Current Affairs Quiz – October 2025

Notes:
The National Biodiversity Authority (NBA), headquartered in Chennai, sanctioned ₹82 lakh to the Andhra Pradesh Biodiversity Board for Red Sanders (Pterocarpus santalinus) conservation. The initiative aims to raise 1 lakh Red Sanders saplings to supply farmers, supporting the Trees Outside Forests (ToF) programme. Red Sanders, native to Southern Eastern Ghats (Anantapur, Chittoor, Kadapa, Kurnool), faces threats from smuggling due to high commercial value. The species is protected under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.

Notes:
England all-rounder Chris Woakes announced retirement from international cricket on 30 September 2025. He made his debut in 2011 and played 217 matches for England across formats. Woakes took 396 wickets and scored 3705 runs in his career. He was part of England’s 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup-winning team, taking 16 wickets including 3 in the final vs New Zealand. He also won the ICC T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia.

Notes:
The Department of Land Resources with the Revenue Department of Gujarat is organizing a National Conference on “Land Administration & Disaster Management”. The event is on 3rd and 4th October 2025 at Mahatma Mandir Convention Centre, Gandhinagar, Gujarat. It cover discussions on revenue laws, land records, resurvey, disaster management, and human resource planning.

Notes:
Sri Lanka and India will co-host the first-ever Women’s T20 World Cup – Cricket for the Blind from 11 to 23 November 2025. The tournament will open in New Delhi with inauguration and five matches, followed by four matches in Bengaluru. Colombo, Sri Lanka, will host the concluding leg with 15 matches, including semi-finals, final, and closing ceremony on 23rd November.

Notes:
INS Sutlej arrived at Port Louis, Mauritius, for the 18th Joint Hydrographic Survey between India and Mauritius. It is a specialised Hydrographic Survey Vessel of the Indian Navy. The ship was built by Goa Shipyard Limited and commissioned in 1993. It is based at Kochi under the Southern Naval Command. It has advanced surveying and navigation systems like Multi-Beam Swath Echo Sounder, Differential Global Positioning System (DGPS), and Motion Sensors. It also carries Sea Gravimeter, Magnetometer, Oceanographic Sensors, and Side Scan Sonars.

Notes:
A new analysis of NASA’s Cassini spacecraft data shows that Saturn’s moon Enceladus may support life. Cassini was a joint mission of NASA, European Space Agency (ESA), and Italian Space Agency (ASI). It was launched on October 15, 1997, to study Saturn and its moons in detail. The mission had NASA’s Cassini orbiter and ESA’s Huygens probe, which landed on Titan, Saturn’s largest moon. Cassini studied Saturn’s atmosphere, rings, and magnetosphere, along with Titan’s surface and atmosphere. It provided key insights into Saturn’s cloud properties, ring composition, and planetary evolution.

Notes:
The death toll in the stampede at Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK) rally in Velusamypuram has risen to 41. Doctors reported most fatalities were due to compressive asphyxia caused by crowd crush. Asphyxia occurs when the body does not get enough oxygen. Respiration moves oxygen into the lungs and circulates it via blood to all body cells, while carbon dioxide is removed. Lack of oxygen can cause unconsciousness or death. Compressive asphyxia happens when an external force prevents chest expansion, crushing the lungs and stopping breathing. This can occur in crowded situations or from a person’s weight on the chest.

Notes:
India has built the world’s highest motorable road at Mig La Pass in eastern Ladakh at an altitude of 19,400 feet (5,913 metres). The road surpasses the earlier Umling La Pass record of 19,024 feet. It is constructed by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) under Project Himank led by Brigadier Vishal Srivastava. The road is part of the Likaru-Mig La-Fukche alignment, connecting Hanle region with Fukche village near the Line of Actual Control (LAC). Mig La Pass is higher than South Base Camp of Mount Everest (17,598 ft) and North Base Camp in Tibet (16,900 ft).

Notes:
World Habitat Day 2025 was observed on 6 October. It is observed every year on the first Monday of October, established by the United Nations (UN) in 1985. It reminds the world that adequate shelter is a basic human right and highlights the need for sustainable urban development. The 2025 theme is “Urban Crisis Response”, focusing on how cities can tackle climate change, conflict, displacement, and inequality. It was first celebrated in 1986 in Nairobi, Kenya, under the theme “Shelter is My Right.” The 2024 theme was “Engaging Youth to Create a Better Urban Future.”

Notes:
Recently, former US President Donald Trump supported Russian President Vladimir Putin’s idea of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START). The New START is the last remaining nuclear arms control deal between Russia and the United States of America. It was signed in 2010 by Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev in Prague and came into force on February 5, 2011. The treaty limits the number of deployed nuclear warheads to reduce Cold War–level arsenals. It focuses on strategic long-range weapons that can destroy key power and control centers. It replaced the 1991 START I Treaty and the 2002 Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty (SORT). It was extended in 2021 for five years, valid till February 4, 2026.