Current Affairs Quiz - May 2025

Notes:
Under the Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban, Ghaziabad issued India’s first Certified Green Municipal Bond, raising ₹150 crore for a Tertiary Sewage Treatment Plant (TSTP). This bond marks a major shift towards sustainable urban infrastructure and financial innovation. The Tertiary Sewage Treatment Plant uses advanced Membrane Filtration Technologies like microfiltration, ultrafiltration, nanofiltration, and reverse osmosis (RO) to treat wastewater. The plant has a treatment capacity of 40 Million Litres per Day (MLD) and is linked to a 95 km pipeline network. It supplies treated water to over 1,400 industrial units, cutting dependence on freshwater sources.

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Finalists from 11 cities were selected through regional contests to compete in the WAM! (WAVES Anime & Manga Contest) national finale at WAVES 2025. The World Audio-Visual & Entertainment Summit (WAVES) 2025 is held from May 1 to 4, 2025, at the Jio World Convention Centre in Mumbai, India. WAVES (World Audio-Visual & Entertainment Summit) 2025 promotes India’s talent in Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming, Comics, and Extended Reality (AVGC-XR). The summit is themed “Create in India, Create for the World” to position India as a global creative powerhouse.

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Less than 1% of doctors in India have registered with the National Medical Register (NMR) eight months after its launch. National Medical Register (NMR) is a centralized digital database that includes all licensed allopathic (MBBS) doctors in India. It was launched in August 2024 under Section 31 of the National Medical Commission (NMC) Act, 2019. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, is the nodal ministry for the NMR. The NMR aims to create a comprehensive registry of all allopathic doctors in India, ensuring transparency and accountability in the medical field. It also enhances public trust, helps in credential verification, and aids in policy planning for healthcare.

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The government has revamped the National Security Advisory Board (NSAB) after the Pahalgam terror attack, appointing former intelligence chief Alok Joshi as chairman. National Security Advisory Board (NSAB) is an advisory body under the National Security Council (NSC) structure. It is chaired by the Prime Minister, supported by the National Security Advisor (NSA) and the National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS). Established in 1998 after the Pokhran-II nuclear tests, it institutionalized India’s national security framework. The NSAB provides non-partisan strategic inputs on national security issues but is not a decision-making body. It reports to the NSCS and includes experts from various sectors.

Notes:
Global defence spending is rising fast due to uncertainty and rapid technology growth. As per Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), military expenditure reached $2.718 trillion in 2024, a 9.4% rise from 2023. China has the largest active military force with 2,035,000 personnel in 2025, according to Global Firepower. India ranks second with about 1,455,550 active personnel, showing strong defence strength and rising South Asian influence. The United States of America stands third with 1,328,000 troops, slightly reduced due to more focus on tech-based defence. Russia and Ukraine boosted troop numbers since 2022 due to ongoing conflict between them.

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The International Monetary Fund (IMF) recently projected that global public debt may surpass the COVID-19 pandemic level of 98.9% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) recorded in 2020. Sudan now has the highest debt-to-GDP ratio in the world at 252%, due to long-term conflict and economic struggles. Among developed countries, Japan ranks second with a debt-to-GDP ratio of 234.9%, mainly due to fiscal deficits and an ageing population. The United States ranks eighth with a ratio of 123%, while France and Canada follow with 116.3% and slightly lower respectively. China ranks 21st globally with a public debt ratio of 96%, which is lower than many advanced economies. India stands at 31st with a debt-to-GDP ratio of 80%, and the central government aims to reduce it to 50±1% by March 31, 2031.

Notes:
All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Bhopal has ranked second nationwide for its paperless and queue-less Outpatient Department (OPD) registration under the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM). The ranking was announced by the National Health Authority (NHA), Government of India. AIIMS Bhopal generated over 1.45 million OPD tokens using the ‘Scan and Share’ service. AIIMS New Delhi holds the first position in the ranking. The ‘Scan and Share’ system allows patients to scan a QR code with their smartphones to get OPD tokens instantly.

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The Governor of Telangana, Jishnu Dev Verma, inaugurated Babuji Vanam, the world’s first energy transmission garden in Hyderabad. The garden was developed in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture to mark the 125th birth anniversary of Babuji Maharaj and the end of a year-long national celebration. Located in Kanha Village, Ranga Reddy district, Telangana, the site promotes yogic energy transmission called Pranahuti. The initiative is led by Heartfulness and promotes meditation, wellness, and sustainable living. More than 50,000 people attended the event in person, while millions joined online from 165 countries.

Notes:
A new mosquito species called the “Pwani molecular form” has been found in coastal areas of Tanzania and Kenya, drawing global attention to malaria control. It belongs to the Anopheles gambiae complex, which includes some of the world’s most dangerous malaria-spreading mosquitoes. This mosquito shows strong genetic differences from other species in the same group, suggesting unique behaviour or environmental adaptation. Genetic studies confirm it is only found along the coastal regions of East Africa, mainly in Tanzania and Kenya. It does not carry the usual genes for insecticide resistance found in other malaria vectors. This may mean it has a different resistance method or is more sensitive to current insecticides.

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Scientists from the University of Oxford have suggested a new way to monitor volcanic eruptions using a method called shear-wave splitting. Shear-wave splitting happens when seismic waves travel at different speeds depending on their direction, especially through rocks with tiny cracks. This technique was studied at Mount Ontake in Japan, which is an active stratovolcano located on Honshū Island, near Tokyo. Mount Ontake is Japan’s second-highest volcano and lies in the Pacific Ring of Fire.