Current Affairs Quiz - May, 2021

Notes:
Tvasta Manufacturing Solutions which is a start-up firm formed by alumni of IIT Madras in 2016, has constructed India’s first 3D-printed house.
Concrete 3D Printing technology is an automated and computerised manufacturing method, which creates real time 3D structures from a design file.

Notes:
A seabed mining robot, which was being tested on the Pacific Ocean floor at a depth of more than 4 km has become detached.
Patania II is a 25-tonne mining robot prototype, which was being tested by Global Sea Mineral Resources (GSR), the deep-sea exploratory division of the famous dredging company DEME Group. The robot was meant to collect the nodules rich in cobalt and other battery metals found on the seabed.

Notes:
The Government of Turkey’s official gazette recently added the firms involved in Cryptocurrency Trading, into the ambit of anti-money laundering and terrorism financing regulation.
This amendment has come into force with immediate effect. This regulation includes all crypto asset service providers operating the country. German’s central bank has banned the use of cryptocurrency for payments and settlements.

Notes:
Padma river is main distributary of the Ganges, which forms the western boundary between India and Bangladesh before it enters Bangladesh.
Recently, a ferryboat with over 30 passengers overturned after hitting a sand-laden cargo vessel in the Padma River. At least 26 people dead in the accident occurred at the old Kanthalbari ferry terminal of Bangladesh.

Notes:
The First supply of UCO (Used Cooking Oil) based Biodiesel blended Diesel was flagged off recently from Indian Oil’s Tikrikalan Terminal, New Delhi.
The flagging off ceremony was presided over by Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas and Steel, Shri Dharmendra Pradhan. Earlier in 2019, petroleum and health ministries had initiated Expressions of Interest for “Procurement of Biodiesel produced from Used Cooking Oil”. IOCL has received 51KL of UCO-Biodiesel till March 2021.

Notes:
The United States’ National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has released the new climate normal. The data reveal that weather across the US is getting warmer.
NOAA releases the climate normals every 10 years and they reflect the data from the past 30 years. The recently released data set comprises of the average temperature, precipitation and rainfall from 1991 to 2020.

Notes:
‘Mayflower 400’ is the world’s first Artificial intelligent ship. This ship is covered in solar panels and will study marine pollution and analyse plastic present in water and track aquatic mammals.
Hundreds of individuals from different countries such as India, United States and Switzerland, were involved in the making of this ship.

Notes:
Cinco de Mayo, which literally means May the fifth in Spanish, is a celebration every year in Mexico and the United States. It marks the military victory of Mexico on its soil over French forces in 1862.
In late 1861, when Mexico was being led by President Benito Juárez, a French fleet attacked the Mexican port of Veracruz and moved to the capital Mexico City. The Mexican forces defeated the advancing French troop, which helped to establish a sense of national unity in the country.

Notes:
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has rationalized the know your customer (KYC) compliance on May 5th 2021, in the wake of COVID 19 second wave in the country.
Under this, RBI has widened the scope of video-based customer Identification process (V-CIP) for proprietorship firms, authorized signatories and beneficial owners of Legal Entities. Submission of identity documents using electronic modes is also enabled by the central bank.

Notes:
A new and endemic trap-jaw ant species named ‘Strumigenys ayersthey’ has been discovered in Ecuador.
The ant species can be distinguished by its smooth and shining cuticle surface and long trap-jaw mandibles. Ecuador is known for its highest animal and plant species diversity due to the three bio-regions present: The Amazon basin, the Chocó-Darién bioregion and the Tumbesian drylands.