Current Affairs 24 November 2025

HAL-HENSOLDT Pact for Advanced Helicopter Safety Systems.

• HAL partnered with Germany’s HENSOLDT to acquire design transfer, IPR, and manufacturing capability for LiDAR-based Obstacle Avoidance and DVE systems.
• Agreement signed at Dubai Air Show 2025, enabling joint design, integration, testing and future export potential.
• Pact boosts India’s indigenous ecosystem in critical helicopter safety tech, a capability held by few nations.

Indonesia Declared Polio-Free by WHO.

• WHO declared end of Indonesia’s type-2 polio outbreak after no detection since Jun 2024.
• 60M+ vaccine doses, nOPV2 campaigns, immunisation rise, hexavalent rollout key with IPV coverage rising from 63% to 73% in 2024.
• Govt warns low-coverage risk; success boosts Western Pacific polio-free status after cases since Oct 2022 across Aceh, Java and Papua regions.

ACITI Trilateral Tech Partnership Launched.

• India, Australia and Canada launched Australia-Canada-India Technology and Innovation (ACITI) Partnership at the G20 Johannesburg Summit to boost cooperation in critical and emerging technologies initiative.
• Focus on clean energy, resilient critical mineral supply chains and AI development and adoption.
• Officials will meet in early 2026 to advance secure, sustainable collaboration.

BEL & Safran Sign JV to manufacture HAMMER Precision Weapon in India.

• Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) and Safran Electronics and Defence of France signed a Joint Venture Cooperation Agreement in New Delhi.
• The agreement is for the production of HAMMER (Highly Agile Modular Munition Extended Range), a smart precision-guided air-to-ground weapon.
• Bharat Electronics Limited will lead the final assembly, testing, and quality assurance.

Anahat Singh wins Indian Open squash title.

• Anahat Singh defeated Joshna Chinappa to win the women’s title at the Indian Open in Indore.
• The 17-year-old, who is India’s number one women’s squash player and the top seed, won the final 3–2 in 54 minutes.
• In the semi-finals, Anahat Singh defeated Irish third seed Hannah Craig 3–2.
• Joshna Chinappa, who was unseeded, beat Egyptian second seed Nadien Elhammamy 3–1 to reach the final.