Key Highlights
- 2025 saw India and Sri Lanka deepen military cooperation through the 11th Mitra Shakti exercise in Belagavi.
- India’s National Education Day on 11 November commemorates Maulana Abul Kalam Azad’s legacy.
- WHO’s 2nd Traditional Medicine Global Summit, hosted in New Delhi, focused on integrating evidence‑based practices into modern health systems.
- India’s labor market recorded a modest decline in the unemployment rate to 5.2 % in Q2 2025.
- New initiatives – a Germany‑India cyber‑security CoE, Tamil Nadu’s Women’s Wellness on Wheels, and a Vande Bharat launch—highlight the country’s multipronged development agenda.
Detailed Insights
Mitra Shakti 2025 – The joint exercise, held from 10‑23 Nov, concentrated on counter‑terrorism drills and UN peace‑keeping simulations. It marked the 12th annual drill since 2013 and reinforced tactical interoperability between the Indian and Sri Lankan armies.
National Education Day – Celebrated annually to honour Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, India’s first Minister of Education. The day underlines the importance of inclusive, science‑based schooling and the establishment of institutions such as the IITs and AICTE.
WHO Traditional Medicine Summit – Scheduled for 17‑19 Dec 2025, the summit in Bharat Mandapam will attract roughly 7,000 delegates. It is aligned with the WHO’s 2025‑2034 traditional medicine strategy, aiming to weave traditional systems—Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Siddha—into national health care.
Labor Statistics – The Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) recorded a 5.2 % unemployment rate for the 15+ age group in Q2 2025, an improvement over the 5.4 % in Q1. Rural unemployment fell to 4.4 % while urban figures rose to 6.9 %. Female labour participation edged up to 33.7 %.
Maritime and Technological Developments – A memorandum of agreement on submarine search‑rescue was signed in Hanoi during the 15th India‑Vietnam Defence Policy Dialogue. In November 2025, C‑DOT and IIT Gandhinagar announced a Centre of Excellence to advance indigenous telecom and cyber‑security research under the Ministry of Communications.
Health and Infrastructure Initiatives – Tamil Nadu’s Women’s Wellness on Wheels deployed 38 mobile units across all districts to screen for breast and cervical cancers. The Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium is being re‑imagined as a 102‑acre Sports City, taking cues from Qatar’s Lusail Sports City.
Transportation Expansion – Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off four new Vande Bharat trains from Varanasi in November 2025, bringing India’s total operational services to 164 and reinforcing the high‑speed corridor network.
Key Concepts
- Mitra Shakti: A recurring bilateral military exercise between India and Sri Lanka aimed at enhancing joint operational readiness and inter‑force cooperation.
- UN Chapter VII Peace‑keeping: The legal framework under which UN missions are authorized to use force for maintaining or restoring international peace.
- Traditional Medicine Global Strategy: WHO’s agenda to incorporate culturally rooted health practices into national health systems through research, regulation and training.
- Periodical Labour Force Survey (PLFS): A quarterly survey conducted by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation to measure employment, unemployment and other labor market indicators.
- Centre of Excellence (CoE): An institutional partnership focused on advanced research, development, and incubation in a specific technical domain to spur innovation.