CURRENT AFFAIRS

India’s persistent underperformance in manufacturing growth has come under renewed focus amid debates on structural constraints, public sector wage dynamics, productivity gaps, and their implications for industrial competitiveness and job creation.

A recent analysis of RBI’s State-wise export data reveals that India’s export growth is increasingly concentrated in a few States, exposing deepening regional imbalances and questioning the assumption that export expansion automatically leads to broad-based industrialisation and employment generation.

The Government of India has launched the Bharat Taxi Initiative, a cooperative-driven, citizen-first national ride-hailing platform, aimed at empowering drivers by making them co-owners of the platform and reducing dependence on profit-driven private cab aggregators.

The Union government is exploring the possible introduction of data exclusivity in the pharmaceutical sector, triggering concerns over delayed access to affordable medicines and the sustainability of India’s generics-driven drug industry.

The Union Finance Minister has tabled the Securities Markets Code (SMC) Bill, 2025 in the Lok Sabha. The Bill, first proposed in the Union Budget 2021–22, has been referred to the Standing Committee on Finance for detailed scrutiny.

Recently, according to information provided by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), the CSIR-Central Food Technological Research Institute (CSIR-CFTRI), Mysuru, initiated four grant-funded projects related to the study and development of Annatto. The objective of these projects is to further the scientific understanding of natural food colors and their associated health benefits.

India is fast-tracking negotiations and signings of Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with partners such as New Zealand, Russia, Oman, the EU, and others, despite evidence that earlier FTAs yielded limited trade benefits.

A profound structural shift is taking place in India's capital markets. Domestic savings are now replacing foreign institutional investors (FIIs), reducing Indian markets' dependence on volatile global capital.

The Prime Minister has urged citizens to actively participate in the ‘Your Money, Your Right’ movement—an initiative designed to help people reclaim their unclaimed deposits, insurance proceeds, mutual fund payouts, dividends, and other forgotten financial assets.

The year 2025 witnessed major disruptions across India’s transportation systems—severe train overcrowding, widespread flight cancellations, aviation safety concerns, and growing road congestion. These events highlight long-standing structural challenges of underinvestment, market concentration, and weak regulation, putting India’s mobility network under severe stress.