27th June 2025

Explanation - Axiom Mission 4 (or Ax-4) is a private spaceflight to the International Space Station. It is operated by Axiom Space and uses a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft. The flight is in collaboration with NASA and will be the fourth flight of Axiom Space after Axiom Mission 1, Axiom Mission 2 and Axiom Mission 3. Launched in June 2025, Axiom-4 will continue the company's pioneering efforts to establish a sustainable human presence in Low Earth Orbit (LEO). 

Explanation - Gaganyaan is the ₹10,000-crore Indian human space flight scheduled for 2027. It is designed to have 3-7 crew members spend 3-7 days in space in a 400-km orbit. GSLV Mk III, also called the LVM-3 (Launch Vehicle Mark-3) the three-stage heavy lift launch vehicle, will be used to launch Gaganyaan as it has the necessary payload capability. Under the Gaganyaan schedule, three flights will be sent in orbit. Of the three, there will be two unmanned flights and one human spaceflight. 

Explanation - Black Mass is the residue obtained after shredding lithium-ion batteries and contains valuable metals like lithium, cobalt, nickel, and manganese. Advanced recovery technologies can achieve high efficiency (97–99%) using dual-mode (wet and dry) processes. The recovered materials meet global standards and cater to both domestic consumption and exports, not just exports. Indigenous development of this technology reduces reliance on imported equipment and helps in recycling critical minerals within the country. 

Explanation - International Potato Centre was founded in 1971 as a research-for-development organisation with a focus on potato, sweet potato and Andean roots and tubers. It delivers innovative science-based solutions to enhance access to affordable nutritious food, foster inclusive sustainable business and employment growth, and drive the climate resilience of root and tuber agri-food systems. CIP is a CGIAR research centre, a global research partnership for a food-secure future. CGIAR science is dedicated to transforming food, land and water systems in a climate crisis. Its research is carried out by 13 CGIAR Centres/Alliances in close collaboration with hundreds of partners, including national and regional research institutes, civil society organisations, academia, development organisations and the private sector. Headquarter: It is in Lima, Peru and it has a research presence in more than 20 countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. The India centre will not only serve domestic farmers, but those in other South Asian countries as well. 

Explanation - Integrated Biodiversity Assessment Tool Alliance was founded in 2008 as collaboration between four of the world's largest and most influential conservation organisations. The four organisations that form part of the Alliance are — BirdLife International, Conservation International, the International Union for Conservation of Nature and the United Nations Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre. IBAT has been a trusted resource for organisations worldwide, supporting the private sector, governments, not-for-profits, and research institutions in making informed biodiversity decisions for nearly two decades. It licences commercial access to the IBAT platform - the world's most authoritative biodiversity data platform, providing trusted data to assess biodiversity risks and align with global frameworks to support nature-positive goals. It provides datasets which are the World Database of Protected Areas (WDPAs), World database of Key Biodiversity Areas (WDKBA) and the IUCN Red list of Threatened Species. It also provides derived datasets - the Rarity-Weighted Richness layer and Species Threat Abatement and Restoration or STAR metric. The IBAT platform provides unique access to these datasets and layers helping to inform your world-leading biodiversity decisions. It is supported by a network of conservation and scientific expertise. This collaboration ensures IBAT provides the gold standard in biodiversity data, helping organisations navigate sustainability challenges with confidence. It is headquartered in Cambridge, UK.