Current Affairs Quiz - May, 2021

Notes:
Manoj Das, a famous 20th century Odia and English writer has recently passed away recently. Many of his short stories were translated into major Indian and foreign languages.
He received several national awards, including the Padma Bhushan award last year. He was also awarded with several other awards including Kendriya Sahitya Akademi Award, Odisha Sahitya Akademi Award, Sarala Award and Sahitya Bharati Award.

Notes:
The Department of Expenditure has issued fresh guidelines on the Scheme of Financial Assistance to States for Capital Expenditure for the financial year 2021-22.
Under the Scheme, financial assistance is provided to the State Governments in the form of 50-year interest free loan. The Finance Ministry has decided to provide an additional amount of up to Rs 15000 crore.

Notes:
The Litani River is an important water resource located in Lebanon. It rises Beqaa Valley and gets into the Mediterranean Sea.
Recently, tonnes of dead fish have washed up on the banks of the Qaraoun lake on Lebanon’s Litani river. Environmental Activists have been warning of water pollution caused by sewage and waste, near the lake for several years.

Notes:
The Indian Government has revised the Foreign Trade Policy, 2015-2020 and allowed the import of oxygen concentrators for personal use, amid a surge in Covid-19 cases in the country.
According to a notification of the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), oxygen concentrators have been added to the list of exempted categories, where customs clearance is sought as ”gifts”. They can be procured through post, courier or e-commerce portals and the exemption is allowed till July 31, 2021.

Notes:
The Benin Bronzes are a group of over a thousand metal plaques and sculptures which were placed in the royal palace of the Kingdom of Benin, the present-day Nigeria.
Germany announced that it would start returning the artefacts known as the Benin bronzes that are held in its museums to Nigeria from next year. British soldiers seized thousands of the sculptures in 1897 during a raid on the Kingdom of Benin. They were then auctioned to many other countries.

Notes:
Australian ace tennis player Ashleigh Barty has won the single title of Porsche Tennis Grand Prix 2021 held at Stuttgart (Germany).
She became the first Australian to win the tournament’s singles title. She has also won the doubles title immediately after the singles tournament, together with Jennifer Brady of USA.

Notes:
Special 301 Report, released by the U.S, focusses on the effectiveness of the protection of US trading partners and enforcement of intellectual property rights (IPR).
The US Trade Representative in its recent report placed India and eight other countries including China, Russia, Saudi Arabia on the Priority Watch List for IP protection and enforcement.

Notes:
Indian gymnast Pranati Nayak has been qualified to participate in the Tokyo Olympics after qualifying through the continental quota.
The 26-year-old from West Bengal had earlier claimed a bronze in vault at the Asian Artistic Gymnastic Championships in 2019.

Notes:
The Crew 1 Dragon capsule belonging to Space X, has successfully returned from outer space, from the International Space Station (ISS) to the Earth.
The capsule returned NASA’s Michael Hopkins, Victor Glover, Shannon Walker and Japanese Astronaut Soichi Noguchi back to the Earth from ISS. It made a parachute landing into the Gulf of Mexico.

Notes:
Manas Bihari Verma – a reputed aeronautical scientist and Padma Shri Awardee died recently of suffering a massive heart attack. He was 78 years old.
He has been the man behind the country’s first Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) ‘Tejas’ and has closely worked with former president Dr.APJ Abdul Kalam.