Current Affairs Quiz - May 2025

Notes:
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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United Kingdom (UK)-based health charity Encephalitis International has launched a global campaign titled ‘Preventing Future Encephalitis: Climate Change and Infectious Disease’ to raise awareness about encephalitis and promote vaccination. Encephalitis is the inflammation of active brain tissues caused by infections or autoimmune responses, affecting over 1.5 million people globally every year. The campaign highlights how climate change increases encephalitis risk by creating conditions for disease-carrying vectors like mosquitoes and ticks to spread. India is among high-burden countries, with 1,548 cases of Japanese encephalitis reported in 2024 from 24 states and union territories.

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The Vembanad Lake Rejuvenation Project, led by the Alappuzha District Administration, is inspired by the Namami Gange Programme for river conservation. A five-year plan worth ₹188.25 crore has been submitted to the Chief Minister of Kerala and may be revised based on studies by the Centre for Water Resources Development and Management (CWRDM). Vembanad Lake is the longest lake in India and the largest in Kerala, stretching about 96.5 kilometres. It spreads across Alappuzha, Kottayam, and Ernakulam districts, covering around 2,033 square kilometres. The lake is known by names like Vembanad Kayal, Punnamada Lake, and Kochi Lake in different regions. It receives water from six rivers, including Meenachil, Achankovil, Pamba, and Manimala, and drains into the Arabian Sea.

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Odisha Housing and Urban Development (H&UD) Minister Krushna Chandra Mahapatra launched SAHAJOG to help urban poor access government welfare schemes. SAHAJOG stands for a unique initiative that identifies eligible urban poor and connects them to social schemes through awareness, doorstep services, and better local implementation. In the first phase, it covers 44 Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) in 8 districts and aims to reach over 15 lakh people. The initiative will run in a fast-track campaign mode till June 20 and aligns with “Viksit Odisha” and “Vikasit Bharat” goals. An app will soon be launched to help connect beneficiaries, and rural areas will be covered in the next phase.

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The government introduced the “Depot Darpan” portal and mobile app to monitor food storage depots in real time. Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution is responsible for launching the Depot Darpan portal. The initiative aims to ensure quality and safety in food grain storage for over 80 crore beneficiaries. Depot Darpan is part of a larger push for scientific warehousing and smart storage solutions. It will allow depot managers to track infrastructure, operational efficiency, and financial performance using geo-tagged data. The platform will provide automated ratings and insights for timely improvements. All data will be 100% validated by supervisory officers and random third-party audits.

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The Prime Minister of India will officially inaugurate the Vizhinjam International Seaport in Kerala, marking a major milestone in global maritime connectivity for the state. Vizhinjam Port is located in Vizhinjam, a coastal town in Thiruvananthapuram district of Kerala. It is India’s first dedicated transshipment port and also the country’s first semi-automated port. The port is built at a cost of about ₹8,900 crore under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model and is operated by the Adani Group, while the Kerala government holds the majority stake. It has the deepest breakwater in India, nearly three kilometres long, with a natural draft of about 20 metres. The port features India’s first home-built, Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered Vessel Traffic Management System, developed with Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras.

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At the recent World Audio Visual Entertainment Summit (WAVES) in Mumbai, the Prime Minister highlighted India’s growing Orange Economy driven by content, creativity and culture. The Orange Economy, also called the creative economy, covers sectors that are based on cultural and creative ideas. As per the United Nations Economic Network, it focuses on using creative assets to boost economic growth and development. It combines economic, cultural and social factors while linking with technology, intellectual property and tourism. It includes industries based on individual talent, skill and innovation that can generate jobs, income and cultural value.

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Tunnel No. 8 (T-8) is set to become India’s longest railway tunnel at 14.57 km, overtaking Tunnel No. 50 (T-50), which is 12.77 km long on the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Railway Link. It is part of the Rishikesh–Karnaprayag Broad Gauge Rail Link Project in Uttarakhand. T-8 is a twin tunnel located on the Devprayag–Janasu stretch of this 125-km rail line. The Rishikesh–Karnaprayag Broad Gauge Rail Link Project is being implemented by Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL), a Navratna Public Sector Undertaking under the Ministry of Railways.

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Reliance NU Suntech recently signed a 25-year Power Purchase Agreement with the Solar Energy Corporation of India Limited (SECI) to build Asia’s largest single-location integrated solar and Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) project. SECI is a Central Public Sector Undertaking (CPSU) under the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), dedicated to expanding Renewable Energy (RE) in India. SECI was formed in 2011 as a not-for-profit company and later became a commercial entity in 2015. It was established to support the National Solar Mission and has Miniratna Category-I status. SECI acts as the main agency for implementing solar, wind, and hybrid energy projects across India. It also helps fulfill India’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) by inviting developers through tenders for RE projects.

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A research team from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) has made the first-ever experimental observation of a two-dimensional layered altermagnet at room temperature. Altermagnets are a new class of antiferromagnetic materials that show momentum-dependent spin splitting without needing spin–orbit coupling (SOC) or overall magnetization. This spin splitting is caused by exchange interactions between magnetic sublattices connected by crystal symmetry, known as C-paired spin-valley locking (SVL). Altermagnets combine the stable spin properties of antiferromagnets with spin-split energy bands, making them promising for next-generation spintronic devices.