Current Affairs Quiz - May, 2021

Notes:
Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) has become the third strongest and the tenth most valuable insurance brand globally.
According to a report by Brand Finance Insurance 100 2021, LIC’s brand value increased by almost 7 per cent to $8.65 billion. There are 5 Chinese Insurance companies in the top 10 with Ping An Insurance at the top place.

Notes:
Lag B’Omer, an annual religious holiday celebrated with all-night bonfires, prayer and dancing, at Mount Meron, Northern Israel.
Recently, around 40 people were killed and over 100 were injured in a stampede that broke out during the religious gathering attended by tens of thousands of people. Mount Meron is considered to be one of the holiest sites in the Jewish world.

Notes:
The UN Population Fund announced that the United Kingdom Government has decided to cut 85% of aid funding pledged to the United Nations global family planning programme.
While the UK had pledged £154m for its projects, it is set to contribute only £23m this year. The UNFPA said the UK’s decision would be devastating for women and girls and their families across the world.

Notes:
The Finance Ministry has recently released in advance the first instalment worth Rs 8,873.6 crore of the state disaster response fund (SDRF) for the current fiscal, to the states.
SDRF contribution is released in two equal instalments to the states, as per the recommendation of the Finance Commission. Normally, the first instalment of SDRF is released in the month of June. Around half of the amount released, can be used by the states for COVID-19 containment measures.

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:
The World Health Organisation, through its Emergency Use Listing (EUL) procedure, allows countries to use their own regulatory approval processes to import and administer the vaccine.
It also enables UNICEF and Health Organizations to procure the vaccine for distribution to needy countries. WHO has recently given the approval for emergency use of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine.

Notes:
Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) has launched two new quick credit delivery schemes to provide funding for production related to supply of oxygen cylinders, oxygen concentrators, oximeters and essential drugs.
These new initiatives would help MSMEs quickly improve their facilities: SHWAS (SIDBI assistance to Healthcare sector in War Against Second wave of COVID19) and AROG (SIDBI Assistance to MSMEs for Recovery & Organic Growth during COVID19 pandemic).

Notes:
The Government of India has fixed the food grain production target for crop year 2021-22 at a record high of 307.31 million tonnes. This high target has bene envisaged amidst the ongoing COVID 19 pandemic and the associated supply side disruptions.
This target is 1.3% more than the previous year’s estimated food grain production.

Notes:
Indian Army inaugurated the First Green Solar Energy harnessing plant of 56 KVA in North Sikkim, at an altitude of 16000 ft.
The project, which uses Vanadium based battery technology, was completed in collaboration with IIT Mumbai. India has fixed a target of producing 175 GW of renewable energy by 2022.

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.