UPSC Daily News Summaries: Essential updates on H1-B visa, Japan's 1st woman PM, S-400 & more

A quick look at all the current affairs topics making headlines on October 6, 2025 and the possible questions for the exam.

1. Missile, shell production opened to private sector

The Defence Ministry has opened the development and manufacturing of missiles, artillery shells, ammunition and ordnance to private sector so that India does nor run out of fire power in long term hostilities, a move that is also in keeping with India’s push for self-reliance or Atmanirbharta. While the government is tight-lipped about the move, HT learns that an amendment has been made to the Revenue Procurement Manual (RPM) that removes the mandatory requirement for any private entity involved in manufacturing of bombs and ammunition to seek a no-objection certificate from the State-owned defence company Munitions India Limited (MIL) before setting up an ammunition unit. This means that the private sector will be allowed to manufacture 105 mm, 130 mm, 150 mm artillery shells, Pinaka missiles, 1000- pound bombs, mortar bombs, hand grenades, and medium and small caliber ammunition, said people familiar with the development, asking not to be named.

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Possible Question

What are the advantages and risks of allowing private sector participation in defence production? How can India balance self-reliance with security concerns in sensitive sectors like ammunition manufacturing?

2. Suit in US challenges H1-B fee hike

A coalition of workers unions, non-profit organisations and religious groups have launched the first legal challenge against President Donald Trump’s H-1B visa fee hike, arguing that the president lacks authority to unilaterally alter the terms of an immigration programme created by Congress. The lawsuit, filed in the United States District Court in the Northern District of California on Friday, seeks to overturn Trump’s presidential proclamation that raised H-1B application fees from roughly $2,000 to $100,000 — a change widely expected to make hiring foreign workers uneconomical for most US companies. The legal challenge represents the first significant effort to contest the Trump administration’s skilled immigration crackdown, and could determine how much flexibility any president has to alter visa programmes without congressional approval. Immigration lawyers told HT the case’s outcome will have significant ramifications for Indian professionals working in America on H-1B visas, who comprise over 70% of the programme’s beneficiaries, and, over time, the future of the Indian-American diaspora.

Possible Question

Discuss the significance of the H-1B visa programme for India’s IT sector and diaspora. How do changes in US immigration policies affect India’s services exports and talent mobility?

3. China hawk set to be Japan’s first woman PM

A hard-line ultra-conservative and China hawk Sanae Takaichi hailed a “new era” on Saturday after winning the leadership of Japan’s ruling party, putting her on course to become the country’s first woman prime minister. She has been a vocal critic of China and its military build-up in the Asia-Pacific. The 64- year-old said that a “mountain of work” lay ahead to restore the fortunes of her ailing Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). The LDP has governed Japan almost uninterrupted for decades but it has been haemorrhaging support as backing grows for smaller parties, including the anti-immigration Sanseito. Takaichi replaces Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba as the party hopes to regain public support and stay in power after major election losses. Takaichi, an arch conservative who tempered her rhetoric in the LDP contest, will almost certainly be approved by parliament later this month as Japan’s fifth prime minister in as many years. She won a run off vote against the telegenic and more moderate Shinjiro Koizumi, 20 years her junior.

Possible Question

Analyse the implications of Japan’s political leadership changes for India Japan relations, particularly in the context of Indo-Pacific security and economic cooperation.

4. UK police to get more powers to restrict demonstrations

UK police are to be given greater powers to restrict protests as a minister said repeated large-scale pro-Palestinian demonstrations had caused “considerable fear” for the Jewish community. The government initiative follows Thursday’s deadly knife and car-ramming attack on a synagogue in the northwestern city of Manchester. A pro-Palestinian demonstration in central London went ahead on Saturday despite pleas from Prime Minister Keir Starmer and the capital’s Metropolitan Police to delay it. The government said police would be authorised to consider the “cumulative impact” of protests when deciding to impose limits on protesters. “The right to protest is a fundamental freedom in our country. However, this freedom must be balanced with the freedom of their neighbours to live their lives without fear,” Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said in a statement. Over 1,000 people took part in Saturday’s protest in London’s Trafalgar Square, with nearly 500 people arrested for showing support for the banned Palestine Action campaign group.

Possible Question

How do liberal democracies reconcile the right to protest with the need to maintain law and order? Examine the implications of such restrictions for democratic freedoms.

5. India targets Russia deal for 5 more S-400 systems

Top defence ministry officials will meet their Russian counterparts this week to consider either joint manufacture or outright purchase of five more S-400 air defence systems from Moscow, with an objective of enhancing India’s long range defensive capabilities. The deal is expected to be given a green signal before Russian President Vladimir Putin arrives in India on December 5 for the annual summit with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. While two of the five S-400 systems, part of the October 2018 $5.43 billion deal, will be delivered by 2026- end, India and Russia are talking about the purchase of another five systems to protect any attack across the country’s 7000-km-plus coastline and to plug the air defence gap in the northern command area. HT learns that the two sides have already agreed on the cost of the additional five systems with annual escalation from the 2018 price. The modalities are not final yet and there’s talk that three of the five systems will be purchased outright and the remaining will be built by Indian private sector companies under transfer of technology route.

Possible Question

Evaluate the role of advanced air defence systems like the S-400 in India’s national security strategy. How do such procurements affect India’s defence preparedness and foreign policy choices?

Editorial Snapshots

A. Calibrate dosage of drug regulation

The death of 12 children in two States — Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan — from a deadly toxin detected in the cough syrups prescribed to them shows what ails drug regulation in the country. In the case of the Madhya Pradesh deaths, Coldrif, the cough syrup, was found to contain 48% diethylene glycol (DEG), which is 480 times the permissible limit of 0.1%. This isn’t the first time. In 2023, the WHO issued alerts on Indian cough syrups after the deaths of children in Gambia and Uzbekistan. At the time, many attempted to spin it as the failure of controls abroad on storage and transport. Poor communication gave false assurances. While biopsies indicated DEG poisoning, and Madhya Pradesh sent 13 suspected drugs for testing, the Centre and the state authorities erred in announcing that none of the samples contained suspected toxins while commenting on the results of just three medicines. The incident flags regulatory gaps. How thoroughly and frequently was Sresan Pharma inspected in the 20 years of its operations? Also, while a 2023 advisory called for the drug in question not to be administered to children under the age of four years, seven of the dead were under this threshold. While the Centre is now inspecting 19 drug manufacturing units across six states, effective drug regulation calls for more than a catch-up act.

Possible Question

What structural reforms are needed in India’s drug regulatory framework to prevent recurring cases of contaminated medicines? Discuss with reference to global best practices.

B. Diet and politics of the climate crisis

Food systems account for a third of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions due to human activity. Within this, 70% is attributable to the food habits of the wealthiest 30%, a new study by EAT-Lancet Commission has found. Given that food systems are the biggest contributor to the breach of five of the nine planetary boundaries — the limit in critical areas within which humanity can exist and thrive without impacting the planet drastically — and that business as-usual here will keep us off the below-1.5 degree-path even with complete global energy transition, the need for urgent action is clear. The wealthiest certainly must shoulder the bulk of the responsibility. But it is clear that food systems must be re-imagined for everybody. The share of the world’s population that is in the “safe and just space” — where people’s rights and food needs are met within planetary boundaries — is below 1%. The report makes a few broad prescriptions: Promoting traditional diets, which emphasise local procurement; making healthier food affordable; reducing food wastage; and halting conversion of intact ecosystems for agricultural use. A drastic 33% cut in global meat consumption and a 63% growth in the vegetable, fruit, and nuts sector is also called for. The challenge, of course, will be cultural and behavioural change — and, by extension, political.

Possible Question

How do food systems contribute to climate change, and what policy measures can India adopt to make diets sustainable while ensuring food security?

Fact of the day

Non-metro cities take off in India’s aviation boom: The Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) database gives the number of domestic and international passengers handled by airports from 1995-96 onwards. This number was 25.6 and 11.4 million, respectively, in 1995-96. This has increased by a multiple of 13 and 7 in the next three decades. Air travel has boomed, with the only dip coming during the pandemic when flight operations were severely restricted. What is also noteworthy is the fact that the bulk of India’s aviation growth now comes from domestic, not international passengers. Metro airports in the six largest cities (Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad) continue to handle the bulk of passengers but their dominance is weakening. While in 2006-07, these accounted for nearly three-fourths of all passengers handled by Indian airports, their share has fallen to nearly 60% in 2024-25. Also, while passenger traffic at Tier 1 airports grew a median 84.4% between 2015-16 to 2024-25, traffic at Tier 2 and Tier 3 airports grew by 132% and 159%, respectively, during the same period.