NATIONAL NEWS

IAS Officer Trainees of 2023 batch

• Dr Jitendra Singh, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science & Technology, Earth Sciences, PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space interacted with Officer Trainees (OTs) of the 2023 IAS batch in New Delhi.
• This batch has largest women representation in the history of Indian Administrative Services, with 74 women officers, making up 41 percent of the current batch of 180 officers.

Indian Administrative Services

Time spent as undertrial can’t be deducted

• The Kerala High Court has observed that a convict cannot claim remission of sentence for the period during which he/she remained an undertrial prisoner prior to conviction.

STATE SPECIAL NEWS

IPR Policy of Kerala

• The Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment (KSCSTE) has constituted a six-member drafting committee headed by N. Anilkumar, Chairman, Kerala State Biodiversity Board.

Kerala

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

US Vice President’s visit to New Delhi

• US Vice President J D Vance and Second Lady of the US, Usha Vance is in New Delhi on a four-day visit to India.

Temporary halt to deportations

• The U.S. Supreme Court temporarily stopped President Donald Trump from using an old law to deport Venezuelan migrants without due process and paused the use of the 1798 Alien Enemies Act, last used during World War II.

United States of America:

Former president Kabila’s political party Suspended

• The Democratic Republic of Congo has suspended former President Joseph Kabila’s political party, People’s Party for Reconstruction and Democracy (PPRD), and ordered the seizure of his assets.

Democratic Republic of Congo

ECONOMY & BANKING

24th FIMMDA-PDAI

• RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra participated in 24th FIMMDA-PDAI (Fixed Income Money Market and Derivatives Association of India) annual conference organized in Bali.

Reserve Bank of India (RBI)

IMPORTANT DAYS

World Creativity and Innovation Day

• World Creativity and Innovation Day is a global UN day celebrated on April 21 to raise awareness around the importance of creativity and innovation in problem solving with respect to advancing the United Nations sustainable development goals, also known as the "global goals".
• Theme for 2025 is "Step Out and Innovate."

RANKS, REPORTS & INDICES

Global Education Monitoring Report

• UNESCO’s Global Education Monitoring (GEM) report has found that only 60% of countries have laws or standards in place to regulate food and beverages in schools, raising concerns over the global commitment to student health.

UNESCO

ART & CULTURE

Documentations of inscriptions

• The Epigraphy Division of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) recently documented a set of inscriptions from Malayadipatti and Ponnamaravathi in Pudukkottai district of Tamil Nadu.
• Using the estampage method, the inscriptions were copied onto maplitho paper for preservation and further study.

Archaeological Survey of India

ENVIRONMENT + SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

SpaDeX Mission

• The second docking of satellites under ISRO's Space Docking Experiment (SpaDeX Mission) has been accomplished.
• This follows the successful launch of the PSLV-C60 / SPADEX mission on December 30, 2024.

Wheat production assessment by ISRO

• The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in a study using its satellites has estimated that the total wheat production from eight major wheat-growing States will be 122.724 million tonnes as on March 31, 2025
• Comprehensive Remote Sensing Observation on Crop Progress (CROP), a semi-automated and scalable framework, developed by the ISRO’s National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC), enables the near real-time monitoring of crop sowing and harvesting during the Rabi season across India.

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)

US-Russia ISS Crew Returns

• Russian astronauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Wagner returned to Earth along with American Donald Pettit after a seven-month science mission on board the International Space Station (ISS) by Russian Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft.

International Space Station

DEFENCE NEWS

Desert Flag-10’ Exercise

• Indian Air Force’s contingent reached Al Dhafra Air Base in the United Arab Emirates to participate in Exercise Desert Flag-10.
• The exercise is being hosted by the UAE Air Force, with participating contingents from the air forces of Australia, Bahrain, France, Germany, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Republic of Korea, Turkey, UAE, United Kingdom, and United States of America in addition to the Indian Air Force.

Indian Air Force

Community radio in Himachal’s border district

• The Indian Army under its flagship Operation ‘Sadbhavana’ launched a community radio station, the ‘Voice of Kinnaur’, at Pooh in Himachal Pradesh’s Kinnaur district, bordering China.

Indian Army

EUNAVFOR ATALANTA Proposed Naval Exercise

• Vice Admiral Ignacio Villanueva Serrano, Operation Commander of EUNAVFOR ATALANTA, proposed conducting a joint exercise with the Indian Navy later this year.
• European Union Naval Force Operation (EUNAVFOR ATALANTA) is the EU military operation to contribute to the maritime security in the Western Indian Ocean and in the Red Sea.

European Union (EU)

SPORTS

BCCI Central Contracts 2024-25

• The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the central contracts and player retainership for the 2024-25 season, with Test captain Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli maintaining their spots in the top bracket (A+).

BCCI

ISSF World Cup 2025

• In shooting, India’s 10m Air Rifle Mixed Team duo, Rudrankksh Patil and Arya Borse, secured a silver medal at the ISSF World Cup in Lima, Peru.