Current Affairs 6 May 2025

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NATIONAL AFFAIRS

Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan Launched India’s first two Genome-edited Rice Varieties In May 2025, Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare (MoA&FW) announced the development of India’s first two genome-Edited (GE)rice varieties namely, ‘DRR Dhan 100 Kamla’ and ‘Pusa DST Rice 1′ at Bharat Ratna C. Subramaniam Auditorium, National Agricultural Science Complex (NASC) in New Delhi (Delhi).

• These new varieties of rice were developed by New Delhi (Delhi)-based Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) using genome-editing technology based on CRISPR-Cas, which makes accurate changes in the genetic material of organism without adding foreign Deoxyribonucleic acid(DNA).

i.He also introduced the ‘Minus 5 Plus 10’ formula, which means reducing the area of rice cultivation by 5 million hectares (mh) while increasing rice production by 10 Million Tons (MT) in the same area. This will give additional space for the cultivation of pulses and oilseeds.
ii.During the event, the Union Minister honored the scientists who contributed to the research of the two varieties.
iii.ICAR started GE research in 2018 in order to enhance two major rice varieties i.e. Samba Mahsuri (BPT5204) and Maruteru 1010 (MTU 1010), under the National Agricultural Science Fund (NASF).
About Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR):
Director General (DG)- Dr. Mangi Lal Jat
Headquarters- New Delhi, Delhi
Established- 1929
>> Read Full News

British Indian Minister Lisa Nandy Signed India-UK Cultural Pact in DelhiThe United Kingdom (UK)’s Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Lisa Nandy, paid a three-day official visit to India from May 1 to 3, 2025 to strengthen cultural ties and foster collaboration between the UK and India in various creative sectors.

• During the visit, She has signed a cultural cooperation agreement with Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Ministry of Culture (MoC) and Ministry of Tourism (MoT) at the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA) in New Delhi (Delhi).
• During her visit to India, Lisa Nandy held a bilateral meeting with External Affairs Minister(EAM) Dr. S. Jaishankar on the sidelines of the World Audio Visual and Entertainment Summit (WAVES) 2025 in Mumbai, Maharashtra.

About UK-India Cultural Cooperation Agreement:
The UK-India Programme of Cultural Cooperation is aimed to enhance bilateral cultural exchanges through the arts and heritage and to promote long-term partnerships between creative businesses and cultural institutions in both countries.
i.As per this new pact, the UK will work closely with India to support best practices and expertise on heritage conservation, museum management and digitisation of collections.
ii.Implementation of the newly signed agreement will involve entities like: the British Council in India and MoC of Government of India (GoI).

• Apart from them, major UK cultural institutions like: Arts Council England, the British Library, the British Museum, the Natural History Museum, the Science Museum Group and the V&A Museum, will participate in the implementation of the agreement.

iii.The new pact has the potential for British museums to launch new partnerships on exhibitions or public programmes that engage the Indian diaspora in the UK.
iv.The primary objective of the pact is to ensure knowledge contained in South Asian manuscripts is more widely accessible and the protection of cultural property, with both countries committing to tackle the illicit trafficking of cultural artefacts.
About the United Kingdom (UK):
Prime Minister (PM) – Keir Starmer
Capital- London
Currency- Pound Sterling (GBP)

STRIDE-EUI Launched to Strengthen EU-India Engagement in Trade, Tech and SecurityIn May 2025, New Delhi (Delhi )-based The Dialogue and Leuven (Belgium)-based Grayspace Law and Policy Consulting Firm officially launched Strategic Research, Innovation & Dialogue for European Union (EU)-India Engagement (STRIDE-EUI) through a high impact discussion. This initiative aimed to strengthen the strategic partnership between India and EU.

• STRIDE-EUI based in New Delhi (Delhi) and Brussels (Belgium), will build a bridge between the political capitals, connecting policy and practice, government and business, ambition and action.

Key Speakers: Amb. Gurjit Singh, former Ambassador to Germany, Indonesia, Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the African Union (AU); Malathi Narayanan, Director-General (DG) of Indian Beauty & Hygiene Association (IBHA); Eric Pol, Chairman of MyData Global; Sagar Singamsetty, founder and Managing Director (MD), Grayspace Law and Policy Consulting; Bhoomika Agarwal, Senior Research Associate, The Dialogue, among others.
Key Points:
i.STRIDE-EUI through thematic convenings, expert whitepapers, and collaborative programs, will act as a catalyst for shaping resilient and future-focused EU-India relations.
ii.The launch event witnessed dozens of participants and brought together eminent personalities from industry, civil society, the international community, and academia to promote the future of EU-India cooperation across key areas like: technology, trade, and security.
iii.This newly launched initiative aims to promote deeper engagement between key players from both regions, especially with developments pertaining to the India-EU Trade and Technology Council (TTC).
iv.With its formal launch completed, STRIDE-EUI will start a robust calendar of dialogues, roundtables, and policy publications.

• It will also provide a strategic interface for governments, businesses, and civil society to co-create solutions to shared global challenges from digital governance to supply chain resilience and ethical tech innovation.

About The Dialogue:
Founding Director- Kazim Rizvi
Headquarters-New Delhi, Delhi
Established- 2017
About Grayspace Law and Policy Consulting Firm:
Founder and Managing Director (MD)- Sagar Singamsetty
Headquarters- Leuven, Belgium

Rajasthan to join India’s first cheetah conservation corridor with MPIn May 2025, Rajasthan is set to become a key participant in India’s first inter-state cheetah conservation corridor, collaborating with Madhya Pradesh(MP) to establish a 17,000 square kilometer(sq km) wildlife corridor. It will allow cheetahs to roam freely in a protected and connected habitat.

• The aim of the project is to improve genetic diversity, ensure better movement for wildlife, and mitigate the challenges of habitat fragmentation.

About Cheetah conservation corridor:
i.Out of the 17,000 Sq Km corridor area, 10,500 Sq Km falls under MP and remaining 6,500 Sq Km in Rajasthan.

• The corridor will span 27 districts: 13 in Rajasthan and 12 in MP.
• In this plan, seven districts in Rajasthan :Kota, Bundi, Baran, Jhalawar, Sawai Madhopur, Karauli, and Chittorgarh will be integrated into the project.

ii.The corridor will link Palpur Kuno National Park(NP) and Gandhi Sagar Sanctuary in MP with the Mukundara Hills Tiger Reserve in Rajasthan.
iii.This corridor will allow cheetahs to move from Kuno NP through the Mukundara Hills Reserve in Rajasthan to Gandhi Sagar.
iv.The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) released an action plan, in which Kuno-Gandhi Sagar landscape was designated as a suitable cheetah habitat.
v.This corridor is expected to play a critical role in supporting the long-term survival of cheetah species in India, a vital part of the country’s biodiversity.
About Madhya Pradesh(MP):
Chief Minister (CM) –  Mohan Yadav
Governor – Mangubhai C. Patel
Capital – Bhopal
Bird Sanctuary – Kharmor Bird Sanctuary
About Rajasthan:
Chief Minister (CM) – Bhajan Lal Sharma
Governor – Haribhau Bagade
Capital – Jaipur
Bird Sanctuary – Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary

Sanjay Jaiswal appointed as Head of CoE; Baijayant Panda as Head of CoPU for FY26
In May 2025, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla appointed Dr. Sanjay Jaiswal, Member of Parliament (MP) from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), as the Chairperson of the Committee on Estimates (CoE) for the fiscal year 2025–26 (FY26).

• The committee comprises 30 members, all from the Lok Sabha.
• The committee’s term is effective from May 1, 2025, and will conclude on April 30, 2026.
• This committee examines the estimates included in the budget and suggests economies in public expenditure. It also recommends alternative policies to bring about efficiency and economy in administration.

Committee on Public Undertakings (CoPU):
Baijayant ‘Jay’ Panda, BJP MP representing Kendrapara, Odisha, has been reappointed as the Chairperson of the Committee on Public Undertakings (CoPU) for FY26.

• The committee consists of 22 members, with 15 from the Lok Sabha and 7 from the Rajya Sabha.
• The committee’s term commenced on May 1, 2025, and will end on April 30, 2026.
• This committee evaluates the reports and accounts of Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) and assesses whether they are being managed in accordance with sound business principles and prudent commercial practices.

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

US Trade Agency Placed India and 7 Other Countries on Priority Watch List over IPR Enforcement, ViolationsIn May 2025, Washington DC (the United States of America, USA)-based Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) released its 2025 Special 301 Report. The report has once again placed India on its ‘Priority Watch List’ for not providing adequate protection to Intellectual Property Rights (IPR).

• Besides India, 7 other countries have been placed in this year’s ‘Priority Watch List’ are: Argentina, Chile, China, Indonesia, Mexico, Russia, and Venezuela.
• The report cited India remains one of the world’s most challenging major economies with respect to protection and enforcement of IP.

i.The report highlighted that Patent issues continue to be of particular concern in India. The report has further cautioned about the potential threat of patent revocations and the procedural and discretionary invocation of patentability criteria under the Indian Patents Act, 1970, impact across various sectors.
ii.The report has placed a total of 18 countries including Algeria, Barbados, Belarus, Bolivia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Colombia, Ecuador, Egypt, Guatemala, Pakistan, Paraguay, Peru, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey and Vietnam on ‘Watch List’. These countries face major IP concerns requiring ongoing bilateral engagement.
About Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR):
USTR- Jamieson Lee Greer
Headquarters- Washington DC, the United States of America(USA)
Established- 1963
>> Read Full News

BANKING & FINANCE

Razorpay Launches India’s First AI-Integrated MCP Server For Payments
In April 2025, Bengaluru (Karnataka) – based Razorpay Software Private Limited, the payment service provider, has launched India’s first Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for a payment gateway, which enables businesses to integrate Artificial Intelligence (AI)-driven systems directly with its payment infrastructure.

• For the first time, AI agents and tools like Claude, Zapier, VS Code can natively talk to Razorpay with simple instructions.
• The new MCP server aims to streamline administrative work and workflow automation.

i.MCP server, allows AI Assistants to carry out tasks, such as creating payment links, initiating refunds, and managing transactions, without the need for traditional dashboards or Application Programming Interface (API).
ii.With this development, businesses using Razorpay, can connect their AI tools, ranging from chat-based assistants to automated systems, directly linked to the backend of Razorpay.

• It enables payments to be initiated and processed with simple commands, making the process faster and less dependent on manual inputs.

iii.Earlier, payments were initiated and authorized by businesses by using the Razopay dashboard.
Note: The MCP was developed by Anthropic, is an open standard designed to enable Large Language Models (LLMs) to interact seamlessly with external tools, systems, and data sources.

Mobikwik’s Subsidiary Zaakpay Gets RBI Approval to Operate as PA
In May 2025, Gurugram (Haryana)-based Zaak ePayment Services Private Limited (Zaakpay), a wholly owned subsidiary of One MobiKwik Systems Limited (MobiKwik), has received the final regulatory approval, Certificate of Authorisation (CoA) from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to operate as an online Payment Aggregator (PA).

• The CoA, granted under the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007, enables Zaakpay to facilitate merchant payments through online platforms.

i.The approval allows Zaakpay, a fintech firm to provide businesses with comprehensive digital payment solutions across multiple modes.

• It will expand its business across credit and debit cards, net banking, Unified Payments Interface (UPI), wallets, pay later options and Equated Monthly Installments (EMIs).

ii.Zaakpay, currently caters to enterprise clients in sectors including transit, e-commerce, digital lending, healthcare, and utility bill payments.
iii.Zaakpay was granted in-principle approval to operate as a PA by RBI in 2023.

IFSCA and NISM Signed MoU to Accelerate Capacity Building in GIFT IFSC
In May 2025,  Gandhinagar (Gujarat) based International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) and Mumbai (Maharashtra)-based National Institute of Securities Markets (NISM) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to boost capacity building and training initiatives in the securities markets in the Gujarat International Finance Tec-city- International Financial Services Centre (GIFT-IFSC) in Gandhinagar, Gujarat.

• The MoU was signed both the entities in the presence of Tuhin Kanta Pandey, Chairperson of Mumbai (Maharashtra)-based Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and K. Rajaraman, Chairperson of IFSCA.

Note: NISM is a public trust established in 2006 by the SEBI
Key Details of MoU:
i.As part of the MoU, NISM will act as a training partner for IFSCA and its registered intermediaries and will support a range of capacity building initiatives within IFSC like: conducting relevant certification examinations as per IFSCA regulations.
ii.The MoU will also cover the development of customized content, question banks, and e-learning modules which are in alignment with the requirements of IFSCA, aimed at improving the professional expertise of financial institutions (FIs) within the IFSC.
iii.This MoU is expected to mutually beneficial to both entities as IFSCA will be able to use  capacity building and certification expertise of NISM.

• While, NISM will benefit from the learnings coming out of servicing an international financial platform.

RBI Imposes Rs 2.52 Crore Penalty on Five Major Banks for Regulatory ViolationsIn May 2025, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) imposed monetary penalties totalling Rs 2.52 crore on five major Indian banks — Mumbai (Maharashtra) based ICICI Bank Limited, Mumbai (Maharashtra) based Axis Bank Limited, Vadodara (Gujarat) based Bank of Baroda (BoB), Pune (Maharashtra) based Bank of Maharashtra (BoM) and Mumbai (Maharashtra) IDBI Bank Limited — for non-compliance with various regulatory guidelines.

• The penalties were issued after the RBI’s Statutory Inspection for Supervisory Evaluation (ISE 2023) revealed multiple lapses in key areas such as cybersecurity, Know Your Customer (KYC) norms, customer service, internal account operations, and agricultural lending practices.

i.ICICI Bank Limited faced the highest fine of Rs 97.80 lakh due to multiple violations:

• Failure to report a cybersecurity incident within the RBI’s stipulated time.
• Absence of an effective alert system for specific account categories.
  Charging late payment fees on credit card holders without issuing credit card statements, breaching RBI norms on credit card issuance and conduct.

ii.BoB was fined Rs 61.40 lakh for:

• Allowing insurance companies to offer non-cash incentives to employees involved in selling insurance policies, in violation of RBI norms on banking and financial services.
• Failing to credit interest to certain inoperative or dormant savings accounts at the required intervals, violating RBI’s customer service guidelines.

iii.BoM was penalised Rs 31.80 lakh for non-compliance with KYC regulations, particularly for opening multiple deposit accounts using Aadhaar One-Time Password (OTP)-based e-KYC in a non-face-to-face mode, without following RBI’s prescribed procedures.
iv.IDBI Bank Limited was fined Rs 31.80 lakh for violations under the Interest Subvention Scheme (ISS) for short-term agricultural loans through Kisan Credit Card (KCC). The bank had charged higher-than-permissible interest rates on certain KCC accounts.
v.Axis Bank Limited was fined Rs 29.60 lakh for routing unauthorised and unrelated transactions through internal/office accounts, which is against RBI’s operational norms.

ECONOMY & BUSINESS

TCS & IBM Partners to Develop Quantum Valley Tech Park in AP
In May 2025,Mumbai (Maharashtra)-based Tata Consultancy Services Limited (TCS) and New York (United States of America, USA) based International Business Machines (IBM) Corporation partnered with the Government of Andhra Pradesh (AP) to set up India’s largest quantum computer at the upcoming Quantum Valley Tech Park, located in Amaravati, AP.

• This initiative is aligned with India’s National Quantum Mission (NQM), which aims to establish the country as a global hub in quantum computing, fostering innovation, job creation, and advanced research capabilities.

i.The Quantum Valley Tech Park, envisioned as India’s first of its kind, will be anchored by an IBM Quantum System Two installation, featuring a 156-qubit Heron quantum processor, the largest quantum computer in India.
ii.Through this collaboration, TCS will develop quantum algorithms and sector-specific applications to address critical challenges in Life sciences, Material science, Supply chain resilience, Energy optimization, Cryptography and Sustainable manufacturing.
iii.IBM and TCS aim to accelerate the development of India’s quantum ecosystem by enabling access to cloud-based IBM quantum systems for developers, scientists, and technologists across the region.
iv.The tech park’s infrastructure will also support hybrid computing architectures, combining quantum, classical Central Processing Units (CPU), and Graphical Processing Unit (GPU) systems to solve complex computational problems.

APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNATIONS

Australia’s PM Anthony Albanese wins a 2nd Consecutive 3-year TermIn May 2025, the incumbent Prime Minister (PM) of Australia Anthony Norman Albanese, leader of the Labor Party(LP), has been re-elected as Australia’s PM in the federal elections. With this, he became the 1st Australian PM to win a 2nd consecutive 3-year term in two decades.

• As per Australian Electoral Commission’s estimates, Albanese led ruling centre-left LP got 70 seats while the conservative opposition coalition led by Peter Dutton got just 24 seats in the 150-seat House of Representatives, the lower chamber of Australian Parliament.

About Anthony Norman Albanese:
i.He started his political career by joining the Labor Party in 1979. In 1996, he was 1st elected to Australian Parliament as the member for the Sydney seat of Grayndler.

• Since 1996, he had been re-elected in the federal House of Representatives 9 times (1998, 2001, 2004, 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019 and 2022).

ii.He served as Deputy PM of the country, from June 2013 to September 2018 and Leader of  the Opposition (LoP) from May 2019 to May 2022.
iii.He has been serving as the Leader of the Australian LP since 2019.
iv.During his tenure as Infrastructure Minister and Communication Minister (from July 2013 to September 2013), he delivered nation-building projects, and rolled out the high speed fibre National Broadband Network (NBN).
iii.In May 2022, he became the 31st PM of Australia and the head of the 1st Labor government to rule the country since 2013.
About Australia:
Prime Minister (PM) – Anthony Norman Albanese
Capital- Canberra
Currency- Australian Dollar (AUD)

Salem Saleh Bin Braik Appointed as New PM of YemenOn May 4 2025, the Presidential Leadership Council (PLC) of Yemen appointed , Finance Minister (FM) Salem Saleh Bin Braik as the new Prime Minister (PM) of Yemen.

• He replaced Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak, who stepped down on May 3, 2025, after facing many difficulties including being unable to reshuffle the government.

About Salem Saleh Bin Braik :
i.He began his professional journey working in customs at the Mukalla port in Yemen and later transitioned to the port’s audit department, where he served until the 1990s.
ii.In 2005, he was appointed as the Director-General(DG) of customs at the al-Tuwal/Haradh crossing in Hajjah Governorate, Yemen. He subsequently held the position of DG at the Hodeidah port on the Red Sea and, in mid-2013, became the DG of Aden Free Zone Customs.
iii.From 2014 to 2018, he served as the head of the Customs Authority. In 2019, he was appointed as a member of the Supreme Economic Committee of the internationally recognized government.

• Following this, he joined the Board of Directors(BoD) of the Central Bank of Yemen and later became the deputy FM.

iv.He was appointed as the FM in 2019 and served in this capacity until he was appointed as the PM of Yemen.
About Yemen:
Prime Minister(PM) – Salem Saleh Bin Braik
Capital – Sanaa
Currency – Yemeni Rial(YER)

South Korea’s Acting President Han Duck-soo Resigns
In May 2025, Han Duck-soo, the Acting President and Prime Minister (PM) of the Republic of Korea (South Korea), announced his resignation to pursue candidacy in the upcoming presidential election scheduled for June 3, 2025.

• The election follows the impeachment of former President Yoon Suk Yeol in December 2024 over his controversial martial law declaration.

i.After Han Duck-soo’s resignation, Education Minister Lee Ju-ho has assumed the role of acting president, marking the fourth leadership change since December 2024.
ii.Han Duck-soois a distinguished South Korean economist, diplomat, and politician whose career spans over four decades.

• He held the position of PM twice, first from 2007 to 2008 under President Roh Moo-hyun, and again from 2022 to 2025 under President Yoon Suk Yeol. During his tenure, he was also appointed as acting president during transitional periods.

iii.He is expected to align with the People Power Party (PPP), South Korea’s main conservative party, to challenge Lee Jae-myung, the frontrunner from the liberal Democratic Party (DP).

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

DRDO Conducts Maiden Flight-Trials of Stratospheric Airship Platform in MPIn May 2025, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), the Research and Development (R&D) organization of Ministry of Defence (MoD), has successfully conducted the maiden flight-trials of Stratospheric Airship Platform from Sheopur Trial Site in Madhya Pradesh(MP) to boost India’s Intelligence, Surveillance & Reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities.

• The unmanned Stratospheric Airship Platform, developed by Agra(Uttar Pradesh, UP)-based Aerial Delivery Research and Development Establishment (ADRDE) was launched carrying an instrumental payload to an altitude of around 17 kilometers (km)

Key Points of the trial:
i.The total duration of the flight was about 62 minutes.
ii.The data received from onboard sensors would be utilized for development of high-quality fidelity simulation models for future high-altitude airship flights.
iii.Envelop pressure control and emergency deflation systems were deployed in flight for their performance evaluation.
About Stratospheric Airship Platform:
i.Stratospheric Airship Platform, functions as a High-Altitude Pseudo-Satellite (HAPS), designed to operate between 17km and 22 km above the earth for extended periods

• It uses Helium for lift and is powered by solar energy, with onboard batteries enabling night-time operation.

ii.Unlike other satellites or aircraft, this platform can fly over a fixed area for days or weeks, offering persistent surveillance and communications support.

• The capacity to carry imaging sensors, radar systems or telecommunication payloads, makes it valuable for border monitoring, disaster response and wide-area intelligence missions.

iii.It also fills a critical gap between drones and satellites, delivering the reach of space-based systems, which offers faster deployment, lower costs, and greater operational flexibility.
About Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO):
Chairman – Dr Samir Venkatapathy Kamat
Headquarters – New Delhi, Delhi
Establishment – 1958
About Ministry of Defence (MoD):
Union Minister – Rajnath Singh (Constituency – Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, UP)
Minister of State (MoS) – Sanjay Seth (Constituency – Ranchi, Jharkhand)

OBITUARY

Yoga Guru & Padma Shri Awardee Swami Sivananda Passed Away On May 4, 2025, renowned Yoga guru and Padma Shri Awardee Swami Sivananda Saraswati, passed away at the age of 128 in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh (UP).
About Swami Sivananda:
i.Swami Sivananda Saraswati was born on August 8, 1897, in the Sylhet district of Bengal Presidency of British India (present day-Bangladesh).
ii.He was brought up by Guru Omkaranand Goswami at his Ashram in Nabadwip (West Bengal), since Swami’s parents’ demise at six years.
iii.He was imparted with practical and spiritual education, including Yoga, without school education.
iv.For about 3 decades, he taught yoga on the banks of the river Ganga in Varanasi, UP. In the last 50 years of his life, Swami Sivananda has served 400 – 600 leprosy- affected beggars by meeting them in their hutments.
v.He was the senior-most participant from the country at the yoga demonstration on June 21, the World Yoga Day in 2019.
vi.In January 2025, Swami Sivananda Saraswati made headlines once again after it was revealed that he has been attending the Maha Kumbh Mela for the past 100 years.
Awards and Recognition: 
i.In 2019, he was honoured with Yoga Ratna Award in Bengaluru(Karnataka) and Basundhara Ratan Award by Respect Age International for his contribution to society.
ii.In 2022 He was honoured with Padma Shri in the field of Yoga for his contribution and humanitarian work. He was the oldest man to receive the Padma Shri award.

IMPORTANT DAYS

International Leopard Day 2025 – May 3International Leopard Day is celebrated every year on May 3 worldwide to raise awareness about protecting leopards (Panthera pardus), one of the most adaptable big cats, and to encourage peaceful coexistence between humans and leopards.
i.Leopards are listed as “Vulnerable” on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species.

• This classification is based on criteria A2cd, indicating a significant population decline due to habitat loss, prey depletion, and exploitation

ii.i.As per the “Status of Leopards in India, 2022” report released by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), India’s leopard population is estimated at 13,874 individuals.

• Madhya Pradesh (MP) has the largest leopard population in India, followed by Maharashtra and Karnataka.

National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA):
It was established in 2006 under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 to strengthen and oversee tiger conservation efforts across India.
Chairperson – Union Minister Bhupender Yadav, MoEFCC
Headquarters – New Delhi (Delhi)
>> Read Full News

World Laughter Day 2025 – May 4World Laughter Day (WLD) is annually observed across the globe on the first Sunday of May to highlight the importance of laughter in promoting health, peace, and emotional well-being by uniting people from all walks of life to spread joy and positivity.

• WLD 2025 falls on 4 May 2025.
• The theme of WLD 2025 is “Laugh for Health, Peace and Happiness”

Background:
i.In 1998, WLD was initiated by a physician from Mumbai (Maharashtra) Dr. Madan Kataria, the founder of the Laughter Yoga Movement, which encourages laughter as a form of exercise.
ii.The first World Laughter Day celebration was held in Mumbai (Maharashtra) on 11th January 1998, with over 12,000 participants from various countries. Since then, the event has grown into a global movement, observed in over 100 countries.
iii.The first World Laughter Day event held outside India, titled “HAPPY-DEMIC,” took place on January 9, 2000, in Copenhagen, Denmark, where over 10,000 people gathered at Town Hall Square, earning a place in the Guinness Book of World Records for the largest-ever laughter session.
>> Read Full News

International Firefighters’ Day 2025 – May 4International Firefighters’ Day (IFFD) is annually observed across the globe on May 4, to honour the courageous fighters, who risked their lives to protect communities and the environment.

• It is also a time to honour firefighters who have given their lives in the line of duty and express gratitude to both present and former firefighters.
• Pieces of Red-Blue ribbons pinned together at the top, are linked to colours, red and blue, symbolizing the main elements in the work of the firefighters.

Background:
i.IFFD was initiated to honour the loss of lives of 5 firefighters in a wildfire that occurred in Lindon, Australia in 1998.
ii.On 4th January 1999, JJ Edmondson, a volunteer Lieutenant and firefighter in Australia, sent an IFFD proposal to promote the need for IFFD on May4.
iii.The first IFFD was celebrated on May 4, 1999.
>> Read Full News

World Portuguese Language Day 2025 – May 5World Portuguese Language Day, celebrated annually on May 5, is a global initiative to promote the Portuguese language, its cultural diversity, and the shared heritage of Lusophone (Portuguese-speaking) countries.
History:
i.The origins of this observance date back to 2005, when the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries (CPLP), an intergovernmental organization founded to promote cooperation among nations with Portuguese as an official language, began marking 5th May as a day dedicated to the Portuguese language and Lusophone culture.
ii.On 20th July 2009, the CPLP Council of Ministers officially established 5th May as the Day of the Portuguese Language and Culture.
iii. A major milestone came in 2019, when the 40th session of UNESCO’s General Conference proclaimed 5th May as World Portuguese Language Day, extending its recognition on a global scale.
iv.The first official celebration under UNESCO’s designation took place on 5th May 2020.
About United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO):
Director-General(DG) – Audrey Azoulay
Headquarters – Paris, France
Established – 1945
>> Read Full News

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