Legal Current Affairs for 23 December 2025

Governance: Establish an Inter-Ministerial Task Force and designate Country Centres of Excellence (CoEs) in 54 Central Universities to serve as nodal points for specific nations.
Regulation: Revise the NIRF criteria to include internationalization metrics and simplify the visa documents.
Finance: Launch the Bharat Vidya Kosh (a $10 billion sovereign research fund) and the Vishwa Bandhu flagship scholarship to attract global researchers and master’s students.
Branding & Outreach: Develop the Bharat ki AAN (Alumni Ambassador Network) to engage successful Indian-origin alumni as global brand ambassadors and revamp the “Study in India” portal into a one-stop digital solution.
Curriculum & Culture: Integrate Indian Knowledge Systems (IKS) with global academic standards and mandate industry-relevant internships and reflective writing modules in degree programmes.

A risk-assessment tool to identify mobile numbers potentially involved in financial fraud.
It is a multi- dimensional analytical tool developed as part of the Digital Intelligence Platform (DIP).
Mechanism: Classification of numbers into risk categories: Medium, High, or Very High, using inputs from banks, telecom service providers, law-enforcement agencies, and citizen reports.
Utility: Enables banks and financial institutions to generate early alerts, apply enhanced due diligence and prevent fraudulent transactions.

PRIs were given constitutional status via 73rd Amendment (1993) to establish local governance structures at the village, block, and district levels, except the Schedule Areas of following 10 states
Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan and Telangana.
Salient Features of PESA Act
Gram Sabha Empowerment: Mandatory consent of Gram Sabha for local resource management such as land acquisition, development projects, minor forest produce, minor minerals, etc.
Powers: Gram Sabhas and Panchayats can prohibit or regulate the sale and consumption of any intoxicant, land protection & alienation, village market management, Money-lending Control, etc.
Preservation of Culture: It recognizes and protects the unique traditional governance systems, customary laws, and cultural identity of tribal communities.
Legal Supremacy: PESA overrides standard constitutional rules and state legislature laws.
As the PESA Act marks three decades, it remains an under-realized framework for tribal self-governance due to absence of a mandatory timeline for rule-making, dominance of bureaucratic structures over Gram Sabhas, and lack of devolution of funds, functions and functionaries.

Objective: Establishes a uniform legal framework for NCDs and extends benefits of negotiable documents beyond maritime transport to multimodal transport (train, truck, plane, or ship).
It allows cargo to be sold, rerouted, or used as collateral for financing while it is mid-journey.
Legal Effect: NCDs have the same legal effect as physical delivery of goods.
Significance: facilitates trade finance, digitalisation of global trade, etc.

Personality rights refer to the right of an individual to control the unauthorized use of their personal attributes like Name, Image, voice, Likeness and Distinctive expressions or traits. These rights include both commercial and non-commercial aspects.
Personality rights are not expressly mentioned in any statute in India.
Components of Personality Rights: Right to publicity (protected under Trademarks Act, 1999 and Copyright Act, 1957) and Right to privacy (provided under Article 21 of the Constitution and K.S. Puttaswamy Case, 2017).

Autonomy: Functions independently of GPS, ensuring operational reliability in heavily jammed electronic warfare environments.
Versatility: Integrates seamlessly with diverse hardware, from heavy artillery and radars to mobile air defense systems.
Direct-Fire: Utilizes advanced thermal and optical sights for immediateengagement of visible targets, including drones.

Electoral Trusts Scheme, 2013 provides for establishing Electoral Trusts (registered under the Companies Act).
They receive donations from individuals, companies, etc. and distribute them to registered political parties.
Objective: They aim to enhance transparency and accountability in political funding.
Mandate: By law, trusts must distribute 95% of total contributions received within a financial year to registered political parties.
Regulation: They are required to report to the Election Commission contributions from individuals and companies, and are governed by the Income Tax Act 1961.
Disclosure: Donors and amounts must be mandatorily reported, ensuring traceability.

SIRT6 or Sirtuin 6 enzyme is a longevity-linked enzyme that acts as an active metabolic switch and gatekeeper for tryptophan metabolism.
Tryptophan is an essential amino acid used in producing cellular energy or generating neurotransmitters like serotonin and melatonin, which regulate mood, sleep, and neural stability.
Function:
When SIRT6 activity is intact, tryptophan is properly distributed between pathways that generate energy and those that produce serotonin and melatonin.
When SIRT6 activity declines, during aging, it disturbs the tryptophan metabolism and generates byproducts that are toxic to nerve cells.

Objective: Conservation of forests and regulation of forest land use for non-forest purposes.
Coverage: Reserved forests, protected forests, and government-recorded forest land.
Approval Requirement: State Government or other authority requires prior approval from the Central Government is required for the reservation or diversion of forest land.

Advisory Committee: Provides for the establishment of an Advisory Committee by the Central Government to advise on granting approval for the use of forest land and on other matters related to forest conservation.