Daily Current Affairs- 30th April 2025

Daily Current Affairs- 30th April 2025

Cabinet Approves Caste Census

• On April 30, 2025, the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs (CCPA), chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved the inclusion of caste enumeration in the upcoming national census.
• This marks the first official caste census since 1931, as post-independence censuses have only collected data on Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs).
• In recent years, several states have conducted their own caste surveys to guide welfare schemes and reservations. Bihar conducted a caste survey in 2023, revealing that OBCs and Extremely Backward Classes made up more than 63% of its population. Andhra Pradesh initiated its own caste census in January 2024. Telangana and Karnataka have also undertaken similar exercises. 

India Closes Airspace to Pakistani Aircraft Amid Escalating Tensions

• On April 30, 2025, India issued a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) closing its airspace to all Pakistani-registered, operated, or leased aircraft—including commercial and military flights—effective until May 23.
• The decision follows the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir, which killed 26 people, mostly Indian tourists.
• India attributed the attack to Pakistan-based groups, prompting a series of retaliatory measures, including the airspace closure.
• Pakistan had earlier closed its airspace to Indian airlines and suspended trade and visa services for Indian nationals.
• The airspace restrictions impact Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), which must reroute flights, leading to longer travel times and increased operational costs. 

US Senate Rejects Bid to Block Trump Tariffs; Vice President Vance Casts Decisive Vote

• The U.S. Senate has narrowly rejected a bipartisan resolution aimed at overturning President Donald Trump's sweeping global tariffs. The resolution, introduced by Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) and co-sponsored by Senator Rand Paul (R-KY), sought to terminate the national emergency declaration that enabled the tariffs.
• The initial vote ended in a 49-49 tie, with three Republican senators—Susan Collins (ME), Lisa Murkowski (AK), and Rand Paul—joining Democrats in support.
• Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) then moved to table the resolution, effectively preventing future reconsideration.
• Vice President JD Vance cast the tie-breaking vote in favour of tabling, ensuring the resolution's defeat.
• The vote occurred shortly after the Commerce Department reported a 0.3% contraction in the U.S. economy for the first quarter of 2025, the first decline in three years. 

US and Ukraine Sign Landmark Critical Minerals Deal

• The United States and Ukraine signed a significant agreement granting the U.S. access to Ukraine's critical minerals, including lithium, graphite, titanium, uranium, and manganese.
• The deal establishes the United States–Ukraine Reconstruction Investment Fund, a 50/50 joint venture aimed at developing Ukraine's natural resources and supporting its post-war reconstruction.
• Ukraine retains full ownership and control over its resources, with no obligation to repay past U.S. military aid, which has exceeded $72 billion since Russia's 2022 invasion.
• Ukraine possesses about 5% of the world's critical raw materials, with significant untapped reserves, some of which lie in Russian-occupied territories. The agreement still requires ratification by Ukraine's Parliament to come into full effect.  

EU Court Strikes Down Malta’s Golden Passport Scheme

• The European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled that Malta's "golden passport" program violates EU law, ordering its termination.
• The scheme, initiated in 2013, allowed wealthy individuals to acquire Maltese—and thus EU—citizenship by making significant financial contributions, ranging from €600,000 to €750,000, along with property investments and donations.
• The ECJ determined that selling citizenship commodifies EU nationality, undermining the principles of sincere cooperation and mutual trust among member states.
• Despite reforms in 2020 and the suspension of applications from Russian and Belarusian nationals in 2022, the court found Malta's adjustments insufficient to align with EU treaties.
• The European Commission, which initiated legal proceedings against Malta in 2020, welcomed the ruling, emphasizing that EU citizenship should not be for sale. 

Centre Selects Start-up Sarvam to Build Country’s First Homegrown AI Model

• The Government of India has selected Bengaluru-based startup Sarvam AI to develop the nation's first indigenous large language model (LLM) under the ₹10,372 crore IndiaAI Mission.
• Sarvam AI will receive access to 4,000 high-end GPUs for six months to build the model from scratch, focusing on reasoning capabilities, voice-based tasks, and fluency in Indian languages.
• Sarvam AI plans to develop three variants of the model: Sarvam-Large for advanced reasoning and generation, Sarvam-Small for real-time interactive applications, and Sarvam-Edge for compact on-device tasks. 

India Retains 4th Rank in Global Optimism: Ipsos Survey

• In the April 2025 wave of the Ipsos “What Worries the World” survey, India maintained its 4th position globally in citizen optimism, with 62% of respondents believing the country is moving in the right direction.
• This sentiment aligns with other Asia-Pacific nations leading the optimism index: Singapore (85%), Malaysia (70%), and Indonesia (67%).
• The survey encompassed 29 countries, highlighting that nations in the Global South, particularly in Asia, exhibit higher levels of optimism compared to their Western counterparts.