Current Affairs Quiz - May, 2021

Notes:
Tata Group has proposed to purchase online grocer Big Basket and it has received the approval from Competition Commission of India for the acquisition.
Tata Group’s digital arm Tata Digital Ltd would acquire Big Basket for a value of Rs.9,500 crore, which is 64.3% of the total share capital of Big Basket.

Notes:
China has launched the Tianhe module, which is a key component of the new permanent space station of the country. The launch was made using the country’s Long March-5B rocket.
The component launched to space consists of living quarters for crew members. China has proposed to make the space station operational by the year 2022.

Notes:
Michael Collins, who was the pilot of NASA’s Apollo 11 which carried Neil Armstrong to the moon, died recently. He was 90 years of age and he battled cancer disease.
He was a recipient of the Presidential Medal for Freedom in 1969 the NASA Exceptional Service Medal for his brave manoeuvring of the Apollo 11 mission spacecraft.

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:
India’s leading private lender ICICI Bank recently launched a digital platform ‘Merchant Stack’ to serve over 2 crore retail merchants in the country.
The main features include instant credit facilities, zero-balance current account and digital store management. It provides ‘contactless’ banking services and dynamic credit limit to the customers.

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:
NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter had demonstrated powered, controlled flight on the Red planet. Now, the helicopter is to demonstrate a new activity.
The Ingenuity experiment will function in a demonstration phase, after the helicopter completes its next two flights. It will start exploring how aerial scouting and other aerial functions could benefit future exploration of Mars and other regions.

Notes:
The MPLADS (Member of Parliament Local Area Development Fund) is administered by the Union Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI).
In view of the ongoing COVID pandemic, the Government of India has permitted the use of MPLADS funds for setting up oxygen manufacturing units in government hospitals, for the FY 2021-22.

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:
As per SEBI, Alternative Investment Fund means any privately pooled investment fund established in India which collects funds from sophisticated investors, (Indian or foreign), for investing as per a defined investment policy for the benefit of its investors.
The Union Labour ministry has notified the changes in the investment pattern of the Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO). It has permitted the body to invest up to 5% of its surplus in alternate investment funds (AIFs) which support infrastructure, MSMEs, venture capital funds and social venture capital funds.