Current Affairs including General Knowledge MCQs for CLAT UG

On 7 March 2024, the Union Cabinet approved the IndiaAI Mission with an outlay of Rs. 10,371.92 crore over five years. The mission is intended to build a broad artificial intelligence ecosystem rather than fund a single laboratory or product. It is implemented through the IndiaAI Independent Business Division under Digital India Corporation, which functions within the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology. The mission was organised around seven pillars. IndiaAI Compute Capacity proposed a scalable computing system with 10,000 or more graphics processing units through a public-private partnership. The IndiaAI Innovation Centre was tasked with developing indigenous large multimodal models and domain-specific foundational models. A datasets platform was designed to improve access to quality non-personal data for Indian startups and researchers. Other pillars focused on applications for challenges identified by public institutions, expansion of AI education and laboratories in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, financing for deep-technology startups, and tools for safe and trusted AI. The governance pillar recognised that innovation without safeguards can reproduce bias, weaken privacy, or make automated decisions difficult to examine. In July 2024, New Delhi hosted the Global IndiaAI Summit. The meeting discussed the same areas of compute, models, datasets, skills, financing, applications, and safety. It also reflected India's role in the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence, a multi-stakeholder initiative intended to connect research with practical work on responsible AI. The design of the mission shows why modern technology policy rarely concerns hardware alone. Affordable computing may enable researchers to train models, but those models also require useful datasets, skilled people, financial support, and standards that encourage public trust. The seven pillars treat these requirements as connected parts of one ecosystem.

The Indian Space Research Organisation launched the Space Docking Experiment, known as SpaDeX, aboard PSLV-C60 on 30 December 2024. The mission placed two small spacecraft, SDX-01 and SDX-02, into orbit. Its central purpose was to demonstrate technologies needed for two spacecraft to approach one another, match their relative motion, connect in space, and operate as a combined unit. On 16 January 2025, ISRO successfully docked the two satellites. India thereby became the fourth nation to demonstrate space docking technology. On 13 March 2025, the satellites were undocked in the first attempt and continued to orbit independently in normal health. ISRO later reported a demonstration of power transfer between the docked satellites. Docking is more than a dramatic meeting in orbit. Spacecraft travel at very high speeds, so the relevant challenge is controlling their position and speed relative to each other with great precision. A small error can prevent contact or damage both vehicles. The technology is important for missions in which separate modules must be assembled in orbit, crews or supplies must move between vehicles, or a servicing spacecraft must connect with another satellite. India's planned projects make these capabilities strategically significant. More complex lunar missions may require samples or equipment to move between modules. A future space station would depend on repeated docking by crew and cargo vehicles. In-orbit servicing could also extend the useful life of certain satellites, although any operational mission would require capabilities beyond a single technology demonstration. SpaDeX therefore served as a controlled test of a wider technological chain. Its success did not itself build a space station or complete a lunar sample-return mission. It reduced uncertainty about one of the difficult operations that such projects may require.

At COP29 in Baku in 2024, parties agreed on a new climate-finance goal. Developed countries are to take the lead in mobilising at least USD 300 billion each year by 2035 for climate action in developing countries. The decision refers to finance from public and private, bilateral and multilateral, and alternative sources. The conference also launched the Baku to Belem Roadmap, calling on all actors to work toward scaling finance for developing countries to at least USD 1.3 trillion per year by 2035. The larger figure is not simply the amount developed-country governments must transfer from their budgets. It concerns a wider pool of finance and actors. Climate finance can support mitigation, which reduces or prevents greenhouse-gas emissions, and adaptation, which helps societies manage effects that can no longer be avoided. A solar grid may contribute to mitigation. Drought-resistant crops, coastal barriers, and heat-health plans are examples of adaptation. The negotiations reflected a persistent dispute. Developing countries emphasise that they contributed less to historical emissions and often face greater financial constraints. Developed countries point to the scale of present needs and the importance of mobilising private investment and contributions from a wider range of actors. The agreement sets a direction, but its practical significance will depend on delivery, access, and the quality of funded projects.

The United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 2025 the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology through Resolution 78/287. The resolution was adopted without a vote in June 2024. It encouraged activities that improve public awareness of quantum science and expand education, research, and international cooperation. Quantum theory describes nature at very small scales and has shaped technologies already used in modern life. Semiconductor electronics, lasers, and medical imaging rely on principles developed through quantum science. Newer research explores quantum computers, communication systems, and highly sensitive sensors. A quantum computer is not merely a faster version of an ordinary computer. Its basic units can use quantum properties to represent and process information in ways that may benefit particular classes of problems. This does not mean that quantum machines will replace conventional computers for every task. They face significant engineering difficulties, including errors and the challenge of preserving delicate quantum states. The international year also draws attention to unequal access. Advanced laboratories require funding, equipment, and trained researchers. If scientific cooperation involves only a few wealthy institutions, the benefits and research priorities may remain narrowly distributed. Education and open collaboration are therefore linked to the larger question of who participates in technological change.

Axiom Mission 4 launched on 25 June 2025 from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The Dragon spacecraft carried Commander Peggy Whitson, Pilot Shubhanshu Shukla of India, and mission specialists Slawosz Uznanski of Poland and Tibor Kapu of Hungary. The spacecraft docked with the International Space Station on 26 June. Shukla became the first Indian to visit the ISS and the second Indian to travel to space. The mission concluded after an 18-day scientific stay. ISRO reported that he completed seven microgravity experiments developed by Indian research institutions. Ax-4 was a commercial international mission, not an indigenous Gaganyaan flight. Its relevance to Gaganyaan lay in operational experience. Training, crew procedures, health monitoring, work in microgravity, and coordination with mission-control teams provide knowledge that cannot be obtained from hardware tests alone. The mission also demonstrates the collaborative character of contemporary spaceflight. The crew, launch provider, station partners, and scientific teams came from several countries and organisations. Such cooperation can distribute expertise and cost, but it also requires common safety standards and precise coordination.