Current Affairs Quiz - May, 2021

Notes:
Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay (IIT-B), has set up a demonstration unit to convert nitrogen generators, into oxygen generators by modifying the existing nitrogen plant set up.
The oxygen generated by this plant at IIT-B lab was tested and found to be 93-96% pure and at 3.5 atmospheric pressure. Nitrogen plants work on Pressure swing adsorption (PSA) technology, where air from the atmosphere is sucked in, filtered and nitrogen is extracted. Oxygen, a by-product, is released back into the atmosphere.

Notes:
The Government of the United Kingdom (UK) has proposed to permit operations of self-driving cars by end of the year 2021. The automated lane-keeping systems (ALKS) to be operationalised in the UK would be first in the world to be legalised.
The ALKS technology controls the position of driver less cars in a single lane and limits its speed to 60 kmph.

Notes:
TRIFED is the nodal agency working for the empowerment of tribal people, under the aegis of the Ministry of Tribal Affairs.
TRIFED has entered into a collaborative project titled “Sustainable Livelihoods for Tribal Households in India”. The LINK Fund, a foundation which aims to eradicate poverty and mitigate the effects of climate change, is also joining hands with TRIFED for this project.

Notes:
“Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Star” is the second class in the Japanese flagship order. The government of Japan announced the recipients of the 2021 Spring Decorations.
Former principal secretary to the prime minister Nripendra Misra is among this year’s awardees. The former IAS officer is recognised for his contributions to strengthen the economic relationship between Japan and India.

Notes:
The Network for Greening the Financial system (NGFS) was launched at the Paris One Planet Summit on December 2017.
It is a group of Central banks and supervisors willing to share the best practices and contribute to the development of the environment and climate risk management in the financial sector. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has recently joined the NGFS Group as a Member.

Notes:
Stratolaunch is an American aerospace company, which has built the biggest airplane ever, named Roc. The aircraft is named after a giant bird of Arabian and Persian mythology.
The aircraft has two flights under its belt, with a wingspan of 385 feet and cruised at an altitude of 14,000 feet during the test feet and travelled at a speed of 199 mph during the test flight, which was conducted recently.

Notes:
The Democratic Republic of Congo declared the end of Ebola outbreak, which infected 12 people in the eastern province and killed six of them.
The country contained the outbreak using Merck’s (MRK.N) Ebola vaccine, which was given to more than 1,600 of the patients’ contacts and contacts of contacts. The virus can remain in certain body fluids, including semen, of a patient who has recovered from the disease

Notes:
T.Rabi Shankar has been appointed as the new Deputy Governor of Reserve Bank of India (RBI). He succeeds B P Kanungo, whose term ended on 2nd April 2021.
Presently, Mahesh Kumar Jain, Michael Patra and Rajeshwar Rao are the three Dy. Governors and Rabi Shankar joined them as the fourth.

Notes:
The First supply of UCO (Used Cooking Oil) based Biodiesel blended Diesel was flagged off recently from Indian Oil’s Tikrikalan Terminal, New Delhi.
The flagging off ceremony was presided over by Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas and Steel, Shri Dharmendra Pradhan. Earlier in 2019, petroleum and health ministries had initiated Expressions of Interest for “Procurement of Biodiesel produced from Used Cooking Oil”. IOCL has received 51KL of UCO-Biodiesel till March 2021.

Notes:
A team of researchers in Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Bhopal have studied “N-protein” in Covid virus. It has been found that this N Protein promotes the incorporation of the spike protein into viral particles.
The infectivity levels of the virus have been found to significantly vary with the levels of N Protein present in it.