Daily Current Affairs - 3 July 2025
- TPP
- Jul 3
- 16 min read
Welcome to your one-stop destination for crisp, reliable, and exam-relevant Daily Current Affairs. The PRESS Pad delivers daily updates and smart summaries that go beyond the headlines and align perfectly with the evolving pattern of UPSC and other state-level examinations.
Today's edition features key updates including Iran-Israel Conflict and IAEA, taxation of High-Net-Worth Individuals (HNIs), C-FLOOD, Financial Fraud Risk Indicator (FRI), QUAD’s Critical Minerals Initiative, Report on Social Connection, Revised Operational Timings of SDF and MSF, PARAKH, Operation MED MAX, Male Mahadeshwara (MM) Hills Wildlife Sanctuary, Forest Advisory Committee (FAC), Green Climate Fund (GCF), IFSCA Framework on Transition Bonds, Nutritional Intake in India and more…
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Iran Suspends Cooperation with IAEA |
Iran has enacted a law suspending its cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) after Israel and the US launched air strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities.
This escalation followed an IAEA Board vote declaring Iran in violation of its obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), an international agreement aimed at preventing the spread of nuclear weapons.
The IAEA serves a critical role under the NPT as the international safeguards inspectorate, responsible for administering safeguards to verify that non-nuclear weapon states comply with their non-proliferation commitments.
Additionally, the IAEA facilitates the peaceful use of nuclear energy in non-nuclear weapon states that are party to the NPT, supporting applications like energy generation, medicine, and agriculture.
Iran’s suspension of cooperation with the IAEA is a prominent example of the ongoing erosion in the role and authority of international and intergovernmental organizations worldwide.
This erosion is evident in several ways, starting with the weakening of international institutions’ authority, shown by declining compliance with international laws and treaties, such as the US withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement.
There is also a crisis of credibility, where organizations become ineffective due to lack of global consensus, with decisions often influenced disproportionately by developed countries, raising concerns over their independence.
The situation further highlights the demonstration of ineffectiveness caused by these organizations’ limited enforcement powers, resource constraints, and outdated governance frameworks.
Finally, the loss of legitimacy of international bodies is apparent—for instance, the UN Security Council faces criticism over its imbalanced structure, including the veto power held by its five permanent members, which undermines broader representation.
Spain and Brazil Propose Higher Tax Contributions from the Super-Rich |
At the UN’s 4th International Conference on Financing for Development held in Sevilla, Spain, Spain and Brazil jointly proposed enforcing effective taxation of High-Net-Worth Individuals (HNIs) and the super-rich worldwide to curb growing inequality.
This proposal is part of the Seville Platform for Action, an initiative aimed at accelerating voluntary international efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are global targets for social, economic, and environmental development by 2030.
Both nations also advocated for establishing a Global Wealth Registry, designed to increase transparency, accountability, and fairer tax contributions by compiling a comprehensive, international database of wealth, assets, and real beneficial owners—those who ultimately own or control the assets.
The need for such actions stems from stark income disparities, with the wealthiest 1% owning more wealth than the remaining 99% of the global population combined, highlighting severe economic inequality.
Moreover, the richest 1%’s wealth has surged by $33.9 trillion since 2015, while billionaires pay a mere 0.3% in actual taxes, exposing significant tax disparity and loopholes exploited by the ultra-wealthy.
This inequality has critical implications for development, as approximately 3,000 billionaires have collectively gained $6.5 trillion—a sum exceeding the estimated $4 trillion annual cost required to achieve the SDGs.
The gap between private and public wealth is also alarming; between 1995 and 2023, global private wealth increased by $342 trillion, which is eight times more than global public wealth, emphasizing the concentration of wealth in private hands.
On the global stage, efforts to tackle inequality include the Seville Platform for Action, the G20’s 2024 agreement to develop a joint tax agenda targeting HNIs, and ongoing UN negotiations for a Convention on Tax, all aiming to foster greater fairness and resource mobilization.
India contributes through various social and financial inclusion initiatives, such as employment schemes like MGNREGA and DDU-GKY, social security programs including Atal Pension Yojana and Jeevan Jyoti Yojana, and financial inclusion efforts like the Jan Dhan Yojana and MUDRA Yojana, designed to empower marginalized sections.
Together, these proposals and initiatives underscore the urgent need for global cooperation and domestic policies to ensure the super-rich contribute their fair share, reducing inequality and supporting sustainable development worldwide.
C-FLOOD: India’s Unified Flood Forecasting System |
The Union Minister of Jal Shakti recently inaugurated C-FLOOD, a unified inundation forecasting system that integrates flood modeling outputs from multiple national and regional agencies to support disaster management authorities with comprehensive decision-making tools.
This initiative is vital given that over 40 million hectares (mha)—approximately 12% of India’s total geographical area of 329 mha—is prone to flooding, causing significant human and economic losses.
C-FLOOD is a web-based platform offering 2-day advance flood inundation forecasts with precision down to the village level, greatly enhancing disaster preparedness at grassroots levels.
The system employs advanced 2-D hydrodynamic modeling, a technique that simulates floodwater movement and spread in two dimensions, allowing accurate prediction of flood scenarios and their impacts.
It provides detailed flood inundation maps and water level predictions that help authorities plan timely evacuations and resource deployment during flood events.
The system is jointly developed by multiple premier organizations: the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), Pune, the Central Water Commission (CWC) — the nodal agency responsible for flood forecasting and issuing early warnings in India, the Department of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation under the Ministry of Jal Shakti, and the National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) which contributes satellite data expertise.
The project is executed under the National Supercomputing Mission (NSM), launched in 2015 to enhance India’s supercomputing capabilities; this mission is jointly overseen by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and the Department of Science and Technology (DST).
Currently, C-FLOOD covers the Mahanadi, Godavari, and Tapi river basins, which are among India’s major flood-prone areas, with plans underway to expand coverage to all river basins across the country for comprehensive flood risk management.
To ensure seamless integration with national disaster response efforts, C-FLOOD’s forecasts will be linked with the National Disaster Management Emergency Response Portal (NDEM), facilitating real-time information sharing and coordinated action.
RBI Advises Banks to Use Financial Fraud Risk Indicator (FRI) for Enhanced Cyber Fraud Prevention |
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has directed all Scheduled Commercial Banks, Small Finance Banks, Payments Banks, and Co-operative Banks to integrate the Financial Fraud Risk Indicator (FRI) into their systems.
The FRI, developed by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), enables automated data exchange between banks and DoT’s Digital Intelligence Platform (DIP) through API (Application Programming Interface)-based integration, ensuring real-time responsiveness.
The Digital Intelligence Platform (DIP) is a secure online platform designed to share information related to the misuse of telecom resources among stakeholders to prevent cybercrime and financial fraud.
The FRI was launched in May 2025 by DoT’s Digital Intelligence Unit (DIU) as a risk-based metric that classifies mobile numbers according to their association with financial fraud risk levels: Medium, High, or Very High.
This risk classification is based on inputs from multiple sources including the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre’s (I4C) National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (NCRP), DoT’s Chakshu platform, and intelligence shared by banks and financial institutions.
By using FRI, banks and financial institutions can take real-time preventive actions such as declining suspicious transactions or issuing alerts and warnings to customers, thereby reducing the risk of cyber fraud.
Additionally, the DIU regularly shares the Mobile Number Revocation List (MNRL) with stakeholders, which contains details of mobile numbers disconnected due to links with cybercrime, failed re-verification, and other security concerns.
Critical Minerals Initiative by the Quad |
The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad), comprising the United States, Japan, India, and Australia, has launched a Critical Minerals Initiative to enhance cooperation in securing and diversifying global supply chains for these strategic resources.
This initiative aims to boost supply chain resilience, promote recovery and re-processing of critical minerals from electronic waste (e-waste), and ensure reliable access to materials essential for emerging technologies.
The need for such an initiative arises from the geographic concentration of critical mineral production and processing, which poses global supply vulnerabilities due to geopolitical risks, market control, and export restrictions.
For instance, the Democratic Republic of Congo alone supplies approximately 70% of the world’s cobalt, while China refines 68% of global cobalt, 65% of nickel, and 60% of lithium, illustrating the strategic chokepoints in the mineral supply chain.
These minerals are crucial for economic and national security, as demonstrated in 2024 when China banned exports of gallium and germanium to the US, highlighting the risk of mineral export being used as geopolitical leverage.
Apart from geopolitical concentration, challenges such as inadequate global recycling infrastructure and dependence on imports further intensify the urgency for collaborative action.
Critical minerals are naturally occurring elements or compounds like lithium, cobalt, nickel, etc., designated as “critical” due to their high economic importance, growing demand, and supply risk.
These minerals have diverse applications, including in electric vehicles and electronics (industry), radars and missiles (defence), and battery storage and solar panels (clean energy) — making them indispensable for sustainable development and security.
To address these challenges, India has taken several domestic measures, such as the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2023, which enables exploration and mining of critical minerals.
Other national initiatives include the National Critical Mineral Mission (NCMM) and the National Mineral Policy, 2019, aimed at strengthening institutional and strategic support for critical mineral management.
On the global front, India joined the US-led Minerals Security Partnership (MSP) in 2023, a multilateral effort to coordinate investments and ensure sustainable supply of key minerals.
Additionally, the formation of Khanij Bidesh India Limited (KABIL) in 2019 — a joint venture under the Ministry of Mines — helps India acquire and invest in overseas critical mineral assets.
A notable example is the India-Argentina agreement (2024) signed for exploration of lithium mines, enhancing India’s access to this vital resource for battery and energy storage sectors.
Overall, the Quad Critical Minerals Initiative marks a strategic step toward securing, diversifying, and decarbonising global mineral supply chains, while reinforcing India’s commitment to resource security, green energy transition, and geopolitical resilience.
WHO Report on Social Connection |
The World Health Organization (WHO) Commission on Social Connection has released a major report titled "From Loneliness to Social Connection: Charting a Path to Healthier Societies", highlighting the growing global challenge of social isolation and loneliness.
The report underscores that social connection—defined as the various ways people interact and form relationships with others including family, friends, coworkers, neighbours, and community—is vital for individual and societal well-being.
In contrast, social disconnection occurs when individuals either lack sufficient relationships, don’t feel emotionally supported, or have strained or negative interactions, leading to two major forms:
Loneliness: a subjective feeling of a gap between one’s desired and actual social experiences.
Social Isolation: an objective state of having few or no meaningful social interactions.
The report identifies several drivers of loneliness and social isolation, including poor health, marginalization, low income or education, living alone, weak community infrastructure, life transitions (e.g., retirement, bereavement), and unhealthy use of digital technologies.
drivers of loneliness and social isolation Data from the report shows widespread social disconnection, with 1 in 6 people globally reporting feelings of loneliness between 2014–2023, and young people aged 13–29 emerging as the most affected demographic.
Additionally, up to 1 in 3 older adults (1990–2022) and about 1 in 4 teenagers (2003–2018) are reported to be socially isolated, indicating vulnerabilities at both ends of the age spectrum.
1 in 6 people globally reporting feelings of loneliness The report highlights geographic disparities, revealing that in low-income countries, around 24% of people feel lonely, whereas in high-income nations, the figure is 11%, reflecting inequality in social connectedness.
The impacts of social disconnection are wide-ranging —
Physical Health: Loneliness is linked to 871,000 global deaths (2014–2019).
Mental Health: Increases the risk of depression, anxiety, dementia, and emotional distress.
Socio-Economic Impact: Leads to poor academic outcomes and reduced workplace productivity.
To address this, the WHO proposes a comprehensive roadmap to improve social connection, starting with policy reforms, including national strategies adopted by eight countries, such as Denmark, Finland, and Germany, that promote social bonding as a public health goal.
The research component emphasizes building national and global research capacity and initiating ‘Grand Challenges’ in Social Connection to drive innovation in understanding and solving the problem.
On the ground level, WHO calls for evidence-based interventions, including launching an intervention accelerator and strengthening social infrastructure, such as accessible community spaces and support services.
way forward on social connection To track progress, the report recommends the development of a global Social Connection Index for better measurement, monitoring, and comparison across countries.
Lastly, WHO stresses the importance of public engagement, through mass awareness campaigns, community events, group activities, and innovative approaches like social prescribing—where healthcare professionals recommend patients to participate in social or community-based activities to combat isolation.
SDF and MSF – RBI Revises Operational Timings of Key Liquidity Tools |
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has recently revised the operational timings for two crucial monetary policy tools — the Standing Deposit Facility (SDF) and the Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) — which play an important role in managing liquidity in the banking system.
The Standing Deposit Facility (SDF) allows banks to park their surplus funds with the RBI on an overnight basis, helping absorb excess liquidity from the system.
Notably, under SDF, the RBI does not require any collateral from banks, making it a non-collateralized liquidity absorption tool, distinct from traditional mechanisms that rely on government securities.
On the other hand, the Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) provides a safety valve for banks to borrow from the RBI in times of emergency or acute liquidity shortages, especially when inter-bank lending channels dry up.
Unlike SDF, the MSF requires banks to pledge government securities as collateral to access short-term funds from the central bank, thereby ensuring lending is backed by secure assets.
Together, SDF and MSF represent the floor and ceiling of the RBI’s Liquidity Adjustment Facility (LAF) corridor, which is used to control short-term interest rates and manage banking system liquidity.
The revision in their timings is aimed at enhancing operational efficiency, flexibility, and responsiveness of the RBI in daily liquidity management, especially in the context of changing market dynamics.
PARAKH – Advancing Student Assessment through Data and Standards |
The PARAKH Rashtriya Sarvekshan Dissemination Portal was recently launched, offering open access to national and state-level data on student performance across India.
This portal is designed to serve as a key resource for States and Union Territories (UTs) to formulate targeted interventions and data-driven strategies aimed at improving learning outcomes in schools.
The initiative is part of PARAKH — short for Performance Assessment, Review and Analysis of Knowledge for Holistic Development — which was established in 2023 as a National Assessment Centre under the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT).
Functioning as an independent constituent body within NCERT, PARAKH is mandated to set norms, standards, and guidelines related to student assessment at the school level across India.
The key objective of PARAKH is to bring standardization and coherence in student evaluation, ensuring assessments are aligned with learning goals, equity, and competency-based education.
Its major focus areas include capacity development (training of educators and institutions), conducting achievement surveys (to gauge learning levels), promoting school board equivalence (to ensure uniformity across various education boards), and designing Holistic Progress Cards (which go beyond marks to assess overall student development).
By combining data transparency with standardized assessment practices, PARAKH aims to transform how student learning is measured and improved, supporting the vision of competency-based, inclusive, and equitable education outlined in the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
Operation MED MAX |
In a significant move against drug trafficking, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) launched Operation MED MAX to crack down on the illegal trade of pharmaceutical drugs.
Through this operation, the NCB successfully dismantled a transnational drug trafficking syndicate that was involved in smuggling controlled medicines across four continents, highlighting the global scale of the operation.
The syndicate exploited encrypted digital platforms — secure, private communication tools often used to evade law enforcement surveillance — to coordinate the trafficking network.
Additionally, the operation exposed the use of the drop shipping model, a logistics method where products are shipped directly from third-party suppliers to customers, making it difficult to trace the source or intercept the shipments.
To further obscure the money trail, the network also leveraged cryptocurrency, which provides pseudo-anonymous financial transactions, posing new challenges for traditional financial monitoring and anti-money laundering systems.
Overall, Operation MED MAX illustrates the increasing convergence of digital technology, unregulated financial tools like crypto, and international logistics, which together are reshaping the landscape of modern illicit trade.
The success of this operation highlights the urgent need for global coordination and digital surveillance capabilities to counter the rapidly evolving threat of tech-enabled drug trafficking networks.
Male Mahadeshwara (MM) Hills Wildlife Sanctuary |
A serious wildlife conservation concern has emerged as five tigers were recently found dead in the Male Mahadeshwara (MM) Hills Wildlife Sanctuary, raising alarms about the health of the local ecosystem and wildlife protection efforts.
The MM Hills Wildlife Sanctuary is located in southeastern Karnataka, and it plays a crucial ecological role as a wildlife corridor, which is a stretch of natural habitat that allows the safe movement of animals between protected areas.
Specifically, this sanctuary connects the Biligiri Ranganatha Swamy Temple (BRT) Wildlife Sanctuary to the Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary, forming a continuous landscape vital for the migration and genetic flow of large mammals like tigers and elephants.
The sanctuary's terrain is predominantly covered by dry deciduous forests, interspersed with semi-evergreen and shola forests at higher altitudes, along with scrub forests along the outer (fringe) zones — a mix that supports a diverse range of flora and fauna.
MM Hills Wildlife Sanctuary The region is home to various important wildlife species, including the Tiger, Elephant, Leopard, Wild Dog (Dhole), and Sloth Bear, making it a significant part of the Eastern Ghats–Western Ghats landscape connectivity, which is essential for large carnivore conservation.
The sanctuary also supports vibrant local communities, with Soligas (a tribal group) and Lingayats (a major religious community) being the dominant inhabitants, many of whom maintain close cultural and traditional ties with the forest.
Overall, MM Hills serves not only as a biodiversity hotspot but also as an ecological bridge between two major wildlife habitats, reinforcing its importance in India’s broader conservation network — now highlighted by the tragic loss of five apex predators.
Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) |
The Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) has recently recommended streamlining the forest clearance process to facilitate smoother approval for major industry and infrastructure projects that are located in or near forest land.
The FAC is a statutory body, meaning it is established by law — in this case, under the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, which governs the use of forest land for non-forest purposes in India.
Its primary role is to examine and evaluate proposals seeking the diversion of forest land for non-forestry activities, including activities like mining, infrastructure development, and industrial expansion.
Based on its assessment, the FAC gives its recommendations to the Government of India, particularly to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), which takes the final decision.
Importantly, the role of the FAC is recommendatory in nature, meaning it does not grant clearances directly but provides expert advice and evaluation to aid the government's decision-making process.
The recent push to streamline clearances reflects a balancing approach between environmental conservation and developmental needs, aiming to reduce procedural delays without compromising ecological safeguards.
Green Climate Fund (GCF) |
The Green Climate Fund (GCF), recognized as the world’s largest dedicated climate fund, has recently approved over USD 120 million to support a new set of climate-related projects globally.
The core mandate of the GCF is to assist developing countries in raising and fulfilling their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) — which are country-specific climate action targets under the Paris Agreement — aimed at achieving low-emission and climate-resilient development.
The Fund was established at COP 16 (the 16th Conference of the Parties) under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which took place in Cancun, Mexico, in 2010.
In alignment with Article 9 of the Paris Agreement, the GCF plays a crucial role in mobilizing financial resources from developed to developing countries, specifically to address both mitigation (reducing emissions) and adaptation (coping with climate impacts).
In terms of governance, the GCF is overseen by the GCF Board, which is accountable to and operates under the guidance of the COP (Conference of the Parties) to the UNFCCC, ensuring transparency and multilateral oversight.
The headquarters of the Green Climate Fund is located in Songdo, Incheon City, Republic of Korea, from where it coordinates its global operations and funding mechanisms.
Overall, the GCF continues to be a pivotal financial instrument in the international climate finance architecture, empowering developing nations to pursue climate-compatible growth and fulfill their global climate commitments.
IFSCA Framework on Transition Bonds |
The International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) has officially approved a dedicated framework for the issuance and listing of Transition Bonds under the IFSCA (Listing) Regulations, 2024.
These Transition Bonds are classified as a sub-category of ‘Green Debt Securities’, as defined under the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI)’s regulations.
A Green Debt Security refers to a type of debt instrument (or loan-based investment tool) used specifically to raise funds for environment-friendly projects, including clean transportation, sustainable waste management, renewable energy, and other green infrastructure.
Within this green finance ecosystem, Transition Bonds are tailored for hard-to-abate sectors such as steel and cement, which are traditionally carbon-intensive and face greater challenges in achieving immediate carbon neutrality.
The primary objective of Transition Bonds is to enable these sectors to raise capital for progressive decarbonisation, meaning a gradual shift toward low-emission technologies while continuing to operate essential industrial processes.
A key feature of this framework is its strong emphasis on mitigating greenwashing — a practice where entities falsely market projects as environmentally friendly.
To counter this, the framework mandates strict transparency, periodic disclosures, and third-party validation, ensuring that the funds are genuinely used for credible transition efforts and helping to maintain investor trust.
Overall, the IFSCA’s move supports sustainable finance by encouraging inclusive low-carbon transitions, especially in sectors where emission reductions are both urgent and difficult.
Nutritional Intake in India: NSO Report (2022–24) |
The National Statistics Office (NSO) has released a comprehensive report on nutritional intake trends in India, based on data from the Household Consumption Expenditure Surveys conducted in 2022–23 and 2023–24.
As per the findings, the average per capita daily calorie intake in rural areas was 2233 Kcal in 2022–23, which slightly declined to 2212 Kcal in 2023–24.
In urban areas, the average per person calorie consumption was 2250 Kcal in 2022–23, reducing marginally to 2240 Kcal in 2023–24, indicating a stable but slightly downward trend across both segments.
While cereals (such as rice, wheat, and millet) remain the primary source of protein intake, their contribution has seen a notable decline — approximately 14% in rural and 12% in urban India — when compared to 2009–10 levels.
This shift is being compensated by increased consumption of diversified protein sources like eggs, fish, meat, and milk, reflecting a gradual dietary diversification and improved access to animal-based proteins.
The report highlights a positive correlation between Monthly Per Capita Consumption Expenditure (MPCE) — which refers to the average monthly spending per individual in a household — and calorie intake, meaning that higher spending generally leads to higher calorie consumption.
A significant finding is the narrowing disparity in calorie intake between the bottom 5% and top 5% of the population (ranked by MPCE), suggesting an improvement in nutritional equity and possibly better access to food for lower-income groups in 2023–24.
Overall, the data reflects a slow yet steady shift in dietary patterns, growing nutritional awareness, and improved food consumption equity, especially across socio-economic segments.
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