Daily Current Affairs for UPSC IAS: 14th August 2025

Framework MoU with IN-SPACe:

Pune-based space tech startup Astrophel Aerospace recently signed a framework MoU with IN-SPACe, the Department of Space nodal body, to access ISRO facilities for technical reviews, system-level testing, and qualification support for semi-cryogenic propulsion systems, including turbopumps and engine modules.

• Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Center (IN-SPACe) is a single-window, independent, nodal agency that functions as an autonomous agency in the Department of Space (DOS).
• It is formed following the Space sector reforms to enable and facilitate the participation of private players.
• IN-SPACe is responsible to promote, enable, authorize and supervise various space activities of non-governmental entities (NGEs) including building launch vehicles & satellites and providing space-based services; sharing space infrastructure and premises under the control of DOS/ISRO; and establishing of new space infrastructure and facilities.
• The agency acts as an interface between ISRO and NGEs and assesses how to utilize India’s space resources better and increase space-based activities.
• It also assesses the needs and demands of private players, including educational and research institutions, and explores ways to accommodate these requirements in consultation with ISRO.
• Three Directorates viz., Promotion Directorate (PD), Technical Directorate (TD) and Program Management and Authorization Directorate (PMAD) are carrying out the functions of IN-SPACe.

Lampedusa Island : 20 People Died

At least 20 people have died after a migrant boat capsized off the southern Italian island of Lampedusa recently.

• Lampedusa Island is the largest (21 sq.km.) of the Isole Pelagie (Pelagie Islands), an island group that includes the Linosa and Lampione islets.
• Administratively Lampedusa is part of the autonomous region of Sicily in Italy.
• It is geographically part of the African continent.
• It is located in the Mediterranean Sea between Malta and Tunisia, 105 miles (170 km) southwest of Licata, Sicily.
• It is a volcanic island.
• It is also known as the Pearl of the Mediterranean because of the lava: it is the emerging part of a volcano whose last eruption events date back about 9000 years ago, when the last major seismic events were dated at the end of 1800.
• Lampedusa’s greatest length is about 11 km; its greatest width is about 3 km. It rises to 133 meters above sea level.
• It is a rocky island with limited natural freshwater sources.
• The climate is typically Mediterranean, with hot, dry summers and mild, wet winters.

Cheque Truncation System:

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has decided on the transition of the Cheque Truncation System (CTS) from the current approach of batch processing to continuous clearing with settlement on realisation in two phases.

• It is a cheque clearing system undertaken by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for faster clearing of cheques.
• As the name suggests, truncation is the process of stopping the flow of the physical cheque in its way of clearing.
• CTS is an online image-based cheque clearing system where cheque images and Magnetic Ink Character Recognition (MICR) data are captured at the collecting bank branch and transmitted electronically, eliminating the actual cheque movement.
• Security: CTS is protected by a comprehensive PKI-based security architecture which incorporates basic security and authentication controls such as dual access control, user ID, and passwords with crypto box and smart card interfaces.
• Only CTS-2010 standards-compliant instruments can be presented for clearing through CTS.
• CTS-2010 standards contain certain benchmarks towards achieving standardization of cheques issued by banks across the country.
• These include provision of mandatory minimum-security features on cheque forms like quality of paper, watermark, bank’s logo in invisible ink, void pantograph, etc., and standardisation of field placements on cheques.
• The minimum-security features and standardisation help presenting banks while scrutinising/recognising cheques of drawee banks in an image-based processing scenario.
• Benefits.
  • Realisation of proceeds of cheque possible within the same day.
  • Data storage and retrieval becomes easy.
  • Minimizes risks and introduces a secured cheque clearing system.
  • Will result in cost savings due to lower cost in the physical movement of cheques.
  • Minimizing bottlenecks and delays between presentation and realization time.
  • Provides shorter clearing cycles and a centralized image archival system.

Moai Statues:

A study warns that rising sea levels could submerge Easter Island’s iconic moai statues by 2080 and it will threaten the island’s cultural identity and tourism economy.

• Moai Statues are massive megalithic stone-carved human-shaped statues found at Easter Island.
• The Easter Island statues are monolithic human figures carved from volcanic rock by the first Polynesian settlers on the island, the Rapa Nui people.
• They were built in approximately 1400 – 1650 A.D. by the natives of this island known as Rapa Nui.
• There are around 1000 Moai statues which are made up of volcanic tuff, the tallest of them being 33 feet.
• They carved them in the likeness of their ancestors.
• They were built to honor chieftains or other important people who had passed away.
• They were placed on rectangular stone platforms called ahu, which are tombs for the people that the statues represented.
• The moais were intentionally made with different characteristics since they were intended to keep the appearance of the person they represented.
• Easter Island is located in the eastern Pacific Ocean. Together with Hawaii and New Zealand, it forms the so-called ‘Polynesian Triangle’, a spearhead-shaped area in the Pacific that is the traditional homeland of the Polynesian people.

APAAR ID : Mandatory

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has now made it mandatory for students to submit their APAAR IDs while registering for the board exams.

• APAAR stands for Automated Permanent Academic Account Registry. It was envisioned under the New Education Policy, 2020.
• It is an identification number which is linked to enrollment, and a student’s journey from pre-primary to higher education can be tracked through it.
• 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 will be unique and remain the same through one’s education journey.
• It is linked to Aadhaar and stored in DigiLocker for easy access.
• The APAAR ID embodies the vision of “One Nation, One Student ID”, ensuring a unified and accessible academic experience for students across India.
• It serves as a lifelong academic passport, consolidating all achievements and credentials of a student in one place.
• APAAR is generated through Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE+).
• Objectives of APAAR
  • To accumulate and store students’ academic achievements in a central database
  • To facilitate seamless transfer between institutions
  • To provide standardized digital records for mark sheets and institutional affiliations.
  • To help in educational policymaking and analysis.

Gaur:

The Palamau Tiger Reserve (PTR), the last stronghold of Gaur (Bos gaurus) in Jharkhand, has registered an alarming decline in the bovid’s population.

• Gaur, also known as Indian Bison is the largest species among the wild cattle and the Bovidae.
• Gaurs are indigenous to the South and Southeast parts of Asia.
• Gaurs are primarily found in evergreen and semi-evergreen forests along with moist deciduous forests with open grasslands.
• They prefer hilly-terrains below an altitude of 1,500-1,800 m with large and undisturbed forest tracts and abundant water.
• Conservation Status:
  • IUCN Red List: Vulnerable
  • CITES: Appendix I
  • Wild Life Protection Act, 1972: Schedule I
• It plays a vital role in maintaining ecological balance in forests besides serving as important prey species for tigers. Being herbivores, they also help shape vegetation dynamics and contribute to seed dispersal.
• Loss of habitat throughout most of their range.
• Another serious concern is susceptibility to domestic cattle diseases like rinderpest, hoof, or mouth disease.
• Palamau Tiger Reserve (PTR) is located on the western side of the Latehar district on the Chhotanagpur plateau in Jharkhand.

SabhaSaar AI Tool:

The Centre is set to unveil an Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered tool named ‘SabhaSaar’ in Tripura on Independence Day.

• It is an AI tool which will automatically generate minutes of meetings of gram sabhas.
• Gram Sabha is the primary body of the Panchayati Raj system, consisting of all registered voters of a gram panchayat.
• SabhaSaar AI Tool leverages the power of AI to generate structured minutes of meetings from gram sabha videos and audio recordings.
• It will bring uniformity in minutes of the gram sabha meetings across the country.
• Panchayat officials can use their e-GramSwaraj login credentials to upload video/audio recordings on ‘SabhaSaar’.
• It is built on Bhashini, an AI-powered language translation platform launched by the government to bridge literacy, language, and digital divides.
• The tool generates transcription from a video or audio, translates it into a chosen output language and prepares a summary.
• It enables transcription in all major Indian languages like Hindi, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi and Gujarati, in addition to English.
• It is ideal for panchayats, administrative bodies, and rural development projects as it streamlines documentation and empowers stakeholders with instant access to meeting insights.

Jellyfish:

France’s Gravelines Nuclear Power Station temporarily shut down three reactors after a massive jellyfish swarm clogged its cooling system.

• Jellyfish are free-swimming marine invertebrates belonging to the phylum Cnidaria and class Scyphozoa.
• They are ancient species, existing for over 500 million years.
• Scientific Name: While “jellyfish” is a common term, most belong to Aurelia aurita (Moon Jellyfish) and related species.
• Found in oceans worldwide, from surface waters to deep seas, often concentrated near coastal zones.
• Key Features:
  • Gelatinous, umbrella-shaped bell with tentacles containing stinging cells (nematocysts).
  • Lacks bones, brain, or heart; body is ~95% water.
  • Moves passively with currents, occasionally pulsating for mobility.
  • Can form blooms — rapid population explosions under favourable conditions.

New Export Promotion Mission:

The Government of India is preparing to launch a ₹2,250 crore Export Promotion Mission to safeguard Indian industries from global trade shocks, including recent US tariff hikes.

• A comprehensive government initiative to enhance India’s export resilience by providing financial support, market diversification, and global branding opportunities for Indian industries, particularly MSMEs.
• Announced in the Union Budget on 1 February 2025 with an outlay of ₹2,250 crore.
• Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) presented the mission to export councils.
• Developed in response to high US tariffs (50%) on Indian goods, impacting sectors like textiles, chemicals, leather, and footwear.
• Nodal Ministry: Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India.

Gallantry Awards for Operation Sindoor to be Announced on 79th Independence Day:

As India prepares to mark its 77th Independence Day, the government will announce gallantry awards for defence personnel who demonstrated exceptional courage during Operation Sindoor. This historic operation is at the heart of this year’s Independence Day celebrations, themed around the “continuing rise of a prosperous, secure and bold Naya Bharat.Selected awardees will be seated at the Red Fort rampart, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi will deliver his address to the nation. Their presence will symbolize the nation’s gratitude and admiration for their courage and contributions.

US National Debt Hits Record $37 Trillion Amid Rising Government Spending:

The U.S. national debt has reached a historic $37 trillion, according to a recent Treasury Department report. This record-breaking figure has arrived years ahead of projections, highlighting the rapid accumulation of federal debt due to pandemic-related expenditures, tax cuts, and new government spending initiatives. The update underscores the mounting challenges facing the U.S. economy and its long-term fiscal sustainability. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) had projected that the U.S. federal debt would surpass $37 trillion after fiscal year 2030. However, the combined impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, massive stimulus packages, and continued borrowing pushed the figure well ahead of schedule. The debt has now surged five years earlier than forecasted, reflecting the scale of federal intervention needed to stabilize the economy during and after the pandemic.

Ravi Narayanan, former Axis Bank executive, has been appointed CEO of SMFG India Credit:

Ravi Narayanan, former Group Executive at Axis Bank, has been appointed CEO of SMFG India Credit, according to sources familiar with the matter. This marks a pivotal leadership change since Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (SMFG) acquired Fullerton India Credit in 2021.The appointment of Ravi Narayanan is seen as the first major leadership overhaul at SMFG India Credit since its acquisition by the Japanese financial giant, SMFG. Narayanan, who previously led retail liabilities, branch banking, and products at Axis Bank, brings with him extensive experience in India’s retail banking landscape.

Rajiv Pratap Rudy wins re-election as CCI General Secretary:

Rajiv Pratap Rudy, senior BJP leader and MP from Saran, has retained his post as General Secretary (Administration) of the Constitution Club of India (CCI). The fiercely contested election, held on Tuesday, culminated in the early hours of Wednesday after 25 rounds of counting, with Rudy defeating fellow BJP leader Sanjeev Kumar Balyan by a decisive margin of 102 votes.The contest was closely watched not just for its result, but for what it revealed about the internal dynamics of the BJP. With both candidates being senior leaders, the battle exposed visible factional lines within the party. Balyan, a former MP from Muzaffarnagar and Union Minister, had strong backing from the top BJP leadership and received cross-party support.

Union Minister Launches ‘Bharat Steel’ Logo, Brochure & Website:

Union Minister of Steel and Heavy Industries, Shri H.D. Kumaraswamy, officially unveiled the logo, brochure, and website for Bharat Steel at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi. This significant launch, attended by Secretary (Steel) Shri Sandeep Poundrik and senior officials of the Ministry of Steel, took place alongside a workshop focused on the secondary steel sector—signaling the government’s dedication to holistic growth, innovation, and sustainability across India’s entire steel value chain.Bharat Steel is the Ministry of Steel’s flagship international conference‑cum‑exhibition, envisioned to become India’s largest steel exposition. Scheduled for 16–17 April 2026 at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi

India Poised to Become the World’s Most Sought-After Consumer Market: Morgan Stanley

According to a recent report by Morgan Stanley, India is on track to become the world’s most sought-after consumer market, driven by a mix of economic stability, financial reforms, and shifting investment patterns. The report paints an optimistic picture of India’s economic future, noting structural shifts in energy use, consumer behavior, credit expansion, and a growing role for manufacturing in the country’s GDP

Bank of Baroda Introduces Global UPI Services via bob इ Pay App:

Bank of Baroda has rolled out international UPI features on its official app, bob इ Pay. This update enables cross-border UPI transactions, making it easier for resident Indians and NRIs to engage in secure and real-time global payments. With this, the bank becomes one of the first public sector banks to align closely with the evolving global UPI ecosystem.The new features introduced include UPI Global Acceptance, Foreign Inward Remittance, and dedicated UPI access for NRIs. These additions transform bob इ Pay from a domestic payment tool into a global digital transaction platform.

Government Appoints Merchant Bankers & Legal Advisors for Minority Stake Sales in LIC and PSBs:

Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) finalized the empanelment of merchant bankers and legal advisors for a tenure of three years, with provision for extension up to five years, to lead the government’s minority stake sales in Life Insurance Corporation (LIC), public sector banks (PSBs), and insurance companies. This strategic step is pivotal in aligning with SEBI’s public shareholding norms and accelerating the disinvestment agenda.