CURRENT TOPICS in HIGHLIGHTS 11 TO 20 April 2025
CURRENT TOPICS in HIGHLIGHTS 11 TO 20 April 2025
1. National Safe Motherhood Day
Observed on: 11 April 2025
Aim: to create awareness about maternity facilities, lactating women, and also for proper health care given to women.
2. Bear Market
A bear market refers to a situation where a stock index declines by 20% or more from its recent peak, indicating investor pessimism and negative economic outlook Causes of a Bear Market: Weak Macroeconomic Indicators: Declining GDP growth, rising unemployment, and reduced industrial output Investor Sentiment Collapse: Fear-driven sell-offs due to uncertainty or panic. Policy Shocks and Geopolitics: Sudden tariffs, wars, or oil crises disrupting investor confidence. Overvaluation of Stocks: Market corrections after an unsustainable bull run
3. The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (1995), which completed 30 years, highlighted gender equality across 12 dimensions.
However, India's Beijing+30 Report (2024) lacks a robust gender-climate integration, despite women facing disproportionate impacts of climate change, especially in rural areas. This opens a critical opportunity to integrate gender and climate concerns in India's developmental, environmental, and human rights agenda.
4. Niveshak Didi initiative
It is a women-led financial literacy initiative focused on empowering rural populations through community-based financial education. Launched in: Initially launched in 2023, currently entering Phase 2 in April 2025. organisations Involved:
Investor Education and Protection Fund Authority (IEPFA) – under the Ministry of Corporate Affairs.
❖ India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) – under the Department of Posts, Ministry of Communication.
Key Features:
Grassroots Deployment: Over 40,000 women postal workers to be trained as Niveshak Didis for outreach across underserved regions.
Financial Literacy Camps: Phase 2 will include 4,000+ new camps targeting rural, semi-urban, and tribal areas.
Focused Curriculum: Covers savings, digital banking, safe investment, and fraud prevention.
Women-Centric Model: Over 60% beneficiaries in Phase 1 were women
from remote areas; the model capitalizes on their role as community influencers.
❖Digital Inclusion: Emphasizes the use of IPPB's paperless and cashless banking tools through vernacular mediums in 13 Indian languages.
6. International Day of Human Space Flight
Observed on: 12 April 2025
Aim: "to celebrate each year at the
international level the beginning of the space era for mankind, reaffirming the important contribution of space science and technology in achieving sustainable development goals and increasing the well-being of States and peoples, as well as ensuring the realization of their aspiration to maintain outer space for peaceful purposes."
7. Several Union government websites have begun using Hindi Web addresses (internationalised domain names or IDNs), marking a major milestone in the Universal Acceptance (UA) movement, which aims to make the Internet more inclusive and accessible in Indian languages.
8. Akash Air Defence Missile System
It is a Short Range Surface to Air Missile System to protect vulnerable areas and points from air attacks.
❖ It was indigenously designed and developed by India's DRDO and is produced by Hyderabad-based Bharat Dynamics Ltd (BDL).
#POLITICS India Offers UAE Indigenous Akash Missile System to Bolster Defence Ties
The system was inducted into the Indian Air Force in 2014 and in the Indian Army in 2015.
In 2022, Armenia became the first foreign country to buy this missile system.
9. Japan's Masaki Kashiwara Wins Prestigious Abel Prize For Mathematics
Abel Prize 2025
Recipient: Masaki Kashiwara (Japan), aged 78.
Recognized For:
❖ Development of D-modules, a powerful tool connecting differential equations with algebraic geometry.
❖Discovery of crystal bases, enabling simpler graph-based solutions in complex calculations.
❖ Significance: His work bridged isolated fields like algebra, geometry, and mathematical physics.
Opened new avenues of research and helped solve long-standing mathematical problems.
10. Context: The DRDO has successfully tested the long-range glide bomb "Gaurav" by releasing it from a Sukhoi fighter aircraft.
Long-Range Glide Bomb (LRGB) 'Gaurav':
❖ Gaurav is an air-launched glide bomb weighing 1,000 kg. Nodal ministry: Ministry of Defence
It can hit targets over long distances with high precision at a range of around 100 km.
Uses a hybrid navigation system, combining:
Inertial Navigation System (INS)
Global Positioning System (GPS) data
It has been designed and developed indigenously by the Defence Research and Development Organisatior DC
11. Ambedkar Jayanti or Bhim Jayanti
Observed on: 14 April 2025
Aim: Ambedkar Jayanti or
Bhim Jayanti is an annual festival to commemorate the memory of B. R. Ambedkar, Indian polymath and civil rights activist
12. China's state-run defence firm Norinco recently said that it has developed the world's first close-in anti-drone barrage weapon, dubbed the Bullet Curtain.
Bullet Curtain:
It is the world's first close-in anti-drone barrage weapon.
It is capable of countering a broad range of low-flying aerial threats including rockets, helicopters, missiles, and most notably, drone swarms.
It has been made by China's state-run defence firm Norinco.
The system was inspired by Metal Storm, which is a rapid-fire weapon concept jointly developed by Australia and the United States in the late 1990s.
13. Kumudini Lakhia Contributions
Kumudini Lakhia challenged the classical notion that Kathak must always revolve around storytelling based on mythological or literary themes like Radha-Krishna or Shiva-Parvati.
❖ She believed in "art for art's sake", focusing on movement, rhythm, and form over narrative content.
❖ Over a career spanning seven decades, she transformed Kathak from a solo narrative-based art form to a group ensemble format, incorporating contemporary themes and abstract concepts.
Awards and Recognition: She was conferred Padma Shri in 1987, Padma Bhushan in 2010, and Padma Vibhushan in 2024 for her outstanding contribution to Indian classical dance.
14. World Hemophilia Day
Observed on: 17 April 2025
Aim: By raising awareness and bringing hemophilia and other inherited bleeding disorders to the attention of policymakers, we can increase sustainable and equitable access to care and treatment.
Theme: "Access for All: Women and Girls Bleed Too"
15. PM Vidyalaxmi Scheme.
It is a Central Sector scheme to provide financial support to meritorious students through various measures in both public and private Higher Education Institutions (HEIs).
❖ It is a key initiative of National Education Policy, 2020.
Objectives of the Scheme:
The PM Vidyalaxmi Scheme seeks to:
Ensure Financial Inclusion in Education: Enable meritorious students to pursue higher education without financial hurdles.
❖Support Top Educational Institutions: Applicable only to top-quality HEIs as per the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF).
❖ Provide Transparent and Digital Access: Use a fully digital, transparent, and student-friendly platform for loan processing and management. Loan Availability:
Eligibility: Any student who secures admission to a Quality Higher Education Institution (QHEI) is eligible.
Loan Terms: Collateral-free and guarantor-free loans will be offered through banks and financial institutions, covering the full amount of tuition and other course-related expenses.
❖ Institutional Coverage: Applies to institutions ranked in the NIRF top 100 (both government and private) and state government HEIs ranked in the 101-200 bracket, as well as all central government institutions.
❖ Coverage Scope: In the initial phase, 860 QHEIs qualify, potentially benefiting over 22 lakh students.
16. Since the outbreak of civil war on April 15, 2023, between the Sudanese Army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), Tuti Island has been devastated by violence and occupation.
Tuti Island:
Tuti Island lies at the confluence of the Blue Nile and White Nile rivers.
Bordering Urban Centres: It is surrounded by the "Three Towns" - Khartoum, Omdurman, and Bahri (Khartoum North).
❖ Agricultural Significance: Known as "Khartoum's Garden", it supplied a major portion of the capital's fruits and vegetables, with manual farming practices still in use
17. The year 2025 marks the 150 years of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).
Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE):
Established as 'The Native Share & Stock Brokers' Association' in 1875, it is Asia's first & world's fastest Stock Exchange.
In 2017, BSE became 1st listed stock exchange of India.
Role: BSE provides an efficient and transparent market for trading in equity, currencies, debt instruments, derivatives, mutual funds.
Regulated by: Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI).
SEBI is a statutory body under SEBI Act, 1992.
18. World Heritage Day
Observed on: 18 April 2025
Aim: to spread awareness of our rich
cultural diversity and the importance of preserving our ancient heritage and to share an important message to the younger generations to carry forward their legacy and preserve our culture.
Theme: "Heritage under Threat from Disasters and Conflicts: Preparedness and Learning from 60 years of ICOMOS
19. Exercise Dustlik-VI
It is an annual bilateral military exercise conducted alternatively in India and Uzbekistan, with the previous edition (DUSTLIK-V) held in Termez District, Uzbekistan in April 2024.
Edition: 6th
Schedule: 16-28 April 2025
Venue: Foreign Training Node (FTN) at Aundh, Pune
The first edition was held in November 2019 in Uzbekistan, marking the beginning of a structured defence partnership.
20. Meghayan-25
The event commemorated the formation of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and celebrated World Meteorological Day 2025 (23rd March every year).
EGHA
Meghayan-25 was held under the WMO Day 2025 theme, 'Closing the Early Warning Gap Together'.
Which highlights the importance of improving early warning systems for climate and disaster preparedness
Major Launches during Meghayan-25
❖MOSDAC-IN Web Services were launched, a joint initiative of the Directorate of Naval Oceanology and Meteorology (DNOM) and SAC-ISRO.
❖ It provides customised satellite-derived weather products with secure, individual log-ins for Naval
Meteorological Offices.
❖ The Navy also relaunched its professional journal, “Sagarmanthan", with the 10th edition being published after a decade-long gap.
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