Current Affairs Quiz - May, 2021

Notes:
A team of researchers in Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Bhopal have studied “N-protein” in Covid virus. It has been found that this N Protein promotes the incorporation of the spike protein into viral particles.
The infectivity levels of the virus have been found to significantly vary with the levels of N Protein present in it.

Notes:
The crops that are sown in the rainy season are called kharif crops in India. They are also known as the summer or monsoon crop. Kharif crops are usually sown with the beginning of the first rains in July, during the south-west monsoon season.
Tur/arhar (pigeon pea), urad (black matpe) and moong (green gram) are the major pulses in this season. The Ministry of Agriculture has recently formulated a special Kharif strategy to attain self-sufficiency in the production of pulses.

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:
The United States commemorates the month of May as the ‘Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month’.
It recognizes the contributions of Asian Americans and Pacific Islander Americans to the history, culture, and achievements of the United States. Large organisations including NASA and Google celebrate the heritage month.

Notes:
In a first of its kind, genetically modified mosquitoes have been released in the USA by a biotech firm Oxitec.
The mosquitoes have been released with an aim to suppress the disease-carrying mosquito populations in the region. Previously, the company released its modified Aedes aegypti mosquitoes in Brazil, the Cayman Islands, Panama, and Malaysia, it is reported that the local A. aegypti mosquito populations fell by at least 90%.

Notes:
For the first time, NASA’s Perseverance rover captured the low-pitched sound of the Ingenuity helicopter’s blades as it flies through the atmosphere of the Mars.
NASA released new footage shot by the six-wheeled robot making its fourth flight on April 30. Perseverance landed in the Jezero crater in February on a mission to search for signs of ancient microbes.

Notes:
Mountain bongos are the largest among African forest antelopes, are a critically endangered species. According to the IUCN’s Red List of Threatened Species, there are only 70-80 adult bongos left in the wild.
Recently, a baby mountain bongo, born two weeks ago at Warsaw Zoo in Poland, appeared in public. The animals are nocturnal and have long horns and reddish-brown coat offset with thin vertical lines.

Notes:
The argan tree (Argania spinosa) is a native species of the sub-Saharan region of Morocco. It is a North African country bordering the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea.
The tree which grows in arid and semiarid areas, produces Argan oil, one of the rarest oils in the world and is hailed as the “liquid gold” of Morocco. The United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 10 May the International Day of Argania.

Notes:
Padmakumar M Nair of State Bank of India (SBI) will be the Chief executive officer of National Asset Reconstruction Company (NARCL).
NARCL, also called as the ‘bad’ bank, is expected to be operational in June 2021. It is a proposed entity for taking over bad loans of lenders, predominantly public sector banks.

Notes:
The Joe Biden Administration gave final approval to the construction of the country’s first commercial-scale offshore wind farm.
Named the Vineyard Wind project, the construction of the project is to begin this summer. The project includes setting up of 84 turbines in the Atlantic Ocean about 12 nautical miles off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard, Mass. The plants could together generate about 800 megawatts of electricity.