1. Southwest Monsoon 2025 arrives early over Kerala
- IMD declared monsoon onset over Kerala on May 24, 2025, eight days early.
- The southwest monsoon supplies about 70% of India's annual rainfall.
- The normal onset date over Kerala is June 1.
Daily Current Affairs: 28 May 2025
Current affairs of 28 May 2025: EU Scales Back Carbon Border Tariff to Larger Importers; Germany Overtakes Japan as Top Creditor Nation in 2024; Southwest Monsoon 2025 arrives early over Kerala, and 17 more topics. Key facts for every exam, with a quiz.
In this issue: 20 topics
National Affairs
- Southwest Monsoon 2025 arrives early over Kerala
- Draft Registration Bill 2025: Digital Property Registration Reform
- ITR Deadline for AY 2025-26 Extended to 15 September
Government Schemes
Banking & Finance
- FM Sitharaman Backs Fintech Growth at Pine Labs Visit
- RBI Digital Lending Directions 2025: Key Provisions and DLG Curb
- DICGC Deposit Insurance: ₹5 Lakh Cover and Claim Timelines
Economy
- RoDTEP Benefits Restored for AA, EOU and SEZ Units
- MoSPI Plan to Track Mudra Loan Impact via Surveys
- Finance Ministry Review: Tariff Risk and Weak Net FDI
International Affairs
- EU Scales Back Carbon Border Tariff to Larger Importers
- Germany Overtakes Japan as Top Creditor Nation in 2024
Agriculture & Rural
- Viksit Krishi Sankalp Abhiyan: Farm Outreach Campaign
- Fertiliser Regulation Reform Demand: FCO 1955 Rules Questioned
- BASF Launches Valexio, Mibelya for Indian Rice Farmers
Science & Technology
Environment & Ecology
Defence & Security
Awards & Persons
National Affairs
2. Draft Registration Bill 2025: Digital Property Registration Reform
- The Draft Registration Bill, 2025 would replace the 117-year-old Registration Act, 1908.
- It enables online registration, e-certificates and digital records, with Aadhaar-based or alternative verification.
- The Department of Land Resources opened the draft for public consultation.
3. ITR Deadline for AY 2025-26 Extended to 15 September
- CBDT extended the AY 2025-26 ITR deadline from July 31 to September 15, 2025.
- Reasons: major ITR form changes and TDS credits appearing only from early June.
- ITR1 allows LTCG up to ₹1.25 lakh; other forms split capital gains around July 23, 2024.
Government Schemes
4. Panchayat Advancement Index 2.0: Fewer Indicators, New Portal
- PAI 2.0 for FY 2023-24 was launched with a new portal, LIF booklet and SOP.
- Indicators fell from 516 to 147; data points from 794 to 227.
- It tracks over 2.5 lakh Gram Panchayats across nine themes.
Banking & Finance
5. FM Sitharaman Backs Fintech Growth at Pine Labs Visit
- FM Nirmala Sitharaman visited Pine Labs' Noida office and praised fintech for secure, inclusive services.
- The Centre is offering states 50-year interest-free capex loans to speed digitisation.
- The government plans fintech-friendly policies and wants to promote Indian fintech abroad.
6. RBI Digital Lending Directions 2025: Key Provisions and DLG Curb
- RBI's Digital Lending Directions, 2025 aim to protect borrowers and curb rogue lending apps.
- Regulated entities must report digital lending apps to RBI through the CIMS portal, building a public directory.
- Lenders stay fully accountable for lending service providers; each LSP must appoint a Grievance Redressal Officer.
- DLG arrangements are barred on loans covered by credit guarantee schemes, likely raising MSME lending rates.
7. DICGC Deposit Insurance: ₹5 Lakh Cover and Claim Timelines
- The government was considering raising the deposit insurance limit from ₹5 lakh to ₹10 lakh.
- DICGC, an RBI subsidiary set up on 15 July 1978, insures principal plus interest up to ₹5 lakh per depositor.
- The DICGC (Amendment) Act, 2021 requires insured amounts to reach depositors within 90 days.
- Premium cap: 0.15% of total deposits; penal interest up to 2% above the repo rate.
Economy
8. RoDTEP Benefits Restored for AA, EOU and SEZ Units
- The government restored RoDTEP benefits for AA holders, EOUs and SEZ units.
- These benefits had stopped on 5 February 2025.
- FIEO-led export bodies had lobbied for the reversal.
9. MoSPI Plan to Track Mudra Loan Impact via Surveys
- MoSPI will track use and impact of credit programmes like PM Mudra Yojana.
- Monitoring joins the Capex Survey and the Annual Survey of Unincorporated Sector Enterprises.
- NSO and ISB jointly held a Data Users Conference.
10. Finance Ministry Review: Tariff Risk and Weak Net FDI
- US 26% tariff pause on Indian exports ends 9 July 2025.
- Net FDI in FY25 was only $0.4 billion; gross FDI $81 billion.
- Indian firms' outward FDI rose nearly $12.5 billion.
International Affairs
11. EU Scales Back Carbon Border Tariff to Larger Importers
- EU countries agreed to cut the carbon border levy's reach to about 10% of targeted firms.
- Those firms cause over 99% of covered emissions.
- New trigger: more than 50 metric tons of imports a year.
12. Germany Overtakes Japan as Top Creditor Nation in 2024
- Japan lost the largest creditor nation title for the first time in 34 years; Germany took over.
- End-2024 net external assets: Germany 569.7 trillion yen, Japan 533.05 trillion yen, China 516.3 trillion yen.
- Germany's 2024 current account surplus was 248.7 billion euros.
Agriculture & Rural
13. Viksit Krishi Sankalp Abhiyan: Farm Outreach Campaign
- Shivraj Singh Chouhan's Viksit Krishi Sankalp Abhiyan starts 29 May 2025 from Puri, Odisha, and runs 15 days to 12 June.
- It is held twice a year, just before Kharif and Rabi sowing.
- Target: over 65,000 villages in 723 districts and more than 1.3 crore farmers.
- ICAR-CIFA's new fish vaccine, CIFA Argu VAX-I, guards aquaculture fish against parasitic infections.
14. Fertiliser Regulation Reform Demand: FCO 1955 Rules Questioned
- Industry bodies said the Fertiliser Control Order, 1955 favours imports over domestic makers.
- Up to 32 FCO inspectors can monitor one domestic unit.
- About 5 lakh tonnes of fruit and vegetable fertilisers are imported.
15. BASF Launches Valexio, Mibelya for Indian Rice Farmers
- BASF launched Valexio insecticide and Mibelya fungicide for rice.
- Valexio's active ingredient has no known cross-resistance.
- India is the second-largest rice producer.
Science & Technology
16. India’s First Gene-Edited Sheep Made at SKUAST Kashmir
- SKUAST Kashmir scientists created India's first gene-edited sheep using CRISPR-Cas9.
- Editing the myostatin gene, a muscle growth regulator, gave about 30% greater muscle mass.
- It carries no foreign DNA, unlike transgenic animals.
Environment & Ecology
17. World Dugong Day: Status and Conservation of India’s Sea Cow
- World Dugong Day is on 28 May; the dugong is India's only herbivorous marine mammal.
- India has only about 200 dugongs, regionally endangered and globally Vulnerable.
- India's first Dugong Conservation Reserve (2022) spans 448.3 sq km in Palk Bay.
Defence & Security
18. AMCA Fifth-Generation Fighter: Execution Model Cleared
- Rajnath Singh cleared the execution model for the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) programme.
- The Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA), part of DRDO, will lead it.
- AMCA is a twin-engine stealth multirole fighter with projected weight around 25 tonnes.
Awards & Persons
19. Padma Vibhushan, Bhushan and Shri awardees list
- Justice J.S. Khehar (Retd), Sharda Sinha and Kumudini Lakhia received Padma Vibhushan.
- Padma Bhushan included Bibek Debroy, Manohar Joshi, Anant Nag and Shobana Chandrakumar.
- Four awardees were honoured posthumously; family members received the awards.
20. Gulveer Singh Wins 10,000m Gold at Asian Athletics Championships
- Gulveer Singh won India's first gold at the Asian Athletics Championships in the 10,000m.
- He won on the opening day of the championships.
- The event was held in Gumi, South Korea.
- He was described as India's best track athlete of the season so far.
Test yourself
15 questions from the news of 28 May 2025, with answers and explanations.
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