Test: May 2021 Weekly Current Affair - 1 - UPSC MCQ

Tvasta, a startup by alumni of IIT Madras, constructed India’s first 3D printed house. The house was inaugurated by Finance Minister Nirmala Sithraman.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said it has joined the Central Banks and Supervisors Network for Greening the Financial System (NGFS) as a member.

India’s Jhilli Dalabehera clinched the gold medal in the 45kg category at the Asian Weightlifting Championship in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

Former Union Minister and Former Governor of Jammu and Kashmir Jagmohan passed away in New Delhi. He was 94.

Amid scare of Covid-19 second wave which forced the States and Union Territories to impose lockdown like curbs, the Government set a record rice production target of 104.3 million tonne for the kharif season of 2021-22 crop year (July-June).

The Finance Ministry has decided to provide an additional amount of upto 15 thousand crore rupees to States as interest free 50 year loan for spending on capital projects.

Mark Selby claimed his fourth World Championship title with an 18-15 victory over Shaun Murphy at a sold-out Crucible Theatre.

The All India Chess Federation launched the ‘Checkmate Covid Initiative’ to help the chess community affected by the pandemic.The initiative was launched at an online event.

Apple announced a first-of-its-kind carbon removal initiative called the Restore Fund that will make investments in forestry projects to remove carbon from the atmosphere while generating a financial return for investors.

Minister for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions Dr Jitendra Singh said that the Government has decided to extend the payment of provisional pension up to a period of one year from the date of retirement in view of the pandemic situation.

RBI allowed certain individual and small borrowers more time to repay debt and allowed banks to give priority loans to vaccine makers, hospitals and COVID-related health infrastructure as it announced support measures to cushion the pandemic’s blow on the economy.

Every year May 3rd is observed as World Press Freedom Day to inform the international community that freedom of the press and freedom of expression are fundamental human rights.

As a special dispensation, Centre has released in advance over 8873 crore rupees for State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) to all the States.

Indian swimmer Srihari Nataraj created a national record in 50m backstroke while winning his second gold of the Uzbekistan Open Championship in Tashkent.

The world’s longest pedestrian suspension bridge named “Arouca” was opened in Portugal.

Blaming the slow pace of vaccinations and uncertainty around the number of those infected and dead in the second COVID-19 wave, global brokerage firm Barclays cut India’s FY22 GDP growth estimate to 10 per cent from earlier 11 per cent.

International Day of the Midwife is observed globally on 5 May every year to recognise the work of midwives and raise awareness about the status of midwives for the essential care they provide to mothers and their newborns.

The International Confederation of Midwives (ICM) is proud to celebrate this year’s International Day of the Midwife (IDM) on 5th May 2021 under the theme of “Follow the Data: Invest in Midwives.” We look forward to coming together as a global midwife community to advocate for investment in quality midwifery care around the world, improving sexual, reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health in the process.

The UK government became the first country to announce it will regulate the use of self-driving vehicles at slow speeds on motorways, with the first such cars possibly appearing on public roads as soon as this year.

Kotak Mahindra Group (Kotak) announced two key appointments for their Insurance businesses. Effective 1st May 2021, Kotak Mahindra Life Insurance Company Limited (Kotak Life) will be headed by Mahesh Balasubramanian as Managing Director (MD) while Kotak General Insurance Company Limited (Kotak GI) will be led by Suresh Agarwal as MD & CEO.

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) executive director T Rabi Sankar has been named as the fourth Deputy Governor of the central bank.

The Punjab Cabinet approved a hike in financial assistance under the Ashirwad scheme from Rs 21,000 to Rs 51,000 per beneficiary, with directions to clear all payment backlog under the scheme.

Justice (Retd) P C Pant, who is a member of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), has also been appointed its Acting Chairperson with effect from April 25 this year.

The Indian Navy launched operation ‘Samudra Setu-II’ to bring oxygen-filled cryogenic containers to India from abroad as the country faces a severe shortage of medical oxygen in the wake of a massive spike in new Covid-19 cases.

In a homage to Satyajit Ray, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting announced that it will organise year-long celebrations across India and abroad to mark the 100th birth anniversary of the legendary filmmaker.

Gemini, a cryptocurrency platform, announced details of its first-of-a-kind cryptocurrency rewards credit card, including a partnership with Mastercard and WebBank, a leader in digital lending and the bank issuing the credit card.