Current Affairs Quiz - May 2025

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The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has made it mandatory for all banks, financial institutions, and regulated entities to submit applications through the PRAVAAH portal from May 1, 2025. PRAVAAH stands for Platform for Regulatory Application, Validation, and Authorization. It is a secure, web-based digital portal launched by RBI on May 28, 2024. The portal serves as a single-window system for applying for RBI permissions, licenses, and approvals. This step aims to improve transparency, reduce paperwork, and speed up the approval process. It ensures faster communication between applicants and the RBI.

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The American Association of Petroleum Geologists and the United States Geological Survey (USGS) have recently launched formal hydrogen exploration initiatives. Hydrogen is seen as the fuel of the future due to its ability to help decarbonize the global economy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Natural hydrogen, or white hydrogen, is hydrogen that naturally occurs in the Earth’s crust, unlike industrially produced hydrogen. It forms through geological processes such as serpentinisation, where water reacts with iron-rich rocks, radiolysis, the breakdown of water by radioactive rocks, and the decomposition of organic matter in deep geological formations.

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Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty recently received the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award for their outstanding achievements in badminton. The pair reached the No. 1 rank in the Badminton World Federation rankings in 2023 and won the Asian Games gold medal in Hangzhou. The Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award was originally established as the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna in 1991–92 and renamed in 2021. It is India’s highest sporting honour, given for the most exceptional performance by a sportsperson over the last four years. Only performances in recognized international events are eligible for consideration. The award includes a ₹25 lakh cash prize, a medal, and a certificate of honour, with typically one award given each year.

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The United States has recently approved a military hardware and logistics support package for India to assist in the Integrated Platform for Maritime Domain Awareness (IPMDA). IPMDA is a technology and training initiative designed to boost maritime domain awareness in the Indo-Pacific region and increase transparency in its vital waterways. It was announced by the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (QUAD), which includes India, Australia, Japan, and the United States, during the Tokyo summit in 2022. The initiative uses innovative technology to provide near real-time information on maritime activities to partners in Southeast Asia, the Indian Ocean region, and the Pacific.

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The Election Commission of India (ECI) will soon launch a new digital platform called ECINET to streamline electoral services. ECINET is a single-point user-friendly interface for voters, election officials, political parties, and civil society. It will integrate over 40 existing mobile and web apps of the ECI into one platform. Popular apps like Voter Helpline, Voter Turnout, cVIGIL, Suvidha 2.0, Electoral Search and Management System (ESMS), Saksham, and Know Your Candidate (KYC) will be merged into ECINET. It will offer a clean User Interface (UI) and smooth User Experience (UX), reducing the need to download multiple apps. ECINET will follow the Representation of the People Act 1950, 1951, and related rules and guidelines.

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World Asthma Day 2025 is observed on 6th May, which is the first Tuesday of May. It is a global event organized every year by the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) to raise awareness about asthma. The day focuses on educating people about asthma, its triggers, and how it affects daily life. It began in 1998 during the first World Asthma Meeting in Barcelona, Spain. The theme for World Asthma Day 2025 is “Make Inhaled Treatments Accessible for ALL”. This theme highlights the urgent need for everyone with asthma to access inhaled medicines for better control. Asthma is a chronic disease where the lung airways become narrow, swollen, and produce extra mucus.

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International No Diet Day is observed annually on May 6th. International No Diet Day is a global event celebrated to promote body positivity and self-acceptance. It challenges harmful social norms that link beauty only with thinness and fights against fatphobia and weight discrimination. The day also raises awareness about the dangers of extreme dieting and encourages people to focus on overall well-being. It was started in 1992 by British feminist Mary Evans Young, who struggled with anorexia and later founded the Diet Breakers organization.

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Public trespassing in the ecologically sensitive Bhimgad Wildlife Sanctuary (BWS) in Khanapur taluk has raised major concerns among conservationists recently. Bhimgad Wildlife Sanctuary is located in the Western Ghats in the Belgaum district of Karnataka. It was declared a wildlife sanctuary in December 2011 to protect its rich biodiversity. The sanctuary is named after the historic Bhimgad Fort, built by Shivaji Maharaj in the 17th century to defend against Portuguese forces. It borders Dandeli Wildlife Sanctuary, Bhagwan Mahaveer Sanctuary, Mollem National Park, Netravali Wildlife Sanctuary, and Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary.

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NASA’s Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) recently solved the mystery behind X-ray emissions in black hole jets. IXPE is a joint satellite mission by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the Italian Space Agency, launched on December 9, 2021. It is the first satellite designed to measure the polarisation of X-ray light, helping scientists study extreme cosmic environments. The mission focused on blazars, which are a type of active galactic nucleus with a supermassive black hole ejecting a powerful jet of particles aimed toward Earth.

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The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved the revised SHAKTI scheme on May 8, 2025. SHAKTI stands for Scheme for Harnessing and Allocating Koyala Transparently in India, aimed at providing coal to thermal power plants. The revised policy simplifies the coal linkage process to help power plants meet short-term and long-term needs. It introduces two windows: coal at notified price and coal at premium over notified price. Central and state thermal power projects, including joint ventures, will get coal at notified price as per existing rules. States can allocate this coal to their own power companies or Independent Power Producers (IPPs) chosen through Tariff-Based Competitive Bidding (TBCB).