Daily Current Affairs Update – 11 June 2025

1. SEZ Reforms to Boost Semiconductor & Electronics Manufacturing

Context:
 Govt. notified Special Economic Zones (Amendment) Rules, 2025 to encourage semiconductor and electronics manufacturing.

Relevance:
 GS-3 – Economy, Infrastructure, Industrial Policy, Science & Tech

Elaborated Notes:

• Reform Highlights:
  
  
  • Minimum land requirement reduced to 10 hectares for semiconductor/electronics-only SEZs (earlier: 50 hectares).
    
    
  • Free-of-Cost (FOC) imports/exports included in Net Foreign Exchange (NFE) computation.
    
    
• SEZs: Duty-free, foreign-trade zones (SEZ Act, 2005).
  
  
• Baba Kalyani Committee: Called for shift from export focus to Employment and Economic Enclaves (3Es).
  
  
• Significance:
  
  
  • Promotes India’s Atmanirbhar Bharat goals in electronics.
  • Aligns with global chip shortage response.
  • Attracts foreign investment, boosts exports, and generates employment.

2.     Ocean Acidification Breaches Planetary Boundaries

Context:
 Recent study finds ocean acidification has surpassed safe planetary limits, risking marine ecosystems.

Relevance:
 GS-3 – Environment, Biodiversity & Climate Change
 GS-1 – Geography (Oceans & Natural Phenomena)

Elaborated Notes:

• Process: CO₂ dissolves in oceans → forms carbonic acid → increases H⁺ ions → decreases pH.
  
  
• Causes: 25% of anthropogenic CO₂ absorbed by oceans; also natural sources like underwater volcanic activity.
  
  
• Effects:
  • Coral bleaching, shellfish mortality.
  • Impacts marine biodiversity & phytoplankton → affects ocean food chain & fisheries.
  • Reduces dimethyl sulfide (DMS) → less cloud formation → potential climate feedback.
    
    
• Planetary Boundaries: When breached, ecosystems may face irreversible damage.

3.     SC on Narco-Analysis Test (Amlesh Kumar v. Bihar)

Context:
 Supreme Court held that narco-analysis must be voluntary and subject to judicial scrutiny.

Relevance:
 GS-2 – Polity & Governance (Judiciary, Fundamental Rights)

Elaborated Notes:

• Narco-analysis: Uses sedatives (e.g., sodium pentothal) to lower inhibition.
  
  
• Verdict Highlights:
  
  
  • Forced tests violate Article 20(3) (self-incrimination) & Article 21 (right to personal liberty).
  • Voluntary narco-tests allowed only during defense evidence, not as routine police tool.
  • Overruled Patna HC order allowing tests on all accused in a dowry case.
    
    
• Significance:
  
  
  • Reinforces due process & individual rights.
  • Upholds earlier precedents: Selvi v. Karnataka, Vinobhai v. Kerala.
    
    

4.     NHAI Asset Monetization Strategy

Context:
 NHAI released its first comprehensive strategy to monetize national highways under AM Plan 2025–30.

Relevance:
 GS-3 – Infrastructure, Investment Models, Public Finance

Elaborated Notes:

• Goal: Unlock value from operational highways; boost private sector participation.
  
  
• Models:
  
  
  • ToT (Toll-Operate-Transfer): Rights sold to private party for upfront payment.
  • InvITs: Infrastructure trusts, like mutual funds for roads.
  • Securitization: Pooling of toll revenue streams into market securities.
    
    
• Importance:
  
  
  • Reduces fiscal burden on GoI.
  • Enables re-investment in new infrastructure.
  • Fulfills Vijay Kelkar Committee roadmap (2012) for fiscal consolidation.
    
    

5.     Solar Storms & Space Debris

Context:
 Starlink lost 523 satellites due to atmospheric drag during solar storms; highlights growing space junk crisis.

Relevance:
 GS-3 – Science & Tech (Space Tech), Environment

Elaborated Notes:

• Solar Cycle Impact: Increased geomagnetic activity → denser atmosphere → faster satellite drag.
  
  
• Space Debris: Over 1.2 million objects >1 cm in orbit (ESA Report 2025).
  
  
• Risks:
  
  
  • Communication disruption.
  • Kessler Syndrome: Chain reaction of satellite collisions.
    
    
• India’s Initiatives:
  • NETRA, IS4OM, and DFSM 2030 by ISRO.
    
    

6.     Gig Economy: Labour Ministry Report

Context:
 Gig workforce expected to reach 62 million by 2047, currently forming 56% of new jobs.

Relevance:
 GS-3 – Indian Economy (Employment), GS-2 – Governance (Social Justice)

Elaborated Notes:

• Current Status: 7.7 million (2021) → 23 million by 2030 (NITI Aayog).
• Sectors: Food delivery, ride-sharing, healthcare, consulting.
  
  
• Challenges:
  
  
  • No job or social security.
  • Gender gap in earnings.
  • Algorithmic control without redressal.
    
    
• Needed Reforms:
  
  
  • Social security, grievance mechanisms.
  • Minimum income norms.
  • National Registry for gig workers.
    
    

7.     Stellarator Achieves Record Fusion Temperatures

Context:
 Germany’s Wendelstein 7-X stellarator hits 30 million °C — major step toward clean fusion energy.

Relevance:
 GS-3 – Science & Technology (Energy), Environment

Elaborated Notes:

• Stellarator: Fusion reactor using twisted magnetic fields to confine plasma.
• Advantage over Tokamaks:
  • Stable plasma, low power input.
  • Continuous operation potential.
    
    
• Fusion Energy: Promising green energy source if commercialized.
  
  

8.     Tardigrades to ISS for Space Experiments

Context:
 Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla to carry tardigrades for cryptobiosis studies in microgravity.

Relevance:
 GS-3 – Science & Tech (Biotech, Space)

Elaborated Notes:

• Tardigrades: 8-legged micro-animals, survive extremes via cryptobiosis.
  
  
• Purpose: Study survival in space → implications for astrobiology and future Mars missions.