Current Affairs: 16th Sept 2025

• SC stays ‘arbitrary’ Waqf changes, but upholds Act

Context: Court says judgment based on only a prima facie consideration of the 2025 law, its observations will not prevent parties from making future submissions about the validity of provisions in the Act.

• The Supreme Court struck a balance by staying crucial portions of the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025, which it found “prima facie arbitrary” while refusing to freeze the law in its entirety.
• In a judgment on a plea for a interim stay of the law, a Bench of Chief Justice of India B.R. Gavai and Justice A.G. Masih reasoned that parliamentary legislation was naturally presumed to be constitutional as the lawmakers would only have the public’s best interests in mind, so much so that even discrimination woven into the statute would be based on adequate grounds.
• However, this reasoning did not stop the court from staying key provisions of the 2025 Act, including the one which required a person intending to create a Waqf to prove that he had been practising Islam for five years.
• The court clarified that the judgment was based on a prima facie consideration of the 2025 law.
• The observations in the judgment would not prevent parties from making future submissions about the validity of provisions in the Act.
• The court said there was nothing wrong in requiring a person to prove that he had been practising the faith for at least five years, considering that Waqf endowments were misused as a “clever device to tie up property in order to defeat creditors and generally to evade the law under the cloak of a plausible dedication to the Almighty”.
• However, the Bench found it arbitrary that the law failed to provide a basic mechanism or procedure to ascertain whether the person had indeed been practising Islam for at least five years. Chief Justice Gavai directed the provision to be shelved until the government came up with a mechanism.
• The court found “totally unconstitutional” a proviso in Section 3C, which mandated that a Waqf would lose its character the moment someone raised a doubt that it was government property.
• Chief Justice Gavai said though any government property was public asset, and a designated officer had every reason to conduct an inquiry, it could not suddenly cease to be one before the designated officer completes the probe and submits the report.
• The court stayed parts of Section 3C that allowed the designated officer and a State government to unilaterally alter revenue and Waqf Board records, respectively, changing the status of a Waqf property into a government property. Chief Justice Gavai held that determination of the title (ownership) of a property came within the ambit of the judiciary, and the executive would be breaching the fundamental principle of separation of powers by one-sidedly depriving citizens possession of a Waqf property.
• “It is directed that unless the issue with regard to title of the Waqf property in terms of Section 3C of the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025 is not finally decided in proceedings under Section 83 before the Waqf Tribunal, and subject to further orders by the State High Court, neither the Waqfs will be dispossessed of the property nor the entry in the revenue records and the records of the Waqf Board shall be affected,” the court said. To balance the equities and protect valuable government properties, the court said it was imperative that Mutawallis (managers) of these disputed Waqfs did not create any third-party rights until the final decision of the competent tribunal on the status of property.
• The Bench further directed that Central Waqf Council would not have more than four non-Muslims out of a total 22. State Waqf Boards would limit the number of its non-Muslim members to three out of a total 11. The court ordered that the Chief Executive Officers of State Waqf Boards must be picked from the Muslim community “as far as possible”.
• “Right from 1923, in all the Waqf enactments we have referred to, there was a requirement of registration of Waqfs. We are, therefore, of the view that if Mutawallis for a period of 102 years could not get the Waqf registered, as required under the earlier provisions, they cannot claim that they be allowed to continue with the Waqf even if they are not registered,” Chief Justice Gavai said.
• The court noted that the Waqf Act, 1995, had allowed registration without any requirement to provide a formal deed. “If for 30 long years, the Mutawallis had chosen not to make an application for registration, they cannot be heard to say that the provision which now requires the application to be accompanied by a copy of the Waqf deed is arbitrary,” the court reasoned.
• The judgment prima facie refused to accept an argument by the petitioners that a Waqf property would lose its status if it was notified as a “protected monument”.

• Amid an export surge, trade deficit comes down by 54%

Context:  India’s trade deficit contracted by more than 54% to $9.9 billion in August, driven by a surge in merchandise exports, a continued strong performance in services exports, and a significant reduction in merchandise imports.

• The trade deficit stood at $21.7 billion in August last year. The data released by the Commerce and Industry Ministry showed that exports to the U.S. increased to about $6.86 billion in August 2025, from $6.7 billion in August last year.
• This is despite the 25% tariffs imposed on Indian exports to the U.S. for most of that month, and 50% for a few days at the month-end.
• “Despite the global uncertainties and the trade policy uncertainties, India’s exporters have done extremely well,” Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal said at a press meet. “It shows that the policies of the Government of India have paid off well.”
• India’s total exports increased to $69.2 billion in August 2025, up 9.3% over its level in August last year. Within this, merchandise exports increased to $35.1 billion in August 2025, compared with $32.9 billion in August last year, a growth of 6.7%. Services exports increased to $34.1 billion in August 2025, compared with $30.4 billion in August last year.
• On the import side, India’s total imports fell to $79 billion in August 2025, compared with $85 billion in August last year, a contraction of 7%. This was driven by a 10.1% contraction in merchandise imports to $61.6 billion.
• Services imports increased marginally to $17.45 billion in August 2025 from $16.5 billion in August last year. The relatively strong export performance has meant that the trade deficit in April-August of this financial year stood at $41.4 billion, down 20.1% over its level in the April-August 2024 period.

• Aadhaar is part of statute, can be used by voters, says SC

Context: Section 23(4) of the Representation of the People Act allows use of Aadhaar to authenticate entries

• The Supreme Court said Aadhaar was part of the right-to-vote statute, and voters were permitted to utilise the unique identity proof to the extent permitted by the law.
• A Bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi was responding to submissions intended to portray Aadhaar as inferior to the 11 documents listed by the Election Commission for voter verification during the special intensive revision of Bihar electoral rolls.
• This has come barely a week after the court declared Aadhaar as the “12th document” aggrieved voters could attach in their claims and objections for including or excluding names on the voter list.

Plea against order

• Petitioner-advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, who wants the court to rethink its August 8 order listing Aadhaar as the 12th document, said any person could get an Aadhaar, and that they need not necessarily be a citizen.
• “Aadhaar is not proof of age, citizenship, residence, or domicile,” Mr. Upadhyay said.
• Justice Bagchi asked then what Aadhaar was meant to prove. Mr. Upadhyay said it was merely a “simple” proof of identity.
• Referring to Section 23(4) of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, Justice Bagchi asked if Aadhaar was not part of the statute which governed the EC with regard to the right to vote and inclusion on the rolls.
• The Section permits EC officials to use Aadhaar to authenticate entries on the electoral rolls.
• To this, Mr. Upadhyay argued that Aadhaar could not be equated with any of the other 11 documents. “So, are you saying that a land record (one of the 11 documents) is more relevant than Aadhaar?” Justice Bagchi queried.
• The court issued notice on Mr. Upadhyay’s plea, and fixed October 7 to hear arguments on the legality of the special intensive revision. It said its judgment would prevail over anything that may happen.
• Mr. Upadhyay argued the SIR order of June 24 envisaged not only a proof of identity but also supporting evidence of eligibility, including place of birth or residence as per the 1950 Act. Consequently, acceptance of Aadhaar alone, without accompanying proof of place of birth or other eligibility criteria, diluted the intended scheme of the order.
• He also argued in favour of a “pan-India” SIR to root out “foreign infiltrators” who had sneaked their way into the electoral rolls. “Bihar has lakhs of Bangladesh nationals and Rohingyas…” the petitioner-advocate submitted.
• To this, Justice Surya Kant responded that the EC knew the law, and could distinguish between citizens and infiltrators on the voter list.
• Senior advocates A.M. Singhvi and Gopal Sankaranaraynan urged the court to hear their petitions on the validity of the SIR exercise itself. They said the EC was well into conducting SIRs in other parts of the country.

• Devadasi survey begins amid confusion over documents

Context: The third survey of devadasis in Karnataka commenced on Monday amid confusion over the list of documents sought by the government to establish the identity. Activists claim many are not even aware that a survey is under way, given inadequate publicity.

• A number of devadasis who went to their respective taluk office of the Women and Child Welfare Department on Monday had to return home without completing the survey, since they lacked documents that included the family tree. In some places, server issues slowed down the registration.
• The government has mandated over a dozen documents from those devadasis and their family members who have been left out of the previous surveys or from the families of the deceased devadasis. Confusion seems to prevail in the taluk offices since a self declaration is also accepted, according to officials.
• Shobha S. Gasthi, a former devadasi and a member of the government-appointed Belagavi district committee, felt that the insistence on the family tree would prevent many from getting benefits. The family tree may take over a fortnight to just apply for and the survey process may be over before people get it, she said.
• She also pointed out that though the survey started, the district committee was yet to meet even once.
• Yamanurappa Halavagli, son of a devadasi and State coordinator of the Karnataka Vimuktha Devadasi Mahila Matthu Makkala Vedike, said: “The survey is not being done transparently. District committees have not been trained before the survey. In fact, in several districts committee itself has not been formed”.
• The survey of devadasis is being conducted in 15 North and Central Karnataka districts where the system of dedicating women to temple services has been found to be prevailing even after the Karnataka Devadasis (Prohibition of Dedication) Act, 1982, was enacted.
• While the first two surveys conducted in 1993-1994 and 2008-2009 identified 23,630 and 46,660 devadasis, respectively, several thousands had been left out since an age criteria of 45 and above had been imposed.
• The current survey follows the State Human Rights Commission direction to the government to conduct a fresh survey before October 24.

• State govt. extends deadline for receiving applications for start-up programmes

Context: The Department of Electronics, IT and BT has extended the deadline for receiving applications for its flagship start-up programmes: ELEVATE 2025, ELEVATE Unnati 2025, and ELEVATE Minorities 2025.

• In the light of good response from innovators and entrepreneurs across Karnataka, the submission deadline has been extended from September 15 to 17, until 11.59 p.m., according to an official release from the department. Applications must be submitted through the official portal:https://eitbt.karnataka.gov.in/
• The ELEVATE programme is designed to identify and support innovative, early-stage start-ups by providing them with essential resources, including grant-in-aid, according to a press release.

• SC backs move to rid ‘waqf by user’ of statutory recognition

Context: Top court did not prima facie find any substance in the argument that centuries-old lands, graveyards, dargahs and mosques, recognised as Waqfs through long and consistent usage over the years, will be ‘grabbed’ by the government.

• The Supreme Court said legislative action to rid ‘Waqf by user’ of statutory recognition and make registration of Waqfs mandatory cannot be termed “arbitrary”, considering the “menace” of encroachment on “huge government properties” over the years.
• “We are of the view that if the legislature in 2025 finds that on account of the concept of ‘Waqf by user’, huge government properties have been encroached upon, and to stop the menace, it takes steps for deletion of the provision, the amendment, prima facie, cannot be said to be arbitrary,” Chief Justice of India B.R. Gavai, heading a Division Bench, observed in a judgment refusing to stay the entirety of the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025.
• The SC verdict referred to how the Andhra Pradesh Waqf Board had notified thousands of acres of land belonging to the government as Waqf property.
• The Andhra Pradesh government had failed to get the land back in the High Court, and had to finally appeal to the Supreme Court, which set aside the notification and had held that the lands were vested with the State.
• “After noticing such instances of misuse, if the legislature finds that the concept of ‘waqf by user’ has to be abolished and that too prospectively, in our view, the same cannot prima facie be said to be arbitrary,” the court reiterated.
• Clause (i) of Section 3(r) of the Waqf Act of 1995 had recognised “Waqf by user”, which meant a property used for religious or charitable purposes but without any formal written declaration or deed stating its character.

Formal deed must

• The 2025 Amendment Act omitted the concept of “waqf by user” and insisted on a formal Waqf deed.
• The court noted that mandatory registration of Waqfs was not a new concept. It had been part of the 1995 Waqf law.
• “We are, therefore, of the view that if for 30 long years, the Mutawallis [managers of Waqfs] had chosen not to make an application for registration, they cannot be heard to say that the provision which now requires the application to be accompanied by a copy of the Waqf deed is arbitrary,” the Chief Justice, who authored the judgment, observed.
• The apex court did not prima facie find any substance in the petitioners’ argument that centuries’ old lands, graveyards, dargahs and mosques, which have been recognised as Waqfs through long and consistent usage over the years, would be “grabbed” by the government.
• In this regard, the court recorded the assurance given by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who appeared for the Centre, that the deletion of clause (i) of Section 3(r) of the original 1995 Waqf Act would only come into effect prospectively, when the 2025 amendments came into effect.

• The Amendment Act was notified on April 8, 2025.

‘Misuse of provisions’

• The Union government, also represented by advocate Kanu Agrawal, had earlier informed the apex court that “shocking” misuse of Waqf provisions had led to “rampant encroachments” on private and government properties.
• The Centre had submitted that encroachments had led to a 116% rise in Waqf lands from 2013 to 2024, a phenomenal high unmatched even in the Mughal period.
• “It is submitted that right before even Mughal era, pre-Independence and post-independence eras, the total of Waqfs created was 18,29,163.896 acres of land in India. Shockingly after 2013, in just 11 years, the addition of Waqf land is 20,92,072.536 acres… The figure of 20 lakh acres is additional and not the total figure. The total comes to 39,21,236.459 acres of land,” the Minority Affairs Ministry affidavit had submitted in the court in April.

Centre’s take

• The government had argued that removing the concept of ‘waqf by user’ in the 2025 amendments did not deprive a Muslim his right to create a Waqf.
• “Under the proviso to Section 3[1][r], no trust, deed or any documentary proof has been insisted upon in the amendment or even prior thereto. The only mandatory requirement for being protected under the proviso is that such ‘waqf by user’ must be registered as on April 8, 2025, as registration has always been mandatory as per the statute governing waqfs since last 100 years,” the Centre had said.
• Only those who evaded registration to avoid being accountable under a statutory regime or reveal transactions of land dealings would be in trouble, the government had maintained in court.

• ‘Animal acquisitions as per law’: SIT formed by top court gives clean chit to Vantara

Context: A Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT), constituted to conduct an “independent factual appraisal” of complaints against Reliance-owned Vantara, a zoological rescue and rehabilitation centre in Jamnagar, Gujarat, has found no statutory irregularities in the acquisition of animals.

• The SIT, headed by former Supreme Court judge Justice J. Chelameswar, concluded that the acquisitions were in accordance with regulatory laws and recorded the satisfaction of authorities on all statutory compliance.
• A Bench of Justices Pankaj Mithal and Prasanna B. Varale noted that the SIT had undertaken a “thorough and extensive investigation” into the complaints and said it had “no hesitation in accepting the conclusion so drawn in the report”.
• “The imports of the animals have been made only after issuance of valid permits. Once the imports of animals is fully documented and supported by valid permits, it is not open for anyone to go beyond the said permits and to dispute the validity attached to such permits or official acts,” the court said. The Bench further said that on a perusal of the SIT report, it was “satisfied” with Vantara’s practices.
• Addressing allegations of misuse of carbon credits, water resources, and financial impropriety, the court said the SIT had found them to be baseless, relying upon responses from agencies such as the CBI, Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, and ED.
• The court was hearing two petitions filed by advocates C.R. Jaya Sukin and Dev Sharma, who had alleged irregularities at Vantara on the basis of media reports, social media posts, and complaints from NGOs and wildlife organisations regarding alleged violations of law and the acquisition of animals from India and abroad, particularly elephants.
• The court had instructed the special team to look into grievances raised about the “creation of a vanity or private collection, breeding, conservation programmes and use of biodiversity resources, misutilisation of water and carbon credits, breach of laws of trade in animals or animal articles, wildlife smuggling and money laundering.”

• PM to launch campaign for women and child healthcare

Context: In an effort to improve healthcare service, the Centre is set to launch the ‘Swasth Nari, Sashakt Parivar Abhiyaan’ (healthy woman, strong family campaign), along with the eighth ‘Poshan Maah’(nutrition month) on September 17.

• Prime Minister Modi will launch the initiative jointly led by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the Ministry of Women and Child Development.

• India gets licence to scour Indian Ocean for precious metals

Context: India has bagged an exploration contract from the International Seabed Authority (ISA) to look for a class of precious metals in the northwest Indian Ocean.

• This is the first licence granted globally for exploring polymetallic sulphur nodules in the Carlsberg Ridge, M. Ravichandran, Secretary, Ministry of Earth Sciences.
• The agreement with the Jamaica-based ISA was signed in Delhi.

• These nodules are concentrations of rock found in the deep ocean and said to be rich in manganese, cobalt, nickel, and copper.

• The Carlsberg Ridge is a 3,00,000-sq.km stretch that lies in the Indian Ocean, specifically in the Arabian Sea and northwest Indian Ocean. It forms the boundary between the Indian and Arabian tectonic plates, extending from near Rodrigues Island to the Owen fracture zone.

• For exploration in areas part of the ‘high seas’ or part of the ocean that is so far away from any country, that it is not part of their territories, countries must obtain permission from the ISA. Currently, 19 countries have such exploration rights.
• India too had applied in January 2024 for exploration rights in two regions of the Indian Ocean. While one in the Carlsberg Ridge has been granted, the second – the Afanasy-Nikitin Sea (ANS) mount – is yet to be approved. The ANS is located in the Central Indian Ocean, and the territory has been claimed by Sri Lanka for exploration rights. While countries can claim up to 350 nautical miles from their coasts as their ‘continental shelf’, those in the Bay of Bengal can, in theory, claim up to 500 nautical miles as per the United Nations Convention on the Laws of the Sea (UNCLOS).

Earlier exploration

• Previously, India had obtained such exploratory rights from the ISA in the Central Indian Ocean Basin. The first was signed in March 2002 and is set to expire on March 24, 2027, after two extensions. The second was for polymetallic sulphides in the Indian Ocean Ridge. It was signed on September 26, 2016, with validity till September 2031.

• ‘PhonePe’s Indus Appstore installed in 10 crore devices’

Context: PhonePe’s Indus Appstore, the firm’s domestic alternative to Google Play and Apple’s App Store, is installed on 10 crore devices, the company announced.

• The milestone has been possible due to agreements the firm struck with phone makers like Xiaomi and Alcatel, which allowed it to be pre-installed on handsets. Since its unveiling, the store has been able to offer apps distributed elsewhere, as it relies on aggregators authorised by most app developers.

• ‘AI-led efficiencies can contribute to 8% GDP growth target’

Context: Skilling workers whose roles are threatened by AI is key, NITI Aayog said in the report Artificial Intelligence-led efficiencies in industries could be key in contributing to an annual Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate of 8% in the coming years, NITI Aayog said in a report.

• “Accelerating AI adoption across industries to improve productivity and efficiency could bridge 30-35% of the gap between the current rate of growth and the 8% target,” the public policy think tank said in the report.
• Individual industries must leverage AI to introduce efficiencies; candidates that are primed for this include pharmaceuticals, manufacturing, automobiles and financial services, it said.
• “AI has reduced the cost of producing the next molecule [for the pharmaceutical industry] by approximately 10 times and crashed the time that it takes — roughly 10 years — by roughly 50%,” Koshir Daka, a senior partner at McKinsey said at the report unveiling, adding that this could give India an opening to invent a clutch of drugs at a global stage in the near future.
• The unveiling is among a series of events building up to February 2026’s AI Impact Summit, to be hosted by India.
• “The impact that AI can have, not just on India’s economy but the global economy, is so profound and so significant that we need to take the leadership position in this area,” IT Secretary S. Krishnan said.
• Skilling workers whose roles are threatened by AI is key, the report said, recommending “mapping job shifts annually, embedding lifelong learning into career pathways, scaling MSME digital upskilling, and protecting gig and platform workers.”

• Vaishali retains Grand Swiss title, qualifies for Candidates

Context: R. Vaishali is the champion once again at the FIDE Grand Swiss. In one of the most prestigious events in the chess calendar, the 24-year-old from Chennai showed her class.

• She was a surprise winner in the women’s section of the last edition of the tournament on the Isle of Man in 2023. This time around, in the Uzbek city of Samarkand, she retained her title, and thus booked a ticket for next year’s Candidates tournament, the qualifying event for the World championship.
• She has ensured that at least three of those eight female Candidates would be Indian. That is quite a feat. (Koneru Humpy and Divya Deshmukh are the others).
• In the last Grand Swiss, the male champion was also from Indian – Vidit Gujrathi — but this time around, there was disappointment for the country. The two Candidates slots have been won by Anish Giri and Matthias Bluebaum, by finishing as the champion and runner-up in the open section. Nihal Sarin was in a good position to take one of those spots for much of the tournament, but he faltered towards the end.
• But Vaishali’s brilliant effort should bring joy to Indian chess, which is continuing to rise and rise. And it is another great boost to the women’s game, coming as it does less than two months after Divya’s World Cup triumph.

Divya rightly chose to compete in the open section of the Grand Swiss – as she had already qualified for the Candidates – and played above her strength. She and Vaishali should inspire the Indian girls.