On June 11th, 2025, India marked developments highlighting major developments across technology, science, and economic policy. The government has amended SEZ Rules to promote electronics and semiconductor manufacturing. In science, a breakthrough hydrogen plasma method promises cleaner nickel extraction. Meanwhile, India's upcoming Voyager Tardigrades experiment aboard the ISS will explore life’s adaptability in space, marking another milestone in space biology.

Awareness regarding daily UPSC current affairs is crucial for cracking the UPSC Prelims, excelling in UPSC Mains. It helps perform well in the UPSC personality test, thus becoming an informed and effective UPSC civil servant.

Below are the current affairs and headlines of the day taken from The Hindu, Indian Express, Press Information Bureau & All India Radio as required for UPSC preparation:

Special Economic Zones: Boosting Semiconductor & Electronics Manufacturing

Source: The Hindu

Syllabus: GS Paper III – Economy

In News

• The government's Commerce Department recently announced important changes to the rules for Special Economic Zones (SEZs) from 2006. These changes are meant to greatly help semiconductor and electronics manufacturing in India. Key updates include:

• The minimum land needed for semiconductor/electronic component SEZs has been cut from 50 hectares to just 10 hectares.

• Companies in these SEZs can now sell their products within India (in the Domestic Tariff Area or DTA) after paying the required taxes.

• Rules about having land free of mortgages or leases have been made easier, especially if the land is mortgaged or leased to government bodies.

• Some recent approvals under these new rules include:

• The ₹13,000 crore Micron Semiconductor SEZ in Sanand, Gujarat.

• The ₹100 crore Aequs SEZ in Dharwad, Karnataka.

Key Information about SEZs (as of 2025)

Know more about the India Semiconductor Mission!

Main Features of SEZs

• Tax Benefits:
  • 100% tax exemption on export income for SEZ units (under Section 10AA, though this is changing after 2020).
  • No customs or excise duties on imported or locally bought goods.
  • No IGST (Integrated Goods and Services Tax) or other indirect taxes (with certain conditions).
• Simpler Rules:
  • A single system to get all approvals, making things faster.
  • More relaxed rules for labor and environment.
• Good Facilities:
  • Availability of power, water, roads, phone services, and housing nearby.
• Sales in India (DTA Sales):
  • SEZ units can sell their products in India after paying customs duties (now with more flexibility after the 2025 change).
• No Special Licenses:
  • No need for extra licenses for importing or exporting goods.
• Focus on Jobs:
  • Rules encourage hiring skilled and semi-skilled workers from local areas.

Hydrogen Plasma Reduction for Nickel Production: A Cleaner Way Forward

Source: The Hindu

Syllabus: GS Paper III – Science and Technology

In News 

• A new study published in Nature (April 2025) by German scientists has found a way to extract nickel using hydrogen plasma. 

• This new method greatly reduces carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. It works on laterite ores and is a single-step process that produces no carbon waste and uses energy efficiently. This makes it a much cleaner option compared to older methods that release a lot of carbon. 

• This discovery is very important because the demand for nickel is expected to jump to over 6 million tonnes per year by 2040, mainly because it's used a lot in Electric Vehicle (EV) batteries and other clean energy technologies.

How is Nickel Extracted Today? 

The usual way to get nickel involves many steps that use a lot of energy:

• Mining: Getting the ore from the ground.
• Calcination: Heating the ore to remove certain parts.
• Smelting: Melting the ore to separate the metal.
• Reduction using carbon: Using carbon to pull the nickel out of the ore.
• Refining: Making the nickel pure. This traditional method uses carbon, which creates CO2 as a byproduct. This can lead to up to 20 tonnes of CO2 for every tonne of nickel produced.

Read the article on the Major Minerals & their Characteristics!

Nickel Reserves

Nickel Production

The New Sustainable Solution: Hydrogen Plasma Reduction 

This new method uses hydrogen plasma instead of carbon to extract nickel.

• Process: It's a single step done in an electric furnace. This replaces many steps like heating, melting, and refining.
• By-product: Instead of CO2, the process creates water.
• Works with Laterite Ores: It can be used for laterite ores, which are common but traditionally hard to process.

Advantages of the New Method

• Carbon-free: Can cut CO2 emissions by up to 84%.
• Energy-efficient: Uses about 18% less energy than old methods.
• Faster: Reactions happen more quickly because of the high-energy hydrogen plasma.
• High-purity: Produces pure ferronickel, which can be used directly for stainless steel without more cleaning.
• Local Extraction: Could allow India to get nickel from its own lower-grade ores (like in Sukinda, Odisha).

Challenges of the New Method

• High Setup Cost: Building electric furnaces and hydrogen production facilities needs a lot of money upfront.
• Needs Green Energy: To truly be carbon-neutral, it needs electricity from renewable sources.
• More Study Needed: Scientists need to do more research on how the reactions work and the best conditions.
• Scaling Up: It still needs to be proven that it can work well on a large, industrial scale.

Know more about the Physical Characteristics of Minerals!

Voyager Tardigrades Experiment: Studying Extreme Survival in Space

Source: The Indian Express

Syllabus: GS Paper III – Science and Technology 

In News 

• Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla will be part of an important biology experiment on the International Space Station (ISS). 

• This project, called the Voyager Tardigrades experiment, aims to study how tiny creatures called tardigrades survive, come back to life, and have babies in the low gravity and space radiation conditions.

Have Tardigrades been to Space before? 

Yes, tardigrades have already flown in space and shown they can survive.

• First Space Mission: Their first trip to space was on the European Space Agency’s Foton-M3 mission in 2007.
  • About 3,000 tardigrades were put directly into the vacuum of space and exposed to cosmic radiation outside the spacecraft.
  • When they returned to Earth, many of them survived and even had babies.
  • This mission proved that tardigrades were the first known animals to survive in outer space without the protection of a spacecraft.
• Other Missions: Tardigrades have also been part of:
  • NASA’s BioSentinel mission.
  • Experiments by SpaceX and Japanese scientists, which looked at how tardigrade genes behave in orbit.

What is the Voyager Tardigrades Experiment? 

This is a new and advanced biology experiment that will happen on the International Space Station (ISS). It involves scientists from India and other countries.

• How it Works: Tardigrades will be sent to the ISS in a very dry, inactive state (called a cryptobiotic "tun" state). Once there, they will be given water in the low-gravity environment to bring them back to life.
• Goals: The experiment aims to:
  • See if they can wake up, how their genes change, and if they can reproduce in the low-gravity and high-radiation conditions of the ISS.
  • Find out which genes and processes help them repair their DNA and recover their cells.
  • Understand how life can adapt for long periods beyond Earth.
• Why it's Important for Science: The findings from this experiment can be very useful:
  • Astronaut Protection: It could help create better ways to protect astronauts during long space missions.
  • Storing Life: It can help us understand how living materials can be stored or brought back to life in deep space, useful for things like keeping biological samples or for future medicine.

Life-Support Systems: It helps design systems that support life, especially for future bases on the Moon or Mars where resources might be limited.