News In Short 10-12-2025

C. Rajagopalachari

Syllabus: GS1/History 

In News

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid tribute to C. Rajagopalachari popularly known as Rajaji on his birth anniversary (10th December).

C. Rajagopalachari

• Early Life and Education: 
  • He was a  close associate of Mahatma Gandhi.
  • Completed Bachelor of Law (1899) and began practicing law in Salem.
  • Early political consciousness was shaped by Curzon’s Partition of Bengal (1905) and Tilak’s call for Swaraj.
• Contributions to Freedom’s Struggle:
  • He left his legal career in 1919  and went on to play a leading role in several major movements, including the protests against the Rowlatt Act, the Non-Cooperation Movement, the Vaikom Satyagraha, and the Civil Disobedience Movement. 
  • Led the Vedaranyam Salt Satyagraha (1930) in the Madras region, parallel to Gandhi’s Dandi March.
  • He was imprisoned five times between 1912 and 1941 for his role in the freedom struggle.
  • After Quit India Movement, published “The Way Out”, proposing the C. R. Formula to resolve the constitutional deadlock with the Muslim League over Pakistan.
• Post-Independence Contributions:
  • Appointed Governor of West Bengal and later became the first Indian Governor-General of India (1947–1950) after independence.
  • Worked to protect India’s secular fabric and integrate Muslims into the national mainstream.
  • Served as Union Home Minister after Sardar Patel’s death; contributed to national integration & early planning processes, including the First Five-Year Plan.
• Legacy: 
  • He was awarded the Bharat Ratna in 1954 for his contributions to politics, literature and public service. 

Source :DD

‘Your Money, Your Right’ Movement

Syllabus: GS2/Governance/GS3/Economy

In News

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged citizens to participate in the ‘Your Money, Your Right’ movement.

‘Your Money, Your Right’ movement

• It is an initiative, launched in October 2025, was designed to ensure citizens can reclaim their rightful assets.
• It aimed at helping people recover unclaimed deposits, insurance proceeds, dividends and other financial assets.
• It offers individuals a chance to convert forgotten financial assets into usable funds.

Various Steps 

• Dedicated online portals have been created to enable easy tracking and claiming of funds: 
  • RBI UDGAM Portal for unclaimed bank deposits
  • IRDAI Bima Bharosa Portal for unclaimed insurance proceeds
  • SEBI MITRA Portal for unclaimed mutual fund amounts; and
  • IEPFA Portal for unpaid dividends and unclaimed shares.
• Facilitation camps have been held in 477 districts across the country, with a focus on rural and remote areas. 

Source :DD

Mephedrone

Syllabus: GS2/ Health

In News

• The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) successfully dismantled a clandestine Mephedrone manufacturing facility in Wardha, Maharashtra, during a strategic operation codenamed “Operation Hinterland Brew.”

What is Mephedrone?

• Mephedrone, also known as 4-methylmethcathinone (4-MMC) or 4-methylephedrone, is a synthetic stimulant drug belonging to the amphetamine and cathinone family. 
• It is classified as a New Psychoactive Substance (NPS) and is colloquially known as “meow meow,” “bath salts,” or “research chemicals” in illicit drug markets.
• Mephedrone is prohibited under the NDPS Act, 1985. 

National Drug Control Framework

• The Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan (NMBA), meaning “Drug-Free India Campaign,” was launched by the Government of India on August 15, 2020, as a key initiative under the National Action Plan for Drug Demand Reduction (NAPDDR) formulated in 2018.

Source: PIB

Yellow Line Defining New Gaza Border

Syllabus: GS2/ International Relations

Context

• The Israeli military has described the “Yellow Line”, a temporary withdrawal line agreed during Phase-1 of the 2025 U.S.-brokered ceasefire, as a “new border”.

About Yellow Line

• The Yellow Line is a temporary military demarcation line inside the Gaza Strip.
• Territory east of the line remains under direct Israeli operational control.
• Territory Controlled by Israel:  More than half of Gaza (53–58%) remains under Israeli control. It includes most agricultural land and Rafah border crossing with Egypt.

Source: IE

Trump Threatens Tariffs on Indian Rice

Syllabus: GS3/Economy

Context

• The US President warned of new tariffs on agricultural imports, especially on rice imports from India as trade talks continue without major progress.

About

• The U.S. makes up about 3% of India’s total rice exports, whereas Indian rice comprises more than one-fourth of the rice imported into the U.S.
  • The U.S. is not a major export destination for India, but India is a major import source for the U.S. when it comes to rice.
  • India’s rice exports to the USA constituted 26.1% of the latter’s total rice imports in 2024.

India’s Rice Exports 

• China is the largest producer of rice in the world, followed by India, Bangladesh and Indonesia.
  • India, along with China, accounts for over half of the world’s rice production. 
  • China, however, is also the biggest consumer of rice, leaving little for exports.
• India is the world’s largest exporter of rice, accounting for 33 percent of the world’s total rice exports during 2023.
  • India exports rice to 179 other countries.
  • A major chunk of basmati exports go to West Asia, with the likes of Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran and the United Arab Emirates being bigger markets than the US.
  • In the case of non-basmati rice, the biggest market for Indian grain is Africa — especially countries in the western part of the continent.
• Two east Asian countries—Thailand and Vietnam—are the two main competitors of India in the global rice market.
  • In 2023, the combined rice export of these two countries was almost equal to Indian exports.

Source: TH

Blue Corner Notice

Syllabus: GS2/IR/Governance

In News

• Interpol has issued a Blue Corner Notice to track owners of nightclubs in Goa, after a fire at the club killed 25 people.
  • The Goa Police had requested the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to seek the notice from Interpol.

INTERPOL Notices 

• They are international alerts used by police in member countries to share critical crime-related information. 
• They are issued by INTERPOL’s General Secretariat at the request of a member country, international tribunals, the International Criminal Court, or the UN,
• They can seek individuals wanted for crimes such as genocide, war crimes, or crimes against humanity, or aid in implementing UN sanctions. 
• Most Notices are for police use only, though public extracts may be released if requested by the issuing authority.
  •  All UN Special Notices are public.

Types of Notice

• Red Notice: To seek the location and arrest of persons wanted for prosecution or to serve a sentence.
• Yellow Notice: To help locate missing persons, often minors, or to help identify persons who are unable to identify themselves.
• Blue Notice: To collect additional information about a person’s identity, location or activities in relation to a criminal investigation.               
• Black Notice: To seek information on unidentified bodies.
• Green Notice: To provide warning about a person’s criminal activities, where the person is considered to be a possible threat to public safety.
• Orange Notice: To warn of an event, a person, an object or a process representing a serious and imminent threat to public safety.
• Purple Notice: To seek or provide information on modus operandi, objects, devices and concealment methods used by criminals.
• Silver Notice (pilot phase): To identify and trace criminal assets
• INTERPOL–United Nations Security Council Special Notice: Issued for entities and individuals who are the targets of UN Security Council Sanctions Committees.

Source :IE

Bharat 6G Alliance (B6GA)

Syllabus: GS3/ Science & Technology

In News

• The Union Minister of Communications, chaired the meeting of the apex council under the Bharat 6G Mission and reviewed the progress of the Bharat 6G Alliance (B6GA).

Bharat 6G Alliance (B6GA)

• It is a collaborative multi-stakeholder platform bringing together academic institutions, domestic industries, research and development entities. 
• It functions as the implementation arm of the Bharat 6G Vision, which India unveiled in March 2023 to position the nation as a global leader in 6G technology by 2030.​

About 6G Technology

• 6G represents the next frontier of wireless communication technology, succeeding 5G as the sixth generation of mobile networks.
• 6G will deliver peak data rates of 1 terabit per second (1 Tbps), approximately 100 times faster than 5G, which offers 10 Gbps.
• 6G will achieve ultra-low latency of 0.1 milliseconds (compared to 5G’s 1 millisecond). 

Source: PIB

African Penguins

Syllabus: GS3/Environment; Species In News

Context

• A new study finds that excessive sardine fishing off southern Africa led to the deaths of over 60,000 African penguins between 2004 and 2011, especially around Dassen and Robben Islands.

About African Penguins

• Scientific name: Spheniscus demersus
• Among the smallest penguin species, fast swimmers, living along the coasts of South Africa and Namibia.
• Unlike Antarctic penguins, they live on sandy beaches and rocky shores, not ice.
• Have a bare pink patch above the eyes to regulate body temperature.
• Each penguin has a unique chest-spot pattern, like human fingerprints.
• Reclassified from “Endangered” to “Critically Endangered” (IUCN, 2024).

Do You Know?

• There are 18 penguin species globally — with King, emperor and rockhopper among the most familiar.

Source: DTE