2 Minute Series_11th OCTOBER 2025

11^th October 2025

1. United Nations Troop Contributing Countries (UNTCC) Chiefs Conclave: Recently, India announced it will host the United Nations Troop Contributing Countries (UNTCC) Chiefs Conclave in New Delhi.

• Key Highlights: Participation: Army Chiefs from 33 nations confirmed participation.

• Delegates mainly from the Global South and Europe, including Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Bhutan.
• China and Pakistan were not invited to the conclave.
• Purpose: To enhance collective approaches to global peace operations and strengthen cooperation among UN troop-contributing nations.
  - To serve as a high-level platform for dialogue, knowledge exchange, and sharing of best practices in peacekeeping.
• India’s Role in UN Peacekeeping: 5,500 Indian men and women currently deployed across nine countries in UN missions.
  - India has made the highest sacrifice among peacekeeping nations, with 179 personnel having lost their lives in UN service.
  - India’s participation dates back to 1948, when it sent medical units to the Korean War, marking 75 years of contribution in 2025.

2. Greenhouse Gas Emission Intensity (GEI) Target Rules: Recently, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) announced the Greenhouse Gas Emission Intensity (GEI) Target Rules, 2025.

• Key Highlights: These are India’s first legally binding emission intensity targets for industrial sectors.

• Sectors Covered: Four high-emission sectors: Cement, Aluminium, Chlor-alkali, Pulp and Paper
• Scope of Implementation: A total of 282 industrial units must comply with the GEI targets for 2025–26 and 2026–27.
• Objective: To reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions per unit of product output, aligning with India’s Paris Agreement
  - To operationalise India’s domestic carbon market under the Carbon Credit Trading Scheme (CCTS), 2023.
• How It Works: Emission intensity (GEI) is defined as the amount of GHGs emitted per unit of output, measured in tCO₂e (tonnes of CO₂ equivalent).
  - Industries meeting their emission reduction targets will earn carbon credits issued by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE).
  - Those failing to meet targets must buy credits from the domestic carbon market or pay environmental compensation imposed by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).

3. AgriEnIcs Programme: Recently, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) announced the transfer of technology developed under the AgriEnIcs Programme.

• About the AgriEnIcs Programme: It focuses on research, development, deployment, demonstration, and commercialization of technologies in the agriculture and environment sectors.

• The programme acts as a national platform for R&D and technology translation in agriculture and environmental management.
• It integrates advanced digital tools such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), machine vision, and sensor networks to deliver precision and efficiency in sectors directly affecting farmers and communities.
• The programme follows a collaborative framework, bringing together research institutions, industry partners, and government agencies to drive innovation and sustainability.
• Nodal Agency: The initiative is being implemented by the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), Kolkata, with active participation from academic institutions, R&D labs, and industries.

4. Sawalkote Hydroelectric Project: Recently, India’s hydropower goals in Jammu and Kashmir received a major boost as the Environment Ministry’s apex committee granted a new environmental clearance for the Sawalkote Hydroelectric Project on the Chenab River in Ramban district.

• About Sawalkote Hydroelectric Project: It is a run-of-the-river hydroelectric project, utilizing the natural flow of the Chenab to generate electricity without a major storage dam.

• Significance: This is the first major hydropower project on the Indus river system to be cleared after India suspended the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) with Pakistan on April 23, 2025, following the Pahalgam terror attack.
  - The project holds strategic importance as part of India’s plan to maximize use of eastern Indus Rivers.
• Project Capacity & Specifications: Total installed capacity: 1,856 MW-
  - Electricity generation: ~8,000 million units annually
  - Dam type:5-metre high Roller Compacted Concrete (RCC) gravity dam.

5. Right to Information (RTI): Recently, as India nears the 20th anniversary of the Right to Information (RTI) Act, a new report has exposed a worrying state of the country’s transparency systems.

• Key Highlights: Report Released By: Satark Nagrik Sangathan (SNS) — a citizens’ group promoting transparency in governance, released its annual assessment report on the state of Information Commissions in India.

• Finding: Several State Information Commissions (SICs) and the Central Information Commission (CIC) are paralysed or severely understaffed, causing appeals and complaints to remain pending for years.
  - Over 2.4 lakh appeals were pending in 2024, with many likely to take several years to be heard.
  - Six SICs: Jharkhand, Himachal Pradesh, Telangana, Goa, Tripura, and Madhya Pradesh — were non-functional at various times between July 2024 and October 2025, due to no new commissioners being appointed after incumbents retired.
  - Karnataka, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Bihar are operating without full strength of commissioners.
  - Across India, more than 4 lakh appeals and complaints are pending.
  - Maharashtra (95,340), Karnataka (47,825), and Tamil Nadu (41,059) have the largest backlogs.

6. Nobel Prize: Recently, the Nobel Prize in Literature and the Nobel Peace Prize were announced, honoring outstanding contributions in writing and global peace efforts.

• Key Highlights:

• Nobel Prize in Literature 2025 : László Krasznahorkai (Hungary)
  - Awarded by: The Swedish Academy
  - Citation: He was honoured for his visionary and powerful body of work that, even amidst apocalyptic despair, celebrates the enduring strength of art (Famous Work: Satantango).
• Nobel Peace Prize 2025 : Maria Corina Machado (Venezuela)
  - Awarded by: The Norwegian Nobel Committee
  - Citation: For her “unwavering commitment to peaceful political reform” and promotion of democracy and human rights in Venezuela.

7. Artificial Light: Recently, a study by researchers at Delhi University (DU) found that long-term exposure to artificial light, from city skylines, screens, or night shifts—can greatly speed up the development of neurodegenerative diseases.

• Key Highlights: Published In: International neuroscience journal Neurochemistry International.

• Finding: Continuous exposure to artificial light (“light pollution”) disrupts sleep patterns and accelerates neurodegeneration, worsening symptoms of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.
• Significance: This is the first study to show that sleep deprivation caused by light pollution or erratic lifestyles can lead to earlier and more severe onset of age-related brain diseases.
  - Suggests that managing sleep and circadian rhythms could significantly delay or reduce the impact of neurodegenerative conditions.
• Symptoms of Neurodegenerative Diseases: Memory loss, confusion, social withdrawal, and difficulty performing daily tasks due to irreversible loss of brain neurons.
• Research Model Used: Scientists used genetically engineered fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster) carrying the human tau protein, a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease.
• Artificial light acted like an accelerator for disease progression by: Increasing tau protein stickiness and promoting toxic clump formation, which kills neurons more rapidly.

8. Insecure Direct Object Reference (IDOR): Recently, the Indian government quickly fixed a serious security issue called an Insecure Direct Object Reference (IDOR), in its income tax e-filing portal, preventing a major data breach.

• About IDOR: A web security vulnerability that exposes internal object identifiers such as database keys, file paths, or record IDs.

• It occurs when an application fails to enforce proper access control over these identifiers.
• Attackers can manipulate identifiers to access or modify data they are not authorized to see.
• The flaw arises due to insufficient validation and authorization checks on user-supplied input.
• How IDOR Happens: Websites often show personalized data to users, like order history or tax details.
  - Once a user is authenticated (via password or passkey), a session cookie is created to identify them.
  - However, authentication alone is not enough — the system must also verify authorization for each requested resource.
  - If access control is missing, an attacker who is logged in could alter the object identifier (like a user ID) in a request to view another person’s data.
  - This misuse of exposed identifiers is called an IDOR attack.

9. Foreign Currency Settlement System (FCSS): Recently, the Foreign Currency Settlement System (FCSS) was introduced at the International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) in Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City).

• About FCSS: The FCSS is established under the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007, providing a comprehensive legal and regulatory framework.

• It is authorised by the International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA).
• Key Features: The system allows foreign currency transactions between IFSC Banking Units (IBUs) to be settled domestically, removing the need for traditional correspondent banking channels.
  - It offers a structured and secure mechanism for settling cross-border transactions, enhancing speed, efficiency, reliability, and legal certainty.
  - Initially, it will facilitate US dollar settlements, with plans to include other major currencies in the future.
  - The FCSS is operated by CCIL IFSC Limited, a subsidiary of the Clearing Corporation of India Limited (CCIL).
  - Currently, such transactions in GIFT IFSC are routed through Nostro accounts and multiple intermediaries, leading to settlement delays of 36 to 48 hours. The new system aims to eliminate these lags.

10. India- Afghanistan: Recently, External Affairs Minister announced that India will upgrade its ‘Technical Mission’ in Kabul to a full-fledged Embassy.

• Key Highlights: India had closed its embassy in 2021 after the Taliban seized power following the withdrawal of U.S.-led NATO forces.

• Reaffirmed India’s commitment to Afghanistan’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, and independence.
• Stressed that cross-border terrorism is a shared challenge for both nations.
• Urged coordination to counter terror threats (implicitly referring to Pakistan).
• India and Afghanistan agreed to cooperate on hydroelectric projects to meet Afghanistan’s energy and agricultural needs.