Daily Current Affairs and GK | 23 December 2025

Topic: MoUs/Agreements 

1. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed between India and Netherlands to boost cooperation in maritime heritage.

• The signing of this agreement marks a major step towards development of the National Maritime Heritage Complex (NMHC) at Lothal in Gujarat.
• The MoU brings together NMHC and the National Maritime Museum in Amsterdam.
• NMHC is being developed under the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways.
• As part of MoU, India and Netherlands will exchange knowledge, expertise and best practices in design, curation and conservation of maritime museum.
• Further, MoU will allow joint exhibitions, research initiatives and cultural exchange programmes.
• As part of MoU, innovative approaches will be adopted to enhance visitor experience, education and public outreach.
• The National Maritime Heritage Complex at Lothal is planned as a world-class institution, which showcases India’s 4,500-year-old maritime history.
• Cooperation with National Maritime Museum in Amsterdam will enhance the international profile of the project.

Topic: Awards and Prizes

2. The Railway Protection Force won first place in the men’s brass band category at the 26th All India Police Band Competition.

• Assam Rifles and the BSF secured second place in the men’s brass band category at the 26th All India Police Band Competition.
• In the women’s brass band category, CISF won first place and Shashastra Seema Bal was second.
• Maharashtra received the overall men’s championship shield. CISF took the overall women’s championship shield.
• Union Coal Mines Minister G. Kishan Reddy presented awards and trophies to the winners.
• He also released a magazine to commemorate the event and praised police personnel for their contributions.
• He congratulated the RPF for hosting the competition.
• 26th All India Police Band Competition was held at Moula Ali, in Secunderabad, Telangana.
• The event included 24 bands from state police, Central Armed Police Forces, and other uniformed services.
• More than 1,300 band members took part in the competition. This included 224 women musicians.

Topic: Government Schemes and Initiatives

3. ‘SHAKTI Scholars’ fellowship for young researchers launched by NCW.

• The ‘SHAKTI Scholars: NCW Young Research Fellowship’ has been launched by the National Commission for Women to encourage policy-oriented research on women-centric issues in India.
• Applications have been invited from students and young researchers to undertake structured research aligned with women’s rights and empowerment.
• The fellowship has been designed to promote multidisciplinary research relevant to contemporary challenges faced by women.
• Research themes have been identified covering women’s safety and dignity, gender-based violence, legal rights and access to justice.
• Focus areas also include cyber safety, implementation of the POSH framework, and women’s leadership and political participation.
• Issues related to health, nutrition, education, skill development, and economic empowerment are included under the fellowship scope.
• Indian citizens aged between 21 and 30 years holding at least a graduation degree are eligible to apply for the fellowship.
• Preference has been stated for candidates pursuing or having completed post-graduation or higher research, while capable independent researchers may also apply.
• A research grant of ₹1 lakh has been earmarked for selected fellows for a six-month research period, with funds released in phases linked to progress.
• Applications must be submitted to the NCW via email by 5:30 PM on December 31st.
• Selection will be made by an expert committee, followed by an online interview.

Topic: Economy/Banking/Finance

4. India's REIT market has overtaken Hong Kong in terms of market capitalisation.

• India’s Real Estate Investment Trust sector has been positioned as a mainstream asset class after achieving a gross asset value of about ₹2.3 lakh crore.
• Market capitalisation of Indian REITs has been reported at approximately ₹1.66 lakh crore as of September 30, 2025.
• Hong Kong’s REIT market has been surpassed by India despite only around 32% of REIT-worthy stock being listed.
• A five-year annualised price return of over 8.9% has been recorded by Indian REIT indices.
• Peer markets such as Singapore, Japan and Hong Kong have been outperformed during the same period.
• Since their listing, the unit prices of the initial four REITs have increased by between 25% and 61%, while the newly listed Knowledge REIT has already gained approximately 12%.
• Distribution yields in the range of 5.1 to 6% have been achieved through steady income generation
• Distributions exceeding ₹2,331 crore were made by five REITs in Q2 FY26, marking a 70% year-on-year growth.
• Mandatory distribution of 90% of net distributable cash flows has enabled REITs to emerge as efficient yield vehicles for retail and HNI investors.

Topic: MoUs/Agreements

5. An MoU between DRDO and Rashtriya Raksha University signed to strengthen Defence R&D.

• On 22 December, an MoU has been signed between Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Rashtriya Raksha University (RRU) to enhance collaboration in defence and internal security domains in New Delhi.
• The agreement was signed by Dr. Chandrika Kaushik, a renowned scientist and Director General (Production Coordination and Services Interaction) from DRDO, and Professor (Dr.) Bimal N Patel, Vice Chancellor of RRU.
• Strengthening self-reliance in defence technologies under the vision of Aatmanirbhar Bharat has been identified as a key objective.
• Integration of technological innovation, academic research and operational insights has been envisaged under the partnership.
• Joint research projects, doctoral programmes and fellowship initiatives will be undertaken by both institutions.
• Specialised training and capacity-building programmes for security forces have been included in the collaboration framework.
• Life-cycle management of DRDO-developed systems inducted into CAPFs and other agencies will be supported through the partnership.
• The collaboration is expected to contribute to a robust ecosystem for research, innovation and skill development in defence and internal security.

Topic: MoUs/Agreements

6. A cooperation agreement signed between IOL and Safran for indigenous defense manufacturing.

• A collaboration agreement has been signed between India Optel Limited (IOL) and Safran Electronics & Defense to enable local manufacturing of advanced defence systems.
• On December 22, Tushar Tripathi, Chairman and Managing Director of IOL, and Alexander Ziegler, Head of the Defense Global Business Unit at Safran Electronics & Defense, signed the agreement in New Delhi.
• The agreement has been aligned with the government’s Make in India initiative to strengthen indigenous defence production.
• Transfer of production of two high-precision, combat-proven systems has been formalised under the pact.
• Under this collaboration, IOL will manufacture the SIGMA 30N digital ring laser gyro inertial navigation system, which is used in artillery, air defense systems, missiles, and radars.
• The CM3-MR Direct Firing Sight for artillery guns and anti-drone systems will also be produced domestically.
• Manufacturing, final assembly, testing and quality control responsibilities will be handled by IOL.
• Complete life-cycle support for the systems has been included as part of the collaboration.
• The agreement builds upon the MoU signed in January 2024, reinforcing long-term commitment to indigenous defence capability development.

Topic: MoUs/Agreements

7. A comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between India and New Zealand have been concluded recently.

• This agreement is one of the India’s fastest-concluded FTAs with a developed country.
• The negotiations for the comprehensive FTA formally began on March 16, 2025.
• The negotiations continued for nine months and concluded after five formal negotiation rounds.
• As part of the FTA, zero-duty market access on 100 per cent of New Zealand’s tariff lines is provided.
• This grants duty-free access for all Indian exports.
• Under the FTA, India has provided tariff liberalisation on about 70 per cent of tariff lines.
• Sensitive sectors such as dairy, coffee, milk and milk products, sugar, spices, edible oils, rubber and onions have been excluded from market access to protect farmers and domestic industry.
• The agreement will boost India’s labour-intensive sectors.
• Duty-free access to key inputs such as wooden logs, coking coal, and metal waste will benefit India’s manufacturing sector.
• In services, the FTA covers 118 services sectors. It also extends Most-Favoured Nation (MFN) commitments to around 139 sub-sectors.
• The FTA boosts student mobility through post-study work visas.
• Indian students can get post-study work rights of up to three years for STEM graduates and up to four years for doctoral scholars.
• Under the agreement, Agricultural Productivity Partnerships is provided through Centres of Excellence for apples, kiwifruit and honey.
• New Zealand will facilitate investments worth USD 20 billion in India over the next 15 years.
• Bilateral merchandise trade between India and New Zealand stood at USD 1.3 billion in 2024–25.
• The India-New Zealand FTA is the third trade agreement signed by India in 2025.

Topic: National news

8. Cyber fraud losses of ₹660 crore have been stopped by the government within a span of six months through the use of the Financial Fraud Risk Indicator.

• With the help of Financial Fraud Risk Indicator, high-risk and suspicious financial transactions can be identified and blocked.
• Over 1,000 banks, third-party application providers and Payment System Operators (PSOs) have joined the Digital Intelligence Platform.
• They have also started adopting the Financial Fraud Risk Indicator actively.
• The Financial Fraud Risk Indicator is actively supported by the Reserve Bank of India and the National Payments Corporation of India.
• This institutional support has enabled large-scale onboarding of banks and financial institutions.
• Financial Fraud Risk Indicator is a risk-based metric. It classifies a suspected mobile number as Medium, High, or Very High risk of financial fraud.
• Digital Intelligence Platform has been developed by Department of Telecommunications.
• It is an online platform for the purpose of sharing information related to misuse of telecom resources.

Topic: Indian Economy

9. An increase of 1.8% has been recorded in the combined Index of Eight Core Industries in November 2025 as compared to the same month last year. 

• As per the Commerce and Industry Ministry, growth has been recorded in the production of Cement, Steel, Fertilizer and Coal in November.
• Coal production grew by 2.1 percent in November this year, as compared to the same month last year.
• Fertilizer, cement and steel production grew by 5.6%, 14.5% and 6.1%, respectively, in November this year, as compared to the same month last year.
• Crude Oil production and Natural Gas production declined by 3.2% and 2.5%, respectively, in November.
• The Index of Eight Core Industries tracks eight major sectors.
• These sectors are Coal, Crude Oil, Natural Gas, Refinery Products, Fertilizers, Steel, Cement and Electricity.
• Together, these sectors account for more than 40 percent of the weight in the Index of Industrial Production.

Topic: Reports and Indices

10. A policy report on higher education has been released by NITI Aayog, which represents a long-term roadmap for internationalising India’s education system.

• The report aims to make India a global hub for education and research by 2047 and aligns with the National Education Policy 2020.
• The report lays emphasis on “internationalisation at home.”
• The title of report is "Internationalisation of Higher Education in India: Prospects, Potential, and Policy Recommendations".
• The report has been prepared with an IIT Madras-led consortium.
• It examines internationalisation at global, national and institutional levels and analyses academic mobility trends over the past two decades.
• It identifies opportunities to increase student exchange programmes.
• The roadmap supports setting up foreign university campuses in India and encourages Indian universities to establish campuses overseas.
• The report is based on a survey of 160 higher education institutions spread across 24 states.
• Inputs were collected from 140 national and international stakeholders.
• The report makes 22 policy recommendations, supported by 76 action pathways and 125 performance indicators.
• The measures span five thematic areas — strategy, regulation, finance, branding and outreach, and curriculum and culture.