Current Affairs Quiz – December 2025

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.

Notes:
ISRO Chairman V Narayanan inaugurated Ananth Technologies’ Ananth Centre of Excellence for Navigation (ACEN) in Thiruvananthapuram. ACEN is India’s first private-sector navigation innovation hub. Ananth Technologies, founded in 1992, contributes to ISRO and Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) missions with expertise in precision sensors, airworthiness, and system integration. Navigation is crucial for missiles, aircraft, ships, and satellites; reliance on foreign GPS revealed strategic vulnerabilities. ACEN will handle Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul (MRO) of navigation systems domestically.

Notes:
Goa Shipyard Limited handed over ICGS Amulya, the third of eight Fast Patrol Vessels (FPVs), to the Indian Coast Guard. The vessel is 51.43 m long, 330 tonnes, and uses Controllable Pitch Propellers (CPP) for better fuel efficiency. It has a top speed over 27 knots and a range of 1,500 nautical miles. It will be crewed by 6 officers and 35 sailors. It is built for fisheries protection, Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) surveillance, anti-smuggling, anti-piracy, and Search and Rescue (SAR) missions. The ship will strongly boost India’s coastal and offshore security.

Notes:
Dr. Tessy Thomas, called the Missile Woman of India, received the 8th Dr. Paulos Mar Gregorios Award 2025 for excellence in science and women empowerment. She is a senior scientist at the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). She was the first Indian woman to lead a missile project and headed Agni-IV and Agni-V ballistic missile programmes. She is also known as “Agniputri”, meaning one born of fire. The award is given by the Sophia Society of the Malankara Orthodox Church in memory of Dr. Paulos Mar Gregorios.

Notes:
SVAMITVA Scheme aims to cover 3.44 lakh villages with property mapping and issuance of property cards. The SVAMITVA (Survey Villages and Mapping with Improvised Technology in Village Areas) scheme is a Central Sector Scheme by Ministry of Panchayati Raj that uses drone technology to map rural land and create legal ownership records for residents As of now, drone surveys have been completed in 3.28 lakh villages, around 95% of the target. Land is a State subject under the 7th Schedule of the Constitution; legal provisions for SVAMITVA follow relevant State Acts and Rules. Ministry of Panchayati Raj (MoPR) plans to complete all drone surveys and property cards by March 2026.

Notes:
A recent study found that the shingles vaccine can reduce the risk of death from dementia. Shingles is a viral infection that causes a painful skin rash. It is caused by the varicella-zoster virus, the same virus responsible for chickenpox. After chickenpox, the virus stays dormant in nerve cells and can reactivate when immunity becomes weak. Shingles usually appears as a painful stripe of blisters on one side of the body, face, or neck. It is not directly contagious but can spread chickenpox to unvaccinated people. It mainly affects people over 50 years or those with weak immune systems. The Shingrix vaccine helps prevent shingles and its complications.

Notes:
Mahaparinirvan Diwas is observed every year on 6 December to mark the death anniversary of Dr Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, the chief architect of the Indian Constitution. Dr Ambedkar passed away on 6 December 1956 and is remembered for fighting caste discrimination and promoting social justice. Thousands gathered at Chaityabhoomi in Mumbai to pay tributes, with flower petals showered and copies of the Constitution distributed. President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and other leaders offered floral tributes. The day inspires people to follow his ideals of equality, justice, and democracy.

Notes:
An Indian Army mountaineering team from Eastern Command successfully summited Mount Kangto, standing at 7,042 metres, for the first recorded time. Mount Kangto is the highest peak of Arunachal Pradesh and is located in the Kameng Himalayas. The team approached and climbed the peak via the challenging southern route. The achievement marked Mount Kangto as no longer an unconquered peak. The team was “Flagged In” by Lieutenant General (Lt Gen) RC Tiwari, Army Commander of the Eastern Command.

Notes:
India hosted the 20th session of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Intergovernmental Committee for Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) from 8–13 December 2025 in New Delhi. Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) includes traditions, practices, knowledge, skills, expressions, objects and cultural spaces that communities consider part of their identity. UNESCO adopted the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of ICH on 17 October 2003 at its 32nd General Conference in Paris. The Convention created formal systems for international cooperation, recognition, and support, and led to the creation of UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) Lists.

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The Minister of Tribal Affairs confirmed that the Swasthya Portal will not be expanded to include national health databases, district dashboards, or AI-enabled analytics. Swasthya Portal is a one-stop platform showing the health and nutrition status of India’s tribal population. It was developed under the central sector scheme Tribal Research Information Education Communication and Events (TRI ECE) of the Ministry of Tribal Affairs. It provides data, research briefs, case studies, best practices, and innovative models. It features a dashboard, knowledge repository, partner section, and Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) support corner, covering 177 high-priority tribal districts.