Current Affairs Quiz – August 2025

Notes:
Pfizer recently launched its 20-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV20) for adults in India. PCV20 protects against 20 serotypes causing most pneumococcal diseases. Pneumococcal disease is caused by the bacterium Streptococcus pneumoniae. It can cause mild infections like ear infections and severe ones like pneumonia, meningitis, and bloodstream infections. Around 90 serotypes exist globally; few cause most diseases. It is a major global health issue, especially affecting young children and the elderly in developing countries.

Notes:
World Elephant Day is celebrated every year on 12th August to raise global awareness for elephant conservation and protect their habitats. On 12th August 2025, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) and Tamil Nadu Forest Department celebrated World Elephant Day in Coimbatore. A workshop on Human-Elephant Conflict (HEC) was held for elephant range states to share challenges and mitigation strategies under Project Elephant. World Elephant Day was co-founded on 12th August 2012 by Patricia Sims and the Elephant Reintroduction Foundation of Thailand.

Notes:
Assam government launched Operation Falcon last year to protect one-horned rhinos from poachers. It is a joint anti-poaching drive by Assam Police and Assam Forest Department to end rhino poaching and illegal wildlife trade. It integrates digital tracking, on-ground surveillance, and rapid deployment teams for swift action. In 2025, 42 poachers were arrested, six major gangs dismantled, and nine poaching attempts foiled. The effort led to zero rhino killings in 2025 and an 86% drop in poaching since 2016. Assam has 2,895 rhinos according to the 2022 census, mostly in Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve.

Notes:
World Organ Donation Day is observed every year on August 13 to promote organ donation and raise awareness about its importance. The theme of 2025 is “Answering The Call” set by the Organ Donation and Transplant Alliance. The theme honours professionals in the field and urges greater collaboration to advance organ donation and transplantation. According to the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), about 1,03,993 people need life-saving organ transplants, but donors remain critically low. The day also pays tribute to donors and their families for their selfless contributions.

Notes:
A Kerala tourist miraculously survived an elephant attack in Karnataka’s Bandipur Tiger Reserve (BTR) after being pushed down and pinned under the tusker’s foot. Bandipur Tiger Reserve (BTR) is located in Mysore and Chamarajanagar districts of Karnataka at the tri-junction of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala. It is an “ecological confluence” of the Western and Eastern Ghats and was once a hunting ground of Mysore rulers. It forms part of the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Notes:
The Bihar government has doubled the pension for ‘JP Senanis’, political activists jailed during the Emergency for supporting Loknayak Jayaprakash Narayan’s movement. The decision was approved in a cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister (CM) Nitish Kumar. Pension for those jailed over six months is increased from ₹15,000 to ₹30,000 per month. Pension for those jailed less than six months is raised from ₹7,500 to ₹15,000 per month. This adjustment falls under JP Senani Samman Pension Scheme. The scheme was launched by Bihar CM Nitish Kumar in 2009. Currently, 3,354 people receive this pension.

Notes:
Researchers have identified Ideonella sakaiensis, a bacterium that can degrade polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic. It belongs to the genus Ideonella and family Comamonadaceae. It uses polyethylene terephthalate (PET) as both a carbon and energy source, breaking it into harmless building blocks. These by-products can be consumed by I. sakaiensis and other organisms. It is discovered by researchers in Japan from PET-contaminated soil. It is Gram-negative, rod-shaped, motile, non-sporing, non-pigment-producing, and monotrichous.

Notes:
The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has made it mandatory to submit Automated Permanent Academic Account Registry (APAAR) IDs for board exam registration. APAAR ID was introduced under the New Education Policy (NEP) 2020 to track a student’s academic journey from pre-primary to higher education. It is a lifelong unique number, linked to Digilocker, ensuring authenticity of report cards and eliminating fake certificates. The Ministry of Education mandated APAAR IDs as part of the Digital Public Infrastructure for Education. Linking will start for the 2026 board exams to improve data accuracy and remove duplication.

Notes:
On 15 August 2025, Chinese commercial aerospace company Geespace successfully completed the fourth orbital deployment of GEESATCOM (Geely Constellation) by launching 11 satellites from waters off Rizhao, Shandong Province aboard a single rocket. All satellites entered their planned 600 km orbits and are operating normally. GEESATCOM, independently developed and operated by Geespace, supports satellite Internet of Things (IoT) testing and inter-satellite communications. It also provides Earth observation for ecological and environmental monitoring.

Notes:
Indian Naval Ships INS Rana and INS Jyoti took part in the 12th edition of Sri Lanka–India Naval Exercise (SLINEX-25). SLINEX is a bilateral naval exercise between India and Sri Lanka, started in 2005. It has enhanced maritime cooperation and interoperability for nearly two decades. The last edition was held in Visakhapatnam, India, in 2024. SLINEX-25 is conducted in two phases – Harbour phase and Sea phase. Harbour phase includes Subject Matter Expert Exchange (SMEE), cultural programs, yoga, sports, and best practice sharing. Sea phase covers gunnery firing, navigation, seamanship, fueling at sea, communication, and Visit Board Search and Seizure (VBSS).