17 December 2025

• Security: Left Wing Extremism-affected districts fall to 11. Casualties are at historic lows on all sides.
• Biotech: India's bio-economy has grown 16-fold since 2014. A Rs 5 trillion target is set for 2030.
• Diplomacy: India and Jordan mark 75 years of ties with an expanded ITEC quota and a heritage twinning initiative.
• Agriculture: The National Makhana Board gets a Rs 476 crore support scheme. Bihar dominates global supply.
• Defence: Vijay Diwas 2025 inaugurates Param Vir Dirgha at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

GS area: GS 3 (Internal Security)

The government released updated LWE data showing a steep reduction in the number of affected districts and in violence across all metrics since 2014.

• Districts affected: reduced from 126 in 2014 to 11 in 2025, marking an 91% drop in geographic spread.
• Most-affected districts: the count fell from 36 to just 3, indicating that the hardest pockets of violence have been substantially cleared.
• Violent incidents: down 53% compared with the 2004-2014 decade.
• Civilian deaths: down 70% over the same comparison period.
• Security force deaths: down 73%, the sharpest proportional decline across all three categories.
• 2025 operations alone: 317 cadres neutralised, more than 800 arrested, and approximately 2,000 surrendered.
• CPI (Maoist): formed in 2004 through a merger of the CPI (ML) People's War and the Maoist Communist Centre of India. It remains the primary organisation under the LWE umbrella.
• Key legislation: the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution protects tribal land rights in scheduled areas; PESA Act 1996 extends gram sabha powers to those areas; Forest Rights Act 2006 recognises forest-dweller rights.

The data shows a structural improvement rather than a temporary dip. Surrenders outnumber neutralisations by a factor of six, which suggests the ideological hold of the movement has weakened.

Static linkage: Internal Security; Scheduled Areas and Tribal Rights; PESA Act

GS area: GS 3 (Science and Technology; Economy)

The Department of Biotechnology released its 2025 achievement report. India's bio-economy has grown 16-fold since 2014 and now targets Rs 5 trillion by 2030.

• Bio-economy size: grew from Rs 100 billion in 2014 to Rs 1.6 trillion in 2024, a 16-fold increase in a decade.
• Global rank: India stands 12th globally in the biotech sector.
• 2030 target: Rs 5 trillion, implying roughly a threefold expansion from the current level.
• GenomeIndia Project: has sequenced 10,000 whole human genomes from across India's diverse population groups to build a reference dataset for precision medicine.
• BRCP Phase-III: Biotechnology Research and Innovation Council programme with a Rs 1,500 crore outlay for the next phase.
• Gene-edited rice: a variety developed under DBT achieves 20% higher yield through targeted gene editing without introducing foreign DNA.
• Drought-resistant rice: the variety "Arun" is designed for cultivation in low-rainfall, water-stressed zones.
• BioNEST Centres: 75 bioincubation centres established across institutions to nurture start-ups.
• E-YUVA Centres: 19 youth entrepreneurship centres for early-stage biotech ventures.

Static linkage: Science and Technology Policy; Agriculture Biotechnology; Start-up Ecosystem

GS area: GS 2 (International Relations)

India and Jordan marked 75 years of diplomatic relations with a joint statement covering trade, training, heritage and multilateral cooperation.

• Diplomatic age: 75 years of formal relations in 2025.
• Bilateral trade: $1 billion in 2024. India is Jordan's third-largest trading partner.
• ITEC quota: India's Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation programme slots for Jordan expanded from 35 to 50, widening skills-transfer opportunities for Jordanian nationals.
• Heritage twinning: the Petra (Jordan) and Ellora (India) UNESCO World Heritage Sites are formally twinned, a first for both sites.
• Multilateral interest: Jordan expressed interest in joining the International Solar Alliance, the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure and the Global Biofuels Alliance, all India-led groupings.

Static linkage: India's Neighbourhood-First and Beyond; ITEC Programme; International Solar Alliance

GS area: GS 3 (Agriculture; Economy)

The government established a National Makhana Board and announced a Rs 476.03 crore scheme running from 2025 to 2031 to support makhana farmers.

• Scientific name: Euryale ferox, an aquatic plant belonging to the water-lily family.
• Global supply share: India produces approximately 80% of the world's makhana (fox nut).
• Bihar's share: roughly 85% of India's makhana output comes from Bihar, primarily from the Mithila region.
• National Makhana Board: newly established to coordinate research, processing and marketing support.
• Central scheme outlay: Rs 476.03 crore for the period 2025-31 to boost productivity and farmer income.
• Nutritional profile: high in protein and dietary fibre, contains antioxidants, and has a low glycaemic index, making it relevant to health policy alongside agriculture policy.

Static linkage: Agricultural Marketing; GI Tags and Niche Crops; Food Processing

GS area: GS 3 (Science and Technology; Health)

The Armed Forces Medical Services launched MadhuNetrAI in collaboration with Dr. Rajendra Prasad Centre for Ophthalmic Sciences at AIIMS. The platform screens for diabetic retinopathy using artificial intelligence.

• Deploying agency: Armed Forces Medical Services (AFMS) with AIIMS Delhi.
• Technology: AI-based grading of retinal images captured through handheld fundus cameras, removing the need for specialist ophthalmologists at every screening site.
• Scale: deployed across seven locations as of December 2025.
• Integration: linked to the National Programme for Non-Communicable Disease (NCD) control, enabling population-level screening data to flow into the NCD database.
• Disease context: diabetic retinopathy is the leading cause of preventable blindness in working-age adults in India.

Static linkage: Health Technology; National NCD Programme; AI in Governance

GS area: GS 3 (Defence; Awards)

Vijay Diwas 2025 was marked with the inauguration of Param Vir Dirgha at Rashtrapati Bhavan, a gallery honouring all 21 recipients of India's highest military gallantry award.

• Param Vir Chakra: India's highest wartime gallantry award, instituted on 26 January 1950.
• Total awardees: 21 to date.
• Posthumous awards: 14 of the 21 were awarded posthumously.
• Monthly honorarium: Rs 3,000 per month to living recipients and next of kin.
• Wartime-only condition: the award is conferred exclusively for acts in the face of the enemy. It cannot be awarded for peacetime gallantry, unlike the Ashoka Chakra.
• Param Vir Dirgha: inaugurated at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Vijay Diwas (16 December), a hall of remembrance for all 21 recipients.

Static linkage: Honours and Awards; Defence History; Vijay Diwas

GS area: GS 2 (International Relations; Technology Governance)

The 2025 Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit concluded with the Tianjin Declaration, which for the first time establishes a collective AI governance framework among SCO member states.

• Tianjin Declaration: adopted at the 2025 SCO Summit; focused on AI governance, capacity building and shared principles of accountability and transparency.
• SCO AI Cooperation Roadmap: a new document outlining milestones for coordinated AI research and policy alignment among members.
• Proposed AI centre: a Regional AI Centre to be established in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, for joint research and training.
• Principles emphasised: security of AI systems, accountability of deployers, and transparency of algorithmic decision-making.
• SCO membership: the grouping now includes India, China, Russia, Pakistan, four Central Asian republics, and newer members Iran and Belarus.

Static linkage: SCO; Technology Diplomacy; AI Governance

GS area: GS 1 (Geography; Map-based)

The Tigris River is in the news due to upstream controls reducing downstream flows into Iraq.

• Origin: rises from Lake Hazar in the Taurus Mountains of southeastern Turkey.
• Countries traversed: Turkey and Iraq. It does not flow through Syria.
• Confluence: joins the Euphrates River at Qurna in southern Iraq to form the Shatt al-Arab waterway, which drains into the Persian Gulf.
• Regional significance: second-largest river in Western Asia by discharge.
• Stress factor: upstream dams and irrigation diversions in Turkey have significantly reduced the volume reaching Iraq, causing water and agricultural crises in the lower basin.

Static linkage: Rivers of the World; West Asia Geography; Water Geopolitics

GS area: GS 3 (Science and Technology; Space)

ISRO and the Department of Space launched the RESPOND Basket 2025, a call for mission-oriented research proposals from Indian academic institutions.

• Full name: RESPOND stands for Research Sponsorship, a scheme by the Department of Space for university-led space research.
• Submission portal: proposals are submitted through the I-GRASP portal (Indian Government Research Analytics and System Portal).
• Purpose: bridges academic research capacity and the requirements of active national space missions, ensuring universities contribute to mission goals rather than only to theoretical science.

Static linkage: ISRO; Space Technology Policy; Science and Technology

GS area: GS 3 (Defence; International Relations)

Exercise Garuda 2025, the biennial India-France air exercise, is ongoing in December at Mont-de-Marsan airbase in France.

• Location: Mont-de-Marsan air force base, southwestern France.
• Indian assets: Su-30MKI fighters, IL-78 mid-air refuelling tankers and C-17 Globemaster III strategic airlifters.
• Purpose: builds interoperability between the Indian Air Force and the French Air and Space Force, reinforcing the strategic partnership between the two countries.
• Frequency: biennial (held every two years).

Static linkage: India-France Relations; Defence Exercises; IAF Platforms

• National Makhana Board is distinct from the existing Makhana Research Station at Darbhanga, Bihar, which handles crop science.
• BRCP Phase-III (Rs 1,500 crore) builds on the earlier Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) framework.
• Vijay Diwas is observed on 16 December each year, marking the 1971 surrender of Pakistani forces in Dhaka.