Science & Technology Current Affairs MCQs

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On November 17, 2025, Karnataka’s Department of Electronics, IT & BT, with KEONICS, launched KEO, a compact, affordable and AI-ready personal computer designed entirely in Karnataka. KEO stands for Knowledge-driven, Economical, Open-source, built on an open-source RISC-V processor with a Linux-based OS. It features an on-device AI core that works without internet and includes BUDDH, an AI agent trained on the Karnataka DSERT syllabus to help students in low-connectivity areas. KEO will be deployed across schools, universities, businesses, homes and government offices, supporting locally adaptable, home-grown computing.

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The Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL)–Larsen & Toubro (L&T) consortium has indigenously built India’s first private Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV). The PSLV is scheduled to launch the Oceansat satellite early next year. India’s Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) signed a 2022 contract with the HAL–L&T consortium for end-to-end production of five PSLV-XL rockets. This move shifts PSLV manufacturing from ISRO to industry partners while ISRO focuses on new missions and research. The consortium has faced production challenges, resolved with ISRO’s support. HAL also received technology for the Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) to fully own and operate its production.

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A 3.5-billion-year-old crater on Mars is named after Indian geologist M. S. Krishnan. The naming was approved by the International Astronomical Union. The International Astronomical Union was founded in 1919. It promotes astronomy research, education, and global cooperation. It standardizes astronomical constants and naming of celestial bodies. It alone has the authority to name planets, craters, and space features. It holds a General Assembly every three years. Its headquarters is in Paris.

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Russia successfully launched a new set of undisclosed military satellites. The launch vehicle used was the Angara-1.2 light rocket. It was conducted from Plesetsk Cosmodrome. Plesetsk is the world’s northernmost spaceport. The exact number and purpose of the satellites were not disclosed. The mission was carried out for the Russian Defence Ministry. It was executed by a combat crew of the Aerospace Forces.

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Researchers at Indian Institute of Technology Madras developed India’s first Indigenous Vessel Traffic Management System (VTMS) for ports. The system was built by the National Technology Centre for Ports, Waterways and Coasts (NTCPWC) as per guidelines of the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways (MoSPW), Government of India. It gives India full control over source code, data, and vessel movement information, ensuring high maritime security. The VTMS is cost-effective, secure, scalable, and easy to maintain.

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Telangana’s 1 Bio, India’s first single-use bioprocess design and scale-up facility, was inaugurated at Genome Valley, Hyderabad. It was created to solve the lack of affordable bioprocess scale-up infrastructure despite Telangana’s strong biotech talent. The facility supports start-ups and big companies with end-to-end process development and pilot validation. It was developed by the Government of Telangana, Telangana Lifesciences, Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Government of India, and Telangana Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (TGIIC). It has 500-litre bioreactors, advanced processing systems, and analytical labs.

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NASA has lost contact with its MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution) spacecraft, which has been orbiting Mars since 2014. MAVEN stopped communicating after it went behind Mars, and NASA received only silence when it reappeared. The spacecraft was launched in 2013 as the first mission dedicated to studying the Martian upper atmosphere and its interaction with the solar wind. MAVEN helped show that the Sun stripped Mars of its atmosphere over time and also served as a relay for Curiosity and Perseverance rovers. NASA is currently conducting engineering investigations while its other orbiters, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and Mars Odyssey, remain operational.

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Google’s CEO announced Project Suncatcher, a long-term research plan to set up solar-powered data centers in space. The project aims to build satellite constellations that can perform large-scale machine learning using Google’s Tensor Processing Units (TPUs). These space-based data centers avoid the environmental impact created by Earth-based data centers. They also reduce risks from power outages, undersea cable failures, and natural disasters. The project supports data sovereignty because outer space is not under national jurisdiction as per the Outer Space Treaty of 1967.

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Kavach is an indigenously developed Automatic Train Protection (ATP) system designed to improve railway operational safety across the Indian Railways network. It was developed by the Research Design and Standards Organisation (RDSO) of Indian Railways. As of December 2025, the system has been commissioned on over 2,000 km of railway routes, with 7,129 km of Optical Fibre Cable (OFC) laid, 860 telecom towers installed, 767 stations connected, 3,413 km of trackside equipment deployed, and 4,154 locomotives fitted with Kavach. About 40,000 technicians and operators have been trained, reflecting the scale of operational readiness.

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Russia plans to build a nuclear power plant on the Moon by 2036 to support its lunar space programme and the joint Russian-Chinese International Lunar Research Station. The project is aimed at powering rovers, observatories, and infrastructure for a permanently functioning scientific lunar station, moving from one-time missions to long-term lunar exploration. The Moon, 384,400 km from Earth, stabilizes Earth’s axis and creates ocean tides, making it strategically important for scientific and exploration purposes.