May 15th ~ Flashcards
(27 cards)
_________ with Rs 3,18, 497 crore, has topped among the top 10 Indian states with highest Goods and Services Tax (GST) collection for Financial Year 2024-25 (FY25) and even in April 2025 with total GST collection of Rs 41,645 crore. However, the state’s financial capital’s growth has decreased from 13% (in April 2024) to 11% (in April 2025).
As per the Ministry of Finance (MoF)’s latest data, total GST revenue collections reached at Rs 2,36,716 lakh crore in April 2025, reflecting an annual growth rate of 12.6%
Maharashtra
- Gujarat secured the second position with Rs.1,74,938 crore and Karnataka at the third place with Rs.1,43,023 crore.
- Also, total GST revenue collection reached at Rs 21.36 lakh crore in 2024, the highest since the introduction of GST in 2017. This marks an increase of 8.86% compared to the last year’s collection.
Noida (Uttar Pradesh, UP)-based _______, under the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways (MoPSW), has established its new office, located at Transport Bhawan in Srinagar, Union Territory (UT) Jammu & Kashmir (J&K). This move is expected to bolster the Inland Water Transport (IWT) sector in J&K.
- The J&K government has provided the space for newly established IWAI’s office that became operational on May 13, 2025.
- This new office will serve as the central hub for its activities in J&K, monitoring the development of river navigation infrastructure across the region.
Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI)
the District Magistrate of Indore, Madhya Pradesh (MP) announced that Indore has become the first Indian city to be beggar-free, which is result of an ‘anti-begging campaign’ initiated in ________ to eliminate begging.
- The campaign launched by the city administration has been recognized by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (MSJE) and a World Bank (WB) team as a model project.
February 2024
Note: Indore is one of the 10 cities where the MSJE has started a pilot project to eliminate begging
________ has become the first American university to receive approval from India’s University Grants Commission (UGC) to set up an independent, degree-granting campus in Mumbai (Maharashtra).
- The campus is scheduled to open in 2026, marking a significant milestone in India-USA educational collaboration
Chicago (the United States of America, USA)-based Illinois Institute of Technology (Illinois Tech)
i. The Mumbai campus will offer undergraduate and graduate degrees in high-demand fields such as Computer Science, Engineering, and Business.
ii. The Mumbai campus will offer the same experiential, industry-aligned curriculum as Illinois Tech’s Chicago campus, including the university’s signature Elevate program, which guarantees all students access to hands-on research, internships, and career-accelerating experiences.
iii. Courses will be delivered by an internationally recruited faculty, including visiting professors from Illinois Tech’s Chicago campus and faculty with global academic credentials
Prof. Ajay Kumar Sood, Principal Scientific Advisor (PSA) to the Government of India (GoI), has launched a report on ________ in New Delhi, Delhi. The report was presented by Akshima Ghate, Managing Director (MD) of the United States of America, (USA)-based Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI).
- The report highlighted 10 critical highway segments across India that offer the highest potential for the adoption of Zero-Emission Trucks (ZETs). It aims to drive a national transition towards a cleaner, more sustainable freight movement.
India’s Priority Corridors for Zero Emission Trucking
As per the recent research from Ethnologue, the most authoritative source on the languages of the world, 5 Indian languages namely, ______, are among the top 20 most spoken languages worldwide in 2025. Hindi with 609.1 million speakers, emerged as the 3rd most widely spoken language globally and the most spoken language in India, in 2025.
i. The official language of Spain and 20 other countries i.e. Spanish, emerged as the 4th most spoken language globally in 2025, with 558.5 million speakers.
ii. While, Standard Arabic (ranked at 5th spot) with 334.8 million speakers, is among the top 5 most spoken languages worldwide in 2025.
iii. Other top 10 most spoken languages in the world (as of 2025): French (ranked at 6th spot with 311.9 million speakers); French (6th) with 311.9 million speakers ; Bengali with 284.3 million speakers; Portuguese (8th) 266.6 million speakers; Russian (9th) with 253.4 million speakers and Indonesian 252.4 million speakers.
Hindi(3rd), Bengali (7th), Urdu (11th), Marathi (16th), and Telugu (18th)
- While, English is the most widely spoken language globally in 2025 as it is the local and second language of 1.53 billion individuals across 188 countries.
- It is followed by Chinese Mandarin (the official language of China), which is considered the world’s largest language when counting only native speakers, is the 2nd –most widely spoken language in the world in 2025, with total 1.18 billion speakers.
the Geneva (Switzerland) based Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) and Oslo (Norway) based Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) released the Global Report on Internal Displacement (GRID) 2025 which presents a comprehensive analysis of internal displacement trends worldwide.
- The report revealed that the number of internally displaced people (IDPs) worldwide reached a record high of _______ by the end of 2024, marking the highest figure ever recorded and a doubling of the total since 2018.
83.4 million
- In India, the total number of displacements reached 5.4 million in 2024, the highest figure in 12 years.
Brussels (Belgium)-based _________, on behalf of the South Asia Media Solidarity Network (SAMSN) released the 23rd Annual South Asia Press Freedom Report (SAPFR 24-25), titled ‘Frontline Democracy: Media and Political Churn’. As per the report, India is a part of a wider trend of eroding press freedom in the South Asia region.
- The report highlighted that Indian media ‘has been shackled and subjected to a systematic strategy to cripple it’.
- The SAPFR 24-25 was formally launched during UNESCO’s World Press Freedom Day 2025 event held at Kathmandu, Nepal.
International Federation of Journalists (IFJ)
Mumbai (Maharashtra) based State Bank of India (SBI), India’s largest Public Sector Bank (PSB), has reached a new milestone by becoming one of the world’s most profitable companies.
- With a net profit of USD 9.2 billion (Rs. 77,561 crore) in Financial Year 2024-25 (FY25), SBI now ranks _______ globally in terms of annual earnings, according to data from Bloomberg.
98th
i. SBI becomes the third Indian company to enter the top 100 most profitable companies in the world after New Delhi (Delhi) based Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC) in 2009,and Mumbai (Maharashtra) based Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) in 2021.
ii. SBI’s rise in the global rankings is largely due to its strong financial performance, with a 31% compound annual growth (CAGR) in net profit over the last five years.
iii. This comes nearly a decade after SBI’s merger with five associate banks that made it one of the world’s top 50 banks by assets.
Mumbai (Maharashtra) based _______, the Business-to-Business (B2B) e-commerce arm of JSW Group, secured approximately USD 40 million (Rs. 340 crore) in a funding round led by Principal Asset Management, OneUp, and JSW Steel. This investment propels the company’s valuation to USD 1 billion, marking its entry into India’s unicorn club.
JSW One Platforms Limited
- The latest funding round marks a threefold increase in valuation for JSW One Platforms since April 2023, when Tokyo (Japan)-based Mitsui & Co., Ltd. invested Rs. 205 crores (approximately USD 25 million) in the company
________, a renowned senior corporate legal expert, was appointed as the Chairman of the New Delhi (Delhi) based BRICS Chamber of Commerce & Industry (BRICS CCI) to strengthen ties among BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa).
Harvansh P. Chawla
- The appointment is aligned with the upcoming 17th BRICS Summit, scheduled to be held from 6th to 7th July 2025 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
- Under Chawla’s leadership, the Chamber aims to intensify efforts towards inclusive economic growth, innovation, and sustainable development within the Global South framework.
the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), under the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions (MoPPG&P), assigned additional charge of Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of New Delhi (Delhi)-based Solar Energy Corporation of India Limited (SECI) to _______.
Santosh Kumar Sarangi
Former England Men’s Cricket Selector, ________ was appointed as the President of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), London, England. He will assume office for one year from 1st October 2025.
- He was appointed by the current president of MCC, Lord King of Lothbury, at the MCC Annual General Meeting (AGM) held at Lord’s Cricket Ground, London, England.
Edward Thomas Smith
Bengaluru (Karnataka)- based Titan Company Limited, a prominent lifestyle company under the Tata Group, has announced the appointment of _______, currently the Chief Executive Officer(CEO) of its Jewellery Division, as the next Managing Director (MD).
Ajoy Chawla
the book titled “The Tamils: A Portrait of Community”, written by ________ was reviewed in The Book Review, an India-based peer-reviewed academic journal. The book was published by New Delhi (Delhi) based Aleph Book Company.
- The review, penned by Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Ministry of Finance (MoF), commended the book for its insightful exploration of justice and fairness as central themes in Tamil culture, highlighting historical anecdotes such as King Manuneedhi Cholan’s legendary act of justice.
.
Nirmala Lakshman
i. The book offers a comprehensive narrative of Tamil history and culture, tracing the community’s journey from the Stone Age through the Sangam era and into the modern day.
ii. Nirmala Lakshman, is a Publisher and Chairperson of THE HINDU Group of Publications.
iii. Earlier she was the Joint Editor of the paper, and she founded and edited ‘The Hindu Literary Review’, conceptualized and created ‘Young World’, India’s only Children’s newspaper supplement
the Vice President (VP) of India, Jagdeep Dhankhar released the book, “Janta Ki Kahani-in Meri Aatamkatha”, an autobiography written by Haryana Governor, ________ in an event organized at Maharashtra Sadan in New Delhi, Delhi.
Bandaru Dattatraya
- The book reflects Bandaru Dattatraya’s political and social journey, emphasizing his grassrootslevel connection with the public and his commitment to the upliftment of the underprivileged. It also sheds light on key historical and political events witnessed by the author over the decades.
May 12 - 18
The United Nations(UN) Global Road Safety Week (UNGRSW) is a biennial campaign organized by Geneva (Switzerland) based World Health Organization (WHO) to raise awareness about road safety and advocate for measures to reduce road traffic deaths and injuries.
i. The theme of UNGRSW 2025 is #MakeWalkingSafe and #MakeCyclingSafe, which highlights the need for safer infrastructure and policies that protect pedestrians and cyclists.
ii. The 2025 campaign aims to mobilize communities, civil society organizations, and policymakers to take action for making urban streets safer for pedestrians and cyclists. It supports measures that help shift to healthier, sustainable, and equitable modes of transport.
the Assam Cabinet headed by Chief Minister (CM) of Assam, Himanta Biswa Sarma has approved the _______, a financial assistance scheme for the welfare of tea garden workers.
- Under this scheme, the Government of Assam will provide one-time assistance of Rs.5000 to each permanent and temporary worker of the tea gardens in Assam.
- The announcement was made on the occasion of the 200th celebration of Assam Tea.
“Eti Koli Duti Paat”
i. Renowned for its richly coloured and aromatic tea, Assam tea industry provides livelihoods to millions of people, with many others directly or indirectly dependent on the plantations.
- Assam is famous for both Orthodox and CTC (Crush, Tear, Curl) varieties of tea.
ii. Assam produces nearly 700 million Kilogram (kg) of tea annually and accounts for around half of India’s overall tea production.
N. S. Boseraju, Minister for Science and Technology, the Government of Karnataka, officially launched ‘Petologist’, an innovative veterinary application (app) developed by Bengaluru (Karnataka)-based Transduceideas Technologies LLP held in Karnataka, also featured Dr. Ashok S. Alur, Vice Chancellor of Kodagu University.
- The development of Petologist is supported under the _________ Scheme of the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare (MoA&FW).
Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana – Remunerative Approaches for Agriculture and Allied Sector Rejuvenation (RKVYRAFTAAR) Agribusiness Incubation (R-ABI)
i. Petologist is a digital healthcare platform designed to connect pet owners and farmers with licensed veterinarians, clinics, and hospitals.
ii. The platform offers features such as digital health records, vaccination tracking, medication reminders, farm animal monitoring, and telemedicine consultations, aiming to enhance animal healthcare delivery in both urban and rural areas.
iii. The platform is incubated at the Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI), established in 1889, which serves as India’s premier institute for veterinary research and education.It was located in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh (UP).
iv. The platform is currently in its soft launch phase, with access limited to a select group of veterinarians and clinics in Karnataka.
According to official data released by the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways (MoPSW) in May 2025, 12 major ports of India registered a _______ increase in cargo handling, from 819 Million Tonnes (MT) in Financial Year 2023-24 (FY24) to approximately 855 MT in FY25. This growth signifies the resilience and capacity of major Indian ports in accommodating increasing trade volumes.
4.3%
- Also, this increase in traffic was mainly attributed by higher container throughput (10%), fertilizer cargo handling (13%), Petroleum, Oil, and Lubricants (POL) cargo handling (3%), and handling of miscellaneous commodities (31%) compared to FY24.
the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi has approved a Joint Venture (JV) between _______, to set up semiconductor unit near Jewar Airport in the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA) in Uttar Pradesh (UP).
- This marks the 6th semiconductor unit approved by the union cabinet under Rs 76,000 crore India Semiconductor Mission (ISM).
- Also, this will be the 1st–ever semiconductor chip unit in UP to be established under ISM.
Noida (Uttar Pradesh, UP) based HCL Group and Taiwanese electronics company Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Limited (Foxconn)
Union Minister of State (Mos) (Independent Charge, IC), Dr. Jitendra Singh, Ministry of Science & Technology (MoS&T), dedicated India’s first of its kind public funded Department of _________ during the 31st Board Meeting of Governors of the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB) held in New Delhi, Delhi. He described India as the emerging global biotech destination.
Science and Technology (DST)-ICGEB ‘Bio-foundry’
- He also highlighted that India’s bio economy has seen an exponential rise from USD 10 billion in 2014 to USD 165.7 billion in 2024, with a target to achieve USD 300 billion by 2030.
Balaji Ramakrishnan, Director of the National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) under the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES), announced that India’s first manned deep ocean mission, _________, will be launched by 2026.
- The mission will use the manned submersible vehicle ‘Matsya’ to reach a depth of 6,000 metres (6 km) under the sea with 3 scientists.
‘Samudrayaan’
- ‘Samudrayaan’ is a part of India’s Deep Ocean Mission (DOM) aimed at exploring deep-sea resources and conducting scientific research.
- The mission supports India’s aspirations in blue economy development, deep-sea mining, and underwater biodiversity studies.
About ‘Samudrajivah’:
i. ‘Samudrajivah’ is an innovative technology, developed to focus on improved large-scale open sea farming. This technology is currently in the demonstration phase.
ii. The electronically monitored submerged fish cages are designed for offshore regions, capitalizing on the nutritionally rich deep-sea environment to promote the fish growth.
iii. Having different sensors, Samudrajivah is capable of remote monitoring of individual fish biomass, growth and movement and water quality parameters.
the Department of Commerce (DoC), Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MoC&I), in consultation with the Export Inspection Council (EIC), prohibited the use of several medically important antimicrobials in the Aquaculture sector.
- The prohibition order was issued by the MoC&I under the ________, a legislative framework established to ensure the quality of India’s export commodities through systematic quality control and inspection measures.
- The MoC&I issued an amendment to its principal order, notified on August 21, 1995, in view of the development of export trade in India.
Export (Quality Control and Inspection) Act, 1963
