Daily Current Affairs- 21st September 2025

Daily Current Affairs- 21st September 2025

Tamil Nadu Becomes First State to Issue ID Cards for Women SHG Members

In the News: On September 2025, Tamil Nadu became the first state in India to issue identity cards to women members of Self-Help Groups (SHGs). The initiative was launched when the Deputy Chief Minister Thiru Udhayanidhi Stalin, distributed the first set of ID cards to SHG women in Karuppur, Salem district. The decision follows a demand raised by SHG members in Tiruvarur about five months earlier and aims to formally recognise SHG members while extending them direct benefits.

Key Points:

• Tamil Nadu has more than five lakh women Self-Help Groups functioning across the state, making it one of the strongest SHG networks in India.
• The new ID cards entitle SHG members to free government bus travel for carrying their products up to 100 kilometres.
• Cardholders will also receive discounts at state-run outlets such as Aavin, Co-optex, and Mudhalvar Marunthagam, thereby reducing costs and supporting their livelihood.
• The move enhances formal recognition of SHG women, enabling easier access to credit, institutional support, and welfare schemes.
• By providing official identity and logistical benefits, the initiative is expected to improve mobility, boost market access, and empower SHG women in economic and social terms.
• Tamil Nadu’s initiative sets a precedent for other states to adopt similar measures for women-led Self-Help Groups across India.

IRDAI Unveils “Bima Sugam” Insurance Marketplace

In the News: In September 2025, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) launched Bima Sugam, a unified digital platform operated through the Bima Sugam India Federation (BSIF), with the aim of serving as a single marketplace for all types of insurance in India. The official website was launched at IRDAI headquarters in Hyderabad, and the platform is expected to become fully operational in phases by December 2025.

Key Points:

• Bima Sugam will offer life, health, and general insurance (including motor, travel, property, and agricultural policies) on a single platform.
• Consumers will be able to compare, purchase, renew, manage their policies, and initiate claims, all through the portal.
• The platform was legally incorporated and capitalised, and its governing body includes insurers and intermediaries; many insurers also hold equity stakes in BSIF.
• The initial phase of Bima Sugam will function as an informational and guidance portal; full transaction capabilities (purchase, renewals, claims) will be enabled as insurers and service providers complete backend integrations.
• Policy documents will be stored securely in digital format, and users will have a centralised dashboard to manage multiple policies from different insurers.
• Bima Sugam is being positioned as part of the national vision “Insurance for All by 2047” and is linked with the larger goal of establishing a Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) for insurance.
• The regulations governing the marketplace are specified in the IRDAI (Bima Sugam – Insurance Electronic Marketplace) Regulations, 2024.
• Security, transparency, and scalability have been built into the design so that the platform can handle large volumes of users and offer trustworthy service.

India Adds 7 Natural Sites to UNESCO Tentative List

In the News: In September 2025, India added seven natural heritage sites to the UNESCO Tentative List of World Heritage Sites. With this inclusion, the total number of properties under consideration from India increased from 62 to 69. These 69 sites include 49 cultural, 17 natural, and 3 mixed-heritage properties.

Key Points (with Detailed Facts):

• Deccan Traps (Panchgani & Mahabaleshwar, Maharashtra): These sites are part of the vast Deccan Traps, which are among the best preserved and studied flood basalt lava flows in the world. They lie within the Koyna Wildlife Sanctuary, which is already a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The lava flows are estimated to be around 66 million years old, covering extensive area, and they include features like red-bole layers and fossil beds.

• Geological Heritage of St. Mary’s Island Cluster, Karnataka: This is an island cluster off the coast of Udupi known for rare columnar basaltic formations. These formations date to the Late Cretaceous period (about 85–88 million years ago). The basalt columns are unique in India and provide insight into ancient volcanic processes.

• Meghalayan Age Caves, Meghalaya: Especially the Mawmluh Cave is the type locality for the Meghalayan Age in the Holocene epoch. These caves preserve signatures of climatic events, geological transitions, stalagmite records, and significant paleoclimate data.

• Naga Hill Ophiolite, Nagaland: The site reveals a rare exposure of ophiolite rocks, meaning oceanic crust and upper mantle rocks thrust onto continental crust. It offers key evidence about tectonic activity, plate boundary processes, and sea-floor spreading, which are important for geological study.

• Erra Matti Dibbalu (Red Sand Hills), Andhra Pradesh: These red sand formations near Visakhapatnam are striking both visually and scientifically. They reflect ancient coastal processes, paleo-climatic changes, sea level oscillations, and coastal geomorphology. The formations are relatively young in geological time (Quaternary), and they also help in understanding environmental change.

• Natural Heritage of Tirumala Hills, Andhra Pradesh: This includes the Eparchaean Unconformity, one of the oldest visible geological discontinuities in India, and the Silathoranam, a natural arch. The rocks here span over 1.5 billion years of Earth’s history, making the site highly significant for geology.

• Varkala Cliffs, Kerala: The coastline in Varkala exposes sedimentary rock formations of the Warkalli Formation from the Mio-Pliocene age. The cliffs are also known for natural springs, erosional landforms, and their scenic value, which combine scientific importance with potential for sustainable tourism.

Prior restraint: How gag order in Adani case flies in face of what SC has ruled

In the News: On 6 September 2025, a Delhi court issued an ex-parte gag order restraining several journalists and media entities from publishing “unverified, unsubstantiated and ex facie defamatory” content about Adani Enterprises Limited (AEL). The order also directed takedown of entire articles/posts/URLs within 36 hours and allowed AEL to identify further material to be removed. On 18 September 2025, a Delhi court quashed this gag order for four journalists (Ravi Nair, Abir Dasgupta, Ayaskant Das, and Ayush Joshi) on appeal, citing lack of opportunity for hearing and other legal shortcomings.

Key Points:

• The September 6 order was an ex-parte interim injunction: it was granted without the defendants (journalists) being heard.
• The order imposed prior restraint by directing that content not be published before a court trial to decide defamation, including sweeping bans on “unverified or defamatory” materials.
• The order also delegated to the plaintiff (AEL) a power to specify URLs/posts for removal, and required intermediaries/agencies to take down content within 36 hours.
• Article 19(1)(a) of the Indian Constitution guarantees freedom of speech and expression; restrictions must be under Article 19(2), and prior restraint is treated as a heavy restriction that must meet high thresholds.
• The Supreme Court follows the Bonnard standard (from Bonnard vs Perryman, 1891) in defamation cases while granting pre-trial injunctions: injunctions should be granted only when it appears that the defendant may not be able to justify the allegedly defamatory material—not merely when there is suspicion of defamation.
• In 2024, in Bloomberg v. Zee Entertainment, the Supreme Court applied this principle and struck down an ex-parte ad-interim injunction, reaffirming that ex-parte orders and pre-trial publications bans must be rare and justified by exceptional circumstances.
• The quashing order of 18 September held that the September 6 gag order was unsustainable because journalists had not been heard; many of the posts were in the public domain already; and the removal of content might cause irreversible consequences (if later found non-defamatory).

2025 World Trade Report: “Making Trade and AI Work Together to the Benefit of All”

In the News: In September 2025, the World Trade Organization (WTO) published its World Trade Report 2025, which examines how artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping global trade, what opportunities it creates, and what challenges need to be addressed so that all countries can benefit.

Key Points:

• The report projects that by 2040, AI could increase the value of trade in goods and services globally by 34-37%, depending on how much countries invest in catching up technologically and implementing supportive policies.
• Global Gross Domestic Product (GDP) could grow by 12-13% by 2040 under scenarios in which AI is more widely and effectively adopted.
• The greatest growth (over 40%) is expected in digitally deliverable services (for example, online services, digital media, software, etc.), with smaller growth in sectors like manufacturing, primary inputs, or sectors with less digital integration.
• One of the main ways AI helps trade is by reducing trade costs: improving logistics, easing regulatory and customs compliance, reducing language barriers, helping with contract enforcement, and improving matching of buyers and sellers. • Countries that lag behind in digital infrastructure, regulation, skills or data access are likely to miss out, causing unequal gains. The report warns that without effort, AI may widen global inequality between high-income and low/middle-income economies.
• The report emphasizes that policy frameworks, digital public goods, regulatory clarity, investment in skills, data governance, and cross-border cooperation will be essential to ensure fairness in who benefits from trade enabled by AI.

Hurun India Wealth Report 2025

In the News: The Mercedes-Benz Hurun India Wealth Report 2025, released in September 2025, provides updated estimates of millionaire households in India (households with net worth ≥ ₹8.5 crore, approx. US$1 million), state-wise and city-wise distribution, and trends over the past few years.

Key Points / India Ranks & Trends

• India now has 871,700 millionaire households with net worth ≥ ₹8.5 crore (US$1 million), which is a ≈90% increase over the 2021 figure of ~458,000 households.
• These millionaire households represent about 0.31% of all Indian households.
• The top state is Maharashtra, with 178,600 millionaire households, showing ~194% growth since 2021. Mumbai alone accounts for 142,000 of these.
• Other leading states include Delhi (~79,800 households), Tamil Nadu (~72,600), Karnataka (~68,800), Gujarat (~68,300), Uttar Pradesh (~57,700), Telangana (~51,700), West Bengal (~50,400), Rajasthan (~33,100), and Haryana (~30,500). These 10 states together hold over 79% of millionaire households in India.
• Top cities are: Mumbai (142,000 households), New Delhi (68,200), Bengaluru (31,600), Ahmedabad (26,800), Kolkata (26,600), Chennai (22,800), Pune (22,500), Hyderabad (19,800), Gurugram (10,100), and Surat (5,700).

Comparative / Global Perspective

• While India’s growth in millionaire households is rapid (~90% growth in 4 years), India’s count of millionaire households is still much less than countries like the United States and China. A comparison in the report notes China has nearly 5.1 million such households.
• The report introduces the inaugural Mercedes-Benz India Hurun India Index (MBHX), which has also grown by nearly 200%, signalling rapidly rising wealth creation among high-net-worth individuals in India.

Brazil Will Be First to Invest in Global Forest Fund

In the News: On 19 September 2025, it was reported that Brazil will become the first country to make an investment in the Tropical Forests Forever Facility (TFFF), a multilateral fund proposed by Brazil to support the conservation of endangered tropical forests. The announcement is expected to be made by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in New York, aiming to galvanize further contributions from both wealthy and developing nations.

Key Points:

• The Tropical Forests Forever Facility (TFFF) is envisioned as a US$125 billion endowment, combining contributions from sovereign (governments) and private sector sources.
• Under the proposed model, countries would receive annual payments from the fund based on the area of tropical forest they preserve.
• Brazil has indicated its initial investment will be considerable, though the exact amount has not been disclosed. The aim is for Brazil’s move to set a benchmark for other countries.
• Other countries reported to have committed (or are planning to) initial contributions to TFFF include China, UK, France, Germany, Norway, Singapore, and the United Arab Emirates.
• The plan is that the first US$25 billion in public and philanthropic pledges would help unlock an additional US$100 billion in private investment.
• Brazil hosts the largest tropical forest in the world, giving it the potential to be among the biggest beneficiaries of the fund.
• Brazil intends for this fund to be a major deliverable at the COP30 climate summit, which it is set to host in Belem in November 2025.