Daily Current Affairs Update – 23 April 2025

1. India-US Relations

Context: The United States Vice President said the strength of the bilateral relationship would determine the world’s future in the 21st century.

Key Highlights:

India and the US have officially finalised the terms of reference for the trade negotiation.
Priority areas:
- Negotiating their bilateral trade agreement
- creating new jobs
- building durable supply chains
- achieving prosperity for workers.

India-US trade(2023):

The U.S. and India bilateral trade in goods and services stood at $190.08 billion ($123.89 billion in goods and $66.19 billion in services trade).
India’s merchandise exports to the US stood at $83.77 billion, while imports were $40.12 billion, leaving a trade gap of $43.65 billion in favour of India.
India’s services export to America was $36.33 billion in 2023, while imports were aggregated at $29.86 billion.
- The trade gap (difference between imports and exports) was $6.47 billion in favour of India.
During 2021-24, America was the largest trading partner of India.
Trade Surplus: The U.S. is one of the few countries with which India has a trade surplus.
In 2023-24, the U.S. was the largest trading partner of India with $119.71 billion bilateral trade in goods ($77.51 billion worth of exports, $42.19 billion of imports and $35.31 billion trade surplus).
FDI:India received $67.8 billion in foreign direct investments from America during April 2000 and September 2024.

Prelims special:

Q. Consider the following countries: (UPSC 2018)

Australia
Canada
China
India
Japan
deer

Which of the above are among the ‘free-trade partners’ of ASEAN?

1, 2, 4 and 5
3, 4, 5 and 6
1, 3, 4 and 5
2, 3, 4 and 6

Ans: (c)

Source: TheHindu

2. Governor

Context: The Centre maintained in the Supreme Court judgment delivered in a case filed by the State of Tamil Nadu, mandating Governors and the President of India to decide on pending State Bills within a maximum of three months, would not apply to Kerala.

Key Highlights of Judgement:

Court: It declared the actions of the President who assented to only one of the Bills, rejecting seven, and not considering two others to be void.
It fixed time limits, of one to three months, for Governors to take action on future Bills.
Article 200: It gives a Governor three choices: to assent, withhold assent, reserve the Bills for consideration by the President.
- A Governor cannot indefinitely delay exercising his or her choice.
- It does not allow Governors to sit on Bills and exercise pocket veto over them.

Governor’s power over bills:

Governor:

Prelims special:

Q.Which of the following are the discretionary powers given to the Governor of a State? (UPSC 2014)

Sending a report to the President of India for imposing the President’s rule
Appointing the Ministers
Reserving certain bills passed by the State Legislature for consideration of the President of India
Making the rules to conduct the business of the State Government

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

1 and 2 only
1 and 3 only
2, 3 and 4 only
1, 2, 3 and 4

Ans: (b)

Source: TheHindu

3. National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI)

Context: The Supreme Court tasked the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) to study the impact of glass industries.

National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI):

It is a premier research institute created and funded by the Government of India dedicated to environmental science and engineering.
The institute’s primary mission is to conduct research and development activities related to various aspects of environmental management, pollution control, and sustainable development.
NEERI falls under the Ministry of Science and Technology of the central government.
It was established in Nagpur in 1958 with a focus on water supply, sewage disposal, and communicable diseases, and to some extent on industrial pollution and occupational diseases found common in post-independent India.
Headquarters: Nagpur
NEERI has five zonal laboratories at Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Mumbai.
Organizational Expertise: Climate/Environment, Health, Lab or Field Testing, Monitoring and Evaluation, Policy Development, Research, Standards, Technology and Fuel R&D.

Taj Mahal:

Taj Mahal is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Prelims special:

Q. Which one of the following statement about Sangam literature in ancient South India is correct?(UPSC 2022)

Sangam poems are devoid of any reference to material culture.
The social classification of Varna was known to Sangam poets.
Sangam poems have no reference to warrior ethics.
Sangam literature refers to magical forces as irrational.

Ans: (b)

Source: TheHindu

4. Tiger

Context: The Madhya Pradesh Cabinet in-principle approved the development of buffer zones in the State’s nine tiger reserves.

Buffer Zone:

Buffer Zone is an area supposed to reinforce conservation of protected areas.

Prelims special

Q At the national level, which ministry is the nodal agency to ensure effective implementation of the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006? (UPSC 2021)