NATIONAL AFFAIRS

1. 9th India Mobile Congress (IMC 2025) Held in New Delhi

The 9th edition of the India Mobile Congress (IMC 2025), Asia’s largest telecom, media, and technology forum, took place at the Yashobhoomi India International Convention & Expo Centre (IICC) in New Delhi.

• Theme: "Innovate to Transform"
• Organizers: Department of Telecommunications (DoT) under the Ministry of Communications, in partnership with the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI).
• Inauguration: Formally opened by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who noted that India has seen a 6-fold growth in electronics production and a 28-fold increase in mobile manufacturing since 2014.
• International Bharat6G Symposium 2025: Hosted its 2nd edition during the event. The Bharat 6G Alliance signed two key MoUs with NASSCOM and the European Space Agency (ESA) to advance technological development.
• Major Co-located Events: 23rd Bharat Telecom, 1st SATCOM Summit, International AI Summit, Cyber Security Summit, OpenAI API Hackathon, and IMC Aspire Competition.

2. PM GatiShakti Marks 4th Anniversary with Transformative Initiatives

Union Minister Piyush Goyal (Ministry of Commerce and Industry) launched a series of digital platforms and initiatives at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi, to commemorate the 4th anniversary of the Pradhan Mantri GatiShakti - National Master Plan (PMGS-NMP).

About PM GatiShakti NMP: Launched on October 13, 2021, with a budget outlay of ₹100 crore to revolutionize infrastructure planning through a "Whole-of-Government" digital approach.

• PM GatiShakti-Offshore: A multi-layered spatial digital platform designed to boost sustainable offshore development and strengthen India's Blue Economy.
• Knowledge Management System (KMS): A centralized digital repository serving as a single source of truth for all PMGS resources.
• Decentralized Data Uploading and Management System (DUMS): A framework ensuring standardized, accountable, and accurate data management for infrastructure updates.
• PMGS NMP Dashboard & Compendium (Vol-3): Rolled out for real-time monitoring of mega projects and documenting infrastructure success stories.
• LEAPS 2025: Launched the Logistics Excellence, Advancement, and Performance Shield 2025 to reward innovation in the logistics sector.

3. NITI Aayog Releases Report on India's Deep-Sea and Offshore Fisheries

The Agriculture and Allied Sectors Division of NITI Aayog released a critical strategy report titled "India’s Blue Economy: Strategy for Harnessing Deep-Sea and Offshore Fisheries".

• Global Standing: India is the second-largest fish-producing nation globally, contributing 8% to global production.
• Export Growth: India's export earnings from fishery products doubled from ₹30,213 crore in 2013-14 to ₹60,523 crore in FY24.
• Strategic Roadmap: The report outlines a 3-phase financial framework to scale competitive sustainability:
  1. Phase 1 (Foundation): ₹2,430 crore
  2. Phase 2 (Global Competitiveness): ₹4,210 crore
  3. Phase 3 (Global Leadership): ₹1,690 crore

4. NH Infrastructure Projects Worth Over ₹2,000 Crore Unveiled in Puducherry

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari (MoRTH) inaugurated and laid foundation stones for 3 critical National Highway (NH) projects totaling over ₹2,000 crore in the Union Territory of Puducherry.

• NH-32 4-Lane Section: Opened a 38 km-long 4-lane stretch between Puducherry and Poondiyankuppam, built at a cost of ₹1,588 crore.
• Indira Gandhi Sq. to Rajiv Gandhi Sq. Elevated Corridor: Laid the foundation stone for a 3.88 km elevated corridor on NH-32 (Cost: ₹436 crore) to handle 60,000 Passenger Car Units (PCUs) daily, cutting travel times from 35 to 10 minutes.
• Setu Bandhan Scheme: Announced an allocation of ₹100 crore for minor bridge constructions alongside 5 new future highway developments.

5. Quick Digests: National Initiatives

• ‘Fare se Fursat’ Scheme: Launched by Civil Aviation Minister Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu, this pilot initiative by state-owned Alliance Air fixes regional airfares across Tier-II and Tier-III cities to eliminate surge pricing from Oct 13 to Dec 31, 2025. It integrates directly with the UDAN vision.
• India’s First AI CoE for Public Good: TechBharat Research Foundation (TBRF) and Google Cloud India established this first-of-its-kind Center of Excellence in Visakhapatnam, supported by the Government of Andhra Pradesh. It features a flagship 120-day TechBharat AI Fellowship to incubate governance prototypes.
• Sovereign AI Development Model: The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) partnered with MeitY to supply clean, verified corporate financial and audit datasets to 10 local LLM developers. The indigenous sovereign AI model is expected to debut ahead of the AI Impact Summit in February 2026.
• Preservation of Classical Languages: The Ministry of Minority Affairs (MoMA) established dedicated Centers of Excellence under the PMJVK scheme. A Centre for Jain Studies was inaugurated at Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya (DAVV), Indore with a ₹27.16 crore grant. Other centers include Mumbai University (Pali, Prakrit, Avesta Pahlavi) and Gujarat University (Prakrit).

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

1. India-Australia Bilateral Exercise ‘AUSTRAHIND 2025’ Commences

The 4th edition of the joint military exercise AUSTRAHIND 2025 kicked off at the Irwin Barracks in Perth, Australia.

2. Maldives Achieves Historic WHO 'Triple Elimination' Target

The World Health Organization (WHO) validated the Maldives for eliminating the mother-to-child transmission (EMTCT) of Hepatitis B.

• The Milestone: The Maldives has become the first country globally to secure a certified "triple elimination" status for mother-to-child transmission of HIV, Syphilis, and Hepatitis B, continuing its health streak from its initial 2019 HIV/Syphilis validations.
• Key Driver: Over 10% of the Maldives' total GDP is actively routed back into robust Universal Health Coverage (UHC) frameworks.

3. Lok Sabha Speaker Leads Indian Delegation at 68th CPC in Barbados

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla led the Indian Parliamentary Delegation (IPD) to the 68th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference (CPC) held in Bridgetown, Barbados.

• Theme: "The Commonwealth – A Global Partner"
• Key Leadership: Om Birla chaired an interactive, high-level workshop: “Leveraging Technology: Enhancing Democracy through Digital Transformations and Tackling the Digital Divide.”
• Diplomatic Outreach: Invited global legislative heads to the upcoming 28th Conference of Speakers and Presiding Officers of the Commonwealth (CSPOC) to be hosted in New Delhi in January 2026.

BANKING, FINANCE & ECONOMY

1. India’s First Wearables Payment Ecosystem Launched via "Ring One"

IIT-Madras incubated startup Muse Wearables, in partnership with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), launched India’s first contactless payment wearable ecosystem integrated within a smart ring called "Ring One".

• Network: Runs smoothly across the RuPay network using tokenization maps embedded into a tamper-proof Secure Element (SE) chip.
• Security Feature: Transactions execute only when the ring is actively detected on the user's finger; capability auto-deactivates instantly upon removal to eliminate theft risk.

2. Retail Inflation Hits a 99-Month Low at 1.54% in September 2025

Data released by the National Statistics Office (NSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), confirmed that India’s retail inflation (measured by the Consumer Price Index - CPI) plunged to a 99-month low of 1.54% in September 2025.

• Food Inflation: Cleared its 4th consecutive month of negative contraction, dropping to -2.28% (lowest since late 2018).
• State Analysis: Kerala logged the highest inflation rate at 9.05%, followed closely by Jammu & Kashmir (4.38%). Conversely, Uttar Pradesh (-0.61%) and Assam (-0.56%) entered deflation territory.

SPORTS & APPOINTMENTS

Shubman Gill Leads India to a 2-0 Test Series Sweep Over West Indies

India registered a dominant 7-wicket win in the second Test match at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi to seal a 2-0 series sweep against the West Indies under the captaincy of Shubman Gill.

• Historical Equalizer: This marks India's 10th consecutive Test series victory over the Windies (2000–2025), matching South Africa's all-time record. The unbeaten streak against them now stretches to 27 straight test matches.
• Ravindra Jadeja: Awarded 'Player of the Series' (104 runs, 8 wickets). He also bypassed Harbhajan Singh to become India’s third-highest international wicket-taker on home soil (377 wickets).
• Shubman Gill: Transcended Virat Kohli to officially stand as India's highest run-scorer in World Test Championship (WTC) history, amassing 2,757 runs over 39 appearances.

Mahavir Lunawat Re-elected as Chairman of AIBI

The Association of Investment Bankers in India (AIBI) re-elected industry expert Mahavir Lunawat (Founder and Chairman of Pantomath Capital Advisors) as its Chairman for a second consecutive 2-year term.

• Additional Appointments: Abhijit Vaidya (Kotak Investment Banking) and Lakha Nair (Axis Capital) were appointed as Vice-Chairpersons.

IMPORTANT DAYS

1. World Standards Day 2025 – October 14

Observed globally to emphasize the power of unified standardization frameworks across the global economy.

• 2025 Theme: "A Shared Vision for a Better World: Standards for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)"
• Key India Launches: Union Minister Pralhad Joshi presided over celebrations at NITS Noida, launching the National Lighting Code of India 2025, a brand new Learning Management System (LMS), and the Online Standards Development (OSD) portal module.

2. CPR Awareness Week 2025 – October 13 to 17

Inaugurated by Health Secretary Punya Salila Srivastav under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), the awareness week promotes community-wide mastery of Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) skills, aiming to ensure at least one individual per household is trained to respond during cardiac emergencies.