Current Affairs - National

Between January 2025 and August 2025, the female electorate in the draft rolls fell from 3.72 crore to 3.41 crore, amounting to a net deletion of around 31 lakh voters and representing an 8.3% decrease. This decline was notably higher than the male deletion rate of 6.1%, with 37 out of 38 districts recording greater female voter deletions. The disparity cannot be explained by death rates or migration patterns, as men typically migrate more. Instead, low female literacy rates and challenges in completing self-enumeration forms during the Special Intensive Revision are considered likely causes, possibly compounded by administrative verification issues.

Mission Poshan 2.0, launched to improve maternal and child nutrition in India, has achieved significant coverage. By July 2025, 72.22 lakh pregnant women had been registered as beneficiaries through the Poshan Tracker system. This initiative works alongside the Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY), which focuses on providing financial assistance to mothers. Mission Poshan 2.0 integrates Anganwadi services, nutritional supplementation, and health monitoring, targeting not just pregnant women but also lactating mothers, children, and adolescent girls. The use of technology, such as the Poshan Tracker and Facial Recognition System, ensures transparency and efficient delivery of services to registered beneficiaries.

The 4.5 km long ‘Rudrastra’, Asia’s longest freight train, was developed by Indian Railways with the key aim of boosting goods transport efficiency. Its design allows for the movement of large cargo volumes in fewer trips, leading to reduced congestion on freight corridors, lower fuel consumption per tonne of goods, and faster delivery times. With a load capacity of 72 tonnes per wagon and an average speed of 40.5 km/h during trials, the train can significantly improve logistics and cost efficiency for industries dependent on bulk transport. This milestone also showcases engineering innovation in coupling and engine distribution.

Indian Railways has launched a special Round Trip Festival Package for 2025 to manage passenger flow during the busy festive season and encourage advance planning. The scheme offers a 20% rebate on the base fare of the return journey, provided the same set of passengers travels both ways in the same class and between the same origin-destination pair. It applies to confirmed tickets in all train classes except Flexi fare trains. Bookings open on August 14, 2025, for onward journeys between October 13–26, 2025, and return trips from November 17–December 1, 2025. The offer aims to reduce congestion and improve train utilisation.

The Government e Marketplace (GeM), launched in 2016, is India’s flagship digital procurement platform aimed at ensuring transparency, efficiency, and inclusivity in government purchases. In FY 2024–25, GeM reached a remarkable ₹5.4 lakh crore in Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) and celebrated its 9th anniversary with the theme “Ease, Access and Inclusion.” Over its nine years, GeM has onboarded women-led enterprises, startups, self-help groups, artisans, and MSEs. Reforms announced included removing caution money for sellers, reducing vendor assessment fees, and exempting 97% of orders from transaction charges, reinforcing its role in modernising public procurement.