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Current affairs

Current affairs December 15 – December 21, 2025 for CUET

2 stories from the week of December 15 – December 21, 2025, in the order they happened, then a quiz on the week.

December 2025 in current affairs: nine stories for CUET

National

The SHANTI Act opens nuclear power to private companies

The SHANTI Act, 2025 (assent 21 December 2025) opens nuclear power to licensed private firms and replaces the 1962 and 2010 laws.

The Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India (SHANTI) Act, 2025 received the President's assent on 21 December 2025. It repeals the Atomic Energy Act, 1962 and the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act, 2010, and puts the sector under one law.

The Act allows limited private participation under licence, gives the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) statutory status for the first time, sets a graded operator-liability scale by type of installation, and regulates non-power uses in health, agriculture and industry. It is meant to support India's target of 100 GW of nuclear capacity by 2047.

Test yourself

Question 1

EasyOriginal question

The SHANTI Act, 2025 deals with which sector?

  1. ASpace activities
  2. BNuclear energy
  3. CInland waterways
  4. DTelecommunications
Your answer
Show the answer and explanation

Correct answer: B

Explanation

  1. SHANTI stands for Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India.

  2. It consolidates the law on nuclear power and its non-power uses.

Concept
Subject of the SHANTI Act
Typical time
40 seconds
Written from
pib.gov.in

Question 2

MediumOriginal question

Which two laws does the SHANTI Act, 2025 repeal?

  1. AThe Atomic Energy Act, 1962 and the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act, 2010
  2. BThe Atomic Energy Act, 1948 and the Electricity Act, 2003
  3. CThe Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 and the Atomic Energy Act, 1962
  4. DThe Electricity Act, 2003 and the Energy Conservation Act, 2001
Your answer
Show the answer and explanation

Correct answer: A

Explanation

  1. SHANTI repeals the Atomic Energy Act, 1962 and the 2010 nuclear liability law, and replaces them with a single Act.

  2. The 1948 Act was replaced back in 1962.

Concept
Laws repealed by SHANTI
Typical time
50 seconds
Written from
pib.gov.in

Question 3

MediumOriginal question

Which body does the SHANTI Act give statutory status to?

  1. AThe Atomic Energy Commission
  2. BThe Nuclear Power Corporation of India
  3. CThe Atomic Energy Regulatory Board
  4. DThe Bhabha Atomic Research Centre
Your answer
Show the answer and explanation

Correct answer: C

Explanation

  1. The Act grants statutory recognition to the AERB, which until then existed by executive order.

  2. NPCIL is an operator and BARC a research centre; neither is a regulator.

Concept
Nuclear regulator under SHANTI
Typical time
50 seconds
Written from
pib.gov.in

Question 4

HardOriginal question

What nuclear power capacity target by 2047 is the SHANTI Act meant to support?

  1. A22 GW
  2. B50 GW
  3. C100 GW
  4. D500 GW
Your answer
Show the answer and explanation

Correct answer: C

Explanation

  1. The government's long-term objective is 100 GW of nuclear capacity by 2047.

  2. 500 GW is the non-fossil capacity target for 2030, a different goal.

Concept
Nuclear capacity target
Typical time
65 seconds
Written from
pib.gov.in
Read the releasePractise this: National

Month →

National

VB–G RAM G replaces MGNREGA with a 125-day guarantee

The VB–G RAM G Act, 2025 (assent 21 December 2025) replaces MGNREGA and guarantees 125 days of rural work a year, up from 100.

Parliament passed, and on 21 December 2025 the President assented to, the Viksit Bharat – Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act, 2025, known as VB–G RAM G. It replaces the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005.

The Act guarantees at least 125 days of wage employment a year to every rural household whose adults volunteer for unskilled manual work, up from 100. States may notify a pause of up to sixty days in a year so that farm labour is available at sowing and harvest; the 125 days are still owed over the rest of the year. Wages are to be paid weekly, or within fifteen days of the work, and planning power lies with gram sabhas and panchayats.

Test yourself

Question 1

EasyOriginal question

Which Act does the VB–G RAM G Act, 2025 replace?

  1. AThe National Food Security Act, 2013
  2. BThe Code on Wages, 2019
  3. CThe Minimum Wages Act, 1948
  4. DThe Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005
Your answer
Show the answer and explanation

Correct answer: D

Explanation

  1. VB–G RAM G replaces MGNREGA, the rural employment guarantee law of 2005.

  2. The Minimum Wages Act was subsumed into the Code on Wages, a different reform.

Concept
What VB–G RAM G replaces
Typical time
40 seconds
Written from
pib.gov.in

Question 2

EasyOriginal question

How many days of wage employment a year does the VB–G RAM G Act guarantee to a rural household?

  1. A60
  2. B100
  3. C125
  4. D150
Your answer
Show the answer and explanation

Correct answer: C

Explanation

  1. The guarantee is not less than 125 days a year, up from MGNREGA's 100.

  2. 60 is the maximum pause, in days, a state may notify for peak farm seasons.

Concept
VB–G RAM G employment guarantee
Typical time
40 seconds
Written from
pib.gov.in

Question 3

MediumOriginal question

Why may a state notify a 'pause period' of up to sixty days under the VB–G RAM G Act?

  1. ATo reduce the guarantee to 65 days in drought years
  2. BTo keep farm labour available at sowing and harvest
  3. CTo audit the works done in the year
  4. DTo hold panchayat elections
Your answer
Show the answer and explanation

Correct answer: B

Explanation

  1. The pause lets states keep agricultural labour free during peak sowing and harvesting seasons.

  2. The full 125 days are still owed, in the rest of the year — the pause shifts work, it does not cut it.

Concept
Pause period under VB–G RAM G
Typical time
50 seconds
Written from
pib.gov.in

Question 4

HardOriginal question

Under the VB–G RAM G Act, within how long must wages be paid?

  1. AWithin thirty days of the work
  2. BMonthly, on the first working day
  3. CWeekly, or in any case within fifteen days of the work
  4. DAt the end of each financial year
Your answer
Show the answer and explanation

Correct answer: C

Explanation

  1. Section 5(3) requires weekly payment, or payment within fifteen days of completing the work.

  2. Payment later than that attracts delay compensation.

Concept
Wage payment under VB–G RAM G
Typical time
65 seconds
Written from
pib.gov.in
Read the releasePractise this: National

Month →

Take the week's quiz

8 questions from this week's stories, untimed, with the answer after each.

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Every item on this page, and the document it came from

Sources on this page · Last verified:

  1. The Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India (SHANTI) Bill, 2025 — Press Information Bureau (backgrounder)
  2. President gives assent to Viksit Bharat—Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB—G RAM G) Bill, 2025 — Press Information Bureau, Ministry of Rural Development