UPSC Current Affairs – News Summary of 2 November 2025

News Summary · 5 minutes read

Photo: Newsonair

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.

Households accumulating debt faster than creating assets: RBI

• Indian Households added ₹7.5 lakh crore to their financial liabilities portfolio in 2019-20, which grew to ₹15.7 lakh crore in 2024-25 → 102% higher.
• Indian Households added ₹24.1 lakh crore to their financial assets in 2019-20, which grew to ₹35.6 lakh crore in 2024-25 → 48% growth.
• Financial assets added by Indian households each year stood at 12% of India’s GDP in 2019-20, which declined to 10.8% of India’s GDP by 2024-25. 
• Financial liabilities of Indian households made up 3.9% of India’s GDP in 2019, which increased to 4.7% of India’s GDP in 2024-25.
• Changing nature of savings: bank deposits have remained the main destination for household savings, but the share of mutual funds has grown rapidly.

Lucknow joins UNESCO Creative Cities Network

• Lucknow was declared a UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy during the 43rd Session of the UNESCO General Conference in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.
• Showcases the food heritage of Uttar Pradesh, strengthens cultural diplomacy, and has the potential to boost food tourism.
• It will strengthen Lucknow’s global outreach and promote food-based entrepreneurship in the city.

PM SHRI scheme and disputes around it

• Prime Minister’s Schools for Rising India (PM SHRI) scheme was launched in 2022.
  • Centrally Sponsored Scheme → seeks to develop 14,500+ existing schools as model institutions that showcase the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
  • Total outlay is ₹27,360 crore, spread over a period of 5 years till March 2027 → will be shared between Centre and States in a 60:40 ratio (90:10 for northeastern and Himalayan States and the UT of J & K) → Centre gives 100% funds to UTs without legislature.
  • Only existing elementary and secondary/senior secondary schools managed by the Union/State/UT/local self-governments and having Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE+) code are selected for the scheme.
  • The selection takes place in three stages:
    1. MoU signing: States/UTs agree to implement NEP 2020 fully.
    2. Shortlisting: Schools meeting minimum benchmarks based on UDISE+ data are chosen.
    3. Final selection: Shortlisted schools compete under a challenge process, verified by States/UTs, with up to two schools per block or urban area approved by an expert committee.
• PM SHRI schools promote experiential, holistic, and flexible learning based on the National or State Curriculum Framework aligned with NEP 2020. Teaching in the mother tongue or regional language is encouraged in the early years.
• A ‘School Quality Assessment Framework’ measures the performance of these schools.
• Why do some states oppose the PM SHRI scheme?
  • Due to their opposition to NEP 2020, objection to adding the ‘PM SHRI’ prefix in the school name, and preference for State-led projects.
  • Most States later agreed, but Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal still remain out.
  • West Bengal objects to the funding share and naming conditions.
  • Tamil Nadu opposes the three-language formula, viewing it as Hindi imposition.
  • Kerala links the scheme to NEP’s ideological influence, claiming it may lead to the communalisation of education.
• Kerala recently signed the MoU for PM SHRI, but later paused its implementation due to the State’s internal political turmoil.

Quick Picks

1. Kerala becomes the first Indian State to declare itself free of extreme poverty.
2. Sri Venkateswara Swamy temple: Kasibugga, Srikakulam, Andhra Pradesh. 
3. RBI announced the withdrawal of ₹2,000 denomination banknotes in May 2023. More than 98% notes have returned since then, and remaining notes are still in circulation → ₹2,000 banknotes are still legal tender. 
4. Simplified GST registration scheme: rolled out from 1 November 2025 → small and low-risk businesses will get GST registration within three working days. 
5. ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting-Plus (ADMM-Plus): comprises 11-nation ASEAN and its 8 dialogue partners (Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, Russia and the US).
6. Mount Kilimanjaro: a dormant volcano in Tanzania → highest mountain in Africa and the highest free-standing mountain (stands alone, not part of a mountain range) above sea level in the world.
7. KK Park: a cyber scam centre in Myanmar, where hundreds of Indians were forced to do online scam activities (recently they fled to Thailand, and are being repatriated to India) → located in Golden Triangle region (border area of Myanmar, Thailand, and Laos), which is famous for illicit activities, including drug trafficking, human trafficking, and cybercrime.
8. Francesca Orsini: an Italian scholar, renowned for her works on Hindi and Urdu literature, with major works like “The Hindi Public Sphere” and “Before the Divide: Hindi and Urdu Literary Cultures” → recently, she was denied entry into India due to visa-related complications.
9. Samia Suluhu Hassan: secured 2nd term as the President of Tanzania in the recently held elections.

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