Current Affairs 13 November 2025

PIB Current Affairs

Cabinet Approves Credit Guarantee Scheme for Exporters (CGSE)

The Union Cabinet has approved the Credit Guarantee Scheme for Exporters (CGSE) to boost India’s export sector. Under the scheme, National Credit Guarantee Trustee Company (NCGTC) will provide 100% credit guarantee to Member Lending Institutions (MLIs) for extending collateral-free credit up to ₹20,000 crore to eligible exporters, including MSMEs. aThe scheme will be implemented by the Department of Financial Services (DFS), with a management committee headed by the Secretary, DFS.

Export Promotion Mission (EPM)

The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved the Export Promotion Mission (EPM), a flagship initiative announced in the Union Budget 2025–26 to strengthen India’s export competitiveness. The mission will support MSMEs, first-time exporters, and labour-intensive sectors, with a total outlay of ₹25,060 crore for FY 2025–26 to FY 2030–31.

Key Features of EPM

• Provides a single, outcome-based, digitally managed framework, replacing fragmented export schemes.
• Anchored by Department of Commerce, in coordination with MSME Ministry, Finance Ministry, EPCs, Commodity Boards, industry bodies, and states.
• Implemented through DGFT using a dedicated digital platform.

Sub-Schemes

1. Niryat Protsahan – financial support, affordable trade finance, interest subvention, export factoring, credit cards for e-commerce exporters, collateral guarantees, and market diversification finance.
2. Niryat Disha – non-financial support, including international branding, quality certification, packaging support, trade fairs, warehousing/logistics assistance, transport reimbursements, trade intelligence, and capacity building.

Bal Sahitya Puraskar 2025

Sahitya Akademi Bal Sahitya Puraskar 2025 were announced recently. The awardees shall receive a cheque for Rs.50,000/- each and a bronze plaque in recognition. Gangisetty Sivakumar won the award in the Telugu language category for his story “Kaburla Devata.”

Operation Bullion Blaze

The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) launched “Operation Bullion Blaze” in Mumbai, disrupting a major gold-smuggling and melting syndicate. 11.88 kg of 24-carat gold worth ₹15.05 crore seized

WHO Global TB Report 2025

India has registered one of the highest declines in TB incidence globally, according to the WHO Global TB Report 2025.

Report Highlights:

• TB incidence reduced by 21% — from 237 per lakh (2015) to 187 per lakh (2024)
• This decline is almost double the global rate of 12%.
• Treatment coverage rose to 92% in 2024 (up from 53% in 2015).
• “Missing cases” reduced from 15 lakh (2015) to less than 1 lakh (2024).
• TB mortality fell from 28 to 21 per lakh population between 2015–2024.
• Treatment success rate reached 90%, higher than the global 88%.
• Driven by TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyan, launched in December 2024, with mass screening of 19 crore people, detecting 24.5 lakh TB patients, including 8.61 lakh asymptomatic cases.
• India has the largest TB lab network (9,391 molecular testing labs + 107 culture/drug testing labs).
• Ni-kshay Poshan Yojana DBT increased to ₹1000 per month, ₹4,406 crore disbursed to 1.37 crore beneficiaries so far.
• Strong public participation: 6.7 lakh Ni-kshay Mitras and 2 lakh volunteers from My Bharat supporting patients.

Cabinet Approves Revised Royalty Rates for Strategic Minerals

The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the revision of royalty rates for four strategic minerals — Caesium, Graphite, Rubidium, and Zirconium. These minerals are strategically important for EV batteries, nuclear technology, electronics, and defence applications.

Mineral	Major Uses	Present Status in India
Graphite	Used as anode material in EV batteries, high conductivity components	India imports 60% of requirement; 9 mines functional, 27 blocks auctioned, 20 blocks handed over, 26 under exploration
Zirconium	Nuclear reactors, aerospace, healthcare, high-temperature industrial applications	Limited production, high-value import dependency
Caesium	Atomic clocks, GPS systems, precision electronics, cancer therapy equipment	Critical high-tech mineral with growing demand
Rubidium	Specialty glass for fibre optics, telecom systems, night vision devices	Important for defence & communication technologies

India Develops First Indigenous Quantum Diamond Microscope (QDM)

Under the National Quantum Mission (NQM) of the Department of Science and Technology (DST), the P-Quest Group at IIT Bombay has developed India’s first indigenously built Quantum Diamond Microscope (QDM). This breakthrough enables dynamic magnetic field imaging at nanoscale, earning India its first patent in quantum sensing using diamond NV technology.

Features:

• Developed by Professor Kasturi Saha’s team (IIT Bombay)
• Based on Nitrogen-Vacancy (NV) centers in diamond
• Enables 3D magnetic imaging at nanoscale
• Works through Optically Detected Magnetic Resonance (ODMR)
• Operates at room temperature with high quantum coherence
• Useful for biosensing, semiconductor diagnostics, materials research & quantum computing

What is a Quantum Diamond Microscope (QDM)?

It is a special microscope that uses tiny defects inside a diamond to see magnetic fields, just like a normal microscope lets us see objects.

Working Principle:

• Diamonds have tiny defects called NV centres (Nitrogen-Vacancy centres).
  • Think of them like tiny sensors trapped inside the diamond.
  • Each sensor reacts to magnetic fields around it.
• When a light (laser) shines on the diamond:
  • These NV sensors glow differently based on the magnetic field.
• A camera then captures this glow pattern, just like taking a photo through a microscope.
• A computer converts the glow pattern into a map of magnetic fields, showing where the magnetic strength is high or low.

Hindu Current Affairs

India Skills Report 2026

Kerala has emerged as one of India’s most employable states, ranking 4th in the India Skills Report 2026 with an impressive 72.16% employability rate. Only Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Karnataka have higher scores.

The report highlights Kerala’s gender-inclusive labour ecosystem, placing the State among the top 10 preferred workplaces for women professionals. Nationally, women’s employability (54%) has surpassed men’s (51.5%) for the first time, with Kerala playing a key role in this rise.

The report is jointly published by ETS, AICTE, CII, and the Association of Indian Universities (AIU). Report Highlights:

Indicator	Insight
Overall Employability	Increased to 56.35%, marking major improvement over 4 years
Women vs Men Employability	Women surpass men (54% vs 51.5%) for the first time
Top Employable Fields	Computer Science (80%), IT Engineers (78%)
Rise of Gig Economy	Gig hiring up ~38%, 16% of all jobs now gig-based
Internship Demand	92.8% students seek internships & hands-on learning
Sector-wise Hiring Intent	IT leads hiring at 35%, followed by BFSI, manufacturing, pharma, FMCG
Vocational Growth	ITI employability improved to 45.95%, Polytechnic to 32.92%
Commerce Grads Boom	62.81% employable due to BFSI & fintech rise

India Botswana Cheetah Translocation Pact

• During President Droupadi Murmu’s state visit to Botswana, India and Botswana formally announced a pact to translocate eight cheetahs from Botswana to India.
• As part of Project Cheetah, these big cats will be handed over symbolically to India, with President Duma Gideon Boko and President Murmu presiding over the event.
• Five of the eight cheetahs will be released into a quarantine facility at the Mokolodi Nature Reserve in Botswana.

India Ranked 9th in Climate Risk Index 2026

• According to the Climate Risk Index (CRI) 2026 released by Germanwatch at COP30 in Belém, India is the ninth worst affected country globally due to extreme weather events between 1995 and 2024.
• The report highlights that more than 832,000 people died, 5.7 billion were affected, and economic losses crossed $4.5 trillion (inflation-adjusted) due to over 9,700 extreme events such as floods, cyclones, droughts, and heatwaves.
• Germanwatch, a Bonn-based organisation, tracks global climate vulnerability and advocates for climate justice, equity, and sustainable development.
• The study warns that countries like Haiti, the Philippines, and India face repeated climate disasters without enough time to recover before the next strike.

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