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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A six-year-old girl in Kerala’s Malappuram district sadly died of rabies even after getting preventive vaccination, highlighting a serious public health concern. Rabies is a fatal zoonotic disease caused by the Rabies virus (RABV), which attacks the nervous system. Rabies virus is an RNA virus from the rhabdovirus family and spreads in two main ways in the body. It can directly enter the peripheral nervous system and reach the brain. Or it can first hide and multiply in muscle tissue, then move into the nervous system through neuromuscular junctions. Once in the brain, it causes severe and deadly inflammation.

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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.

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Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting Ashwini Vaishnaw launched the Indian Institute of Creative Technology (IICT) in Mumbai during the WAVES 2025 event. IICT is a national-level institute focused on Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming, and Comics (AVGC). It has already started functioning from the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC) building on Pedder Road, Mumbai. It is established by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting with support from FICCI (Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry) and CII (Confederation of Indian Industry).

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The United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT) has recently launched VoTAN, which stands for Victims of Terrorism Advocacy Network, to support victims and survivors of terrorism worldwide. VoTAN is the result of efforts by the Group of Friends of Victims of Terrorism, co-chaired by Spain and Iraq, which was formed around six years ago to protect the rights of victims. This global network was a major outcome of the 2022 United Nations Global Congress on Victims of Terrorism. It aims to offer a safe platform for victims to connect, heal, build resilience, and act as educators, peacebuilders, and advocates. The network is financially supported by Spain.

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Recently, all political parties in Punjab united and firmly opposed releasing any extra water to Haryana from the Bhakra Dam, showing strong regional consensus. The Bhakra Dam is a concrete gravity dam built across the Sutlej River, located near the Punjab-Himachal Pradesh border. It stands near Bhakra village in Bilaspur district of Himachal Pradesh. It is the world’s highest straight gravity dam with a height of 207.26 meters. It is Asia’s second tallest dam after the 261-meter-high Tehri Dam in Uttarakhand. The dam is 518.25 meters long and about 9.1 meters wide at its crest.

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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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A recent breakthrough came as an international team of scientists successfully mapped the genome of the Saola using tissue fragments from hunter-collected remains. The Saola, scientifically named Pseudoryx nghetinhensis, is one of the rarest land mammals and is nicknamed the “Asian Unicorn” because of its secretive nature. It was first discovered in 1992 during a joint survey by the Vietnamese Ministry of Forestry and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). It is listed as Critically Endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List, with only about 50 to 300 individuals estimated as of 2015. The Saola lives in the evergreen forests of the Annamite Mountains along the Vietnam–Laos border, a region rich in biodiversity and rainfall.

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Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Indian Navy successfully carried out combat firing of the Multi-Influence Ground Mine (MIGM) with reduced explosives. MIGM is an advanced underwater naval mine developed by Naval Science and Technological Laboratory, Visakhapatnam, with support from other DRDO labs. It is designed to target stealth ships and submarines, enhancing the Indian Navy’s underwater combat strength. The mine has intelligent systems with ARM processor-based electronics that process sensor data in real time for precise defence action. Bharat Dynamics Limited and Apollo Microsystems Limited are the production partners. The system will strengthen India’s coastal defence and underwater deterrence.

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In Operation Sindoor, SCALP missiles were recently launched from Indian Rafale fighter jets to hit terror infrastructure deep inside Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). SCALP stands for Système de Croisière Autonome à Longue Portée, which means Long-Range Autonomous Cruise Missile System in French. It is also called ‘Storm Shadow’ in the United Kingdom. SCALP is an air-launched cruise missile designed for long-range, deep-strike missions. It carries conventional explosives and targets high-value, fixed or stationary enemy positions. It was jointly developed by France and the United Kingdom. It is used by the air forces of India, Egypt, Italy, Greece, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates.