December 23, 2025 - Current Affairs

Internationalisation of Higher Education in India: NITI Aayog

Context

NITI Aayog released a policy report laying out a long-term roadmap to internationalise India’s higher education system, with the stated goal of turning the country into a global hub for education and research by 2047.

About

Internationalisation refers to the systematic integration of global and intercultural dimensions into higher education through:

Cross-border student and faculty mobility

International collaborations in teaching and research

India – New Zealand Free Trade Agreement

Context

India and New Zealand have concluded a comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (FTA).

About

India has signed six Free Trade Agreements in the last five years, the latest being with Oman.

India-Oman Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), 2025.

India -UK Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), 2025.

Electoral Trusts

Context

With the scrapping of the electoral bonds scheme, companies have again turned to electoral trusts as a preferred source of political donations for companies in 2024-25.

Electoral Trust Scheme

The electoral trust scheme was introduced by the government in 2013.

Electoral trusts are one of the funding channels for political parties.

They became a preferred source of political donation for companies in 2024-25 after the SC scrapped the electoral bonds scheme in 2024.

Protecting Astronauts from Deadly Space Debris

Context

The rapid expansion of satellite launches and commercial space activity has intensified the threat posed by Micrometeoroids and Orbital Debris (MMOD), raising serious concerns for astronaut safety and long-term sustainability of Earth’s orbits.

What is Micrometeoroids and Orbital Debris (MMOD)?

MMOD refers to the natural and human-made particles moving at very high speeds in Earth’s orbital environment that pose a collision risk to spacecraft and astronauts.

Micrometeoroids: Naturally occurring, extremely small particles originating mainly from asteroid belt collisions and comets, travelling at velocities of 11–72 km/s.

Orbital Debris: Human-made objects such as defunct satellites, rocket fragments and collision remnants, typically moving at around 10 km/s.

News In Short 23-12-2025

Context

PM Modi paid tributes to former Prime Minister and Bharat Ratna Chaudhary Charan Singh on his birth anniversary.

About

Early life: Charan Singh was born on 23 December 1902 at Noorpur in Meerut district of Uttar Pradesh in a peasant family.

Graduation: He graduated in science in 1923, and did his post-graduation from Agra University in 1925. Also trained in law, he set up practice at Ghaziabad.

He shifted to Meerut in 1929 and later joined the Congress.