Results of the Annual Survey of Unincorporated Sector Enterprises (ASUSE) 2025 have been released for the period January–December 2025.

About ASUSE

• Conducted by: National Statistical Office (NSO) under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI).
• Purpose: Input for GDP estimation and National Accounts.
• Coverage: Unincorporated non-agricultural sector; manufacturing, trade, services.

• Indicators: Employment, GVA, wages, digital usage, etc.
• Significance: Supports policymaking for MSMEs and informal economy. 

The Supreme Court directed the grant of permanent commission and pensionary benefits to eligible women officers in the armed forces.

• The SC in Babita Puniya & Ors. case (2020) ordered grant of permanent commission to women & held them to be eligible to hold command posts.
  • Under the Short Service Commission (SSC) scheme, officers are initially appointed for 10 years, with a possible extension up to 14 years. 

Key observation of the Court

• Recognition of Systemic discrimination: Denial of Permanent Commission rooted in institutional bias and structural inequality in evaluation
• Flawed evaluation system: Method of evaluation of Annual Confidential Reports (ACRs) and the cut-off must be reviewed for future batches

10 years of Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) highlighted by the Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution.

About Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS)

• Established: Current body was constituted under Bureau of Indian Standards Act, 2016.

• Previous BIS functioned under the Bureau of Indian Standards Act, 1986 (modified form of Indian Standards Institution, formed in 1947). 

• Headquarters: New Delhi
  • Five Regional Offices: Kolkata, Chennai, Mumbai, Chandigarh and Delhi.
• Core Functions: Standards Formulation (e.g. Indian Standards codes); Product Certification (e.g. ISI mark for quality assurance); Compulsory Registration Scheme (Mandatory certification for electronics & IT goods).

Recently, the Chief Justice of India stepped away from hearing a batch of petitions challenging the CEC and Other ECs Act, 2023 to avoid conflict of interest.

• This invoked the need of Doctrine of Necessity to carry on the hearing of the case.

Doctrine of Necessity

• Meaning: If all judges are conflicted, case must still be heard ensuring continuity of justice and avoids institutional paralysis.
• Applied in: Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Association v. Union of India (2015).

Scientists at CERN successfully transported antiprotons by road for the first time.

• It is significant because antimatter usually annihilates on contact with matter, which made transport very difficult earlier.

About Antiprotons

• They are antimatter particles identical to a proton in mass and spin but carrying an opposite (negative) electric charge. 
• They were first produced and identified by Emilio Segrè and Owen Chamberlain (for which they received the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1959). 
• Experiment will help in solving the Matter–Antimatter Mystery. 
  • The Big Bang should have produced equal matter and antimatter, yet the universe is dominated by matter.

Supreme Court held that Scheduled Caste status is limited to Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhists only under the Constitution (SC) Order, 1950.

Supreme Court’s Observations

• Loss of SC Status: Conversion to any other religion leads to immediate and complete loss of SC status, irrespective of birth.
• Mutual exclusivity: A person cannot profess another religion and simultaneously claim SC status.
• ST distinction: Scheduled Tribe status not religion-based; depends on continuity of tribal identity and community acceptance.

NHAI’s first public infrastructure investment trust (InvIT) listed on BSE.

About InvIT

• It is an investment vehicle like mutual funds/REITs, enabling direct investment in infrastructure projects.
  • They pool funds, list on stock exchanges, and distribute income generated from assets to unit holders. 
  • Income source include tolls, rents, interest and dividends from infrastructure assets.
• Investment structure: Funds deployed directly or through SPV (Special Purpose Vehicle)/holding company.
• Regulation: Governed by SEBI (Infrastructure Investment Trusts) Regulations, 2014.