Daily Current Affairs for UPSC IAS: 3rd November 2025

Negros Island:

An earthquake measuring 5.8 in magnitude struck Negros Island, Philippines, recently.

• Negros Island is one of the Visayan Islands, central Philippines.
• It is the fourth largest and third most populous island in the Philippines.
• It is a boot-shaped island that is 217 km long and 35 to 79 km wide.
• It is separated from the island of Panay to the northwest by the Guimaras Strait and from Cebu Island to the east by the Tanon Strait.
• The island is bordered on the north and south by the Visayan and Sulu seas, respectively.
• A central mountain range runs through the entire island and is deeply dissected by erosion.
• The range contains Mount Canlaon, an active volcano that at 8,086 feet (2,465 metres) is the highest point in Negros.
• This island has a rugged mountain interior, underwater coral gardens, and beautiful beaches.
• The island’s major rivers are the Binalbagan, Ilog, Tolong, and Tanjay.
• It is famed for its rich marine biodiversity and as the nation’s “Sugar Capital.”

Enshittification:

The now-viral term ‘enshittification’ helped put a name to a change that internet users are noticing: the feeling that many of your digital experiences, transactions, and services are not improving with time but are actually becoming worse because of their makers’ updates.

• It is an informal word used to criticize the degradation in the quality and experience of online platforms over time, often due to profit-seeking behavior or monopolistic control.
• In 2022, the Canada-born author, tech journalist, and activist Cory Doctorow coined the term “enshittification”.
• It is a way of naming the process through which internet platforms are being made deliberately worse for customers, by their decision-makers, until they decay completely.
• It is also used to refer to a range of symptoms that degrade your experience as an internet user or customer.
• Some examples include the insertion of advertisements, self-preferencing by tech companies, unfair bias in search results, once-free features becoming paid, genuine products being replaced with lower-value dupes, and more.

Ramnami Tribe:

Two members of the Ramnami tribe became emotional when the Prime Minister broke the protocol allowing them to adorn him with their traditional headgear- peacock feather crown- recently.

• The Ramnamis are a unique sect from Chhattisgarh, India, who tattoo the name “Ram” on their bodies and faces.
• The Ramnami Samaj is a movement that came up in what is now central and northern Chhattisgarh in the 19th century as an act of peaceful resistance against the caste system in India that denied many of them entry to temples.
• According to a popular legend, it was started by Parsuram Bhardwaj, the son of a low-caste sharecropper.
• More than 100 years ago, the sect decided to tattoo their bodies and faces with the name of nirgun (unmanifest) Ram to show that Ram, or God, was omnipresent and everywhere.
• In 1910, the Ramnami Samaj was taken to court by upper-caste Hindu groups over this unique practice, but they won the case and the right to inscribe Ram’s name on their bodies, clothing, and living spaces.
• Ramnamis emphasize worshiping Ram in any form, whether in saffron robes or with a shaved head.
• They prioritize gender equality and adorn themselves with ‘ghungroos’ and a crown crafted from peacock feathers.
• In Chhattisgarh, ‘ghungroos’ play a vital role in their dances and Bhajan performances.
• Their white attires were also decorated with the name of Ram, while the peacock feathers on their headgear held a rich mythological significance.
• At one time, their population stood anywhere near 6 lakh, but it has come down to 100,000, with some estimates suggesting only 20,000 Ramnami remain.

Burevestnik Missile: In News

The Russian President recently announced that Russia had tested its Burevestnik nuclear-powered cruise missile.

• The Burevestnik, whose name translates as “storm petrel“, is a ground-launched, low-flying cruise missile that is not only capable of carrying a nuclear warhead but is also nuclear-powered.
• It was developed by Russia.
• It is one of six strategic weapons that the Russian President introduced in a 2018 speech.
• It is code-named ‘SSC-X-9 Skyfall’ by NATO.
• It is powered by a small nuclear reactor, which heats up air to propel the missile forward.
• Its nuclear propulsion gives the missile much longer range than traditional turbojet or turbofan engines that are limited by how much fuel they can carry.
• That propulsion gives it virtually unlimited range, allowing it to loiter for days, circling the enemy’s air defenses and attacking from an unexpected direction.
• The missile is also designed to fly at low altitudes, much lower than a conventionally powered cruise missile, which would make it harder for air-defence radar to detect.

Laokhowa Wildlife Sanctuary:

Civil society organisations and conservationists in Assam have urged authorities to declare the Roumari-Donduwa Wetland Complex within Laokhowa Wildlife Sanctuary as a Ramsar Site, citing its international ecological significance and rich avian biodiversity.

• It is located on the southern part of the Brahmaputra River in the Nagaon District of Assam.
• It covers an area of around 70.13 sq.km.
• It forms an integral part of the Laokhowa-Burachapori ecosystem and is a notified buffer of the Kazairanga Tiger Reserve.
• It is a part of the Brahmaputra valley.
• The sanctuary is surrounded by human-dominated areas on all sides except for the north.
• The vegetation composition of Laokhowa can be broadly categorized into alluvial grassland, alluvial forest, moist deciduous forest, and tropical semi-evergreen forest.
• The sanctuary is home to the great Indian-one horned rhinoceros, elephants, royal Bengal tigers, Asiatic water buffaloes and more than 225 species of birds.
• Some of the birds spotted here are the spot-billed pelican, little and large cormorant, egret, open-billed stork, brahminy kite, pond heron, etc.

Exercise Poorvi Prachand Prahar:

India to hold tri-service exercise Poorvi Prachand Prahar in Mechuka, Arunachal Pradesh.

• It is a tri-service military exercise conceived as a forward-looking exercise, which will validate multi-domain integration across land, air, and maritime fronts.
• It will be held in Mechuka, Arunachal Pradesh.
• It is aimed at enhancing warfighting capabilities, technological adaptation, and operational synergy among the Army, Navy, and Air.
• It refines interoperability, improves situational awareness, and validates command-and-control structures for joint missions.
• The exercise focuses on multi-domain integration, across land, air and maritime domains, to enhance operational synergy, technological adaptation, and readiness for future conflicts.
• The exercise involves coordinated employment of special forces, unmanned platforms, precision systems and networked operations centres operating in unison under realistic high-altitude conditions.

Gogabeel Lake:

India’s one more wetland, Gogabeel Lake in Katihar district of Bihar, has got a tag of international importance as a Ramsar site.

• It is a part of trans-Gangetic plains of land located in the state of
• Gogabil lake is an ‘ox-bow’ type of wetland.
• It is flanked by the river Mahananda to the North-East and the river Ganga to the South.
• It was declared Bihar’s first ‘Community Reserve’.
• Local cultural traditional festivals like Sirva, Adra , Chhat are observed in this wetland.
• These natural landscapes consist of tropical dry deciduous forests.
• It provides wintering habitat to several migratory bird species and species of global conservation significance.
• It is home to the Smooth Coated Otter (Lutrogale perspici lata) and Helicopter Catfish (Wa lago attu).
• It serves as a breeding ground for Vulnerable fish species Walago attu.
• The Ramsar Convention was signed in 1971 is a landmark international treaty dedicated to the conservation and sustainable use of wetlands.
• It aims to conserve and promote the wise use of wetlands through local, national, and international cooperation for sustainable development.

Water lettuce:

El Salvador’s Lake Suchitlan is overwhelmed by invasive water lettuce which is impacting thousands of families dependent on fishing and tourism.

• Water lettuce is a perennial, free-floating aquatic weed found in tropical countries worldwide, including Asia, Africa and equatorial America.
• It is also known as water cabbage, Nile cabbage, or shellflower.
• It is a floating aquatic herb that resembles a floating head of lettuce. It has white to tan, long and feathery roots that hang beneath the rosette of leaves.
• It grows best on still or slow moving bodies of fresh water such as farm dams, reservoirs, lakes, rivers and creeks.
• It forms dense mats that clog waterways making boating, fishing, and other water activities impossible.
• These mats also degrade water quality by blocking the air-water interface and greatly reducing oxygen levels which can result in fish die-off and the overall reduction of aquatic fauna and flora diversity
• It affects water flow, damages native ecosystems.

Asian Youth Games 2025:

Prime Minister of India congratulated India’s young athletes for their historic performance at the Asian Youth Games 2025, where India achieved its best-ever medal tally of 48 medals.The Asian Youth Games (AYG) is a continental multi-sport event organised by the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) for athletes aged between 14–17 years, aimed at nurturing young sporting talent across Asia. First held in Singapore in 2009, the Games were designed as a feeder event for the Asian Games, helping young athletes gain international exposure early in their careers.

2025 Event (Bahrain):

• Held in Manama, Bahrain, from 22–31 October 2025.
• Featured participants from across Asia in multiple disciplines.
• India delivered a record-breaking performance, winning 48 medals — its highest-ever tally, surpassing previous bests from 2009 and 2013 editions.
• 13 gold, 18 silver, 17 bronze which is total of 48 medals.

Kerala Declare Free from Extreme Poverty:

On Kerala Piravi Day, Chief Minister declared Kerala free from extreme poverty, marking India’s first state-level success in achieving this milestone through a four-year Extreme Poverty Eradication Programme (EPEP).According to the World Bank (2025 revision), individuals living on less than $3 per day (2021 PPP) are considered to be in extreme poverty.This threshold represents the median poverty line of low-income countries. It is distinct from poverty, which applies to those earning below higher national or multidimensional thresholds.Unlike the World Bank or NITI Aayog’s Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI), Kerala defined extreme poverty through four local indicators — food insecurity, poor health access, lack of housing, and absence of income.The approach focused on human deprivation rather than purely income-based metrics.

ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025:

India created history by winning its maiden ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025, defeating South Africa by 52 runs in the final held at Dr. DY Patil Stadium, Navi Mumbai.The ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup is the premier One Day International (ODI) championship for women, organized by the International Cricket Council (ICC) every four years. Each team plays 50 overs, and qualification is determined through the ICC Women’s Championship and World Cup Qualifier tournaments. India lifted its first-ever Women’s World Cup, cementing its place among top global cricketing nations.