Daily Current Affairs- 14th October 2025

Daily Current Affairs- 14th October 2025

Shah Rukh Khan Becomes 1st Actor To be in Billionaire Club

In the News: Shah Rukh Khan has become the first Bollywood actor to enter the billionaire club, as per the Hurun India Rich List 2025.

Key Points:

• Entry into Billionaire Club: In 2025, the Hurun India Rich List placed Shah Rukh Khan’s net worth at ₹12,490 crore, making him the first actor from Bollywood to cross the “billionaire” threshold.
• Wealth Sources & Business Ventures: His wealth is not only from acting, but is bolstered by multiple revenue streams — his film production company Red Chillies Entertainment, co-ownership in the Kolkata Knight Riders IPL franchise, brand endorsements, real estate holdings, and strategic investments.
• Historic Rank & Milestone: This achievement marks a historic shift in the Indian entertainment industry, elevating a Bollywood superstar to a club typically associated with industrialists and global.
•  Comparison with Other Celebrities: Media reports also highlight that with a valuation around US $1.4 billion, Shah Rukh Khan overtook global entertainers such as Taylor Swift in terms of net worth rankings among celebrities.

Google to Invest $15 Billion in AI Data Centre in Andhra Pradesh

In the News: Google has announced a USD 15 billion investment over five years to establish its first AI hub in India, locating a gigawatt-scale AI data centre campus in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.

Key Points:

• Scale & Scope of Investment: The commitment of USD 15 billion (2026–2030) makes this Google’s largest investment in India to date, and will support deployment of gigawatt-scale compute infrastructure, high-capacity data centre operations, fiber backbone and energy infrastructure.
• Strategic Location & Connectivity: The AI hub will be built in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, and will also include a new international subsea cable gateway to improve connectivity and redundancy along India’s eastern coast.
• Partnerships & Local Players: Google will work with partners such as AdaniConnex and Airtel to build and operate portions of the infrastructure in Andhra Pradesh.
• Economic & Employment Impact: The data centre is projected to generate about ₹10,000 crore in revenue for the state, create 5,000–6,000 direct jobs, and 20,000–30,000 total jobs including indirect roles.

India Unveils $77 Billion Hydro Plan Amid China’s Dam Push

In the News: India has rolled out a ₹6.4 trillion (≈ USD 77 billion) hydro-power and transmission master plan targeting the Brahmaputra basin, in a strategic counter to China’s upstream dam construction on the Yarlung Zangbo (upper Brahmaputra).

Key Points:

• Ambitious Capacity Target: The Central Electricity Authority’s plan seeks to harness over 76 GW of hydropower potential by 2047, comprising 64.9 GW of conventional hydro and 11.1 GW of pumped storage projects.
• Scope & Geography: The scheme covers 208 large hydropower and pumped storage projects spread across 12 sub-basins in northeastern India. Arunachal Pradesh alone accounts for ~52.2 GW of untapped potential.
• Phased Investment: The plan is divided into two phases. Phase I (up to 2035) will require ~₹1.91 trillion; Phase II (to 2047) ~₹4.52 trillion.
• Implementing Agencies: Major public sector electricity firms such as NHPC, NEEPCO, and SJVN will champion execution. Some projects are already underway or in advanced planning.
• Strategic & Geopolitical Motive: The initiative serves both energy security and diplomatic aims, especially given concerns that China’s upstream dams could reduce dry-season downstream flows by as much as 85%.
•  Role in India’s Energy Transition: Hydropower from this plan is expected to support India’s target of 500 GW non-fossil capacity by 2030 and aid grid stability by complementing intermittent renewables.

Kaziranga Director Sonali Ghosh Wins Global Sustainability Award

In the News: Dr. Sonali Ghosh, Field Director of Kaziranga National Park & Tiger Reserve in Assam, has become the first Indian to receive the Kenton R. Miller Award, a prestigious global honour given by the IUCN’s World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA) for innovation in protected area management at the World Conservation Congress in Abu Dhabi.

Key Points:

• Award & Significance: The Kenton R. Miller Award recognises outstanding contributions to innovation in national parks and protected area sustainability. Dr. Ghosh’s win marks a milestone for India in global conservation circles.
• Motivation for Award: She was recognised for her community-based conservation model that integrates traditional ecological knowledge with modern science, and for her inclusive strategies engaging local communities in wildlife protection.
• Challenges Addressed: Under her leadership, Kaziranga has confronted threats like floods, poaching, wildlife-human conflict, and habitat degradation, while reinforcing resilience and adaptive strategies.
• Trailblazer & Representation: Beyond being the first Indian to win this award, Dr. Ghosh also broke through gender barriers as a woman leader in the male-dominated domain of forest management and conservation.

Iron Age Site Discovered in Tamil Nadu Excavation

In the News: Archaeologists in Tamil Nadu have uncovered a new Iron Age site that offers fresh insight into early metallurgy and burial practices in South India.

Key Points:

• Excavation Findings: During the first season, the team opened 37 trenches and unearthed a stone slab chamber built of 35 slabs, containing urn burials filled with cobblestones to a depth of 1.5 metres.
• Artefacts & Materials: A total of 78 antiquities made of bone, gold, bronze, and iron were recovered. These include tweezers, swords, spearheads, axes, daggers, chisels, arrowheads, and three delicate gold rings. 
• Pottery & Symbolism: The site yielded ceramics such as white-painted black-and-red ware, red ware, red-slipped ware, black-polished ware and coarse red ware. One red-slipped pot bore motifs depicting a human, a mountain, a deer, and a tortoise — providing clues to the belief systems and environment.
•  Dating & Cultural Context: Although precise dating is pending laboratory results, comparisons with nearby Iron Age sites like Sivagalai and Adichanallur suggest this site may belong to the early–mid third millennium BCE.

National Household Income Survey (NHIS) 2026

In the News:  India is set to launch its first-ever nationwide National Household Income Survey (NHIS 2026) in February 2026, an ambitious step toward gathering detailed data on income distribution, expenditure, and sources of household earnings across both rural and urban India.

Key Points:

• First Pan-India Income Survey: NHIS 2026 will fill a critical gap in India’s statistical framework by providing direct estimates of household income rather than relying only on consumption or National Accounts-derived numbers.
• Scope & Coverage: The survey is designed to collect data on salaries, self-employment income, casual labour, pensions, remittances, income from assets, plus household expenditure on food and non-food items.
• Pre-testing Exercise: In August 2025, MoSPI conducted pre-tests of draft questionnaires across 15 regional offices covering diverse urban and rural settings in six zones to test clarity, flow, and respondent acceptability.
• Technical Oversight & Public Consultation: A Technical Expert Group (TEG), chaired by Surjit S. Bhalla, is overseeing the survey. Public and expert feedback is being solicited on the draft questionnaire until October 30, 2025.
• Challenges of Disclosure: Preliminary tests showed reluctance from respondents to disclose income details; in some areas, up to 95 % were unwilling to share income from various sources or tax information.

Engagement without recognition: Decoding New Delhi’s approach to Taliban government in Kabul

In the News: India is increasingly following a policy of “engagement without recognition” toward the Taliban administration in Kabul. Even as India reopens its embassy in Kabul and hosts Taliban leadership visits, it has stopped short of formally recognising the Taliban government.

Key Points:

• Distinction Between Recognition and Engagement: India draws a line between formal de jure recognition of a government and practical diplomatic engagement. Recognising the Taliban would signal acceptance of how they came to power, which India wishes to avoid, but engaging with them on technical, humanitarian, and strategic fronts is permissible under international law.
• Reinstatement of Diplomatic Presence: After operating only a downgraded technical mission since 2022, India has decided to upgrade its presence and reopen its embassy in Kabul—a move that signals deeper interaction without crossing into formal recognition.
• Recent High-Level Visit: Taliban Foregn Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi visited New Delhi in October 2025, meeting External Affairs Minister Jaishankar. India addressed him as Afghanistan’s foreign minister in official statements, and the visit led to renewed discussions on trade, development cooperation, and humanitarian support.
• Calculated Pragmatism Over Ideological Stance: India’s approach is informed by strategic realities—concerns over Pakistan’s influence, China’s growing presence in Afghanistan, and the need to maintain leverage in a volatile region—rather than ideological alignment with the Taliban.
• Risks & Constraints: India’s cautious engagement strategy must manage several risks: backlash over human rights issues (especially women’s rights under Taliban rule), alienation of Afghanistan’s previous democratic allies, and accusations of implicit legitimization of the Taliban.

Maldives First to End Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV, Hep B, Syphilis

In the News: The World Health Organization has officially validated the Maldives as the first country in the world to achieve “triple elimination” of mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) of HIV, syphilis and hepatitis B.

Key Points:

• Historic Milestone: The Maldives had earlier been validated in 2019 for eliminating MTCT of HIV and syphilis. The new validation for hepatitis B brings the country’s status to full triple elimination. 
• Integrated Health Strategy: The country achieved this through nearly universal antenatal screening for HIV, syphilis and hepatitis B; free treatment and diagnostics; and strong immunization systems ensuring that over 95% of newborns receive the hepatitis B birth dose and full vaccination coverage.
• Sustained Zero Transmission: In 2022 and 2023, there were no new cases of MTCT of HIV or syphilis. A 2023 national school survey also showed zero hepatitis B infection among young children, exceeding WHO thresholds.  
• Health System & Equity Focus: The Maldives backs universal health coverage, ensuring that antenatal care, diagnostic services and vaccines are free and accessible to all residents including migrants.

Israel to Award Trump Top Civilian Honor for Gaza Ceasefire

In the News: Israel has announced plans to confer its highest civilian honour, the Israeli Presidential Medal of Honor, upon Donald J. Trump in recognition of his role in brokering a Gaza ceasefire and facilitating the release of Israeli hostages.

Key Points:

• Award Announcement & Purpose: Israeli President Isaac Herzog declared that Trump would be awarded the medal “in recognition of his role in achieving a historic agreement advancing the release of the hostages and an end to the war,” along with praise for his “steadfast and unwavering support for the State of Israel.”
• Context of the Ceasefire Deal: The award follows a recently brokered truce between Israel and Hamas, under which the final living Israeli hostages were released and Israel initiated the release of over 1,700 Palestinian detainees.
• Timing & Formalities: Herzog stated that the medal will be presented to Trump in the coming months at a date and place yet to be determined.
• Historical Precedent: Israel has previously bestowed this honour on prominent global figures, including former U.S. President Barack Obama in 2013.
• Symbolic Messaging: The move is intended to publicly acknowledge Trump’s mediation efforts, reinforce Israel’s gratitude, and underscore the diplomatic significance of the ceasefire in Israel’s domestic and foreign policy discourse.

IUCN Releases 2025 World Heritage Conservation Outlook

In the News: The IUCN has released its 2025 World Heritage Conservation Outlook (Outlook 4), a sweeping global assessment of the state of natural and mixed UNESCO World Heritage sites, offering insight into their current conservation status, emerging threats, and management challenges.

Key Points:

• Global Coverage & Frequency: The Outlook evaluates 271 sites worldwide (231 natural + 40 mixed), covering more than 470 million hectares of terrestrial and marine areas. The assessments are updated every 3–5 years to capture evolving trends. 
• Declining Positive Outlooks: In 2025, only 57 % of the assessed sites were judged to have a “positive conservation outlook,” down from 62 % in 2020, indicating increasing pressures. 
• Escalating Climate Threats: Climate change is now identified as the largest current threat, affecting 43 % of sites at “high” or “very high” levels — particularly through glacier melt, coral bleaching, wildfire, sea level rise, and extreme weather events.
• Invasive Species & Pathogens Rising: Invasive alien species impact 30 % of sites, while threats from pathogens (disease) have sharply increased, now posing high or very high risk in 9 % of sites (compared to just 2 % in 2020).
• Mixed Regional Trends: Some sites have improved owing to better management, while others (especially in Asia) have deteriorated. In India’s case, the Sundarbans shifted from “Good with Some Concerns” to “Significant Concerns” due to salinity, contamination, habit degradation, storm surges and disease stress.
• Governance & Financial Gaps: Only about half of the sites are considered well-managed. Approximately 15 % of sites face serious risk due to under-resourcing.
• Change Over Time: From 2014 to 2025, around 70 sites (~30 % of assessed ones) changed their outlook rating at least once, underscoring that conservation status is dynamic and responsive to interventions (positive or negative).