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Daily Current Affairs: 27 March 2025

Current affairs of 27 March 2025: US Annual Threat Assessment Names China Top Threat; India-New Zealand FTA Talks Resume After a Decade; ILO Report: India’s Social Protection Coverage Doubles to 49%, and 12 more topics. Key facts for every exam, with a quiz.

Take the quiz (15 questions)March 2025

In this issue: 15 topics

Government Schemes

EPFO Faster Claims: Fewer Validations and UPI Payments

Banking & Finance

RBI Governor Malhotra on Targeted AML and CFT Rules
RBI Governor on Balanced Regulation and Financial Inclusion
Banking Laws (Amendment) Bill 2024: Nominees and Directors
Mutual Fund Statements on DigiLocker: Nominee Access Explained
NHB Surprise Inspections of HFCs After Aviom Fraud Case

Economy

GST 2.0 Reforms: PAC Recommends Simpler Compliance for MSMEs
Rupee Outlook: FPI Flows, US Tariffs and India Trade Talks
Finance Ministry: Private Investment to Lift FY25 Growth to 6.5%

International Affairs

US Annual Threat Assessment Names China Top Threat
India-New Zealand FTA Talks Resume After a Decade

Science & Technology

GSAT-18 Idle Transponders: PAC Flags ₹117 Crore Loss
Majorana 1 Quantum Chip and the Neutrino Mass Search
Bedmap3: New Map of Antarctica’s Hidden Bed and Ice

Reports & Indexes

ILO Report: India’s Social Protection Coverage Doubles to 49%

Government Schemes

Banking & Finance

1. EPFO Faster Claims: Fewer Validations and UPI Payments

EPFO cut claim validations from 27 to 18, with a committee suggesting just 6.
Auto settlements now take 3 days instead of several weeks; settlements jumped from 90 lakh to 1.9 crore.
EPFO will integrate UPI for payments up to ₹1 lakh, with NPCI supplying the architecture.

Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

Banking & Finance

Banking & Finance

2. RBI Governor Malhotra on Targeted AML and CFT Rules

RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra urged precise AML and CFT laws.
FATF Private Sector Collaborative Forum 2025 is in India for the first time.
Risk-based approach can ease compliance burden, but no risk model is perfect.

Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

Banking & Finance

3. RBI Governor on Balanced Regulation and Financial Inclusion

RBI Governor said regulation must not obstruct financial inclusion and should follow a risk-based approach.
The Central KYC Records Registry holds over 1 billion records.
India backs the G20 roadmap to make cross-border payments faster, cheaper, more transparent and more inclusive by 2027.

Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

Polity & Governance

4. Banking Laws (Amendment) Bill 2024: Nominees and Directors

Parliament passed the Banking Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2024 on 27 March 2025; Lok Sabha had approved it in December 2024.
Account holders can name up to four nominees; "substantial interest" threshold rises from ₹5 lakh to ₹2 crore.
Co-operative bank director tenure extends from 8 to 10 years.

Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

Banking & Finance

5. Mutual Fund Statements on DigiLocker: Nominee Access Explained

SEBI integrated mutual fund statements with DigiLocker to cut unclaimed assets and ease nominee access.
AMCs and registrars must register as issuers on DigiLocker; RTA data push begins 1 April 2025.
On an investor's death, DigiLocker alerts nominees by SMS and email; legal transmission rules still apply.

Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

Banking & Finance

6. NHB Surprise Inspections of HFCs After Aviom Fraud Case

NHB began surprise inspections of housing finance companies after the Aviom Housing Finance fraud case.
HFCs must now report bad-loan data on the 1st of each month, earlier it was between the 10th and 12th.
From 12 March 2025 HFCs must offer insurance from at least two providers.

Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

Economy

Polity & Governance

7. GST 2.0 Reforms: PAC Recommends Simpler Compliance for MSMEs

The Finance Ministry should streamline GST and build a GST 2.0 after stakeholder consultation.
Indirect tax share dropped from 38.76% in 2017-18 to 36.92% in 2019-20.
PAC urges lenient treatment of honest errors and fixes to Aadhaar authentication.

Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

8. Rupee Outlook: FPI Flows, US Tariffs and India Trade Talks

The rupee rose for nine straight sessions and gained 2% in March 2025, yet fell 3% in FY25.
FPIs sold $8.7 billion in January and $6 billion in February, then turned net equity buyers in March.
India's FY25 current account deficit is projected at about 1% of GDP.

Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

9. Finance Ministry: Private Investment to Lift FY25 Growth to 6.5%

The Finance Ministry expects GDP growth of 6.5% in FY25 and 6.3%-6.8% in FY26.
Fixed investment growth is estimated at 6.1% in FY25, down from 8.8% in FY24.
Income tax relief in the Budget and February's 25 bps rate cut should support consumption and growth.
Key risks: geopolitical tensions, trade policy uncertainty and tariff-related shifts.

Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

International Affairs

International Relations

10. US Annual Threat Assessment Names China Top Threat

The US Annual Threat Assessment named China the top global threat.
CRINK means China, Russia, Iran and North Korea; China-Russia is the most persistent threat.
China dismissed the report as biased.

Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

11. India-New Zealand FTA Talks Resume After a Decade

India and New Zealand began CECA talks in April 2010, stalled them in February 2015 after 10 rounds, and resumed negotiations in March 2025.
New Zealand's average tariff is 2.3% against India's 17.8%.
Dairy is the main sticking point; India may allow only limited value-added dairy, not raw dairy.

Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

Science & Technology

Polity & Governance

12. GSAT-18 Idle Transponders: PAC Flags ₹117 Crore Loss

Six transponders on GSAT-18 (launched 2016) will stay unused until 2027 because of overlap with GSAT-14.
Public Accounts Committee noted a revenue loss of ₹117 crore and urged the Department of Space to be more cost-conscious.
GSAT-18 was launched on 5 October 2016 by Ariane 5 ECA from Kourou; it has 24 C-band, 12 extended C-band and 12 Ku-band transponders.

Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

Science & Technology

13. Majorana 1 Quantum Chip and the Neutrino Mass Search

Microsoft announced the Majorana 1 quantum chip, built on Majorana particles, aiming to solve industrial-scale problems in years.
A Majorana particle is a fermion that is its own antiparticle; neutrinos are suspected to be of this type.
AMoRE in South Korea found no neutrinoless double beta decay signal in molybdenum-100.

Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

Science & Technology

14. Bedmap3: New Map of Antarctica’s Hidden Bed and Ice

Bedmap3 is the most comprehensive dataset of Antarctica's subglacial landscape, extending Bedmap2.
It adds 84 aero-geophysical surveys from 15 sources, 52 million data points and 1.9 million line-km.
The thickest ice, 4.7 km, lies in Wilkes Land, not Astrolabe Basin; average thickness is 1.9 km.

Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

Reports & Indexes

Government Schemes

15. ILO Report: India’s Social Protection Coverage Doubles to 49%

ILO pegs coverage at 49% in 2024, against 24.4% in 2021.
ILO now counts 34 central schemes, up from 7.
India says the 48.8% estimate omits in-kind benefits and State programmes.

Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

Test yourself

15 questions from the news of 27 March 2025, with answers and explanations.