Mar 14, 2025 | Current Affairs for UPSC, State PCS & other Govt. Exams

The PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana (PMSGMBY) has crossed 10 lakh rooftop solar installations as of March 10, 2025. Launched by PM Modi on February 13, 2024, the scheme aims to solarize 1 crore households by 2026-27.

So far, ₹4,770 crore in subsidies has been disbursed to 6.13 lakh beneficiaries, with a total 3 GW of solar capacity installed.

The Indian Railways will dig ponds as part of the Union government's Mission Amrit Sarovar, an initiative aimed at addressing water scarcity in the country. Launched in April 2022, the mission set an ambitious goal of constructing or rejuvenating 75 ponds in each district.

As of October 2024, the project has made significant progress, with over 68,000 ponds completed, contributing to the rejuvenation of surface and groundwater resources across various regions.

On March 4, 2025, the Supreme Court of India ruled that the right against disability-based discrimination is a fundamental right, aligning with the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (RPwD) Act, 2016.

The judgment allows visually impaired candidates to participate in judicial service recruitment, reinforcing the principles of equal opportunity and reasonable accommodation.

The verdict was delivered by a bench while hearing petitions related to the Madhya Pradesh Judicial Service Examination Rules, 1994, and the Rajasthan Judicial Service Rules, 2010.

Fired clay brick production emits nearly 300 million tonnes of carbon dioxide annually, a figure expected to rise with increasing urbanization. A promising alternative is mycelium bricks, made from mycelia—the branching filaments of fungi that form its vegetative part.

Researchers have harnessed mycelium to create biodegradable, fire-resistant, and insulative bricks by combining husk, sawdust, and fungal spores to form a fibrous network that solidifies into a lightweight material within days.

Mycelium-based components also have potential applications in liquid filters, sports equipment, and printed circuit boards. However, despite their high strength-to-weight ratio, they are significantly weaker than concrete, susceptible to moisture, and biodegrade within a few years.

Additionally, large-scale production remains a challenge.

Yet, these limitations present opportunities for innovation rather than reasons to dismiss mycelium bricks. The biggest hurdle remains consumer perception, which needs to shift towards accepting sustainable construction alternatives.

A metal is a material defined by specific properties, including high electrical conductivity. Every metal has a finite conductivity—a measure of how well it conducts electricity—under specific conditions, which changes when the metal is heated or cooled.

For example, at 20º C, the electrical conductivity of zinc is approximately 16.9 million siemens per meter. However, when cooled to –272.3º C, its conductivity becomes infinite. This occurs because, at this temperature, zinc becomes a superconductor, meaning it can conduct electric current with zero resistance.

Below a critical temperature—–272.3º C in zinc's case—the net force on electrons becomes weakly attractive, causing them to pair up without moving closer together. These Cooper pairs behave in a way that individual electrons cannot, enabling superconductivity.

A Bose metal is a type of anomalous metallic state (AMS) where Cooper pairs form but do not condense into a superconducting state. Until now, Bose metals had only been theoretically predicted, with no successful synthesis or discovery.

However, on February 13, 2025, a team of researchers from China and Japan reported in the journal Physical Review Letters that they had found strong evidence that niobium diselenide (NbSe₂) can exhibit Bose metal behavior.

Using Raman spectroscopy, the team observed that thin NbSe₂ contained Cooper pairs without transitioning into a superconducting state.

Although Bose metals currently have no practical applications, they provide a rich area for physics research, potentially leading to future innovations.

On March 3, 2025, Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost spacecraft successfully landed on the Moon. As part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program, this marks the third private Moon mission and the first to achieve an almost flawless landing.