Current Context: Naresh Chauhan, Principal Media Advisor to the Chief Minister, stated that the Himachal Pradesh government is expediting the construction of the Medical Device Park (MDP) at Nalagarh, Solan district.

Key Highlights

• Project Cost: ₹300 crore (funded by state government).

Work in Progress:

• ₹130 crore worth of infrastructure under construction.
• Water supply nearing completion.
• Electrification, road, and site development ongoing.

Current context: Former Supreme Court judge Justice (Retd.) Dinesh Maheshwari was appointed Chairperson of the 23rd Law Commission of India in April 2025.

Current context: Recently, Uttarakhand cabinet launched the Adarsh Sanskrit Village Programme to promote Sanskrit by selecting one model village per district for active teaching and use of the language.

Key Details

• Objectives: Preserve and popularize Sanskrit; connect youth with Indian philosophy and cultural heritage; dispel its image as exclusive to certain communities.
• Village Selection: Thirteen villages chosen (e.g., Bhogpur in Dehradun, Mukhem in Tehri) based on community receptiveness; pilot may expand to block level.
• Instructors: Thirteen Sanskrit teachers to be hired at ₹20,000 per month after written test and interview; trained at the Sanskrit Academy, Haridwar.
• Curriculum: Structured syllabus with shlokas and stories from the Mahabharata, Ramayana, Vedas, and Durga Saptashati for comprehensive literary grounding.
• Community Involvement: Inclusive outreach to all groups (Muslims, Dalits, tribals); optional Sanskrit in madrasas; local committees to oversee implementation.
• Employment & Digital Integration: Partnerships with industry bodies to create jobs for Sanskrit graduates; collaboration with IIT Roorkee on AI-based Sanskrit tools and public signage in Sanskrit.

Current context: Karnataka has launched a village‑level antiquities survey, becoming the first Indian state to document inscriptions, sculptures and monuments at this granular scale.

Key Details

• Launch: Announced by the Department of Archaeology, Museums and Heritage on World Heritage Day.
• Scope: Geo‑tagging and inventory of every antiquity—inscriptions, sculptures, minor and major monuments—in all villages.

State‑Protected Sites:

• 800+ monuments under Karnataka’s protection
• 600+ sites under the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI)
• Proposal submitted to add 110 more monuments
• Conservation Model: Operates under a Public‑Private Partnership (PPP) since 2001 with Dharmasthala Manjunatheshwara Dharmothana Trust.
• Funding split: 40% state department, 40% trust, 20% local community

Current Context: India participated in Gulf Information Technology Exhibition, GITEX Africa 2025, Africa’s largest tech and startup summit, held in Marrakesh, Morocco. Minister of State (MoS) Jayant Chaudhary represented India.

Key Highlights

• Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI):India showcased scalable and inclusive platforms including Aadhaar – Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), UPI – Unified Payments Interface, ONDC – Open Network & for Digital Commerce, SIDH – Skill India Digital Hub, DigiLocker – Digital Document Storage Platform & DIKSHA – Digital Infrastructure for Knowledge Sharing.

Skilling & Innovation:

• SIDH onboarded 1 crore+ users in just 1.5 years.
• India registered 33.39% Year-on-Year(YoY) growth in AI talent (Stanford AI Index 2025).
• Bilateral Engagements: MoS held meetings with Moroccan ministers on Artificial Intelligence (AI),Digital governance & Education and skill development

Current Context: NASA’s Lucy spacecraft is set to fly by asteroid Donaldjohanson on April 20, 2025, as part of its 12-year mission to study ancient asteroids in the solar system.

About Lucy Mission

• Launched: 2021 by NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration).
• Mission Duration: 12 years.
• Objective: Study Trojan asteroids near Jupiter and other primitive asteroids to understand the early solar system and planetary formation.

About Asteroid Donaldjohanson

• Location: Main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter (~139 million miles from Earth).

Purpose of Flyby:

• Test run before major Trojan asteroid encounters (2027–2033).
• The Lucy spacecraft will only pass by the asteroid once, focusing on testing its instruments.
• Helps calibrate instruments and gather data on asteroid shape and surface.
• Believed to have an unusual shape (possibly like a bowling pin or snowman).

Scientific Instruments on Lucy

• L’Ralph – Lucy Ralph Spectrometer (Colour camera + Infrared Imaging Spectrometer)
• L’LORRI – Lucy Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (High-resolution camera)
• L’TES – Lucy Thermal Emission Spectrometer (Far-infrared spectrometer for surface temperature and composition)

Current Context: India’s first satellite, Aryabhata, completed 50 years . It was named after the ancient Indian mathematician and astronomer Aryabhata.

Key Details

• Launched: April 19, 1975, from Kapustin Yar with Soviet Union’s assistance.
• Launch vehicle:Kosmos-3M

Design:

• A 26-sided polyhedron, 1.4 meters in diameter, weighing 360 kg.
• Solar panels covered 24 faces, except for the top and bottom.
• Purpose: Explore areas like solar physics, aeronomy, and X-ray astronomy.

Challenges and Legacy

• Power Failure: After 5 days in orbit, the satellite experienced a power failure, halting its experiments.
• Despite this, it transmitted valuable data and provided crucial experience for India’s future satellite missions.
• Historical Significance: Aryabhata marked India’s entry into space exploration, making it the 11th country globally to send a satellite into orbit.

Current Context: A contingent of the Indian Air Force (IAF) has arrived at Al Dhafra Air Base in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to participate in Exercise Desert Flag-10. The exercise is scheduled from April 21 to May 8, 2025.

Key Highlights

• Host: UAE Air Force.
• Participants: Air forces from Australia, Bahrain, France, Germany, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States, and India.

Purpose:

• To conduct complex and diverse fighter engagements.
• Exchange of operational knowledge and best practices.
• Enhance mutual understanding and interoperability among participating air forces.

IAF’s Role

• Aircraft: MiG-29 and Jaguar aircraft.
• Objective: Strengthen India’s defence ties and enhance interoperability with allied nations, particularly in the Middle East region.

Current Context: The United Nations Special Envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, has expressed concern over recent United States airstrikes near the Ras Isa fuel port in NORTHWEST HODEIDAH, Yemen, which led to at least 80 casualties.

Key Highlights

• Location: Situated on the Gulf of Aden, approximately 35 kilometers west of Al Mahrah, Yemen .

Strategic Importance:

• A critical oil export hub linked to Yemen’s energy infrastructure.
• Plays a vital role in Yemen’s maritime trade and energy exports.
• Key entry point for humanitarian aid to Yemen, supporting the nation amid ongoing conflict.
• Significance: Controls access to the Red Sea, an essential maritime route for regional trade and geopolitical influence.
• Hodeidah: A major port city on Yemen’s western coast, crucial for importing goods and humanitarian aid.

• Observed on April 23, this day commemorates the birth and death anniversaries of literary giant like William Shakespeare.
• The 2025 theme is “The Role of Literature in Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)”, emphasizing literature’s impact on global development.
• Organized by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization(UNESCO), the day encourages reading, writing, and respecting authors’ rights through various global events.
• Significance: Highlights the importance of books in fostering knowledge, cultural exchange, and intellectual property protection.