Current Affairs Quiz - May 2025

Notes:
Finalists from 11 cities were selected through regional contests to compete in the WAM! (WAVES Anime & Manga Contest) national finale at WAVES 2025. The World Audio-Visual & Entertainment Summit (WAVES) 2025 is held from May 1 to 4, 2025, at the Jio World Convention Centre in Mumbai, India. WAVES (World Audio-Visual & Entertainment Summit) 2025 promotes India’s talent in Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming, Comics, and Extended Reality (AVGC-XR). The summit is themed “Create in India, Create for the World” to position India as a global creative powerhouse.

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A new project called SeaCURE has begun on the south coast of England to remove carbon dioxide from the sea. The SeaCURE project is an initiative of the United Kingdom (UK) government. The SeaCURE project is testing if taking carbon directly from seawater can be a low-cost and large-scale way to cut down carbon dioxide in the air. This method is different from usual carbon capture techniques that focus on emissions at their source or pull carbon dioxide from the air. SeaCURE targets the ocean, where carbon levels are up to 150 times higher than in the atmosphere.

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A rare inscription from the time of Vikramaditya I of the Badami Chalukya dynasty was recently found at Madapura Lake in Davangere district, Karnataka. Vikramaditya I ruled from 644 Common Era (CE) to 681 CE. He became king after the defeat of his father Pulakeshin II by the Pallava king Narasimhavarman I. His most important military success was the recapture of Vatapi, the Chalukya capital, from the Pallavas. He supported temple architecture and encouraged the construction of freestanding temples, a key feature of Chalukya style. The inscription offers new insights into his rule and regional history.

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The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (MoSJE) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) are now working together under the wastepickers component of the National Action for Mechanised Sanitation Ecosystem (NAMASTE) Scheme. UNDP is providing financial support to State Project Management Units (PMUs) to strengthen the scheme’s implementation. The NAMASTE Scheme was jointly launched by Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (MoSJE) and the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) in 2023 to protect the safety and dignity of sanitation workers. Its wastepicker component was launched in 2024 with the goal to digitally profile and register 2.5 lakh wastepickers across India. It also provides health insurance under Ayushman Bharat–Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY), and offers skill development training.

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Researchers at the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST) have developed a 3D computational model to study thermoregulation in space. It shows that microgravity consistently increases human core body temperature, which is important for long-duration space missions. Microgravity is a condition of near-weightlessness experienced when objects are in free fall around Earth, not the absence of gravity. In microgravity, normal body functions like heat regulation are altered due to changes in blood flow and metabolism. The IIST model includes sweating, shivering, clothing, and organ heat to simulate real human conditions in space.

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Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has been re-elected, becoming the first leader in decades to win a second term, marking a major political milestone. With around 70.8% of votes counted, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) reports that the Labor Party is set to win 85 seats, well above the 76 needed for a majority. The Opposition Liberal National Coalition is likely to secure 36 seats, while Independents are expected to get 10. After his win, Albanese called being Prime Minister the greatest honour of his life while addressing supporters in Sydney.

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Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has successfully conducted the first flight trial of the Stratospheric Airship Platform in Sheopur, Madhya Pradesh. The platform was developed by DRDO’s Aerial Delivery Research and Development Establishment (ADRDE) based in Agra. The airship carried an instrumental payload and reached a high altitude of about 17 kilometres. The total flight lasted 62 minutes and helped gather important data through onboard sensors. This data will help in building accurate simulation models for future high-altitude missions. The test also checked the envelope pressure control and emergency deflation systems, and the airship was safely recovered.

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The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has decided to begin repair work on the damaged mihrab structure around the old water tank at Safa Masjid in Ponda, Goa. Safa Masjid, also called Safa Shahouri Masjid, is a historic mosque built in 1560 by Sultan Adil Shah of Bijapur. It is one of the few Islamic monuments in Goa that survived the Portuguese colonial period, during which many religious sites were destroyed. The mosque is known for its architectural and cultural value and is declared a national monument under the protection of ASI. The recent decision by ASI follows months of delay and brings hope for the preservation of this heritage site.

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A recent breakthrough came as an international team of scientists successfully mapped the genome of the Saola using tissue fragments from hunter-collected remains. The Saola, scientifically named Pseudoryx nghetinhensis, is one of the rarest land mammals and is nicknamed the “Asian Unicorn” because of its secretive nature. It was first discovered in 1992 during a joint survey by the Vietnamese Ministry of Forestry and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). It is listed as Critically Endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List, with only about 50 to 300 individuals estimated as of 2015. The Saola lives in the evergreen forests of the Annamite Mountains along the Vietnam–Laos border, a region rich in biodiversity and rainfall.

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The Centre for Earth Sciences and Himalayan Studies (CESHS) has recently drilled Northeast India’s first geothermal production well at Dirang in West Kameng district, Arunachal Pradesh. This marks a major step towards using clean and renewable energy sources in the Himalayan region. Geothermal energy is the heat from within the Earth, used to produce electricity or direct heating. CESHS achieved this breakthrough after two years of detailed geochemical and structural surveys in hot spring sites of western Arunachal Pradesh. CESHS geosciences division head Rupankar Rajkhowa confirmed the success of the drilling project. This initiative can reduce dependency on fossil fuels and support green development in remote regions.