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National – Across the India:

1. The Madhya Pradesh High Court has termed reservation in promotions in the state as unconstitutional.

Ruling in this regard was given by HC division bench chaired by Chief Justice A M Khanwilkar on the petitions filed several employee associations and social organizations.

Petitioners had challenged the rules of the state government which provided reservation in promotion for Scheduled Castes and Schedule Tribes.

2. The Union Government has launched National LED programme – Unnat Jyoti by Affordable LEDs for All (UJALA).

It was launched by Union Minister for State (IC) for Power, Coal and Renewable Energy Piyush Goyal in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh.

The UJALA scheme is being implemented by Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), a joint venture of PSUs under the Union Ministry of Power.

3. Maharashtra Government has launched Adi Praman, a web-based application for state’s tribal population to get the caste validity certificates online.

It was launched along with portal named [email protected] by Maharashtra Governor C Vidyasagar Rao.

The application is first of its kind for any state in India.

The app will make the entire process of securing caste validity certificate easy, fast and transparent and would effectively curb the menace of bogus certificates.

4. The Union Government launched Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) for providing free of cost LPG (cooking gas) connections to women from BPL Households.

It was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Maldepur Morh, Ballia in Uttar Pradesh.

The tagline for the scheme is Swachh Indhan, Behtar Jeevan.

Under PMUY, each of the beneficiaries will receive monetary support of about 1,600 rupees to get a connection of cooking gas.

 

5. The Union Government launched Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) with an objective to provide free of cost LPG (cooking gas) connections to women from BPL Households.

It was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Maldepur Morh, Ballia in Uttar Pradesh.

The tagline for the scheme is Swachh Indhan, Behtar Jeevan.

6. Andhra Pradesh Government has launched Chandranna Bima Yojana, an insurance scheme for the working class people.

The scheme was launched by Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on the occasion of May Day in Vijayawada.

Main points of the scheme are:

Any insured worker who meets an accidental death and permanent disability will be paid 5 lakh rupees.

Any insured worker who suffers partial disability will be paid 3 lakh rupees.

This scheme will cover about 1.5 crore workers of the state.

 

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7. The Supreme Court on Tuesday affirmed that a “floor test is the ultimate test” to decide who is in power, and asked the Centre to consider having a trust vote in the Uttarakhand Assembly to determine whether the Harish Rawat-led Congress government has a majority.

A Bench of Justices Dipak Misra and Shiva Kirti Singh called the Uttarakhand case out-of-turn in the morning and asked Attorney-General Mukul Rohatgi to seek instructions from the government on the court’s suggestion to have a floor test immediately, to end the constitutional impasse.

The court said it would temporarily suspend President’s Rule to facilitate the floor test.

8. The Union Cabinet has given its approval for adoption of United Nations Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics.

Decision in this regard was taken by the Union Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi.

The adoption of the UN Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics will bring professional independence, accountability, impartiality and transparency in methods of collection, compilation and dissemination of official statistics besides adopting international standards.

9. Veteran actor Shashi Kapoor’s autobiography released recently, titled ‘Shashi Kapoor – the Householder, the Star’.

The biography has been authored by film journalist Aseem Chhabra and with foreword by Karan Johar.

It unveils the chapters of actor’s personal and professional life.

He has been conferred the following awards: -

National Film Award for Best actor for the film New Delhi Times (1986)

National Film Award Special Jury Award / Special Mention (Feature Film) for Muhafiz (1993)

National Film Award Best Feature Film in Hindi (as Producer) for Junoon (1979)

Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award (2010)

Padma Bhushan (2011) and Dadasaheb Phalke Award (2014).

 

9. Karnataka Government has decided to go ahead with the establishment of Asia’s first Rice Technology Park at Gangavati in Koppal district.

Apart from this state government has decided to set upa Maize Technology Park at Ranebennur in Haveri district.

Both parks will be established on the public-private participation model as a one-stop solution to all problems of rice and maize growers.

 

10. The Gujarat Government has accorded minority status to the Jain community in the state.

State government has issued a government resolution (GR) giving minority status to the Jain community.

Jain institutions will also get special status like the one given to Christian and Muslim institutions as per Article 30 of Indian Constitution.

11. The single emergency number ‘112’ will be operational throughout India from January 1, 2017 to help people reach immediate services of police, ambulance and fire department.

Union Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad approved the provision of a single number for various emergency services.

The 211 emergency services will also be accessible even through those SIMs and landlines whose outgoing call facility has been stopped or temporarily suspended.

12. Indian Army had conducted major military training exercise ‘2016 Chakravyuh-II’ in Suratgarh, Rajasthan.

Purpose of the exercise is to “Validate battle readiness and operational effectiveness of the Pivot Formation and Rapid Division of Indian Army along with all its affiliated components”.

The Chakravyuh-II exercise involved rapid mobilisation and execution of battle plans in conjunction with the Indian Air Force (IAF).

13. The Union Government has launched nine projects initiatives for rural sanitation initiatives for conservation of river Ganga in Jharkhand.

It was launched by Union Minister for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Uma Bharti under Namami Gange Programme in Sahibganj, Jharkhand.

Under this programme, villages located on the entire 83 Km. stretch of Ganga River in Jharkhand will be covered to improve the health and quality of life.

It will be carried out under the overall guidance of the Ministry with the support from UN Development Programme (UNDP), community organizations and NGOs.

14. The Union Government has constituted a three member committee to prepare a policy framework for taxi and other transport operators.

Sanjay Mitra, Secretary of Union Ministry of Road Transport & Highways, will be the head of this committee.

Joint Secretary, Union Ministry of Road Transport & Highways and Delhi Transport Commissioner are its other two members.

15. Harish Rawat-led Congress Government has won the floor test in the state legislative assembly, which was conducted on 10 May 2016 on the order of the Supreme Court.

In the floor test Harish Rawat Government received 33 votes against 28 votes out of 61 qualified members who voted in the assembly.

According to this, the apex court has allowed Mr Rawat to assume office as Chief Minister after President’s rule is revoked in the state.

16. Uttar Pradesh Cabinet has given its approval to develop over 197 km long ‘bicycle highway’ from Agra up to the lion safari in Etawah to encourage eco-tourism in vicinity of Taj Mahal.

Decision in this regard was taken by State Cabinet meeting presided by Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav.

State Cabinet also approved the implementation of Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana in the state from the Kharif season 2016.

17. The Supreme Court of India has ruled that Telecom companies will not compensate mobile phone users for inconvenience caused by call drops.

In this regard, the apex court has struck down the TRAI Regulation which made it mandatory for telecom companies to compensate subscribers for call drops from January 2016.

The Ruling was given by the SC bench comprising Justices Kurian Joseph and R F Nariman on the appeals filed by Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI).

18. The Supreme Court has upheld constitutional validity of penal laws on defamation as the right to life under Article 21 includes the right to reputation.

Ruling in this regard was given by two-judge SC bench of Justices Dipak Misra and Justice Prafulla C. Pant on combined petitions filed by a number of politicians and public figures.

The petitioners had alleged that the provisions of criminal sanction act as a censoring device thus violate the freedom of speech guaranteed by the Constitution.

19. Union Government’s apex think tank NITI (National Institution for Transforming India) Aayog has decided to come up with a 15-year vision document in tandem with global trends and economic growth.

NITI Aayog which had replaced erstwhile Planning Commission (PC) in 2015, with its 15-year vision document will also abandon the concept of five-year plans prepared by the PC since 1951.

The first 15-year vision document will come into effect from 2017-18 after the end of the 12th Five year plan. It will be formulated with central objective of eradication poverty.

20. BJP president Amit Shah launched the “Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana” giving cooking gas connections to poor tribal families in Dahod district of Gujarat.

Mr. Shah termed the new initiative a right tool for women empowerment as with gas connections, women will no longer be dependent on firewood and kerosene for cooking.

The new beneficiaries enrolled for the scheme from Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan were given the gas connection documents by Mr. Shah, Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and the Chief Ministers.

21. Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry soon going to unveil a new education policy.

They had prepared a document with the help of experts, including advice by education councils, to improve our education system and will be unveiled in 15-20 days.

The government had invited industry leaders to partner in these institutes and that private players have already invested over Rs. 140 crore in setting them up.

The main aim of the Ministry is to ensure that universities are not used as tool for political purposes and remain temples of learning.

22. The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) conducted the trial run of the country’s first ever Metro train equipped to run in the driverless mode.

The train was ceremonially flagged off by Union Minister for Urban Development M. Venkaiah Naidu and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

The driverless trains will run on the over 58 km-long Majlish Park-Shiv Vihar (Line 7) and the over 38 km-long Janakpuri (West)- Botanical Garden (Line 8) corridors of the Phase-III.

23. Odisha Government has decided to launch Green Passage scheme for orphan students to ensure that they get free of cost higher education in the state.

A proposal of the higher education department in this regard, was approved by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.

As per the scheme Orphan students pursuing higher education (from Plus-II level) to post-graduation level, will no longer have to bear the education expenses.

24. Union Government has opened a special Tatkal like window to expedite examination process of patent applications by start-ups as well as of entities choosing India for filing the first patent.

The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) has as amended patent rules.

Union Government is aiming to reduce the time frame for the grant of patents to 18 months from the present 5-7 years by March 2018.

25. Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) Wildlife Department for the first time has sighted group of eight Himalayan brown bears in Kargil’s Drass Sector after 1999 India-Pakistan War.

The eight Himalayan brown bears (three adult females and five grown-up cubs) were sighted in the mountain ranges of Ladakh’s Drass area at altitude 16,000 to 21,000 feet.

The sighting is considered as rare record as their natural habitats in Kargil’s Drass Sector were damaged during the 1999 war due to heavy artillery shelling for almost three months.

26. Ruling All India Trinamool Congress Party (TMC) under the leadership of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has emerged victorious in the 2016 West Bengal Assembly Election.

TMC has won 211 seats i.e. two-third seats of total 295 seats. Coalition of Indian National Congress (INC) and Left combine has won 76 seats emerging as largest opposition front.

West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC Supremo Mamta Banerjee has won from Bhabanipur Assembly Constituency.

27. The Union Government has launched the Centre for Environmental Health in New Delhi to assess the impact of environment-related problems on health.

The centre was launched by Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare J P Nadda on in New Delhi.

Its mandate is capacity-building, advocacy, outreach and remedial issues.

28. Himachal Pradesh Government has launched ‘PEHAL’, a vision document of the Shimla District administration for raising education standards.

It was launched by Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh in Shimla. PEHAL is an attempt to integrate the various stakeholders in the development story of the district.

The aim of the PEHAL programme is to identify certain thrust areas which have a direct bearing on the lives of the people at grassroots.

The five areas identified under PEHAL are Forest Rights, Primary Education, Campaign against drugs, Health and Sanitation and skill development and Women Empowerment.

29. Himachal Pradesh fisheries department has started an artificial propagation programme for rehabilitation and conservation of Golden Mahseer fish.

Under this programme, a hatchery has been set up in the state with an outlay of Rs 6 crore to rear mahseer fish and release its fingerlings into the wild.

Golden mahseer is the longest-living freshwater fish. It is also known as the tiger of Indian rivers and belongs to the genus Tor.

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30. Union Government has constituted 11 members committee to recommend measures to enhance the combat capabilities of the armed forces and re-balance the overall defence expenditure.

The 11-member committee will be headed by Lt Gen D B Shekatkar (retd). It also includes several other top military officers as well as civilian experts.

The aim of the committee is to ensure combat capabilities Indian armed forces and enhance their potential with a better teeth-to-tail combat ratio, within budgetary constraints and also ensuring leaner and cost-effective fighting forces of India.

31. Gujarat Government has launched Smart Village program to improve public facilities in the villages.

It was launched by Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel on the occasion of completion of two years of her Government.

Under this programme, 300 villages will be selected for Smart Village program.

Villages will be shortlisted by the state-level committee consisting of experts on the basis of Gram Panchayat’s performance through a transparent process.

32. Seven more capital cities, including Bengaluru, allowed to enter the smart city competition.

Union Minister for Urban Development, Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Venkaiah Naidu announced that seven more capital cities will be allowed to enter the smart city competition.

They are Patna, Shimla, Naya Raipur, Itanagar, Amaravati, Bengaluru and Thiruvananthapuram.

Lucknow, Warangal and Panaji are among the 13 smart cities selected by the Union government.

A ‘smart city’ is an urban region that is highly advanced in terms of overall infrastructure, sustainable real estate, communications and market viability.

33. The Union Ministry of Urban Development has shortlisted 13 cities from 13 States/UTs in the list of second batch of Smart Cities Mission.

These cities were shortlisted based on scores obtained in Fast Track competition conducted for 23 cities from as many States and Union Territories.

This competition list was topped by Lucknow in Uttar Prades and was followed by Warangal in Telangana and Dharmashala in Himachal Pradesh.

34. The National Green Tribunal (NGT) Circuit Bench of Kochi has banned light and heavy diesel vehicles which are more than 10 years old in six major cities of Kerala.

These six major cities are Thiruvananthapuram (state capital), Kochi (commercial capital), Kollam, Thrissur, Kozhikode and Kannur.

Order in this regard was given by the NGT Circuit Bench comprising NGT chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar and expert member Bikram Singh Sajwan.

35. The Union Cabinet has given its approval to amend The Institutes of Technology (IIT) Act, 1961 for incorporation of 6 new IITs.

This amendment will declare these 6 IITs as the institutions of national importance six new IITs will come up at Tirupati (Andhra Pradesh), Palakkad (Kerala), Dharwar (Karnataka), Bhilai (Chhattisgarh), Goa, Jammu (Jammu and Kashmir).

Union Cabinet also gave its approval to convert of Indian School of Mines (ISM), Dhanbad into an IIT under the ambit of the IIT Act, 1961.

36. The Union Cabinet has given its approval for National Capital Goods Policy 2016 to give an impetus to the capital goods sector and the Make in India initiative.

This is first ever policy for Capital Goods sector framed by the Union Government (Ministry of Heavy Industry & Public Enterprise).

Objectives of the policy are:

(i) Increase production of capital goods from 2,30,000 crore rupees in 2014-15 to 7,50,000 crore rupees in 2025.

(ii) Raise direct and indirect employment from the current 8.4 million to 30 million.

(iii) Increase exports from the current 27% to 40% of production.

(iv) Increase the share of domestic production in India’s demand from 60% to 80% to make India a net exporter of capital goods.

 

37. The Punjab and Haryana High Court has stayed the reservation for Jats and five other communities provided by the Haryana government.

These communities were provided reservation under a newly carved Backward Classes (C) category as per provisions of Backward Classes (Reservation in Services and Admission in Educational Institutions) Act, 2016.

The court gave its ruling on a petition challenging the constitutional validity of the above Act which was passed unanimously by the Haryana Assembly in March 2016.

The five other communities which were provided reservation under the Act were Jat Sikhs, Bishnois, Muslim Jats, Rors and Tyagis.

They were entitled to 10 per cent reservation in government services and also admission to educational institutions.

38. The Union Ministry of Railways has launched Rail Humsafar Saptaah, a week-long initiative to highlight significant achievements made by Indian Railways in all spheres.

It will start on 26th May 2016 and will conclude on 1st June 2016.

Each day of the week will focus on a particular theme and the days have been named as below:

 26th May (Swachchta Diwas)

 27th May (Satkar Diwas)

 28th May (Sewa Diwas)

 29th May (Satarkata Diwas)

 30th May (Saamanjasya Diwas)

 31st May (Sanyojan Diwas)

 1st June (Sanchaar Diwas).

 

39. The Indian Coast Guard Ship (ICGS) ARUSH was commissioned by the Coast Guard Commander (Western Seaboard) Additional Director General SPS Basra at Kochi.

The ship has been named ICGS ARUSH that means first ray of sun.

ARUSH is the seventeenth ship in the series of twenty Fast Patrol Vessels (FPVs), designed and built by M/s Cochin Shipyard Limited.

40. Lakshadweep became the first Union Territory (UT) to sign 24×7 Power for All document which aims to provide each household access to electricity through 24×7 Power supply by 2019.

41. The 42nd G7 Summit was held at Ise-Shima in Japan for 2-days from 26 May to 27 May 2016.

During the summit, global economy and trade, climate change and energy, development, health and quality infrastructure investment were discussed by the leaders.

The Summit was attended by all the seven members’ viz., Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States and the European Commission (EC). EC is a permanently welcome participant in all meetings and decision-making since 1981.

International – Across the Globe:

 

1. The ADMM-Plus (ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting Plus) Exercise on Maritime Security and Counter Terrorism (Ex MS & CT) has started at Brunei on May 1, 2016.

The nine day exercise that will continue till May 9, 2016, seeks to strengthen the strong bilateral ties and extensive maritime interactions between India and ASEAN countries.

It is a multinational naval exercise conducted under the aegis of ADMM Plus consortium.

The aim is to enhance mutual understanding with respect to maritime security issues and streamlining drills on counter-terrorism operations at sea.

 

2. Australian entrepreneur and computer scientist Craig Wright has publicly identified himself as creator of virtual currency Bitcoin.

He claimed that he is the real person behind the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto, the creator of Bitcoin which was launched in 2009.

Satoshi Nakamoto’s online cash system work in 2009 was the key for creation of the online cash system, but he remained anonymous and his work has since stopped.

Bitcoin is a virtual currency that is unregulated by any central bank or government, but still works for purchasing goods and services from retailers willing to accept it.

 

3. U.S. President Barack Obama has reappointed Indian-American Sachin Dev Pavithran to a key independent government agency devoted to accessibility for people with disabilities.

Mr. Pavithran has been reappointed as a Member of the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board, the White House said as it announced other key administration appointments

Mr. Pavithran was first appointed to Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board in 2012 and has served as Chair since 2015.

4. Switzerland Government has honoured late veteran filmmaker Yash Chopra by unveiling bronze statue at Interlaken.

The bronze statue weighing about 250 kilos was inaugurated by his wife Pamela Chopra and daughter-in-law Rani Mukerjee.

Chopra was known for opening a legacy of South Asian tourists flocking to Switzerland and spend much time in the country besides shooting his movies.

This statue has been installed at the heart of Interlaken, inside the Kursaal area near the Congress Centre which is a prime, popular spot with tourists.

5. The United Nations has launched UN Zika Response Multi-Partner Trust Fund (MPTF) to finance critical unfunded priorities in the response to the Zika outbreak.

The fund was launched by the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at the UN Headquarters in New York, United States.

The Fund aims to provide a rapid, flexible and accountable platform to support a coordinated response from the UN system and partners.

It will directly support the Zika Strategic Response Framework developed by the World Health Organization (WHO) in consultation with UN agencies, partners and international epidemiological experts.

6. The fourth edition South Asia Initiative to End Violence Against Children (SAIEVAC) Ministerial Meeting has begun in New Delhi.

The 3 day landmark meeting (from 9 to 11 May 2016) is being hosted by the Union Ministry of Child and Women Development.

The meeting will assess progress and developments of the past decade of regional effort of SAIEVAC and identify priorities for SAIEVAC for the next five years.

SAIEVAC is apex body of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) nations created to bring governments of the region into active engagement for child protection against violence.

7. United Kingdom’s first baby named Biagio Russo was born in Oxford using Next-generation DNA sequencing (NGS) method.

This method uses a revolutionary In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) technique resulting in better selection of embryos to transfer during the treatment.

NGS also known as high-throughput sequencing is bio medical process that allows doctors to easily choose the embryos which have the strongest chance of growing into healthy babies.

8. Anti-crime candidate and mayor of Davao City, Rodrigo Duterte has won the 2016 presidential election of the Philippines by a landslide victory.

He will become the 16th President-elect of Philippines.

He was followed by Mar Roxas 23% (9.27 million) votes and his closest rival Grace Poe with 22% (8.6 million) votes.

9. The Obama administration will tell every US public school district to allow transgender students to use the bathrooms that match their gender identity.

The letter, signed by officials from the Education and Justice departments, does not have the force of law but contains an implicit threat that schools which do not abide by the Obama administration’s interpretation of the law could face lawsuits or a loss of federal aid.

The move comes as the Obama administration and North Carolina battle in federal court over a state law passed in March that limits public bathroom access for transgender people.

 

10. The Kenyan Government has decided to close Dadaab refugee camp which is often referred to as the world’s largest refugee camp over the issue national security.

The camp is home to 330000 refugees mostly from Somalia who have fled from the civil war in their country.

Kenyan Government has stated that the Dadaab refugee camp has become safe haven for terrorist organizations like al-Shabaab, a Somali-based Islamist extremists group and also a conduit for smuggling weapons. al-Shabab also had planned three large-scale attacks from Dadaab.

 

11. The US, Pakistan, Afghanistan and China will meet in Islamabad on May 18 to discuss a roadmap for negotiating a peace deal with the Afghan Taliban to end the 15-year insurgency, amid a surge in violence in the war-torn country.

It would be the first meeting since the Quadrilateral Coordination Group (QCG) met in Kabul on February 23 and announced talks would start in the first week of March, but the process could not begin as Taliban refused to join.

According to the official sources special envoys of China and the US and senior officials of Pakistan and Afghanistan were expected to attend the meeting schedule on May 18 in Islamabad.

12. Pakistan’s powerful Army chief Gen Raheel Sharif met top Chinese leaders and military officials here and discussed ways to enhance bilateral economic and security ties.

This meeting is to enhance bilateral economic and security ties.

Sharif’s visit to Beijing comes in the backdrop of assertions by Pakistan that it will raise its concerns at the international level over India’s successful test of supersonic interceptor missile.

13. China rejected US claims that its fighter jets maneuvered unsafely when they intercepted an American Navy reconnaissance plane over the South China Sea, and demanded that the US end such missions close to the Chinese territory.

The Chinese jets monitored the US plane from an acceptable distance and operated in a safe and professional manner, foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei told journalists at a regularly scheduled news briefing.

According to Pentagon two Chinese J-11 fighters flew within about 15 meters (50 feet) of the US EP-3 Aries aircraft on Tuesday, forcing the US pilot to descend sharply to avoid a collision.

14. As China’s strongest critic Tsai Ing-wen assumed power in Taiwan and pledged democracy and close ties with the US, a wary BEIJING warned her against seeking independence and said the ‘One-China policy’ remained the corner-stone of its relations with other countries.

Tsaitook the oath as the new President of Taiwan in Taipei.

She is the head of the Democratic Progressive Party, which advocates Taiwan’s independence from the mainland.

15. The Global Review on Antimicrobial Resistance in its final report has appreciated India’s Medicines with the Red Line campaign on antibiotics.

The global review was commissioned by the UK Prime Minister David Cameron in 2014 and was chaired by economist Jim O’Neil.

India’s model of putting a red line on antibiotic packages to curb their over-the-counter sale can be used globally to counter the rising threat of superbugs.

16. United States has fully lifted its embargo on sales of lethal weapons to Vietnam, its one-time enemy.

By this US removed a lingering vestige of the Cold War that was seen in South East Asia in 1970’s.

US President Barack Obama announced it during his official state visit to Vietnam and after talks with Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang.

He is the third US President to visit Vietnam since the end of the Vietnam War in 1975.

Other two Presidents were Bill Clinton (visited in 2000) and George W. Bush (2006).

17. Barack Obama became the first incumbent US president to visit Hiroshima memorial, site of the world’s first atomic bombing dropped on August 6, 1945.

He paid tribute to the 140,000 people killed by the world’s first atomic bomb attack and laid wreath at Hiroshima nuclear memorial.

In the guest book of the memorial President Obama wrote “We have known the agony of war. Let us now find the courage, together, to spread peace, and pursue a world without nuclear weapons.”

Sports:

 

1. Indian women’s team has won silver medal in the recurve team final of Archery World Cup held at the Yuanshen Stadium in Shanghai, China.

Women’s team comprised of Deepika Kumari, Bombayla Devi Laishram and Laxmirani Majhi.

In the final match they lost to Chinese Taipei team by 2-6 score.

While men’s trio team and mixed pair won their respective bronze playoffs in the first stage of Archery World Cup.

 

2. German Formula One Driver Nico Rosberg from Mercedes team has won 2016 Russian Grand Prix held at the Sochi Autodrom in Sochi, Russia.

It was Rosberg’s fourth consecutive win in the 2016 season and overall eighteenth championship title of F1 in his career.

Russian Grand Prix was the fourth race of the 2016 season of Formula One in which total 11 teams had participated and was contested over fifty-three laps.

3. Ace snooker player Mark Selby (World no 1) from England has won the 2016 World Championship title of Snooker.

In the final match played in Sheffield, Selby defeated China’s Ding Junhui by 18-14 score.

This was Selby’s second World Snooker title after he had won it in 2014 for the first against Ronnie O’Sullivan.

This was Selby’s second title of the year 2016 after he had won minor Gdynia Open event held in Poland.

4. Seven Indian shuttlers (Badminton players) have officially earned the qualification for the forthcoming Rio Olympics scheduled to be held in August 2016 in Brazil.

They are Saina Nehwal, PV Sindhu, K. Srikanth, Jwala Gutta, Ashwini Ponnappa, Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy.

The pairs of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa and Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy qualified after the release of latest BWF world rankings.

5. Pakistan has won the third edition of the Asian Kabaddi Championship 2016 (Circle Style) by defeating India.

In the final match held at Pakistan Ordinance Factory Sports Complex in Wah Cantonment, Pakistan (defending champion) defeated India by 50-31 points.

This is Pakistan’s second successive win in the Asian Kabaddi title as they had won it in 2012.

6. Two Indian women wrestlers Vinesh Phogat and Sakshi Malik have qualified for 2016 Rio Olympics scheduled to be held in August 2016.

Vinesh sealed her place for the Olympic berth after defeating Avin Demirhan of Turkey 12-2 in the 48 kg category in the semi-final match of the Olympic world qualifying tournament held at Istambul in Turkey.

Sakshi Malik also entered the final in the 58 kg category and qualified for Rio Olympics. In the Semi-final she defeated Len Jhang.

 

7. The International Cricket Council has appointed former India Captain Rahul Dravid and ex-Sri Lankan batsman Mahela Jayawardene in its Cricket Committee.

 Anil Kumble has been re-appointed as its chairman.

The committee, that already comprises some prominent names such as Andrew Strauss, Kevin O’Brien and Darren Lehmann, will add two of the most prolific batsmen of their generation in order to foresee the improvement of the game.

 

8. The BCCI has called for a Special General Meeting on May 22 in Mumbai to elect its new president following the resignation of Shashank Manohar.

Manohar’s exit from the top post on May 10 barely seven months into his tenure has necessitated the election of the new chief of the world’s richest and most powerful cricket body.

He was elected as ICC’s first independent chairman on May 12.

9. Andy Murray (World No.3) from Britain has won the 2016 Italian Open title of Tennis in the men’s singles category.

It was his first Italian Open title.

In the final match played in Rome, Andy Murray defeated Novak Djokovic (World No.1) for the first time on the clay court by 6-3, 6-3 score.

The Italian Open is an annual tennis tournament held in Rome, Italy. It is also known as the Rome Masters and the Italian Championships.

10. Red Bull F1 driver Max Verstappen from Netherlands created history by becoming Formula One’s youngest race winner.

He achieved this feat after winning the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix, which was his debut race for Red Bull at the age of 18.

He was able to win the Spanish Grand Prix by maintaining lead position after Mercedes teammates Lewis Hamilton and Nico Roseberg crashed into each other in the 1st lap of race.

11. Indian women’s badminton team assured a bronze medal after notching up a comfortable 3-1 win over Thailand in the quarterfinals of the Uber Cup on Thursday.

The Indian women’s team had created history in the last edition when it clinched a historic bronze in New Delhi after losing to Japan in the semifinals.

India is likely to take on China in the semifinals on Friday.

12. World number one Novak Djokovic and nine-time champion Rafael Nadal have been seeded to meet in the French Open semi-finals after the draw was made on Friday.

Djokovic needs a Roland Garros title to complete a career Grand Slam after losing three finals in four years including last season to Stan Wawrinka .

Fourth seed Wawrinka is scheduled to take on second seed Andy Murray in the other semi-final.

13. Mohun Bagan FC has won the 2016 Indian Federation Cup football tournament title for the 14th time.

They have won the tournament after a gap of 8 years and last was won in 2008.

In the final match they defeated Aizawl FC by 5-0 goals.

The match was played at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium in Guwahati (Assam).

For Mohun Bagan FC the Jeje Lalpekhlua scored two goals while Haitian Sony Norde, Dhanachandra Singh and Bikramjit Singh scored one each.

14. Pankaj Advani, India’s ace cueist, has created history by clinching the Asian 6-Red Snooker title held in Abu Dhabi.

By getting this victory, Advani became the first cueist in the world to hold both world and continental titles in 6-red snooker at the same time.

In the Asian 6-Red Snooker title held in Abu Dhabi, Advani defeated top seeded Malaysian cueist Keen Hoh Moh by 7-5 score.

 

15. Indian para athlete Amit Kumar Saroha clinched gold medal in men’s club throw (F-51) at the 2016 French Open Athletics Championship in Paris. The event was held on 23 May and 24 May 2016.

16. Real Madrid won the 2016 European champions title. In the titled clash, Real Madrid defeated their city rivals Atletico Madrid via a penalty shoot-out following a 1-1 draw.

This was Madrid’s 11th European Champion title.

17. Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) has won the ninth edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). It is their maiden IPL title.

In the final match played at Chinnaswamy stadium in Bangalore (Karnataka), SRH defeated Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) by eight runs. However the RCB failed to reach the target score.

It should be noted that RCB has lost 3 finals after they were defeated in finals of 2009 and 2011 editions.

Ben Cutting (SRH) was declared as Man of the Match.

18. England cricket captain Alastair Cook became youngest Cricketer to score 10000 test runs.

Cook is 31 years, 5 months, 5 days old.

He achieved the fete on the fourth day of the second test against Sri Lanka at Chester-le-Street.

It was his 128th Test.

 

19. Lewis Hamilton won the 2016 Monaco F1 Grand Prix. He emerged victorious in a close battle with Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo.

 

Awards & Recognition:

 

1. An Indian-American journalist Neela Banerjee was felicitated with a prestigious Edgar A Poe award along with of her colleagues from Inside Climate News.

The award was given by US President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle during the annual White House Correspondents Dinner held in Washington DC.

It was shared by Neela Banerjee and three of her colleagues from Inside Climate News John Cushman Jr, David Hasemyer and Lisa Song and Terrence McCoy of the Washington Post.

2. Three Indian Scientist have been elected as the as Fellows of The Royal Society, a premier scientific academy of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth.

Their names had appeared on the list of 50 new fellows and 10 new Foreign Members announced by the Royal Society.

They are: Physicist Sriram Ramaswamy, Biochemist Ramanujan Hegde, Applied mathematician Lakshminarayanan Mahadevan.

 

3. President Pranab Mukherjee has conferred 63rd National Film Awards for the year 2015 in various categories at the function held at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi.

Legendry actor Manoj Kumar was conferred 2015 Dada Saheb Phalke Award, highest official recognition (award) in Indian cinema.

Baahubali: The Beginning (Tamil, Telugu film) directed by S. S. Rajamouli was bestowed with the Best feature film award.

Bajrangi Bhaijaan (Hindi) directed by Kabir Khan was awarded as the Best Popular film providing wholesome entertainment.

Best Actor: Amitabh Bachchan (Piku).

Best Actress: Kangana Ranaut (Tanu Weds Manu Returns).

Best Direction: Sanjay Leela Bhansali (Bajirao Mastani).

4. Andhra Pradesh Agriculture Project has won the prestigious World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) 2016 prize in the e-Agriculture category.

Harita-Priya (Harmonized Information of Agriculture, Revenue and Irrigation for a Transformation Agenda – Precision Technology for Agriculture) Project is meant to collect very specific climate data from farms and give farmers personalised information through SMS.

The Harita-Priya Project uses wireless sensor networks to collect micro-climatic information from farms.

5. Indian author Parashar Kulkarni has won the regional Commonwealth Short Story Prize for 2016 for the Asia region.

He was bestowed with this award for his politically grounded, funny fiction story ‘Cow and Company’ about four men in search of a cow.

The short story was adjudged the ‘best piece of unpublished short fiction in English’ from Asia and will receive 2500 pounds prize.

6. India is ranked ninth in 2015 Crony-Capitalism Index with crony sector wealth accounting for 3.4 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP).

The index was based on new study by The Economist which had used data from a list of the world’s billionaires and their worth published by Forbes.

In this study each individual is labelled as crony or not based on the source of their wealth.

Top countries are Russia (1st), Malaysia (2nd), Philippines (3rd) and Singapore (4th).

7. The Madhya Pradesh Tourism (MPT) won the Lonely Planet Group’s Best Indian Destination for Wildlife Award.

The award was handed over to MPT at a function in Mumbai by actress Amy Jackson.

The award was received by his Officer on Special Duty (OSD) Vinod Kumar Amar, on behalf of MPT Chairman.

8. US President Barack Obama has honoured an Indian-American elementary teacher Revathi Balakrishnan from Texas at the White House.

She was honoured for her excellent work in the field of education as part of the ‘National Teacher of the Year Programme.

National Teacher of the Year Programme identifies exceptional teachers across the US by recognising their effective work in the classroom.

It engages them in a year of professional learning and empowers them to participate in education policy discussions at the state and national levels.

9. President Pranab Mukherjee has presented the National Florence Nightingale Awards to thirty-five nursing personnel from across the country.

They were presented with the award at a function held in Rashtrapati Bhavan on the occasion of International Nurses Day (12 May).

The Florence Nightingale Award was established by the Union Health Ministry to honour the selfless services rendered by Nurses with devotion, sincerity, dedication and compassion.

The award is named after Florence Nightingale, founder of modern nursing.

She was born on May 12, 1820 and the day is celebrated as International Nurses Day all over the world.

10. Anjali Chandrashekar, an Indian artist, has won the third prize in UN Poster for Peace contest presented by the UN Office for Disarmament Affairs (ODA) to raise awareness of the need for nuclear disarmament.

Her poster titled ‘Cutting Barriers through Peace’ featured a peace dove slicing through a nuclear weapon.

The first prize was won by Ivan Ciro Palomino Huamani from Peru for his poster titled ‘Spinning Peace’.

His poster featured a nuclear weapon being unravelled into string which is then used to fly kites and balloons, and to jump rope.

11. Former ISRO Chairman and space scientist Prof Udupi Ramachandra Rao became the first Indian to be given ‘Hall of Fame’ Award by the International Astronautical Federation (IAF).

Mr. Rao has been selected for the prestigious award for his outstanding contribution to the progress of astronautics within the framework of the IAF activities.

He will receive the award at the 67th International Astronautical Congress to be held in Guadalajara, Mexico in September 2016.

 

12. Han Kang, a South Korean author, has won the 2016 Man Booker International Prize for her novel “The Vegetarian”.

By getting this award, Han becomes the first South Korean to win this prestigious literary prize.

The prize includes 72000 dollar money that will be shared by the writer and her British translator Deborah Smith.

“The Vegetarian” tells a story of a wife nemed “Yeong-hye, lead character”, who decides to become a vegetarian.

Man Booker International Prize is an international literary award that is given to a living author of any nationality for a body of work published in English or generally available in English translation.

13. Four Indian peacekeepers and a civilian have been chosen posthumously for United Nation’s Dag Hammarskjold Medal for their courage and sacrifice.

They are among the 124 police, military and civilian personnel who have been posthumously awarded a prestigious UN medal.

They will be honoured on the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers (observed annually on 29 May).

Five Indians are Head Constable Shubhkaran Yadav, Rifleman Manish Malik, Havildar Amal Deka, Naik Rakesh Kumar, Gagan Punjabi.

The award is given posthumously to members of peacekeeping operations who lost their lives during service with a peacekeeping operation under the control and authority of the UN.

14. Indian American professor Dr. Rakesh K. Jain will be presented 2015 National Medal of Science of the United States.

He will be presented with this top award for his individual achievement and leadership in advancing the field of science and technology.

The award is presented by the US President to individuals in science and engineering who have made important contributions to the advancement of knowledge in the fields of behavioural and social sciences, chemistry, engineering, biology, mathematics and physics.

15. Syamantak Payra, Indian American teenager from Texas, has won the $50,000 Intel Foundation Young Scientist Award.

Payra won this prestigious award along with Kathy Lu.

He won the award for his work in making a low-cost electronically-aided knee brace device which allows people with weakened legs to be able to walk better.

He had tested his design on two people that were left partially disabled after suffering from polio.

His device has allowed them to walk more naturally, and improved their mobility.

16. An Indian-American biotechnologist Rupa Iyer has been awarded Distinguished Leadership in Teaching Excellence Award, University of Houston’s highest teaching award.

She was bestowed with this award for her sustained and significant contributions in the field of education.

Presently, she is Associate Dean, Research and Graduate Studies at the University of Houston’s College of Technology.

17. Sikkim Chief Minister Pawan Chamling was conferred with the Yug Kavi Siddhicharan Award, one of the Nepal’s prestigious literary award.

The award was bestowed upon him by Nepal Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli for his commendable contributions in promoting Nepali literature in India.

The award ceremony was organised by Siddhicharan Shrestha Academy on the occasion of 105th birth anniversary of the late poet Shrestha.

Yug Kavi Siddhicharan Award carries a certificate of appreciation and a sum of 100,000 Nepali Rupees.

His other works in Nepali include Prarambhik Kavita (1978), Antyaheen Sapana: Mero Bipana (1985), Ma Ko Hoon! (1992) and Sikkim ra Nariko Maryada.

 

18. Bioengineer Frances Arnold from United States (US) has won the prestigious 2016 Millennium Technology Prize.

By receiving this award she becomes first female to be awarded with this prestigious biennial award in its 12-year history.

The Technology Academy Finland (TAF) had chosen Frances Arnold for this award in recognition of her discoveries that launched the field of directed evolution.

Her discoveries mimic natural evolution to create new and better proteins in the laboratory.

19. Indian-American students have won the prestigious 2016 National Geographic Bee championship, securing the first three positions.

It was 28th annual edition of National Geographic Bee Competition which was held in at the National Geographic headquarters in Washington.

This is the fifth consecutive year of National Geographic Bee championship in which an Indian-American has won the prestigious national tournament.

Indian American Winners are Rishi Nair, Saketh Jonnalagadda, Kapil Nathan.

 

20. Pakke Tiger Reserve in East Kameng district of Arunachal Pradesh has won the ‘India Biodiversity Award 2016’. The tiger reserve was selected in the conservation of threatened species category for its Hornbill Nest Adoption Program.

Hornbill Nest Adoption Program – It is joint collaboration of Ghora-Aabhe Society, Nature Conservation Foundation and the State Forest Department. Under this program, urban citizens contribute money to protect hornbill nests around Pakke Tiger Reserve.

India Biodiversity Award 2016 – The award is presented to those stakeholders who pays their contribution towards the conservation of biodiversity.

It is given in four categories – Conservation of Threatened Species, Sustainable use of biological resources, Successful models for access and benefit sharing and Biodiversity Management Committees.

21. Indian-American scientist Arnab De in May 2016 received the prestigious Springer Theses award.

He was awarded for his research in which he developed transgenic mice to study a critical tumor-suppressor called A20.

His thesis was nominated by New York’s Columbia University.

Earlier, his project in which he developed peptide-based prodrugs as therapeutics for diabetes, had received the Young Investigator Award at the American Peptide Symposium.

He dedicated his PhD thesis to cricketing legend Sachin Tendulkar and his alma mater, Kolkata’s Presidency University.

22. The President of India Pranab Mukherjee presented the Malti Gyan Peeth Puraskar for the year 2016 at a function held at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

The award was conferred upon 15 teachers from Punjab for their rare contribution in the field of education.

The awardees were facilitated with 1 lakh rupees cash, certificate of excellence, a Robe of Honour and a medal.

The initiative was mainly taken to promote the quality teaching in the schools besides encouraging the hundred percent attendance of girl students in the government schools.

Mergers & Acquisitions:

 

1. Philips plans to sell at least 25 percent of its lighting business on stock market.

It is the world’s largest maker of lights.

The move has taken to focus on its larger medical equipment operations.

2. The search engine giant Google has acquired business technology startup Synergyse founded by an Indian-origin entrepreneur Varun Malhotra.

The financial detail of the acquisition deal was disclosed by the Google.

Synergyse was launched in 2013 with an aim to teach users how to use Google Applications.

With this Synergyse will be joining the Google Apps team and help it to accelerate its mission and build Google Apps.

3. After over five years of hiatus, associate banks of SBI including State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur have proposed to merger with the parent lender.

The respective boards have proposed merger with the State Bank of India (SBI) in a meeting.

The country’s largest lender has five associate banks – State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur, State Bank of Travancore, State Bank of Patiala, State Bank of Mysore and State Bank of Hyderabad.

Among these, State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur, State Bank of Mysore and State Bank of Travancore are listed.

Appointments & Resignations:

 

1. An Indian American Sikh woman Harmeet Kaur Dhillon from California was elected to an important position in the Republican Party at the United States national level.

She was elected as the newest national committee woman, a key position of the Republican National Committee.

She also served as vice chairman of the California GOP.

She was the first woman elected to this position of vice chair of the California Republican Party.

2. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has selected Mexican diplomat Patricia Espinosa as the executive secretary of the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change).

She will replace the incumbent Christiana Figueres when her term ends in July 2016.

She served as Mexico’s ambassador to Germany.

She also served as Mexico’s representative at the UN in New York for drug traffic, human rights, women promotion, social development and children’s rights.

The UNFCCC is an international environmental treaty negotiated at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 and entered into force in 1994.

3. Indian Information Service (IIS) officer Bhupendra Kainthola took charge as Director of Film and Television Institute of India (FTII).

He replaced Prashant Pathrabe, who had served as interim Director and shall have tenure of three years.

He also served as Director (News Room) with DD News since January 2015.

FTII is premier institute in the country that provides training for acting, film making, video editing, direction and production.

It is an autonomous body under Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.

 

4. Renowned statistician Dr Radha Binod Barman took over as the part-time Chairperson in the National Statistical Commission (NSC).

Besides, Professor Rahul Mukherjee, Professor S. Mahendra Dev, Dr Rajiv Mehta and Dr Manoj Panda also took over as other part-time members of the commission.

The Commission is an advisory body on all statistical matters, set up to enhance public trust in official statistics.

5. Renowned statistician Dr. Radha Binod Barman took over as the part-time Chairperson in the National Statistical Commission (NSC).

Besides, Professor Rahul Mukherjee, Professor S. Mahendra Dev, Dr Rajiv Mehta and Dr Manoj Panda also took over as other part-time members of the commission.

The Commission is an advisory body on all statistical matters, set up to enhance public trust in official statistics.

It was established in 2006 based on the recommendation of C. Rangarajan Commission to reduce problems faced by statistical agencies in the country in relation to collection of data.

6. Vice Admiral Sunil Lanba has been appointed as next Chief of the Naval Staff.

He will be 23rd chief of Indian Navy and 21st as an Indian.

He will assume the charge on 31 May 2016 and shall have full three-year-term in office till 31 May 2019.

He will succeed incumbent Navy Chief Admiral Robin K. Dhowan, who will superannuate from the post on 31 May 2016.

7. Senior IPS officer Kumar Rajesh Chandra was appointed as Chief of Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS), the aviation security wing of the Government.

His appointment was cleared by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) presided by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

He has been appointed in place of IPS officer G S Malhi, who had completed his tenure as BCAS chief in November 2012. Since then crucial post was lying vacant.

BCAS is a nodal independent agency of the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation for civil aviation security.

8. Former South African cricketer Mickey Arthur has been appointed as cricket team’s head coach.

It was announced by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).

With this appointment he fills the role vacated by Waqar Younis’ resignation in April 2016 following Pakistan’s early exit from the T20 World Cup.

This is Arthur’s third assignment with an assignment of international coaching.

Earlier he coached South Africa from 2005 to 2010 and Australia from 2011 to 2013.

 

9. An Indian-origin lawyer Murali Pillai from Singapore’s ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) has been elected member of the parliament.

He got elected by garnering 61.21 per cent of the votes in the by-election held at suburban Bukit Batok constituency.

His opponent Chee Soon Juan from Singapore Democratic Party got 38.79 per cent of votes.

Mr Murali became the first PAP candidate to win a by-election in a single member constituency in more than three decades.

 

10. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has appointed Senior Advocate of Bombay High Court Atma Ram Nadkarni as Additional Solicitor General.

He will have tenure of three years and an order in this regard was issued by Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT).

Earlier he had served as Advocate General (highest law officer of the state) of Goa.

11. Mrugank Paranjape took charge as managing director (MD) and chief executive officer (CEO) of Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX), country’s largest commodity exchange.

His appointment fills the vacancy of the post which was vacant for past two years.

Mrugank Paranjape was working with Deutsche Bank for 14 years as Asia Pacific Head of Trust & Securities Services/Cash Management for Financial Institutions.

The MCX is country’s first listed commodity futures exchange that facilitates online trading, and clearing and settlement of commodity futures transactions.

12. Shashank Manohar has stepped down as President of Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) with immediate effect.

He also has resigned as the representative of BCCI on the International Cricket Council (ICC) and also from the Asian Cricket Council

BCCI is the national governing body for cricket in India and is considered as world’s richest cricket board. It was established as BCCI in 1928 by replacing Calcutta Cricket Club.

13. Veteran cricket administrator Shashank Manohar was elected unopposed as ICC’s (International Cricket Council) first independent Chairman.

He was the sole nominee for the position and the ICC Board has now unanimously supported his appointment.

The amendments had abolished the post of the ICC President and created the post of independent Chairman.

 

14. United States (US) President Barack Obama has appointed an Indian-American engineer Manjit Singh as the member of President’s Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships (PACFBNF).

PACFBNF brings together leaders and experts in fields related to the work of faith-based and neighborhood organizations in order to make recommendations to the Administration.

Singh is the President of Agilious, a software technology consulting firm he founded in 2013.

He is an engineering graduate of Bombay University.

He is the co-founder of the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund, a national Sikh American media, policy and education organization.

 

15. Senegalese Fatma Samoura has been elected as the International Federation of Association Football’s (FIFA) first female general secretary, announced the sporting organisation’s president, Gianni Infantino on Friday in Mexico City.

During the 66th FIFA Congress, Samoura was the best person for the job to help lead the soccer entity forward after being plagued by corruption cases since 2015.

Fatma Samoura will be accepted in the position after meeting the requirements established in FIFA’s Article 37 and after being evaluated by an independent review committee.

 

16. Former Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court, Justice Mukul Mudgal has been appointed as Deputy Chairman of FIFA Governance Committee.

While former European Court of Justice Advocate General Luis Miguel Maduro from Portugal was appointed as Chairman of FIFA’s governance committee.

They were appointed by newly elected FIFA President Gianni Infantino after 66th FIFA Congress held in Mexico City selected them.

17. Justice Deepak Gupta has sworn-in as the new Chief Justice (CJ) of the Chhattisgarh High Court.

He was administered the oath of office as per by Chhattisgarh Governor Balram Das Tandon at Raj Bhawan in Raipur as per the provisions of the Article 219 of Constitution

Justice Deepak Gupta was transferred from Tripura High Court by President Pranab Mukherjee as per provisions Article 222 of Constitution.

He was transferred by President following recommendation of the Supreme Court collegium headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) T.S. Thakur.

18. Turkey’s governing party on Thursday formally tapped Binali Yildirim as its candidate to lead the party and become the country’s next premier.

Yildirim is Turkey’s minister of transport, maritime and communication as well as as founding member of the AKP.

He will run unopposed for the party leadership at a special convention on Sunday in Ankara.

Traditionally, the post of premier in Turkey goes to the leader of the largest party in parliament.

19. United Nations (UN) Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has appointed Mary Robinson and Macharia Kamau as UN’s Special Envoys for El Nino and Climate.

These appointments come at a time of great urgency as the drought and flooding associated with El Niño have created massive needs across the world.

The El Niño has worst affected four regions of East Africa, Southern Africa, Central America and the Pacific.

20. Former Finance Secretary Ratan P Watal has been appointed as Principle Adviser for social sector in NITI Aayog.

 

He has been appointed to the post for three years. His appointment comes after his two-month extended tenure as Finance Secretary ended in April 2016.

He was to retire in February 2016, but got a two-month extension.

National Institution for Transforming India (NITI Aayog) is premier policy think tank of Union Government.

It has had replaced erstwhile six decade old Planning Commission.

21. Anurag Thakur was elected as President of BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) by the board’s special general meeting (SGM) held in Mumbai.

He is 34th BCCI President and shall have tenure till September 2017.

He succeeds Shashank Manohar who stepped down to take get elected as ICC’s first independent chairman.

Thakur is the second youngest BCCI President after Fateh Singh Gaekwad who was the youngest BCCI President to get elected at the age of 33 in 1963.

22. President Pranab Mukherjee has appointed BJP leader and former IPS officer Kiran Bedi as the Lieutenant Governor (LG) of Puducherry as per Article 239 of the Constitution.

The a post LG was vacant for the past two years after the Union Government had sacked Virendra Kataria from the post in July 2014.

Since then, it was under the additional charge of Ajay Kumar Singh, Lt. Governor of Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

23. Ms. J Jayalalithaa has sworn in as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for record sixth time after winning 2016 state assembly election with absolute majority.

State Governor Dr.K. Rosaiah administered the oath of office and secrecy to her at oath taking ceremony held at the Centenary Auditorium, Madras University.

Governor also administered oath of office and secrecy to the 28 ministers of her government.

This is J Jayalalithaa’s second consecutive term as chief minister and sixth overall.

She is the second female Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu after Janaki Ramachandran.

 

24. S. K. Sharma, a renowned scientist was appointed the Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL).

He will now be responsible for design, construction, commissioning and operation of nuclear power reactors.

He has been appointed to the new post for a period of five years.

Currently, he is working as Distinguished Scientist and Director (Operations) in NPCIL.

NPCIL is a government-owned corporation responsible for the generation of nuclear power for electricity.

 

25. BJP leader and former Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal was sworn-in as the 14th Chief Minister of Assam after winning 2016 state assembly election with absolute majority.

State Governor Padmanabha Balakrishna Acharya administered the oath of office and secrecy to Sarbananda Sonowal at the oath taking ceremony held in Khanapara, Guwahati.

Besides, Governor also administered oath of office and secrecy to the 10 ministers of his government.

26. Veteran CPI (M) leader Pinarayi Vijayan was sworn-in as 12th Chief Minister of Kerala after the left Democratic Front (LDF) had won 2016 state assembly election.

State Governor P Sathasivam administered his oath of office and secrecy to him along with other 18 ministers of his government in Thiruvananthapuram.

In the 2016 state assembly election, the CPI (M)-led coalition of LDF had emerged victorious after winning 91 seats in the 140 member Assembly.

Then ruling United Democratic Front (UDF) had emerged as largest opposition coalition after winning 47 seats.

 

27. Veteran CPI (M) leader Pinarayi Vijayan was sworn-in as 12th Chief Minister of Kerala after the left Democratic Front (LDF) had won 2016 state assembly election.

State Governor P Sathasivam administered his oath of office and secrecy to him along with other 18 ministers of his government in Thiruvananthapuram.

In the 2016 state assembly election, the CPI (M)-led coalition of LDF had emerged victorious after winning 91 seats in the 140 member Assembly.

Then ruling United Democratic Front (UDF) had emerged as largest opposition coalition after winning 47 seats.

28. Vice-Admiral A R Karve took charge as the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Southern Naval Command (SNC).

29. Surajit Kar Purkayastha was appointed the Director General of West Bengal Police.

Economics & Banking GK:

 

1. ICICI Bank is auctioning a prime property of tyre manufacturer Dunlop India spread over an acre on the upscale Annie Besant Road in Mumbai to recover loans to Ruia Group companies.

The bank took over the property’s possession after Bhartiya Hotels, Shalini Properties & Developers and SPR Resorts defaulted on Rs 575-crore loan given in 2008. The loan was taken by mortgaging the property owned by Dunlop India, another company of the Kolkata-based Ruia Group.

It initiated the auction process in the first week of April and the reserve price is Rs 240 crore.

2. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) soon going to issue banknotes of 1000 rupees denominations with inset letter ‘R’ in both the number panels.

These new banknotes will be issued in the Mahatma Gandhi Series – 2005.

Besides, all the banknotes in the denomination of 1000 rupees issued by RBI in the past would continue to be legal tender.

The design of these new 1000 rupees banknotes is similar in all respects to the earlier issued banknotes of same denominations in Mahatma Gandhi Series – 2005.

 

3. India’s largest private sector bank ICICI Bank has launched country’s first contactless business credit card in association with Jet Airways for small and mid-sized enterprises (SMEs).

The card has been christened as the ‘Jet Airways ICICI Bank Business Advantage Card’.

The card is powered by ‘VISA payWave’ contactless technology.

The technology enables cardholder to make payments by simply tapping card at contactless enabled terminals in more than 48 countries including India.

4. According to Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Raghuram Rajan, India’s core inflation remains a bit higher than policymakers would like, but the economy’s recovery should accelerate with a good monsoon.

Consumer prices rose last month at a more-than-expected 5.39 percent annual rate, up from 4.83 percent in March.

It was the first increase in the retail inflation rate since January.

5. The Income Declaration Scheme 2016 or four month window for declaration of domestic black money shall come into effect from 1st June 2016.

The window provides an opportunity to all persons who have not declared income correctly in earlier years to come forward and declare their undisclosed incomes.

The declared income would be taxed at the rate of 30 per cent plus ‘Krishi Kalyan’ cess of 25 per cent on taxes payable and a penalty at the rate of 25 per cent of the taxes payable.

Thus the total tax to be paid will be 45% of the income declared under the scheme.

6. The World Bank Board announced it had approved a loan worth $625 million for the government’s initiative for rooftop solar power generation.

The Board also approved a co-financing loan of $120 million on concessional terms and a $5 million grant from the Climate Investment Fund’s Clean Technology Fund.

The project will finance the installation of at least 400 MW of Grid Connected Rooftop Solar Photovoltaic (GRPV) across India.

7. The Income Tax (IT) department has launched electronic grievance redressal system ‘e-nivaran’ to fast track taxpayer grievances and ensure early resolution of their complaints.

A separate and dedicated window for grievance redressal has been launched in the Income Tax Business Application (ITBA).

The e-nivaran system also called as unified grievance management system seeks to integrate all online and physical complaints gathered by the department.

8. The Union Government has constituted a five member committee to comprehensively review and give recommendations on the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) roadmap for the future.

The committee will be headed by Former Revenue Secretary and Rajya Sabha MP, NK Singh.

Its members are “Former Finance and Revenue Secretary Sumit Bose, Chief Economic Adviser (CEC) Dr. Arvind Subramanian, Deputy Governor of RBI Urijit Patel and Director of National Institute Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP) Rathin Roy”.

9. The country’s largest lender, State Bank of India (SBI) has decided to merge its five associate public sector banks (PSBs) and the Bharatiya Mahila Bank (BMB) with itself.

SBI has informed the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) that it is seeking in-principle approval for acquisition from the Union Government.

5 subsidiary banks are: -

State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur

State Bank of Hyderabad

State Bank of MysorE

State Bank of Patiala

State Bank of Travancore.

10. British bank HSBC has said that it will almost halve its branch network in India from 50 to 26 following its decision to shut down its private banking business targeted at the rich.

The branch rationalization would result in HSBC losing its tag of foreign bank with second largest branch network to Citibank, which has 45 branches.

RBI governor Raghuram Rajan had said earlier last week that foreign banks are not expanding their presence in India as they need to set aside more capital in keeping with the higher risk weight.

11. The market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has tightened the Participatory Notes (P-note) norms.

The main purpose of this decision is to keep vigil on foreign investments to curb black money inflows in the country.

SEBI has introduced Know Your Client (KYC) compliance for holders of these instruments in order to bring them on a par with domestic investors.

SEBI also has sought information on the ultimate beneficiaries of these products.

Participatory Notes are offshore/ove

12. According to a Crisil report, remittances from the Gulf nations to India declined for the first time in six years due to sliding oil prices.

It fell by 2.2 per cent in 2015-16 but the slide had also resulted in a contraction of oil imports, which offset the drop.

Falling oil prices have had a sweeping impact on the oil producing economies of GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council), severely denting their oil revenues and spending by both governments and households

13. The World Bank has launched Pandemic Emergency Finance Facility (FEP) to help countries and health agencies fight deadly disease outbreaks.

FEP is a financing mechanism designed to quickly mobilize funds to tackle global disease outbreaks and create a new insurance market for pandemic risk.

It was unveiled at the G-7 Finance Ministers Summit held in Ise-Shima, Japan.

Japanese Government has committed to donate $50 million dollars to it, becoming the first donor.

 

14. Saudi Arabia’s Islamic Development Bank (IDB) is about to open its first branch in India at Ahmedabad, Gujarat.

IDB and its private sector arm, Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD), already have met with top officials of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), EXIM Bank and India’s other nationalized banks.

This announcement comes as part of MoU signed between IDB and India’s EXIM Bank during Prime Minister Narendra Modi visit to United Arab Emirates (UAE) in April 2016.

Bills – New & Amendments:

 

1. The Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 came into force on 1 May 2016.

Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation (HUPA) had notified 69 of the total 92 sections of the Act to bring it into force from 1 May 2016.

Real Estate Regulatory Authority will be formulated within one year as per the mandate of Act.

Regulatory Authorities will have to dispose of complaints in 60 days and Appellate Tribunals will be required to adjudicate cases in 60 days.

2. Parliament has passed Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2016.

The Bill amends the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957.

The amendment Bill was first passed in the Lok Sabha in March 2016 and later in the Rajya Sabha in May 2016.

3. The Lok Sabha passed the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Bill, 2015 with the motive to the establishment of funds under the public accounts of Centre and each State towards compensatory afforestation.

It also provides for additional afforestation and penal compensatory afforestation to regulate collected funds.

It seeks to establish the National Compensatory Afforestation Fund under the Public Account of India, and a State Compensatory Afforestation Fund under the Public Account of each state.

 

4. The Lok Sabha has unanimously passed Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code 2015 by a voice vote.

The code seeks to ensure time-bound settlement of insolvency, faster turnaround of businesses and create a unified data base of serial defaulters.

The Code creates time-bound processes for resolution of the insolvency of companies and individuals.

5. Parliament has passed the Anti-Hijacking Bill, 2016 to widen ambit of law dealing with this anti-hijacking crime.

The Bill was first passed in the Rajya Sabha and later in the Lok Sabha in May 2016.

Now the Bill will go for Presidential assent as per Article 111 of Indian Constitution.

The Bill defines hijacking as seizing control of an aircraft in service, unlawfully and intentionally, by coercion, technological means or by exercising force or any other form of intimidation.

6. The Industries (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2015 has passed by the Parliament after the Lok Sabha adopted certain amendments made by the Rajya Sabha.

The Bill seeks to amend the Industries (Development and Regulation) Act, 1951 that provides for development and regulation of certain industries.

The Bill seeks to transfer from the Centre to states the control over industries engaged in the production of potable alcohol.

7. The Parliament has passed the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code Bill, 2016.

It was first passed in Lok Sabha and later in Rajya Sabha in the month of May, 2016.

The code seeks to ensure time-bound settlement of insolvency, faster turnaround of businesses and create a unified data base of serial defaulters.

 

8. The Union Cabinet has given its approval for introduction of two Bills in the Parliament for certain amendments in the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950.

These bills seek to modify the list of Scheduled Tribes in respect of five States, namely, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu, Jharkhand, Tripura. They also seek identification of new communities in the Union Territory of Puducherry.

The Bills add the following communities to the list of Scheduled Castes:

Assam: Inclusion of Boro, Boro Kachari, Bodo, Bodo Kachari and Karbi (Mikir) communities in the list.

Chhattisgarh: Inclusion of Bhuinya, Bhuiyan, Bhuyan, Dhanuhar/Dhanuwar,Kisan, Saunra, Saonra and Dhangad communities in the list.

Jharkhand: Inclusion of Bhogta, Deshwari, Ganjhu, Dautalbandi (Dwalbandi), Patbandi, Raut, Maajhia, Khairi (Kheri) and Puran communities in the list.

Tamil Nadu: Inclusion of Malayali Gounder, Narikoravan and Kurivikkaran communities in the list.

Tripura: Inclusion of Darlong community in the list. Puducherry: Identification (First Order) of Irular (including Villi and Vettaikaran).

 

9. India and Iran signed 12 Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) and Agreements in various areas including building and operating the Chabahar port by India.

The other agreements include cooperation in science and technology, culture, library sciences, and cooperation between the EXIM banks of both the countries.

These agreements were signed after the delegation level talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.

These agreements are:

Bilateral contract on Chabahar Port for port development and operations

MoU between EXIM Bank and Iran’s Ports and Maritime Organization (PMO)

Confirmation Statement between EXIM Bank and Central Bank of Iran (CBI

MoU between IRCON and CDTIC

MoU on India-Iran Cultural Exchange Programme (CEP)

MoU on Policy Dialogue between Governments and Interaction between Think Tanks

MoU between Foreign Service Institute, MEA and School of International Relations, Iran’s MoFA

Implementation Protocol on Cooperation in the Fields of Science and Technology

10. India and Oman have signed four Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs)/agreements on defence cooperation.

These MoUs/agreements were signed in Muscat during the visit of Union Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar to Oman.

Signed agreements are:

MOU on Defence Cooperation

MOU in the field of Marine Crime Prevention at Sea

MOU on Maritime Issues

Protocol on Flight Safety information Exchange

 

11. The National Aluminium Company Limited (NALCO) has signed a MoU with Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization (IMIDRO).

The signing of the MoU coincided with the official two days state visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Iran.

The purpose of the MoU is to explore the possibility of setting up smelter- cum-gas based power plant on joint venture in Iran for the proposed smelter plant in Chabahar Free Trade Zone.

12. India and World Bank have signed the Loan and Project Agreements for World Bank (IBRD) assistance of US 100 million dollars for Karnataka Urban Water Supply Modernization project.

Objective of the project is to provide city-wide access to a continuous piped water supply in the eligible cities in Karnataka and to strengthen the service delivery arrangements at the city level.

KUIDFC is the nodal implementing agency for the project.

The project has four broad components:

(i) Capital Investment Program

(ii) Technical Assistance for Sector Development

(iii) Institution Building

(iv) Project Management

13. The Union Cabinet has approved Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and the United Arab Emirates Space Agency (UAESA) for cooperation in the exploration and user of outer space for peaceful purposes.

Decision in this regard was taken by Union Cabinet meeting chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi.

The MoU seek to set up a Joint Working Group with members from ISRO and UAESA.

It will further work out the plan of action including the time-frame and the means of implementing the MoU.

 

14. China and Sudan signed a memorandum of understanding to build 600-megawatt (MW) atomic reactor.

Sudan is China’s its close ally in Africa.

It was the first of its kind project to be built by China in African country.

The two framework agreements in this regard have been signed by state-owned China National Nuclear Corp (CNNC) with Sudan.

These agreements include nuclear power development and building a 600 MW atomic reactor.

Memorandum of Understanding (MoU):

 

1. The Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) has inked MoU with SAARC Development Fund (SDF) for mutual cooperation and collaboration.

The MoU was signed by SIDBI Deputy Managing Director A K Kapur and SDF CEO Sunil Motiwal.

SDF and SIDBI to work together in co-funding of projects in Indian MSMEs on risk sharing basis in identified sectors.

2. India and New Zealand have signed a landmark Air Services Agreement paving the way for introduction of direct flights between the two countries.

The agreement was signed in the presence of the President Pranab Mukherjee and the New Zealand Prime Minister John Key.

The agreement will lead to easier air connectivity between both countries that have inhibited both business travel and people- to- people contact in the past.

3. The Union Ministry of Railways and Forest Department of Haryana & Punjab have inked Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for plantation of trees alongside Railway Track on Railway Land Boundary.

The MoU paves way for planting around 5 lakh trees alongside Railway Track on Railway Land Boundary prior to Monsoon Season.

This agreement paves way improvements with regard to afforestation on railway land.

4. The Union Cabinet has given its ex-post facto approval for the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and Central Bank of United Arab Emirates (UAE) on co-operation concerning currency swap agreement.

Decision in this regard was taken at the Union Cabinet Meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi.

The Agreement was signed in February, 2016 during the official state visit of Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan to India.

5. The Union Cabinet has apprised of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for promoting bilateral cooperation in the field of Information Communication Technology (ICT).

Decision in this regard was taken by the Union Cabinet Meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi.

The MoU was signed between both countries in March, 2015 and was ratified by both India and Qatar on 1st January, 2016 and 12th January, 2016 respectively.

It seeks to boost active cooperation and exchanges between the private entities, capacity building institutions, Governments and other public organisations in the field of ICT.

6. The Union Cabinet has given its approval to the renewed Agreement for Scientific and Technological Cooperation with European Union (EU) for another period of 5 years.

Decision in this regard was taken by Union Cabinet Meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi.

The agreement will be retrospectively effective from 17 May 2015 until 2020.

The agreement will reaffirm India-EU’s shared commitment to research and innovation as drivers of social and economic development.

 

7. India’s largest private sector lender ICICI Bank has inked a MoU with the BRICS Grouping-promoted New Development Bank (NDB) for a partnership in bond issuances, co-financing, treasury management and human resources.

With this ICICI Bank becomes first financial institution in the country to tie up with the BRICS Grouping-promoted NDB.

The MoU was signed by BDB’s first President and ICICI Bank veteran KV Kamath and ICICI Bank Chief Chanda Kochhar in Mumbai, Maharashtra.

NDB is a multilateral development bank promoted by BRICS Nations viz. Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. It is outcome of 6th BRICS Summit being held in Fortaleza, Brazil.

8. The Union Cabinet has given its approval for signing of an Inter-Governmental Agreement between India and Mauritius on cooperation in cooperatives and related fields.

The Agreement provides for promoting cooperation between both countries through short and medium term programmes within the framework of the joint activities.

It will be valid for duration of five years after which it can be automatically extended for another five years.

9. The Union Cabinet has apprised of a General Framework Agreement (GFA) on Renewable Energy Cooperation between India and United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The GFA was signed in February 2016 in New Delhi during the official state visit of Crown Prince of UAE to India.

The GFA aims at boosting bilateral cooperation between India and UAE in the field of new and renewable energy technologies.

10. India and other 5 countries “Canada, Iceland, Israel, New Zealand and China” have signed OECD’s (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement in Beijing (China).

The multilateral agreement aims at boosting automatic exchange of information on tax issues and developing new tools to tackle the tax evasion.

The pact allows all signatories to bilaterally and automatically exchange Country-by-Country Reports with each other.

It is designed to provide tax administrations with information needed to combat tax avoidance through transfer pricing.

 

11. India and United States (US) held their first Maritime Security Dialogue in New Delhi for deepening the evolving partnership in the maritime domain between both countries.

The first round of discussions under the recently-constituted dialogue was held between officials of India’s Defence and External Affairs Ministries and their US counterparts.

Both sides discussed various issues including naval cooperation, Asia-Pacific maritime challenges and multilateral engagement.

They agreed to include the conclusion of a white shipping technical arrangement to improve data sharing on commercial shipping traffic.

12. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in May 2016 signed a series of twelve agreements in Tehran.

The most important of these 12 agreements is the trilateral transit agreement between India, Iran and Afghanistan.

In the deal, India offered to develop the Port of Chabahar in order to allow Indian goods to be exported to Iran, with the possibility of onward connections to Afghanistan and Central Asia.

Science & Technology:

 

1. The Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) has launched mobile app “Indian Customs- Guide to Travellers” for dissemination of information about Customs Baggage Rules, 2016.

The application has been launched to inform traders, exporters and importers about Customs Baggage Rules, 2016.

It has been developed by Bengaluru Customs and is available on Android Play store, Apple Store and Windows Store.

2. INS Kalvari, Indian Navy’s first indigenous Scorpene-class stealth submarine, has recently launched for the first sea trial in the Mumbai naval dockyard.

It is a diesel-electric attack submarine which is built under the strategic Project 75 by Mazagon Dock Limited (MDL) in collaboration with French naval defence and Energy Company DCNS.

INS Kalvari is also known as Tiger Shark (or S50).

It is expected to be commissioned into Indian Navy by September 2016.

3. The Union Railways Ministry has launched an application namely Project Management and Information System (PMIS) for proper monitoring of all the Railway projects throughout the country.

The application was launched by Union Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu at Rail Bhawan in New Delhi.

At present Indian Railways have over 600 major projects of network expansion and modernization costing around 4.5 lakh crores rupees.

4. Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), the Public Sector Power equipment manufacturer has commissioned 600 MW coal-based thermal power plant in Madhya Pradesh.

The unit was commissioned at the 1×600 MW Jhabua Thermal Power Project (TPP) located in Seoni district in Madhya Pradesh.

The project has been developed by Jhabua Power Ltd (JPL), a subsidiary of Avantha Power & Infrastructure Limited (APIL).

5. Scientists have developed world’s Smallest (Nano) Thermometer using DNA (Deoxyribonucleic acid) structures that can fold and unfold at specifically defined temperature functions.

Scientists at the University of Montreal developed it and the study report in this regard was published in the journal Nano Letters.

It can help in understanding of natural and human designed nanotechnologies by enabling to measure temperature at the nanoscale.

It can be incorporated in new electronic devices and has a wide range of applications across fields of chemistry and physics.

6. A group of researchers from University of Cambridge have built the world’s smallest (nanoscale) working engine.

The research team was led by Professor Jeremy Baumberg from the Cavendish Laboratory.

They have named the microscopic engine as ANTs (Actuating Nano-Transducers).

7. The Union Government has announced that currently 34 Indian satellites are operational in the space.

It was announced by the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh in written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha.

34 operational satellites includes:

13 Communication Satellites: INSAT-3A, INSAT-3C, INSAT-4A, INSAT-4B, INSAT-4CR, GSAT-6, GSAT-7, GSAT-8, GSAT-10, GSAT-12, GSAT-14, GSAT-15 and GSAT-16.

12 Earth Observation Satellites: Resourcesat-2, RISAT-1, RISAT-2, Cartosat-1, Cartosat-2, Cartosat-2A, Cartosat-2B, Oceansat-2, SARAL, Kalpana-1, Megha-Tropiques and INSAT-3D.

7 Navigational Satellites: IRNSS-1A, 1B, 1C, 1D, 1E, 1F and 1G. 2 Space science Satellites: Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) and Astrosat.

8. Bangladesh Government has given its in-principle approval to Anil Ambani-led Reliance Power’s first phase of the 3,000 MW LNG-based power plant at Meghnaghat in Narayanganj district.

This approval has paved the way for the largest Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Bangladesh with a potential investment of over 8,700 crore rupees (1.3 billion dollars).

FSRU-based LNG terminal will supply re-gasified LNG for the power project and additional RLNG to PetroBangla.

9. Goa Shipyard Limited (GSL) has launched Indian Coast Guard Ship (ICGS) Shaurya at Panaji.

It was launched by the Governor of Goa, Mridula Sinha, in the presence of GSl and ICG officials.

ICGS Shaurya is fifth of a series of six Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPVs) designed in-house and built by GSL.

10. US based private space transport Service Company, SpaceX has successfully launched Japanese JCSAT-14 communication satellite into the space.

The satellite was place into its intended preliminary geostationary transfer orbit by SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket which was launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, US.

JCSAT-14 Satellite is owned by Sky Perfect JSAT Corporation.

The satellite will boost the company’s fleet of relay stations to 17.

The satellite is built by Space Systems/Loral and is equipped with 26 C-band and 18 Ku-band transponders.

11. Scientists have detected atomic oxygen in the atmosphere of Mars for the first time since the last observation 40 years ago.

It was detected using an instrument onboard the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA).

SOFIA is a Boeing 747SP jetliner modified to carry a 100-inch diameter telescope. It is a joint project of NASA and the German Aerospace Centre.

12. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has unveiled the first global digital elevation (topographic model) of Mercury.

The model was unveiled by NASA’s MESSENGER ((MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging) mission.

The MESSENGER mission shows stunning detail the topography across the entire innermost planet of our solar system.

The model was created using more than 100,000 images acquired by the MESSENGER mission.

13. Scientists from the Queen’s University (Canada) have developed the world’s first holographic flexible smartphone named HoloFlex.

The HoloFlex smartphone lets users to interact with 3D (Three dimensional) videos and images without using any headgear or glasses.

HoloFlex features a high-definition Flexible Organic Light Emitting Diode (FOLED) touch-screen display.

It renders images into 12-pixel wide circular blocks that allow the full view of the 3D object from a particular viewpoint.

14. Indian Navy has launched the state-of-the-art Harbour Defence Systems, viz. Integrated Underwater Harbour Defence and Surveillance System (IUHDSS) in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.

Mine Warfare Data Centre (MWDC) was also launched.

IUHDSS and MWDC systems seek to enhance the Indian Navy’s surveillance capability and response to security threats at the Naval Dockyard in Visakhapatnam.

15. NASA’s unmanned Kepler space observatory has discovered the largest trove of exoplanets outside our solar system.

So far, it has discovered total of 1,284 exoplanets and it is more than double the number of known exoplanets found with the Kepler space telescope.

The unmanned Kepler space observatory was launched in 2009 and was tasked with determining how commonly, Earth-like planets occur throughout the Milky Way galaxy.

16. United States has activated a land-based missile defence station (Aegis Ashore Missile Defence System) in Deveselu, Romania.

The missile defence station is part of NATO’s larger European shield to protect member countries from short and medium-range missiles, particularly from the Middle East.

The Deveselu missile defence station has a battery of SM-2 missile interceptors.

It uses powerful computer and radar technology to track and guide weapons to destroy enemy targets.

 

17. Indigenously developed Advanced Air Defence (AAD) interceptor missile, Ashwin was successfully test fired.

The test was the twelfth test of interceptor missiles fired from a warship in the Bay of Bengal.

Of the 11 tests held earlier, 9 were successful.

The interceptor missile was test fired from the complex of Abdul Kalam Island (formerly known as Wheeler Island) in Balasore district off Odisha coast.

18. China has successfully launched Yaogan-30 remote-sensing satellite into sun-synchronous orbit (SSO) using the Long March-2D rocket.

The rocket was launched from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center located in Gobi desert in northwest China’s Gansu Province.

It was the 227th flight of the Long March rocket series and was also the second orbital launch from the Jiuquan Satellite launch Center in 2016.

 

19. The Union Government has launched three IT and ITES initiatives for best practices in road transport sector namely INFRACON, ePACE and up-Scaled INAM PRO.

They were launched by the Union Minister of Road Transport & Highways and Shipping Nitin Gadkari as part of the Digital India Programme.

These innovative IT initiatives were developed in house by National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd (NHIDCL) with an aim to make the road building procedure faster, more transparent and more efficient.

INFRACON: It is National Portal for Infrastructure Consultancy Firms and Key Personnel.

ePACE (Projects Appraisal & Continuing Enhancements): It is an online integrated Management Information System (MIS) portal.

INAM PRO: It is a web-based application for Infrastructure and Material Providers launched in March 2015.

20. Indigenously developed nuclear capable Prithvi-II surface-to-surface missile was successfully test-fired from a test range at Chandipur in Odisha.

It was carried out by Strategic Force Command (SFC) from a mobile launcher at launch complex-3 from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur in Odisha.

Prithvi-II is a tactical short-range ballistic missile (SRBM), withstrike range of 350 km is developed by indigenously by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).

21. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has successfully launched a super pressure balloon to conduct near-space scientific investigations. It was launched from South Island Wanaka Airport, New Zealand in the fifth attempt.

Earlier four attempts to get the massive balloon airborne were thwarted by bad weather.

The balloon is 532,000 cubic metres and aims to remain airborne for more than 100 days.

It is expected to circumnavigate the globe in the mid-latitudes of southern hemisphere once every one to three weeks, depending on wind speeds in the stratosphere.

22. The world’s first robot lawyer named ‘ROSS’ has been employed by a US law firm BakerHostetler.

The first of its kind artificial intelligence (AI) lawyer will assist the law firm and its various teams in legal research.

The robot was built by the company ROSS Intelligence and its working is based on cognitive computing.

The project had started in 2014 out of research at the University of Toronto to build an artificial intelligence legal research assistant to allow lawyers to enhance and scale their abilities.

The ROSS started functioning with first ten months after they began teaching it bankruptcy law.

23. Scientists from the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) have developed world’s first genetically engineered clone of the Zika virus strain.

They have dubbed it as infectious complementary DNA (cDNA) clone.

It allows researchers to make Zika virus from test tube and cells on petri dishes.

The clone comprises of five fragments of complete zika viral genome which were individually cloned and assembled into the full-length Zika virus clone.

It will help scientists to quickly develop countermeasures and also to explore evolution of Zika virus and how it spread more quickly.

24. HDFC Bank, India’s second-largest private sector lender HDFC Bank has launched SmartUp, a dedicated solution for startups to fulfil all their banking needs.

It was launched in association with a Mumbai-based start-up accelerator Zone Startups India (ZSI).

SmartUp is tailored to meet all the requirements of a startup. It is a complete banking solution meant for startups.

It will be offering banking and payment solutions, along with forex and advisory services to startups.

25. President Pranab Mukherjee inaugurated an Intelligent Operations Centre (IOC) in Rashtrapati Bhavan.

He also launched a mobile application ‘Monitor’ for transformation of President’s Estate into a smart township.

During the launching ceremony President announced that President’s Estate will work around the ‘4H’ theme of a humane, Hi-Tech, Heritage and Happy Township.

Intelligent Operations Centre (IOC) is a software solution to provide intelligent insights by collecting the rich data streaming in from several sources within the Estate. It is designed by IBM.

26. The Union Government has launched ‘Qora’, an indigenously developed affordable Faecal Incontinence Management System (FIMS).

It was launched by Union Minister of State (MoS) for Science & Technology Y.S.Chowdary in New Delhi.

The FIMS-Qora was developed under the Union Ministry of Science & Technology’s Department of Biotechnology (DBT) Bio design Programme by M/s. Consure Medical.

This affordable novel technology will help to address the clinical and economic implications of FI by expanding indications for use.

It will also help in reducing skill level required to use a device, and introducing a new level of care for patients outside the ICU.

27. Australian researchers have built the world’s first Scanning Helium Microscope (SHeM) to examine materials without disturbing them.

The SHeM was developed by the team of researchers from University of Newcastle (UON) led by Professor Paul Dastoor in collaboration with researchers from the University of Cambridge.

SHeM possesses short De Broglie wavelength of the helium ions and very high source brightness.

It enables to obtain high quality data which is not at all achievable with conventional microscopes which use photons or electrons as the emitting source.

28. The Indian Navy has commissioned indigenously built highly maneuverable Fast Attack Craft INS Tarmugli at the commissioning ceremony held in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.

INS Tarmugli will be based in Visakhapatnam under the Naval Officer-in-Charge (Andhra Pradesh).

It would be deployed for coastal patrol and surveillance operations along the East Coast of India.

29. The Union Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) has decided to launch ASMITA, a student tracking system programme.

ASMITA is acronym for All School Monitoring Individual Tracing Analysis and shall be launched under Shala Asmita Yojana (SAY).

ASMITA will be an online database which will carry information of student attendance and enrolment, learning outcomes, mid-day meal service and infrastructural facilities among others.

Students will be tracked through their Aadhaar numbers and incase those not having unique number will be provided with it.

30. Scientists from Trinity College Dublin’s School of Physics and CRANN Institute have discovered a new property of light based on Angular Momentum.

The scientific breakthrough discovery has potential to alter the basic understanding of fundamental nature of light.

The discovery was made by passing light through crystals. During it passage, unexpected new property of light, based on the concept called ‘angular momentum’ was observed.

31. As per recent study conducted by Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), chemical additive Potassium bromate (KbrO3) widely prevalent in bread and refined flour is carcinogenic.

The test was conducted by CSE’s Pollution Monitoring Laboratory.

It has found that 84% of the samples were found to be laced with carcinogenic and thyroid triggering chemicals, such as Potassium Bromate and Potassium Iodate.

These chemicals content were found to be on the higher then permissible limit in the sandwich breads followed by white bread, pavs, pizza bread and burger buns.

32. The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has decided to test an Air-breathing Propulsion System after successful test of Reusable launch Vehicle- Technology Demonstration (RLV-TD).

The testing of air-breathing propulsion system aims to capitalize on the oxygen in the atmosphere instead of liquefied oxygen while in flight.

ISRO is evolving and testing various technologies to bring down the cost of launch vehicles and the air-breathing propulsion system is part of its new space endeavor.

33. The Indian Air Force (IAF) successfully test-fired a land-attack version of the supersonic cruise missile, BrahMos at the Pokaran field firing range in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan.

During the flight trial, the missile met its mission goals and destroyed a designated target.

34. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has successfully deployed the first experimental inflatable room attached to the International Space Station (ISS).

The experimental inflatable room dubbed as BEAM (Bigelow Expandable Activity Module) was deployed after it was successfully expanded and pressurized.

35. Nine-coach Spanish train Talgo’s trial run was conducted on 29 May 2016 on the Bareilly-Moradabad route of Uttar Pradesh. It was conducted as part of the Railways’ strategy to increase the speed of trains.

The trail run was conducted by a joint team of the Railway Design Standards Organization (RDSO) and Spanish train manufacturer Talgo.

Important Dates:

1. Every year 3^rd May is celebrated as World Press Freedom Day.

World Press Freedom Day was proclaimed by the UN General Assembly in December 1993, following the recommendation of UNESCO’s General Conference.

Since then, 3 May, the anniversary of the Declaration of Windhoek is celebrated worldwide as World Press Freedom Day.

2016 Theme for the celebration is Access to Information and Fundamental Freedoms – This Is Your Right!

2. World Migratory Bird Day (WMBD) is being observed across the world on the second weekend in May.

This year, WMBD is being observed on 10th May. The day seeks to raise awareness and highlight the need for the protection of migratory birds and their habitats.

2016 Theme is “Stop the Illegal Killing, Taking and Trade of Migratory Birds”.

On this day people around the world organize public events such as bird festivals, education programmes, exhibitions and bird-watching excursions to celebrate WMBD.

3. National Technology Day is being observed across India on May 11 to glorify the importance of science in day-to-day life and motivate students to adopt science as a career option.

2016 Theme is ‘Technology enablers of Startup India’.

The day is being commemorated to celebrate the “anniversary of first of the five tests of Operation Shakti (Pokhran-II) nuclear test”, held on 11 May 1998 in Pokhran, Rajasthan.

4. International Nurses Day is celebrated around the world every May 12.

It is the anniversary of Florence Nightingale’s birth.

The IND theme for 2016 is “Nurses: A Force for Change: Improving health systems”.

5. The Government of India has declared 16^th May as National Dengue Day.

 

It is celebrated to mark the toll the deadly disease has been taking in terms of lives and to reaffirm nationwide efforts to tackle the scourge by using both education and medical intervention.

The decision was taken because Dengue disease burden has shown an increase in recent years in the country and in Nagaland with more frequency of outbreaks during the monsoon and post monsoon season.

6. Every year May 21 is being observed as Anti-Terrorism Day throughout India to spread awareness among the people about the danger of terrorism and violence and its effect on the people, society and the country as a whole.

The objective behind the observance of Anti-Terrorism Day is to wean away the people from terrorism and violence.

Its motive is to promote unity, peace and harmony across the nation.

The day marks the death anniversary of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi who was assassinated at an election rally near Chennai by a suicide bomber from the LTTE on 21 May 1991.

7. Every year May 22 is being observed as International Biodiversity Day (IDB) across the world to promote conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity.

The objective is to step-up understanding and awareness about biodiversity issues and to make people aware about the importance of biodiversity on the one hand and its unprecedented loss on the other.

2016 Theme is “Mainstreaming Biodiversity: Sustaining People and their Livelihoods”

8. The International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers 2016 was observed on 29 May 2016 with the theme Honoring Our Heroes.

The day offers a chance to pay tribute to the Blue Helmets’ invaluable contribution to the work of the Organization and to honour more than 3400 peacekeepers who have lost their lives serving under the UN flag since 1948, including 128 in 2015.

On the other hand, the UN Postal Administration (UNPA) also issued a set of six new stamps for the occasion.

9. Aditi Krishnakumar, an Indian woman author in Singapore, in fourth week of May 2016 won the ‘Scholastic Asian Book Award’.

She was awarded for her 32000-word manuscript “Codex: The Lost Treasure of the Indus”.

Death:

1. Veteran TV and film actor Suresh Chatwal passed away on 29 May 2016 following a brief illness in Mumbai.

The actor was known for his role of Commissioner Suraj Agnihotri in F.I.R .

Click here to download GK Monthly Eduwrap for May 2016 in PDF Format

Daily GK Eduwrap will help you keeping aware about all the major happenings of the country and the world and update your current affairs/general knowledge.

This will help you in preparing for all the competitive exams like IBPS, SSC, RRB etc.

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