Science & Technology Current Affairs MCQs

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The Government of India launched the BioSaarthi initiative to help Indian biotech startups grow in domestic and global markets. Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh unveiled the initiative in New Delhi on 21 March 2025. The event marked the 13th Foundation Day of the Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC). The Minister also released the “India Bioeconomy Report 2025.” It connects startups with experienced mentors, including Indian diaspora experts. The initiative aims to boost innovation, industry-academia collaboration, and global success for Indian biotech startups.

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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.

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India has developed its first indigenous MRI machine to reduce import dependence and treatment costs. It will be installed at AIIMS Delhi by October for trials. Currently, 80-85% of medical equipment in India is imported. The indigenous MRI machine aims to boost India’s self-reliance in medical technology. An MoU was signed between AIIMS Delhi and SAMEER, an autonomous R&D lab under the Department of Electronics. The installation will be for a 1.5 Tesla MRI scanner.

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Artificial Intelligence (AI) could help speed up the diagnosis of Coeliac Disease, an inherited autoimmune disorder. It is caused by an immune reaction to gluten, a protein found in wheat, barley, and rye. Eating gluten triggers intestinal damage, leading to malabsorption of nutrients. Symptoms include diarrhea, fatigue, weight loss, bloating, and anemia. In children, it can affect growth and development. 1 in 10 people with a first-degree relative having the disease are at risk. 1 in 100 people worldwide are affected. The only treatment is a strict gluten-free diet.

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SpaceX recently launched a private astronaut crew on a historic polar-orbiting mission from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida aboard a Falcon 9 rocket. A Polar Orbit (PO) is a type of Low Earth Orbit (LEO) between 200 km and 1,000 km in altitude. Unlike equatorial orbits, satellites in a polar orbit travel from pole to pole. Polar orbits allow satellites to cover the entire Earth’s surface as the planet rotates. These orbits are crucial for Earth observation, climate monitoring, and reconnaissance. The Fram2 mission is the first human spaceflight to use this trajectory, marking a milestone in space exploration.

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Chandrayaan-3’s Surface Thermophysical Experiment (ChaSTE) became the first instrument to measure in situ temperatures near the Moon’s south pole. It successfully penetrated lunar soil and deployed a thermal probe, achieving what two previous missions—European Space Agency’s (ESA) Philae (2014) and National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) InSight Heat Flow and Physical Properties Package (HP3) (2018)—could not. This experiment provided crucial data on lunar surface temperatures, strengthening evidence of water ice deposits. ChaSTE’s thermal probe was integrated into the Vikram lander of Chandrayaan-3, which landed on August 23, 2023.

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China has launched the “Three Gorges Antarctic Eye,” a 3.2-metre aperture radio and millimetre-wave telescope at Zhongshan Station in Antarctica. It is designed to study interstellar gas like hydrogen and ammonia and to explore star formation in deep space. The telescope can operate in Antarctica’s extreme cold and strong winds, making it a major engineering success. It builds on China’s earlier Antarctic Survey Telescopes (AST3) projects. The telescope was developed by China Three Gorges University and Shanghai Normal University to boost China’s space science research.

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The Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) and Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT Bombay) have launched a pilot Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) project in Kerala. Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) is a technology that allows Electric Vehicles (EVs) to send stored power back to the grid when not in use. V2G is the most studied application, though it is part of a broader framework including Vehicle to Home (V2H) and Vehicle to Vehicle (V2V) systems.

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China has officially launched the world’s first commercial 10 Gigabit per second (10G) broadband network, setting a new global standard for high-speed wired internet. This new 10G broadband offers speeds over 10 times faster than current fiber-optic networks used around the world. It allows ultra-fast downloads and uploads, very low latency, and high bandwidth capacity. It supports advanced applications like 8K video streaming, cloud gaming, smart cities powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI), and virtual reality.

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The Electrojet Zeeman Imaging Explorer (EZIE) mission was launched by NASA. Specifically, the mission was a NASA Heliophysics mission designed to study Earth’s auroral electrojets. Auroral electrojets are strong electric currents that flow 60 to 90 miles above the Earth’s polar regions. These currents are caused by the solar wind, a stream of charged particles from the Sun, and they can carry up to 1 million amps of charge per second. EZIE uses three CubeSats, which are small satellites, to investigate how these currents connect Earth’s auroras to its magnetosphere. The mission helps scientists understand how solar activity affects Earth, which is important for predicting space weather events.