CURRENT TOPICS in HIGHLIGHTS 21 TO 30 April 2025

 CURRENT TOPICS in HIGHLIGHTS 21 TO 30 April 2025

1. National Civil Service Day

• Observed on: 21 April 2025

• Aim: To motivate and appreciate the work and efforts of Civil Service officers.

❑ The first such function was held in Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi on 21 April, 2006. So, since 2006 it has been celebrated as National Civil Service Day on 21 April.

❑ On this day the Prime Minister's Awards for Excellence in Public Administration are also given.

2. UNESCO Memory of the World (MoW) Programme

Launched by UNESCO in 1992 with the goal of preserving global documentary heritage and preventing what it called “collective amnesia.”

❖ It aims to safeguard rare documents, including manuscripts, oral traditions, audio-visual content, and archive materials, of global and universal value.

❖ According to UNESCO, this documentary heritage should be preserved,

protected, and permanently accessible to all, while respecting cultural practices.

3.Earth Day

Observed on: 22 April 2025

• Aim: to “build the world's largest environmental movement to drive transformative change for people and the planet.”

• Theme : 'Our Power, Our Planet'.

4. Indus Waters Treaty

❖ Both signed the IWT in September, 1960 after nine years of negotiations, with the World Bank being a mediator.

❖ Treaty sets out a mechanism for cooperation and information exchange between the two sides on the use of the water.

Key Provisions of the treaty

❖ Sharing Water

▪ It allocated the three western rivers—Indus, Chenab and Jhelum—to Pakistan for

unrestricted use, barring certain non-consumptive, agricultural and domestic uses by

India and the three Eastern rivers—Ravi, Beas and Sutlej—were allocated to India for

unrestricted usage.

❖ Permanent Indus Commission

▪ It also required both the countries to establish a Permanent Indus Commission

constituted by permanent commissioners on both sides.

❖ Rights over Rivers

▪ While Pakistan has rights over the waters of Jhelum, Chenab and Indus, Annexure C of

the IWT allows India certain agricultural uses, while Annexure D allows it to build ‘run

of the river’ hydro power projects, meaning projects not requiring live storage of water

   

5. Kishanganga Hydroelectric Project

❖ Location: It is located 5 km north of Bandipore in Jammu and Kashmir, India.

❖ Project details: It is a run-of-the-river project that includes a 37 m tall concrete-face rock-fill dam designed to divert water from the Kishanganga River through a tunnel to a power plant in the Jhelum River basin. It will have an installed capacity of 330 MW.

❖ Pakistan objected to the project arguing that it will affect the flow of the Kishanganga River (called the Neelum River in Pakistan).

❖ In 2013, The Hague’s Permanent Court of Arbitration (CoA) ruled that India could divert all the water with certain condition. 

6. National Panchayati Raj Day

Observed on: 24 April 2025

Aim: In 2010 the first National Panchayati Raj Day was celebrated.

❖A new part in the Constitution Part IX

❖Added by passing 73rd Amendment Act

❖Article 243 to 243 (O)

❖Titled "The Panchayats"

❖New 11thSchedule consisting of 29 subjects within the functions of Panchayats were also added.

7. World Malaria Day

Observed on: 25 April 2025

Aim: to raise awareness about the disease malaria,

how to control it and how to eradicate it completely. 

o In 2008, the first Malaria Day was celebrated,

which was developed from Africa Malaria Day,

which was an event observed since 2001 by the African governments.

o In the 60th session of the World Health

Assembly in 2007, it was proposed that Africa

Malaria Day can be changed to World MalariaDay.

Theme : "Malaria Ends With Us: Reinvest, Reimagine, Reignite"

8. Cloudburst

❖ A cloudburst is a localised and extremely intense rainfall event, defined by rainfall of 10 cm or more within one hour over an area of approximately 10 km × 10 km.

❖ Even 5 cm of rain in 30 minutes over the same area qualifies as a cloudburst.

❖ Cloudbursts are more common in mountainous regions due to a process known as orographic lift. 

9. National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) 

❖ It is a research institute created and funded by the Government of India.

❖ It was established in Nagpur in 1958 with a focus on water supply, sewage disposal, communicable diseases, and to some extent, on industrial pollution and occupational diseases found commonly in post-independent India.

❖ Headquarters: Nagpur

❖ NEERI has five zonal laboratories at Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, and Mumbai.

10. SAARC Visa Exemption Scheme (SVES)

❖ A regional travel facilitation mechanism allowing select individuals from SAARC nations to travel visa-free across member countries using a SAARC Visa Exemption Sticker.

❖ Signed In: Proposed at the 4th SAARC Summit in Islamabad (1988). It was officially launched in 1992.

❖ Objective: To foster people-to-people contact, regional cooperation, and diplomatic ease among the eight SAARCcountries: India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Maldives, and Afghanistan

Currently cancelled for pakistan by india.

11. China and Russia are planning to build a nuclear power plant on the Moon to power their joint International

Lunar Research Station (ILRS). International Lunar Research Station (ILRS):

❖ A planned comprehensive scientific experiment base on Moon with the capability of long-term autonomous operation.

❖ Agencies involved – China National Space Administration (CNSA) and Russian Space Agency

(ROSCOSMOS)

❖ MoU signed in 2021

❖ Will serve as a comprehensive scientific experiment base built on the lunar surface or in lunar orbit that can carry out multi-disciplinary and multi-objective scientific research activitie

12. World Intellectual Property Day. 

Observed on: 26 April 2025

• Aim: to mark the Day seek to inform about the role of intellectual property rights in encouraging innovation and creativity. 

• Theme : "IP and Music: Feel the Beat of IP".

13. Swachhta Udyami Yojana

The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment launched the Swachhta Udyami

Yojana (SUY) on 02nd October 2014.

➢ This Scheme has twin objective of cleanliness and providing livelihood to Safai

Karamcharis and liberated Manual Scavengers to achieve the overall goal of

“Swachh Bharat Abhiyan”

➢ The Swachhta Udyami Yojana extends financial assistance for Construction,

Operation and Maintenance of Pay and Use Community Toilets in Public Private

Partnership (PPP) Mode and Procurement and Operation of Sanitation related

Vehicles.

➢ The scheme also provides for training the workers in the use of these machines,

during which time a stipend of up to ₹3,000 per month will be provided.

➢ The scheme will also provide for sanitation workers to train for and go into any of

the approved list of alternative occupations in sectors like agriculture, services,

electronics assembling, handicrafts and   so on. Steps were taken to tackle the Menace of Manual Scavenging

❖ The Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation (Amendment)

Bill, 2020

❖ The Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013

❖ The Building and Maintenance of Insanitary Latrines Act of 2013

❖ Prevention of Atrocities Act

❖ Safaimitra Suraksha Challenge

❖ ‘Swachhta Abhiyan App’

❖ Rashtriya Garima Abhiyaan’

❖ SC Judgment: In 2014, a Supreme Court order made it mandatory for the government to

identify all those who died in sewage work since 1993 and provide Rs. 10 lahks each as compensation to their families.

14.World Day for Safety and Health at Work

❖ Observed on: 28 April 2025

❖ Aim: To improve occupational safety, health and looks for continuing these efforts through several changes like technology, demographics, climate change, etc.

❖ By the International Labour Organisation (ILO) since 2003.

❖ Theme : “Revolutionizing Health and Safety: The Role of AI and Digitalization at Work”