Daily Current Affairs for UPSC IAS: 13th December 2025

APAAR ID:

The Orissa High Court recently directed education authorities at both the state and central levels to amend the consent form used for generating Automated Permanent Academic Account Registry (APAAR) IDs to include an explicit opt-out option.

• APAAR stands for Automated Permanent Academic Account Registry.
• It was introduced by the Ministry of Education, Government of India, under the ‘One Nation, One Student ID’ initiative, aligned with the National Education Policy 2020.
• APAAR is a permanent academic identification system created for every student, from school to higher education.
• APAAR assigns a unique and permanent 12-digit ID to every student, offering a comprehensive record of their academic achievements, including degrees, scholarships, awards, and other credits.
• The APAAR ID card allows students to access their academic credits, degrees, and other information online.
• The APAAR ID will be unique and remain the same through one’s education journey.
• It is linked to Aadhaar and stored in DigiLocker for easy access.
• It serves as a lifelong academic passport, consolidating all achievements and credentials of a student in one place.
• With a single digital ID, students can move between schools, apply for courses, submit documents for admissions or jobs, and track their credits without relying on multiple paper certificates.
• Advantages of APAAR ID:
  • Every student gets a unique APAAR ID, which remains with them throughout their academic journey.
  • Stores academic achievements, skills, and extracurricular activities from school to higher education.
  • APAAR ID is linked with Digi Locker, enabling students to securely store and access their academic certificates digitally.
  •  Helps in seamless credit transfers between institutions under the Academic Bank of Credits (ABC) framework.

Gonorrhoea : Study

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently granted approval for two new oral medicines, Nuzolvence (zoliflodacin) and Blujepa (gepotidacin), to treat gonorrhoea, a common sexually transmitted infection, prone to resistance against drugs.

• It is a preventable and curable sexually transmitted infection (STI) caused by the bacteria Neisseria gonorrhea.
• It’s also sometimes called “the clap” or “drip.”
• Gonorrhea bacteria can infect the urethra, rectum, female reproductive tract.
• It is most commonly spread during vaginal, oral or anal sexual activity.
• Gonorrhea can affect people of any age, anatomy, or gender, but it’s particularly common among teens and young adults between the ages of 15 and 24
• It can cause a sore throat, conjunctivitis, unusual vaginal or penile discharge, and pelvic and genital pain.
• Untreated gonorrhoea can cause:
  • infections affecting the skin, joints, heart (endocarditis), and brain (meningitis)
  • infertility in both females and males
  • pelvic inflammatory disease (PID)
  • epididymitis and prostatitis
  • Some of these complications can cause permanent damage to health.
• Treatment: Gonorrhoea is treatable and curable with antibiotics.

Pyrite:

Scientists recently discovered the oldest-known evidence of fire-making by prehistoric humans in England, which included a patch of heated clay, some heat-shattered flint handaxes, and two pieces of iron pyrite – a mineral that creates sparks when struck against flint to ignite tinder.

• Pyrite is a brass-yellow mineral with a bright metallic luster.
• It has a chemical composition of iron sulfide (FeS2), and is the most common sulfide mineral.
• Nodules of pyrite have been found in prehistoric burial mounds, which suggests their use as a means of producing fire.
• Pyrite is called “Fool’s Gold” because it resembles gold to the untrained eye.
• However, pyrite is quite easy to distinguish from gold: pyrite is much lighter but harder than gold and cannot be scratched with a fingernail or pocket knife.
• It is found in a wide variety of geological formations worldwide, from sedimentary deposits to hydrothermal veins and as a constituent of metamorphic rocks.
• It is a source of iron and sulfur and is used for the production of sulfuric acid.
• It is used to create iron sulfate that is used to make nutritional supplements, ink, lawn conditioner, water treatment and flocculation, moss killer, and many other chemical processes.
• Iron sulfate, which comes from pyrite, is used to treat iron-deficiency anemia.
• Some types of pyrite contain enough microscopic gold to warrant mining them as a gold ore.

Pax Silica Initiative:

The Congress party recently targeted the Prime Minister over India’s exclusion from the United States-led strategic initiative, Pax Silica, citing the ‘sharp downturn’ in his relations with US President.

• It is a U.S.-led strategic initiative to build a secure, prosperous, and innovation-driven silicon supply chain—from critical minerals and energy inputs to advanced manufacturing, semiconductors, artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, and logistics.
• The term ‘Pax Silica’ comes from the Latin term ‘pax’ which means peace, stability, and long-term prosperity.
• Silica refers to the compound that is refined into silicon, one of the chemical elements foundational to the computer chips that enable AI.
• It aims to reduce coercive dependencies, protect the materials and capabilities foundational to AI, and ensure aligned nations can develop and deploy transformative technologies at scale.
• Countries Part of Pax Silica:
  • Japan
  • South Korea
  • Singapore
  • Netherlands
  • United Kingdom
  • Israel
  • United Arab Emirates
  • Australia
• Countries Affirmed a Shared Commitment To Pursue projects to jointly address AI supply chain opportunities and vulnerabilities in priority critical minerals, semiconductor design, fabrication, and packaging, logistics and transportation, compute, and energy grids and power generation.
• Pursue new joint ventures and strategic co-investment opportunities.
• Protect sensitive technologies and critical infrastructure from undue access or control by countries of concern.
• Build trusted technology ecosystems, including ICT systems, fiber-optic cables, data centers, foundational models and applications.

Ratle Hydroelectric Project:

Megha Engineering and Infrastructures Ltd. (MEIL), which is constructing the Ratle Hydroelectric Project recently said it may pull out of the project if the administration failed to stop threats and interference from locals and politicians.

• It is an 850 MW run-of-river hydroelectric power project being built on the Chenab River in the Kishtwar District of Jammu & Kashmir.
• The project is implemented by the Ratle Hydroelectric Power Corporation (RHPCL).
• The project is expected to generate 3,137 GWh of electricity.
• Pakistan has frequently alleged that the project violates the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960.

New Ramsar Sites: Added

Siliserh Lake, in Alwar, Rajasthan and Kopra Jalashay near Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh have been designated as Ramsar Sites.

New Ramsar Sites:

• Siliserh lake is located in in the state of Rajasthan.
• It is a human-made lake within the buffer zone of Sariska Tiger Reserve.
• It was built in 1845 by Maharaja Vinay Singh to supply drinking water to Alwar city.
• It is in a semi-arid zone, and the Site serves as an important water source for diverse species of the region.
• It supports various bird and mammal species including the vulnerable river tern and the endangered tiger, black stork (Ciconia nigra).
• Kopra Jalashay is located
• It is a reservoir located in the upper catchments of the River Mahanadi.
• Notable species include the vulnerable greater spotted eagle (Aquila clanga) and the endangered Egyptian vulture (Neophron percnopterus).

Ponduru Khadi:

Ponduru khadi has been granted the geographical indication (GI) tag by the Geographical Indications Registry under the Union ministry of commerce and industry.

• ​Ponduru Khadi, is a famous handspun and handwoven cotton fabric from Andhra Pradesh.
• It is locally known as Patnulu and is produced in Ponduru village in Srikakulam district.
• It has been nominated for the One District One Product (ODOP) scheme from the Srikakulam district.
• During the pre – independence era Mahatma Gandhi mentioned its virtues in his Young India (the national weekly that Gandhiji edited).
• Key Characteristics of Ponduru Khadi:
  • ​It is produced from one of three types of cotton: hill cotton, punasa cotton, or red cotton.
  • Cotton is indigenous to Srikakulam district and is grown in and around Ponduru.
  • The entire process, from cotton to fabric, is carried out manually.
  • The process of cleaning the cotton with the jawbone of Valuga fish is unique to Ponduru khadi and is not practiced anywhere else in the world.
  • Ponduru is the only place in India where spinners still use single-spindle charkhas.

Geminid Meteor : Set To Peak

The Geminid meteor shower is set to peak over India between December 13–15, 2025, offering up to 100–120 meteors per hour under dark skies.The Geminids are an annual meteor shower observed every December, known for their high meteor rates, bright fireballs, and slow-moving streaks, making them among the most spectacular celestial events visible from Earth.Unlike most meteor showers that originate from comets, the Geminids arise from the asteroid 3200 Phaethon, a rocky body with a highly elliptical orbit around the Sun.Extreme solar heating causes Phaethon to shed debris, which Earth encounters each year, producing the meteor shower.The shower appears to radiate from the constellation Gemini, which rises higher in the sky after midnight, increasing meteor visibility.Earth passes through the dense debris stream of 3200 Phaethon between mid-November and late December, with peak activity in mid-December.The phenomenon is visible globally, with better rates in the Northern Hemisphere, including India.

Cabinet Approve 100% FDI In Insurance:

The Union Cabinet has approved a proposal to raise the FDI limit in insurance companies from 74% to 100%, to be implemented through the Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2025.Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is when a non-resident investor acquires an equity stake (≥10%) in an Indian company, with a lasting interest and some degree of control/management influence.
Foreign investor brings capital into an Indian company through:

• Subscription to shares (MoA, preferential allotment, rights/bonus issue, private placement)
• Mergers, demergers, amalgamations
• Share purchase from existing residents
• Conversion of convertible instruments / notes, swap of instruments etc.
• FDI is regulated under FEMA, sectoral caps, pricing guidelines, entry routes and conditions laid down by the Government / RBI.
• In insurance, 100% FDI means a foreign insurer can now hold full ownership (subject to Indian regulatory conditions) in an Indian insurance company.

115 Years of Savarkar’s Poem ‘Sagara Pran Talamalala’:

Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation addressed a cultural programme in Sri Vijayapuram to mark 115 years of Swatantryaveer Vinayak Damodar Savarkar’s poem Sagara Pran Talamalala.‘Sagara Pran Talamalala’ (often rendered as Sagara Pran Talmalala / Ne Majasi Ne…) is a Marathi patriotic poem expressing an exiled revolutionary’s torment, homesickness and yearning for the motherland, with the sea personified as a messenger between the patriot and India.Written by: Swatantryaveer Vinayak Damodar Savarkar (1883–1966), revolutionary, social reformer, writer and Hindutva ideologue.The poem was later immortalised in song form by Lata Mangeshkar, with music by Hridaynath Mangeshkar.