UPSC Daily Current Affairs| One Liners 25-07-2026

One Liners 25-07-2026

International Relations and Issues

Rome Declaration for an Unarmed and Disarming Peace

• It is formally titled as "Humanity at the Threshold: A Declaration on Artificial Intelligence and Nuclear Weapons".
• It calls for an international treaty to ban autonomous AI systems from accessing nuclear launch systems.
• The initiative was heavily inspired by Pope Leo XIV's encyclical Magnifica Humanitas, which warns against technological overreach and the erosion of human dignity.
• It was adopted by participants of the Global Nobel Laureates Assembly (an international summit on Artificial Intelligence and Nuclear War).
  • It was held in Rome, Italy.
• Guiding Principles
  • Disarming the next arms race
  • Responsible Development
  • Responsible Use of AI
  • Responsible Governance
  • Nuclear Disarmament
  • Responsible Leadership

BRICS Science Academies Forum Meeting 2026

BRICS Science Academies Forum Meeting 2026 successfully concluded at IIT Hyderabad with focus on AI for Sustainability and Global South Cooperation.

• Theme – “Harnessing Artificial Intelligence for Sustainable Development and Strengthening Global South Cooperation”
• Focus – bringing together member and participating countries from BRICS to deliberate on the 3C’s Collective, Collaborative and Context sensitive approaches towards Artificial Intelligence (AI).
• Areas of AI Collaboration
  • Advanced Materials and Manufacturing
  • Healthcare
  • Climate Change and Environmental Sustainability
  • Agriculture and Food Security
  • Disaster Prediction and Management

Romania

The recent arrival of Indian President in Romania marks the first visit by an over three decades.

• Location – Bounded by the Black Sea to the southeast.
• Bordered by – Ukraine (north), Moldova (northeast), Bulgaria to (south), Serbia (southwest), and Hungary (west).
• Terrain – Dominated by the Carpathian Mountains and the Danube River.
• Capital – Bucharest.
• Romania is a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) member.
• Note – It does not share a land border with Russia, though it sits close to Black Sea shipping conflicts.

3rd BRICS Ministerial Meeting on Disaster Risk Reduction

The 3rd BRICS Ministerial Meeting on Disaster Risk Reduction was successfully hosted by India recently in New Delhi.

• Organised by – National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) under the Ministry of Home Affairs.
• Chaired by – Minister of State for Home Affairs.
• Theme – "Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability”
• BRICS member states unanimously adopted the BRICS Joint Statement on Disaster Risk Reduction.
  • This reaffirmed their commitment to accelerate the BRICS Disaster Risk Reduction Work Plan (2025–2028)
• Focused on –
  • Climate-smart infrastructure.
  • Innovative financing models.
  • Emerging technologies.
  • Robust cross-border partnerships to counter growing global climate vulnerabilities.

Global Road Deaths Data

As per recent World Health Organisation (WHO) data road deaths declined globally.

• Road traffic deaths worldwide declined by 21 % between 2011 and 2025.
• Road crashes continue to claim 1.16 million lives every year.

• United Nations (UN) member states adopted a new General Assembly declaration on road safety.
• The declaration seeks to accelerate efforts to achieve the SDG of reducing road deaths and serious injuries by 50 % by 2030, compared with 2021 levels.
• Motorcyclists now account for nearly one-third of all road traffic deaths globally.
• WHO estimates that road traffic injuries cost most countries about 3 % of their GDP through healthcare expenses, lost productivity and the wider social impact on families and communities.

Economy

New Index of Core Industries (ICI)

The Office of Economic Adviser under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry recently released the revised Index of Core Industries (ICI).

• Base year – 2022–23 (replaced 2011–12).
• Released – Monthly.
• Iron ore is now included as the 9th sector has weightage of 4.905%.
  • The eight sectors earlier covered were coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, steel, cement, electricity, and fertilizers.
• Changes in weightage –
  • Electricity sector now makes up 30.932% of the entire index, (earlier 19.85%).
  • Coal - 5.596% (reduced from 10.33%).
  • Natural gas - 3.841% (reduced from 6.88%).
  • Refinery products – 22.572 %( reduced from 28.04%).
  • The fertilizers increase to 2.731% (earlier 2.63%).
• The combined weight of ICI in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) is now 32.88% under the revised base year 2022-23 series, decreasing from 40.27% in the older 2011-12 series.

Bank’s credit-deposit ratio

• Indian banks’ credit deposit (CD) ratio stood at a 62-year high of 82.6% in the first quarter (Q1) of fiscal 2027 as loans grew faster than deposits, as per data of Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE).
• Over the last 5 years, banks had excess investments on their balance sheet, which they have redeployed into loans.
• So optically, the loan book is growing faster and the investment book is growing slower, therefore the CD ratio looks higher.
• Second, the bank's capital is at an all-time high, giving it greater capacity to support lending and absorb losses.

Agriculture

India’s Cotton – “White Gold”

• India is the only country cultivating all four recognised cotton species.
• India ranks first globally in acreage and second in production (as of mid 2026, China is first) and consumption Cotton production stood at 290.91 lakh bales in 2025-26 (provisional).
• Domestic consumption reached 328 lakh bales during the same period.
• The Mission for Cotton Productivity aims to raise output to 498 lakh bales by 2031 MSP operations continue to provide price support during market downturns.

Science

Virtual Magnet Technology

• "Virtual Magnet" technology developed by Bengaluru startup Vimag Labs.
• It claims to eliminate the need for rare-earth elements in electric vehicles (EVs).
• Traditional EVs use Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motors (PMSMs), which embed physical rare-earth magnets (like neodymium) into the rotor to create a magnetic field.
  • Vimag Labs replaces physical permanent magnets with copper coils.
• Mechanism – Using "Virtual Magnet Synchronous Motor" (VMSM) architecture, the company uses power electronics and software algorithms to dynamically simulate and regulate a magnetic field in real time.
  • This creates a brushless, slip-ring-free design using only raw steel and copper.
• Concerns –
  • Electro an electromagnet requires software to continuously pump and modulate current through copper coils.
  • This extra step introduces core resistance losses, copper heating, and switching losses.
  • Replacing permanent magnets with electromagnets or iron elements introduces severe constraints regarding starting torque capability and maximum achievable speeds in EV’s.

Maglev trains

• A maglev train is a high-speed vehicle that uses magnetic levitation to float, move, and stop without touching the ground.
• It rely on electromagnetic suspension (EMS) and electrodynamic suspension (EDS).
• Working –
  • Floating (Levitation) – Strong magnets on the train and track push or pull the train up so it hovers a few centimeters in the air.
  • Moving (Propulsion) – Electricity sent through the track creates a magnetic wave that pulls and pushes the train forward very fast.
  • No Friction – Because the train does not touch the track, there is no wheel wear or rolling resistance, allowing for smooth, quiet, and rapid travel.
• Top speeds – 431 km/h.
• Public maglev service is currently limited to just three countries – China, Japan, and South Korea.
• Drawbacks – Building the special tracks (guideways) is very expensive, and they cannot run on standard old train tracks.