Current Affairs Quiz - May, 2023

Notes:
International Monetary Fund released the Regional Economic Outlook report, which predicted that economies in the Middle East and Central Asia will likely slow down this year because of high inflation and increasing interest rates.
Increase in energy prices and food prices is cited as the reason for this slowdown.

Notes:
Amazon Web Services (AWS) has launched two skill development programmes for quantum computing in India.
The company is collaborating with academic institutions and learning platforms to integrate Amazon Braket — a fully managed quantum computing service.

Notes:
The 35th edition of India-Thailand Coordinated Patrol (Indo-Thai CORPAT) between the Indian Navy and the Royal Thai Navy was conducted recently.
Indian Naval Ship (INS) Kesari and Thailand’s Saiburi Frigate, along with Maritime Patrol Aircraft from both navies participated in the CORPAT along the International Maritime Boundary Line in the Andaman Sea.

Notes:
Fossil remains of a giant pilosaur was discovered in England recently. Pilosaur is a marine reptile that was a distant cousin of modern turtles.
Fossilised bones from the gigantic sea creature that lived 150 million years ago have been found in a drawer at Oxfordshire’s Abingdon County Hall Museum.

Notes:
A new study revealed that Canada’s e-waste has tripled over the last two decades. The e-waste generation per person has surged from 8.3 kilograms in 2000 to 25.3 kilograms in 2020.
Canadians produced nearly one million tonnes of e-waste in 2020. That is expected to reach 1.2 million tonnes annually by 2030.

Notes:
Chlamydia is a common sexually transmitted disease caused by bacteria. Australian scientists have initiated a field trial in New South Wales to vaccinate wild koalas against chlamydia.
The strain of chlamydia belongs to a closely related species of the sexually-transmitted disease in humans.

Notes:
The 5th Edition of Global Ayurveda Festival will be held in Thiruvananthapuram from District 1 to 5 this year.
The event will focus on highlighting the huge potential provided by Ayurveda in solving the health challenges of the present world. It is aimed at setting a platform for global networking of Ayurveda practitioners and stakeholders.

Notes:
Portugal’s President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa signed into law a bill decriminalising euthanasia adopted by parliament last week.
The new law allows people who are aged 18 and above and suffering from intolerable pain and terminal illness to opt for euthanasia.

Notes:
The RBI has directed banks and other regulated entities to transition away from the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) from 1st July.
The LIBOR is a set of interest rates calculated from submissions by large global banks. The global transition from Libor was necessitated after British financial authorities decided to phase it out in 2017 after discovering that some banks manipulated the reference rate by providing false data.

Notes:
Kerala Economic Revival Program (KERA) aims to ensure the revival of the Kerala’s agricultural sector through socio-economic interventions.
The World Bank has proposed a funding of 165 million USD for this project.