Daily Current Affairs

In April 2025, the Geographical Indications (GI) Registry under DPIIT, Chennai, awarded GI tag status to Meghalaya’s traditional textile ‘Ryndia’ silk and Khasi handloom products, protecting the state’s indigenous weaving heritage.

• ‘Ryndia’ is the Khasi name for eri silk, derived from the ryndia (castor) plant that feeds eri silkworms; also called Peace Silk or Ahimsa Silk as the extraction process does not require killing the silkworm
• Initiative spearheaded by the Meghalaya Department of Textiles with support from NABARD and GI expert Dr. Rajnikanth
• Joint applications filed by the Textiles Department and the Meghalaya Ryndia Producers Association
• Meghalaya CM: Conrad Kongkal Sangma | Governor: Chandrashekhar H. Vijayashankar

The India Global Forum (IGF) hosted its flagship ‘NXT25 Summit 2025 — Leading the Leap’ on April 7–8, 2025 at the Jio World Convention Centre, Mumbai.

• Supported by the UK Government, Government of Maharashtra, and Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MoC&I)
• Key attendees: Union Minister Piyush Goyal (MoC&I) and Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis
• Maharashtra signed 5 MoUs worth ~USD 50 billion with domestic and global investors, focusing on infrastructure, economic growth, and innovation

The 8th Session of the India-Russia Working Group on Priority Investment Projects (IRWG-PIP) was held in New Delhi in April 2025, under the India-Russia Intergovernmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation.

• Co-chaired by Amardeep Singh Bhatia (Secretary, DPIIT, India) and Vladimir Ilichev (Deputy Minister, Ministry for Economic Development, Russia)
• India and Russia agreed on 6 new strategic projects to deepen bilateral investment; co-chairs signed a protocol formalising these priorities
• The 2nd India-Russia Investment Forum was held on the sidelines, organised by Invest India (New Delhi) and the Indian Chamber of Commerce (Kolkata), in collaboration with Russia’s Ministry of Economic Development
• Over 80 stakeholders participated, including business leaders, financial institutions, and logistics firms
• Russia President: Vladimir Putin | Capital: Moscow | Currency: Russian Ruble (RUB)

The Cotton Association of India (CAI), Mumbai, and the Australian Cotton Shippers Association (ACSA), Queensland, signed an MoU in Mumbai in April 2025, to strengthen cooperation in cotton trade, pricing, and market intelligence.

• MoU supports the Australia-India Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (AI-ECTA), operational since December 29, 2022
• Australia PM: Anthony Norman Albanese | Capital: Canberra | Currency: Australian Dollar (AUD)

Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare) led India’s delegation at the 3rd BIMSTEC Agriculture Ministerial Meeting (BAMM) held in Kathmandu, Nepal in April 2025.

• All 7 BIMSTEC member states attended: India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Myanmar, Thailand, and Sri Lanka
• India reaffirmed its ‘Neighbourhood First’ and ‘Act East’ foreign policy links to BIMSTEC agricultural cooperation
• India proposed establishing a BIMSTEC Centre of Excellence (CoE) for Agriculture Cooperation in India, focusing on precision farming, organic agriculture, climate risk mitigation, gender equality, and AI-driven agriculture
• Bilateral MoU signed on the sidelines between Minister Chouhan and Nepal’s Ramnath Adhikari (Minister for Agriculture and Livestock Development) to strengthen India-Nepal agricultural ties

On April 9, 2025, Singapore’s Changi Airport was crowned the World’s Best Airport at the Skytrax World Airport Awards 2025, held at the Passenger Terminal Expo in Madrid, Spain — its record 13th win.

• Skytrax HQ: London, UK | Established: 1989

The Reserve Bank of India’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) held its 54th meeting from April 7–9, 2025, chaired by Governor Sanjay Malhotra. The committee unanimously voted to cut the policy repo rate by 25 basis points.

• MPC members: Dr. Nagesh Kumar, Shri Saugata Bhattacharya, Prof. Ram Singh, Dr. Rajiv Ranjan, and Shri M. Rajeshwar Rao

In April 2025, SEBI constituted a 6-member High-Level Committee (HLC) under Pratyush Sinha (former Chief Vigilance Commissioner) to review conflict of interest regulations for SEBI board members and officials.

• HLC to submit recommendations within 3 months; SEBI’s board will then deliberate on proposals
• Mandate includes reviewing disclosure norms for property, investments, and liabilities of board members
• SEBI also doubled the FPI beneficial ownership (BO) disclosure threshold from Rs 25,000 crore to Rs 50,000 crore
• Mumbai-based hBits Investment Management received a SEBI licence to launch a Small & Medium REIT (SM-REIT) public issue, targeting up to Rs 500 crore via IPO by June 2025
• SEBI Chairperson: Tuhin Kanta Pandey | HQ: Mumbai | Founded: 1988

In April 2025, SEBI introduced a regulatory framework for Specialised Investment Funds (SIFs), effective April 1, 2025, clarifying that the Rs 10 lakh minimum investment applies at the PAN level, aggregated across all SIF strategies under a single AMC.

• SIFs positioned as a bridge between Mutual Funds and Portfolio Management Services (PMS), designed for High-Net-Worth Individuals (HNIs)
• Strategies include: long-short equity, sectoral rotation, and multi-asset diversification
• AMC eligibility: Minimum 3 years operational history; average AUM of Rs 10,000 crore or more over 3 years; each AMC may launch only one SIF strategy per category (equity, debt, or hybrid)
• Immediate redemption required if market fluctuations push an investor’s SIF holding below Rs 10 lakh

The National Bank for Financing Infrastructure and Development (NaBFID), Mumbai, signed an MoU with the New Development Bank (NDB), Shanghai, in April 2025, to cooperate on infrastructure financing.

• Focus: clean energy (renewables, sustainable water management), eco-friendly urban transportation, and joint capacity-building
• The NDB was established in 2015 by the BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) to mobilise resources for infrastructure and sustainable development in Emerging Markets and Developing Countries (EMDCs)

In April 2025, Bengaluru-based Razorpay partnered with NPCI BHIM Services Limited (NBSL) and Axis Bank to launch the ‘Razorpay Turbo UPI Plugin’ on the BHIM Vega platform — making Razorpay the first payment gateway to integrate an in-app UPI solution.

• BHIM Vega: next-generation UPI plugin developed by NBSL (a wholly owned NPCI subsidiary), built on the BHIM infrastructure
• Eliminates the need to switch to third-party apps during transactions; reduces payment drop-offs through smart multi-bank routing

In April 2025, Piramal Finance Limited (formerly Piramal Capital & Housing Finance) and ICICI Bank announced a co-lending partnership to improve credit access for middle and low-income borrowers in rural and semi-urban India.

• Focus: Home Loans and Loan Against Property in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities
• Piramal Finance operates across 510+ branches covering 13,000 pin codes in 26 states, serving ~4.5 million customers
• Service model: ‘High Tech + High Touch’

In April 2025, GAIL (India) Limited — a Maharatna PSU under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas — incorporated a wholly owned subsidiary named ‘GAIL Global IFSC Limited’ at GIFT City’s IFSC, Gujarat, on April 7, 2025.

• Authorised Share Capital: Rs 17 crore | Initial Paid-up Capital: Rs 8.5 crore | 100% owned by GAIL India
• Functions: global and regional corporate treasury operations and ship leasing activities
• Regulatory approvals from Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas and DIPAM (Ministry of Finance) received in March 2025

In April 2025, Mauritius became the first African nation — and the fourth country globally (after Bangladesh, Bhutan, and Cuba) — to sign a Country Partnership Framework (CPF) with the International Solar Alliance (ISA), co-founded by India and France in 2015.

• Signed during the Global SolarX Accelerator Programme hosted by ISA in Mauritius
• The CPF is a three-year renewable strategic framework; a Country Partnership Strategy (CPS) will be developed under it
• Key focus areas: floating solar, rooftop solar, solar-powered water pumping, agrivoltaics, and green hydrogen
• A Solar Technology Application Resource Centre (STAR-C) will be set up in Mauritius
• Prior achievement: ISA solarised the Jawaharlal Nehru Hospital, Mauritius in June 2024
• ISA DG: Ashish Khanna | HQ: Gurugram, Haryana | Founded: 2015 | Goal: mobilise USD 1 trillion in solar investments by 2030

In April 2025, Bangladesh became the 54th country to sign the Artemis Accords — NASA’s framework for peaceful, transparent, and cooperative civil space exploration, established in October 2020.

• Signed by Bangladesh’s Defence Secretary Md Ashraf Uddin in Dhaka
• The Accords are grounded in the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, the Registration Convention, and the Rescue and Return Agreement
• Benefits for Bangladesh: technology transfer from NASA, capacity-building for SPARRSO (Bangladesh Space Research and Remote Sensing Organisation, est. 1980), and access to NASA training programmes
• Bangladesh joins signatories including India, USA, Japan, and UAE

National Safe Motherhood Day (NSMD) is observed every year on April 11, coinciding with the birth anniversary of Kasturba Gandhi (born April 11, 1869). It underscores the importance of maternal healthcare and reducing maternal mortality rates.

• Initiated by White Ribbon Alliance India (WRA India); officially designated by the Government of India as NSMD in 2003
• India is the only country in the world with a nation-specific motherhood day
• India accounts for 15% of global maternal deaths — approximately 44,000 annual fatalities

World Parkinson’s Day (WPD) is observed globally on April 11, marking the birth anniversary of Dr. James Parkinson, the English surgeon who first described Parkinson’s Disease (PD) as ‘paralysis agitans’ in his 1817 work ‘An Essay on the Shaking Palsy’.

• Inaugural WPD was held in April 1997, co-founded by the European Parkinson’s Disease Association (EPDA) and co-sponsored by the WHO
• The red tulip with a white fringe became PD’s official symbol at the 9th WPD Conference in Luxembourg (2005); in 2022, ‘The Spark’ logo was introduced
• PD disrupts dopamine production in the brain, causing tremors, rigidity, and balance problems; treatments include levodopa, surgery, and lifestyle changes
• Over 10 million people globally live with PD; projected to double by 2050

In April 2025, General Khamtay Siphandone, former President and former General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party, passed away at the age of 102 in Vientiane, Lao PDR.

• Born: February 8, 1924, Siphandone province (now Champasack)
• Joined the Lao Issara movement in 1944; became a member of the Indochinese Communist Party (1954); rose to Commander-in-Chief of the Lao People’s Liberation Army
• Served as Prime Minister from August 15, 1991; elected President in 1998; retired from both roles in 2006
• Honours: Order of José Martí (Cuba) and Gold Star Order (Vietnam)
• Current Lao PDR President: Thongloun Sisoulith | PM: Sonexay Siphandone | Capital: Vientiane | Currency: Laotian Kip (LAK)

In April 2025, Marvin Levy, legendary American film publicist, passed away at the age of 96 in Los Angeles, USA.

• First and only publicist to receive an Honorary Academy Award, bestowed by AMPAS in 2018
• Worked at Columbia Pictures on landmark films including Lawrence of Arabia (1962) and Funny Girl (1968)
• Long-term collaborator of director Steven Spielberg — films include Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), Schindler’s List (1993), Saving Private Ryan (1998), and Lincoln (2012)
• Also received the Les Mason Award (1994) — the highest honour from the Publicists’ Guild