Daily Current Affairs – 01-07-2025
Miscellaneous News
Kailash Mansarovar Yatra 2025
The Kailash Mansarovar Yatra will resume in June 2025 after a six-year gap due to the COVID-19 pandemic and border tensions. It marks the first India-China people-to-people exchange since the stand-off at the Line of Actual Control (LAC). The yatra is organized by the Ministry of External Affairs from June to August. The two official routes for the yatra are Lipulekh Pass in Uttarakhand (since 1981) and Nathu La Pass in Sikkim (since 2015). Mount Kailash and Lake Manasarovar are located in Tibet, near the southern foot of Mount Kailash. Lake Manasarovar is the world’s highest freshwater lake. The yatra is known for its religious and spiritual importance to the Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, and Bon followers.
States’ News
Kerala Tops National Protected Areas
Kerala and Chandigarh both scored ‘very good’ in the Management Effectiveness Evaluation (MEE) of national parks and wildlife sanctuaries for 2020-25. Chandigarh achieved a mean MEE score of 85.16%, while Kerala scored 76.22%. Among the protected areas, the Eravikulam National Park (Kerala) and Dachigam National Park (Jammu & Kashmir) topped with 92.97% MEE scores. Mathikettan Shola National Park and Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary from Kerala ranked fifth and sixth among the top 10 protected areas.
Reports and Indices
74th Statistical Review of World Energy
It was released by The Energy Institute (EI) in partnership with Kearney and KPMG. India’s coal consumption surged 4% in 2024. It equals to the combined coal use of Europe, North America, Central and South America, and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). Clean energy sources like wind and solar are growing by 16%. But the fossil fuel consumption still rose by just over 1%. This led to a 1% increase in global carbon dioxide (CO2)-equivalent emissions from energy. This was marking the fourth consecutive record high at 39.3 billion tonnes. Global natural gas demand rebounded by 2.5% in 2024. The Oil demand remained flat in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries but rose 1% in non-OECD regions. India’s energy consumption rose 5.8%, with coal making up 57% and oil 29% of primary energy use. China and India together accounted for 80% of the global growth in energy demand in 2024.
Environment News
Project Elephant Update
The 21st Steering Committee Meeting of Project Elephant was held at the Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy (IGNFA), Dehradun, Uttarakhand. The meeting reviewed the progress of elephant conservation efforts in India and discussed future strategies. Project Elephant is a conservation initiative launched in 1992. The Human-elephant conflict remains a serious threat to both human lives and elephant conservation. Regional Action Plans are being developed to manage conflicts in Southern and North-Eastern India. Surveys covering 3,452.4 km of railway tracks have been completed, identifying 77 high-risk stretches for mitigation. The DNA profiling of captive elephants is ongoing, with 1,911 genetic profiles are completed across 22 states. The Phase-I of the synchronized elephant population census in the North-Eastern States has been completed, with over 16,500 dung samples collected. Progress is being made on the Model Elephant Conservation Plan (ECP) for the Nilgiri Elephant Reserve, expected to be finalized by December 2025.
Economy News
Annual Report on Agriculture Output
The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) has released the “Statistical Report on Value of Output from Agriculture and Allied Sectors (2011-12 to 2023-24)”. Gross Value Added (GVA) of agriculture and allied sectors at current prices grew about 225%, to ₹4,878 thousand crore in 2023-24. It was ₹1,502 thousand crore in 2011-12. Gross Value of Output (GVO) at constant prices increased by 54.6%, from ₹1,908 thousand crore in 2011-12 to ₹2,949 thousand crore in 2023-24. The Crop sector’s GVO stood at ₹1,595 thousand crore in 2023-24, contributing 54.1% to total agriculture and allied sectors’ GVO. The Cereals and fruits & vegetables together accounted for 52.5% of crop GVO in 2023-24. Paddy and wheat made up about 85% of all cereals’ GVO in 2023-24. Banana’s GVO (₹47.0 thousand crore) surpassed mango’s (₹46.1 thousand crore) in 2023-24. Potato remained top vegetable contributor, increasing from ₹21.3 thousand crore in 2011-12 to ₹37.2 thousand crore in 2023-24. Floriculture nearly doubled from ₹17.4 thousand crore in 2011-12 to ₹28.1 thousand crore in 2023-24. Livestock products’ GVO grew from ₹488 thousand crore in 2011-12 to ₹919 thousand crore in 2023-24. Milk’s share in livestock GVO fell slightly from 67.2% in 2011-12 to 65.9% in 2023-24. Meat’s share in livestock GVO rose from 19.7% in 2011-12 to 24.1% in 2023-24. Forestry and logging GVO increased from ₹149 thousand crore in 2011-12 to ₹227 thousand crore in 2023-24. Industrial wood’s share in forestry output rose from 49.9% in 2011-12 to 70.2% in 2023-24. The Fishing and aquaculture contribution rose from 4.2% in 2011-12 to 7.0% in 2023-24. Inland fish share declined from 57.7% in 2011-12 to 50.2% in 2023-24, while marine fish rose from 42.3% to 49.8%. State-wise shares in fruits, vegetables, and floriculture shifted notably between 2011-12 and 2023-24. Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Telangana, and Haryana contributed nearly 53% of cereal GVO in 2023-24. Uttar Pradesh was maintaining the top spot. Madhya Pradesh led condiments & spices GVO with 19.2% share in 2023-24, followed by Karnataka (16.6%) and Gujarat (15.5%). West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh showed significant shifts in fisheries GVO from 2011-12 to 2023-24.
International News
NATO Summit 2025
The NATO Summit 2025 was held in the Hague, Netherlands. NATO members agreed to increase the defence spending to 5% of GDP as 3.5% for core defence and 1.5% for related expenses like infrastructure and innovation. Countries must submit annual plans to meet this target, with progress reviewed after the 2029 US presidential election. In 2024, only Poland, Estonia, and Latvia spent over 3%. Spain, spending just 1.24% of GDP on defence, faced possible US trade sanctions for non-compliance. At present, NATO has 32 member countries and India is not a member of NATO.
SCO Defence Ministers’ Joint Statement
India refused to sign the joint statement at the SCO Defence Ministers’ Meeting 2025 held in Qingdao, China. The decision was due to India’s dissatisfaction over the absence of any reference to cross-border terrorism. As per the SCO Charter, decisions are made by consensus, and a statement is adopted only if no member raises objections. The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) is an intergovernmental group formed in 2001. India became a full member in 2017. Current members include Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Iran, Belarus, and India.
Universal Birth and Death Registration by 2030
Governments across Asia-Pacific, including India, adopted a landmark resolution in Bangkok. The goal is to ensure all births are registered and all deaths recorded by 2030. The decision was made at the Third Ministerial Conference on Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS) in Bangkok, Thailand. CRVS refers to the official recording of life events like births, deaths, marriages, and divorces, under a legal system. The lead organisation behind CRVS is UN ESCAP (United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific). The resolution supports SDG Target 16.9 that is Legal identity for all, including birth registration. Since 2012, the number of unregistered children under five has dropped from 135 million to 51 million. 29 countries now register over 90% of births and 30 countries do the same for deaths. Despite this progress, 14 million children still don’t have their births registered by age one. Around 6.9 million deaths go unrecorded each year, mostly outside hospitals or in remote areas.