1 Palestinian photographer Samar Abu Elouf wins 2025 World Press Photo of the Year
In April 2025, Qatar -based Palestinian photographer Samer Abu Ellouf won the ‘ 2025 World Press Photo of the Year ‘ for her poignant image of nine-year-old Mahmoud Ajour , a Gaza boy who lost both arms in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City (Palestine) in March 2024. The photo, taken for The New York Times (NYT), a newspaper based in New York, United States of America (USA), highlights the human cost of the Gaza conflict. The winners and two finalists of the 2024 World Press Photo Contest were announced during the World Press Photo Exhibition in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The exhibition will tour more than 60 locations worldwide. The World Press Photo of the Year winner will also receive a cash prize of 10,000 euros.
2 Maharashtra launches pink e-rickshaw scheme with Kinetic Green
The Maharashtra government has launched the Pink E-Rickshaw Scheme to empower women and make them financially independent . The Pink E Rickshaw Scheme was officially launched by Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar at a ceremony in Pune on April 21, 2025, where electric three-wheelers were distributed to selected beneficiaries. The Pink E Rickshaw Scheme is being operated by the Women and Child Development Department of the state government. Kinetic Green Energy Company is the state government’s partner in this initiative. Kinetic Green Company will provide electric three-wheelers to the beneficiaries. Under this initiative, 10,000 e-rickshaws will be distributed in eight districts of Maharashtra – Nagpur, Ahmednagar, Solapur, Kolhapur, Amravati, Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar, Pune and Nashik . Under this scheme, priority will be given to women aged between 20 to 50 years who are widows, divorced and from economically weaker backgrounds.
3 Despite tariff war, India’s growth rate will be 6.2 percent this year: IMF
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has reduced the growth forecast of the global economy for 2025 to 2.8 percent , which was earlier 3.3 percent , due to global trade tensions (tariff war). Despite this, positive hopes have been expressed about India’s economy . The IMF has said that India’s GDP growth rate is likely to be 6.2 percent in 2025 and 6.3 percent in 2026. The IMF gave this forecast in the April 2025 ‘World Economic Outlook’ report released in Washington on Tuesday. It said that the imposition of new tariffs by the US on major trading partners and sectors on April 2, 2025 has led to uncertainty and decline in global trade. This will affect the world’s economic growth, but India’s position will remain comparatively better. The reason for India’s strength is said to be the increasing private consumption in rural areas, which has supported economic growth.
4 Shakti Dubey secures first rank in Civil Services Examination, 2024
5 Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnav inaugurated VVDN’s largest SMT and Mechanical Innovation Park in Haryana
In April 2025 , Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw , Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) inaugurated VVDN Technologies ‘ largest state-of-the-art Surface Mount Technology (SMT) line and Mechanical Innovation Park at its Global Innovation Park in Manesar, Haryana . During the event, he also showcased India’s first fully designed Artificial Intelligence (AI) server ‘ Adipoli ‘ which is equipped with 8 graphics processing units (GPUs) and is developed by VVDN Technologies.
6 India provides US$990,000 to Sierra Leone to empower persons with disabilities
In April 2025 , the Government of India (GoI) announced financial assistance of USD 990,000 (~Rs 8.26 crore) to the Republic of Sierra Leone to implement a development project called Enabling Economic Independence for Specially Abled Persons (Persons with Disabilities) in Sierra Leone under the India-United Nations (UN) Development Partnership Fund. The initiative aims to empower differently abled persons in Sierra Leone by enhancing their livelihood opportunities and ensuring economic independence through rural-based cooperatives and skills training.
7 Duro Macet appointed new Prime Minister of Serbia
On April 16, 2025, Serbia ‘s parliament appointed 61-year-old doctor and academician Duro Macet , who has no prior political experience , as the new Prime Minister (PM) . He received 153 votes in the 250-seat parliament, with 199 members of parliament (MP) in favour and 46 against. His appointment comes after the resignation of former PM Milos Vucevic (president of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS)) on January 28, 2025, after SNS members attacked a student protester in Novi Sad (Serbia). He was nominated by Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic, who has been serving in the position since 2017.
8 Former Finance Secretary Ajay Bhushan Pandey appointed as Vice President of AIIB
In April 2025 , the Beijing (China) -based Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) appointed Ajay Bhushan Pandey as Vice President of Investment Solutions. He is responsible for providing strategic leadership and overseeing three important departments: the Sector, Theme and Finance Solutions Department (STF), the Sustainability and Fiduciary Solutions Department (SFD), and the Portfolio Management Department (PMD).
9 Google unveils ‘Ironwood chip’ to enhance AI performance
In April 2025, Google , headquartered in Mountain View (California, United States, USA) , launched its 7th generation artificial intelligence (AI) chip named ‘ Ironwood ‘. Designed to speed up AI applications, the Ironwood chip focuses primarily on inference computing, which involves performing faster calculations to generate responses in AI-powered systems. The Ironwood chip features 192 GB of High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) , designed to handle the type of data crunching required for real-time AI tasks. It also achieves a memory bandwidth of 7.2 terabits per second (Tbps) per chip, representing a 4.5x improvement over Trillium’s performance. At a scale of 9,216 chips per pod, Ironwood delivers an impressive 42.5 exaflops of computing power, surpassing El Capitan, the world’s fastest supercomputer (as of November 2024), which achieves a peak performance of 2.79 exaflops. Google’s tensor processing units (TPUs), which are the backbone of this chip, are currently used exclusively by Google’s engineers or through the company’s cloud services, giving it a competitive edge over rivals.
10 India ends 2025 ISSF World Cup Lima campaign with 7 medals
Indian shooters ended their campaign at the ISSF World Cup Lima 2025 with 7 medals – two gold, four silver and one bronze – and finished third in the medal tally behind China and the USA . The ISSF World Cup/Rifle/Shotgun was held in Lima, the capital of Peru , from 13-22 April 2022. It was the second World Cup of the 2025 ISSF calendar. The first World Cup of the year was held in Buenos Aires, Argentina from 1-10 April 2025. In Buenos Aires , the Indian shooting contingent won 8 medals – four gold, two silver and two bronze – and finished second behind China . The ISSF World Cup, which included rifle/pistol and shotgun events, was organised by the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF), the world governing body of the sport.
Gold Medallists (2)
Suruchi Singh – Women’s 10m Air Pistol event. Suruchi had also won a gold medal in Buenos Aires.
Saurabh Chaudhary/Suruchi Singh –
Silver medalists in the 10m air pistol mixed team event (4)
Manu Bhaker – In the women’s 10m air pistol event. She had failed to win a medal in Buenos Aires.
Arjun Babuta – In the men’s 10m air rifle event
Simranpreet Kaur Brar – In the women’s 25m pistol event. This is Simranpreet Kaur’s first medal in the World Cup.
Rudrank Patil/Arya Borse – In the 10m air rifle mixed team event.
Bronze medalists (1)
Saurabh Chaudhary – In the men’s 10m air pistol event
11 Armand Duplantis and Simone Biles honored with 2025 Laureus World Sports Award
Pole vaulter Armand Duplantis of Sweden and artistic gymnast Simone Biles of the United States have been awarded the 2025 Laureus World Athlete of the Year award for men and women respectively . The winners of the 2025 World Laureus Sports Awards were honoured at a glittering ceremony held in Madrid, Spain on 21 April 2025. The Laureus World Sports Award, launched in 2000, is considered one of the most prestigious sports awards in the world. Armanda Duplantis – The Swedish pole vaulter, nominated for the award three times, finally received the honour this year. She was presented the award by last year’s winner Novak Djokovic of Serbia. Armanda Duplantis is the first athlete to win two consecutive gold medals at the Olympics. She won gold in the pole vault event at the 2020 Tokyo and 2024 Paris Olympics.
12 World Earth Day
Every year 22nd April is celebrated as World Earth Day . Earth Day is being celebrated today to support environmental protection efforts in the world. Earth Day was celebrated for the first time in 1970 after a suggestion at the UNESCO summit in 1969. The theme of Earth Day this year is – ” Our Power, Our Planet “.