- The recent collapse of the Mujpur-Gambhira bridge over Gujarat’s Mahisagar (Mahi) river has once again exposed the alarming fragility of public infrastructure of India.
- Structural & Governance Reforms: Treat urban infrastructure as core national infrastructure to unlock long-term capital.
- Create unified, tech-enabled urban governance bodies for integrated planning.
- Strengthen State Finance Commissions to empower municipal autonomy.
- Financing Innovations: Develop a municipal bond market and pooled finance mechanisms. Read More
Home / Daily Current Affairs / 10-07-2025
Daily Current Affairs – 10 July, 2025
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- BRICS nations have “condemned and rejected” the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanisms (CBAM) of the European Union (EU) and similar restrictive trade measures, saying they undermine their transition to a cleaner economy.
- CBAM is an import duty imposed by the European Union (EU) on goods produced by processes that lead to more carbon emissions than domestic European manufacturers are allowed to emit.
- It is introduced to put a “fair price” on carbon-intensive goods imported from non-EU countries.
- It is to create a level playing field with EU companies that account for their carbon emission through the bloc’s Emission Trading System (ETS).
- Application: To be imposed from January 1, 2026, on six items: steel, aluminium, cement, fertilizer, hydrogen, and electricity. Read More
BRICS Condemned European Union’s CBAM
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CBAM
- Recently experts have advocated for India to consider catastrophe bonds (cat bonds) as a financial instrument to manage disaster risk and post-disaster reconstruction costs.
- Cat bonds are a unique hybrid insurance-cum-debt financial product that transforms insurance cover into a tradable security.
- These are high-yield debt instruments, issued by a sponsoring entity (like a government), through intermediaries such as the World Bank or ADB, and bought by investors.
- If a specified disaster occurs, the investor may lose part or all of their principal, which is then used for relief and reconstruction.
- If no disaster occurs during the bond period, investors earn attractive coupon payments. Read More
Catastrophe Bonds (Cat Bonds)
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What is a Cat Bond?
- India's space regulator INSPACe has granted a licence to Elon Musk-run Starlink to offer space-based internet services in the country.
- Starlink has been waiting since 2022 for licences to operate commercially in India.
- It would be the third company to receive India's nod to enter the space after Eutelsat's OneWeb and Reliance Jio.
- Starlink will now need to secure spectrum from the government, set up ground infrastructure, and also demonstrate through testing and trials that it meets the security rules it has signed up for.
- Starlink authorisation is to operate Gen1 constellation for providing satellite broadband capacity over India till 2030. Read More
Starlink Receives India’s Final Regulatory Nod for Launch
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About
- Researchers from six countries have conducted the world’s largest and most accurate comparison of optical atomic clocks across three continents.
- Present Standard (since 1967): One second equals the time taken for 9,192,631,770 cycles of radiation produced by the caesium-133 atom when it changes between two energy states.
- Caesium was chosen for its high accuracy and consistency.
- India’s Timekeeping: The National Physical Laboratory (NPL) in Delhi maintains India’s time standard using five caesium clocks.
- The clocks’ output is disseminated to various applications around India via the INSAT satellites, telecommunication signals, and fibre links. Read More
Optical Atomic Clock
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What is the Current Definition of a Second?
- The Ministry of Culture announced a two-year official commemoration of the 125th birth anniversary of Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee.
- Initially a member of the Indian National Congress; later joined the Hindu Mahasabha in the 1930s.
- He became the youngest Vice-Chancellor of Calcutta University at age 33 in 1934.
- He served as Finance Minister of Bengal (1941–42) in the Fazlul Haq ministry.
- 1944: He founded an English daily,"Nationalist." Read More