000 in the early 2000s to more than 1.9 million today. It is a rare conservation success story.
Siliserh Lake history: Built in 1845 under British administration as a water-supply reservoir for Alwar city. Its construction predates most of India's major irrigation infrastructure.
Insurance sector context: India's insurance market is the fifth-largest in Asia. LIC commands about two-thirds of life insurance premiums. Higher FDI is expected to bring technology, products and capital to underserved segments.
Practice MCQs
Check yourself
Consider the following about Ramsar sites in India: 1. India has more Ramsar-designated wetlands than any other Asian country. 2. Siliserh Lake in Rajasthan is located within the core area of Sariska Tiger Reserve. 3. Kopra Jalashay is Chhattisgarh's first Ramsar site. How many are correct?
Check yourself
The SHANTI Bill 2025 proposes to replace which existing law?
Check yourself
Under CoalSETU policy, which of the following is NOT permitted?
Check yourself
Which of the following correctly describes the "Common Heritage of Mankind" principle in the context of UNCLOS?
Check yourself
The Tapanuli Orangutan (Pongo tapanuliensis) is critically endangered because: 1. It was recognised as a distinct species only in 2017. 2. Its entire wild population is restricted to the Batang Toru Ecosystem in North Sumatra. 3. It is the world's rarest great ape with fewer than 800 individuals. Select the correct answer:
Check yourself
The liberalisation of FDI in India's insurance sector followed which sequence?