Current Affairs Quiz - May 2025

Notes:
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.

Notes:
Maharashtra has topped the CareEdge State Ranking Report 2025, released by CARE Ratings Ltd (CareEdge Ratings). This is the second edition of the CareEdge State Rankings. The rankings evaluate state performance across seven key pillars: economic performance, fiscal management, infrastructure development, financial sector growth, social development, governance quality, and environmental sustainability. The evaluation uses 50 measurable indicators. The primary aim is to provide a data-driven assessment of state performance. The rankings help identify strengths, gaps, and opportunities for policy improvement. This report offers valuable insights for improving state governance and development strategies.

Notes:
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.

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:
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:
The President of India recently launched the Mediation Association of India and addressed the First National Mediation Conference 2025 in New Delhi. This event highlights the importance of the Mediation Act, 2023, which aims to revive India’s civilisational legacy of resolving disputes peacefully. The Act promotes out-of-court settlements and builds a structured system for mediation across the country. It encourages extending mediation to rural areas by legally empowering Panchayats to resolve village conflicts. This step supports social harmony, which is key to national strength and unity. Mediation reduces court burdens, speeds up justice, and strengthens the judicial system. It also boosts the ease of doing business and ease of living, helping in the journey towards Viksit Bharat by 2047.

Notes:
Maharashtra’s Nashik hosts the ‘Yoga Mahotsav 2025’ as part of the countdown to International Day of Yoga (IDY) 2025. It was organised by Morarji Desai National Institute of Yoga (MDNIY), Ministry of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy (Ayush). The event took place at Gauri Maidan, Panchavati, celebrating India’s Yoga heritage and launching the Yoga Sangam Portal for online registrations. Yoga Sangam is a major initiative under International Day of Yoga (IDY) 2025 to enable synchronized Yoga practice at 1,00,000 locations across India on June 21. The event promoted the Common Yoga Protocol (CYP), focusing on practices like Pranayama and Dhyana to improve health and harmony.

Notes:
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.

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.

Notes:
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.