Current Affairs Quiz - April 2025

Notes:
The Indian Air Force (IAF) joined the INIOCHOS-25 exercise in Greece at the Andravida air base. This biennial multinational exercise, hosted by Greece’s Hellenic Air Force, simulates modern air warfare. The IAF deploys Su-30 MKI fighters, IL-78, and C-17 aircraft. Fifteen countries, including France, Israel, Italy, the UAE, and the US, participates. The exercise focuses on refining tactics in complex air operations and enhancing military cooperation. It offers an opportunity to improve skills, exchange knowledge, and share best practices in air combat.

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Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman launched the “NITI NCAER States Economic Forum” portal on April 1, 2025, in New Delhi. NITI Aayog and the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) have developed a portal on State Finances covering 1990-91 to 2022-23. The portal has four components: State Reports, Data Repository, State Fiscal and Economic Dashboard, and Research and Commentary. It provides accessible macro, fiscal, demographic, and socio-economic data for informed policymaking. The portal enables benchmarking across states, facilitates research, and helps track trends for evidence-based policy decisions.

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The government has launched ZooWIN, a digital platform to track real-time availability of anti-rabies vaccines (ARV) and anti-snake venom (ASV) nationwide. ZooWIN is similar to Co-WIN and U-WIN, centralizing data for better coordination among healthcare providers, municipal authorities, and veterinary services. It supports the Union Health Ministry’s efforts to combat rabies and snakebites under the National Action Plan for Prevention and Control of Snakebite Envenoming (NAPSE). India records 3–4 million snakebites annually, causing around 50,000 deaths, half of the global snakebite mortality. The platform is initially piloted in Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Assam, Puducherry, and Andhra Pradesh.

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Lok Sabha passed a bill to establish Tribhuvan Sahkari University in Anand, Gujarat. The university is named after Tribhuvandas Patel, a pioneer of India’s cooperative movement. Tribhuvandas Kishibhai Patel was an Indian independence activist, lawyer, and politician. He was a follower of Mahatma Gandhi and involved in movements like civil disobedience and rural development. He founded Kaira District Cooperative Milk Producers’ Union Ltd. (KDCMPUL) in 1946. Inspired by Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, he fought against farmers’ exploitation by Polson Dairy. He served as President of Harijan Sevak Samiti from 1948 to 1983.

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The Indian Naval Sailing Vessel Tarini reached Cape Town, South Africa, in its final international stop of the Navika Sagar Parikrama II global circumnavigation. INSV Tarini is a 56-foot, indigenously built sailing vessel commissioned in February 2017 by the Indian Navy. It was built by Aquarius Shipyard Ltd., Goa, under the Make in India initiative. It has advanced navigation, satellite communication, and emergency steering for extreme conditions. It was named after the Tara-Tarini hill shrine in Odisha, historically revered by sailors. The expedition began on October 2, 2024, covering 23,400 nautical miles across three oceans and three major capes in eight months.

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The Indian Army’s Air Defence warriors from the White Tiger Division demonstrated their operational skills in a live missile-firing exercise using the 9K33 Osa-AK missile system. The 9K33 Osa-AK is a Russian-built, highly mobile, low-altitude, short-range tactical surface-to-air defence missile system. It was developed in the 1960s and fielded by the Soviet Union in 1972. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) designates it as “SA-8 Gecko.” The missile system has a length of 9.1 meters, a width of 2.78 meters, and weighs up to 18 tonnes. It integrates the transporter-erector-launcher and radar (TELAR) for independent detection, tracking, and engagement of aerial threats.

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On April 1, 2025, ​Rajasthan’s first international-level Institute of Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, and Cybernetics was inaugurated on April 1, 2025, at NIMS University in Jaipur. The institute is part of the agreement between the Government of Rajasthan and NIMS University under the ‘Rising Rajasthan’ initiative. Its main objective is to make Rajasthan a global hub for digital innovation and Artificial Intelligence (AI). The institute features 15 advanced laboratories with over 500 high-performance computers. It has been recognized as the Indo-Pacific European Hub for Digital Partnership (INPACE), strengthening digital ties between India and Europe. The institute will focus on AI, robotics, and cybersecurity research in collaboration with the European Union (EU) and global organizations.

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Kannadippaya, a traditional tribal handicraft from Kerala, has received the Geographical Indication (GI) tag, which protects its unique identity and origin. The name “Kannadippaya” means ‘mirror mat’ due to its shiny, reflective design. It is made from the soft inner layers of reed bamboo, giving it excellent thermal qualities—warm in winter and cool in summer. This craft is mainly done by tribal communities like the Oorali, Mannan, Muthuva, Malayan, Kadar, Ulladan, Malayarayan, and Hill Pulaya in Idukki, Thrissur, Ernakulam, and Palakkad districts.

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A new study has decoded how the venom of snake species, Pope’s Pit Viper (Trimeresurus popeiorum) works, helping understand its toxicity and aiding in better antivenom development. This research is key for pharmaceutical progress and supports India’s goal to reduce snakebite deaths by 50% by 2030. The snake is found in India, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, and Malaysia, especially in northern and northeastern India. It lives in tropical and sub-tropical wet mountain forests, bamboo forests, scrublands, and swamps. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), its status is Least Concern.

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Kazakhstan has found a major deposit of Rare Earth Elements (REEs) at the Kuirektykol site in the Karaganda Region, estimated to hold 1 million tons, which can support clean energy technologies globally. The Karaganda Region, in central Kazakhstan, is known for arid plains, hills, and seasonal streams, with major landscapes like Karkaraly National Park, Mount Aksoran, and Lake Balkhash. Important rivers in the region include the Ishim (Esil) and Nura, supported by the Irtysh–Karaganda Canal. Once known for coal mining and Gulag camps during Soviet times, it remains an industrial and mineral-rich hub. Rare Earth Elements (REEs) are 17 similar elements used in electric vehicles, wind turbines, smartphones, lasers, and defence technologies.