Current Affairs Quiz - January, 2025

Notes:
Australian scientists discovered a larger, more venomous Sydney funnel-web spider species, named Atrax christenseni. The new species, called “Big Boy,” is 9 cm (3.54 inches) long and was first found in the early 2000s near Newcastle. It is dark brown to black with finger-like spinnerets at the abdomen’s end. Its venom glands are bigger, and its fangs are longer. Only male funnel-web spiders cause human deaths due to their stronger venom. Found in bushy suburban areas, forests, and shady gullies. Funnel-web spiders are among the most dangerous, with venom containing 40 toxic proteins.

Notes:
Punjab government has launched SHE COHORT 3.0 (Startups Handholding & Empowerment – Cohort 3.0) initiative in Mohali to empower female startups and students in building tech-based ventures. The initiative is supported by business incubators and ecosystem enablers. More than 250 startups, innovators, and students were briefed on StartUp Punjab’s growth plans. It offers a platform to showcase talent and ideas with potential for economic growth. Aims to contribute to India’s development by 2047.

Notes:
Union Minister of Commerce and Industry launched the Bharat Startup Grand Challenge and PRABHAAV Factbook to boost innovation and mentorship in India. The initiatives highlight India’s thriving entrepreneurial ecosystem and focus on fostering growth in startups. The government aims to position India as a global leader in technology and entrepreneurship. These efforts reflect India’s commitment to empowering entrepreneurs and driving economic growth through a robust startup ecosystem.

Notes:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi oversees the e-distribution of SVAMITVA Property Cards on 18th January 2025. The SVAMITVA Scheme, launched on 24th April 2020, is a Central Sector Scheme under the Ministry of Panchayati Raj. It aims to provide legal ownership records to rural property owners via Property Cards, improving rural governance and financial inclusion. The scheme ensures accurate land demarcation using drone technology and GIS tools, reducing land disputes. It grants Record of Rights (RoR) to property owners in rural areas, offering legal recognition to their properties.

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International Labour Organisation (ILO) has released the World Employment and Social Outlook Report for 2025. The report highlights ongoing global labor market struggles due to geopolitical tensions, climate change costs, and unresolved debt issues. The global jobs gap in 2024 was 402 million, including 186 million unemployed, 137 million temporarily unavailable, and 79 million discouraged workers. The global unemployment rate stood at 5%, with youth unemployment at 12.6%. Low-income countries face challenges creating decent jobs, with informal work returning to pre-pandemic levels. Labour force participation declined in low-income nations but increased among older workers and women in high-income countries, though gender gaps persist.

Notes:
The Trajan 155 mm towed artillery gun system, developed by India and France, has secured an export order from Armenia. It is a 155 mm, 52-calibre towed gun system, jointly developed by Larsen & Toubro (L&T) and KNDS France, and manufactured in India. The gun has a range exceeding 40 km, depending on the ammunition, and is designed for modern combat. It features advanced targeting, fire-control systems, modular design for easy transport, rapid firing rates, and terrain adaptability.

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The National Science Drama Festival 2024-25, organized by the National Council of Science Museums (NCSM), took place on January 18, 2025, at the National Science Centre, Delhi. The event was preceded by block, district, and state-level competitions across all 28 States and 8 Union Territories, involving over 40,000 students. Students presented creative science dramas on topics like Artificial Intelligence, Climate Change, Water Conservation, and medical breakthroughs. The festival highlighted the integration of science with literature and theatre, promoting cross-curricular learning and fostering scientific thinking. NCSM used drama as an innovative tool to engage audiences and combat misinformation, encouraging a scientific mindset among citizens.

Notes:
The Prime Minister praised Indian space startup Digantara for the success of its Mission SCOT. SCOT (Space Camera for Object Tracking) is Digantara’s first mission for space surveillance and one of the world’s first commercial Space Situational Awareness (SSA) satellites. It was launched aboard SpaceX’s Transporter-12 mission and deployed in a sun-synchronous orbit. SCOT is designed to track Resident Space Objects (RSOs) as small as 5 cm in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) with high accuracy and revisit rates. It addresses gaps in existing systems limited by fields of view, weather, and geography.

Notes:
China launched Pakistan’s first indigenous Electro-Optical (EO-1) satellite, PRSC-EO1. The launch occurred from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center using a Long March-2D carrier rocket. The satellite is equipped with electro-optical sensors for collecting Earth observation data.

Notes:
Scientists discovered that metal lumps, called polymetallic nodules, on the dark seabed produce oxygen. Dark oxygen is created without sunlight or photosynthesis, which was previously thought to be the only way oxygen is produced. The oxygen comes from electrochemical activity in the nodules, not plants. Polymetallic nodules, made of metals like manganese, iron, cobalt, nickel, copper, and lithium, split H2O molecules into hydrogen and oxygen. This discovery challenges previous understanding and opens up new avenues for studying deep ocean processes and oxygen production at extreme depths.