Daily Current Affairs- 4th October 2025

Daily Current Affairs- 4th October 2025

Mann Ki Baat Completes 11 Years of Connecting with Citizens

In the News: Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s monthly radio programme ‘Mann Ki Baat’ completed 11 years of connecting directly with citizens, marking a milestone in participatory governance and social transformation. Launched in October 2014, the programme has become a powerful medium to highlight people’s achievements, grassroots innovations, and India’s collective aspirations.

Key Points:

• Launch and Objective: Mann Ki Baat was launched on October 3, 2014, with the aim of building a dialogue between the government and citizens through radio, Doordarshan, and digital platforms
• Milestone Achievement: Over 110 episodes have been aired, covering themes such as Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, Atmanirbhar Bharat, Digital India, water conservation, and climate action.
• People-Centric Focus: The programme showcases stories of ordinary citizens driving extraordinary change — from rural innovators to women entrepreneurs and environmental activists.
• Mass Outreach: The broadcast reaches over 90% of India’s population and is available in 23 languages and 29 dialects, besides translations in several foreign languages, expanding India’s global communication footprint.
• Citizen Participation: Listeners contribute topics and ideas through MyGov and the NaMo App, ensuring two-way communication and public ownership of national causes
• Cultural Impact: The programme has encouraged a spirit of social unity, collective responsibility, and cultural pride by promoting traditional crafts, festivals, and community efforts.
• Recognition: The UNESCO Director-General in earlier remarks praised Mann Ki Baat as a model for civic engagement through radio, reinforcing India’s leadership in people-driven governance.
• Legacy: Over the last 11 years, Mann Ki Baat has evolved from a broadcast to a people’s movement, symbolising the power of dialogue in nation-building.

Singapore Renames Island as ‘Zubeen Garg Island’ in Tribute to Legendary Assamese Singer

In the News: Singapore renamed a prominent island in memory of the late Assamese singer Zubeen Garg. The change updating maps and public references  comes as a tribute to his legacy, following his tragic death in Singapore waters in September 2025, and reflects the deep resonance of his music beyond India’s borders.

Key Points:

• Tribute through renaming: Singapore changed the name of what was earlier referred to as St. John’s Island on Google Maps (and related public references) to “Zubeen Garg Island” as a symbolic homage to the singer’s memory and cultural impact.
• Circumstances of death: Zubeen Garg died on September 19, 2025, while swimming near Lazarus Island during a cultural event in Singapore. His passing sparked grief across Assam and India at large.
• Cultural resonance: This gesture of renaming is not merely symbolic; it underlines how Garg’s art connected deeply with people across communities, transcending regional barriers and languages.
• National reaction: In Assam and elsewhere in India, his death triggered state mourning, public tributes, and reflection on his role as a unifier in a region often marked by ethnic and religious divisions.
• Legacy beyond borders: By inscribing his name onto geography in Singapore, the tribute underscores that his legacy is no longer confined to Assam or India but holds a place in global cultural memory.

Mukesh Ambani Tops Hurun Rich List 2025 in India

In the News: Mukesh Ambani and his family reclaimed the top spot on the Hurun India Rich List 2025, amassing a net worth of ₹9.55 lakh crore, thereby surpassing Gautam Adani to become India’s richest individual once again. The latest list draws attention to the shifting wealth dynamics among Indian business magnates in 2025 and underscores Ambani’s enduring influence in the Indian corporate landscape.

Key Points:

• Reclaiming the Top Position: In the Hurun India Rich List 2025, Mukesh Ambani overtook Gautam Adani to regain his position as the richest individual in India, reflecting fluctuations in asset valuations, business performance, and market sentiment.
• Net Worth and Comparison: Ambani’s net worth in this ranking is reported at ₹9.55 lakh crore, while the Adani family holds second place with about ₹8.15 lakh crore—indicating a significant gap in wealth even amid volatility. 
• India’s Billionaire Landscape: The Hurun Global Rich List 2025 notes that India has 284 billionaires, making it the third-highest country by count of billionaires globally. This context heightens the significance of Ambani’s top rank in India amid stiff competition.
• Decline & Resilience: Despite a drop of nearly ₹1 lakh crore in his wealth compared to the previous year, Ambani managed to maintain leadership in India—attesting to his diversified holdings and resilience to market pressures.
• Corporate Legacy & Influence: Ambani’s dominance is supported by his leadership of Reliance Industries, whose operations span petrochemicals, refining, telecom, retail, digital services, and green energy. That breadth of sectors helps him sustain influence even in shifting economic cycles.
• Wider Implications: Ambani’s position at the top signals investor confidence in his business groups, while also spotlighting India’s growing concentration of wealth in a few conglomerates and the ongoing rivalry between stalwart industrial houses.

World Green Economy Summit 2025

In the News: The 11th edition of the World Green Economy Summit (WGES 2025) took place in Dubai under the overarching theme “Innovating for Impact: Accelerating the Future of the Green Economy.” The summit convened ministers, business leaders, financial institutions, technologists, and sustainability advocates from across the world to deliberate on scaling green growth, aligning climate ambition with innovation, and driving measurable impact.

Key Points:

• Summit Theme & Venue: Held at the Dubai World Trade Centre, WGES 2025 adopted “Innovating for Impact” as its central motif, signalling an emphasis on translating climate pledges into scalable, innovation-driven outcomes rather than abstract goals.
• High-Level Participation & Agenda: The summit featured a ministerial roundtable titled “Delivering Climate Ambition by 2030 and Beyond – United Action for Green Transition,” with climate and environment ministers from countries such as the UAE, Jordan, Maldives, Comoros, Kenya, and Mozambique joining discussions. These sessions focused on synchronizing policies, unlocking green finance, bridging institutional gaps, and enhancing public-private cooperation.
• Green Finance & Commitments Tracking: One of the primary agendas was to catalyse green finance—directing capital toward sustainable projects—and to institutionalize a mechanism within the World Green Economy Organization (WGEO) to regularly monitor voluntary commitments made at the summit, thereby improving accountability and follow-through. 
• Innovation & Corporate Strategy: Business leaders emphasized the need to embed sustainability into core business models rather than treating it as a peripheral responsibility. For instance, Tech Mahindra’s sustainability leadership argued that sustainability must shift from checkbox ESG compliance to an operating model for innovation and resilience.

Ultranationalist Abe protégé set to be Japan’s first woman PM: All about Sanae Takaichi

In the News: The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) of Japan elected Sanae Takaichi as its new president, positioning her to become the country’s first woman Prime Minister, should she be confirmed by parliament. Her rise has drawn wide attention because she is widely seen as a protégé of Shinzo Abe, and embodies a harder right turn for Japanese politics amid a turbulent electoral phase for the LDP.

Key Points:

• Political Background & Rise: Sanae Takaichi, aged 64, has built her political career in the Liberal Democratic Party since joining in 1996, having earlier been elected as an independent to the House of Representatives in 1993. Over the years she has held key ministerial roles under Abe, including Internal Affairs and Communications, and more recently Economic Security. Her deep association with Abe’s ideological cohort positions her as a continuing exponent of his agenda.
• 2025 LDP Leadership Contest: In the 2025 LDP presidential (leadership) election held on October 4, Takaichi secured 183 votes (31.07%) in the first round and advanced to a runoff against Shinjiro Koizumi, who had 164 votes (27.84%) in that round. In the runoff, she prevailed with 185 votes to 156, clinching the party’s top leadership. If confirmed by the Diet on October 15, she will formally become Prime Minister.
• Ideological Orientation: Takaichi is described as a staunch ultranationalist and conservative, opposing policies such as same-sex marriage, support for separate surnames for married couples, and female imperial succession. She is aligned with the nationalist group Nippon Kaigi, and has been vocal about reinterpreting Japan’s wartime past, strengthening Japan’s military posture, and increasing alignment with the U.S. and Taiwan. Her frequent association with visits to the controversial Yasukuni Shrine underscores her historical conservatism. 
• Challenges Ahead & Policy Priorities: If she becomes Prime Minister, Takaichi will inherit governance at a fragile moment: Japan is grappling with an aging population, economic stagnation, inflationary pressures, a declining birth rate, and external geopolitical tensions. Her campaign proposals include “crisis management investment” in sectors such as AI, semiconductors, energy, advanced medicine, and defense, while pledging to maintain fiscal discipline. She must also rebuild public trust in the LDP following recent electoral setbacks and reorient the party’s image.
• Symbolic Breakthrough & Limitations: Her ascension is symbolic—Japan has long lagged in gender representation in politics. While she breaks the glass ceiling, critics caution that her policy stances and past statements suggest limited real progress for women’s rights and social liberalization. Her success will be judged not only by her historic role but by whether she can govern effectively across party lines and address structural challenges.

What the International Stabilization Force for Gaza, proposed by Trump

In the News: Former U.S. President Donald Trump unveiled a comprehensive 20-point peace plan for Gaza which includes the establishment of a temporary “International Stabilization Force (ISF)” to oversee security, disarmament, and administrative transition in the Gaza Strip. This proposal is central to the second, long-term phase of his plan, which builds on the immediate ceasefire and hostage exchange.

Key Points:

• Role and Responsibilities: The Stabilization Force would be tasked with enforcing security, disarming Hamas, preventing rearmament, coordinating with Israeli and Egyptian forces on border security, and training a newly vetted Palestinian police force to take over internal security in Gaza.
• Governance & Administration Transition: Until Gaza is ready to be returned to Palestinian control, governance would pass to a technocratic interim authority, overseen by the ISF, which would manage day-to-day affairs and reconstruction. Israel would gradually withdraw its forces as the ISF assumes authority over more territory.
• Security & Withdrawal Conditions: Israel is not to occupy or annex Gaza under the plan; its withdrawal would be phased, tied to milestones in demilitarization, deconfliction, and stabilization overseen by the ISF and negotiated guarantees among Israel, the ISF, and guarantor states.
• Challenges & Ambiguities: The proposal leaves many details undefined — such as the force’s composition, rules of engagement, legal mandate, and how it will operate amid local resistance or renewed hostilities. Implementing such a force in a densely populated and devastated territory like Gaza is fraught with operational and political risks.
• Strategic Significance: The ISF is a linchpin of Trump’s broader strategy to reshape Gaza’s post-war order: it aims to create a buffer between Israel and Gaza, manage the security transition, and legitimize reconstruction under international oversight while reducing Hamas’s capacity to return to power.

Mirabai Chanu Wins Silver at 2025 World Championships

In the News: Indian weightlifter Mirabai Chanu clinched the silver medal in the women’s 48 kg category at the 2025 World Weightlifting Championships held in Førde, Norway, achieving a combined lift of 199 kg (84 kg in snatch + 115 kg in clean & jerk), thereby ending India’s three-year medal drought at the World Championships.

Key Points:

• Event & Category: The women’s 48 kg competition took place on October 2, 2025, in Førde, with 31 competitors from 26 nations vying for the podium. 
• Performance Breakdown: Mirabai Chanu lifted 84 kg in the snatch segment (securing a bronze in that sub-segment) and later succeeded with lifts of 109 kg, 112 kg, and 115 kg in clean & jerk, with the final attempt pushing her total to 199 kg.
• Medal Positions: The gold was won by North Korea’s Ri Song-gum, who posted a total of 213 kg (including a record clean & jerk), while the bronze went to Thailand’s Thanyathon Sukcharoen with 198 kg.
• Comeback & Significance: This is Mirabai’s first world medal since 2022, marking a strong comeback after injury setbacks; her performance is seen as a reaffirmation of her elite status and resilience.

India Honoured with ISSA Award for Expanding Social Security Coverage

In the News: India was conferred the International Social Security Association (ISSA) Award 2025 for Outstanding Achievement in Social Security, in recognition of its remarkable progress in expanding social protection coverage over the past decade. The award was accepted on behalf of India by Labour and Employment Minister Mansukh Mandaviya during the World Social Security Forum in Malaysia, and highlights India’s strides in bringing social security benefits closer to its population, especially in the unorganised sector.

Key Points:

• Expansion of Coverage: Between 2015 and 2025, India increased its social security coverage from about 19 percent of the population to approximately 64.3 percent, thereby extending benefits to over 940 million citizens through various schemes and improvements in infrastructure.
• Digital Public Infrastructure & e-Shram: The award citation emphasized the role of digital public infrastructure in enabling last-mile delivery of benefits. In particular, the e-Shram portal—a national database for unorganised workers—has been instrumental in linking them to multiple social welfare schemes through a seamless, multilingual interface. Integration with
• Other Platforms: The minister also highlighted how the National Career Service (NCS) is integrated with e-Shram to connect skilled jobseekers and employers globally, ensuring that workers retain social security coverage even if they move across jobs or geographies.
• Institutional Backbone: Core institutions such as the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) and the Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) were acknowledged for their role in providing pensions, healthcare, insurance, and unemployment benefits, thereby forming the structural foundation of India’s social security expansion.
• Global Significance & Recognition: India becomes the fifth country ever to receive this ISSA distinction, which reflects not only national achievement in social protection but also positions the country among global leaders in social security reform and coverage.

World Animal Day 2025: 100 Years of Compassion

In the News: The world marks the 100th anniversary of World Animal Day, commemorating a century of global compassion toward animals and reinforcing the message that humanity’s welfare and the planet’s health are deeply intertwined. This centennial edition carries the theme “Save Animals, Save the Planet” to highlight how safeguarding animal welfare is essential not only for biodiversity but for ecological balance and human survival.

Key Points:

• Origins and Evolution: World Animal Day was instituted in 1925 by German writer and activist Heinrich Zimmermann, who organized the first event in Berlin with over 5,000 participants wanting to elevate animal welfare as a public cause. Over time, the observance moved to October 4—coinciding with the feast day of Saint Francis of Assisi, often regarded as the patron saint of animals—and has since grown into a global movement endorsed by governments, NGOs, and communities worldwide.
• 2025 Theme & Significance: The chosen theme for 2025 is “Save Animals, Save the Planet”, linking animal welfare with planetary health and emphasizing that protecting animal life contributes to resilient ecosystems, climate stability, and human well-being.
• Global Participation & Events: To mark the centenary, individuals, animal welfare groups, and governments are encouraged to organize events—ranging from education campaigns and rescue awareness drives to adoption initiatives and community pledges. One signature activity is the “100 Acts of Kindness” campaign, where people commit to acts benefiting animals in the run-up to October 4.
• Challenges & Threats Highlighted: The 2025 observance underscores the many threats animals face—from habitat loss, deforestation, climate change and industrial farming to illegal wildlife trade and pollution—reminding societies that inaction has cascading consequences for species survival and ecosystem balance. 
• One Health Perspective & Integration: The centennial underscores a One Health outlook, recognizing that the health of animals, humans, and the environment are interconnected. Many advocates use this occasion to push for stronger legal protections, better veterinary care, and stricter habitat conservation policies as integrated solutions.
• Legacy & Future Imperatives: Reaching 100 years is not just symbolic. It invites reflection on how far the animal welfare movement has come and casts attention on how much remains to be done—especially in low-resource regions. Moving forward, the priority is to translate awareness into sustained policy measures, funding for rescue and conservation, and widespread behavioral change.