Current Affairs Quiz - March 2025

Notes:
World Consumer Rights Day is observed every year on March 15 to promote and protect consumer rights. It was first observed in 1983 to honor President John F. Kennedy’s speech on consumer rights on March 15, 1962. The 2025 theme is ‘A Just Transition to Sustainable Lifestyles’, focusing on making sustainable choices accessible, affordable, and fair. The campaign calls for stronger consumer protection and empowerment to ensure a just and sustainable future.

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India’s first Exploration Licence (EL) auction and AI-powered exploration hackathon were launched in Goa to boost mineral discovery. Union Minister G. Kishan Reddy and Goa CM Pramod Sawant presided over the event, which also included a roadshow for the fifth tranche of critical mineral block auctions. The AI Hackathon 2025 focused on using AI for mineral targeting and sustainable mining innovation. 13 exploration license blocks were auctioned for minerals like Rare Earth Elements, zinc, diamonds, copper, and Platinum Group Elements. The initiative aims to accelerate mineral exploration, attract private investments, and strengthen India’s mineral self-reliance.

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Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Smt. Anupriya Patel inaugurated the India Innovation Summit – Pioneering Solutions to End Tuberculosis (TB) at Bharat Mandapam Convention Centre, New Delhi. The summit is jointly organized by the Department of Health Research-Indian Council of Medical Research (DHR-ICMR) and the Central TB Division (CTD), Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MoHFW). It aims to accelerate India’s goal of TB elimination by 2025. Over 200 innovations, including handheld X-ray devices, AI-powered diagnostic tools, and molecular testing technologies, are showcased.

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Karnataka IT Minister Priyank Kharge launched India’s first industry-led digital detox initiative, “Beyond Screens”, on Tuesday. The initiative promotes responsible gaming and digital consumption in collaboration with the All India Gaming Federation (AIGF) and the Department of Electronics, IT, Biotechnology, and Science and Technology. It aims to combat digital addiction by encouraging balanced technology use. The initiative was announced at GAFX 2025 (Games, Animation and Visual Effects) and includes a dedicated digital detox centre and website.

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Audible enclaves are small pockets of sound that remain undisturbed by surrounding noise. They use new technologies to deliver sound to a specific person even in a crowd. Sound waves travel through a medium, moving particles back and forth at different frequencies. Higher frequency sounds diverge more due to diffraction. Parametric array loudspeakers create focused sound beams using high-frequency waves modulated with audio signals. A study published on March 17 in PNAS shows that two high-frequency waves intersect, creating sound only audible nearby due to non-linear interactions.

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Exercise Varuna is the bilateral naval exercise between India and France, started in 1993 and named Varuna in 2001. VARUNA 2025 is the 23rd edition, scheduled to take place from March 19 to 22 in the Arabian Sea. It features high-intensity naval drills covering sub-surface, surface, and aerial operations. INS Vikrant and Charles de Gaulle participates with fighter jets, destroyers, frigates, and a Scorpene-class submarine. Key highlights include advanced air defence drills and mock air-to-air combat between French Rafale-M and Indian MiG-29K jets to improve combat readiness.

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England hosts the Kabaddi World Cup 2025, the first time outside Asia. Matches take place in Birmingham, Coventry, and Walsall. The tournament features 10 men’s teams and 6 women’s teams. It is different from the International Kabaddi Federation (IKF) Kabaddi World Cup, which is always hosted in India.

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Lok Sabha Secretariat and Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) signed an MoU to launch the Sansad Bhashini initiative. Sansad Bhashini is an AI-based digital initiative for real-time translation, transcription, and data access of parliamentary records in multiple Indian languages. It is developed by Lok Sabha Secretariat and Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY). It aims to enhance multilingual support in parliamentary proceedings. It seeks to make parliamentary debates, documents, and archives more accessible for MPs, researchers, and the public. It promotes linguistic diversity in governance and digital accessibility.

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The United Nations has declared March 21 as the World Day for Glaciers. The International Year of Glaciers’ Preservation 2025 highlights the urgent need to protect glaciers from climate change. Glaciers are vast ice and snow formations that shape landscapes and serve as vital freshwater sources. They regulate sea levels and support biodiversity but are melting rapidly due to global warming. The 2025 initiative aims to promote scientific research, enhance global cooperation, mobilize resources for mitigation, and encourage community-led adaptation strategies.

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Researchers in Sweden have discovered a new type of magnetism called altermagnetism. It combines the properties of ferromagnets and antiferromagnets in one material. Conventional magnets like iron and nickel rely on aligned spins, while antiferromagnets cancel magnetic forces. Altermagnets have zero net magnetization like antiferromagnets but also show spin splitting like ferromagnets. They can increase the speed of memory devices and improve the efficiency of electronic systems.