For the very purpose of getting you ready for the challenge that is Current Affairs In India, we are covering the 2019 May current affairs including politics current affair, current affair news, science current affairs, general knowledge current affair, current government affair and international current affairs. Only studying India's current affairs or political current affairs is not sufficient as you have to cover international events and current affairs along with the Indian current affairs, as well as those in the field of science and sports.

Current Affairs - May

Current Affairs April 28 to May 04

• Srilanka: It is an island country in South Asia, located in the Indian Ocean to the southwest of the Bay of Bengal and to the southeast of the Arabian Sea. Srilanka bans burqa. The country has been on high alert after the terror blasts that ripped across three cities on the 21st of Mayin several churches and hotels which took atleast 253 lives and many injured. Over 10,000 military soldiers have been deployed throughout the country. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the bombings that were executed by suicide bombers; and the National Thowheed Jamath as well as Jammiyathul Maillathu Ibrahim are suspected to have links the blasts.

• Cyclone Fani: It is a powerful tropical cyclone which has made landfall in Odisha and threatening Bangladesh. The storm is India's strongest tropical cyclone to make landfall in 20 years. About 1.2 million people are evacuated from low-lying areas of 15 districts in the eastern state of Odisha to cyclone shelters, schools and other buildings. More than 800,000 have left so far.

• Chandrayaan 2: It is India's second lunar exploration mission after Chandrayaan-1. Developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation, the mission is planned to be launched to the Moon by a Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) announced the launching of Chandrayaan-2,’ India’s second lunar mission’ which is scheduled to be launched between July 9th and 16th 2019. Chandrayaan-2 is India’s second lunar mission. It will be launched using India’s most powerful rocket GSLVMK-III RIN Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh. It’s objective is to collect scientific information on lunar (moon) topography, mineralogy, elemental abundance, lunar exosphere and and signatures of hydroxyl and water-ice. It has three modules (a detachable self-contained unit of a spacecraft) namely Orbiter, Lander named Vikram and Rover named Pragyan.All these three modules have been made in India. The Chandrayaan-2’s lander will touch down near Moon’s south pole on 6th September 2019. Chandrayan-2 mission would make a soft landing on southern pole of the moon, which is still unexplored by any of the countries. This will not only be important but also historically significant as it would give ISRO the opportunity to name the site on the moon.
• Yeti: It is a folkloric ape-like creature taller than an average human, that is said to inhabit the Himalayan mountains. Indian Army Mountaineering Expedition to Mt Makalu claims to have discovered the footprints of snowman ‘Yeti’ the abominable snowman as it is known in legends, near the Makalu Base Camp by posting photographs of ‘ mysterious footprints’ that measure about 32×15 inches, on Twitter. But several scientists that are based at Dehradun-based Wildlife Institute of India (WII), who have worked in Nepal , also said the footprints could be those of a bear. Besides the Joint secretary of Nepal’s forest department Maheshwar Dakal said the Makalu-Barun National Park has a healthy population of the brown bear but they have no evidence that the Yeti exists in the area. ‘We cannot ascertain the presence of the Yeti unless we have the picture of yeti as a proof. The footprint does not explain all and could be of bear or snow leopard,’ Dakal said.
• IIT Madras: It is a public engineering institute that was set up in the year 1959 in Madras through an Act of Parliament. In a significant development, a research team from IIT Madras has developed a common unified script for nine Indian Languages. According to different sources, the script was developed taking cue from European languages, were several of them had the same (Roman letter–based) script. The team led by Srinivasa Chakravathy’s team at IIT Madras developed developed a unified script for nine Indian languages, named the Bharati script. The team has now gone a step further since developing the script: it has developed a method for reading documents in Bharati script using a multi-lingual optical character recognition (OCR) scheme. The team has also created a finger-spelling method that can be used to generate a sign language for hearing-impaired people. In collaboration with TCS Mumbai, the researchers have found a way for people with hearing disability to generate signatures using this finger-spelling technique.

Sports

• Arjuna Award: These are awards given by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Government of India to recognize outstanding achievement in sports. Two Indian footballer stars of National football team have been recommended for the prestigious Arjuna Award by the All India Football Federation. Decision to recommend Sandhu and Lalpekhlua was about their recent performances. While Sandhu is the goalkeeper and Lalpekhlua, has been good in his attacking and assist skills in the game. It should be noted that in 2017, national governing body had already recommended these players along with former women's team captain Bembem Devi. Sadly, the award to given to the Bembem Devi for her superb performance. It must be noted that Sandhu and Jeje are top performers in the India team. Sandhu is the only second footballer after Sunil Chhettri to play the Asian Cup final rounds twice (2011, 2019).
• Asian Wrestling Championship 2019: It is an annual sports event held for Wrestling Championship. India has claimed the 8th spot in the recently held Asian Wrestling Championship 2019 in Xian, China from May23 to Aril 28. While Bajrang Punia won the Gold Medal in 65 kg category beating Sayatbek Okassov, India's Greco Roman Wrestlers Sunil Kumar(87kg) and Gurpreet Singh (77kg) bagged the silver medal. According to sources, Sunil Kumar lost to Iran's wrestler Hossein Ahmad Nouri, Gurpreet Singh lost to Korea's Hyeanwoo Kim despite having a good win before Bakhit Sharif (Qatar). Harpreet Singh(82kg) also bagged silver medal in men's Greeco Roman style of wrestling. Amit Kumar Dhankar and Parveen Rana and Vicky Chahar bagged the silver medal in free style. A total number of 10 countries participated in this event. The action took place at Xidian University Gymnasium. The event became glorious for India as they finished at the 8th spot with 16 medals.

Arts and Culture

• Stucco: It is a material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, and as a sculptural and artistic material in architecture. Rare life size stucco was unearthed in Telangana. According to sources, the life size stucco Bodhisattva was created by craftsmen at Phanigiri. The artifact is said to have developed at the peak of Ikshavaku dynasty rule. The 1.74-metre statue was put on display at the state museum at Gunfoundry. The official from archaelogy and Museums said, 'The stucco was unearthed this statue on May26, and in three days, we shifted it here for safe keeping. This is a stucco statue and lot of soil and earth has accreted to the figure. We were worried it would get damaged due to rain and hence, shifted it quickly'.

Economics

• Reserve Bank of India (RBI): It is India's central banking institution, which controls the issuance and supply of the Indian rupee. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has announced the launch of Rs 20 denomination bank notes. According to an official statement, the new bank notes will be in the in greenish-yellow in colour. It will be in the Mahatma Gandhi (New) Series, bearing the signature of the bank's governor Shaktikant Das. It will be having the motif of Ellora Caves on the back side'. Some of the new things about the new 20 rupee notes are the new Rs. 20 note has designs, geometric patterns aligning with the overall colour scheme, both at the obverse (front) and reverse (back). It will be in 63 mm x 129 mm. While the obverse side of note contains a see-through register with denomination numeral 100, the observe side of new Rs. 20 note also contains a latent image with the numeral and also a Devanagari version of the same. Besides, containing the portrait of Mahatma Gandhi at the centre, with micro letters 'RBI', 'Bharat', 'India' and '20', along with a guarantee clause, Governor''s signature with Promise Clause and RBI emblem towards the right of Gandhi''s portrait. The note bearing water marks of Ashoka emblem'.

People in the News

• Masood Azhar: He is the founder and leader of the Pakistan-based terrorist organisation Jaish-e-Mohammed, active mainly in the Pakistani-administered portion of the state of Jammu and Kashmir. Masood Azhar is blacklisted as terrorist by UN after China lifted its hold on the proposal. Pakistan based Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar has been blacklisted as a ‘global terrorist’ after China lifted its hold on the proposal. India’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Syed Akbaruddin tweeted that ‘Big, small, all join together. Masood Azhar designated as a terrorist in@UN Sanctions list. Grateful to all their support,’Previously Islamabad had opposed the blacklisting of Azhar has now agreed to enforce the sanctions imposed on him which include asset freeze, travel ban and arms embargo which all the UN member states are required to enforce without delay. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that is was a diplomatic victory for India.
• Apurvi Chandela : She is the Indian sportsperson who attained attained the world number 1 position in the women’s 10m air rifle. She is among the five Indian Shooters to have already secured 2020 Olympics quota for the country. Chandela clinched Gold medal at the International Shooting Sport Federation(ISSF) World Cup in February with a world record score of 252.9. She won the Gold medal at 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Game. In the 2018 Asian Games, Chandela won a bronze medal in the 10m mixed rifle event 2018 at the Asian Games.

Current Affairs May 05 to May 11

• Doha, Qatar: The place which hosted the 16th Ministerial Meeting of Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD). Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, H E Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani headed the 2019 dialogue. The Indian delegation was led by Gen. (Dr) V.K. Singh (Retd), Minister of State for External Affairs. The ACD is an inter-governmental organization founded on 18th June, 2002. It has 34 member countries. Its Secretary General is Bundit Limschoon. The ACD’s 1st meeting was held in Thailand in 2002 in which 18 Asian founding countries participated.The major agendas of the ACD 2030’s vision are: promoting ACDs core principles and values and the spirit of Pan-Asian partnership.
• Canberra,Australia : The place where the 11th meeting of the joint working group on counter-terrorism between India and Australia was held recently on May 2, 2019. Mahaveer Singhvi, Joint Secretary (Counter-Terrorism) led Indian delegation while Paul Foley, Australia’s Ambassador for Counter Terrorism led Australian delegation for the meeting. The objective of this meeting is to discuss the counter-terrorism challenges which both countries are facing such as financing of terrorism, the use of the internet for terror purposes, radicalisation and foreign terrorist fighters. The 10th meeting of Joint Working Group on Counter Terrorism between India and Australia was held at New Delhi on June 18, 2018. 5.7% -the estimated growth rate of Asia-Pacific in 2019 as the ADB report. According to Takehiko Nakao, President and Chairperson of Asian Development Bank, the Asia-Pacific region is supposed to grow at 5.7% in 2019 but the rising trade tensions might hinder its growth. ADB’s Asian Development Outlook 2019 report released in Maystates that developing Asia comprising of 45 countries is estimated to grow by 5.7% in 2019 (which is pointed out by Nakao). However, the growth outlook for developing Asia is approximated to come down to 5.6% in 2020.
• London: It topped the list of cities for the highest Indian investments with an all-time high record of 52 investment projects in 2018. London & Partners (L&P), the Mayor of London’s promotional agency, in the new report analysis, based on FDI (Foreign Direct Investments) Markets and FDI Intelligence data stated that in 2018, the UK became the top-most nation to attract Indian FDI with 52 projects. US attracted Indian FDI with 51 projects while the UAE with 32 projects.
• Russia: The country from where Indian Navy will acquire 10 ‘Kamov Ka-31’ Airborne Early Warning and Control Helicopter for a deal worth of Rs 3,600 crore after the approval of Ministry of Defence. These 10 helicopters would be deployed on the aircraft carriers and warships of the Indian Navy including the INS Vikrant and Grigorovich-class frigates.The Kamov Ka-31 helicopters will strengthen the capability of Indian Navy against aerial threats to its aircraft carriers and large warships.
• Asian Development Bank (ADB): It launched 5$ billion Action Plan for Healthy Oceans and Sustainable Blue Economies for the Asia and Pacific region. This will support ADB’s developing member countries’ efforts for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), inclusive of the SDG 14: Life Below Water. The Healthy Oceans Action Plan was launched at the 52nd Annual Meeting of ADB’s Board of Governors, Fiji. Healthy Oceans Action Plan will expand financing and technical assistance for ocean health and marine economy projects to $5 billion from year 2019 to 2024.
• Japan: The country where a start-up Interstellar Technology Inc. has successfully launched a first privately developed rocket ‘Momo-3’ into space. The unmanned rocket was launched from its test site in Taiki on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido and it reached about 110 km in altitude before falling into the Pacific Ocean after 10 minutes of flight time. The rocket is 10 meters in length, 50 centimeters in diameter and weighs about 1 ton. ‘Momo-3’ rocket has the capability of putting payloads into the orbit.
• Shahid Afridi: Former captain of Pakistan has recently co-authored his autobiography titled, ‘Game Changer’ with journalist Wajahat S Khan. The book has been published by Harper Collin’s India. Afridi is popularly known as ‘Boom Boom’ and holds the world record for the fastest ODI (One Day International) century in 37 deliveries. He also holds the distinction of having hit the most number of sixes in the history of ODI cricket.
• SIPRI: Which stands for Stockholm International peace research institute has launched a new initiative named Global Registry of Violent Deaths (GReVD) to establish the annual number of violent deaths worldwide. GReVD will count deaths caused by all forms of violence and display these in an open-source database and enable monitoring of progress on the world’s commitment to ‘significantly reduce all forms of violence and related death rates everywhere’ by 2030 as set out in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)—Goal 16.
• Bishkek in Kyrgyzstan: The place where the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Defence Ministers’ Meet was organised recently. Nirmala Sitharaman, the current Defence Minister of India held a bilateral meeting with General Wei Fenghe, Honourable Defence Minister of China, in which they discussed regional and bilateral security issues.
• Kumar Sangakkara: Former Sri Lanka captain has been named as the first non-British president of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). He succeeds Anthony Wreford. It was announced at the MCC annual general meeting at Lord’s on 1 May 2019. He will take up his one-year post in October. Sangakkara, 41-year-old, scored 12,400 runs in 134 tests, appears twice on the honours boards at Lord’s. MCC is the guardian of the Laws of the game and it was founded in 1787 and has been based at Lord’s, which it owns, since 1814. His responsibilities would involve the launch of The Hundred – the England and Wales Cricket Board’s new 100-ball cricket format and two England test matches against West Indies and Pakistan.
• Emperor Akihito: He recently became the first Japanese monarch to abdicate in 200 years. On 30th May2019, The 125th Emporer of Japan, 85-year-old, Emporer Emeritus Akihito abdicated after 30 years of ruling because of his declining health and age-related problems. His rule was known as Heisei. While his son Emporer Naruhito, 59 -year-old succeeded the Chrysanthemum Throne on 1 May 2019, ushering in the Reiwa era. This is the first time in Japan’s modern History that the country has both an Emporer and Emeritus. Akihito is the first Japanese Emporer to abdicate since Kokaku in 1817.

• Jaipur : The city which will hold the 8th edition of Asian Youth Women Handball Championship 2019 from August 21 to 30. This is the first time Jaipur will host this prestigious tournament. Earlier in 2015, Delhi hosted the event and finished at seventh place. This event will be organised by Asian Handball Federation (AHF).In this event, total 10 teams will participate including defending champion South Korea.
• Apurvi Chandela : She became the world number one in women’s 10m Air Rifle category with 1,926 rating points according to the latest rankings released by International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF). The 26-year old Apurvi Chandela is among the five Indian shooters who have earned the Olympic quota for the Tokyo 2020. In early this year, Chandela had broken the world record after winning India’s first gold medal at the ISSF World Cup 2019 held in New Delhi. She had shot 252.9 in 10m women Air Rifle final to bag gold medal at Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Range in New Delhi. After Chandela, Anjum Moudgil is World No. 2 on ISSF rankings with 1695 rating points in the 10m Air Rifle category after she won mixed gold at the ISSF World Cup in Beijing.

• M Jayshree Vyas : She has been appointed as the first Independent Woman Director to Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) board. Earlier, M Jayshree Vyas worked as the managing director of Shree Mahila Sewa Sahakari Bank, Ahmedabad since 1986. She had also helped in launching the first financial literacy program in Sewa bank in 2001.
• A.S.Kiran Kumar : The former ISRO Chief was recently conferred France’s highest civilian award “Knight of the Legion of Honour”. This award is for his invaluable contribution to the development of the India-France space cooperation. The award has presented by Ambassador of France to India, Alexandre Ziegler, on the behalf of President of the French Republic. The Padma Shri awardee served as the ISRO chief from 2015 to 2018.
• Dr. Krishnamurthy Subramanian: The Chief Economic Adviser (CEA), has been included as the member of the Advisory Council to the 15th Finance Commission headed by N.K. Singh. The Advisory Council now has 12 members after inclusion of Chief Economic Adviser Dr. Krishnamurthy Subramanian. Other members include Dr. D.K. Srivastava, Dr. Indira Rajaraman, Dr. Arvind Virmani, Dr. Surjit S. Bhalla, Dr. Sanjeev Gupta, Prof. Pinaki Chakraborty, Sajjid Chinoy, Neelkanth Mishra, Prachi Mishra, Dr. M. Govinda Rao, and Dr. Omkar Goswami. In May2018, 15th Finance Commission had constituted an Advisory Council.The 15th Finance Commission was constituted in November 2017. The role of Commission is to give recommendations for devolution of taxes and other fiscal matters to the central government for 5 years, commencing from May1, 2020.
• Dr. Devi Prasad Shetty : India’s most reputed cardiac surgeon and humanitarian, was recently awarded 27th P.C. Chandra Puraskaar, the annual national award from the P.C. Chandra Group at Biswa Bangla Convention Centre. He is also known as ‘The Man with Divine Hands’. In 2003, he has won Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan for medicine in 2013.

Places in News

• IIT Delhi: It recently inked Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Principal Scientific Adviser (PSA) for setting up a Centre of Excellence for Waste to Wealth Technologies in India as a commemoration of 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi on 2 October 2019. The Centre will work towards the implementation of sustainable, scientific and technological solutions for waste management by deploying available technologies for transformation of waste to wealth. The project has been approved under the recently constituted Prime Minister’s Science Technology and Innovation Advisory Council (PM-STIAC).
• Nathu La: The frontier post at Sino-Indian border in Sikkim where the 14th edition of the annual Sino-Indian border trade was inagurated recently. Every year, between 1st May to 30th November, the bilateral border trade between 2 nations is held for 4 days a week for 6 months. After a long interval of 44 years, cross border trade commenced on July 6, 2006 to promote the benefits of trade, increase tourism in Sikkim, thus offering employment for people of the region.Between India and China there are 3 open trading border posts, namely: Nathu La in Sikkim, Shipkila in Himachal Pradesh and Lipulekh in Uttarakhand.
• IIT Kanpur It has collaborated with CSC (Common Services Centre) e-Governance Services India Limited to upscale ‘Unnat Bharat Abhiyan’. CSC is a Special Purpose Vehicle under the Ministry of Electronics & IT. ‘ Unnat Bharat Abhiyan’ is the programme of the HRD (Human Resource Development) Ministry which is working towards achieving solutions for increasing sustainable growth in rural India. The collaboration of IIT-Kanpur with the leading institutions with CSCs would strengthen the government’s vision of Digital India.
• Telangana The state from where Indian archaeologists recently unearthed a life-sized stucco sculpture from a Buddhist site at Phanigiri in Suryapet. As per heritage department officials, it represents one of Bhodhisattva in Jathaka Chakra.This is the largest stucco sculpture found from India till date. The sculpture is about 1.73 metres in height and 35 cm in width. It is considered to have been built at at peak of Ikshavaku dynasty. The preliminary excavation at Phanigiri was started by archaeological department official Khaja Muhammad Ahmad in 1941.
• Manglore Is the city where a all-women police patrol unit named ‘Rani Abbakka Force’ was launched to handle issues pertaining to Women and Children. On 30th May2019, Mangaluru Police Commissioner Sandeep Patil flagged off the all-women police patrol unit named after the 16th-century warrior of coastal Karnataka, Queen Abbakka of Ullal near Mangaluru, who fought the Portuguese in the 16th century.Total 50 women policewomen have been allotted in ‘Rani Abbakka Force’ and each patrol team has five policewomen.

Others

• Fani: The name of cyclone which recently hit Odisha and West Bengal. Cyclone Fani with a maximum wind speed of 240-250 kmph, is one of the most biggest and fiercest cyclonic storm over the east coast in nearly two decades. The word Fani (pronounced as Foni) means snake was suggested by Bangladesh. Fani was picked up from a pool containing 64 names suggested by eight countries in the North Indian Ocean basin.(Eight Countries are India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Maldives, Myanmar, Oman, Pakistan and Thailand). The World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) has devised a mechanism where countries submit a list of names from time to time.
• UDYAM: The name of skill development centre initiated for marginalized youths in Bangalore by LIC HFL. As a part of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), LIC Housing Finance Ltd (LIC HFL) in association with Lok Bharti Education Society has unveiled a skilling centre named “UDYAM” in Bangalore, which will provide skill development training to marginalized youth in the sectors of BFSI, Retail and IT/ITES.
• 13th April, 2029: The date on which the 340m wide asteroid named 99942 Apophis will fly past Earth like a ‘moving star- like point of light’. It will fly above the earth’s surface at 30,500 km and first become visible with a naked eye in the night sky over the Southern Hemisphere from the east coast to the west coast of Australia. In 2004, astronomers at the Kitt Peak National Observatory based in Arizona discovered Apophis and claims about the chance of 2.7% that asteroid may impact Earth in 2029. However, further observation ruled out that chance but Apophis still has a small chance of impacting Earth which is less than 1 in 100,00- many decades from now.
• 3rd May: This day was recently celebrated as World Press Freedom Day and National Space Day. World Press Freedom Day is observed annually on May 3 to raise awareness among the international community that freedom of the press and freedom of expression are fundamental human rights. This day also pay tribute to media professionals who risked or lost their lives in the line of duty. This year marked the 26th celebration of World Press Freedom Day which was observed with a theme “Media for Democracy: Journalism and Elections in Times of Disinformation”. The day was initiated by the UN General Assembly in December 1993 after the recommendation of 26th UNESCO’s General Conference in 1991 which led to the adoption of Declaration of Windhoek. 3rd May was also celebrated as National Space Day 2019. National Space Day is observed on the first Friday of May every year. This year first Friday of May coincide with May 3, so science community celebrates this day to promote Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education in young people and to inspire them to pursue a carrier in space-related jobs. The prime objective of this was to create awareness among students, visiting tourists and the general public and will also help to conserve the site and aid the upcoming generations to be aware of such geological developments.
• 4th May 2019:This day was recently celebrated as Coal Miners Day & International Firefighters’ Day. 4th May 2019 was recently celebrated as Coal Miners Day to highlight the toughest profession and the people working in coal mines. Several communities raise awareness and funds on this day for other organizations in the coal mining area and workers.The annual celebration of Coal Miners Day began in 1975.On 4th May 2019, International Firefighters’ Day (IFFD) was observed to recognize and honor the sacrifices that firefighters make to ensure that their communities and environment are as safe as possible. It was initiated after a proposal emailed out by firefighter named JJ Edmondson on January 4, 1999, calling for an international holiday that would honor the sacrifices and triumphs of firefighters who died in a bushfire in Australia on December 2, 1998.
• 102 cities:They have been selected by MoEFCC with the objective of improving environment by reducing PM(particulate matter) concentration. Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) recently constituted a committee to implement the National Clean Air Program (NCAP). The objective is to reduce the PM (particulate matter) 2.5 and PM 10 concentration by 20% to 30% in at least 102 cities by 2024. The committee will be headed by the Secretary, Union Environment Ministry. The headquarters of the committee will be in New Delhi.The other members of the committee will be Joint Secretary (Thermal), Ministry of Power; Director General, The Energy Resources Institute (TERI) and Professor Sachidananda Tripathi, IIT Kanpur. The 102 cities, across 23 states and Union Territories will be identified by the Central Pollution Control Board (CBCB). The selection criteria will be based on their ambit air quality data between 2011 and 2015. The NCAP is envisioned as a five-year action plan with 2019 as the first year. There would be a review every five years.
• NASSCOM :The National Association of Software and Services Companies, the IT industry body has entered a strategic partnership with GE Healthcare with the objective to bring digital healthcare solutions to the market. NASSCOM has announced this partnership through its Centre of Excellence-Internet of Things (CoE-IoT). This partnership will also help to flourish the health-tech start-up ecosystem in the country which further help in co-creating solutions for real-world healthcare challenges in the areas of digital applications for early detection, productivity solutions and remote and connected care among others.
• Yeti: The mysterious animal whose footprints measuring 32×15 inches (81 centimeters by 38 centimeters) was recently found by Indian Army close to Makalu Base Camp,located in North-Eastern Himalayas on 09 May2019. The yeti also known as Abominable Snowman or Asian Bigfoot is a giant ape-like creature often figures in South Asian folklore. Yetis are believed to weigh anywhere between 91 to 181 kilograms with a height of above 6 feet. According to a report in the National Geographic, British explorer Eric Shipton captured the footprints of the Yeti in 1951 for the first time. It was found on the Menlyung Glacier which is located on the Nepal-Tibet border near the Makalu Barun national park.
• 1st May: This day is celebrated every year as International Labour Day or Workers day. It is also known as May Day. The day was promoted by the international labour movement, socialists and communists. The theme of International Labour Day 2019 was “Sustainable Pension for all: The Role of Social Partners”. In India, the first Labour Day was celebrated on 1 May 1923 in Madras by Labour Kisan Party of Hindustan. Labour Day is also called Antarrashtriya Shramik Diwas or Kamgar Din in India.
• Maharashtra & Gujarat:They are the state which celebrated its Foundation Day on 1st May 1960. In 1956, the States Reorganisation Act was enacted that restricted Indian state boundaries according to language.The official effect took place on 1st May 1960 and this is how Maharashtra attained its statehood in India. Gujarat celebrated its 60th Foundation Day on 1st May 2019. The state of Gujarat came into existence on 1st May 1960 after the division of Mumbai state under Bombay Reorganization Act.

Current Affairs May 12 to May 18

• Tijjani Mohammad Bande: The Nigerian Professor has been appointed as the new President of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). He is the second Nigerian to be appointed to this post, prior being Mr. Joseph Nanven Garba(1989-1990). Prof. Tijjani Bande will succeed María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés. Prof. Tijjani Bande was born at Zagga (Present-Kebbi State) and he was the permanent representative of Nigeria to the UN.He is the recipient of Nigeria’s Officer of the Order of the Federal Republic (OFR), one of Nigeria’s highest national honours. Along with this, he has also won merit awards from various institutions and Governments, including US and China.
• Kami Rita: The Sherpa guide scaled Mount Everest for a 23rd time, breaking his own record for the most successful ascents of the world's highest peak. Rita's two closest peers have climbed the 8,850-meter (29,035-foot) peak 21 times each, but both of them have retired from mountain climbing. There are 41 different teams with a total of 378 climbers who have been permitted to scale Everest during this year's spring climbing season. There are an equal number of Nepalese guides helping them to get to the summit.
• Portugal : It is the country where the first brown bear was sighted in over a century. On 9th May2019, Wildlife Experts from Institute for Conservation of Nature and Forests (ICNF) have confirmed that the reappearance of brown bear in Portugal after one bear was spotted in the Montesinho Natural Park and Braganca commune in north-eastern Portugal in more than a century. Brown bears have been extinct in Portugal since the 19th century, and the last reports are between the 18th and the end of the 19th century.
• Qantas: It is the Australian flight carrier recently became the world’s first zero-waste flight. Recently, the Australian flight carrier, Qantas has operated world’s first zero waste commercial flight named QF739 from Sydney to Adelaide which disposed all waste through compost, reuse or recycle. This airline has substituted over 1000 single-use plastic items with more environment friendly items which has helped airline to achieve zero-waste during commercial flight. The Australian airline Qantas has planned to eliminate 100 million single-use plastics by the end of 2020 and also to reduce 75% of airline’s waste by the end of 2021.
• WHO: Which stands World Health organization collaborated with the International Food and Beverage Alliance (IFBA) to eliminate industrially produced trans fat (iTFA) from food supply worldwide by 2023. Trans fat-intake leads to coronary heart disease, due to which 5,00,000 deaths occur every year globally. Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of WHO had a meeting with the IFBA representatives, that included CEOs (chief executive officers) from around 12 companies comprising IFBA. The meeting stressed on the steps that are needed to be taken to eliminate industrial trans fats, decrease salt, sugar and saturated fats in processed foods.
• Dengvaxia: It is the name of the first Dengue Vaccine which was recently approved by The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), United States. The vaccine is also known as CYD-TDV and made by company Sanofi Pasteur. Mexico was the first country to clear it in the year 2015. The vaccine is a live, attenuated dengue virus. Under the vaccination, 3 doses will be provided to the patient and after 1st dose there will be a difference of 6 months between 1st dose and 2nd dose and also a difference of 6 months between 2nd dose and 3rd dose.
• Microsoft:Is the company which recently announced the launch of ‘ElectionGuard’ an open source software for secure voting. Microsoft CEO, Satya Nadella announced the launch of “ElectionGuard”, a free open-source Software Development Kit(SDK) to help nations to carry out secure and verifiable voting. Developed by Galois, “ElectionGuard” is a supplement to paper ballots. It is verifiable as it allows the voters and third-party organizations to verify election results. “ElectionGuard” provides a voter a unique code. During the process of voting, voters have an optional step which allows them to track their votes from the moment he/she casts it, after the voter has verified the selections are correct to the final step of counting the votes.
• Samsung: It is the company which recently launched the world’s first highest resolution image sensor of 64 megapixels. This image sensor will be used in upcoming smartphones of Samsung and the objective is to meet the growing demand for smartphones with better image quality.
• Singapore:It is the country which recently detected a case with the rare monkey pox virus which was brought in by a Nigerian man. He thought to have got this rare virus by eating bushmeat. Monkey pox is a rare disease caused by the virus that is transmitted from animals, such as rodents and monkeys (through the hunting and consumption of bush meat), to humans. It is usually found in the central and western parts of Africa’s tropical rainforest. Symptoms of the disease are lesions, fever, muscle ache and chills.
• Japan: This country has begun testing the ALFA-X version of its fastest-ever Shinkansen bullet train that could reach 400 km per hour (249 mph). The bullet train ALFA-X (Advanced Labs for Frontline Activity in Rail Experimentation) is scheduled to start its service in 2030, when, rail company JR East would operate it at 360 kilometres per hour (224 mph).This speed will make it 10 kph faster than China’s Fuxing Hao, which links Beijing and Shanghai and operates at the same top speed. This would make ALFA-X, the world’s fastest bullet train. In addition to usual brakes, the ALFA-X will have air brakes on the roof and also use magnetic plates near the rails to decrease speed while slowing down.
• May and October:They are the month in which the second Saturday is celebrated as the World Migratory Bird Day. In 2019, it was celebrated on May 11 and will be celebrated again on October 10. The theme for this year is “Protect Birds: Be the Solution to Plastic Pollution!”. It is organized by the Secretariats of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) and the African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbird Agreement (AEWA) along with Environment for the Americas (EFTA). It is celebrated to raise the awareness on the need for protecting the migratory birds and their habitats.The first world Migratory Day was observed on the weekend of May8-9, 2006. It is observed that out of the 265 bird species recorded to be caught in plastic litter, 147 species were seabirds (36% of all seabird species), 69 species freshwater birds (10%) and 49 land bird species (0.5%).
• United Kingdom: This country recently became the first national government to pass an exemplary measure, that is, a national declaration of an Environment and Climate Emergency. This move marks a serious emergency in dealing with climate change. The declaration was preceded by a visit by teenage activist Greta Thunberg (to the Parliament), the feature of David Attenborough’s documentary movie titled ‘Climate Change: The Facts’ and the 11-days of constant protest by an environmental group ‘Extinction Rebellion’. The decision of emergency in Parliament caters to national reductions and investment in the reduction of carbon emissions and saving the planet.
• Switzerland: The place where in the Geneva International Conference Centre (CICG) Geneva, the 14th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention (BC COP-14), the 9th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Rotterdam Convention (RC COP-9) and the 9th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Stockholm Convention (SC COP-9) was held from May29 to May 10, 2019. The theme of the meeting was “Clean Planet, Healthy People: Sound Management of Chemicals and Waste”. In the meeting, 187 countries pledge to restrict the global plastic waste but United States has refused to take part in this pledge.
• London: The place which has been selected by Facebook to develop WatsApp’s mobile payment service. CEO of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg has confirmed that it has selected London to be the center to launch WhatsApp Pay. The reason to choose London than US City is because WhatsApp is widely used in UK and London is considered as a Hub for Fintech. WhatsApp has 1.5 billion users globally, out of which, more than 200 million users are in India. In April, the Reserve Bank of India issued a circular with regard to data localization policy for payment system providers. Data localization means the storage of data within India. On May 3, Facebook assured the Supreme Court that it would adhere to the RBI’s data localization norms before the launch of the full payments service in India.
• United Kingdom:The country with which India recently had Foreign Office consultations in which both countries have agreed to strengthen their ties in the field of Indo-Pacific cooperation, climate change, disaster resilience, development in third world countries and others. Foreign Secretary, Vijay Gokhale led the Indian delegation and Sir Simon McDonald, Permanent Under-Secretary Foreign and Commonwealth Office of British government led the UK delegation. Besides the meeting, UK representative Sir Simon McDonald formally handed the instrument of ratification of the UK joining the International Solar Alliance (ISA) to Vijay Gokhale.
• Lisbon: The place in Portugal where United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) has decided to hold Ocean Conference 2020 from June 2 to 6, 2020 with a theme of “Scaling up ocean action based on science and innovation for the implementation of Goal 14: stocktaking, partnerships and solutions.” The objective of this conference is to support the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 14 (SDG 14) which stated as to conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development.

• IPL 2019 Highlights: Rohit Sharma is the Winning Skipper of IPL 2019 which was lifted by Mumbai Indians. Mumbai Indians became the IPL team to lift the IPL trophy the maximum number of times i.e 4 times followed be Chennai Super Kings who have won it 3 times. Andre Russell was declared the Most Valued Player of IPL 2019. David Warner won the Orange Cap of IPL 2019 with 692 runs in 12 matches. Sunrisers Hyderabad won the Fairplay award of IPL 2019.
• G.Suvanrna Lakshmi: She was recently named as the first woman on the ICC panel of Match Referees. She is a former Indian Railway cricketer

• KS Radhakrishnan: The former Supreme Court judge, has been appointed as a member of Commonwealth Secretariat Arbitral Tribunal (CSAT) for a term of 4 year, from 1st of June, 2019 to 31st of May, 2023.He had earlier served as a Supreme Court judge from November 2009 to May 2014. He has also served as the Chief Justice of the High Courts of Gujarat and J&K.
• Chhaya Sharma: The IPS officer who oversaw Nirbhaya case was recently conferred with the 2019 McCain Institute Award for Courage and Leadership. She has guided teams in the detection and investigation of sensitive criminal cases and protection of human rights. In 2017, Chhaya has performed a crucial role in drafting Standard Operating Procedures and Guidelines to Combat Trafficking of people in India. The award is granted to those who manifest courage on behalf of human rights, humanitarian compassion, justice, freedom, and human dignity. Other famous awardees are-MalalaYousafzai (2015) and DikembeMutombo (2016).
• Dia Mirza:The Indian Actress and Jack Ma, the chief of Alibaba Group are among the 17 new advocates appointed by The United Nations Secretary–General Antonio Guterres to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The appointed UN advocates must drive action and strengthen the global political will to achieve the SDGs. The newly appointed UN advocates are the 17 influential global figures. It is the responsibility of these advocates to raise awareness, inspire greater ambition and strive hard for the faster action on the SDGs, which were adopted by the world leaders on September 25, 2015. The other newly appointed SDG Advocates are Queen Mathilde of the Belgians, Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, Founder, Education Above All Foundation (State of Qatar), British screenwriter, producer and film director Richard Curtis, Nobel Laureate Nadia Murad, Director of Centre for Sustainable Development, Columbia University Jeffrey Sachs, Brazilian footballer and UN Women Goodwill Ambassador and Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Whitaker Peace & Development Initiative, Forest Whitaker.

Places in News

• China: This country recently signed a protocol with India for exploration of Indian Chilli meal to that country. After a meeting of Commerce Secretary Anup Wadhawan and General Administration of Customs of China (GACC) Vice Minister Li Guo, India and China signed a protocol for exportation of Indian chilli meal to China. In the meeting both the dignitaries discussed the challenges related to trade regarding the pending Indian request for agricultural products, that wasn’t been given clearance. They also agreed to resolve the market access issues quite fast in order to achieve the vision of a more balanced trade. In order to bridge the trade deficit (which stood at 50.12 $ billion during April-February 2018-19), India is seeking larger market access in the Chinese market for its manufactured and agricultural products. This is why India has shared a list of 380 products with China that includes horticulture, textiles, chemicals and pharmaceutical products.
• Japan: This country has dragged India to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) over the import duties imposed on certain electronic goods, according to the global trade body. Japan has accused India of "continuously and systematically" raise import duties on these goods after announcement of 'Make in India' campaign in September 2014, according to a communication released by the WTO recently. It has also alleged that these import duties are in excess of bound rates, which is a ceiling of import duty beyond which a WTO member country cannot go.
• Hyderabad : The city whose airport, Rajiv Gandhi International Airport has been ranked as the world’s 8th Best Airport in a survey conducted by Air Help. The airports were rated on the basis of time performance, service quality and food & shopping options. AirHelp is an organization which is specialized in air traveller rights and seeks compensation in cases of delays or cancellations of flights. The top 10 Best Airports of 2019 are 1)Hamad International Airport, Qatar (DOH); 2) Tokyo International Airport, Japan (HND); 3) Athens International Airport, Greece(ATH); 4) Afonso Pena International Airport, Brazil (CWB); 5) Gdansk Lech Wasa Airport, Poland (GDN); 6) Sheremetyevo International Airport, Russia (SVO); 7) Changi Airport Singapore, Singapore (SIN); 8) Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, India (HYD); 9) Tenerife North Airport, Spain (TFN); 10) Viracopos/Campinas International Airport, Brazil (VCP).
• Japan, Philippines and USA: These are the countries with which Indian navy recently undertook group sail exercise in South China Sea. Guided Missile Destroyer, INS Kolkata and Fleet Support Ship, INS Shakti participated in ‘Group Sail’ exercise with Helicopter Carrier JMSDF Izumo & Guided Missile Destroyer JMSDF Murasame of Japan; Frigate BRP Andres Bonifacio of Philippines and Arleigh Burke Class Destroyer USS Williams P Lawrence of the USA in the disputed South China Sea. This was 6-day long group sail exercise from May 3 to May 9, 2019 and objective was to deepen the existing partnership and foster mutual understanding among navies of friendly countries.
• Gaya: The place in Ladakh region of Jammu & Kashmir where Border Road Organisation (BRO) officials have created India’s first ever ice cafe at 14,000 feet height above sea level, on the famous Manali-Leh Highway. The ice sculpture, resembles a Buddhist meditation place, was created by natural process. The artificial glacier has been built by running pipes under frost lines then pushing water through these pipes into the freezing air, which causes it to fall as ice on the ground, and is one of the popular methods to conserve winter wastewater on the hills during winter. The design of the ice cafe has been inspired by the works of famous Indian engineer and innovator and education reformist, SonamWangchuk.
• India and China: They are the two countries which tops the list of nations for illegal sand mining as per the UNEP Report. According to the recent report released by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) titled ‘Sand and Sustainability: finding new solutions for environmental governance of global sand resources‘, India and China top a list of nations where illegal sand mining has become a key environmental issue. The report focusses on the altering pattern of sand consumption, demand and role among the growing population. The report brings to light that sand and gravel are the 2nd largest natural resources that are extracted but are the least regulated. The first largest being water. The report was released by Pascal Peduzzi, director of GRID-Geneva at UN Environment, who notified that, in order to reduce illegal sand mining, the infrastructure projects, namely, roads, buildings and bridges should ensure the traceability of the sand used and incentivise its extraction.
• Chhattisgarh:The state which recently deployed first ever Anti-Naxal women’s commando unit named ‘Danteshwari Ladake’ or ‘Fighters of Goddess Danteshwari’. These women commandos have inducted in the District Reserve Guard (DRG) which is Chhattisgarh’s frontline anti-naxal force. This specially raised squad was part of the security forces “short action teams” that eliminated three Naxal commanders in the past one month, has now inducted in the state’s Naxal-hit Dantewada district. The unit comprised of 30 women commandos led by Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Dineshwari Nand. Out of these 30 women commandos, 10 are surrendered women Naxals and 10 are assistant constables, part of anti-naxal movement Salwa Judum.
• Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh & Rajasthan: They are the four states which will face acute shortage of healthcare provider according to WHO’s report. The WHO (World Health Organization) has published a research paper titled ‘Forecasting the future need and gaps in requirements for public health professionals in India up to 2026’ in the ‘WHO South-East Asia Journal of Public Health‘, in which it states that India faces critical shortage of healthcare professionals, especially in Bihar, Jharkhand, U.P. (Uttar Pradesh) & Rajasthan which have the worst hit ratio as compared to Delhi, Kerala, Punjab and Gujarat which are in a relatively better position. Health workforce includes all those people engaged in actions whose primary intent is to enhance and improve the health of the general public affected with any kind of health issue. In spite of the 5 million workers being employed by the health sector in India, according to WHO’s database, the low density of health providers in India is even lower than nations like Sri Lanka, China, Thailand, United Kingdom and Brazil.

Others

• Royal Bengal Tiger : The animal which is believed may not survive impact of climate change as per the UN Report. A team of researchers from Bangladesh and Australia have claimed that the majestic Royal Bengal Tiger, which dominates the marshy mangrove ecosystem in the Sunderbans forest reserves, is under threat due to climate change and the unprecedented rise in sea levels. It was published in the journal named Science of the Total Environment. According to the researchers, there may be no tiger habitats left in the Bangladesh Sundarbans by 2070.
• BharatPe: It recently launched India’s first UPI Bahi Khata(Digital Ledger) for merchants. India’s first Fintech (Financial technology) start-up enabling payments via interoperable UPI(Unified Payments Interface) QR (Quick Response) codes, BharatPe notified its venture into merchant services by launching a new app named ‘Bharatpe for Merchants’ that allows merchants to keep a track of their cash/credit (Udhar) sales customer wise, to request the accounts receivable from customers through SMS (Short Message Service) payment links or through WhatsApp and to record accounts that are payable to suppliers. The newly launched app also helps the merchants to network and collaborate with other BharatPe merchants near them to expand their businesses. The major features on BharatPe’s app for merchants are: UPI Khata (Ledger), Managing Supplier Bills, Cashback, Settlements and Refer and Earn.
• 13.24% growth in bank credit and 10.03% growth in bank deposits : These took place in Financial Year 2018-19 as per the information released by RBI. According to Reserve Bank of India data, the bank credit grew by 13.24 percent in financial year 2019 (FY19) to Rs 97.67 lakh crore as compared to 10.3 percent in FY18 and the deposits up by 10.03 percent in FY19 to Rs 125.72 lakh crore as compare to 6.7 percent in FY18.
• TCS:It recently became the India’s most valued firm surpassing RIL in market cap. On May 9th, Indian IT firm, Tata Consultancy Services(TCS) surpassed the Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), led by Mukesh Ambani, in terms of Market capitalisation and became the India’s most valued firm by market capitalisation. As per BSE data, the market-cap of TCS stood at Rs. 8.13 trillion whereas the market-cap of RIL was Rs.7.95 trillion. At present, TCS is the country’s most valued firm, which is then followed by RIL, HDFC Bank (Rs. 6,24,362.11 crore), Hindustan Unilever (Rs. 3,67,880.69 crore) and ITC (Rs. 3,67,513.78 crore).
• AJIT :It is the name of microprocessor which has been indigenously conceptualised, designed, developed and manufactured by a group of researchers and professor Manav Desai from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Bombay. The chip of the microprocessor was developed at Semi-Conductor Laboratory in Chandigarh. This was the first time that academia, industry and government worked together for the development of new technology.The project was funded by IIT Bombay, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY)and Mumbai based Powai Labs. The team developed a toolset called AHIR-V2, which can convert an algorithm to hardware to design the microprocessor circuit.It is a medium sized processor which can be used for different purposes like inside a set-top box, as the control panel for automation systems, in a traffic light controller or even in robotics systems.The microprocessor ‘AJIT’ will cost around Rs 100 if manufacture about 10 lakh unit at a time.
• KRCL:Which stands for Konkan Railways Corporation Ltd recently signed an agreement in Kathmandu, with Nepal’s Department of Railways in the presence of Manjeev Singh Puri, Indian Ambassador to Nepal and Madhusudan Adhikari, Nepalese Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport Secretary. According to the agreement, KRCL will supply two 1600 HP DEMU train sets to Nepal’s Department of Railways.
• Reliance:It is the Indian company which recently acquired Hamley’s-the finest top shop in the world. Reliance Brands, a subsidiary of Mukesh Ambani led Reliance Industries (RIL) has acquired 100% stake in British toy major Hamleys Global Holdings Limited from Hong Kong based C Banner International in a cash deal of worth USD 88.6 million. A 259 years old British toy major, Hamleys was founded in 1760 and currently it has 167 stores across 18 countries.
• AH-64E(I):It is the name of first Apache Guardian attack helicopter which was received by India recently. The Indian Air Force legally received its 1st Apache Guardian attack helicopter AH-64E (I) during a ceremony at the Boeing production facility in Mesa, Arizona, US (United States). This first attack helicopter in India’s defence arsenal was received by Air Marshal AS Butola, IAF. In September 2015, India signed a $1.4 billion deal with the US government and Boeing for 22 attack helicopters (AH- 64 E Apache helicopters), of which the 1st batch of helicopters will be shipped to India by July. Apache is a stealthy and versatile machine that has been designed for all kinds of missions
• NDDB :The Anand-based National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) has developed world’s first complete parent-wise genome assembly of buffalo named “NDDB_ABRO_Murrah” of riverine buffaloes. To ensure better accuracy, for the first time a trio binning was used for separating haplotypes of a buffalo, using a father-mother-offspring trio. Of the 13 buffalo breeds in India, the Murrah, native to central Haryana, is the most sought after and acknowledged as the best ‘breed-improver’ with its gene pool now stretching across the globe in South Asia, South America, Mexico and West Asian countries.
• 11th May:This day every year is celebrated as National Technology Day in India to mark India’s technological advancements. It also emphasizes the importance of science in our day-to-day life. This day marks the remembrance of the successful launch of Shakti-I nuclear missile at Pokhran Test Range in Rajasthan on May 11, 1998. In order to commemorate the technological achievements made by India, the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee announced May 11 as the National Technology Day. This day also marks the launch of Hansa-3, India’s first indigenous aircraft. It was flown in Bengaluru when the nuclear tests were being conducted in Pokhran, Rajasthan. The Technology Development Board (TDB) was set up by the Government of India and since 1999, this day is celebrated by honouring the technological achievements. The board also confers National Awards to individuals and institutions for their contribution in the field of science.
• 12th May 2019 :This day was recently celebrated as The International Nurses Day globally to commemorate the birth anniversary of Florence Nightingale also known as ‘The Lady with the Lamp’, who was famous as manager and trainer of nurses during the Crimean War. The theme for the International Nurses Day 2019 was –‘Nurses – A Voice to Lead –Health for All’. In 1860, Nightingale laid the foundation of professional nursing with the establishment of her nursing school at St Thomas’ Hospital in London. It was the first secular nursing school in the world and is now part of King’s College London.

Current Affairs May 19 to May 25

• The United Arab Emirates (UAE): This country has launched ‘Golden Card’ Permanent Residency Scheme in an attempt to woo wealthy individuals and exceptional talents from all over the world. It is open to investors and ‘exceptional talents’ like scientists, engineers, doctors, students and artists. As part of initiative, the first group of 6800 investors from more than 70 countries with investments of about 100 Billion Dirhams (USD 27 billion), were being given permanent residency. The Golden Card is UAE’s way to welcome all those seeking to be a part of the UAE’s success story and making it a second home. It is introduced keeping in mind that Residents are an indispensable part of country and thus will be permanent partners in UAE’s journey.
• Resolutions passed at 72nd WHA: To take measures to implement the Declaration of Astana vowing to strengthen primary healthcare and achieve universal health coverage by 2030. To support community health worker programmes and allocate adequate resources. The member states shall push for UHC with focus on poor, vulnerable and marginalized individuals and groups. These were the resolutions passed by the delegates at the 72nd World Health Assembly in Geneva to ensure that the world meets the universal health coverage (UHC) target of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The World Health Assembly (WHA) is the forum through which the World Health Organization (WHO) is governed by its 194 member states. It is the world’s highest health policy setting body and is composed of health ministers from member states. The members of the World Health Assembly generally meet every year in May in Geneva, the location of WHO Headquarters.
• Algeria and Argentina:These are the two countries which were declared as malaria-free by The World Health Organization (WHO) with no recorded cases of indigenous transmission of the disease since 2013 and 2010 respectively. While Algeria is the second African country to be officially recognised as malaria-free, after Mauritius (certified in 1973), Argentina is the second country in the Americas to be certified in 45 years, after Paraguay in June 2018.
• Tokyo: It is hosting the second U20 Mayors Summit. The summit takes place one month ahead of the G20 Osaka Summit. This will allow invited Mayors to discuss and approve a communiqué which will be formally presented to the G20. Mayors of 30 major cities from across the world have urged the Global leaders to act fast on climate change, social inclusion and sustainable economic growth. The issues highlighted by the mayors and city governors are represented in the United Nations-mandated sustainable development goals, the deadline of which is 2030. Urban 20 (U20) is an initiative developed in 2017 under the leadership of the Mayor of Buenos Aires and Mayor of Paris, and convened by the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group (C40) in collaboration with United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG).
• Jokha Alharthi: An author from Oman won the prestigious Man Booker International Prize for her Arabic novel “Celestial Bodies”. She became the first Arabic language writer to win this award. Alharthi will share her prize money with her UK-based translator named Marilyn Booth. Man Booker International Prize is an international literary award sponsored by the ‘Man Group’, which is the same organisation that gives Man Booker Prize for fiction. It is counterpart to Man Booker Prize for English-language novels.
• Stevo Pendarovski: He was recently elected as the new President of North Macedonia. Backed by North Macedonia’s ruling party, the 55-year-old former political-science professor won the presidential runoff vote amid promises to push the Balkan state towards NATO (The North Atlantic Treaty Organization) and European Union membership. He will succeed Gjorge Ivanov. Pendarovski had 51.7% of votes whereas Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova, his challenger, had 44.7% votes. Siljanovska-Davkova is North Macedonia’s first female candidate and a university professor. North Macedonia is 1 of the poorest countries in Europe with an average monthly salary of about 470$.
• Laurentino “Nito” Cortizo: He was recently elected as the new President of Panama. The Panama Electoral Tribunal recently announced him as the winner of Panama’s presidential election. He will succeed Juan Carlos Varela Rodríguez. Cortizo was the candidate for the left-wing Democratic Revolutionary Party. Cortizo (with 33% of the votes) closest rival was Romulo Roux (with 31% votes). Romulo was from the former President Ricardo Martinelli’s right wing Democratic Change Party. This was the 6th presidential election in Panama, since a US invasion removed strongman Manuel Noriega in 1989.
• Anthropocene: It is the one which a team of scientists have voted to declare as a new chapter in the Earth’s geological history- the new epoch. The result builds on an informal vote taken at the 2016 International Geological Congress in Cape Town, and lays the groundwork for a formal proposal by 2021 to the International Commission on Stratigraphy. Coined by Paul Crutzen and Eugene Stoermer in 2000 to denote the present geological time interval, Anthropocene has been used to describe humanity’s large impact on the environment. The move signals the end of the Holocene epoch, which began 12,000 to 11,600 years ago. To show a clear transition from the Holocene, the scientists plan to identify a definitive geologic marker or ‘golden spike’, and would be technically called a Global boundary Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP). For this, the group will search for the marker from around the globe, including a cave in northern Italy, corals in the Great Barrier Reef and a lake in China.
• Noordward: The place in the Netherlands is the site of the ‘Room for the River’ project. The flagship project of the Dutch government is centered around protecting areas adjoining rivers from routine flooding and improving water management systems in delta regions. The basic premise of the ‘Room for the River’ project is essentially to provide more space for the water body so that it can manage extraordinary high-water levels during floods. The project, implemented at over 30 locations across the Netherlands and funded at a cost of 2.3 billion euros, involves tailor-made solutions for each river. Among the nine measures which define the project are lowering the flood plain, deepening the summer bed, strengthening of dykes, relocation of dykes, reducing the height of the groynes, increasing the depth of the side channels and removing obstacles
• Finland: They held the 11th Arctic Council Ministerial Meeting in Lappi Areena, Rovaniemi, Finland on May 7, 2019. The dignitaries from the 8 Arctic States had approved the work completed under the 2-year Finnish Chairmanship to enhance sustainable development and environmental conservation in the Arctic region. The Arctic States were joined by delegates from the Arctic Council’s Permanent Participant organizations, the heads of the 6 Working Groups, and Observers. Arctic States concluded the Arctic Council Ministerial meeting by signing a joint agreement as the Arctic Council Ministers meet, passed the Chairmanship from Finland to Iceland. The Members of the Arctic Council are: the United States, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, and Sweden..
• Metz: In France is the place where the G7’s (Group of Seven) Environment Ministers from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States gathered for a 2-day meeting to discuss on steps required to handle deforestation, plastic pollution, depletion of coral reefs and ways to build pacts between the countries in order to achieve the target. IMF (International Monetary Fund) notified that the G7 nations have the 7 largest advanced economies globally, thus representing 58% of the net global wealth which amounts to 317 $ trillion. The G7 countries also represent more than 46% of the global GDP (Gross Domestic Product) based on nominal values, and more than 32% of the global GDP based on purchasing power parity. The delegates from the European Union, Chile, Egypt, the Fiji Islands, Gabon, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Niger and Norway joined the ministers in the meeting.

• Saurav Ghosal and Joshna Chinappa: They won men’s and women’s title respectively in the Asian Individual Squash Championship held at National Squash Centre in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from May 1 to 5, 2019. The event was organised by the Asian Squash Federation. This is the first time India won both men’s and women’s titles. Previously, Asian Individual Squash Championship was held in Chennai in 2017. A 32-year old, Saurav Ghosal the top seed defeated fourth seed Leo Au Chun Ming of Hong Kong while the 32-year old, Joshna Chinappa, the second seed defeated top seed Annie Au of Hong Kong.
• Amul :It has announced to sponsor Afghanistan team in upcoming World Cup 2019 which will be held in England and Wales from May 30, 2019. Amul’s logo will be visible on the leading arm of jerseys of the Afghanistan players in international match and also in training kit throughout the world cup. Earlier in only two instances, Amul had sponsored any cricket team in World Cup tournament. These two countries are New Zealand and Holland.
• John Campbell and Shai Hope:The West Indies player who created the history by making first-ever 350 plus run opening stand against Ireland. Both players shared 365 runs for the first wicket and also become the only opening pair to score 150 runs each in one inning of a 50-over match. The venue of the match was Clontarf Cricket Club Ground, Dublin, Ireland. Previously, the highest first wicket opening stand was 304 runs in ODI cricket by Pakistan’s Fakhar Zaman and Imam-ul-Haq against Zimbabwe in 2018.

• Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: The Indian spiritual leader, was recently presented with the ‘Order of St. George’ Award for the year 2019 as part of the Commemorative Feast at the Puthuppally St. George Orthodox Church (462-year-old) in Kottayam, Kerala. The award was presented by the head of Kandanad East diocese, Dr. Thomas Mar Athanasius Metropolitan at the cultural conference held at the church. In 1981, Sri Sri founded the Art of Living Foundation, a volunteer-based Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) providing social support to the people.
• Sujatha V Kumar : Visa, the global leader in digital payments technology, announced the appointment of Sujatha V Kumar as Head of Marketing for India and South Asia. She will be driving overall marketing strategy and execution including consumer, retail and digital marketing initiatives for India and the emerging markets of Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, and the Maldives. She will succeed Manmeet Vohra. Prior to this, she worked with Google as Head in Brand & Reputation, Marketing and Strategy. She has 20 years of experience and extensive knowledge of consumer insights, brand development, go-to-market approaches, category management, retail strategy and promotions.

Places in News

• Odisha: This is the state which has launched DAMaN Durgama Anchalare Malaria Nirakaran initiative to fight malaria. The initiative aims to deliver services to the most inaccessible and hardest hit people of the State. The initiative has in-built innovative strategies to combat asymptomatic malaria. The programme is jointly implemented by Indian Council of Medical Research-National Institute of Malaria Research (ICMR-NIMR), National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme (NVBDCP), Odisha and Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV).
• Vellore: In Tamil Nadu is the place where the recently concluded General Elections 2019 was cancelled by President of India acting on recommendation of Election Commission of India.
• Prakasam: This district of Andhra Pradesh is known for Ongole Cattle breed which was in the news recently after Vice President of India, M. Venkaiah Naidu called for protecting Ongole cattle breed. The breed derives its name from the place the breed originates from, Ongole. The Ongole breed of cattle, Bos Indicus, has a great demand as it is said to possess resistance to both foot and mouth disease and mad cow disease.
• India: It has inked Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with ISE Foods, Japan’s largest egg producer. The objective is to improve the quality of eggs, disease diagnosis and waste management in poultry farms across India. ISE Foods will establish two poultry farms in India out of which first will be in Gujarat’s Surat city and second will be in Telangan’s Siddipet. The egg production process used by ISE Foods is fully automated, the chickens are totally antibiotic-free and ISE’s production process is considered the most hygienic in the world. ISE Foods also regulates “ISE Integration System” which supervise the production of feed, poultry farming, egg collection, packing and delivery production to control quality.

Others

• 22nd May : This day was recently celebrated by United Nations (UN) as The International Day for Biological Diversity (IDB) to increase understanding and awareness of biodiversity issues. Objective of observing this day is to spread awareness about species turning endangered or going to extinct. The theme of 2019 is – “Our Biodiversity, Our Food, Our Health.” First Biological Diversity International Day was observed by Second Committee of the UN General Assembly on December 29, 1993. Few years later in year 2000, UN General Assembly adopted 22 May as International Day for Biological Diversity (IDB).
• Reserve Bank of India:It has decided to create a specialised supervisory and regulatory cadre within the RBI in order to strengthen the supervision and regulation of commercial banks, urban cooperative banks and NBFCs. There were complaints that the RBI was lax in the supervisory functions, especially in timely detection of frauds and poor governance in the banking sector. Currently, banks follow risk-based supervision which focusses on evaluating both present and future risks and facilitates early corrective action. In comparison, supervision of NBFCs and urban cooperative banks is less stringent.
• INS Ranjit : It is the name of Indian Navy’s frontline missile destroyer which was recently decommissioned after 36 years of service at the naval dockyard in Visakhapatnam. INS Ranjit was commissioned on 15th September 1983 with Captain Vishnu Bhagwat as the chair. INS Ranjit was the 3rd of the 5 Kashin-class destroyers built by the former USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics). INS Ranjit was deployed during IPKF (Indian Peace Keeping Force) operations and Operation Talwar during Kargil conflict. INS Ranjit’s motto was ‘Sada Rane Jayate‘ or ‘Ever Victorious in Battle’. The ship was constructed as ‘Yard 2203‘ in the 61 Communards shipyard in the town of Nikolev, Ukraine, where the ship was given its Russian name, “Lovkly” which means “Agile”.
• INS Vela:Indian Navy’s 4th Scorpene-class submarine was launched at Mazagon Dockyard in Mumbai recently. This is the fourth submarine in the series of six submarines under Project 75 built by Mazagon Dock Ltd, Mumbai. The Scorpene-class submarine has been termed as the Kalavari Class. Project 75 is a $3.75 billion contract inked between French Company DCNS (now Naval Group) and the Mazagon Dock Ltd in 2005 for construction and transfer of technology for 6 Scorpene-class submarines. Before Vela, Mazagon Dock Ltd has launched Kalvari, Khanderi, Karanj submarines. Upcoming submarines, INS Vagir and INS Vagsheer are in the stages of manufacturing.
• RISAT-2B :It is the name of the radar imaging satellite which was successfully launched by ISRO on-board PSLV-C46 from Sriharikota. RISAT-2B was placed into an orbit of 555 km with an inclination of 37 degree to the equator. This is the fourth flight unit of the RISAT programme and it would be used for reconnaissance, strategic surveillance and disaster management. It has been developed for military and general surveillance purposes. The data will also be used in fields of agriculture, forestry and disaster management support. RISAT-2B is equipped with a synthetic aperture radar that can take pictures of the earth during day and night, and also under cloudy conditions.
• Competition Commission of India (CCI) :They celebrated its 10th Annual Day on 20th May 2019. It marks the notification of the substantive enforcement provisions of the Competition Act, 2002. It is a statutory body of the Government of India, responsible for enforcing the Competition Act, 2002 throughout India and to prevent activities that have an adverse effect on competition. It is the duty of the Commission to eliminate practices having adverse effect on competition, promote and sustain competition, protect the interests of consumers and ensure freedom of trade in the markets of India.
• The Indian Army :It is commemorating ‘2019’ as the ‘Year of Next of Kin’. As a part of this commemoration, the Army has planned to reach out to the next of kin of battle casualties, ex-servicemen and serving soldiers to resolve their pension related issues and to let them know of their entitled financial benefits, welfare schemes. The Army will take the help of the defence ministry, Nepal Embassy, Sainik Boards, banks and welfare agencies like the Ex-Servicemen Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS) to embark upon this journey. The nodal agency will be The Directorate of Indian Army Veterans.
• 8th May:This day was recently celebrated as World Red Cross Day & World Thalassaemia Day. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) celebrated the World Red Cross Day on May 8th. The theme of this year was “#Love”. It is celebrated to commemorate the birthday of the founder of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, Henry Dunant, who was born on 8th May 1828.World Thalassaemia Day 2019 was celebrated on May 8 worldwide with a theme of “Universal Access to Quality Thalassaemia Healthcare Services: Building Bridges with and for Patients”. The purpose of this day is to honour all patients of thalassaemia and their wards who never gave up despite all odds and also to support researchers who are striving to create an improved quality of life for people with thalassaemia across the world.
• RRBs (Regional Rural Banks) and SFBs (Small Finance Banks) :They have been brought at the same level as the other Scheduled Commercial Banks in terms of financing Housing Loans under Priority Sector. RBI (Reserve Bank of India) has notified them to enhance housing loan limits to individuals up to Rs 35 lakh in metropolitan centres (which would have a population of over 10 lakhs) and Rs 25 lakh in other centres, under Priority sector Lending (PSL). The total cost of the dwelling unit in the metropolitan centres should not exceed Rs 45 lakh and at other centres should not go beyond Rs 30 lakh for them to be eligible for classification under PSL. Previously, in case of SFB’s loans up to Rs 28 lakh to individuals in metropolitan centres and Rs 20 lakh in other centres, were eligible for classification under PSL, provided that the cost of dwelling unit did not exceed Rs 35 lakh for metropolitan centres and Rs 25 lakh for other centres. RBI notified that the existing family income limit of Rs 2 lakh per annum, eligible for loans to housing projects solely for the purpose of construction of houses for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) and Low-Income Groups (LIG), has been updated to Rs 3 lakh per annum for EWS and Rs 6 lakh per annum for LIG.
• 7th May 2019:This day was recently celebrated as World Athletics Day & World Asthma Day. The first World Athletics Day was celebrated in 1996. This Day, which is organized by the IAAF, helps to establish an important link between the youth, our sport, and environmental conservation. World Asthma Day is observed annually on the first Tuesday of May to raise awareness regarding Asthma and its care. This year it coincided with May 7th. It is supported by the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA), World Asthma Foundation, and National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI). The theme of this year is “STOP for Asthma”. STOP means Symptom evaluation, Test response, Observe and assess, Proceed to adjust treatment.

Current Affairs May 26 to June 01

• UNSC: It stands for The United Nations Security Council is one of the organs of the United Nations which is charged with the maintenance of international peace and security. Its powers include the establishment of peacekeeping operations, the establishment of international sanctions, and the authorization of military action through Security Council resolutions; it is the only UN body with the authority to issue binding resolutions to member states. The Security Council consists of fifteen members. Russia, the United Kingdom, France, China, and the United States—serve as the body’s five permanent members. These permanent members can veto any substantive Security Council resolution, including those on the admission of new member states or candidates for Secretary-General.
• Ravi: The name of the river in Pakistan on whose banks Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur is located which is in the news recently for construction of special corridor. Officials from Pakistan and India recently held a meeting to discuss the modalities for a corridor linking Dera Baba Nanak shrine in Punjab’s Gurdaspur district to Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur across the border. The Kartarpur corridor will be implemented as an integrated development project with Government of India funding, to provide smooth and easy passage, with all the modern amenities.
• Kappaphycus alvarezii:It is an invasive, which smothers and kills coral reefs. It has spread its wings to coral reef areas in Valai island in the Gulf of Mannar (GoM) and set to invade new coral colonies in the marine national park. It has already invaded Shingle, Kurusadai and Mulli islands in Mandapam cluster of the GoM, the red algae invaded Valai island along Kilakarai coast following its cultivation in south Palk Bay.
• Sri Lanka, Japan and India: These countries have signed an agreement to jointly develop the East Container Terminal at the Colombo Port. The joint initiative is estimated to cost between $500 million and $700 million. As per the agreement signed, the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) retains 100% ownership of the East Container Terminal (ECT), while the Terminal Operations Company is jointly owned. Sri Lanka will hold a 51% stake in the project and the joint venture partners will retain 49%. The ECT is located some three km away from the China-backed international financial city, known popularly as “port city”.
• The International Labour Organization (ILO): It recently released its second global report, titled Women in Business and Management: The business case for change. As per the report a critical mass of 30 per cent women is need by the enterprises in order to reap the benefits of gender diversity. Almost half of the surveyed enterprises reported women holding less than 30 per cent of entry-level management positions. Across the world, men are still more likely to participate in the labour market than women. The average global labour force participation rate of women in 2018 stood at 48.5 per cent, while that of men was 75 per cent. This equates to a 26.5 percentage point gender gap in labour force participation.
• Burn-Out: It is the disease which the World Health Organization has for the first time recognised in its International Classification of Diseases (ICD), which is widely used as a benchmark for diagnosis and health insurers. The decision could help put to rest Sdecades of debate among experts over how to define burnout, and whether it should be considered a medical condition. In the latest update of its catalogue of diseases and injuries around the world, WHO defines burn-out as “a syndrome conceptualised as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed.” The syndrome is characterised by three dimensions: “1) feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion; 2) increased mental distance from one’s job, or feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one’s job; and 3) reduced professional efficacy.”
• Scott Morrison:He was recently sworn in as the new Prime Minister of Australia. Mr. Morrison became Australia’s 30th Prime Minister through an internal party vote in which he replaced Malcom Turnbull as chief of the ruling Liberal Party.
• World Health Organization:They unveiled a new strategy to dramatically cut deaths and injuries from snakebites, warning a dearth of antivenoms could soon spark a “public health emergency”. Each year, nearly three million people are bitten by poisonous snakes, with an estimated 81,000-138,000 deaths. Another 400,000 survivors suffer permanent disabilities and other after-effects, according to WHO figures. Most snakebite victims live in the world’s tropical and poorest regions, and children are worse affected due to their smaller body size. WHO has already categorised “snakebite envenoming” as a Neglected Tropical Disease.
• Mandapam, Keezhakkarai and Palk Bay in Gulf of Mannar regions: They are the places where the researchers have found an alarming pattern of bleaching in the reefs. Sea surface temperature ranged from 28.7°C to 31°C in the August 2018-February 2019 period and there was no bleaching seen then. However, when the temperatures rose to between 32°C and 36°C between March 2019 and May 2019, researchers observed a pattern of bleaching in corals, which was different at different layers within the sea. Coral reefs are important hotspots of biodiversity in the ocean. Corals are animals in the same class (Cnidaria) as jellyfish and anemones. They consist of individual polyps that get together and build reefs.
• Artemis: It is the name of programme unveiled by NASA that will return astronauts to the Moon for the first time in half a century, including eight scheduled launches and a mini-station in lunar orbit by 2024. Artemis 1 will be an uncrewed mission around the Moon planned for 2020. Next will come Artemis 2, which will orbit Earth’s satellite with a crew around 2022; followed finally by Artemis 3 that will put astronauts on lunar soil in 2024, including the first woman. The three will be launched into space by the biggest rocket of all time, the Boeing-led Space Launch System (SLS), which is currently under development but has seen numerous delays and has been criticized in some quarters as a bloated jobs program. ARTEMIS stands for Acceleration, Reconnection, Turbulence and Electrodynamics of Moon’s Interaction with the Sun. The mission was named Artemis after the Greek mythological goddess of the Moon and twin sister to Apollo, namesake of the program that sent 12 American astronauts to the Moon between 1969 and 1972.
• Mount Agung: It is the volcano located on the Indonesian holiday island of Bali which erupted recently. Mount Agung or Gunung Agung is a currently active volcano in Bali, Indonesia, southeast of Mt Batur volcano, also in Bali. Gunung Agung stratovolcano is the highest point on Bali. It dominates the surrounding area, influencing the climate, especially rainfall patterns.
• Bishkek: In Kyrgyzstan is the place which recently hosted the Second Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Mass Media Forum. The Forum aims to strengthen the exchange and cooperation in the field of mass media amongst SCO countries. It offers a unique platform for active work through mass media to create an objective vision of the organization and strengthen its positive image in the global information space. The first SCO Media Summit was held in Beijing on 1 June 2018. The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, also known as the Shanghai Pact, is a Eurasian political, economic, and military organisation which was founded in 2001 in Shanghai. The founding members were China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. The cooperation was renamed to Shanghai Cooperation Organisation after Uzbekistan joined the organisation in 2001.
• SKA:Which stands for Square Kilometre Array is the name of the world’s largest radio telescope which the scientists at Cambridge recently finished brain designing. It consists of a supercomputer that will process the enormous amounts of data produced by the SKA’s telescopes. The total compute power will be around 250 PFlops — that’s 25 per cent faster than IBM’s Summit, the current fastest supercomputer in the world. When complete, the SKA will enable astronomers to monitor the sky in unprecedented detail and survey the entire sky much faster than any system currently in existence. The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) project is an international effort to build the world’s largest radio telescope, with eventually over a square kilometre (one million square metres) of collecting area. Whilst 10 member countries are the cornerstone of the SKA, around 100 organisations across about 20 countries are participating in the design and development of the SKA. Location of SKA antenna dishes will be built in South Africa (in the Karoo), with outstations in other parts of South Africa, as well as in eight African partner countries, namely Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia and Zambia. Another part of the telescope, the low-frequency array, will be built in Western Australia.
• Athena and LISA: These are the two future missions of ESA which the researchers have proposed to combine the observing power to study the effects when two supermassive black holes collide. Currently in the study phase, both missions are scheduled for launch in the early 2030s. Athena will be the largest X-ray observatory ever built, investigating some of the hottest and most energetic phenomena in the cosmos with unprecedented accuracy and depth. LISA will be the first space-borne observatory of gravitational waves—fluctuations in the fabric of spacetime produced by the acceleration of cosmic objects with very strong gravity fields, like pairs of merging black holes.
• Chagos islands: It is the main reason for the dispute between Britain and Mauritius. The United Nation General Assembly (UNGA) has passed a non-binding resolution asking United Kingdom (UK) to return Chagos Archipelago in Indian Ocean to Mauritius. The UK should end its control of the Chagos Islands in the Indian Ocean as rapidly as possible. The islands are not lawfully separated from the former colony of Mauritius.
• China:This country has been illegally emitting Trichlorofluoromethane or CFC-11 — the banned ozone-depleting chemical — according to the research published in the journal Nature recently. CFC-11 was phased out under the 1987 Montreal Protocol. Despite being the signatory to the Montreal Protocol, and agreeing to phase out production of CFC-11 in 2010, China continued to emit the polluting gas. China has the world’s largest polyurethane foam market, accounting for about 40 per cent of the world’s consumption. Chinese foam manufacturers have been using CFC-11 illegally to save on the higher cost of alternatives, such as hydrochloro-fluorocarbons like HCFC-141b, which is to be phased out in China by 2026.

• England and South Africa: These are the two countries which will play the inaugural match of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2019. This edition of ICC World Cup is being played in England.
• Pakistan:This country was recently awarded the hosting rights for the next edition of Asia Cup in 2020. The Asian Cricket Council in its meeting in Singapore recently awarded continental meet in T20 format to Pakistan which will most likely organise it in neutral venues of the United Arab Emirates, its cricket home since the 2009 terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan team bus.

• Jaganmohan Reddy: He recently became the 1st CM in Andhra Pradesh to step into his father’s shoes. Since the birth of Andhra Pradesh in 1956, Y S Jaganmohan Reddy is the first CM-elect whose father was a chief minister himself. This after the state has seen 16 chief ministers, with some of them serving second terms. While northern states have seen nearly a dozen father-son duo as CMs, there are just two instances in the southern parts. Karnataka was the first state to see an ex-CM’s son sit on the chief minister’s chair when HD Kumaraswamy became the chief minister. Kumaraswamy’s father HD Deve Gowda served as the chief minister from 1994 to 1996. On the other hand, Jaganmohan Reddy’s father YS Rajasekhara Reddy served as the chief minister of AP from 2004 till his death in 2009.
• Veer Savarkar :He is the freedom fighter whose birth anniversary was observed on 28th May, 2019. In Pune, Savarkar founded the “Abhinav Bharat Society”. He was also involved in the Swadeshi movement and later joined Tilak’s Swaraj Party. His instigating patriotic speeches and activities incensed the British Government. As a result, the British Government withdrew his B.A. degree.

Places in News

• Odisha: This is the state which has launched DAMaN Durgama Anchalare Malaria Nirakaran initiative to fight malaria. The initiative aims to deliver services to the most inaccessible and hardest hit people of the State. The initiative has in-built innovative strategies to combat asymptomatic malaria. The programme is jointly implemented by Indian Council of Medical Research-National Institute of Malaria Research (ICMR-NIMR), National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme (NVBDCP), Odisha and Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV).
• Vellore: In Tamil Nadu is the place where the recently concluded General Elections 2019 was cancelled by President of India acting on recommendation of Election Commission of India.
• Prakasam: This district of Andhra Pradesh is known for Ongole Cattle breed which was in the news recently after Vice President of India, M. Venkaiah Naidu called for protecting Ongole cattle breed. The breed derives its name from the place the breed originates from, Ongole. The Ongole breed of cattle, Bos Indicus, has a great demand as it is said to possess resistance to both foot and mouth disease and mad cow disease.
• India: It has inked Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with ISE Foods, Japan’s largest egg producer. The objective is to improve the quality of eggs, disease diagnosis and waste management in poultry farms across India. ISE Foods will establish two poultry farms in India out of which first will be in Gujarat’s Surat city and second will be in Telangan’s Siddipet. The egg production process used by ISE Foods is fully automated, the chickens are totally antibiotic-free and ISE’s production process is considered the most hygienic in the world. ISE Foods also regulates “ISE Integration System” which supervise the production of feed, poultry farming, egg collection, packing and delivery production to control quality.
• India: It has been elected to the Executive Board of the first UN-Habitat Assembly. The United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN–Habitat) is the United Nations agency for human settlements and sustainable urban development. It was established in 1978 as an outcome of the First UN Conference on Human Settlements and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat I) held in Vancouver, Canada in 1976. It is mandated by the United Nations General Assembly to promote socially and environmentally sustainable towns and cities with the goal of providing adequate shelter for all. It is a member of the United Nations Development Group. The mandate of UN-Habitat derives from the Habitat Agenda, adopted by the United Nations Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat II) in Istanbul, Turkey, in 1996.
• India and Switzerland:They are the two countries which were recently removed by USA from its currency monitoring list of major trading partners, citing certain developments and steps being taken by them which address some of its major concerns. The US currency monitoring list includes Japan, South Korea, Germany, Italy, Ireland, Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam. In both Switzerland and India, there was a notable decline in 2018 in the scale and frequency of foreign exchange purchases, the report said. India for the first time was placed by the US in its currency monitoring list of countries with potentially questionable foreign exchange policies in May 2018 along with five other countries - China, Germany, Japan, South Korea and Switzerland.
• The Orchha : The town of Madhya Pradesh has been included in tentative list of the World Heritage Sites of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO). It is situated on the banks of the river Betwa, in Niwari district of Bundelkhand region of Madhya Pradesh. A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as of special cultural or physical significance. The list is maintained by the international World Heritage Programme administered by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, composed of 21 UNESCO member states which are elected by the General Assembly.
• Haryana:The state which is planning to discourage planting of the water-guzzling rice (paddy) crop, which threatens to deplete the State’s groundwater. Meanwhile, farmers have asked the government to first come out with a mechanism to procure alternative crops at the Minimum Support Price (MSP) so that farmers are not at the receiving end. Water depletion in Haryana over the years has led to 60 dark zones in the State, which include 21 critical ones in 10 districts. The Cabinet Committee of Economic Affairs announces MSP for various crops at the beginning of each sowing season based on the recommendations of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP). The CACP takes into account demand and supply, the cost of production and price trends in the market among other things when fixing MSPs.
• Bihar :The state which registered the maximum None of The Above (NOTA) votes of about 8 lakh, with the highest share of 5.04% reported from the Gopalganj constituency in the recently concluded General Elections 2019. The high NOTA percentage was an indicator that people were frustrated with the state of affairs in their constituency, did not find any of the candidates worthy enough and therefore, even after reaching the polling station, decided to press the NOTA button. The option of NOTA for Lok Sabha and assembly elections was prescribed by the SC in 2013. The option of NOTA in RS polls was introduced by the EC in 2014. Thus, India became the 14th country to institute negative voting.

Others

• NSIC: It recently signed MOU with Ministry of MSME which envisages provision of enhanced services by NSIC under its marketing, financial, technology and other support services schemes for MSMEs in the country. Under the scheme of National SC-ST Hub being implemented by NSIC on behalf of the Ministry of MSME, it will be a continued endeavour to provide assistance to SC/ST entrepreneurs through different interventions and various outreach activities with the overall objectives to increase their participation in public procurement. The National SC/ST Hub has been set up to provide professional support to Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Entrepreneurs to fulfil the obligations under the Central Government Public Procurement Policy for Micro and Small Enterprises Order 2012, adopt applicable business practices and leverage the Stand-Up India initiative.
• Operation Safed Sagar:It was undertaken by the Air Force jointly to flush out infiltrators in the Kargil sector along the Line of Control.
• BJD: Which stands for Biju Janata Dal is the party whose President Naveen Patnaik took oath as the chief minister of Odisha for a fifth consecutive term, in Bhubaneswar recently. Odisha governor Ganeshi Lal administered the oath of office and secrecy to Patnaik. The BJD, which won 112 seats in the 147-member assembly in the recently concluded elections, held simultaneously with the Lok Sabha polls, has been in power in Odisha since 2000.
• BIMSTEC: Which stands for Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation is the group whose leaders have been invited for the swearing-in ceremony on May 30, 2019 of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. With this move India has made a carefully calibrated diplomatic move that signals a major outreach to India’s neighbourhood from the Bay of Bengal to Central Asia, as well as the Indian diaspora across the world. BIMSTEC was formed in 1997, originally with Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka and Thailand, and later included Myanmar, Nepal and Bhutan. BIMSTEC, which now includes five countries from South Asia and two from ASEAN, is a bridge between South Asia and Southeast Asia. It includes all the major countries of South Asia, except Maldives, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
• SLCP: Which stands for Social and Labour Convergence Programme is an initiative to have a standard-neutral, converged assessment framework for the textile and clothing industry, will be launched in India shortly. It eliminates the need for repetitive audits to be carried out on the same facility. The initiative is led by world’s leading manufacturers, brands, retailers, industry groups, non-governmental organisations and service providers. The objective of the initiative Its aim is to improve the working conditions in textile units by allowing resources that were previously designated for compliance audits to be redirected towards the improvement of social and labour conditions. This is a voluntary adoption by the textile and clothing makers.
• PM-AASHA: Which stands for Annadata Aay Sanrakshan Abhiyan is the government’s flagship price support scheme.Greaves Cotton -it is the company which recently launched high-speed electric scooter Ampere Zeal that meets the specifications of the FAME-II policy of the government. Zeal will have a top speed of 55kmph and a range of 75km with charge time of 5.5 hours. Under FAME (Faster Adoption and manufacturing of Electric Vehicles in India) II benefit, Zeal would attract Rs. 18,000 subsidy per scooter.
• Requirement of strong room: Area of the strong room/ vault of at least 1,500 sq ft. Area of the strong room/ vault of at least 600 sq ft in hilly areas are the two major requirement for setting up of currency chests as per the Reserve Bank of India new guidelines. The other requirements are that the new chests should have a processing capacity of 6.6 lakh pieces of banknotes per day. Those situated in the hilly/ inaccessible places, a capacity of 2.1 lakh pieces of banknotes per day. The currency chests should have Chest Balance Limit (CBL) of Rs 1,000 crore, subject to ground realities and reasonable restrictions, at the discretion of the Reserve Bank.
• SKM: Which stands for Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) President Prem Singh Tamang (Golay) was sworn in as the sixth chief minister of Sikkim during a public function at Paljor Stadium recently. Governor Ganga Prasad administered the oath of office and secrecy to Golay and his cabinet members. SKM had won 17 of the 32 seats in the recently-concluded assembly polls. It ended the 25 year-long rule of SDF led by five-term CM Pawan Chamling
• Akash-MK-1S: It is the name of missile which was successfully test fired by India from the integrated test range at Chandipur in Odisha. The surface-to-air anti-aircraft missile with a strike range of 25 km and capability to carry warhead of 60 kg. Akash weapon system has combination of both command guidance and active terminal seeker guidance.
• Elephant Bonds:They are the one which the high-level government-appointed committee on trade and industry has suggested to issue to people for declaring undisclosed income to mandatorily invest 50%. Elephant Bonds are the 25-year sovereign bonds in which people declaring undisclosed income will be bound to invest 50 per cent. The fund, made from these bonds, will be utilized only for infrastructure projects.
• EQUIP: It is the name of the ambitious ₹1.5 lakh crore project which the Ministry of Human Resource Development plans to launch to improve the quality and accessibility of higher education over the next five years. EQUIP stands for the Education Quality Upgradation and Inclusion Programme and was crafted by ten committees led by experts within the government. EQUIP is meant to bridge the gap between policy and implementation. The project is made to bring transformation in the higher education system in the upcoming 5 years.
• OMO: It stands for Open Market Operations. Open market operations is the sale and purchase of government securities and treasury bills by RBI or the central bank of the country. The objective of OMO is to regulate the money supply in the economy. RBI carries out the OMO through commercial banks and does not directly deal with the public. It was in the news recently that The Reserve Bank of India is planning to inject Rs. 15,000 crores into the financial system next month through purchase of government bonds via the auction route.
• UAPA: It stands for the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. It was in the news recently after Bangladesh-based terror outfit — the Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) — was banned by the Centre under this anti-terror law. This law is aimed at effective prevention of unlawful activities associations in India. Its main objective is to make powers available for dealing with activities directed against the integrity and sovereignty of India. The UAPA, framed in 1967, has been amended twice since: first in 2008 and then in 2012.
• Article 83(2) of the Constitution: It is the Article under which completion of five years from the first day of its meeting amounts to dissolution of the Lower House. It was in the news recently after the Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi gave its approval to the Resolution advising the President to dissolve the Sixteenth Lok Sabha, which was constituted on 18.05. 2014.The Lower House can also be dissolved earlier by the President on the advice of the Prime Minister. It can also be dissolved if the President feels that no viable government can be formed after the resignation or fall of a regime.