UPSC Current Affairs – News Summary of 27 October 2025

News Summary · 5 minutes read

PM Modi participating virtually in 22nd ASEAN-India Summit. Photo: DD News

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.

22nd ASEAN-India Summit

• Held on 26 October 2025 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia → PM Modi participated virtually.
• Held concurrently with the 47th ASEAN Summit, in which Timor Leste (East Timor) formally became the 11th member of ASEAN.
• Outcomes/Announcements/Proposals:
  • India’s extended support for ASEAN-India Plan of Action to implement the ASEAN-India Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (2026-2030).
  • ASEAN-India Joint Leaders’ Statement on Sustainable Tourism to strengthen tourism cooperation → 2025 is the ASEAN-India Year of Tourism.
  • Designation of the year 2026 as the ASEAN-India Year of Maritime Cooperation.
  • Proposal for establishment of a Centre for Southeast Asian Studies at Nalanda University.
  • Proposal for holding the East Asia Summit Maritime Heritage Festival at Lothal, Gujarat.
• PM Modi also called for the early review of the ASEAN-India FTA (AITIGA).

e-Courts Mission Mode Project

• It was conceptualized on the basis of the “National Policy and Action Plan for Implementation of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in the Indian Judiciary – 2005” submitted by eCommittee (Supreme Court).
• Launched in 2007 → implemented by the e-Committee of the Supreme Court with support from the Department of Justice.
• Aims to modernize and digitize the Indian judiciary system → to make justice accessible, transparent and efficient through ICT tools like e-filing, e-payment, video-conferencing, and digital records.
• Primarily focuses on district and subordinate courts, but expanded to include High Courts during its Phase III.
• It does not cover the Supreme Court, which operates with a separate ICT infrastructure.
• Phases:
  • Phase I (2007–2015): basic computerisation of district & subordinate courts, Case Information System (CIS), LAN, and staff training.
  • Phase II (2015–2023): integration via WAN, National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG), video-conferencing, e-filing, and e-sewa kendras.
  • Phase III (2023–2027): efforts for paperless, cloud-based, AI-enabled smart courts; integration with Inter-Operable Criminal Justice System (ICJS).
• Recently, the United Kingdom has shown interest in the e-Courts project and decided to send a delegation to India.

LVM3-M5/CMS-03 MISSION

• Scheduled for launch on 2 November 2025 → India’s LVM3 (Launch Vehicle Mark 3) heavy-lift rocket will carry the CMS-03 communication satellite to Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) → CMS-03 is the heaviest communication satellite to be launched to GTO from Indian soil.
• CMS-03 (also known as GSAT-7R): a 4,400 kg multi-band communication satellite → designed and developed by ISRO’s U R Rao Satellite Centre (URSC) → primarily designed for Indian Navy.

IUCN World Heritage Outlook 4 (2025)

• 4 major threats to South Asian heritage sites: climate change, unregulated tourism, invasive alien species, and expanding roads.
• Outlook (rating) of Indian Sites:
  • Good: Khangchendzonga National Park
  • Good with some concerns: Great Himalayan National Park Conservation Area, Kaziranga National Park, Keoladeo National Park, and Nanda Devi and Valley of Flowers National Parks.
  • Significant concern (3): Western Ghats, Manas Wildlife Sanctuary, and Sundarbans National Park.
• Western Ghats face habitat loss from hydropower projects (e.g., Sillahalla project), plantations, invasive species (eucalyptus, acacia), and climate-driven species shifts.
• Sundarbans suffer from salinity, pollution, and sea-level rise, threatening mangrove and tiger habitats.
• Globally, natural World Heritage sites occupy <1% of Earth’s surface but sustain >20% of known biodiversity.
• The report urges implementation of the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework to halt biodiversity loss.

RBI’s Co-Lending Arrangements (CLA) Directions, 2025 

• RBI announced Co-Lending Arrangements (CLA) Directions, 2025 in August 2025 → will come into effect from 1 January 2026.
• Permits Regulated Entities (REs) to co-lend with other REs. Applicability is as follows:  
  • Commercial Banks (excluding Small Finance Banks, Local Area Banks and Regional Rural Banks)
  • All-India Financial Institutions
  • Non-Banking Financial Companies (including Housing Finance Companies).
• Expands the framework beyond Priority Sector Lending (PSL) to cover lending across all sectors.
• Each co-lender must retain a minimum 10% share of the loan.
• Originating co-lender may provide default loss guarantee up to 5% of outstanding loan.
• Aims to expand affordable credit to MSMEs, renewable energy, and rural infrastructure while ensuring transparency and prudent risk-sharing.

Quick Picks

1. Hanle Dark Sky Reserve: located in Ladakh → India’s first dark sky reserve
2. Port of Spain: capital and chief port of Trinidad and Tobago, located in the Gulf of Paria → Recently a, US warship USS Gravely arrived in Port of Spain → linked to the broader US-Venezuela tensions due to allegations of the US that Venezuela promotes drug trafficking and crime in the Caribbean region.
3. FARC dissidents: armed criminal groups composed of former members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) who rejected the 2016 peace agreement signed between FARC and Colombia → primarily operate in Colombia and Venezuela.
4. Rapid Support Forces, a rebel paramilitary group in Sudan, claimed full control of El-Fasher city in Sudan’s Darfur region.
5. Burevestnik: a nuclear-powered cruise missile, recently tested by Russia → was code-named Skyfall by NATO.
6. Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK): a Kurdish militant group primarily based in Turkey, Iraq and Syria → recently announced to withdraw its fighters from Turkey.
7. Houthis (Ansar Allah): Iran-backed political and armed group in Yemen.
8. Yiddish: a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews → classified as an endangered language by UNESCO.
9. Global Peace Prayer Festival (GPPF): to be organized by Bhutan in November 2025 → expected to bring together eminent lamas or monks from all schools of Buddhism.

Practice: Daily Current Affairs Quiz ↗️
Read: News Summary ↗️
Subscribe: Telegram Channel ↗️
Join: Telegram Group ↗️