Current Affairs Quiz – July 2025

Notes:
Senegal has recently been declared free of trachoma by the World Health Organization (WHO) on July 15, 2025. It became the 25th country globally and the 9th in Africa to eliminate trachoma as a public health problem. Trachoma is a bacterial eye infection caused by Chlamydia trachomatis and leads to preventable blindness. It contributes to about 1.4% of global blindness, affecting 1.9 million people. Senegal faced trachoma since early 1900s and joined WHO’s global elimination alliance in 1998.

Notes:
Union Law and Justice Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal inaugurated Mahila Aarogyam Kaksh at Shastri Bhawan, New Delhi. The initiative aims to promote women’s well-being in government workspaces. It supports Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Hum Fit Toh India Fit’ campaign. The facility was created by repurposing an unused garage into a wellness zone. It includes gym equipment and a private lactation room for nursing mothers.

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Recently, the European Space Agency (ESA) launched the INVICTUS research programme. The INVICTUS research program is an initiative of the European Space Agency (ESA), in collaboration with the UK-based Frazer-Nash Consultancy. The goal is to develop hypersonic technologies for future reusable vehicles with horizontal launch capability. It is funded by ESA’s General Support Technology Programme (GSTP) and Technology Development Element (TDE). It will test key technologies for sustained hypersonic flight in Earth’s atmosphere.

Notes:
Recently, more than 300 people were killed in a week of violent clashes between Syria’s Druze minority and Sunni Bedouin tribes in and around Sweida city. The Bedouins are nomadic, Arabic-speaking tribes who have lived in the Middle East and North Africa deserts for centuries. The word Bedouin comes from Arabic “badawi”, meaning “desert dweller”. They survive mainly by herding camels, sheep, and goats, moving seasonally across arid lands. Bedouin tribes are often classified based on the animal species they herd.

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The Meri Panchayat mobile app recently won the prestigious World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) Prizes 2025 Champion Award. The award was given under the category “Cultural Diversity and Identity, Linguistic Diversity and Local Content” at the WSIS+20 High-Level Event held in Geneva, Switzerland. Meri Panchayat App is developed by the Ministry of Panchayati Raj and National Informatics Centre (NIC) under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology. The app provides real-time access to Panchayat budgets, payments, development plans, and details of elected representatives.

Notes:
Recently, the Uttar Pradesh Government launched the Human Resource Management System (HRMS) portal for ‘Udyami Mitras’ to improve investor support and internal efficiency. It is a cloud-based digital platform integrated with the state’s Nivesh Sarathi portal. The HRMS portal automates human resource (HR) functions such as attendance, leave management, payroll processing, and Form-16 generation. It offers real-time access to employee records for better transparency and administrative control. Udyami Mitras act as key facilitators between investors and the government to boost industrial growth. They help investors in identifying suitable land for setting up projects.

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Nagaland University has recently been selected as one of four Incubation Centres in the North Eastern region under a Central Government initiative. The initiative is titled ‘Establish, Develop, and Manage Entrepreneurship Development Centres and Incubation Centres in the Educational Institutes of the North Eastern Region’. It is sponsored by the North Eastern Council (NEC) and implemented by the Indian Institute of Entrepreneurship (IIE). In the first batch, Nagaland University’s Kohima campus will incubate 44 beneficiaries. These include 16 from Arunachal Pradesh, 6 from Assam, 4 from Manipur, and 18 from Nagaland.

Notes:
On July 21, 2025, Minister of State for Environment, Kirti Vardhan Singh, shared NCAP progress data in the Lok Sabha. Under National Clean Air Programme (NCAP), only 25 out of 130 cities met the 40% PM10 reduction target by 2024-25. NCAP was launched in 2019 to cut PM2.5 and PM10 by 20%-30% by 2024 from 2017 levels. In 2022, the target was revised to a 40% reduction in PM10 by 2025-26. Cities in Uttar Pradesh showed the highest reduction in PM10 levels. Bareilly topped the list with 76% reduction, followed by Varanasi (74.3%) and Firozabad (59.5%). Dehradun (57.2%) in Uttarakhand also showed sharp improvement.

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Pune district in Maharashtra has been declared an affected area due to rising Lumpy Skin Disease (LSD) cases in cattle. As of now, 906 cattle are infected, with 591 recovered and 15 deaths reported. Pune has over 8.46 lakh cattle as per the 20th Livestock Census and is a major milk producer. Lumpy Skin Disease (LSD) is a highly infectious viral disease affecting all breeds of cattle and water buffalo. It is caused by Lumpy Skin Disease Virus (LSDV), belonging to the genus Capripoxvirus (CaPV) under the family Poxviridae.

Notes:
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma announced the Chief Minister’s Foreign Language Initiative for Global Human Talent (CM-FLIGHT) to enhance youth employability abroad. The scheme will offer structured training in foreign languages, including up to Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) N2 level. The project aligns with Japan’s Specified Skilled Worker (SSW) visa program to facilitate paid short-term jobs in Japan. A subsidy of ₹1.5 lakh will be provided to each selected applicant for language training. This initiative aims to tackle unemployment and underemployment in Assam through international job access.