UPSC CURRENT AFFAIRS – 26 December 2025 covers important current affairs of the day, their backward linkages, their relevance for Prelims exam and MCQs on main articles
InstaLinks : Insta Links help you think beyond the current affairs issue and help you think multidimensionally to develop depth in your understanding of these issues. These linkages provided in this ‘hint’ format help you frame possible questions in your mind that might arise(or an examiner might imagine) from each current event. InstaLinks also connect every issue to their static or theoretical background.
Table of Contents
GS Paper 1:
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The Urban Future
GS Paper 2:
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Corporate political funding in India
Content for Mains Enrichment (CME):
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Hyper-Polluting Private Transport of the Super-Rich
Facts for Prelims (FFP):
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25th Anniversary of Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY)
-
Consumer Protection Act, 2019
-
Initial Public Offering (IPO)
-
Village Defence Guards (VDGs)
-
Nanobots
Mapping:
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Mount Kilimanjaro
UPSC CURRENT AFFAIRS – 26 December 2025
GS Paper 1:
The Urban Future
Source: TH
Subject: Urbanisation
Context: Recent opinion pieces and policy debates have highlighted the need to reimagine India’s urban future as inclusive, people-centric ecosystems, amid rapid urbanisation and mobility stress.
About The Urban Future:
What is urbanisation?
- Urbanisation is the process by which a growing share of the population shifts from rural to urban areas, leading to the expansion of cities in population, economic activity, and spatial footprint. It is driven by industrialisation, migration, better livelihoods, and access to services.
Data trends in India:
- Urban population: ~36% (2024), projected to exceed 50% by 2050–60s.
- Economic role: Urban India contributes ~65–70% of GDP despite housing a smaller population share.
- Migration: Increasing inter-State and rural–urban migration, especially to Tier-1 and Tier-2 cities.
- Transport access: Only ~37% of urban residents have easy access to public transport (Economic Survey).
- Infrastructure gap: Need for ~2 lakh urban buses; operational fleet ~35,000.
Existing urbanisation pattern:
- Concentration in metros: Expansion of Tier-1 cities rather than balanced growth of new towns.
- Peripheral sprawl: Growth of informal settlements and urban fringes without commensurate services.
- Sectoral hubs: Cities specialising in IT, manufacturing, services, creating uneven regional development.
- Smart city skew: Infrastructure-centric planning, often neglecting social inclusion and lived experience.
Challenges Associated with Urbanisation:
- Exclusion and inequality: Migrants and informal workers face linguistic, cultural, and documentation barriers, limiting access to jobs, welfare, and civic participation, and pushing them to the urban margins.
E.g. Gaps in implementing the Inter-State Migrant Workmen Act mean migrant workers in Surat often fail to access PDS benefits due to lack of local proof.
- Housing deficit: High land prices and weak rental markets force the urban poor into slums and insecure housing, perpetuating informality and eviction risks.
E.g. The Dharavi Redevelopment Project reflects the challenge of formalising housing without disrupting livelihoods and social networks.
- Urban mobility stress: Inadequate public transport and over-reliance on private vehicles cause congestion, long commute times, and productivity losses.
E.g. Bengaluru’s Outer Ring Road (ORR) illustrates the mismatch between rapid IT-sector growth and lagging transport infrastructure.
- Governance gaps: Urban Local Bodies suffer from fragmented authority, overlapping agencies, and weak fiscal autonomy, reducing accountability and efficiency.
E.g. Recurrent flooding in Chennai and Gurugram exposes poor coordination among municipal, drainage, and road agencies.
- Environmental stress: Unplanned expansion creates urban heat islands, air pollution, and water scarcity, threatening public health and sustainability.
E.g. Delhi’s winter smog (AQI 400+) is worsened by dense traffic, construction dust, and limited green cover.
- Social cohesion: Rapid urbanisation weakens community bonds and shared identity, leading to alienation and social fragmentation.
E.g. The gated-community culture in Noida creates physical and social silos separating elites from service-providing populations.
Way Ahead: Transforming Indian Cities
- People-centric planning: Cities must be viewed as dynamic ecosystems, where infrastructure design prioritises human well-being over rigid master plans.
E.g. Bhubaneswar’s Child-Friendly City initiative integrates safe play spaces and walkable, inclusive urban design.
- Inclusive governance: Multilingual services and representation of migrants in decision-making improve access, trust, and civic participation.
E.g. Kerala’s ‘Awas’ health insurance scheme uses multilingual outreach to ensure migrant worker inclusion.
- Sustainable mobility mix: Strengthening buses, integrating alternative modes like trams, and improving last-mile connectivity reduces congestion and emissions.
E.g. The Indore iBus (BRTS) boosted ridership through dedicated lanes and efficient feeder services.
- Fiscal empowerment of ULBs: Financial autonomy through municipal bonds and rational user charges enables long-term infrastructure investment.
E.g. Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) raised capital via municipal bonds for urban infrastructure.
- Affordable housing: Transit-oriented development and in-situ slum redevelopment integrate housing with jobs and services.
E.g. PM Awas Yojana (Urban) and ARHCs target affordable housing for migrant workers post-pandemic.
Conclusion:
India’s urban future will define its economic and social trajectory. Infrastructure alone cannot deliver success without inclusion, empathy, and efficient governance. Designing cities for people—present and future—is the cornerstone of a sustainable, resilient, and equitable urban India.
UPSC CURRENT AFFAIRS – 26 December 2025 GS Paper 2:
Corporate political funding in India
Source: TP
Subject: Polity
Context: Post the Supreme Court’s scrapping of the Electoral Bond Scheme (Feb 2024), corporate political funding has sharply concentrated in favour of the ruling party through electoral trusts.
About Corporate political funding in India:
What it is?
- Corporate political funding refers to financial contributions made by companies to political parties through legal channels such as direct donations, electoral trusts, or (earlier) electoral bonds, to support election campaigns and party activities.
- It plays a decisive role in shaping electoral competition, campaign outreach, media narratives and organisational strength.
Data and trends:
- In FY25, corporate and institutional funding became highly concentrated, with the ruling party receiving over 80% of total reported donations, while major opposition parties received single-digit shares.
- Donations through electoral trusts tripled after the scrapping of electoral bonds, yet distribution remained skewed, reflecting donor risk-aversion and proximity to political power.
Evolution of corporate political funding in India:
- Pre-2017 (Cash + limited transparency): Parties relied heavily on cash donations below disclosure thresholds, fostering black money and opacity.
- Electoral Trusts (2013 onwards): Introduced to improve transparency, with named donors but pooled disbursements; usage remained limited.
- Electoral Bonds (2018–2024): Allowed anonymous, unlimited corporate donations via SBI bonds, increasing formalisation but eliminating voter transparency.
- Post-2024 phase: After the Supreme Court invalidated bonds, funding shifted back to electoral trusts and direct donations, but with heightened concentration and political pressure dynamics.
Challenges associated with corporate political funding:
- Financial asymmetry and unfair elections: Massive funding gaps distort electoral competition and discourage opposition participation.
E.g. A ruling party candidate often outspends rivals several times over in the same constituency.
- Quid pro quo risk: Corporates prefer donating to parties in power to secure contracts, policy favours or regulatory protection.
E.g. Funding patterns shift sharply after elections, aligning with the party controlling the executive.
- Fear-driven compliance: Investigative pressure and regulatory discretion can indirectly coerce businesses into one-sided donations.
E.g. Corporates avoid opposition funding to reduce exposure to ED/CBI scrutiny.
- Weak voter transparency: Even electoral trusts provide only partial disclosure, preventing voters from linking donors to beneficiaries.
E.g. Public filings show donor names but not donor-party pairing.
- Erosion of democratic parity: Money overwhelms ideology, leadership and grassroots mobilisation, hollowing democratic choice.
E.g. Narrative dominance via paid media, influencers and digital campaigns correlates directly with spending power.
Way ahead:
- Adopt a “blind pool” funding model: Corporates donate to a central fund managed by an independent constitutional body, not directly to parties.
E.g. Distribution based on objective criteria like seats contested or vote share, similar to IPL salary caps.
- Ensure financial parity rules: Impose caps or equalised disbursal limits so parties
compete on ideas, not cash.
E.g. Sports leagues globally enforce such parity to preserve competition.
- Strengthen transparency with anonymity safeguards: Protect donor identity from political retaliation while ensuring aggregate public disclosure.
E.g. Anonymous pool with published allocation formula and audited accounts.
- Empower Election Commission oversight: Give ECI statutory authority to regulate, audit and penalise violations in political finance.
E.g. Mandatory real-time reporting and independent audits.
- Reduce campaign cost drivers: Enforce spending ceilings, regulate digital advertising and curb paid political communication.
E.g. Limits on social media political ads during election periods.
Conclusion:
India’s electoral challenge is no longer lack of funding, but concentration of funding. Excessive corporate dependence risks turning elections free but unfair. Adopting transparent, parity-oriented funding reforms—learning from models like the IPL—can restore competitiveness, credibility and democratic balance.
UPSC CURRENT AFFAIRS – 26 December 2025 Content for Mains Enrichment (CME)
Hyper-Polluting Private Transport of the Super-Rich
Context: Growing public outrage and new studies have highlighted the disproportionate carbon footprint of private jets, super-yachts and space tourism used by the world’s super-rich.
About Hyper-Polluting Private Transport of the Super-Rich:
What it is?
- Hyper-polluting private transport refers to the use of private jets, fossil-fuelled super-yachts, luxury SUVs and private rockets by ultra-high-net-worth individuals, generating emissions far beyond essential mobility needs.
Key features:
- Extreme carbon intensity: A single private jet trip or yacht holiday can equal an average person’s annual emissions.
- Low passenger efficiency: Massive fuel consumption to transport very few people, often with long idling times.
- Rapid expansion: Global private jet and super-yacht fleets have expanded sharply with rising inequality and wealth concentration.
- Regulatory gaps: Weak taxation, limited reporting and no caps on emissions from luxury transport and space tourism.
Implications:
- Climate injustice: A tiny elite emits as much carbon as entire countries, undermining equity in climate responsibility.
- Policy credibility crisis: Public climate sacrifices lose legitimacy when elite excesses remain unchecked.
- Social cohesion risks: Visible luxury pollution fuels resentment and weakens collective climate action.
- Mitigation challenge: Luxury emissions offset gains from recycling, renewables and efficiency by the wider population.
Relevance in UPSC exam syllabus:
- GS Paper III – Environment & Ecology
- Climate change mitigation, carbon inequality and sustainable development
- Emissions accounting, carbon taxation and green public finance
- GS Paper II – Governance & International Relations
- Global climate governance, equity and common but differentiated responsibilities (CBDR)
- Role of public opinion and political economy in climate policy
- Essay / Ethics (GS IV)
- Ethical dimensions of consumption, climate justice and intergenerational equity
- Individual freedom versus collective environmental responsibility.
UPSC CURRENT AFFAIRS – 26 December 2025 Facts for Prelims (FFP)
25th Anniversary of Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY)
Source: PIB
Subject: Government Scheme
Context: Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) completed 25 years in December 2025, marking a major milestone in India’s rural infrastructure journey.
About 25th Anniversary of Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY):
What it is?
- Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) is a centrally sponsored scheme aimed at providing all-weather road connectivity to eligible, previously unconnected rural habitations, thereby integrating villages with markets, schools, and healthcare facilities.
Launched in:
- Year: 25 December 2000
- Occasion: Birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee
Implementing ministry: Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD), Government of India
Key features:
- Phased implementation:
- PMGSY-I: Universal rural connectivity to unconnected habitations.
- PMGSY-II: Upgradation and consolidation of existing rural road networks.
- PMGSY-III: Strengthening through routes and major rural links connecting markets, schools, and health facilities.
- PMGSY-IV (2024–29): Connectivity to 25,000 habitations via 62,500 km of roads.
- Large-scale coverage: Over 8.25 lakh km of roads sanctioned, with nearly 95% completed by December 2025.
- Technology-driven monitoring: Use of OMMAS, e-MARG, GPS-based tracking, and geo-tagged inspections for real-time monitoring and transparency.
- Quality assurance: Institutionalised three-tier quality monitoring system involving executing agencies, State Quality Monitors, and National Quality Monitors.
- Sustainability focus: Adoption of eco-friendly materials like waste plastic, fly ash, bio-bitumen, and climate-resilient construction techniques.
Significance:
- Improves market access, farm-to-market linkages, and price realisation for farmers.
- Enhances access to education, healthcare, and welfare services in remote areas.
Consumer Protection Act, 2019
Source: News on Air
Subject: Polity
Context: The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) has imposed an ₹11 lakh penalty on coaching institute for publishing misleading advertisements related to UPSC CSE results.
- The action was taken under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, highlighting strict enforcement against deceptive coaching claims.
About Consumer Protection Act, 2019:
What is it?
- The Consumer Protection Act, 2019 is a comprehensive law enacted to protect consumer rights, curb unfair trade practices, and provide speedy grievance redressal in an increasingly digital and service-driven economy. It replaced the Consumer Protection Act, 1986.
Aim:
- To safeguard consumers from misleading advertisements, unfair trade practices, and defective goods/services.
- To establish strong enforcement mechanisms and ensure accountability of manufacturers, service providers, and advertisers.
Key features
- Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA): Empowers the government to investigate, penalise, and order discontinuation of misleading advertisements and unfair trade practices.
- Definition of misleading advertisement (Section 2(28)): Covers false claims, concealment of material facts, and exaggerated promises likely to mislead consumers.
- Product liability provisions: Fixes liability on manufacturers, service providers, and sellers for harm caused by defective goods or deficient services.
- Enhanced consumer rights: Explicitly recognises six consumer rights including the right to information, choice, redressal, and consumer awareness.
- E-commerce regulation: Brings online platforms and digital advertisements under the consumer protection framework.
- Simplified dispute redressal: Introduces e-filing of complaints, mediation cells, and clearer jurisdiction of consumer commissions.
Significance:
- Protects aspirants and parents from exploitative practices in high-stakes sectors like education and coaching.
- Promotes truthful advertising and transparency, especially in the digital space.
Initial Public Offering (IPO)
Source: TOI
Subject: Economics
Context: India’s IPO market has touched record highs, raising about ₹3.8 lakh crore through 701 IPOs in the last two years (2024–25), surpassing the previous four-year total.
About Initial Public Offering (IPO):
What it is?
- An Initial Public Offering (IPO) is the process through which a private company offers its shares to the public for the first time to raise equity capital, thereby becoming a publicly listed company on stock exchanges like NSE and BSE.
Types of IPO:
- Fixed price issue: The company sets a single, pre-determined price for its shares in consultation with merchant bankers, giving investors certainty about the issue price.
- Book building issue: Shares are offered within a price band (floor price to cap price), and the final price is discovered based on investor demand during bidding. This is the most common method in India.
Stages of IPO allotment:
- Preparation and due diligence: Company appoints investment banks; financial, legal, and regulatory checks are conducted.
- DRHP filing: Draft Red Herring Prospectus is filed with SEBI, disclosing business, risks, and financials.
- Pricing and bidding: Price or price band is announced; investors place bids during the subscription period.
- Basis of allotment: Registrar finalises allocation based on demand and SEBI norms.
- Listing: Shares are listed on stock exchanges and trading begins in the secondary market.
How IPO allotment works?
- IPO shares are allotted category-wise to Qualified Institutional Buyers (QIBs), Non-Institutional Investors (NIIs), and Retail Individual Investors (RIIs) as per SEBI regulations.
- If the issue is undersubscribed, all valid applicants receive shares.
- If oversubscribed, allotment is done proportionately or through a lottery system (especially for retail investors).
- Allotted shares are credited to Demat accounts, while unallotted funds are refunded.
Village Defence Guards (VDGs)
Source: News on Air
Subject: Government Schemes
Context: The Indian Army’s Sabre Brigade conducted an intensive training programme for Village Defence Guards (VDGs) in Jammu to enhance their operational readiness and coordination with security forces.
About Village Defence Guards (VDGs):
What it is?
- Village Defence Guards (VDGs) are armed civilian defence groups constituted in vulnerable areas of Jammu & Kashmir to assist security forces in counter-terrorism, village protection, and intelligence gathering.
Launched in:
- March 2022, approved by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
- Replaced and restructured the earlier Village Defence Committees (VDCs) (1995).
Aim:
- To provide localised, immediate defence against militant threats.
- To act as a force multiplier for police and armed forces in remote and border villages.
- To enhance community participation in internal security.
Key features:
- Composition: Mainly ex-servicemen and trained civilians, identified at the panchayat level; group strength up to 15 members.
- Training & weapons: Trained by CRPF/Army; equipped with Self-Loading Rifles (SLRs) instead of older .303 rifles.
- Operational control: Function under the District SSP/SP, ensuring integration with the formal security grid.
- Remuneration: Group heads receive ₹4,500/month; members receive ₹4,000/month, unlike earlier VDCs where only SPOs were paid.
- Roles: Conduct day-night patrols, protect villages, religious places, and public infrastructure, and assist in search and cordon operations.
Significance:
- Acts as a second line of defence in areas with delayed security-force access.
- Residents’ familiarity with terrain improves early warning and intelligence inputs.
Nanobots
Source: IE
Subject: Science and Technology
Context: An IISc Bengaluru–led breakthrough on magnetic nanobots for targeted cancer therapy has gained global attention after Dr Ambarish Ghosh won the 2025 New York Academy of Sciences–Tata Sons Transformation Prize.
About Nanobots:
What they are?
- Nanobots (nanorobots) are microscopic machines at the nanometre scale designed to operate inside the human body for targeted drug delivery, diagnosis, imaging, and therapy, especially in hard-to-reach tissues like deep tumours.
How they work?
- IISc’s nanobots are helical, bacteria-inspired nanoswimmers that move like a corkscrew or propeller.
- A magnetic component (iron) allows external magnetic fields to guide and steer them precisely through blood, dense tissue, and even cells.
- Drugs are coated on the surface or tip, enabling direct delivery to cancer cells while sparing healthy tissue.
- They can also generate localized heat (>42°C) under magnetic fields to destroy cancer cells (magnetic hyperthermia).
Key features:
- Targeted precision: Preferentially bind to cancer cells, reducing collateral damage to healthy tissues.
- Deep tissue penetration: Can access dense and poorly vascularised tumours invisible to conventional scans.
- Multifunctionality: Act as drug carriers, therapeutic agents, and imaging beacons (visible under MRI).
- Biocompatible materials: Made of silica and iron, materials already used safely in medical applications.
- Broad applicability: Proven effective against ovarian and breast cancer cells, bacteria, and dental infections; potential use in dentistry and regenerative medicine.
Limitations:
- Currently validated mainly on cell cultures and animal models; human clinical trials pending.
- Requires extensive safety validation and approvals.
- Market adoption depends on mass production, affordability, and clinician acceptance.
UPSC CURRENT AFFAIRS – 26 December 2025 Mapping:
Mount Kilimanjaro
Source: LM
Subject: Mapping
Context: A helicopter crash near Barafu Camp on Mount Kilimanjaro killed five people, including a pilot, doctor, guide, and two foreign tourists, reportedly during a medical rescue mission.
About Mount Kilimanjaro:
What it is?
- Mount Kilimanjaro is Africa’s highest mountain and the world’s tallest free-standing volcanic massif, rising to 5,895 metres above sea level. It is a major tourism, ecological, and geographical landmark.
Located in:
- Northeastern Tanzania, close to the Kenya border
- About 160 km east of the East African Rift System and 225 km south of Nairobi
- Administered under Mount Kilimanjaro National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site (1987)
Origin:
- Kilimanjaro is of volcanic origin, formed through tectonic activity associated with the East African Rift
- It developed through successive volcanic eruptions over millions of years, followed by erosion and glaciation
Key geological features:
- Three extinct volcanic cones:
- Kibo (5,895 m): Highest and youngest cone; retains a caldera and residual volcanic activity
- Mawenzi (5,149 m): Older, highly eroded, jagged peak
- Shira (3,962 m): Remnant of an ancient collapsed crater
- Permanent ice cap (shrinking): Only Kibo retains a permanent ice cap, which is rapidly retreating due to climate change.
- Distinct ecological zones: From base to summit—savannah scrub, cultivated slopes, montane forest, moorland, alpine desert, and summit ice fields.
- Isolated volcanic massif: Unlike folded mountain ranges, Kilimanjaro rises independently from surrounding plains, making it a classic example of a stratovolcanic
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