Current Affairs Quiz - May, 2021

Notes:
The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) has appointed Vaishali S Hiwase as the first woman officer to command a Road Construction Company (RCC).
The officer would command the company, to provide connectivity in a high-altitude area along the India-China border. She is a M Tech graduate and has already carried out a demanding tenure in Kargil.

Notes:
India’s leading private lender ICICI Bank recently launched a digital platform ‘Merchant Stack’ to serve over 2 crore retail merchants in the country.
The main features include instant credit facilities, zero-balance current account and digital store management. It provides ‘contactless’ banking services and dynamic credit limit to the customers.

Notes:
The Department of Expenditure has issued fresh guidelines on the Scheme of Financial Assistance to States for Capital Expenditure for the financial year 2021-22.
Under the Scheme, financial assistance is provided to the State Governments in the form of 50-year interest free loan. The Finance Ministry has decided to provide an additional amount of up to Rs 15000 crore.

Notes:
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), has recently announced that 20% of the salary of top executives must be paid in the form of units of mutual fund schemes they oversee.
This decision has been taken to align the interests of the key employees of the asset management companies (AMCs) with the unitholders of the schemes.

Notes:
Researchers have discovered the world’s first-known pregnant mummy, in the Warsaw Mummy Project.
The mummy, which is said to be dating from the first century in Egypt, has been found inside the coffin belonging to a male priest. The mummy was donated to the University of Warsaw in Poland in 1826. This discovery helps the researchers to gather first hand evidence of prenatal health in ancient times.

Notes:
Australian ace tennis player Ashleigh Barty has won the single title of Porsche Tennis Grand Prix 2021 held at Stuttgart (Germany).
She became the first Australian to win the tournament’s singles title. She has also won the doubles title immediately after the singles tournament, together with Jennifer Brady of USA.

Notes:
‘Putola Nach’ is a traditional form of string puppetry, practised in the state of Assam. It has become a near-forgotten art form.
Recently, an Assam based trust ARMT has created three short videos using string puppetry for creating mass awareness on COVID appropriate behaviour. This project was undertaken in association with UNICEF- Assam.

Notes:
The Crew 1 Dragon capsule belonging to Space X, has successfully returned from outer space, from the International Space Station (ISS) to the Earth.
The capsule returned NASA’s Michael Hopkins, Victor Glover, Shannon Walker and Japanese Astronaut Soichi Noguchi back to the Earth from ISS. It made a parachute landing into the Gulf of Mexico.

Notes:
The United States of America has approved the sale of six number of additional P-8I maritime patrol aircraft to India. The estimated value of the sale is $2.42 billion.
Presently, Indian Navy has deployed 12 P 81 aircrafts. The induction of 6 more air crafts to the Navy would enhance its operational and surveillance capabilities.

Notes:
Justice (retired) Prafulla Chandra Pant, who is a member of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), has been appointed its Acting Chairperson with effect from April 25 2021.
Prior to his appointment as NHRC member, he was a Judge of the Supreme Court from 2014 to 2017. He had also held the position of Chief Justice of the High Court of Meghalaya from 2013 to 2014.