31st July 2025 Daily Current Affairs

📰 National Affairs (India)

• Trump Imposes 25% Tariff on Indian Exports
  From 1 August, the U.S. will levy a 25% tariff on Indian imports, along with an unspecified “penalty”—a move widely criticized by India’s Opposition as a major diplomatic setback. The rupee weakened sharply to around ₹87 / USD as equities declined. Government and economists warned the policy could dampen manufacturing growth and shave up to 0.4 percentage point off GDP projections

• RBI to Conduct ₹50,000 Crore VRRR Auction
  On 31 July, the Reserve Bank of India initiated a large-scale Variable Rate Reverse Repo operation to absorb ₹50,000 crore of liquidity. This move follows a similar mop-up of ₹46,058 crore on 29 July, part of efforts to manage excess banking system liquidity and control inflation

• Punjab Declares State Holiday
  Punjab has designated 31 July as a gazetted holiday in honor of Shaheed Udham Singh’s martyrdom anniversary. All government offices, educational institutions, and corporations in the state remain closed. Commemorative events include blood donation drives and naming a highway stretch after him

🚀 Science, Space & Technology

• India Successfully Launches the NISAR Satellite
  On 31 July, ISRO’s GSLV‑F16 rocket carried NASA–ISRO’s joint NISAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) satellite into sun-synchronous orbit. The mission marks the first GSLV flight to achieve such an orbit, and NISAR will gather high-resolution imagery every 12 days to aid in climate monitoring, disaster response, glacier tracking, and land-use analysis

🧑‍⚖️ Governance & Social Initiatives

• Legal Aid Capacity Booster
  NALSA and legal services institutions are being urged to scale up infrastructure and funding to provide assistance to the marginalized. Between April 2023 and March 2024, only ~15.5 lakh people accessed legal aid—highlighting large gaps in outreach and underutilization of allocated resources. Budget constraints and procedural bottlenecks remain key issues

🌍 International & Regional Updates

• Average Monsoon Rainfall Expected in August
  The India Meteorological Department (IMD) projects that August monsoon rainfall will be near-normal, following a 5% above-average precipitation in July. Even higher precipitation is expected in September (exceeding 106% of the 50‑year average), which is critical for crop sowing and agriculture-dependent livelihood across India

🧪 UPSC & Competitive Exams

• Important Prelims Topics from Today:

  • Trump’s tariff announcement: effects on India’s economy and trade relations (GS‑II)

  • Launch of NISAR satellite: dual‑agency collaboration, mission objectives, technical specs (GS‑III–Space)

  • Legal aid challenges: judicial access, NALSA’s budget and coverage (GS‑II–Governance)

📋 Summary at a Glance