Current Affairs Quiz - May, 2021

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:
The Article 164 of the Indian constitution deals with the Provisions of the Minister of a state. It stated that the Chief Minister of a state shall be appointed by the Governor and the other Ministers of the state shall be appointed by the Governor in consultation with the Chief Minister.
It also states that a Minister, who is not an MLA for six consecutive months, ceases to be a Minster, after the expiry of 6 months.

Notes:
Eight Asiatic lions at Hyderabad’s Nehru Zoological Park have tested positive for Covid-19. This is the first case of lions or any other animals testing positive for the coronavirus infection in an Indian zoo.
The samples were tested by Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) and the RT-PCR tests turned out to be positive for Covid-19. However, there is no factual evidence that animals can transmit the disease to humans.

Notes:
The RBI Governor announced certain measures to address the liquidity challenges posed by the pandemic.
Small Finance Banks are now permitted to lend smaller Micro-Finance Institutions (MFIs) (with asset size of up to ₹500 crore) for on-lending to individual borrowers as Priority sector lending. This facility will be available up to March 31, 2022. At present, this lending process is not considered as PSL.

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:
Visual Line of Sight (VLOS) flights, which are operated within the pilot’s line of sight, Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) flights are flown beyond the visual range, enabling the drone to cover far greater distances.
Ministry of Civil Aviation has granted conditional exemption from Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Rules to 20 entities to conduct Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) experimental flights of drones.

Notes:
Several countries have approached the World Trade Organization (WTO) regarding the waiver of intellectual property (IP) protection for Covid-19 vaccines.
Recently, the United States announced support for waiving IP protection for Covid-19 vaccines. US will pursue negotiations on the waiver at the WTO. All 164 WTO members must agree on the draft, and any one member can veto it.

Notes:
Scientists have discovered the oldest known human burial in Africa, at a location named “Panga ya Saidi”. It is an archaeological cave site located in South-Eastern Kenya.
It is a burial of a child aged 2-1/2 or 3 years old, buried in a shallow grave with its head resting on a pillow. The burial is said to be more than 78,000 old.

Notes:
Channel Islands are an archipelago in the English Channel, located between France and the UK, 22 kilometres from the coast of Normandy, France.
They include two Crown dependencies: The Bailiwick of Jersey and the Bailiwick of Guernsey. They recognise Queen Elizabeth II as their head of state and the UK is responsible for the defence and international relations of the islands. Recently, 60 French fishing boats made a blockade in the Jersey islands, which followed a deployment of two Royal Navy vessels from the UK.

Notes:
The United Nations food agency, the Food and Agriculture Organization releases the Food price index, which measures monthly changes for a basket of cereals, oilseeds, dairy products, meat and sugar.
In the recent food price index, World food prices increased for an 11th consecutive month in April at 120.9 points. This is also the highest level of the index since May 2014. The rise in the main indices was led by the price rise of Sugar, as per the United Nations food agency.