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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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.

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The Asian Games 2026 will be held in Aichi and Nagoya, Japan, from September 19 to October 4. This will mark the third time the Asian Games is being hosted in Japan, after Tokyo in 1958 and Hiroshima in 1994. Cricket has been officially retained for the Asian Games 2026. Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) will make its debut in the 2026 edition of the continental event.

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Vietnam hosts the United Nations (UN) Day of Vesak in 2025 from May 6 to 8 in Ho Chi Minh City. The United Nations Day of Vesak marks the birth, enlightenment, and passing away of Lord Buddha. In a historic first, the sacred Buddha Relic from Sarnath, India, will be sent to Vietnam for special exposition. The event is being organized by the Ministry of Culture, Government of India, along with the International Buddhist Confederation (IBC).

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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.

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India has become the first country in the world to develop genome-edited rice varieties. The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has developed two such varieties named DRR Rice 100 (Kamla) and Pusa DST Rice. These rice varieties were developed using genome editing technology based on Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats-CRISPR Associated Protein (CRISPR-Cas). This technology allows precise changes in the genetic material without adding any foreign DNA. Genome editing targeted the Site Directed Nuclease 1 (SDN1) and SDN2 types of genes, which are approved under India’s biosafety rules. The development was supported by the National Agricultural Science Fund (NASF), which funds strategic agricultural research.

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Maharashtra has become the first Indian state to approve a dedicated and independent Shipbuilding, Ship Repair and Ship Recycling Policy. The goal is to make Maharashtra a leading hub for shipbuilding, ship repair, and ship recycling. The state targets an investment of ₹6,600 crore and 40,000 jobs by 2030. By 2047, the aim is to attract ₹18,000 crore in investments and create 3.3 lakh jobs. The policy supports research and development (R&D), modern technology, and skilled workforce. It aims to contribute one-third of India’s total shipbuilding output by 2030.

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World Asthma Day 2025 is observed on 6th May, which is the first Tuesday of May. It is a global event organized every year by the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) to raise awareness about asthma. The day focuses on educating people about asthma, its triggers, and how it affects daily life. It began in 1998 during the first World Asthma Meeting in Barcelona, Spain. The theme for World Asthma Day 2025 is “Make Inhaled Treatments Accessible for ALL”. This theme highlights the urgent need for everyone with asthma to access inhaled medicines for better control. Asthma is a chronic disease where the lung airways become narrow, swollen, and produce extra mucus.

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The Pulitzer Prizes 2025 were recently announced by the Pulitzer Prize Board to honor excellence in journalism and the arts. The Pulitzer Prize is considered the most prestigious award in journalism in the United States. It was established in the year 1917 and is administered by Columbia University. The award is overseen by the Pulitzer Prize Board, which consists of judges appointed by Columbia University. The prize is named after Joseph Pulitzer, a famous newspaper publisher who left funds in his will to create the School of Journalism and the Pulitzer Prize.

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Public trespassing in the ecologically sensitive Bhimgad Wildlife Sanctuary (BWS) in Khanapur taluk has raised major concerns among conservationists recently. Bhimgad Wildlife Sanctuary is located in the Western Ghats in the Belgaum district of Karnataka. It was declared a wildlife sanctuary in December 2011 to protect its rich biodiversity. The sanctuary is named after the historic Bhimgad Fort, built by Shivaji Maharaj in the 17th century to defend against Portuguese forces. It borders Dandeli Wildlife Sanctuary, Bhagwan Mahaveer Sanctuary, Mollem National Park, Netravali Wildlife Sanctuary, and Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary.