Daily Current Affairs – 28-06-2025
Tamil Nadu
RBI Revises
Economic Capital Framework (ECF) 2025
® The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has revised its Economic Capital Framework (ECF) and risk provisioning norms to enhance financial resilience. ® This update follows a five-year review, in line with recommendations of the Bimal Jalan Committee. ® The original ECF was adopted in August 2019, determining how much capital RBI must retain to cover financial risks and how much surplus it can transfer to the Government. ® The revised framework widens the Contingency Risk Buffer (CRB) range to 4.5%–7.5% (from the earlier 5.5%–6.5%). Historical CRB levels: ® FY19–FY22: 5.5% ® FY23: 6% ® FY24: 6.5% ® For FY 2024–25, RBI’s Central Board approved a record surplus transfer of ₹ 2.69 lakh crore to the Government of India.
NITI Aayog Releases
Report on Policy for Medium Enterprises
® NITI Aayog has released a report titled “Designing a Policy for Medium Enterprises”, outlining a roadmap to transform medium enterprises into key drivers of India’s economic growth. ® Although medium enterprises form only 0.3% of registered MSMEs, they contribute nearly 40% of MSME exports. ® The MSME sector as a whole contributes around 29% to India’s GDP, accounts for 40% of exports, and provides employment to over 60% of the workforce. The current MSME distribution: ® Micro enterprises – 97% ® Small enterprises – 2.7% ® Medium enterprises – 0.3% ® The report emphasizes targeted policy support for medium enterprises to harness their untapped potential and enhance India’s export and manufacturing capabilities.
Mission LiFE to be
Integrated into NAPCC
® The Government is planning to include Mission LiFE (Lifestyle for Environment) as a component of the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC). ® NAPCC currently includes eight missions targeting climate resilience across water, energy, and agriculture sectors. ® Mission LiFE, launched in October 2022, was introduced by the Prime Minister at COP26 of the UNFCCC. ® It aims to mobilize 1 billion people globally by 2028 to adopt sustainable lifestyles, emphasizing shifts in individual behavior, business practices, and public policy.
World Hunger Day
2025 – May 28
® Observed to highlight root causes of hunger and promote policies empowering vulnerable communities; initiated by the Hunger Project in 2011. ® Globally, 343 million people across 74 countries face acute food insecurity. ® Hunger and malnutrition, especially among children, have increased by 20% due to climate change. ® In the 2024 Global Hunger Index, India ranks 105th; neighboring countries Pakistan (109th), Bangladesh (84th), Nepal (68th), and Sri Lanka (56th). ® India’s child malnutrition rate stands at 18.7%, overall malnutrition at 13.7%, and under-five mortality rate at 2.9%.
MISCELLANEOUS NEWS
Justice M.M. Ismail Commission
This Commission had investigated allegations of harassment and beating of some Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA) detenus at the Madras Central Jail between February 1976 and February 1977. The Commission found the charges substantially correct and indicted certain jail officials. The Commission submitted its report to the first AIADMK government, headed by M.G. Ramachandran, on September 26, 1977.
PERSONALITIES, AWARDS, AND EVENTS
First Indian to Complete NASA’s Space Program
Jahnavi Dangeti from Andhra Pradesh is the first Indian to complete NASA’s International Air and Space Program. She will join the Titans Space mission in 2029 as India’s first astronaut on the mission. Jahnavi has been recognised with the People’s Choice Award at the NASA Space Apps Challenge and the ISRO World Space Week Young Achiever Award.
REPORTS AND INDICES
Global Tobacco Epidemic 2025 Report
This report was released by World Health Organization (WHO) at the World Conference on Tobacco Control in Dublin, Ireland. The report focuses on the six proven WHO MPOWER measures to reduce tobacco use. Tobacco causes over 7 million deaths yearly. WHO launched the MPOWER strategy in 2008. Since 2007, 155 countries have adopted at least one MPOWER measure at the best-practice level. India has fully implemented two measures: offering help to quit and warning about tobacco dangers. India has moderate progress in the other four MPOWER areas.
FATF Report on Financing and Evasion
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has released a report on the Proliferation Financing (PF) and sanctions evasion. The PF means raising or moving money to support Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD), threatening global security. Major threats come from countries like North Korea, Iran, Russia, and non-state terror and criminal groups. The report highlights the weaknesses in national systems, both in structure and specific sectors. It analysed 38 cases from 19 countries and identified 4 common PF and sanctions evasion methods. FATF makes 4 key recommendations for countries to improve their efforts. Only 16% of countries fully enforce the UN sanctions aimed at stopping the WMD proliferation.
India - Top 100 in SDG Index
The latest Sustainable Development Report (SDR) released by the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network. India ranks 99th out of 167 countries on the 2025 SDG Index with a score of 67 from 109th rank in 2024. This is the first time, India secured a position among the top 100 countries. China ranks 49th with a score of 74.4, while the US is 44th with 75.2 points. Among India’s neighbours, Bhutan ranks 74th with 70.5, Nepal 85th with 68.6, Bangladesh 114th with 63.9, and Pakistan 140th with 57. India’s maritime neighbours Maldives and Sri Lanka are placed 53rd and 93rd respectively. The SDGs were adopted in 2015 to ensure no one is left behind in the global development by 2030. Countries are scored from 0 to 100, where 100 means all 17 goals have been fully achieved.
2025 Global Peace Index
The Global Peace Index (GPI) is produced by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP). The GPI covers 99.7% of the world’s population and uses 23 qualitative and quantitative indicators from trusted sources. It measures peace across three domains as societal safety and security, ongoing domestic and international conflict, and militarisation. The average level of global peacefulness declined by 0.36% in 2025, marking the sixth consecutive year of deterioration. India ranks 115th out of 163 nations with a GPI score of 2.229. It was showing a 0.58% improvement from 2024 (116th rank). Iceland is the safest country globally, ranked highest across all domains. Russia is the least peaceful country in the world. Bangladesh ranks 123rd, Pakistan 144th, and Afghanistan 158th in the index.
ENVIRONMENT NEWS
NDC Cooling Guidelines
The Guidelines were developed by the UNEP Cool Coalition NDC Working Group with support from global climate and energy organizations. It provides a six-stage, step-by-step framework supported by the country case studies. They guide policymakers to assess emissions, set sector-specific targets, and create National Cooling Action Plans (NCAPs). It emphasizes the energy efficiency standards, Kigali-compliant refrigerant phase-down, passive cooling, and climate-responsive urban planning. The cooling sector currently contributes 7% of global greenhouse gas emissions and could double its share by 2050. These measures support both climate adaptation and mitigation goals.
Thirstwave - New Terminology
Meetpal Kukal and Mike Hobbins and the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration coined the term ‘Thirstwave’. This term denotes three or more contiguous days of intense evaporative demand. Thirstwave occurs when the daily evaporative demand stays above the historical 90th percentile for at least three consecutive days. Evaporative demand means how thirsty the atmosphere is or how much water it wants to absorb from the ground or plants. It is influenced by temperature, wind speed, humidity, and sunshine.
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY NEWS
Axiom-4 Space Mission
The Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla becomes the second Indian to travel to space. The first Indian in space was Rakesh Sharma, who flew aboard a Soviet Soyuz spacecraft in 1984. Shukla is part of Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4) to the International Space Station (ISS). The mission launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Centre in Florida on a Falcon 9 rocket. The Axiom 4 mission involves Axiom Space, NASA, and SpaceX. India, Poland, and Hungary are each sending an astronaut. The crew will spend up to 14 days in space, conducting scientific research and activities. Axiom Mission 4 is the fourth private astronaut mission to the ISS.
ECONOMY NEWS
Different Base Years for GDP and CPI Calculations
The government is likely to adopt the different base years for calculating Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and retail inflation (measured by the Consumer Price Index or CPI). The proposed base year for GDP is 2022 – 23, while for CPI it is 2023–24. Currently, both GDP and CPI use the 2011–12 base year. The choice of 2022–23 for GDP is due to key data sources like the Annual Survey of Industries (ASI), Annual Survey of Unincorporated Sector Enterprises (ASUSE), and the Household Consumption Survey being conducted during that year. CPI will use 2023–24 as its base year because the price collection survey began in January 2024. The new base years for GDP and CPI are expected to be implemented from the financial year 2026–27.
NATIONAL NEWS
India’s Oil Import - June 2025
India has ramped up purchases of Russian oil in June. It is importing more than the combined volumes from Middle Eastern suppliers such as Saudi Arabia and Iraq. Indian refiners are likely to import 2-2.2 million barrels per day of Russian crude oil in June. It was the highest in the last two years and more than the total volumes bought from Iraq, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Kuwait. India’s oil imports from Russia were 1.96 million barrels per day (bpd) in May 2025. Imports from Africa also rose to 439,000 bpd in June, a big jump from 280,000 bpd purchased in the previous month. The full-month projections for imports from the Middle East stand at around 2 million bpd, lower than the previous month’s buying. India is the world’s third-largest oil-importing and consuming nation. It bought from abroad around 5.1 million barrels of crude oil. India has traditionally sourced its oil from the Middle East. It began importing a large volume of oil from Russia soon after the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Russian oil (Urals, ESPO, Sokol) is logistically detached from Hormuz, flowing via the Suez Canal, Cape of Good Hope, or Pacific Ocean. This was primarily because Russian oil was available at a significant discount to other international benchmarks due to Western sanctions and some European countries shunning purchases. This led to India’s imports of Russian oil seeing a dramatic rise, growing from less than 1 per cent of its total crude oil imports to a staggering 40-44 per cent in a short period. The Strait of Hormuz lies between Iran to the north and Oman and the United Arab Emirates to the south. It serves as the main route for oil exports from Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, and the UAE. Many liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipments, especially from Qatar, also pass through the strait. The Strait of Hormuz is a route for a fifth of the world’s oil and a major LNG export transit. India imports about 40% of all its oil and about half of its gas through the narrow Strait. China, Iran’s largest oil customer (which imports 47 per cent of its seaborne crude from the Middle East Gulf), would be directly impacted by the blockade of Hormuz. Also, Iran’s reliance on Hormuz for oil exports via Kharg Island (handles 96 per cent of its exports) makes self-blockade counterproductive. Saudi Arabia and the UAE, also rely heavily on the Strait for exports. At the end, India may also pivot harder toward Africa, Nigeria, Angola, and Brazil, albeit at higher freight costs.
Comprehensive Household Income Survey 2026
India is set to conduct its first-ever comprehensive Household Income Survey in 2026. The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation has announced the initiative. The survey aims to offer a reliable and detailed view of income distribution across Indian households, addressing gaps in official statistics. It will also examine how technology adoption is affecting wage levels amid India’s rapid digital transformation.
TAMIL NADU NEWS
4 Percent Reservation in Promotion for Disabled Employees
The Tamil Nadu government will provide 4% reservation in promotion to its employees with benchmark disabilities. The reservation is applicable only to the identified posts notified by the government where the cadre strength of a post is more than five. Such identification shall be made only for posts carrying a pay level up to pay level 25 in each government establishment. The reservation is applicable in promotion as well as in recruitment by transfer (lower pay scale to higher pay scale). While 1% is reserved for blindness and low vision, 1% is reserved for deaf and hard of hearing. 1% is reserved for locomotor disability, including cerebral palsy, leprosy cured, dwarfism, acid attack victims, and muscular dystrophy. One of the instructions allows the government to exempt any of its establishments from the provisions of Section 34 of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016.