CDS Current Affairs Bulletin March 2025 - Vocabulary Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms, events, people, places, and milestones from the CDS March 2025 bulletin.

Khelo India Winter Games 2025

5th edition held in Leh-Ladakh (Jan 23–27) and Jammu & Kashmir (Mar 9–12); 400+ athletes; six winter sports; Army topped the medal tally (7 Gold, 4 Silver, 5 Bronze).

Khelo India Para Games 2025

2nd edition held across three Delhi venues from March 20–27; competition in six sports. Includes disciplines like Para Archery, Para Athletics, Para Badminton, Para Powerlifting, Para Shooting, Para Table Tennis.

Para Archery

Discipline at the Khelo India Para Games 2025.

Para Athletics

Discipline at the Khelo India Para Games 2025.

Para Badminton

Discipline at the Khelo India Para Games 2025.

Para Powerlifting

Discipline at the Khelo India Para Games 2025.

Para Shooting

Discipline at the Khelo India Para Games 2025.

Para Table Tennis

Discipline at the Khelo India Para Games 2025.

International Masters League T20 2025

Inaugural T20 league; India Masters beat West Indies Masters by 6 wickets at Raipur.

ICC Champions Trophy 2025 Final

India defeated New Zealand by four wickets in Dubai.

Women’s Premier League 2025 Final

Mumbai Indians beat Delhi Capitals by eight runs at Brabourne Stadium.

Special Olympics World Winter Games (Turin)

India won a total of 33 medals at the Turin event.

Miami Open 2025

Jakub Mensik (Czech) defeated Novak Djokovic in the final to win his first ATP trophy.

Novak Djokovic—Oldest to reach an ATP Masters 1000 final

Djokovic became the oldest player to reach an ATP Masters 1000 final.

Jakub Mensik

Nineteen-year-old Czech player who won the Miami Open 2025.

Sepak Takraw World Cup 2025 (India)

India won seven medals, including a historic gold in Men’s Regu—their first top finish in the event.

Balbir Singh Sr. Player of the Year Award (Men)

Award given to Harmanpreet Singh.

Balbir Singh Sr. Player of the Year Award (Women)

Award given to Savita Punia.

Manav Thakkar

First Indian to reach the final eight of a WTT Star Contender event.

World Para Athletics Grand Prix 2025

India topped the medal table with 134 medals: 45 gold, 40 silver, 49 bronze.

Anahat Singh

Indian squash player; winner at Indian Open 2025 (women’s singles, PSA Copper event).

Kareem El Torkey

Egyptian winner of the men’s singles at the Indian Open 2025 (PSA Copper event).

Shi Yu Qi

China’s Shi Yu Qi won the All England Open 2025 men’s singles.

An Se-young

South Korea’s An Se-young won the All England Open 2025 women’s singles.

Japan qualifies for FIFA World Cup 2026

Japan became the first nation to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Asian Women’s Kabaddi Championship 2025

India won the title in Tehran, Iran (final 32–25 vs hosts).

Kabaddi World Cup 2025 (Men’s & Women’s)

India achieved a historic double, winning both men’s and women’s titles in Wolverhampton, UK.

Sunil Kumar (Asian Wrestling Championship 2025)

Bronze medalist in the 87 kg Greco-Roman category (Jordan).

Commonwealth Games Federation renamed

Renamed to Commonwealth Sports under the More in Common brand campaign.

Vidarbha Ranji Trophy title 2024-25

Vidarbha clinched the Ranji Trophy title with a first-innings lead.

KHANJAR-XII

12th India–Kyrgyzstan Joint Special Forces Exercise; held in Kyrgyzstan; Indian Parachute Regiment SF involved.

INIOCHOS-25

Multinational air exercise hosted by Greece; involves 15 countries; 12 days.

Andravida Air Base

Location for INIOCHOS-25 exercises in Greece.

Operation Brahma

Indian Army medical task force response to Myanmar earthquake; aligns with Neighbourhood First policy.

Prachand Prahar

Joint multi-domain exercise showcasing Indian armed forces’ capabilities.

Sea Dragon

Multinational anti-submarine warfare drill hosted by US 7th Fleet; India participated.

Bongosagar 2025

India–Bangladesh naval exercise in the Bay of Bengal; INS Ranvir and BNS Abu Ubaidah involved.

Coordinated Patrol (CORPAT) with Bangladesh

Enhanced interoperability and maritime security collaboration.

VARUNA 2025

23rd India–France naval exercise; complex drills across underwater, surface, and air domains.

INS Shardul

Indian Navy ship participating in VARUNA 2025 (Phuket, Thailand deployment).

INS Sujata

Indian Navy ship participating in VARUNA 2025.

ICGS Veera

Indian Coast Guard ship part of VARUNA 2025 deployment.

1TS (First Training Squadron)

Training deployment to South East Asia by the Indian Navy.

T-72 1000 HP engine upgrade

Upgrade from 780 HP to 1000 HP engines; ToT from RoE; improves speed and mobility.

INS Kuthar

Eastern Naval Command ship, arrived Colombo, Sri Lanka; strengthens maritime ties.

Neighbourhood First policy

India’s policy to prioritise ties with neighbouring countries.

SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region)

India’s maritime security and growth framework in the region.

LLTR Ashwini

Low-level Transportable Radar, Ashwini; DRDO/Electronics & Radar Development Establishment using solid-state tech.

ATAGS (155mm/52 Calibre)

Advanced Towed Artillery Gun System; modern artillery replacing older guns.

NAMIS-Tr (Nag Missile System)

Sophisticated anti-tank weapon with fire-and-forget capability and sighting system.

LCH Prachand

Indigenously designed attack helicopter; deliveries: 66 to IAF, 90 to Army; altitude capability over 5,000 m; 65% made in India.

Wet Leasing of Flight Refuelling Aircraft (FRA)

Wet-lease arrangements to provide air-to-air refueling training.

OBOGS ILSS on LCA Tejas

Indigenous Onboard Oxygen Generating System integrated Life Support System; tested at 50,000 ft.

Astra Mk-III renamed Gandiva

DRDO air-to-air missile rebranded as Gandiva.

Jaguar fighter pilot Tanushka Singh

First woman pilot permanently assigned to Jaguar squadron in the IAF.

Dornier Dornier Divya Sharma

First woman Qualified Flying Instructor (QFI) in Indian Navy.

ASTRA BVRAAM test

Test-launch from LCA AF MK1; hit a flying target; demonstrates BVRAAM capability.

Chandrayaan-5 mission

Approved lunar mission with 350 kg rover and stronger lander; collaboration with Japan; lunar site mission.

350 kg lunar rover

Part of Chandrayaan-5 payload; designed for Moon surface exploration.

Bharatiya Antriksh Station

Proposal for India’s space station by 2035.

Kulasekarapattinam spaceport

New spaceport in Tamil Nadu for small satellite launches (up to 500 kg).

VIKRAM3201

Make-in-India 32-bit space-grade microprocessor.

KALPANA3201

32-bit SPARC V8 RISC microprocessor for space applications.

Polar-orbit Earth mission (pole-to-pole)

Concept of a polar-orbit mission route never attempted before by humans.

Fram2 (SpaceX mission)

Private astronaut crew mission named Fram2; named after Arctic exploration ship Fram.

ISRO foreign satellites earnings

ISRO earned about $143 million in foreign exchange; 393 foreign and 34 customer satellites launched in the past decade.

SPHEREx telescope

NASA mission to map the universe in 102 wavelengths; aims to study origin of galaxies and ices.

Supersolid

Phase where light and matter behave as a solid with superfluid-like flow; created by coupling light with excitons (polaritons).

Polaritons

Quasiparticles formed by coupling photons with excitons; essential to supersolid formation.

Aditya-L1 SUIT kernel image

SUIT captured first solar-flare kernel image in the lower solar atmosphere.

Aditya-L1 mission

India’s solar mission placed in a halo orbit around L1; planning toward solar research goals.

Chandrayaan-4/5 lunar missions

Upcoming lunar missions involving sample collection and lander enhancements.

3D map of universe (SPHEREx)

SPHEREx telescope aims to create a 3D spectral map of the cosmos.

Chandrayaan-5 rover 350 kg

Part of Chandrayaan-5 payload; rover mass approximately 350 kg.

Ramsar Award – Jayshree Vencatesan

Award recognizing excellence in wetland wise use and conservation.

Holberg Prize 2025

Award to Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak for interdisciplinary contributions.

Abel Prize 2025

Award to Masaki Kashiwara for contributions to algebraic analysis and representation theory.

Stockholm Water Prize 2025

Award to Günter Blöschl for flood risk reduction and water resource management.

Pritzker Prize 2025

Awarded to Liu Jiakun, a Chinese architect.

CSMIA ASQ Award

Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport named Best Airport (over 40 million passengers) in Asia-Pacific by ACI.

RGIA Best Airport (2024)

Rajiv Gandhi International Airport recognized as Best Airport in 15–25 Million Passengers category (Asia-Pacific).

IIFA Awards 2025 – Best Picture

Laapataa Ladies won Best Picture; Kartik Aaryan won Best Leading Actor; Nitanshi Goel won Best Leading Actress.

97th Academy Awards (2025) categories

Key Oscar categories announced for 2025 ceremony.

World Wildlife Day 2025 theme

Theme: Wildlife Conservation Finance: Investing in People and Planet.

NXT Conclave & NewsX World

Modi inaugurated NewsX World during the NXT Conclave at Bharat Mandapam.

Vantara initiative

Wildlife conservation, rescue and rehabilitation programme led by Anant Ambani’s team.

Sansad Bhashini

AI-powered multilingual parliamentary operations and archives under MeitY and Lok Sabha Secretariat.

3R & Jaipur Declaration (India–Asia-Pacific)

Jaipur Declaration adopted on circular economy; 3R principles: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.

WASH MoU with Nepal

India–Nepal agreement to strengthen water, sanitation and hygiene cooperation.

NZ Indo-Pacific ties (FTAs, IPOI)

New Zealand–India engagements include FTA talks and IPOI membership.

UN80 Initiative

UN Secretary-General’s plan to improve UN efficiency and cost-effectiveness.

Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute (Mauritius)

New institute in Mauritius focusing on public service and innovation; funded by India.

INR–MUR currency swap

Cross-border currency arrangement between India and Mauritius.

St Brandon Island navigational chart

Navigational chart handed over by India’s Navy for the St Brandon Island region.

ASSAMSAT

Assam to launch its own satellite (ASSAMSAT) for border surveillance and development support.

Chandrayaan-5 mission (Japan collaboration)

Moon mission with a 350-kg rover and stronger lander; collaboration with Japan.

Kulasekarapattinam spaceport

Spaceport in Tamil Nadu for small satellite launches (up to 500 kg).

32-bit space-grade microprocessors (VIKRAM3201, KALPANA3201)

Make-in-India processors qualified for space use; VIKRAM3201 and KALPANA3201.

Fram2

SpaceX private astronaut mission; Fram2 named after Arctic exploration ship.

World’s first polar-orbit human mission concept

Proposed polar-orbit trajectory for a future human spaceflight.