UPSC Current Affairs – News Summary of 19 December 2025

News Summary · 4 minutes read

Stay ahead in your UPSC CSE preparation with our daily News Summary. Designed to save time, it highlights key national and international events from leading newspapers and government websites.

India signs Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Oman

India and Oman have signed an FTA named “Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA).” It is India’s 2nd FTA with a country in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), after a pact with the UAE in 2022 (it was also a CEPA).

Key highlights of India-Oman CEPA

• Oman will provide India duty-free access to over 98% of its tariff lines, covering over 99% of Indian exports to Oman.
  • Indian exports to Oman from labour-intensive sectors, such as gems & jewellery, textiles, leather, footwear, sports goods, plastics, furniture, agricultural products, engineering products, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and automobiles, will receive complete tariff elimination.
• India will provide Oman with liberalised tariffs on over 77% of its total tariff lines, covering over 94% of India’s imports from Oman.
  • Imports of sensitive products from Oman to India, such as dairy, tea, coffee, rubber, tobacco, gold and silver bullion, jewellery, footwear, sports goods, and scrap of many base metals, are excluded from liberalised tariffs.
• Provides foran enhanced mobility framework for Indian professionals.
• Provides for 100% FDI by Indian companies in major services sectors in Oman.

India-Oman trade in FY 2024-25

• India exported over $4 billion worth of merchandise to Oman → 0.93% of India’s total exports.
• Petroleum products (35%) dominate India’s bilateral trade with Oman.
• India imported $6.5 billion worth of merchandise from Oman → 0.91% of India’s total imports.
• Crude oil and petroleum gases (38%) dominate India’s imports from Oman.
• India accounts for over 5% of the value of services imported by Oman from across the world.

India’s Commerce and Industry Minister Shri Piyush Goyal signing CEPA with his Omani counterpart in the presence of PM Modi and Oman’s Sultan Haitham bin Tarik. Photo: X/@PiyushGoyal

DHRUV64 chip

• A fully indigenous microprocessor was recently announced to be launched by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY).
• Developed by the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) under the Microprocessor Development Programme of MEITY.
• Features a 64-bit, dual-core processor that runs at 1 GHz.
• 3^rd chip (after THEJAS32 and THEJAS64) under Digital India RISC-V (DIR-V) programme, which aims to build a portfolio of RISC-V-based microprocessors for industry, military, and consumer technologies.

RISC-V

• A set of open instructions that a processor understands → core rules are publicly available.
• Anyone can design a chip that follows RISC-V, without paying a licence fee for these instructions → this is why governments and research groups sometimes prefer RISC-V.
• Can be modulated or fine-tuned for different tasks.

Significance of indigenous processors

• Processors are essential to strategically crucial sectors such as telecom, defence, space, automotive, industrial automation, and digital infrastructure, where India currently relies heavily on imported chips.
• Indigenous processors enhance self‑reliance, reduce exposure to export controls and supply‑chain shocks, and strengthen security and tech diplomacy by providing trusted, controllable hardware

India’s push for indigenous chips

• DHRUV64 is part of India’s ecosystem of processors that address India’s strategic needs. Examples of such processors include:
  • SHAKTI from IIT-Madras
  • AJIT from IIT-Bombay
  • VIKRAM from the ISRO-Semiconductor Lab
  • THEJAS64 from C-DAC (2025).
• C-DAC’s upcoming processors include DHANUSH (planned 1.2-GHz, quad-core) and DHANUSH+ (planned 2-GHz, quad-core).
• India’s major initiatives in this regard include:
  • India Semiconductor Mission
  • ‘Chips to Startup’ programme
  • Design Linked Incentive (DLI) scheme
  • INUP-i2i (Indian Nanoelectronics Users’ Programme – Idea to Innovation) initiative

11th edition of Diabetes Atlas

• Published by the International Diabetes Federation (Founded in 1950; HQ in Brussels).
• Projects that the number of people living with diabetes will increase from 500 million in 2024 (11.11% of the population) to 900 million in 2050 (12.96% of the population) among ages 20-79.
• In 2024, more people with diabetes were living in urban areas than in rural areas → this trend is expected to continue in the future as well.
• Top countries with diabetes burden: China > India (90 million patients) > USA > Pakistan
• In 2050, while China and India are expected to maintain their top positions, Pakistan is likely to climb to the third spot.

One State One RRB policy

• Implemented by the Department of Financial Services (MoF), effective 1 May 2025.
• Amalgamated 26 Regional Rural banks (RRBs) across 10 States and 1 UT, reducing total RRBs to 28 across 26 states and 2 UTs, with ~92% of branches in rural/semi-urban areas.
• Marks 4th phase of amalgamation of RRBs.
• Previous 3 phases:
  • Phase I (2006-2010): RRBs reduced from 196 to 82
  • Phase II (2013-2015): RRBs reduced to 56
  • Phase III (2019-2021): RRBs reduced to 43.
• Purpose: operational efficiency, better governance, and enhanced financial inclusion in rural areas.

Quick Picks for Pre and Mains (QPPM)

• Zamzam displacement camp (Sudan): hosts the victims of the Sudanese civil war → Sudanese paramilitary Rapid Support Forces killed over 1000 civilians living in the camp in April 2025.
• Hezbollah: an Iran-backed Shiite Muslim political party and militant group based in Lebanon.