Current Affairs One-liners — 28 August 2025

Thu, 28 Aug 2025

• The Ministry of Education's UDISE+ 2024-25 report, released on 28 August 2025, shows the number of school teachers crossing 1 crore for the first time and lower dropout rates at all stages from Preparatory to Secondary.
• The Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, launched on 28 August 2014, completed 11 years on 28 August 2025 with more than 56 crore accounts and deposits of ₹2.68 lakh crore.
• India and Bhutan signed an MoU on technical cooperation in agriculture and allied sectors in Thimphu, announced on 28 August 2025, and held the first Joint Technical Working Group meeting.
• The 7th meeting of the India–Saudi Arabia Joint Committee on Defence Cooperation was held in New Delhi on 28 August 2025, discussing training, industrial partnerships, maritime cooperation and exercises.
• MoSPI's quick estimate released on 28 August 2025 showed the Index of Industrial Production grew 3.5% in July 2025, driven by 5.4% growth in manufacturing, while mining contracted 7.2%.
• The Skill Development Ministry held 'Kaushal Manthan', a Regional Conference of Skill Ministers of North Indian States and UTs, in Chandigarh on 28 August 2025, focusing on the ₹60,000 crore ITI upgradation scheme.
• Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and Gujarat CM Bhupendra Patel inaugurated CG Power's end-to-end semiconductor OSAT pilot line facility at Sanand on 28 August 2025.
• Draft amendments to the New Drugs and Clinical Trials Rules, 2019, published in the Gazette on 28 August 2025, propose replacing most test licences with an intimation system and cutting processing time from 90 to 45 days.
• The Finance Ministry announced on 28 August 2025 that the import duty exemption on cotton (HS 5201), in force from 19 August, would be extended from 30 September to 31 December 2025.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid tribute to Mahatma Ayyankali on his Jayanti on 28 August 2025, calling him an icon of social justice and empowerment.
• The Army Hospital (Research and Referral) on 28 August 2025 became the first government institute in India to perform robotic custom laser cataract surgery using the ALLY system.
• Indian Navy ships INS Tamal and INS Surat arrived at Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on 27 and 28 August 2025 respectively for a port call with the Royal Saudi Naval Forces.
• The Emerging Leaders Panel Discussion under the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS) was held at Southern Naval Command, Kochi, on 27–28 August 2025 with delegates from 19 member countries.
• DGFT Notification No. 28 of 28 August 2025 extended the export obligation period under Advance Authorisation from 6 to 18 months for products under Quality Control Orders of the Department of Chemicals & Petrochemicals.