Current Affairs Quiz – August 2025

Notes:
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan declared Kerala as the first fully digitally literate State in India. The achievement marks the completion of the first phase of the Digi Kerala project to bridge the digital divide. The project was implemented at the grassroots level across all local bodies. Surveys covered 1.5 crore people from 83.46 lakh families in the State. 21.88 lakh people were found digitally illiterate. Out of them, 21.87 lakh, or 99.98%, successfully completed training and evaluation. Kerala has presented a model worth emulating for the country.

Notes:
Seaweed farming has emerged as a potential Blue Carbon strategy, but empirical estimates of carbon burial from these farms are still limited. Blue Carbon refers to organic carbon captured and stored by oceans in vegetated coastal ecosystems such as mangrove forests, saltmarshes, and seagrass meadows. The term “Blue” highlights the watery nature of this carbon storage. Most blue carbon is carbon dioxide dissolved directly into the ocean. These ecosystems cover 2% of the ocean surface but account for 50% of the ocean’s carbon absorption. Blue carbon ecosystems are crucial for global climate change mitigation.

Notes:
Kerala High Court became the first in India to issue guidelines on Artificial Intelligence (AI) use in district judiciary to enhance efficiency and speed in managing five crore pending cases. AI tools include document translation, transcription, defect identification, and legal research, but errors like mistranslations, hallucinations, and bias pose risks. Large Language Models (LLM) can fabricate case laws; human judgment remains essential in context-sensitive decisions. Courts need AI literacy for judges, staff, and lawyers, and clear guidelines for research, judgment writing, and litigant rights.

Notes:
Nepal has officially joined the International Big Cat Alliance (IBCA), an India-led global initiative to protect seven species of big cats. The IBCA is a multi-country, multi-agency coalition of over 90 big cat range and non-range countries interested in conservation. Nepal joined by signing the Framework Agreement on August 24, 2025. Nepal’s landscape hosts snow leopard, tiger, and common leopard, strengthening global collaboration for big cat conservation. The alliance focuses on tiger, lion, leopard, snow leopard, cheetah, jaguar, and puma conservation.

Notes:
Women’s Equality Day is celebrated every August 26 in the United States. It commemorates the passage of the 19th Amendment granting women the right to vote. The day honors the heroic women who faced violence and discrimination to advance the women’s movement. In the early 19th century, American women could not inherit property and earned half of men’s wages. Women began organizing to demand political rights and representation. The day highlights continuing efforts for full equality in education, employment, and political participation.

Notes:
During Operation Sindoor, India deployed the AI-enabled X-Guard Fibre-Optic Towed Decoy (FOTD) system to enhance fighter aircraft survivability against hostile radar and missile threats. The X-Guard Fibre-Optic Towed Decoy (FOTD) system was developed by Israel. It is manufactured by the Israeli defense firm Rafael Advanced Defence Systems. It is retractable, reusable, and mimics a Rafale aircraft’s radar signature, doppler velocity, and electronic countermeasures across multiple radar bands. The system provides 360-degree jamming capability and integrates with the Rafale’s SPECTRA (Self-Protection Equipment Countering Threats to Rafale Aircraft) electronic warfare suite.

Notes:
India will host the Boxing World Cup (men’s and women’s) for the first time from November 13-24, 2025 in Greater Noida. The World Boxing Congress will be held on November 23, 2025 in Greater Noida. The event will be held at Vijay Pathik Sports Complex with around 450 boxers from at least 80 countries and 150 officials. India previously hosted Women’s World Boxing Championship in 2018 and 2023 and World Boxing Congress in 2017.

Notes:
The Department of Animal Husbandry & Dairying (DAHD) under the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying has recently issued the Revised National Action Plan on Glanders. Glanders is caused by the bacterium Burkholderia mallei and mainly affects equines like horses, mules, and donkeys, with risks to other animals and humans. It causes nodules and ulcerations in the respiratory tract and lungs, with a skin form known as farcy. Transmission occurs through contaminated food or water, infected harness equipment, or horse meat. It is a World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH)-listed disease and must be notified under the WOAH Terrestrial Animal Health Code.

Notes:
The Ministry of Minority Affairs, Government of India, has launched a new module on the UMEED Portal to strengthen inclusive welfare. The module enables widows, divorced women, and orphans to apply for maintenance support from Waqf-alal-aulad properties under Rule 8(2) of the Unified Waqf Management, Empowerment, Efficiency and Development Rules, 2025. UMEED Portal is a centralized platform to register and manage Waqf properties nationwide. The initiative promotes digital, people-centric Waqf administration and welfare for women and children in minority communities. The module supports the charitable objectives of Waqf endowments while modernizing governance and financial delivery.

Notes:
Chennai is the first city in Tamil Nadu to adopt the City Biodiversity Index (Singapore Index). The initiative is a joint effort by ICLEI South Asia, Greater Chennai Corporation, and state agencies. The index measures native biodiversity, ecosystem services, and governance through 23 indicators. For baseline year 2024, Chennai scored 38 out of 72 across 18 indicators, showing resilience and areas for improvement.