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Daily Current Affairs: 9 & 10 May 2025

Current affairs of 9 & 10 May 2025: India’s MMR Falls to 93 per Lakh Live Births in 2019-21; India’s Draft Climate Finance Taxonomy: Aims and Categories; Predatory Pricing: Average Variable Cost Defined as ‘Cost’, and 12 more topics. Key facts for every exam, with a quiz.

Take the quiz (15 questions)May 2025

In this issue: 15 topics

National Affairs

India’s MMR Falls to 93 per Lakh Live Births in 2019-21

Government Schemes

Credit Guarantee Scheme for Startups: Expanded Limits and Fees
Jan Suraksha Schemes: PMJJBY, PMSBY and APY at 10 Years

Banking & Finance

IndusInd Bank Crisis and RBI’s Stability Role
Pre-IPO Founders Ask SEBI to Allow ESOPs for Promoters
Mortgage-Backed PTC Listing on NSE: How PTCs Work
Kotak Solitaire Credit Card: invite-only travel metal card
FIMMDA Named First SRO Under RBI’s Framework

Economy

Predatory Pricing: Average Variable Cost Defined as ‘Cost’
RBI Scraps FPI Short-Term and Concentration Limits in Debt

International Affairs

UK Carbon Border Tax: India Objects, Warns of Retaliation

Agriculture & Rural

Viksit Krishi Sankalp Abhiyan: 15-Day Farmer Outreach

Environment & Ecology

India’s Draft Climate Finance Taxonomy: Aims and Categories

Defence & Security

HAROP Loitering Munition: Features of the Israeli Kamikaze Drone

Reports & Indexes

South Asia Press Freedom Report 2024-25: India Ranked 151

National Affairs

Government Schemes

1. India’s MMR Falls to 93 per Lakh Live Births in 2019-21

India's MMR improved steadily over three periods and stood at 93 per lakh live births for 2019-21.
Madhya Pradesh (175) and Assam (167) recorded the highest MMR among states listed.
Maternal death is a death during pregnancy or within 42 days of its end, from causes tied to it, per WHO.
The SDG target is an MMR below 70 per 100,000 live births.

Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

Government Schemes

Banking & Finance

2. Credit Guarantee Scheme for Startups: Expanded Limits and Fees

CGSS began in October 2022 under the Startup India Action Plan; NCGTC is the nodal body.
The guarantee limit rose from ₹10 crore to ₹20 crore per borrower.
Cover is 85% on loans up to ₹10 crore and 75% above; the annual fee fell to 1% in 27 Champion Sectors.

Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

Banking & Finance

3. Jan Suraksha Schemes: PMJJBY, PMSBY and APY at 10 Years

PMJJBY, PMSBY and APY began on 9 May 2015 for life, accident and pension cover.
PMJJBY: ₹2 lakh cover for ₹436 a year; PMSBY: ₹2 lakh accident cover for ₹20 a year.
APY pays ₹1,000-₹5,000 monthly after 60 and is run by PFRDA.

Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

Banking & Finance

4. IndusInd Bank Crisis and RBI’s Stability Role

CRISIL put IndusInd Bank's long-term debt on watch with negative implications.
An accounting error caused a ₹1,500-2,000 crore capital loss; shares fell over 27% in a day.
LOLR support rests on Bagehot's principle: lend freely, on good collateral, at a penalty rate.

Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

Banking & Finance

5. Pre-IPO Founders Ask SEBI to Allow ESOPs for Promoters

Pre-IPO startups asked SEBI to permit ESOP grants to founders whose stake has fallen after many funding rounds.
Current SEBI rules bar ESOP grants to promoters after listing.
Many founders are classed as promoters while preparing an IPO, making them ineligible.
An ESOP is set up through a trust and employees earn shares over a vesting period.

Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

6. Mortgage-Backed PTC Listing on NSE: How PTCs Work

India's first mortgage-backed Pass-Through Certificates were listed on the NSE, a ₹1,000 crore issue.
RMBS Development Company Ltd. structured it, backed by LIC Housing Finance home loans.
The Department of Financial Services (Ministry of Finance) welcomed the listing.

Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

Banking & Finance

7. Kotak Solitaire Credit Card: invite-only travel metal card

Kotak Mahindra Bank launched the invite-only Kotak Solitaire Credit Card.
It earns 10 airmiles per ₹100 on flights and hotels via Kotak Unbox.
Airmiles remain valid for 3 years.

Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

8. FIMMDA Named First SRO Under RBI’s Framework

RBI made FIMMDA the first Self-Regulatory Organisation under its SRO framework for financial markets.
The framework dates from August 2024.
FIMMDA, set up in 1998, administers the FIMMDA-NSE Overnight MIBOR.

Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

Economy

Polity & Governance

9. Predatory Pricing: Average Variable Cost Defined as ‘Cost’

A new notification defines 'cost' for predatory pricing as Average Variable Cost (AVC).
AVC is Total Variable Cost divided by Total Output.
It applies to all sectors.

Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

10. RBI Scraps FPI Short-Term and Concentration Limits in Debt

RBI withdrew the short-term investment limit and the concentration limit for FPIs in corporate debt.
The old short-term cap was 30% for paper with up to one year residual maturity.
The aim is to ease investment and deepen the corporate bond market.

Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

International Affairs

Environment & Ecology

11. UK Carbon Border Tax: India Objects, Warns of Retaliation

UK plans a Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism from 1 January 2027; India warned of reciprocal action.
CBAM taxes imports by embedded carbon to prevent carbon leakage.
India says it breaches CBDR; its MSME exemption plea was ignored.

Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

Agriculture & Rural

Government Schemes

12. Viksit Krishi Sankalp Abhiyan: 15-Day Farmer Outreach

Viksit Krishi Sankalp Abhiyan runs 15 days, from 29 May to 12 June 2025.
It targets 10-15 million farmers in 700 districts through 2,000 outreach teams.
Amendments to the Seeds Act, 1966 are proposed to curb spurious seeds and ensure traceability.

Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

Environment & Ecology

13. India’s Draft Climate Finance Taxonomy: Aims and Categories

The Finance Ministry released a draft Climate Finance Taxonomy to classify climate-aligned activities.
It sets two categories: climate supportive and climate transition activities.
COP29 in Baku set a $300 billion yearly goal by 2035 against a $1.35 trillion annual need.

Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

Defence & Security

Science & Technology

14. HAROP Loitering Munition: Features of the Israeli Kamikaze Drone

HAROP is a loitering munition, also called a suicide or kamikaze drone, developed by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI).
It is used by the Indian Armed Forces, especially the Air Force and Army.
It blends a UAV with a precision-guided missile and can hover over a target zone for long periods.
It can find, track and lock onto high-value targets on its own, then dives in with an explosive warhead.

Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

Reports & Indexes

Polity & Governance

15. South Asia Press Freedom Report 2024-25: India Ranked 151

The 23rd Annual South Asia Press Freedom Report, 'Frontline Democracy: Media and Political Churn', is published by the Asia Press Freedom Group.
It logged 250+ violations in the region, with 69 journalists jailed or detained and 20 killed on duty.
India was ranked 151st; Bhutan fell to its lowest-ever rank, 152.
It recommends a Media Transparency Bill 2024 and a Media Ombudsman.

Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

Test yourself

15 questions from the news of 9 & 10 May 2025, with answers and explanations.