Current Affairs Quiz - May, 2021

Notes:
Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay (IIT-B), has set up a demonstration unit to convert nitrogen generators, into oxygen generators by modifying the existing nitrogen plant set up.
The oxygen generated by this plant at IIT-B lab was tested and found to be 93-96% pure and at 3.5 atmospheric pressure. Nitrogen plants work on Pressure swing adsorption (PSA) technology, where air from the atmosphere is sucked in, filtered and nitrogen is extracted. Oxygen, a by-product, is released back into the atmosphere.

Notes:
Researchers have discovered the world’s first-known pregnant mummy, in the Warsaw Mummy Project.
The mummy, which is said to be dating from the first century in Egypt, has been found inside the coffin belonging to a male priest. The mummy was donated to the University of Warsaw in Poland in 1826. This discovery helps the researchers to gather first hand evidence of prenatal health in ancient times.

Notes:
The Government of India has announced the establishment 2+2 dialogue at the foreign and defence minister level between India and Russia.
As of now, India has a mechanism of 2+2 partnership only with the USA, Australia and Japan. Russia will now become the first non-Quad country to have this mechanism with India.

Notes:
Scientists of Agharkar Research Institute (ARI), Pune in collaboration with Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR) have developed a new high-yielding and pest-resistant variety of soybean named MACS 1407.
This seed is suited for cultivation in North Eastern states and in states like West Bengal, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh.

Notes:
The Government of India has brought down the IGST for import of Oxygen Concentrators for personal use from the present 28% slab to 12%.
This would be applicable till 30th June 2021. This rare reduction comes in the wake of a sudden surge in the demand for oxygen, used for Covid 19 infected patients.

Notes:
Justice (retired) Prafulla Chandra Pant, who is a member of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), has been appointed its Acting Chairperson with effect from April 25 2021.
Prior to his appointment as NHRC member, he was a Judge of the Supreme Court from 2014 to 2017. He had also held the position of Chief Justice of the High Court of Meghalaya from 2013 to 2014.

Notes:
Significant Economic Presence (SEP) principle was introduced in the Finance Bill 2018-19. It widened the scope of ‘business connection’ to include download of data or software, if aggregate payments from such transactions exceed a prescribed amount, or a prescribed number of users.
India recently notified a revenue threshold of Rs 2 crore and a limit of 300,000 users for non-resident technology firms such as Google, Facebook, to pay tax in India.

Notes:
A team of palaeontologists has identified a new species of hadrosaur or duck-billed dinosaur, Yamatosaurus izanagii, on one of the southern islands of Japan.
This discovery suggests new information about hadrosaur migration that the animals migrated from Asia to North America. It also highlights that the giant creatures evolved from walking upright to walking on all four limbs.

Notes:
India’s GDP forecast for the FY 2021-22 has been revised to 9.8% by S&P Global Ratings recently. The rating has been downgraded from its earlier projections of 11%.
This downgrade comes in the wake of the second COVID wave in India. The agency stated that the second wave could weaken the economic recovery.

Notes:
The Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (SEBC) Act, 2018 was enacted to grant reservation to people of Maratha community in Maharashtra in jobs and admissions.
Recently, the Supreme Court passed an interim order staying the implementation of a law passed by the Maharashtra government in 2018. It also clarified that those who had already availed will not be affected while no further admissions will be allowed till the final decision is made.