Daily Current Affairs and GK | 22 April 2025

Topic: Miscellaneous

1. On April 20, 2025, Indian Army launched the ‘Voice of Kinnaur’ community radio station in Himachal Pradesh’s Kinnaur district. 

• The station was established as part of the Army’s Operation Sadbhavana initiative. 
• Its purpose is to deliver local news, offer educational and health content, and promote regional culture. 
• ‘Voice of Kinnaur’ will serve as a platform for critical public interest information. 
• The radio will provide a voice for youth, women, and apple farmers to share concerns and achievements. 
• The opening ceremony was held at the Army Tripeak Public School. 
• Senior officers from the Indian Army’s Surya Command were present at the event. 

Topic: Sports

2. Rudraksh-Arya, and Arjun Babuta won silver medals at the ISSF World Cup 2025.

• Indian shooters Rudrankksh Patil and Arya Borse won silver in the 10m Air Rifle Mixed Team event in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
• They lost the final 9-17 to China’s Song Buhan and Wang Zifei.
• Apart from this, Arjun Babuta claimed silver in Lima after a close finish in the men’s 10m Air Rifle final, just 0.1 points behind China’s Lihao Sheng.
• Earlier, Suruchi Inder Singh bagged two golds – one in the women’s 10m Air Pistol with a score of 243.6 and one in the mixed team event with Saurabh Chaudhary.
• Manu Bhaker secured silver in the same women’s pistol event with a score of 242.3.

Topic: Indian Economy

3. A 12% safeguard duty imposed on steel imports by the center to protect the domestic industry.

• On 21 April, a 12% safeguard duty was imposed by the Centre on the import of certain non-alloy and alloy steel flat products to shield the Indian steel sector.
• The government has imposed a safeguard duty for 200 days on five steel product categories, including hot-rolled coils, sheets, and plates, to protect domestic players from a surge in imports.
• The import prices between $675 per tonne to $964 per tonne have been set by the government for the five steel product categories.
• Any shipment imported at a price lower than these import prices will be subject to safeguard duties.
• According to the notification, safeguard duty will not be levied on product categories imported into India at or above the specified import price on a CIF (cost, insurance, and freight) basis.
• Product categories are hot-rolled coils, sheets, and plates; hot-rolled plate mill plate; cold-rolled coils and sheets; metallic-coated steel coils and sheets; and color-coated coils and sheets, whether or not profiled.
• This move will provide significant relief to domestic producers, especially small and medium enterprises, which have been facing immense pressure due to rising imports.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: Summits/Conferences/Meetings

4. During PM Modi's visit, India and Saudi Arabia discussed regional security and strategic partnership.

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi is in Saudi Arabia on a two-day bilateral visit from April 22 to 23, during which regional security and humanitarian coordination are likely to be discussed.
• This is PM Modi's third official visit to Saudi Arabia, after his previous visits in 2016 and 2019.
• This visit of the Prime Minister underlines the strategic importance of Saudi Arabia for India in many dimensions.
• Saudi Arabia remains an important partner for India not only in crisis response but also in ensuring the safety of its expatriate community and promoting broader regional stability.
• Bilateral relations between the two have grown significantly since the establishment of the Strategic Partnership Council in 2019.
• On April 22, India and Saudi Arabia signed six Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs).  
• The two sides signed agreements in the areas of space, energy, health, science and scientific research, culture, and advanced technology.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Saudi Arabia on winning the bids to host the World Expo 2030 and FIFA World Cup 2034 and called it a matter of "immense pride".
• India-Saudi Arabia relations:

• India and Saudi Arabia enjoy cordial and friendly relations. Both have old economic and socio-cultural ties.
• The India-Saudi Arabia diplomatic relationship was established in 1947.
• In 2010, the ‘Riyadh Declaration’ was signed by both countries, which elevated their bilateral relationship to a ‘Strategic Partnership.’
• Saudi Arabia is India's fifth-largest trading partner, while India is Saudi Arabia's second-largest trading partner.
• During FY 2023-24, India's imports from Saudi Arabia totaled $31.42 billion, while exports to Saudi Arabia totaled $11.56 billion.
• Total trade with Saudi Arabia in FY 2023-24 was 4.53% of India's total trade.

Topic: Space and IT

5. ISRO has successfully achieved its second satellite docking under the SpaDeX Mission.

• On April 20, 2025, ISRO successfully demonstrated the docking of the SPADEX satellites (SDX 01 & SDX 02) for the second time.
• The mission docked two small spacecraft - SDX01 (chaser) and SDX02 (target)—each weighing around 220 kg.
• These satellites were launched on December 30, 2024, by a PSLV-C60 rocket from Sriharikota.
• The first docking was successfully accomplished on January 16, 2025, and the satellites were undocked on March 13, 2025.
• In January, with the successful docking of Spadex satellites, India became the fourth country in the world to dock a satellite in space, joining the US, Russia, and China.
• The indigenously developed docking technology by ISRO is known as the Bharatiya Docking System.
• It includes a docking mechanism, a suite of four rendezvous and docking sensors, power transfer capability, an inter-satellite communications link (ISL), and a unique autonomous docking strategy with built-in intelligence.
• This enables each spacecraft to sense the state of the other.
• This technology will also be essential for India's upcoming missions, such as future lunar missions like Chandrayaan-4, to operate without reliance on Earth-based navigation systems like GNSS.

(Source: ISRO)

Topic: India and its Neighborhood

6. Massive corruption exposed at China-backed Pokhara airport.

• A 12-member Nepal parliamentary committee led by Rastriya Prajatantra Party chair Rajendra Lingden has uncovered significant irregularities and corruption in the construction of the Pokhara International Airport.
• The investigation also revealed that Chinese construction companies involved in the project were granted unjustified tax exemptions.
• The subcommittee formed by the House of Representatives’ Public Accounts Committee revealed in its report released on April 17 that approximately NPR 14 billion was embezzled in the Pokhara International Airport project.
• The embezzlement involved funds allocated for the development of physical infrastructure, equipment, runways, and surrounding facilities.
• The PIA was to be constructed at a cost of Rs 22 billion by taking a loan from the Export-Import Bank of China and was finally completed on December 29, 2022, at a cost of about 25 billion Nepalese rupees.
• Although the facility was officially launched in January 2023, the airport has not seen any regular international flights except for a few chartered flights.
• As per the agreement, Nepal will have to repay the loan at an interest rate of 2% for seven years after the completion of the airport construction and pay back the principal amount in the next 13 years.
• The airport is expected to be part of China's Belt and Road Initiative but may face repayment challenges.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: Infrastructure and Energy

7. Coal-based power generation grew by just 2.8% in FY25.

• This is the slowest increase since FY21.
• Peak electricity demand remained stable over the past two years. 
• It increased from 240 GW to 250 GW in FY25. 
• Renewable energy played a key role in meeting the increased demand. 
• Thermal power had the weakest growth among major power sources in FY25. Its growth was only 2.8%.  Nuclear power grew by 18.4%. 
• Large hydro and renewable energy grew by 10.8% and 11.4%, respectively. 
• India’s total electricity generation reached a record 1,821 billion units (BU) in FY25. This represents a 5% year-on-year increase. 
• Growth in electricity generation was seen across all sectors. 
• Thermal power increased by 2.8%, nuclear by 18.4%, large hydro by 10.8%, and renewables by 11.4%. 

Topic: Indian Economy

8. India’s infrastructure output increased by 3.8 percent in March 2025.

• The production of cement, fertilisers, steel, electricity, coal and refinery products recorded positive growth during March 2025.
• The total growth rate of the combined Index of Eight Core Industries (ICI) during the financial year 2025 stood at 4.4 per cent as compared to the corresponding period of last year.
• According to provisional data released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the increase in various sectors on annual basis is as follows:

• cement production - 11.6 percent
• fertilisers - 8.8 percent
• steel production- 7.1 percent
• electricity - 6.2 percent
• coal production - 1.6 percent
• petroleum refinery products - 0.2 percent

• However, natural gas declined by 12.7 percent and crude oil decreased by 1.9 percent in March 2025 as compared to March 2024.
• Index of Eight Core Industries (ICI):

• It measures the combined and individual performance of production of eight core industries - Coal, Crude Oil, Natural Gas, Refinery Products, Fertilizers, Steel, Cement and Electricity.
• The eight core industries comprise 40.27 percent of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production.
• The base year is 2011-12.

Topic: India and its neighborhood

9. Indian Navy successfully completed a major refit of the Maldivian Coast Guard Ship MNDF Huravee.

• This refit was done as part of India’s commitment to regional maritime security under the vision of ‘Mutual and Holistic Advancement for Security and Growth for All in the Region (MAHASAGAR)’ and its ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy.
• It highlights strong diplomatic and military cooperation between India and Maldives.
• The “Make in India “ship Huravee was given to the MNDF (Maldives National Defence Force) in May 2023 as a replacement for an older platform.
• The ship has played a major role in Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) and Medical Evacuation operations across the Maldivian group of islands.
• Maldives is an island nation in the Indian Ocean. Its capital is Male and currency is Maldivian Rufiyaa.
• MAHASAGAR vision builds on the SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region) announced for the first time by PM Modi during his visit to Mauritius in 2015.
• India’s neighourhood first policy was launched in 2008. It is guided by Samman (respect), Samvad (dialogue), Shanti (peace), and Samriddhi (prosperity). Countries that are part of India’s neighbourhood first policy includes Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: Personality in News

10. Pope Francis died at the age of 88.

• Pope Francis served as the religious head of 1.4 billion Catholic Churches across the world for 12 years.
• He started his tenure as the Pope in 2013 after the retirement of Benedict XVI.
• A nine-day mourning period, traditional period of reflection and prayer, known as the ‘Novendiales’ will now follow.
• Pope Francis will be buried beneath Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome. He will be the first pope in a century to be buried outside the Vatican.
• Past popes have traditionally been buried beneath St Peter’s Basilica.
• After the Pope’s funeral, the College of Cardinals will convene in the Sistine Chapel to hold a meeting for electing a new pope.
• After the election of a new pope, he is formally asked if he accepts his role. If he agrees, he must select a papal name, which is often inspired by past saints.
• After that Senior Cardinal Deacon proclaims in Latin, "Habemus Papam" (we have a pope), from the balcony of St Peter's Basilica and then the new pope greets his followers in St Peter's Square and offers his first blessings as the pope.

(Source: News on AIR)