Daily Current Affairs Quiz: December 1, 2025

Notes:
Researchers found a nearly intact ancient pottery vessel near Lake Biwa in Shiga Prefecture, dating back over 10,000 years. It is Japan’s largest freshwater lake on Honshu, about 64 kilometres long and 672 square kilometres in area. The lake looks like a biwa musical instrument and is over four million years old. It is fed by mountain rivers and drains into Osaka Bay through the Yodo River. It supports fish, pearl culture, water supply, textile industries, and was listed under the Ramsar Convention in 1993.

Notes:
Samudrayaan is India’s first manned deep-ocean submersible mission to reach 6,000 metres depth. Testing is delayed due to late supply of syntactic foam from France, now expected by year-end after testing in Norway. The project is led by National Institute of Ocean Technology under the Ministry of Earth Sciences. A steel model has been tested up to 100 metres; a 500-metre trial is planned by April next year. The final titanium hull, built by Indian Space Research Organisation, will be tested in Russia. The mission will carry three crew members to collect seabed soil and rocks for future deep-sea mining.

Notes:
Delhi High Court quashed the proceedings of the Lokpal of India against Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh in a promotion-related case. The case involved alleged irregularities at the National Productivity Council (NPC). National Productivity Council (NPC) was established under the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, Ministry of Commerce and Industry. It is a non-profit body with equal representation from government, employers, and workers. It provides consultancy, training, research, publications, and productivity awards. It is also a member of the Asian Productivity Organisation (APO).

Notes:
The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) won the Gold Prize for Public Outreach and Communication at the India International Trade Fair (IITF) 2025 in New Delhi. The award recognised its innovative, inclusive, and people-friendly communication through the GST and Customs Pavilion. The pavilion ran from 14–27 November 2025 with the theme “Next-Gen Goods and Services Tax (GST): Simple Tax, Prosperous Nation.”

Notes:
The University Grants Commission (UGC) asked all Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) to nominate teachers for the National Mission for Mentoring (NMM). National Mission for Mentoring (NMM) is a flagship scheme of the Department of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Education, aligned with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. It connects Mentors (guides) with Mentees (teachers) to share skills and improve teaching quality. The National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) designed the mission and released the NMM Blue Book.