October 2025 Current Affairs Notes– UPSC, SSC, RRB & Other competitive exams

Stay updated with the most important October 2025 Current Affairs — covering national, international, economic, science, and sports developments. These concise points are ideal for UPSC, SSC, Banking Exams, Defence, and general awareness preparation. Each fact is thoroughly verified and structured in a crisp, easy-to-retain format to support your rapid revision.

1. Prison Statistics, India (Prison Statistics India — PSI 2023) — Report released by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).

2. Need for prison reforms (PSI 2023):

   • Very high proportion of undertrials: 77.5% of jail inmates are undertrials.

   • Overcrowding: national occupancy 120.8%; Delhi 280%.

   • Staff vacancies: 22.78% of prison staff posts are vacant.

   • Poor staff training: only 20.6% of jail staff received refresher / specialized orientation training (data referenced from 2017).

   • Inadequate women’s facilities: only 35 women’s jails for 21,500+ female inmates; 20 states/UTs do not have separate facilities for women.

   • Weak rehabilitation systems: only 2,245 convicted inmates were reported to be in rehabilitation programmes.

3. About NCRB

   • Origin: established 1986, based on recommendations of the Tandon Committee, the National Police Commission (1977–1981) and the MHA Task Force (1985).

   • Administrative control: Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).

   • Key functions: data repository; national crime database/warehouse; coordination (nodal agency for crime & criminal tracking); publishes national crime statistics including Crime in India, Accidental Deaths & Suicides in India, and Prison Statistics.

4. NCRB reports released — NCRB released Crime in India 2023 and Accidental Deaths & Suicides in India 2023.

5. MeitY: Amendments to IT Rules (2021) — Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY) proposed amendments to the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 to check misuse of synthetically generated information, including deepfakes.

6. WHO concern: contaminated cough syrups — WHO raised serious concerns after the deaths of at least 20 children from contaminated cough syrups. India’s drug regulator identified contaminated products including Colchiff (Coresan Pharmaceuticals), Respifresh (Rednex Pharmaceuticals) and RelMe (Shape Pharma) in the investigations noted.

7. About India’s pharmaceutical sector

   • India is the 3rd largest producer globally by volume and 14th by value.

   • Market value (2023–24): approx. $50 billion (as per the note).

   • Global generics supply: India supplies around 20% of the world’s generic medicines.

8. Tribal Village Vision 2030 — Special Gram Sabhas

   • Special Gram Sabhas were held across ~1 lakh tribal-dominated villages/tolas. Villages adopted the Tribal Village Vision 2030 declaration (also called Adi Karmayogi Abhiyan in the note).

   • Key features: village-level priorities (education, health, livelihood, social & financial inclusion, infrastructure); institutional mechanism to set up Adi Sewa Kendras as single-window citizen service centres; villagers contributing voluntary service hours (Adi Sewa Samay).

9. Online Gaming Act / MeitY rules (2025) — Rules notified by MeitY to operationalise the regulation of online gaming (Gaming Act 2025): games are categorised into esports, social games, and online-money games. The rules prohibit online-money gaming (e.g., poker, fantasy sports) while allowing social games and esports.

10. ECI: Counting order — postal ballots & EVMs

    • Election Commission of India (ECI) notification: certain rounds of EVM counting (penultimate round referenced) are to be taken up only after complete counting of postal ballots.

    • About postal ballots: they allow eligible voters (service voters — armed forces, central paramilitaries, government employees posted abroad/elsewhere; and special voters such as President, Vice-President, Governors, certain officials on election duty) to cast votes electronically/physically by post as per Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961 and Representation of the People Act, 1951.

11. Afghanistan: Foreign Minister’s visit to New Delhi

    • Afghanistan’s Foreign Minister visited New Delhi for bilateral talks with India’s External Affairs Minister.

    • This visit followed a special travel exemption granted by the UN Security Council and is the first ministerial-level visit since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in August 2021.

12. 25th anniversary — India–Russia Strategic Partnership

    • The Declaration of Strategic Partnership was signed in 2000. The 25th anniversary was recently celebrated.

    • Since then there have been leader-level meetings, annual summits, ministerial dialogues and sectoral working groups, deepening cooperation across political, security, economic, defence and cultural spheres.

13. Gaza — Sharm el-Sheikh Summit

    • The USA and Egypt hosted a Gaza peace/reconstruction summit in Sharm el-Sheikh to advance stability and reconstruction in Gaza. A multi-point plan covered ceasefire steps, humanitarian access, reconstruction and future dispute-resolution via diplomacy. India’s Minister of State for External Affairs attended and welcomed the peace efforts.

14. India–EFTA Trade & Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA)

    • The India–EFTA EPA was signed on 10 March 2009 and (as noted) came into effect from October 2025.

15. 47th ASEAN Summit — Recently held in Kuala Lumpur.

16. Russia — withdrawal from PMDA

    • Russia’s lower house approved withdrawal from the Plutonium Management and Disposition Agreement (PMDA) with the U.S. (PMDA was signed in 2000).

    • About PMDA: it committed the U.S. and Russia to irreversibly dispose of at least 34 metric tons of weapons-grade plutonium by converting it to safer forms (MOX fuel, reactor irradiation) and through irreversible disposition.

17. WTO Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies — The WTO agreement on fisheries subsidies has officially entered into force after the required threshold (two-thirds of members) submitted instruments of acceptance.

18. NITI Aayog reports on AI & employment — Two reports were released:

    • Roadmap for job creation in the AI economy — outlines India’s strategy to navigate AI disruption and position the workforce globally; introduces a 3-W framework (work change, worker change, workforce change).

    • Roadmap on AI for inclusive societal development — focuses on leveraging frontier technologies to formalise informal workers and make the workforce future-ready and inclusive.

19. Ministry of Mines — Guidelines for Mineral Recycling Incentive Scheme — Detailed guidelines released for an incentive scheme to promote critical mineral recycling.

20. MOSPI: Annual Survey of Industries (ASI) — FY 2023–24 — Key findings :

    • Gross Value Added (GVA) growth: +1.89% year-on-year.

    • Top industries: basic metals, motor vehicles, chemicals & chemical products, food products, pharmaceuticals.

    • Top states by industrial output: Maharashtra, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh.

    • Industrial output increased by 5.8% year-on-year.

    • Employment: 6.7 million jobs added over the last decade; employment growth ~5.92% in 2023–24.

21. RBI measures to promote international use of the Indian Rupee (INR) — Key measures announced: permitting loans in INR to non-residents; establishing transparent reference rates; widening the use of special Rupee Vostro Accounts to expand trade and investment in INR.

22. RBI exemption for SWAMIH Fund — RBI exempted the SWAMIH Special Situation Fund (a government-backed AIF for affordable and mid-income housing) from certain tightened AIF regulations to enable funding and completion of eligible housing projects.

23. IMF projections for India & global growth — IMF projected India’s GDP growth for 2025–26 at 6.6% (revised up from 6.0%) and 6.2% for 2026–27. Global growth projections were noted as moderating.

24. Natural gas discovery — Vijaypuram well (Andaman region)

    • Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas informed about the occurrence of natural gas in a well at Vijaypuram, about 17 km from the east coast (Andaman region).

    • Total estimated reserves: 1,094.19 (unit not specified in the handwritten notes).

25. Reduction in LWE-affected areas

    • Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) informed that the number of most-affected Left-Wing Extremism (LWE) districts has reduced (examples: Bijapur, Sukma, Narayanpur in Chhattisgarh were previously among the most affected).

    • Andhra Pradesh and Telangana have been delisted from the list of LWE-affected states.

    • The government target: complete elimination of Naxalism by 31 March 2026.

26. AFSPA (Armed Forces [Special Powers] Act), 1958

    • MHA extended AFSPA in parts of Manipur, Assam, and Nagaland for another six months (as per the notes).

    • About AFSPA: a special law granting extra powers to the armed forces to operate in disturbed areas where public order is seriously threatened.

27. UN Convention against Cybercrime — signatures

    • According to the notes, 72 of the 193 UN member states have signed/ratified the UN convention against cybercrime .

28. ‘Anant Shastra’ air-defence system

    • Indigenous quick-reaction surface-to-air missile (SAM) system developed by DRDO in collaboration with PSUs (e.g., BEL, BDL).

    • Capabilities: mobile, agile, and integrates with other systems (MR-SAM, Akash, S-400). Deployment approvals noted for western/northern border sectors.

29. SAKSHAM — real-time counter-drone defence

    • Indian Army initiated procurement of SAKSHAM (Situational Awareness for Kinetic, Soft & Hard-kill Assets Management) — an indigenously developed counter-UAS (CUAS) grid system for real-time detection and response to drones.

30. ‘Drone Wall’ / EU anti-drone initiative

    • After a suspected Russian drone incident near Denmark, the EU started efforts to build a layered anti-drone defence wall.

    • Example system referenced: Emsheild — an AI-based, multilayered anti-drone platform offering early warning, real-time detection, GPS jamming and neutralisation options.

31. SITAA — UIDAI initiative

    • Scheme for Innovation & Technology Associated with Aadhaar (SITAA) launched by UIDAI: aims to strengthen India’s digital identity ecosystem and combat emerging security threats such as deepfakes, spoofing and presentation attacks.

32. INS Androth commissioned

    • Indian Navy commissioned INS Androth at Naval Dockyard, Visakhapatnam.

    • Vessel type: Anti-Submarine Warfare shallow-water craft (ASW-SWC), built by Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (GRSE), Kolkata.

    • Named after Androth, the northernmost island of Lakshadweep.

33. Military & maritime exercises (highlights)

    • Pacific Reach — biennial multinational submarine rescue exercise (host: Singapore).

    • KONKAN-25 — bilateral naval exercise between Indian Navy and the UK’s Royal Navy.

    • Indo-Australian naval exercises (annual).

    • Samudra Shakti — India–Indonesia maritime exercise.

    • Malabar / Japan-India exercises — e.g., Japan-India bilateral / multilateral naval engagements.

    • Exercise Ocean Sky — multinational air exercise hosted by Spain (India participated as a non-NATO participant).

34. UN SDGs — 10 years since adoption

    • The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), adopted in September 2015, completed 10 years since adoption. The SDGs remain a global call to end poverty & inequality, protect the planet, and ensure well-being for all.

35. UNESCO — Cold Desert Biosphere Reserve

    • UNESCO designated a Cold Desert Biosphere Reserve in India as part of 26 new sites added to UNESCO’s World Network of Biosphere Reserves (WNBR). This brings India’s total of UNESCO biosphere sites higher in the global network 

36. MOSPI — Forest Accounting (environment accounts)

    • MOSPI released the 8th consecutive issue related to environment accounts; the publication is the first dedicated to forest accounting, based on the UN System of Environmental-Economic Accounting (SEEA).

    • Key findings from the notes: net increase in recorded forest area and forest cover (2010–11 to 2021–23), gains in Kerala/Tamil Nadu/Karnataka; increases in growing stock (volume of usable wood); ecosystem services (provisioning/regulating) showed higher value contributions.

37. Legally binding GHG emission-intensity rules

    • First legally binding rules on GHG emission intensity for high-emission sectors were notified. Facilities in sectors such as steel, aluminium, cement, pulp & paper, and chlor-alkali must reduce greenhouse gas emissions per unit of output compared to a 2023–24 baseline.

38. CPCB: High ozone in NCR

    • Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) found high ozone levels affecting the National Capital Region (NCR), impacting air quality (noted impacts on metropolitan regions in the notes).

39. Indian Coast Guard — NATPOLREX-X

    • The Indian Coast Guard conducted the 10th National Level Pollution Response Exercise (NATPOLREX-X) to strengthen pollution response preparedness.

40. New Ramsar sites: Gokul Reservoir & Udalpur Lake (Bihar)

    • Gokul Reservoir and Udalpur Lake (Bihar) were designated as new Ramsar wetlands. With these additions, India now has 93 Ramsar sites covering 1,360,719 hectares (as per the notes).

41. ILO — ‘The State of Social Justice’ report

    • ILO report highlights: global decline in extreme poverty (noted drop from earlier decades), expanded social protection coverage (over half the world’s population now covered by at least one social protection scheme for the first time), improvements in gender gaps in labour force participation and reductions in child labour (from ~20.6% in 1995 to ~7.8% in 2020, per the note).

42. Global Hunger Index (GHI) 2025 — India

    • According to the note, India slipped 10 places and, of 123 countries assessed, had a GHI score 35.8, classified as "serious". The note also mentions high levels of child stunting and undernourishment (about 172 million people affected; an increase of 12.3 million compared to a prior estimate).

43. MOSPI — Children in India 2025 report

    • MOSPI released the latest Children in India (2025) report covering education, health, nutrition and protection. 

    • Key highlights: 

    1. decline in infant mortality rate (IMR) and under-five mortality; 

    2. improvements in several child welfare indicators; 

    3. reduction in child marriage (women aged 20–24 married before 18 decreased from 20.8% in 2015–16 to 23.30% in 2019–21.

44. Nobel Prizes (life sciences, chemistry, physics, peace)

    • Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2025: Mary E. Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell and Shimon Sakaguchi — for discoveries concerning peripheral immune tolerance.

    • Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2025: Susumu Kitagawa, Richard Robson and Omar M. Yaghi — for development of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs).

    • Nobel Prize in Physics 2025: John Clarke, Michel M. Devoret and John M. Martinis — for discoveries related to macroscopic quantum tunnelling and energy quantisation in superconducting circuits 

    • Nobel Peace Prize 2025: Awarded to María Corina Machado for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy in Venezuela.

45. India at the World Para-Athletics Championships 2025

    • India won 22 medals, including gold(s) — recorded as the country’s best ever performance at the World Para-Athletics Championships 2025.

46. Miscellaneous environment & water updates

• Several environmental accounting and forest/ ecosystem service updates from MOSPI and other agencies were released (summarised in points above). The notes referenced improvements in forest cover, growing stock and increased valuation of provisioning/regulating ecosystem services.

That’s all for the October 2025 Current Affairs Notes — a complete, trusted, and exam-focused monthly summary to boost your preparation.

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