Current Affairs: 15th October 2025

• Dashboard to keep track of govt. litigation launched

Context: The Department of Legal Affairs, Ministry of Law and Justice, inaugurated the “Live Cases” dashboard under the Legal Information Management and Briefing System (LIMBS), designed to provide real-time data visualisation of court cases and offer an overview of upcoming hearings.

• Union Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal inaugurated the dashboard, describing it as “a significant step towards enhancing transparency, accountability, and efficiency in government litigation management.”
• According to official data, the portal currently tracks 7,23,123 live cases from 53 ministries and departments.

• India to train border security force of Mongolia, says Modi

Context: India will start a new programme to help in capacity building for the border security force of Mongolia, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said.

• Welcoming visiting Mongolian President Khurelsukh Ukhnaa, Mr. Modi highlighted common Buddhist bonds between Mongolia and India. He announced that holy relics of two of Lord Buddha’s leading disciples would travel to Mongolia next year. He also said that India would start issuing free e-visas for Mongolian citizens.
• “Our defence and security cooperation is also steadily strengthening. We have launched several new initiatives, from training programmes to the appointment of a Defence Attaché at the Embassy. India will also launch a new capacity-building programme for Mongolia’s border security forces,” Mr. Modi said.
• Explaining the announcement, senior officials of the Ministry of External Affairs said India and Mongolia already had joint defence exercises, saying, “They are interested and they see a lot of benefits of training with us.”
• Mr. Modi highlighted common Buddhist links between India and Mongolia and said, “I am happy to announce that next year, the holy relics of two great disciples of Lord Buddha — Sariputra and Maudgalyayana — will be sent from India to Mongolia.”
• The two sides signed 10 MoUs covering areas such as immigration, cooperation, humanitarian aid, geology and mineral resources, and yoga.

• Get advertisements pre-certified, EC tells parties ahead of polls

Context: Ahead of the Bihar Assembly election, the Election Commission (EC) on Tuesday directed political parties to get advertisements pre-certified, and asked candidates to inform it about their “authentic” social media accounts while filing nominations.

• The election will be held in two phases on November 6 and 11, followed by counting of votes on November 14.
• In a statement, the EC said it had issued orders on October 9, requiring every registered, national and state political party, and every candidate to apply to the Media Certification and Monitoring Committee for pre-certification of all political advertisements on electronic media, including social media, before publication.
• The statement said such committees had been constituted at the district and State levels for pre-certification of political advertisements under the prescribed guidelines and no political advertisements were to be released to any Internet-based media or websites, including social media websites, by political parties or candidates without pre-certification by the respective committee.
• These panels shall keep a strict vigilance on suspected cases of paid news in the media and take suitable action.
• The poll panel said that bulk SMS and audio messages during the 48-hour “silence period”, which starts before the conclusion of voting, is prohibited.
• “Further, given the penetration of social media in the electoral landscape, candidates have also been instructed to share the details of their authentic social media accounts at the time of filing nomination,” it said.
• Political parties should also submit a statement of expenditure incurred on campaigning through Internet, including social media websites, to the EC within 75 days of the completion of the election.

• India calls for swift action on climate measures at Pre-COP

Context: Environment Minister Bhupendra Yadav emphasised the need to “implement” climate measures, in a series of meetings in Brasilia, Brazil, on Monday in the build-up to the 30th edition of the Conference of Parties (COP) in the city of Belem, beginning November 10.

• “We must now focus on implementing ambitious climate measures and, above all, addressing the most pressing challenge: the urgent lack of resources for developing countries to deliver adaptation and mitigation,” he said. The Minister stressed that the time for continuous reviews without action has passed. “Dialogue is important, but action is imperative.”
• These meetings called ‘Pre-COP’ meetings are an annual feature ahead of the main meeting and usually involve participation by a small group of senior delegates representing their countries, to iron out differences, find common bridging points to improve the chances of a successful outcome at the COP meeting.
• Mr. Yadav acknowledged the successful conclusion of the first Global Stock Take (GST), a five-yearly process established by the Paris Agreement to assess the world’s collective progress on climate action.
• He said that the GST is designed to strengthen ambition by performing three essential roles — enabling Parties (member countries) to evaluate collective progress, identify remaining gaps, and guide enhanced actions both domestically and globally.
• The Minister also met Mr. Simon Stiell, Executive Secretary, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

• WHO issues product alert on three contaminated oral liquid medicines

Context: The World Health Organization (WHO) has issued a medical product alert on three liquid medicines identified in India as contaminated and reported to it on October 8.

• They have been identified to be of specific batches of Coldrif, Respifresh TR and ReLife, manufactured by Sresan Pharmaceutical, Rednex Pharmaceuticals, and Shape Pharma, respectively.
• The UN agency said Indian regulatory authorities had been advised to consider targeted market surveillance, with particular attention to informal and unregulated supply chains where products might circulate undetected.
• They should carefully evaluate the risks associated with any oral liquid medicines originating from the same manufacturing sites — particularly those produced since December 2024.
• “The CDSCO [Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation] has informed WHO that none of the contaminated medicines have been exported from India and there is currently no evidence of illegal export,” it said adding that the affected products contained active ingredients commonly used to relieve symptoms of the common cold, flu, or cough.

Substandard product

• The WHO said the products were considered substandard as they failed to meet quality standards and specifications. On October 8, the CDSCO reported presence of diethylene glycol in at least three oral liquid medicines. Diethylene glycol is toxic to humans when consumed and can prove fatal.
• “WHO continues to collaborate closely with Indian health authorities to monitor the situation, identify the source of the contamination and mitigate any potential public health risks,” it said.
• The agency warned that the contaminated products posed significant risks to patients and could cause life-threatening illness.

• Defence Minister calls for reformed multilateralism upholding global order

Context: Some nations are violating or undermining global rules while others seek to impose their own, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said, asserting that India stands firm in upholding the international rules-based order even as it pushes for reform of outdated multilateral structures to meet contemporary challenges.

• Addressing senior military leaders of the United Nations Troop Contributing Countries (UNTCC) at the inaugural session of the Chiefs’ Conclave under way at the Manekshaw Centre in New Delhi from October 14 to 16, and being hosted by India for the first time, the Defence Minister highlighted a “4C formula” — consultation, cooperation, coordination, and capacity-building — as a guiding principle for UN peacekeeping. The approach was essential to tackle emerging challenges, and ensuring sustainable global peace, he said.
• Urging technologically advanced and financially capable nations to enhance their contributions through troops, logistics, technology, and specialised capacities, the Minister said innovations such as secure communications, surveillance systems, and unmanned platforms could make missions safer and more effective.
• “Meeting the emerging challenges demands more than bravery; it requires adaptability and innovation on the part of troop-contributing countries,” Mr. Singh said.
• Mr. Singh leader reaffirmed India’s steadfast support to UN peacekeeping, noting that nearly 2,90,000 Indian personnel had served in over 50 missions across the world, from the Congo and Korea to South Sudan and Lebanon. “India is ready to contribute troops, share expertise, and support reforms that make peacekeeping more effective and accountable,” he said.
• In his welcome address, Chief of the Army Staff General Upendra Dwivedi highlighted India’s long-standing contributions to UN peacekeeping.

• Google to invest $15 billionin AI data centre at Vizag

Context: This would be the tech giant’s largest AI hub ever outside the United States; Bharti Airtel, AdaniConneX to help build the ‘gigawatt-scale’ compute capacity data centre.

• In a yet another boost to Andhra Pradesh’s digital ambitions, tech giant Google announced Tuesday that it would be investing approximately $15 billion over the next five years to develop a ‘gigawatt-scale’ compute capacity data centre focussed on artificial intelligence (AI) in Vishakhapatnam.
• The MoU was signed in the presence of AP Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Union IT and Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, Andhra Pradesh IT Minister Nara Lokesh, and Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian, and senior officials. Mr. Kurian informed this would be the largest AI hub the California-based tech company would be building outside the U.S.
• The tech giant would be partnering with telecom services provider Bharti Airtel and data centre services provider AdaniConneX to help build the data centre. The AI hub would look to provide high-performance and low-latency services that businesses require to scale their AI-powered suites.
• Additionally, Google’s AI hub investment would also look to create a connectivity hub in Vishakhapatnam seeking to bring multiple international sea cables to land in the Port City. This would be further connected with the tech-giant’s two million miles of existing terrestrial and subsea cables, thus, enhancing connectivity. “We see this hub not just serving India but from India serving Asia and other parts of the world,” Mr. Kurian stated.
• Welcoming the announcement as “historic”, Mr. Naidu emphasised in a larger context, “AI is key to addressing some of our most pressing challenges, from agriculture and manufacturing to healthcare and finance. It will transform critical sectors, bring far-reaching benefits to our people, enhance governance, empower businesses and improve lives.”
• Ms. Sitharaman hailed the collaboration as a milestone in India’s digital evolution. “The establishment of an AI Data Centre and subsea cable landing station in Visakhapatnam is a major stride toward our national growth vision,” she said.

‘Explore Andamans’

• Mr. Vaishnaw suggested that Google explore the Andaman region to lay their undersea subsea cables. “It is a very strategic location, and Singapore today is all choked. Why can’t we make Andaman as the next global hub for data transfer,” he said, assuring the Union Government’s support. He emphasised the region could help reach Southeast Asia, Australia and a “large part of the world which is today looking at totally new capacity”.
• He sought to know if the facility could be used for developing employment potential and talent to cater to AI services which were emerging as a “major new category of the digital economy”.

• IMF forecasts India to grow 6.6% in 2025, cuts projection for next year

Context: The International Monetary Fund (IMF), in its October outlook, increased India’s growth projections by 20 basis points to 6.6% for 2025 whilst projecting a decline of the same intensity to 6.2% in 2026.

• The Washington-headquartered financial institution predicted that global growth would edge upwards by 20 basis points to 3.2% this year, with the outlook for 2026 unchanged at 3.1%.
• Elaborating the rationale for the upward revision for India, IMF attributed it to a carry-over effect from a “strong” first quarter, which helped New Delhi “more than offset” the impact of U.S. President Donald Trump-induced tariff regime since July.
• India’s GDP in June-end had peaked to a five-quarter high of 7.8%, driven primarily by sectors such as manufacturing, services and construction.
• The downward revision for 2026, thus, considers a fading of the momentum from the first quarter.
• IMF attributed the slowdown in global growth to headwinds from “uncertainty and protectionism”.
• The IMF, however, stated that the impact of the tariff was “smaller than originally announced [anticipated]”.

• Saudi Arabia to boost ties with India in textile sector

Context: A high-level Saudi Arabia delegation led by Vice-Minister for Industry and Mineral Resources Khalil ibn Salamah met Union Textiles Secretary Neelam Shami Rao in New Delhi to advance bilateral cooperation in the textile sector.

• India was the second-largest supplier ($517.5 million) to Saudi’s textile and apparel sector in 2024 capturing 11.2% share of textile and apparel imports.
• At the meeting, there was mutual recognition of Saudi’s strength in petrochemical-based industries and India’s expanding capabilities in Man-Made Fibre and technical textiles.