Daily Current Affairs – 22 April 2025

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Source: The Hindu Description The article underscores the constitutional duty of the President and Governors to act on the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers, as mandated in India’s parliamentary system. Reaffirming this principle, the Supreme Court in State of Tamil Nadu v. Governor of Tamil Nadu (2025) emphasized that these constitutional authorities are not supreme executives but formal heads. The Indian system, as envisioned by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, explicitly rejected the American-style Presidential system. The article calls...

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Source: The Hindu Description India’s creative economy is growing, contributing significantly to exports and employment. However, despite rich traditions of creativity and innovation at grassroots levels, the gap between creativity and innovation remains wide. Global trends show a booming creative economy with over $2 trillion in annual revenue. India must invest in converting creative ideas into scalable innovations, ensure intellectual property (IP) protection, and promote models like “One District, One Innovation.” Empowering local communities through creative solutions and targeted investment...

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Source: The Hindu Description India and China, marking 75 years of diplomatic relations in 2025, are at a geopolitical crossroads. Their relationship, marked by border tensions, trade dependence, and regional rivalry, must now evolve from reactive diplomacy to strategic, long-term engagement. India’s current “competitive coexistence” policy aims to balance deterrence and dialogue, sovereignty and interdependence, rivalry and cooperation. The strategy emphasizes four pillars — military readiness, economic diversification, diplomatic engagement, and narrative control — to manage China’s structural challenge and...

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What are Rare Earth Elements (REEs)? Rare Earth Elements (REEs) are a group of 17 chemically similar elements crucial for various high-tech industries. These include elements like dysprosium, gadolinium, lutetium, samarium, scandium, terbium, and yttrium. Although they are relatively abundant, their extraction and refinement are complex and environmentally challenging. Why did China impose restrictions? China controls the global supply of refined REEs, particularly the heavy ones. Amid the U.S.–China trade tensions, China has imposed export controls—not an outright ban—on the...

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Source: The Hindu Description (English) ISRO has completed the second docking of its satellites SDX01 (Chaser) and SDX02 (Target) under the Space Docking Experiment (SpaDeX) mission. This docking marks a major technological advancement, making India the fourth country after the USA, Russia, and China to demonstrate satellite docking capability. The first docking occurred on 16 January 2025, and undocking followed on 13 March 2025. This technology is crucial for future space missions, including crewed lunar missions, sample return, and space...