Skip to content

Free updates Login

Daily Current Affairs: 25 March 2025

Current affairs of 25 March 2025: Trump’s 25% Tariff on Buyers of Venezuelan Oil; India’s Urbanisation: Top-Down Missions vs Local Needs; DNA Fingerprinting: STRs, PCR and Uses, and 19 more topics. Key facts for every exam, with a quiz.

Take the quiz (15 questions)March 2025

In this issue: 22 topics

National Affairs

India’s Urbanisation: Top-Down Missions vs Local Needs
Daily Facts to Remember: 25 March 2025 GK Capsule

Government Schemes

MGNREGS Job Card Deletion Rules: Gram Sabha Approval

Banking & Finance

SEBI First Board Meeting Under Tuhin Kanta Pandey
SEBI Board Decisions: Conflict of Interest Panel, FPI Limit
RBI Priority Sector Lending Revision: Housing, RE and UCB Targets
India Derivatives Market: SEBI Curbs, Impact and New Proposals
RBI Revised PSL Guidelines Effective 1 April 2025
Retail G-Sec Trading on NDS-OM: Brokers Seek RBI Framework
RBI Priority Sector Lending Limits and Targets from April 2025
PCI Seeks MDR on UPI for Large Merchants: Sustainability Gap

Economy

CPSE Dividends Hit Record ₹69,873 Crore in FY25
7th Economic Census: Panel Asks MoSPI to Release Interim Data
RBI $10-Billion Swap Auction Draws $22.3 Billion Bids

International Affairs

Trump’s 25% Tariff on Buyers of Venezuelan Oil

Agriculture & Rural

Rainfall Variability and Indian Agriculture: RBI Bulletin

Science & Technology

DNA Fingerprinting: STRs, PCR and Uses
TB Genomic Sequencing: DBT’s 10,000 Samples Milestone

Environment & Ecology

Extended Producer Responsibility to Cover More Sectors in India

Defence & Security

Exercise Aikeyme: India-Africa Naval Drill in Tanzania

Reports & Indexes

IMF FSSA on India: Resilient System, IFRS 9 Push
IMF-World Bank FSAP Report on India’s Financial System

National Affairs

Polity & Governance

1. India’s Urbanisation: Top-Down Missions vs Local Needs

Urban development is a State subject, yet the Centre drives policy through missions like JNNURM, AMRUT, SBM and PMAY.
Metro rail projects took about 30% of the urban budget during the NDA period.
The 15th Finance Commission linked property tax enhancement to State GDP growth.
Proposal: 70% of the Union urban budget as direct transfers to States and cities, 30% for national priorities.

Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

Polity & Governance

2. Daily Facts to Remember: 25 March 2025 GK Capsule

Ajay Seth was appointed Union finance secretary; he also holds additional charge as revenue secretary.
New Zealand qualified for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, beating New Caledonia 3-0.
Lok Sabha passed the Finance Bill 2025, giving effect to proposals for FY 2025-26.
Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana has so far delivered 1,737 developed Gram Panchayats, the government said.

Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

Government Schemes

Polity & Governance

3. MGNREGS Job Card Deletion Rules: Gram Sabha Approval

Over 10.43 crore workers were removed from MGNREGS in four years; the government denies a link with Aadhaar-based payments.
Deletions must be approved in a Gram Sabha: regular, social audit or special.
Deleted names must be publicly displayed for at least 30 days.
All pending wages must be cleared before a worker's job card is deleted.

Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

Banking & Finance

4. SEBI First Board Meeting Under Tuhin Kanta Pandey

SEBI held its first board meeting under new chief Tuhin Kanta Pandey.
A High-Level Committee will review conflict-of-interest and disclosure norms for top SEBI officials.
The FPI disclosure threshold was doubled from ₹25,000 crore to ₹50,000 crore.

Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

5. SEBI Board Decisions: Conflict of Interest Panel, FPI Limit

SEBI will set up a High-Level Committee to review conflict-of-interest norms, last updated in 2008, and report within three months.
The FPI granular disclosure threshold was doubled from ₹25,000 crore to ₹50,000 crore.
Investment Advisors and Research Analysts may now collect advance fees for up to one year.
Category II AIF investment in listed debt rated 'A' or below will count as unlisted investment.

Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

Banking & Finance

6. RBI Priority Sector Lending Revision: Housing, RE and UCB Targets

Housing loan limits under priority sector rise to ₹50 lakh, ₹45 lakh or ₹35 lakh by city population.
Renewable energy loan cap for generators and utilities rises to ₹35 crore from ₹30 crore.
Urban Cooperative Banks' PSL target is cut to 60% from 75%.

Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

7. India Derivatives Market: SEBI Curbs, Impact and New Proposals

India is the largest derivatives market, with $6.4 trillion daily notional turnover.
SEBI study found 90% of retail investors lose money in derivatives.
Monthly expiries fell from 20 to 8 after November 2024 measures.
SEBI's February 2025 paper proposes delta-based position limits.

Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

Banking & Finance

8. RBI Revised PSL Guidelines Effective 1 April 2025

RBI's revised PSL guidelines take effect from 1 April 2025 to better target bank credit.
PSL housing loan caps: ₹50 lakh for cities above 50 lakh population, ₹45 lakh for 10-50 lakh, ₹35 lakh below 10 lakh.
Urban Co-operative Banks get a 60% overall target, with 7.5% for micro enterprises and 12% for weaker sections.
Lower per capita credit districts get 125% PSL weightage; higher ones get 90%.

Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

9. Retail G-Sec Trading on NDS-OM: Brokers Seek RBI Framework

Brokers asked RBI for a detailed framework for retail G-Sec trading on NDS-OM after February's access announcement for non-bank brokers.
Open queries: demat versus SGL account, single UCC for equity and G-Secs, and back-office integration costs.
RBI cut the minimum G-Sec investment to ₹10,000 and launched a mobile app for retail investors.

Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

10. RBI Priority Sector Lending Limits and Targets from April 2025

Revised PSL norms take effect on 1 April 2025.
PSL housing loan ceiling is ₹50 lakh in cities above 50 lakh people, ₹45 lakh for 10-50 lakh, ₹35 lakh below 10 lakh.
Domestic and large foreign banks need 40% priority sector lending; RRBs and SFBs need 75%.

Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

11. PCI Seeks MDR on UPI for Large Merchants: Sustainability Gap

PCI says the ₹1,500 crore FY25 incentive covers a small part of the ₹10,000 crore yearly cost of UPI.
The incentive budget was cut from ₹3,500 crore (FY24) to ₹1,500 crore; zero MDR has applied since January 2020.
PCI proposes a 0.3% MDR on UPI for large merchants and MDR for RuPay debit cards.

Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

Economy

12. CPSE Dividends Hit Record ₹69,873 Crore in FY25

CPSE dividends reached a record ₹69,873 crore in FY25 so far, with ₹70,000 crore expected; FY24 was ₹63,749.3 crore.
Revised policy: minimum dividend of 30% of PAT or 4% of net worth, whichever is higher.
Coal India (₹10,252.09 crore) and ONGC (₹10,001.97 crore) paid the most.

Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

13. 7th Economic Census: Panel Asks MoSPI to Release Interim Data

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance urged MoSPI to release interim data from the incomplete 7th Economic Census.
The 7th Economic Census had an outlay of ₹913 crore, of which ₹691.04 crore was used.
For the 8th Census, states and UTs will own fieldwork, and the fieldwork window rises from 3 to 9 months.

Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

14. RBI $10-Billion Swap Auction Draws $22.3 Billion Bids

RBI's $10 billion buy-sell swap auction received bids of $22.3 billion, over twice the notified amount.
The average premium on accepted bids was 592 paisa, versus 673 paisa in the first such auction.
The aim was to ease the banking system's liquidity deficit, which began in mid-December 2024.
In the second leg, due in March 2028, RBI sells back $10 billion at the prevailing rate plus the premium.

Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

International Affairs

15. Trump’s 25% Tariff on Buyers of Venezuelan Oil

Trump announced a 25% tariff on trade with any country buying Venezuelan oil or gas, from April 2, 2025.
China, the top buyer, took about 503,000 bpd in February 2025, 55% of Venezuela's exports.
Chevron's Venezuela licence faces a 30-day wind-down ending April 3, 2025.

Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

Agriculture & Rural

Agriculture & Rural Development

16. Rainfall Variability and Indian Agriculture: RBI Bulletin

An RBI bulletin says rainfall variability threatens Indian food crops despite irrigation advances.
Kharif foodgrains rose 7.9% and rabi 6% this year.
2024 had 322 extreme weather days affecting 4.07 million hectares.

Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

Science & Technology

Science & Technology

17. DNA Fingerprinting: STRs, PCR and Uses

Only identical twins share the same DNA fingerprint, built from STR sizes.
PCR copies DNA: denaturation at 95°C, annealing at 60°C, extension at 72°C with Taq polymerase.
Uses include forensics, paternity tests, disaster victim identification and ancient DNA study.

Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

Science & Technology

18. TB Genomic Sequencing: DBT’s 10,000 Samples Milestone

DBT has sequenced about 10,000 of a targeted 32,500 Mycobacterium tuberculosis samples; completion is targeted for October 2025.
Of sequenced samples, 7% showed resistance to a single drug.
The effort is part of Data-Driven Research to Eradicate TB (Dare2eraD TB), with DBT, CSIR and ICMR.
India accounts for 28% of global new TB cases; prevalence fell from 2,370 to 1,990 per million (2015 to 2022).

Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

Environment & Ecology

19. Extended Producer Responsibility to Cover More Sectors in India

India is preparing to extend Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) guidelines to more sectors to build a circular economy.
Ved Prakash Mishra, Joint Secretary in MoEF&CC, announced it at a FICCI event.
With NITI Aayog's support, 10-11 sectors have been identified.
EPR holds producers accountable for a product's whole lifecycle.

Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

Defence & Security

International Relations

20. Exercise Aikeyme: India-Africa Naval Drill in Tanzania

Aikeyme (Africa-India Key Maritime Engagement) is India's first such exercise with 10 African countries.
It runs 13-18 April 2025 off Dar-es-Salaam, co-hosted by Tanzania.
INS Sunayna sails on IOS Sagar from 5 April to 8 May 2025.

Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

Reports & Indexes

Banking & Finance

21. IMF FSSA on India: Resilient System, IFRS 9 Push

IMF's FSSA says India's financial system is more resilient and diverse than at the last FSAP in 2017.
It urges Indian banks to adopt IFRS 9 for stronger credit risk management.
Financial Inclusion Index rose from 43.4 in 2017 to 64.2 in March 2024.
Jan Dhan accounts number over 548.4 million, with balances above ₹2.45 trillion.

Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

Banking & Finance

22. IMF-World Bank FSAP Report on India’s Financial System

The IMF-World Bank FSAP found India's financial system stronger and more diverse since 2017.
UPI, Aadhaar and DigiLocker widened access.
Climate and cyber risks need attention.

Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

Test yourself

15 questions from the news of 25 March 2025, with answers and explanations.