Science & Technology Current Affairs MCQs

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ISRO’s Aditya-L1 mission decoded the impact of a powerful solar storm on Earth’s magnetic shield. Aditya-L1, India’s first space-based solar mission, was launched by PSLV-C57 in 2023 and is in a halo orbit around Lagrange Point 1 (L1). The storm was caused by a massive eruption of solar plasma from the Sun. The most severe effects occurred in turbulent regions that strongly compressed Earth’s magnetic field. Some geostationary satellites were exposed to harsh space conditions. The study highlights the importance of understanding space weather, caused by transient solar activity, affecting satellites, communications, and technology.

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Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle-C62 (PSLV-C62) mission faced an anomaly at the end of the third stage (PS3), and a detailed technical investigation has been started. PSLV-C62 is a multi-payload mission carrying one primary satellite and 18 secondary payloads. It is ISRO’s first space launch of the year 2026, scheduled from Sriharikota spaceport. The primary payload is Earth Observation Satellite-N1 (EOS-N1), codenamed Anvesha. EOS-N1 is a hyperspectral imaging satellite developed mainly for the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).

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Union Home Minister Amit Shah laid the foundation stone of a Biosafety Level-4 (BSL-4) Bio-Containment Facility at the Gujarat Biotechnology Research Centre, Gandhinagar. It will be built at a cost of ₹362 crore over 11,000 square metres and will be India’s second BSL-4 lab after the National Institute of Virology, Pune. It is the first BSL-4 laboratory established by a state government. The facility will enable secure research on highly infectious and deadly viruses, reducing dependence on foreign labs. It will focus on zoonotic diseases and aligns with India’s One Health Mission. The project strengthens bio-safety, health security, and self-reliance, reflecting Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of science-led development.

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Voyager 1 is a space probe launched by National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in 1977 to explore the outer planets. Recent news highlights that Voyager 1 is expected to become the first human-made object to reach a distance of one light-day from Earth. One light-day means the distance light travels in 24 hours, showing how far the spacecraft has gone. Voyager 1 is already the most distant human-made object and is travelling through interstellar space. It crossed the heliosphere and entered interstellar space in August 2012. Its mission earlier included flybys of Jupiter and Saturn, studying their moons, rings, and magnetic fields.

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A Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS) outbreak has been reported in Neemuch district of Madhya Pradesh, with two deaths in Manasa town. Guillain-Barré Syndrome is a rare neurological disorder in which the body’s immune system attacks the peripheral nervous system. The peripheral nervous system is the network of nerves outside the brain and spinal cord that controls movement, pain, and sensations. Since the immune system causes the damage, it is an autoimmune disease, also called acute inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy.

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A rare blood-red aurora was recorded at the Indian Astronomical Observatory using an all-sky camera in Hanle, Ladakh. Hanle Dark Sky Reserve is located at about 4,500 metres altitude in the Changthang region of Ladakh. It lies within the Changthang Wildlife Sanctuary and has Bortle-1 category skies, the darkest level. It was notified in December 2022 and is India’s first International Dark Sky Reserve. The reserve is managed by the Indian Institute of Astrophysics under the Department of Science and Technology. It aims to reduce light pollution and promote astro-tourism for local livelihoods.

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Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu launched Pilloo AI, a voice-based billing and accounting assistant for businesses. The app allows users to create invoices, record transactions, generate reports, and manage accounts by speaking in their native language. No prior accounting knowledge or complex software is required, saving time and reducing manual effort. Pilloo AI supports five Indian languages and can record daily sales and payments, generate balance sheets, receivables, and payables. It automates purchase and bank transaction entries by extracting data from uploaded bills and bank statements.

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The National Statistics Office under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) launched the beta version of the Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for the eSankhyiki portal. Model Context Protocol (MCP) is a technology that allows users to directly connect datasets with their own Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools and applications. It provides a standard method to make official data accessible to Large Language Models (LLMs).

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A new meat-eating dinosaur named Spinosaurus mirabilis was discovered in the Sahara Desert. Its fossils were found in Jengueb area of Niger in the central Sahara. It lived about 95 million years ago in a forested inland region with rivers. It is the second known species of Spinosaurus. The first species, Spinosaurus aegyptiacus, was discovered in 1915 in Egypt.

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The Defence Research and Development Organisation conducted a qualification-level load test of the Gaganyaan drogue parachute at the Rail Track Rocket Sled facility in Chandigarh. This marks a major milestone in India’s human spaceflight mission, Gaganyaan. The drogue parachute is a key part of the Crew Module deceleration system. It deploys during atmospheric re-entry to stabilize the module and reduce speed before the main parachutes open. It was jointly developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation and the Defence Research and Development Organisation.