Current Affairs

India to host Asia Pacific Accident Investigation Group Meeting for first time

India will host the Asia Pacific Accident Investigation Group (APAC-AIG) meeting and workshop for the first time, a four-day event scheduled from October 28 to 31. The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), under the Ministry of Civil Aviation, is organizing the event, which will be inaugurated by Union Minister of Civil Aviation Rammohan Naidu.

Approximately 90 aircraft accident investigators from Asia Pacific countries and representatives from the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) are expected to participate. The annual APAC-AIG meeting, typically hosted by an ICAO member state in the Asia Pacific region, fosters collaboration among accident and incident investigation authorities to enhance expertise and strengthen investigation capabilities in the region.



India wins International Polo Cup 2025

The International Polo Cup 2025 witnessed a spectacular display of skill, speed, and sportsmanship as Team India triumphed over Team Argentina 10-9 in an electrifying match held at the Jaipur Polo Ground here on Saturday.

The event drew a distinguished audience of over a thousand guests, including Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Union Minister for Tourism, who graced the occasion as the chief guest. The gathering also included Kiren Rijiju, Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Minister of Minority Affairs, MP from Arunachal Pradesh; Naveen Jindal, Chairman of Jindal Steel and Power, Member of Parliament, Kurukshetra and polo patron, celebrated poet Kumar Vishwas; Lt. Gen. V.M.B. Krishnan, Quarter Master General, Indian Army; and ambassadors and diplomats from several nations, underscoring the global stature of the event.



Lifeline of sitcoms and satire, Satish Shah passes away at 74 in Mumbai

An effortless performer who made even a corpse a timeless monument of Indian cinema, Satish Shah bid adieu on Saturday (October 25, 2025) because of kidney failure. Not just a supporting player, Shah was often the spark that lit scenes with humour and elevated his co-actors’ performances.

Creating an endearing amalgam of instinct, intellect, and improvisation, Shah brought an irreverence to his roles that few could match. Lifeline of many a sitcom, he became a household name with Ye Jo Hai Zindagi, where he played a rainbow of roles, and hit the high point of his career with Sarabhai vs Sarabhai where, as the mischief-loving, Gujarati patriarch Indravardhan Sarabhai, he made fun of the shenanigans of the bourgeois class and impact of western values on Indian society in a measured performance. The series and his playful jabs at his elitist wife, Maya, played by Ratna Pathak Shah, have stood the test of time and found love across generations. He maintained that Indravardhan was a reflection of his real self.



Indian Air Force participates in multinational exercise Ocean Sky 2025 in Spain

The Indian Air Force (IAF) is participating in Exercise Ocean Sky 2025, a multinational air combat exercise hosted by the Spanish Air Force at Gando Air Base, Spain, from October 20 to 31.

In a post on X, the IAF stated, "The exercise aims to foster mutual learning, enhance interoperability, sharpen air combat skills, and strengthen defence cooperation with friendly nations."

The exercise comes a few months after the IAF strengthened its operational capabilities with the induction of 16 Airbus C-295 military transport aircraft. Indian Ambassador to Spain, Dinesh K Patnaik, along with other senior officials, received the last of these aircraft at the Airbus Defence and Space assembly line in Seville on August 3.



Kashmir’s first chrysanthemum garden is now in full bloom

At Bagh-e-Gul Dawood – Kashmir’s first exclusive chrysanthemum garden – Vicky watches his six-year-old son lollop about. Around him stretch rows of vibrant chrysanthemums – red, pink, brown, yellow, and white – their sweet, lush scent filling the air.

“This is beyond my imagination,” Vicky, a tourist from Uttar Pradesh, says in awe. “Kashmir is beautiful but here you feel at peace. It’s a great escape from the ruthlessness of city life.”

On Saturday, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah will officially open Kashmir’s latest tourist spot – the Bagh-e-Gul Dawood at Cheshma Shahi. Cradled between the bluish Zabarwan mountains and the shimmering Dal Lake, the terraced Bagh-e-Gul Dawood – or Chrysanthemum Garden – stands next to Srinagar’s other main attraction, the Tulip Garden.



New Sevilla Forum launched to tackle global debt crisis

A new global platform to confront mounting debt challenges — the Sevilla Forum on Debt — was launched on October 22, 2025, at the 16th United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD16) in Geneva.

The Forum, a Spanish-led initiative supported by UNCTAD and the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), aims to serve as an open and inclusive space for dialogue and action on sovereign debt reform.

Announced jointly by UN Secretary-General António Guterres, Spain’s Minister of Economy, Trade and Business Carlos Cuerpo, UNCTAD Secretary-General Rebeca Grynspan, and UN DESA Under-Secretary-General Li Junhua, the Forum marks one of the first tangible outcomes of the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4) held earlier this year.



India Bags Two Bronze Medals at Asian Youth Games, Veer Bhadu Makes MMA History

India won two bronze medals today at the Asian Youth Games in Bahrain. Indian athlete Veer Bhadu scripted history by winning the bronze medal for the country in Mixed Martial Arts (MMA). This is India’s first medal in this sport. Veer secured his position on the podium with a win over Thailand’s Dechachot Barisri by unanimous decision in the Men’s 80 kilgramme category.

Palash Mandal won a bronze medal in the boys’ 5000 metre walk race. Palash secured the third position in the final behind Chinese duo of Haoze Zhang and silver medallist Yujie Lu. India also took their medal tally to 12 at the event in Bahrain with two gold, three silver and seven bronze.



NPCI has launched UPI Help

The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has launched a new AI-powered assistant, ‘UPI Help’, to simplify digital transactions on the Unified Payments Interface (UPI). The tool is designed to assist users with queries, manage payment mandates, and address grievances related to UPI payments. NPCI aims to make digital transactions more efficient by reducing the dependence on manual customer support.

UPI Help will allow users to receive quick responses for issues encountered during UPI transactions. Users can check transaction statuses, report failed or pending payments, and raise complaints directly through the assistant. The system interacts with banks to give faster dispute resolution under the UPI Dispute Resolution (UDIR) framework, which could help resolve payment-related concerns efficiently.



UPI Launches ‘Pay with Mutual Funds For Instant Transactions

Investors can now use their mutual funds to make payments via UPI. The recently launched “Pay with Mutual Funds” feature allows investors to instantly redeem units from their liquid funds and make payments as needed.

If you have a liquid mutual fund and the fund issuer supports this service, the payment amount will be taken directly from your fund. Redemption will happen on the back-end and the money will be transferred instantly via UPI. For example, ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund and Bajaj Finserv AMC have launched this service with Curie Money.

This feature turns liquid funds into a kind of bank account, but also offers market-linked returns and UPI payments.



Centre approves Adani Power’s plan to link Godda plant

The Centre has granted approval to Adani Power Limited (APL), a large thermal power producer, to lay an overhead transmission line to connect its Godda Ultra Super Critical Thermal Power Plant with the Indian grid through a Line-In Line-Out (LILO) arrangement of the Kahalgaon A–Maithon B 400 KV line. As of now, the Godda plant supplies electricity exclusively to Bangladesh.

For laying the proposed transmission line, which will pass through 56 villages of two tehsils — Godda and Poreyahat — in Godda district of Jharkhand, the Centre has conferred the same powers to the APL, which the telegraph authority possesses under the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885, for placing telegraph lines and posts. Under the Act, the authority can, from time to time, place and maintain a telegraph line under, over, along or across, and posts in or upon, any immovable property.

The Ministry of Power extended similar authority to APL by issuing an order on September 29 using powers under Section 164 of the Electricity Act, 2003.