Skip to content
Free updates Login

Daily Current Affairs: 14 April 2025

Current affairs of 14 April 2025: India-Nepal Customs Talks: Cooperation Against Smuggling; India Unlikely to Take WTO Fight Over US Steel Tariffs; Argentina’s $20 Billion IMF Extended Fund Facility Deal, and 20 more topics. Key facts for every exam, with a quiz.

Take the quiz (15 questions)April 2025
23 TOPICSDaily CurrentAffairs14 April 2025In focus: India-Nepal Customs Talks: Cooperation…safalsetu.com

In this issue: 23 topics

National Affairs

  1. 16th Finance Commission: Local Body Grants and State Autonomy
  2. Karnataka Gig Workers Bill: Differential Fee on Aggregators

Government Schemes

  1. MGNREGS Review: Parliamentary Panel Recommendations
  2. PM Vishwakarma Scheme: Low Loan Approvals Slow Artisan Aid

Banking & Finance

  1. UPI Downtime: 995 Minutes of Outage Since March 2020
  2. Public Sector Bank Promotions: Vigilance and Transparency
  3. KYC Reforms Under PMLA: Risk-Based Framework and CKYCRR
  4. FY25 CP and CD Issuances Hit Multi-Year Highs on Tight Liquidity
  5. Category III AIFs: Tax Grey Zone and Industry Demands
  6. SEBI Under Tuhin Kanta Pandey: First Board Meeting Changes
  7. HDFC Bank Cuts Savings Rate by 25 bps to 2.75%
  8. Banks Seek Common Insurance Repository to Curb Policy Loan Fraud
  9. Microfinance and Karnataka’s Micro Loan Bill: Issues and Reforms

Economy

  1. Income Tax Progressivity: Do India’s Wealthy Underreport?
  2. AUM Explained: Meaning, Uses and Edelweiss Fund Growth

International Affairs

  1. India-Nepal Customs Talks: Cooperation Against Smuggling
  2. India Unlikely to Take WTO Fight Over US Steel Tariffs
  3. Argentina’s $20 Billion IMF Extended Fund Facility Deal

Agriculture & Rural

  1. India’s Traditional Seeds: Why They Are Vanishing and How to Save Them

Science & Technology

  1. BatEchoMon: India’s First Automated Bat Call Monitor

Defence & Security

  1. AIKEYME 2025: India-Africa Naval Exercise off Tanzania
  2. DRDO Mk-II(A) 30 kW Laser Weapon Tested Successfully

Reports & Indexes

  1. RBI Surveys: Urban Job Optimism vs Weak Income Sentiment

National Affairs

Polity & Governance

1. 16th Finance Commission: Local Body Grants and State Autonomy

  • Debate on the 16th Finance Commission centres on earmarking funds directly for panchayats and municipalities.
  • States say stricter conditions bypass them, since local government is a State subject in List II.
  • Many local body grants are tied to areas such as sanitation, water supply and health.
  • Articles 243-I and 243-Y, added by the 73rd and 74th Amendments, root the Commission's local body mandate.
Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

Government Schemes

Banking & Finance

Polity & Governance

6. Public Sector Bank Promotions: Vigilance and Transparency

  • March is both year-end scrutiny and promotion season for public sector banks, with fairness of senior promotions under question.
  • An RTI filing exposed flaws in AGM-to-DGM promotions, where some officials with legal or performance issues were still elevated.
  • A GM who lifted an RRB's profit by 21% was passed over after a vigilance inquiry into a G20 video made without tendering.
  • Reform of promotion and vigilance systems is urged to balance compliance with innovation.
Full notes and 3 MCQs ›
Economy

13. Microfinance and Karnataka’s Micro Loan Bill: Issues and Reforms

  • India's microfinance loan portfolio reached ₹3.91 lakh crore by FY25 Q3, as per a CRIF report.
  • Microfinance in India started in the 1980s with the SHG-Bank Linkage Programme, institutionalised by NABARD.
  • Karnataka has 63 lakh unique microfinance borrowers; its MFI loan book fell from ₹42,000 crore to ₹34,000 crore in 2024.
  • MFIs charge 18-26% against 60-120% from informal moneylenders.
Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

Economy

Economy

15. AUM Explained: Meaning, Uses and Edelweiss Fund Growth

  • AUM is the total market value of assets a fund manager or firm handles for clients; it moves with inflows, outflows and asset prices.
  • Edelweiss Aggressive Hybrid Fund (launched August 2009) grew AUM from ₹143 crore in December 2021 to ₹2,363 crore in December 2024.
  • Management fees are commonly a percentage of AUM, but high AUM does not always mean high income.
Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

International Affairs

Economy

16. India-Nepal Customs Talks: Cooperation Against Smuggling

  • India and Nepal agreed to deepen customs cooperation to ease trade and fight smuggling along their shared border.
  • Talks were held in Kathmandu at director general level; India's team was led by Abhai Kumar Srivastav, Nepal's by Mahesh Bhattarai.
  • They aim to finalise a Customs Mutual Assistance Agreement and review an MoU on pre-arrival exchange of customs data.
  • India accounts for nearly two-thirds of Nepal's exports.
Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

Agriculture & Rural

Agriculture & Rural Development

19. India’s Traditional Seeds: Why They Are Vanishing and How to Save Them

  • Traditional seed varieties are resilient to droughts and floods and help restore soil health, but hybrid, high-yield crops are replacing them.
  • Causes: consumer preference for high-yield grains, a shortage of community seed banks and policies that favoured production.
  • MSSRF works on conserving indigenous crops, including through the Tribal Agrobiodiversity Centre in Odisha.
  • Revival steps: farmer participation in breeding, funded community seed banks, and MSP and procurement support.
Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

Science & Technology

Defence & Security

Science & Technology

22. DRDO Mk-II(A) 30 kW Laser Weapon Tested Successfully

  • DRDO tested the Mk-II(A) laser-based directed energy weapon, capable of defeating swarm drones, fixed-wing UAVs and sensors.
  • Power is 30 kW, made by combining six 5 kW lasers into one beam; effective at over 3 km.
  • It was developed by the Centre for High Energy Systems and Sciences, Hyderabad.
  • DRDO chief Samir V Kamat said India is among four or five nations with operational DEW capability.
Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

Reports & Indexes

Test yourself

15 questions from the news of 14 April 2025, with answers and explanations.

Start the quiz