Current Affairs | National | International | SSC | UPSC 6th March 2025

1. China’s Liu Jiakun received Pritzker Prize 2025. 

• Pritzker Prize also known as the ‘Nobel of Architecture’ has been honoured to China’s Liu Jiakun. 
• Liu Jiakun has spent most of his career time in designing academic buildings, museums and public spaces. 
• The purpose of his architecture is to create a beautiful, just and dignified living environment.
• Liu’s firm, Jiakun Architects, has completed over 30 projects in China. 
• Liu is known for creating public areas in highly populated cities where there is little public space. 
• Pritzker Architecture Prize is an international award presented annually to a living architect or architect whose built work demonstrates significant contributions to humanity. 
• It is considered to be one of the world's premier architecture prizes. It is funded by the Pritzker family and sponsored by the Hyatt Foundation. 

2. Union Minister Bhupender Yadav inaugurated the World Sustainable Development Summit (WSDS) 2025 in New Delhi. 

• The inaugural summit ceremony was attended by distinguished dignitaries, including the Prime Minister of Guyana, Brigadier Mark Phillip, and Brazil’s Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Marina Silva. 
• The summit theme is Partnerships for Accelerating Sustainable Development and Climate Solutions. 
• It is organized by the 'The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI)'. 
• India successfully reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by 7.93%. 
• India has taken transformative steps with initiatives like the International Solar Alliance (ISA), the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI), and Mission Lifestyle for Environment (LiFE). 
• India is working on a target of achieving net-zero emissions by 2070. 
• India has reduced its emission intensity of GDP by 36% between 2005 and 2020. 
• India’s role in driving climate action is increasing with a special focus on the Global South’s contributions. 

3. Ajay Bhadoo has been appointed as the chief executive officer of GeM. 

• He is additional secretary in Department of Commerce before being appointed as CEO of public procurement platform GeM. 
• He has got the role of CEO in addition to his existing responsibilities in the department. 
• He is a senior IAS officer of the 1999 batch from the Gujarat cadre. 
• He was appointed as additional secretary in August 2024. 
• Government e-Market was launched on August 9, 2016. 
• It was launched for online purchases of goods and services by all ministries and departments of central government. 

4. India's first AI-powered solar manufacturing line has been launched at Goldi Solar's Surat plant in Kosamba, Gujarat. 

• It has been launched by Pralhad Joshi, Union Minister of New and Renewable Energy. 
• It has planned production capacity of 14 GW. 10,000 cells can be produced per hour due to AI-driven automation in high-speed stringers. 
• It has an auto EVA laying robot in pre-lamination section. 
• It has AI-powered 3-Display EL and visual inspection systems to guarantee high-quality solar modules. 
• Goldi Solar manufactures photovoltaic modules. Goldi Solar has three facilities having a combined 14 GW planned capacity in Gujarat. 
• The three facilities are located at Pipodara, Navsari and Kosamba in Gujarat. 

5. Nithin Kamath has received the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year Award 2024. 

• Nithin Kamath, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Zerodha, has been awarded the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year Award 2024. 
• Nithin Kamath will represent India at the global stage at the WEOY in Monte Carlo to be held in June 2025. 
• KV Kamath, Chairman of Jio Financial Services, received the Lifetime Achievement Award for this substantial contribution to India’s financial services sector.
• S Somanath, aerospace engineer and former chairman of ISRO received the Special Jury Award for his contributions to space ambitions of India. 
• Bhupender Yadav, Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change presented the award to Nithin Kamath, KV Kamath and S Somanath along with the EOY 2024 category winners. 
• This year’s winners generate a total Rs 2 lakh crore in revenue, with a combined valuation (listed and unlisted) exceeding Rs 15 lakh crore. 
• Other categories winners:

6. Khelo India Para Games will be organized in New Delhi from March 20-27. 

• Youth Affairs and Sports Minister Dr Mansukh Mandaviya announced that the Khelo India Para Games 2025 will be held in New Delhi from 20-27 March. 
• It will be the second edition of the Khelo India Para Games. 
• 230 para-athletes will compete in six disciplines during the games, including the medalists from the Paris Paralympics 2024. 
• Para-athletics, Para-archery, and Para-powerlifting sporting events will be organized at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium from 21st to the 26th of March. 
• The para-badminton and para-table tennis events will be held at the Indira Gandhi Stadium complex from 20-27 March. 
• Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Range will host the para-shooting events. 
• The Khelo India Para Games is part of the Khelo India mission. It is a platform for talented athletes to showcase their sporting and competitive skills. 

7. Austrian batsman Steve Smith announced his retirement from ODI cricket. 

• On March 4, Australia's veteran batsman Steve Smith announced his retirement from ODI cricket after his team's defeat to India in the semi-finals of the Champions Trophy 2025. 
• Smith, who top-scored for Australia with 73, immediately informed his teammates that this was his final ODI. 
• However, the 35-year-old will continue to play Tests and T20Is for his country. 
• Smith has scored 5800 runs including 12 centuries in 170 ODIs for Australia. 
• He was part of Australia's World Cup-winning team in 2015 under Michael Clarke and in 2023 under Pat Cummins. 
• Smith made his international debut in 2010 against the West Indies as a leg-spinning allrounder. 
• He was named Australian Men's ODI Player of the Year in both 2015 and 2021, as well as being included in the ICC Men's ODI Team of the Year in 2015. 

8. SPHEREx telescope is set to be launched by NASA to explore what happened right after the Big Bang. 

• NASA is preparing to launch a megaphone-shaped observatory. 
• Its purpose is to better understand what happened immediately after the Big Bang and to discover the galaxy's reserves of water, a vital ingredient for life. 
• The SPHEREx space telescope is tentatively scheduled to be launched by the U.S. space agency on 7 March aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. 
• SPHEREx (Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer) seeks to answer questions about the origin of the universe by mapping the distribution of galaxies. 
• The observatory will collect data on more than 450 million galaxies, as well as more than 100 million stars in the Milky Way, during its planned two-year mission as it searches for the origins of the universe and the galaxies within it. 
• The mission aims to obtain information about a phenomenon called cosmic inflation, the rapid and exponential expansion of the universe from a single point in a fraction of a second after the Big Bang, which occurred about 13.8 billion years ago. 
• For comparison, Earth is about 4.5 billion years old. 

9. NITI Aayog released a report titled “From Borrowers to Builders: Women’s Role in India’s Financial Growth Story”. 

• CEO NITI Aayog, Shri B.V.R. Subrahmanyam, has released the report. 
• The report has been published by TransUnion CIBIL, Women Entrepreneurship Platform’s (WEP) of NITI Aayog and MicroSave Consulting (MSC). 
• As per the report, Women in India are actively seeking credit and monitoring their credit scores. 
• Financial awareness among women has risen. As of December 2024, 27 million women were seeking credit, 42% more than the previous year.
• Women’s share in the total self-monitoring credit base rose to 19.43 percent in December 2024, up from 17.89 percent in 2023. 
• In 2024, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh and Telangana will account for 49 per cent of all self-monitoring women, with the southern region leading with 10.2 million. 
• Women from non-metro regions are more actively self-monitoring their credit as compared to those in metro areas. 
• Northern and central states, including Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and Madhya Pradesh registered the highest compounded annual growth rates (CAGR) in active women borrowers over the past five years. 
• Since 2019, women’s share in business loan origination has increased by 14 percent. Share in gold loans has grown by 6 percent. 

10. India and Nepal signed an agreement to enhance cooperation in the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene sector. 

• This agreement will enhance collaboration in several key areas, including waste management, water resource management and capacity building. 
• Under this MoU, both countries will engage in capacity-building programs. Nepali personnel will get training in water resource management and related fields. 
• Both countries' focus will be on sharing expertise and best practices in the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene sectors. 
• Both countries will work together to monitor, assess and manage groundwater resources, including initiatives for quality improvement, artificial recharge and rainwater harvesting. 

11. Uttarakhand Cabinet approves implementation of Unified Pension Scheme 

• The Uttarakhand Cabinet, under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, has approved the implementation of the Central Government’s Unified Pension Scheme for officers and employees in the state. 
• The Unified Pension Scheme (UPS) has been introduced as an option under the National Pension System (NPS) by the Central Government for the Central Government employees covered under NPS so that they may receive an assured payout after their retirement. The Unified Pension Scheme will be operational from April 1, 2025. 

About Uttarakhand 

• Capital – Dehradun (Winter), Gairsain (Summer) 
• Chief Minister – Pushkar Singh Dhami 
• Governor – Gurmit Singh 

12. MRF appoints Shubman Gill as brand ambassador 

• India batter Shubman Gill has signed a deal with renowned tyre brand MRF as his new bat sponsor. 
• Gill was signed by his previous sponsor Ceat during his Under-19 days and the association has finally ended during the ongoing ICC Champions Trophy 2025. 
• With his deal, Gill now follows the footsteps of his idols Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli to have signed deal with MRF. 

Recent Brand Ambassador 

• Punjabi singer and actor Diljit Dosanjh – American clothing brand, Levi’s 
• PV Sindhu – PUMA India 
• Tata Mumbai Marathon – Mo Farah 
• MS Dhoni – Eurogrip Tyres 
• Rashmika Mandanna – Chennai-based real estate developer, DRA 
• Sonu Sood – Brand Ambassador and Honourary Tourism Advisor for Thailand 

13. JCD ties up with EPH to manufacture tank turrets 

• Belgium’s John Cockerill Defence (JCD), a leading global manufacturer of tank turrets, has teamed up with Electro Pneumatics & Hydraulics (EPH), a company based in Pune, India, to form a joint venture (JV). 
• The initial focus of this partnership is the Indian Army’s Light Tank project, particularly the Zorawar tank, which is being developed by DRDO and L&T. This tank is currently in advanced testing stages, and the new JV will supply turrets for it. 
• This collaboration is part of a larger effort to strengthen defense ties between India and Belgium, with both countries planning to sign a defense cooperation agreement by the end of 2025. 
• In this JV, JCD will hold 60% and EPH will hold 40%. JCD will provide the technology, while EPH will handle the manufacturing. According to JCD’s CEO, Thierry Renaudin, the project aims to create a world-class turret, and at least 50% of the components must be made in India. 

14. 5 March – International Day for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation Awareness 

• International Day for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation Awareness is observed on March 5 every year. 
• This day aims to raise global awareness about the importance of disarmament and the prevention of the spread of weapons, particularly weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) like nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons. 

15. Amarnath Yatra to start in Kashmir from July 3 

• The 38-day annual pilgrimage to the holy cave shrine of Amarnath in Jammu and Kashmir will commence on July 3, an official spokesperson said on Wednesday. 
• The decision to this effect was taken at the 48th meeting of Shri AmarnathJi Shrine Board (SASB) under the chairmanship of Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha at the Raj Bhavan, he said. 
• This year, the yatra will begin from Pahalgam and Baltal tracks simultaneously and end on August 9. 

16. Ropeway projects in Kedarnath, Hemkund Sahib get Center nod 

• The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Wednesday approved two ropeway projects in Uttarakhand, one connecting Sonpryag and Kedarnath and the other Govindghat and Hemkund Sahib Gurudwara. 
• Expected to be built at a cost of ₹7,000 crore under the National Ropeways Development Programme, Parvatmala Pariyojana, the ropeways will cut travel time to the pilgrimage sites situated over 3,500 metres above sea level. 
• The 12.4-km Govindgh-at-Hemkund Sahib ropeway will be developed in a design, build, finance, operate and transfer (DBFOT) mode at a total capital cost of ₹2,730.13 crore. "Currently, the journey to Hemkund Sahib is a challenging 21-km uphill trek from Go vindghat and covered on foot or on ponies or in palanquins," said a government communique. 
• The proposed ropeway will provide convenience to pilgrims visiting the gurdwara which remains open for about five months a year between May and September, with 1.5 to 2 lakh pilgrims visiting annually. The ropeway will help tourists visiting the Valley of Flowers, a UNESCO World Heritage Site located in the Garhwal Himalayas. 

Passenger capacity 

• "The ropeway is planned to be developed in public private partnership and will be based on Monocable Detachable Gondola [system] from Govindghat to Ghangaria (10.55 km), seamlessly integrated with the most advanced Trica-ble Detachable Gondola (3S) technology from Ghangaria to Hemkund Sahib Ji (1.85 km) with a design capacity of 1,100 passengers per hour per direction carrying 11,000 00 passengers per day," it added. 
• The 12.9-km ropeway from Sonprayag to Kedarnath will be constructed at a cost of ₹4,081.28 crore. To be built with a similar technology, the Kedarnath ropeway will be able to carry 18,000 passengers a day. This ropeway will reduce the current travel time of eight to nine hours to around 36 minutes. 
• Pilgrims on the route either take helicopters or ponies from Gaurikund to Kedarnath or walk along a 16-km uphill path to the temple. 

17. India a good venue for production and capacity expansion

• "In Europe, sometimes we are very good at over-regulating and the current European Commission is very strong on the agenda of simplification of regulations," said Andrius Kubili-us, European Commissioner for Defence and Space, in a conversation with The Hindu. The EU can look at India not only as a "good destination" for production and capacity expansion but also as "an example" of how to make regulation more smart, he added. 
• From an economic point of view, the 21st century, apart from being the "Century of Space", will al-so be the "Century of India", he said, adding the partnership between India and the EU was "limitless". "There are plenty of platforms where we can put very clear proposals, both short-term and long-term, and how we can develop this cooperation and partnership between India and the EU, which would be beneficial for both sides, and beneficial globally and internationally," Mr. Kubilius said. 
• He identified the strategic pact on security and defence proposed by Commission President Ursula Von Der Leyen, on the lines of the EU's pact with Japan and South Korea; the new strategic space dialogue; and the forthcoming negotiations on the Free Trade Agreement that Ms. von der Leyen and Prime Minister Narendra Modi had agreed to conclude by the year-end, as various possibilities. The two sides are also set to hold the India-EU Summit by the end of the year, wherein they expect to renew the current Strategic Roadmap for 2020-2025. 
• On the regulatory front. he said over-regulation was impacting competitiveness in Europe, and they had since proposed simplification. One of the challenges for the European defence industry in ramping up was not funding, which was always an issue but can be resolved, but "how to build a factory". 
• "It takes so much of time and here again, India could be very attractive," Mr. Kubilius said, adding they heard that some In-dian businesses can build factories in 12 months, Andrius Kubilius 
• The European Commissioner for Defence and Space saves partnership with India is limitless which would take four years in Europe. 
• In an unprecedented visit, Ms. von der Leyen, accompanied by 22 members. of the College of Commissioners, visited India last week. 
• Defence was a major focus area, and the two leaders agreed on further focused discussions on defence industry and policy to explore opportunities from new initiatives and programmes. Mr. Kubilius termed the geopolitical situation as "turbulent times", referring to the Russian war against Ukraine. "There are a lot of intelligence services publicly reporting that Russia can be ready to start new oppression against EU member states before 2030. So it brings, for Europeans, a very clear understanding that we need to ramp up our preparedness, our capabilities, our defence industry, defence production and so оп." 

Indo-Pacific stability

• Elaborating, he said that it was not Russia alone that was creating all the possible threats to Europe. "But we also see some kind of, what they call, axis of aggressive authoritarians. Starting from Russia, we have Iran, North Korea, and China is not far away from that axis. That creates possible instabilities here in the Indo-Pacific. That is why we need to look into joint efforts on possibly how to guarantee security in this region, not just for India." 
• Adding that India played a very important role in the region, Mr. Kubilius said the Indo-Pacific was also important for the EU as it was very important for their economic development. 

18. DRDO conducts trial of life support system for LCA Tejas 

• The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) on Wednesday announced the successful high altitude trial of an indigenous integrated life support system (ILSS) for the light combat aircraft (LCA) Tejas. 
• The On-Board Oxygen Generating System-based ILSS is designed to manage breathable oxygen for aircrew during flight, eliminating the need for traditional liquid oxygen cylinder-based systems, it stated. The trial was carried out by the Defence Bioengineering & ElectroMedical Laboratory, a lab under the DRDO. The system with required modifications can also be used in MiG 29K and other series of aircraft, the DRDO said. 

19. Cabinet clears 3,880 crore for livestock health project 

• The Union Cabinet on Wednesday revised the Lives-tock Health and Disease Control Programme (LHDCP) with a total outlay of ₹3,880 crore for 2024-25 and 2025-26. This includes the provision of ₹75 crore to provide "good quality and affordable" generic veterinary medicine and incentive for sale of medicines under the Pashu Aushadhi component that has been newly added to the programme. 
• "The productivity of livestock is impacted adversely due to diseases... Implementation of the LHDCP will facilitate reduction in these losses by preventing diseases through immuni-sation," the Union Animal Husbandry Ministry said in a release.