1. National News – India
Neeraj Chopra (Olympic gold-medallist) has been bestowed the honorary rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the Territorial Army in recognition of his sporting achievements and national pride.
Schools in several northern states — including Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh — are reopening on 24.10.2025 after extended holidays tied to regional festivals and weather-related closures.
The government has reportedly approved procurement of military hardware worth around ₹79,000 crore for the three services, signalling a major boost to defence preparedness.
According to the recent reports, India recorded around two million deaths in 2023 due to air-pollution-related diseases, underscoring the severe public-health impact of environmental degradation.
2. International Affairs
Crude‐oil prices jumped by about 5% as sanctions by the United States Department of the Treasury targeted major Russian energy firms, tightening global supply expectations.
The Gen Z workforce in Nepal is facing mounting unemployment and corruption-linked frustration, according to a recent analysis — a key social-economy challenge in South Asia.
In a diplomatic move, Narendra Modi (India’s Prime Minister) announced that he will attend the upcoming Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) & East Asia Summit virtually instead of travelling in person.
The decision to participate virtually alters the possibility of a face-to-face meeting with the Donald Trump administration, impacting ongoing India–U.S. trade deal negotiations.
3. Economy & Banking
The surge in oil prices is likely to feed into inflation and widen India’s import bill, which has implications for macro-economic stability and bank-sector stress.
The two-million deaths in India due to air pollution point to escalating health-cost burdens and government fiscal pressure for remediation programmes.
The procurement of defence hardware worth ₹79,000 crore will influence government spending, possibly impacting fiscal-deficit trajectories and future borrowing needs.
4. Defence & Security
The large scale defence acquisition indicates India’s enhanced focus on modernising its armed forces and strategic deterrence.
India’s decision to attend the summit virtually may reflect evolving strategic calculus in diplomatic-security domains — particularly in the Indo-Pacific region.
5. Sports & Awards
Neeraj Chopra’s elevation to Lieutenant Colonel is symbolic of the rising prestige of sportspersons in national service and opens up themes around sport and national security careers.
Such honours often become direct GK facts for competitive exams.
6. Environment & Health
The research on 2023 air‐pollution deaths underscores a major public-health emergency in India and prompts policy questions around clean-air regulation, health infrastructure and sustainable development.
The environmental dimension also links to banking/finance exams via topics like climate-risk, green loans and regulatory oversight.
7. Miscellaneous & Exam-Relevance
The reopening of schools after festival breaks shows the interplay of culture, education and governance — an area that often appears in General Awareness sections.
Virtual diplomacy (Prime Minister Modi attending ASEAN Summit online) signals the changing nature of global engagements and foreign-policy techniques.
All the above points are highly relevant for banking exams (e.g., RBI outlook, import bill, procurement spending), SSC/railway exams (GK of national honours, environment facts), and UPSC prelims/mains (linkages across defence, economy, environment, diplomacy).
