Exercise Harimau Shakti 2025

♦ The Fifth edition of the Joint Military Exercise “Exercise Harimau Shakti -2025” commenced in Mahajan Field Firing Range, Rajasthan, on 5 December 2025. The exercise concludes on 18 December 2025. The aim of the exercise is to jointly rehearse conduct of Sub Conventional Operations under Chapter VII of United Nations Mandate. The scope of the exercise includes synergising joint responses during counter-terrorist operations.

♦ The Indian contingent is being represented mainly by troops from the Dogra Regiment. The Malaysian side is being represented by troops from the 25th Battalion Royal Malaysian Army.

World Health Organization

♦ Malaria killed around 610,000 people in 2024, mostly young children in sub-Saharan Africa, the World Health Organization said on 4 December 2025.

♦ The toll was a slight increase from the number of deaths in 2023, and case numbers also went up, from 273 million to an estimated 282 million, according to the WHO’s annual malaria report.

♦ After vast progress in the early 2000s, the fight against malaria has been stalling in the last decade. While 47 countries have been certified as malaria-free, others are seeing a jump in cases – in 2024, particularly Ethiopia, Madagascar and Yemen.

♦ The rise in cases and deaths is in part linked to population growth, but case incidence – which accounts for that – also grew in the period 2015-2024, the WHO said, from 59 to 64 cases per 100,000 people at risk. Mortality rates have declined, but only slightly, from 14.9 to 13.8 per 100,000 people at risk.

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI)

♦ The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Reliance Jio to introduce a telecom-based safety alert system across the National Highway network. The initiative is aimed at enhancing road safety and improving the commuting experience for highway users.

♦ Under the initiative, travellers on National Highways will receive advance warnings on their mobile phones as they approach risk-prone locations, including accident-prone stretches, stray-cattle zones, fog-affected areas and emergency diversions. The alerts will be delivered through SMS, WhatsApp and high-priority calls using Jio’s existing 4G and 5G network.

Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP)

♦ The Director General of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), Praveen Kumar, took on additional charge of the Border Security Force (BSF) Director General following the retirement of the incumbent Daljit Singh Chawdhary.

♦ Chawdhary is a 1990-batch IPS officer of the Uttar Pradesh cadre, handed over the responsibilities to Kumar, a 1993-batch officer of the West Bengal cadre, at a BSF camp in Chhattisgarh’s Raipur. 

♦ Before taking charge as the 35th Director General of the ITBP in 2025 October, Kumar held various important positions at both the state and central levels. He served in the Intelligence Bureau (IB) from 2009. Prior to this, he served as Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of the Midnapore Range, where he led security forces in the Naxal-affected areas of Midnapore and surrounding areas.

Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA)

♦ Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) has become the first airport to achieve water positive status in the country with a capacity of more than 40 million passengers per annum. This was said by Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL), on 1 December 2025. 

♦ A water-positive facility is one that replenishes more water than it consumes.

♦ This certification was achieved through 625 rainwater harvesting structures installed across the airport, two newly built underground reservoirs with a combined capacity of 9 million litres, enabling significant rainwater capture and storage, and a 16.6 MLD zero-liquid-discharge sewage treatment plant that recycles the airport’s wastewater.

Indias total installed power generation

♦ India’s total installed power generation capacity has reached 5.05 lakh megawatt as of October 2025. This information was given by the Minister of State for Power Shripad Yesso Naik in the Rajya Sabha on 1 December 2025. He stated that the Government has undertaken several steps and initiatives to promote and accelerate renewable energy capacity in the country, in line with its commitment to achieving 500 Gigawatt of non-fossil energy capacity by 2030.

♦ He added that Foreign Direct Investment has been permitted up to 100 percent under the automatic route.

♦ The Minister said that Under the Green Energy Corridor Scheme, the Government has funded the laying of new transmission lines and creation of additional sub-station capacity to facilitate evacuation of renewable power. To support the steep growth trajectory of renewable energy, a comprehensive transmission plan has been prepared till 2032.

The Atal Pension Yojana (APY)

♦ The Atal Pension Yojana (APY) has crossed 8.34 crore enrolments, according to data shared in the Lok Sabha on 1 December 2025. Women constitute 48% of the total subscribers, reflecting significant participation from female beneficiaries across the country.

♦ Launched on 9 May 2015, APY aims to build a universal social security system for citizens, particularly workers in the unorganised sector. The scheme is open to individuals aged 18 to 40 years who have a savings bank or post-office account. Subscribers receive pension benefits after turning 60, and benefits are expected to begin disbursal from 2035 onward.