Current Affairs Quiz - May 2025

Notes:
Ayushman Bharat Diwas is celebrated every year on April 30 to honour the achievements of the Ayushman Bharat scheme, also known as Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY). PM-JAY is a government health insurance scheme that offers up to ₹5 lakh per family per year for secondary and tertiary hospitalization care. The scheme targets over 10 crore poor and vulnerable families in India who cannot afford expensive medical treatment. It provides cashless and paperless treatment at any accredited hospital across India. On Ayushman Bharat Diwas, events are held nationwide to spread awareness and celebrate the scheme’s impact. The day also recognises the efforts of frontline workers and healthcare professionals involved in delivering quality services to beneficiaries.

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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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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 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 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 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.

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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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The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has recently developed two genome-edited rice varieties, marking a major advancement in Indian agricultural science. ICAR is an autonomous body under the Department of Agricultural Research and Education (DARE), Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Government of India. It was founded on 16 July 1929, initially as the Imperial Council of Agricultural Research, following recommendations from the Royal Commission on Agriculture. ICAR’s headquarters is in New Delhi, and it coordinates research in agriculture, horticulture, fisheries, and animal sciences across India.

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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.