Current Affairs One-liners — 18 March 2025

Tue, 18 Mar 2025

• The Election Commission of India led by CEC Gyanesh Kumar decided on 18 March 2025 that linking voter ID (EPIC) with Aadhaar will be done only as per Article 326 of the Constitution, Sections 23(4), 23(5) and 23(6) of the RP Act, 1950, and the Supreme Court judgement in WP (Civil) No. 177/2023.
• The Unique Identification Authority of India partnered with Bengaluru-based Generative AI company Sarvam AI, in an agreement effective 18 March 2025, for AI voice interactions and real-time fraud alerts in 10 languages.
• The Lok Sabha Secretariat and the Ministry of Electronics and IT signed an MoU on 18 March 2025, in the presence of Speaker Om Birla and Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, to develop 'Sansad Bhashini', in-house AI tools for multilingual parliamentary operations.
• Union Culture Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat inaugurated the Kamba Ramayana Parayanam at Srirangam, Tiruchirappalli, on 18 March 2025, launching a South Zone Cultural Centre initiative to revive the oral tradition of reciting the Tamil epic.
• Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal virtually flagged off indigenous electrolysers made by L&T for a 1 MW green hydrogen plant at Deendayal Port Authority, Kandla, on 18 March 2025.
• IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi inaugurated the S N Bose Building of the Global Centre for Nuclear Energy Partnership and introduced a six-month Certificate Course on Nuclear Engineering at an event at Sushma Swaraj Bhavan, New Delhi, on 18 March 2025.
• In a phone call on 18 March 2025, Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to US President Donald Trump's proposal that Russia and Ukraine refrain from striking each other's energy infrastructure for 30 days, but did not accept a full 30-day ceasefire.
• IndiaAI and the Geological Survey of India launched the IndiaAI Hackathon on Mineral Targeting on 18 March 2025, asking participants to use AI/ML to find new exploration areas for critical minerals in a 39,000 sq km area of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.
• The Ministry of Electronics and IT and Drone Federation India launched the National Innovation Challenge for Drone Application and Research (NIDAR) under the SwaYaan initiative on 18 March 2025, with a ₹40 lakh prize pool.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the Lok Sabha on 18 March 2025 on the successful conclusion of the Maha Kumbh in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, likening the effort to Bhagirath's endeavour to bring the Ganga to Earth.
• Indore is setting up India's first green waste processing plant on the public-private partnership model under Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban, the Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry said on 18 March 2025.
• Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh met Netherlands Defence Minister Ruben Brekelmans in New Delhi on 18 March 2025 and discussed collaboration in shipbuilding, equipment, space and artificial intelligence.