Daily Current Affairs and GK | 1 April 2025

Topic: International News

1. Gabriel Boric Font’s five days long visit to India started on 1 April 2025.

• Gabriel Boric Font is President of Chile. This is his first visit to India as President.   
• He will meet with PM Modi to discuss India-Chile relations. 
• He will also meet with President Droupadi Murmu. 
• President Murmu will host a banquet in honour of President Boric. 
• During his visit, President Boric will travel to Agra, Mumbai, and Bengaluru. He will return to Chile on April 5th. 
• Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, Caspar Veldkamp, has arrived in New Delhi. 
• He is on a two-day visit to India. This is his first official trip to India. 
• His visit aims to strengthen the relationship between India and the Netherlands.
• In 2009, India-Chile completed 60 years of establishment of diplomatic relations.
• Chile is India’s 5th largest trading partner in the Latin America & Caribbean (LAC) region. Santiago is its capital and Chilean peso is its currency.
• Year 2022 marked 75 years of establishment of diplomatic relations between India and Netherlands.
• Netherlands is the 4th largest trading partner of India in Europe (2021-22). Amsterdam is its capital and its currency is Euro.

Topic: Important Days

2. 62nd National Maritime Day and Merchant Navy Week inaugurated by Maharashtra Governor C P Radhakrishnan.

• He emphasized the maritime sector's role in achieving Viksit Bharat. 
• He also highlighted the need for port modernization in the country. 
• Director General of Shipping Shyam Jagannathan presented a memento and a Coffee Table Book to the Governor. 
• National Maritime Day is celebrated every year on 5 April to create awareness regarding support for intercontinental commerce and worldwide economy.
• The day was for the first time celebrated on 5 April, 1964.

Topic: State News/Mizoram

3. ‘Hnatlangpui’ Cleanliness Drive launched in Aizawl, Mizoram.

• ‘Hnatlangpui’ is a year-long drive that is being carried out under Urban Development & Poverty Alleviation Department, Aizawl Municipal Corporation (AMC) and Central Young Mizo Association (CYMA).
• State-wide “Cleanliness Campaign” – Hnatlangpui – will continue till March 2025.
• At the inauguration program, Urban Development & Poverty Alleviation Minister K Sapdanga said that Government’s focus is on ‘Comprehensive Plan For Municipal Waste Management in Aizawl’.
• Through this plan, government aims to keep the capital city neat and clean through all seasons.
• As per Sapdanga, government is setting up a ‘Common Biomedical Waste Treatment Facility’ for the “cleanliness campaign” of Hospitals and Health Care Centres.

Topic: State News/Telangana 

4. A program to provide fine rice free of charge through ration shops has been introduced by Telangana government.

• The initiative was officially launched by Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy in Huzurnagar, Suryapet district, during the Ugadi festival.
• The scheme aims to guarantee food security with dignity.
• It is the first program of its kind in India. It is India’s first scheme to provide fine rice free of cost.
• Under the scheme, eligible ration cardholders will receive 6 kilograms of fine rice per person each month at no cost.
• Approximately three crore people (nearly 85 percent of the state's population) will benefit from the scheme.
• The Chief Minister said that the days of the poor consuming substandard rice has ended.
• Coarse rice previously provided was often rejected by recipients. This led to widespread misuse.
• Ugadi festival is also known as Samvatsaradi. It means beginning of the year.
• It is celebrated in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu.

Topic: Sports

5. Bihar’s Rajgir will host the Hero Asia Cup Hockey 2025 in August.

• In this regard, A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed by Hockey India and the Bihar State Sports Authority at the Patliputra Sports Complex in Patna.
• The Bihar will organize the tournament from the 29th of August to the 7th of September at the recently developed Rajgir Hockey Stadium.
• Rajgir will host its second international sporting event, following the Women’s Asian Champions Trophy in November last year, where India emerged victorious.
• Eight teams, including India, Pakistan, Japan, Korea, China, and Malaysia, will participate in the 12th edition of the Hero Asia Cup.
• The remaining two teams will secure their place through a qualifying tournament, the AHF Cup.
• The record for the most successful team in the history of the Men's Asia Cup is held by South Korea with five titles, followed by India and Pakistan, who have won the tournament three times each.
• Rajgir, known as Rajagriha in ancient times, was the first capital of the Magadha Kingdom.
• Rajgir was an important center of Buddhism and Jainism and is associated with both Gautama Buddha and Mahavira.

Topic: Space and IT

6. SpaceX Fram2 mission led by crypto investor lifts off for unknown orbit.

• On 31 March, a historic milestone for commercial spaceflight was achieved by billionaire Elon Musk-led SpaceX with the launch of the unique ‘Fram2’ mission.
• This mission will orbit the Earth from one pole to the other, and four private astronauts have been sent to a place where no one has gone before.
• The FRAM2 mission launched on a Falcon 9 rocket and uses SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsule Resilience to carry the four astronauts into a polar orbit for the first time.
• The launch of Fram2, initially planned for late last year, took place from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
• Chun Wang, a Maltese investor and Bitcoin mining company founder, led the mission, marking the first time humans will travel along this unexplored trajectory.
• Chun Wang and his team departed on a three- to five-day mission that included 22 scientific experiments.
• These experiments focus on studying the effects of spaceflight and microgravity on the human body, furthering our understanding of the effects of space on human health.

Topic: Indian Polity

7. 582 Judicial officers transferred by Allahabad High Court.

• In a major administrative change in UP, 582 judicial officers are transferred including 443 judges.
• Some of Additional District and Sessions Judges, Civil Judges (Senior Division), and Civil Judges (Junior Division) are transferred.
• Highest number of transfers are from Kanpur (13 judges transferred), followed by Aligarh (11 judges) and Bareilly (5 judges).
• Under Article 235 of the Constitution of India, the administrative control over the district and subordinate judiciary in the States vest with the concerned High Court. 
• Use of Hindi or regional language in lower courts is decided by the concerned High Court and State Government in consultation with each other.
• Art 222 of the Indian Constitution states that the President may transfer a Judge from one High court to another High court. In this process, the President consults with the Chief Justice of India.

Topic: Defence

8. Indian Air force participates in Exercise INIOCHOS-25 in Greece.

• On 31 March, India participates in a 12-day exercise hosted by Greece’s Hellenic Air Force.
• It is a multinational exercise in which 15 countries are participating and will continue till 11 April 2025.
• Indian Air Force Contingent including Su-30 MKI, combat enabling IL-78 and C-17 aircraft are participating in the exercise.
• The exercise will increase international cooperation and interoperability among participating Air forces.
• The participation of IAF is significant as it will reinforce India’s strategic partnerships.
• INIOCHOS is a biennial multinational air exercise. The 2025 edition participants include Greece, India, Israel, Italy, France, Poland, Qatar, UAE, USA, Spain, Montenegro.

Topic: National News

9. ‘Operation Brahma’ started by India in 7.7 magnitude earthquake hit Myanmar.

• Government of India has launched operation Brahma to support rescue operations in response to the devastating earthquake that hit Myanmar and Thailand on 28 March.
• A specialist rescue unit from the Indian Army's 50 (I) Para Brigade was rapidly mobilised to Myanmar.
• Two C-17 aircraft with 118 member Indian Army Field Hospital Unit, including Women & Child Care services and 60 tonnes of relief material have landed in Myanmar.
• Under Operation Brahma, NDRF teams have started rescue operation by evacuating 170 monks stuck in ‘U Hla Thein’ monastery in Myanmar.
• Rescue efforts are also extended to Sky Villa and relief supplies will be distributed to 2000 uninjured monks without basic amenities.
• Indian Navy vessels Satpura, Savitri, INS Karmukh, and LCU 52 are also transporting relief supplies to Yangon as part of Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) response.
• India and Myanmar share 1643 km border and have historical an strategic relations. 

Topic: International News

10. Pakistan government ordered to arrest and deport Afghan refugees.

• Pakistan government has ordered the law enforcement agencies to arrest and send thousands of refugees as the government’s deadline for Afghan Citizen Card (ACC) holders to leave the country expires.
• The government directives mandate that Afghans holding Proof of Registration (PoR) cards and residing in the twin cities (Islamabad and Rawalpindi) must leave Pakistan in accordance with government policy.
• Since Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1979, millions of Afghans came to Pakistan to seek refuge.
• Following Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan in 2021, more Aghans fled to the neighbouring countries.
• International efforts on Refugees:
  • 1951 Refugee Convention or Geneva Convention is a UN treaty that defines refugee and gives detail of their rights.
  • As per convention, a refugee is someone who, owing to a well-founded fear of persecution, is unable or unwilling to return to their country of nationality or, if stateless, to their country of habitual residence.
  • The Convention mentions basic minimum standards for the treatment of refugees like right to housing, right to work, right to education, etc.
  • A refugee should not be returned to a country where they face serious threats to their life or freedom.
  • UNHCR acts as the guardian of the Convention.
  • India is not a party to Geneva Convention or its 1967 protocol.

Topic: Government Schemes and Initiatives

11. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman launched NITI NCAER States Economic Forum Portal in New Delhi.

• National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) has developed this portal in collaboration with NITI Aayog.
• NCAER States Economic Forum portal is a holistic depository of data on social, economic and fiscal parameters, research reports, papers, and expert commentary on State Finances for a period about 30 years from 1990-91 to 2022-23.
• There are four components of portal:
  • State Reports
  • Data Repository
  • State Fiscal and Economic Dashboard
  • Research and Commentary
• National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) is the oldest and largest independent, economic policy research think tank of India. It was established in 1956 in New Delhi.
• NITI (National Institution for Transforming India) Aayog is the apex public policy think tank of Government of India. It was established on 1 January 2015. Prime Minister is the ex-officio chairperson of NITI Aayog.