Current Affairs Quiz - May 2025

Notes:
The Supreme Court recently dismissed a plea alleging illegal mining in Bandhavgarh National Park, Madhya Pradesh, calling it a frivolous abuse of law and imposed a ₹1 lakh penalty on the petitioner. Bandhavgarh National Park is located in the Umaria district of Madhya Pradesh. It lies across the Vindhya hills, known for their forested terrain and wildlife. It was declared a national park in 1968 and became a Tiger Reserve in 1993 under Project Tiger. The park is famous for its Royal Bengal Tigers.

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.

Notes:
Kamla Persad-Bissessar has been elected as the next Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago after her party, United National Congress, won the parliamentary elections. This marks a strong comeback for the 73-year-old leader who earlier served as Prime Minister from 2010 to 2015. She remains the only woman ever to have led the Caribbean nation. Trinidad and Tobago is a twin-island country in the Caribbean with its capital at Port of Spain.

Notes:
Every year on May 3, World Press Freedom Day is celebrated to highlight the vital role of the media, known as the fourth pillar of democracy. The day spreads awareness about the struggles faced by journalists and supports the free flow of information. It honours media professionals who have risked or lost their lives in search of truth. This year’s theme is ‘Reporting In The Brave New World – The Impact Of Artificial Intelligence On Press Freedom And The Media.’ The day was established by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in 1993 after a 1991 recommendation by UNESCO.

Notes:
At least six people died and more than 70 were injured in a tragic stampede during the annual Lairai Jatra procession at Shree Lairai Devi Temple in Shirgaon, North Goa. The Lairai Devi Temple, located in Shirgao village, is dedicated to Goddess Lairai, believed to be an incarnation of Goddess Parvati. The temple is significant to both local Hindus and Catholics, who regard Lairai Devi and the Virgin Mary of Mapusa as sisters. The Lairai Jatra includes a fire-walking ritual where devotees walk across embers, believing the righteous will be protected. The tragedy occurred during the late-night procession and ritual celebrations.

Notes:
A recent report by the Wildlife Justice Commission (WJC) says global trafficking of pangolin scales has dropped sharply since 2020 due to COVID-19 disruptions, strong law enforcement, and changing smuggling methods. Pangolins are insect-eating mammals found in tropical forests, grasslands, and farms, often near people. There are 8 species of pangolins — 4 in Africa and 4 in Asia, including the Indian pangolin found in India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh. They eat ants and termites, helping control pests and improve soil, which supports healthy ecosystems. Pangolins are hunted for their meat and scales used in traditional medicine. The Indian pangolin is listed as Endangered and the Chinese pangolin as Critically Endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List.

Notes:
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.

Notes:
Recently, scientists observed repeated unrest at Campi Flegrei between 1982–1984 and 2011–2024, involving land uplift, earthquakes, and underground rumbling due to rising fluid pressure. Campi Flegrei, also called the Phlegraean Fields, is an active volcanic system located near Naples, Italy. Unlike single-cone volcanoes like Mount Vesuvius, Campi Flegrei is a large caldera, which is a sunken volcanic area formed after a huge eruption. The caldera spans about 12 to 15 kilometers and was formed by a massive eruption nearly 39,000 years ago. That eruption may have triggered climate changes that contributed to the decline of Neanderthals.

Notes:
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:
In a major step toward digital transformation, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister laid the foundation for India’s first Artificial Intelligence-based Data Center Park in Raipur. The facility will start with a five megawatt capacity and aims to grow to 150 megawatts. A 2.7-hectare area is being developed as a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) focused on Artificial Intelligence (AI) services. The project will see an investment of Rs 2,000 crore as it expands. The center will support green, energy-efficient technologies for sustainable operations. It will serve sectors like AI, Financial Technology (FinTech), Health Technology (HealthTech), defense, and data analytics. The infrastructure will use Graphics Processing Unit (GPU)-based systems for real-time data processing, streaming, and analytics.