GENERAL AWARENESS–CURRENT AFFAIRS MONTH OF MAY–2019

List of Important Days

May 1 - International Workers' Day (Labour Day or May Day) (Theme - “Sustainable Pension for all: The Role of Social Partners”) May 3 - World Press Freedom Day (Theme – “Media for Democracy: Journalism and Elections in Times of Disinformation”) May 4 - International Firefighters' Day May 5 - International Midwives Day (Theme – “Midwives: Defenders of Women's Rights”) May 6 - International No Diet Day (The symbol of International No Diet Day is a light blue ribbon) May6-12 - 5th United Nations Global Road Safety Week (Theme - “Leadership for road safety”) May 7 - Border Road Organization’s (BRO) 59th rising day May 8 - World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day (Theme - “#Love”) May 8 - World Thalassemia Day (Theme - “Universal access to quality thalassaemia healthcare services: Building bridges with and for patient”) May 11 - National Technology Day May 15 - International Day of Families (Theme-“Families and Climate Action: Focus on(Sustainable Development Goals) SDG 13”) May 16 - Sikkim Day May 17 - World Telecommunication and Information Society Day (WTISD 2018) (Theme – “Bridging the standardization gap”) May 18 - International Museum Day (Theme – “Museums as Cultural Hubs: The future of tradition”) May 21 - World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development May 21 - Anti-Terrorism Day May 22 - International Day for Biological Diversity (Theme – “Our Biodiversity, Our Food, Our Health”) May 23 - World Turtle Day (Theme – “Save Turtles”) May 25 - International Missing Children's Day May 25 - Towel Day May 28 - Menstrual hygiene day (Theme - “It's Time for Action”) May 29 - International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers (Theme - “Protecting Civilians, Protecting Peace”) May 30 - Hindi Journalism Day May 30 - Goa was celebrated its 32nd Statehood Day May 31 - World No Tobacco Day (Theme – “Tobacco and Lung Health”)

Reserve Bank of India • The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) imposed a monetary penalty on 5 Pre-Paid Payment Instrument (PPI) issuers which include Vodafone’s m-pesa and Phonepe, for violating its regulatory guidelines under provisions of Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007.

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− Other facing Penalty includes, Western Union Financial Services Inc., MoneyGram Payment Systems Inc, (both are US firms) for compounding of contravention and non-compliance of RBI guidelines and on Mobile Payments and Private and GI Technology. • The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) withdrew its April 24 circular which mandated banks to disclose their exposure to IL&FS and its group entities in their notes to financial statements. − RBI had also directed lenders to reveal provisions required to be made against it. − This comes after the NCLAT allowed banks to declare defaulting loans of IL&FS as bad loans. • The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has proposed to introduce a mobile application to help visually challenged citizens identify Indian currency notes, and has invited bids from technology firms for the same. − Currently, intaglio printing-based identification marks on banknotes of ₹100 and above help the visually challenged recognize currency. • The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has released a vision document for ensuring a safe, secure, convenient, quick and affordable e-payment system. − The move comes as the apex bank expects the number of digital transactions to increase more than four times to 8,707 crore in December 2021. • According to RBI release the 'Payment and Settlement Systems in India: Vision 2019 - 2021', with its core theme of 'Empowering Exceptional E-payment Experience', envisages to achieve "a highly digital and cash-lite society" through the goal posts of Competition, Cost-effectiveness, Convenience and Confidence (4Cs). • The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) directed Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) with asset size of over ₹5,000 crore to appoint a Chief Risk Officer (CRO) to better manage risk. • The Reserve Bank of India (RBI)'s central has decided to create a specialized supervisory and regulatory cadre within the RBI to strengthen the supervision and regulation of commercial banks, urban cooperative banks and non-banking financial companies. • The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has increased the Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) time window for customer transactions (initial cut-off) from 4.30pm to 6pm, effective June 1. • The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has lifted a ban on bank use of Aadhaar for KYC verification, adding the banks can now do so with the customer's consent.

State Bank of India • India's largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) has linked its interest rates on large savings account deposits and some short-term loans to the RBI's repo rate effective May 1. − The bank is now offering interest of 3.25% per annum on savings accounts with deposits above ₹1 lakh. − Cash credit accounts and overdrafts with limits above ₹1 lakh will attract an interest of 8.25% per annum. • India's largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) reduced the lending rates by a marginal 5 basis points across all tenors, effective 10 April. − The revised one-year marginal cost of funds-based lending rate (MCLR) stands at 8.50 percent down from 8.55 percent earlier. − The lender has also cut interest rates on housing loans up to Rs 30 lakh by 10 bps.

Other Banks • Bandhan Bank CEO Chandra Shekhar Ghosh announced that the lender is going to reduce its promoter holding to mandated level of 40% through offer-for-sale route. − Bandhan Bank is set to acquire Gruh Finance, a move which would reduce promoter holding to 61% from the present 82%.

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• State-owned Bank of Baroda (BoB) is planning to rationalize 800-900 branches across the country, following its merger with Dena Bank and Vijaya Bank. • State-run Punjab National Bank (PNB) could take control of two-three small state-run banks. − These small lenders could include Oriental Bank of Commerce, Andhra Bank and Allahabad Bank. • The ICICI Bank announced that it is going to buy a 9.9% stake in India International Exchange (INX), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) for nearly ₹ 31 crore. − The exchange posted a loss of ₹ 31 crore in 2018-19 while its total revenue stood at ₹ 2.25 crore. INX is located at GIFT City in Gujarat.

Supreme Court • The Supreme Court has said a person has no "right" to be represented by a lawyer in "in-house" proceedings initiated by banks or financial institutions to declare them willful defaulters.

High Courts and Sessions Courts • A single bench of Rajasthan High Court has ordered the state government to withdraw all light motor vehicle driving licences of the illiterate.

Election Commission • Election Commission has come up with a new initiative to provide real-time trends and results of the Lok Sabha vote counting across the states and union territories. − The counting trends and results will be available on the Commission Website at www.results.eci.gov.in as well as on the Voter Helpline App. • A total of 65,14,558 voters opted for NOTA (None-Of-The-Above) option, in 2019 Lok Sabha elections. − In 2014, as many as 60,02,942 voters had opted for NOTA. − The highest percentage of NOTA was recorded in the state of Bihar with 2% voters (8,17,139) opting for it. − In Uttar Pradesh, which has 80 Lok Sabha seats, 7,25,079 voters opted for NOTA.

States • The states of Maharashtra and Gujarat were divided and given statehood under the Bombay Reorganization Act on 1st May in the year 1960. • Purple frog (Nasikabatrachus sahyadrensis) could be soon designated as Kerala’s state amphibian. • The Tamil Nadu government has issued an order to district collectors for issuing income and asset certificates to persons belonging to general category for availing reservation under the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) quota. • The Kerala Legislative Assembly recently announced an initiative to digitize all its records and proceedings under its ambitious project called E-Vidhan which enables state legislature to go fully digital and completely paperless. • Milk and Milk products are more likely to be unsafe or substandard than other food products sold in Delhi, according to test reports of food samples analyzed by the Delhi food safety department. • Rajasthan government has introduced Balakot airstrike and IAF Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman as topics in Class 9 Social Science textbooks. • Kerala Becomes 1st Indian State to tap into Masala Bond Market by listing the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB)’s masala bond worth of USD 312 million (Rs 2,150 crore) in London Stock Exchange (LSE)’s International Securities Market (ISM).

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• Maharashtra Governor Vidyasagar Rao signed an ordinance promulgated by the state government that upholds admissions given to students under the Maratha quota in postgraduate medical and dental courses. • In a first-of-its-kind initiative, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has decided to use cold mix tar and chemical concrete to fill the city's potholes and repair roads during monsoon.

Place in the News • India for the first time is going to host and participate in a major army competition involving 8 countries, including China and Russia, in Jaisalmer. − The event called the ‘Army International Scout Masters Competition 2019’ will be held in August this year.

Personalities • Nobel laureate, genius poet and the man behind composing India’s national anthem, Rabindranath Tagore's 158th Birth Anniversary was observed on 7th May 2019. • India’s Captain Aarohi Pandit became world’s first woman to cross Atlantic Ocean (AO) solo in a Light Sports Aircraft (LSA) named Mahi. • Gopal Shrestha, a 56-year-old from Nepal's Pokhara, became the 1st HIV-infected climber to scale the world's highest peak, the Mount Everest. • BJD's Chandrani Murmu, a 25-year-old mechanical engineer who won Odisha's reserved Keonjhar seat by defeating two-time BJP MP Ananta Nayak, will become the youngest member in Lok Sabha history. • Flight Lieutenant Parul Bhardwaj (Captain), Flying Officer Aman Nidhi (Co-pilot) and Flight Lieutenant Hina Jaiswal (Flight Engineer) have become India's first all women crew to fly a medium lift helicopter. − They flew a Mi-17 V5 helicopter for a Battle Inoculation Training mission. • Air Chief Marshal B S Dhanoa flew the 'missing man' formation in a MiG-21 aircraft to pay tributes to Squadran Leader Ajay Ahuja and other fallen heroes of the Kargil war. • Flight Lieutenant Mohana Singh has become the 1st woman fighter pilot to be qualified to undertake missions by day on Hawk advanced jet aircraft.

Defence and National Security • The Ministry of Defence awarded Defence PSU Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) a Rs.6311 crore worth contract to build 8 Anti-Submarine Warfare Shallow Water Crafts (ASWSWCs) for Indian Navy. • The 1st part of the Indo-French joint naval exercise, ‘Varuna’ kick started in the Arabian Sea off the Goa coast. • The Defence Ministry has approved the Indian Navy's proposal to acquire 10 Kamov-31 Airborne Early Warning and Control choppers from Russia at a cost of about ₹3,600 crore to strengthen its capability against aerial threats to aircraft carriers and warships. • INS Ranjit, a Rajput class destroyer was decommissioned at a solemn grand ceremony at Naval Dockyard at Visakhapatnam. • The Indian Navy launched fourth Stealth Scorpene-Class submarine ‘INS Vela’ at state owned Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) in Mumbai, Maharashtra. − This is fourth submarine that was launched by MDL after it entered into contract with French collaborator Ms Naval Group (earlier known as DCNS) for construction and transfer of technology for six Scorpene class submarines under Project 75.

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• The US Air Force in a test has successfully shot down air-launched missiles in flight with a ground- based laser system titled Self-Protect High Energy Laser Demonstrator (SHiELD), it's intended to eventually be mounted on an aircraft. • North Korea has conducted a "strike drill" for multiple launchers, firing tactical guided weapons in a military drill supervised by leader Kim Jong-un. • The UK is in talks with the Indian government on building a new state-of-the-art aircraft carrier along the lines of Britain's HMS Queen Elizabeth as part of the ongoing 'Make in India' negotiations. − The talks are under way for the Indian Navy to buy detailed plans for the 65,000-ton British warship to build a so-called "copycat supercarrier" to be named INS Vishal in 2022. • An Italian journalist has reported that up to 170 Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists were killed at Balakot in Pakistan in the airstrike conducted by the Indian Air Force on February 26, days after the Pulwama terror attack. − According to a report by Francesca Marino, the airstrike on the JeM training camp led to the killing of 130 to 170 JeM recruits. • India, Japan, the US and the Philippines held naval drills in the South China Sea, nearly 90% of which is claimed by China. − India deployed a destroyer, the INS Kolkata, and a tanker, the INS Shakti, in the nearly week- long multilateral drill, the US Navy said. • US aircraft manufacturing company Boeing has handed over first of the 22 AH-64E Apache Guardian attack helicopters to the Indian Air Force, nearly three-and-half years after the choppers' deal was sealed. • The ASEAN Defense Ministers’ Meeting (ADMM)-Plus Maritime Security Field Training Exercise (MS FTX) in the South China Sea concluded at RSS Singapore ( also known as Changi Naval Base) in Singapore. − The exercise commenced on 30 April in Busan, South Korea and concluded in Singapore. • The Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) conducted successful flight test of ABHYAS - High-speed Expendable Aerial Target (HEAT) from Interim Test Range, Chandipur in Odisha. • India is going to set up its Military Space Agency headquartered at Bangalore. − Fighter pilot Air Vice Marshal SP Dharkar is likely to head the agency. • Indian Coast Guard Ship (ICGS) Vigraha, a frontline offshore patrol vessel, decommissioned after 29 glorious years of service from 1990 to 2019. • United States has approved more than 600 million dollar in sales of air defense missiles to South Korea and Japan as tensions return with North Korea. − It separately gave the green light to sell 160 anti-air AMRAAM missiles and related guidance equipment to Japan for $317 million. • The Indian Navy achieved a significant milestone in enhancing its Anti Air Warfare Capability with the maiden cooperative engagement firing of the Medium Range Surface to Air Missile (MRSAM). − The firing was undertaken on the Western Seaboard by Indian Naval Ships Kochi and Chennai wherein the missiles of both ships were controlled by one ship to intercept different aerial targets at extended ranges. • The Navies of India and Singapore are participating in the annual maritime bilateral exercise SIMBEX in the South China Sea. − Naval ships INS Kolkata and INS Shakti taking part in the bilateral naval exercise, along with long-range maritime patrol aircraft Poseidon-8I.

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• India has delivered the 1st pair of Mi-24 attack helicopters as replacement to the Afghan Air Force to help bolster the war-torn country's capability in counter insurgency and fight against terrorism. • Myanmar Navy Ship UMS King TabinShweHtee (773) and UMS Inlay (OPV-54) have arrived Port Blair for the ‘Opening Ceremony’ of the 8th Indo-Myanmar coordinated patrol (IMCOR), at Andaman and Nicobar Command. − The CORPAT (Co-ordinate Patrol) initiative between the two navies is meant to address issues of terrorism, illegal fishing, drug trafficking, human trafficking, poaching and other illegal activities inimical to interest of both nations. • The Indian Air Force (IAF) successfully fired the BrahMos air version missile from its frontline Su-30 MKI fighter aircraft. • Tech Mahindra has signed its biggest defence contract worth ₹ 300 crore with Indian Navy. − As per this contract, the IT major will implement RFID-based access control system across all naval bases and ships as part of 'Armed Forces Secure Access Card (AFSAC)' Project. • Flight Lieutenant Bhawana Kanth has become the 1st woman pilot of the Indian Air Force to qualify to undertake missions by day on a fighter aircraft. − She completed the Day Operational syllabus on MiG-21 Bison. • The Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) successfully test-fired an indigenously-developed 500 kg inertially Guided Bomb at the Pokhran test firing range in Rajasthan. • Indian Air Force (IAF) formidable workhorse, the Russian made AN-32 aircraft was formally fleet certified to fly on blended aviation fuel containing up to ten per cent of indigenous bio-jet fuel. − The approval certificate was received at the aero-engine test facilities at Chandigarh by Air Commodore Sanjiv Ghuratia. • The Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) successfully test fired the Akash- 1S surface to air defence missile system. • The United States (US) and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have announced that mutual defence cooperation agreement (DCA) has come into force, amid increasing tensions between Washington and Tehran.

Committees/Commissions • A Reserve Bank of India-appointed committee headed by Aadhaar architect Nandan Nilekani has submitted its suggestions on promoting digital payments to Governor Shaktikanta Das. • A High-Level Committee constituted by the Centre has submitted its recommendations to bring down India’s dependence on crude oil imports. − The Committee submitted its report to Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan in New Delhi. − The High-Level Committee consisted of Dr Anil Kakodkar, eminent Scientist and Sidharth Pradhan, an expert on financial and tax issues. • The Task force set up to draft a new direct tax law to replace the existing Income Tax Act has been given 2-month extension till July 31 to submit its report. − The Finance Ministry in November last year appointed Akhilesh Ranjan, Member (Legislation), CBDT, as convener of the task force after the retirement of Arbind Modi. • The government has constituted the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Tribunal to adjudicate whether or not there is sufficient cause for declaring the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) as an unlawful association. − The Tribunal is comprised of sitting Judge of Delhi High Court Justice Sangita Dhingra Sehgal.

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Schemes/Initiatives • The website of the Lokpal (www.lokpal.gov.in) has been launched. • Lt Governor of Delhi Anil Baijal inaugurated the Sahara Naval Hostel for the ‘Veer Naris’ at Vasant Kunj, New Delhi. • Andhra Pradesh CM Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy announced the opening of a call centre in the CMO to receive complaints from the people about corruption, discrimination or on not receiving government schemes' benefits. − He added by August 15, four lakh jobs will be provided with the appointment of village volunteers.

Summit/Conference • China was hosted a Conference on Dialogue of Asian Civilizations in Beijing, starting from 15 May to 22 May 2019. − Theme: "Promoting mutual learning and exchanges among Asian civilizations through Film and TV" • The Indian delegation is participating in the 2nd Shanghai Cooperation Organization Mass Media Forum at Bishkek in Kyrgyzstan. • India and Japan are in advanced talks with Sri Lanka to build a container terminal at the port in Colombo − The terminal would come up next to a Chinese terminal built as part of the Belt and Road Initiative. − Sri Lanka will control 51% of the project with India and Japan jointly controlling the rest.

Agreement/Deal/Signed • Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) and Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) signed an MoU for cooperation on projects related to e-mobility. • To commemorate 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi on 2nd October 2019, the Office of Principal Scientific Adviser (PSA) to Government of India and Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IIT Delhi) signed a MoU in a move to come together and to bring best of science and technology to implement waste management by setting up a Centre of Excellence for Waste to Wealth Technologies in India. • The National Institute of Open Schooling Ministry of Human Resources Development and National Health Mission of Public Health Department of Government of Maharashtra signed a MoU in Mumbai. − The MOU focused at offering Vocational programmes to the Health Service Providers of National Health Mission (NHM) through National Institute of Open Schooling. • A total of 186 countries, except the US, have signed a legally-binding agreement aimed to reduce the export of plastic waste. • India and Nepal have inked a deal on procurement of demo train that operates on diesel. − The contract agreement was signed between India’s Konkan Railways Corporation Ltd and Nepal’s Department of Railways to supply two 1600 HP Diesel Electric Multiple Unit (DEMU) train sets. • A MoU was signed between National Mission for Clean Ganga, HCL Foundation and INTACH for taking up a project of Plantation of Rudraksh Trees in Uttarakhand as a part of CSR initiative under the Namami Gange Programme. • India has expressed its full support for sustainable peace, economic development and stability in Afghanistan.

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• The Department of Biotechnology (DBT), M/o Science and Technology and the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), Government of India signed an MOU for supporting joint collaborative research programmes in the area of Cancer. • The Director Generals of Assam Rifles and Indian Coast Guard signed a ‘Affiliation Charter’ between 3rd (Naga Hills) Battalion of Assam Rifles and Indian Coast Guard (ICG) Ship ‘Shaurya’ at a ceremony held at Laitkor, Shillong. • The National Small Industries Corporation Limited (NSIC) signs the MOU with Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) for the year 2019-20. • The Indian Air Force has signed an MoU with Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) for crew selection and training for India's spaceflight programme Gaganyaan.

Meet/Visit • India is going to attend the G7 meet organized by France in Biarritz in August along with Australia, Chile and South Africa. − The group consists of US, UK, France, Italy, Canada, Japan and Germany. • A bilateral trade meeting was held between the two countries in New Delhi. − India and the United States have agreed to strengthen economic co-operation and bilateral trade by ensuring greater collaboration amongst stakeholders, including government, businesses and entrepreneurs. • Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu visited to Vietnam for a 4-day official visit. − Apart from holding one-on-one talks with leaders of Vietnam, the Vice President participated in the 16th United Nations Day of Vesak at Tam Chuc Pagoda in Vietnam's northern Ha Nam province and delivered the keynote address at the inaugural session of the event. − India and Vietnam reiterated the importance of building a peaceful and prosperous Indo- pacific region on the basis of respect for national sovereignty and international law. • Trade-related talks are underway in New Delhi between senior officials of India and China. − The Chinese side was headed by Li Guo, Vice Minister of the General Administration of Customs of China (GACC). • The Maldives announced that it will strengthen defence cooperation with Sri Lanka and other countries in the region to tackle global terrorism. − This was stated by Maldivian foreign minister Abdulla Shaheed when he met Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe during his two-day visit to Colombo. • India and Turkey vowed to strengthen economic relations with the aim of reaching 10 billion US dollars bilateral trade by 2020. − Turkey's Deputy Foreign Minister Sedat Onal, who is on a 3-day visit to India since May 7, held talks with Gitesh A Sarma, Secretary (West) under the institutional mechanism of foreign office consultations. • The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC), under Ministry of Finance is organizing a meeting of Regional Heads of Customs Administration of Asia Pacific Region of World Customs Organization (WCO) in Kochi in Kerala from 8th to 10th May, 2019. • The 15th Finance Commission held a 2-day meeting with eminent economists, top executives of leading banks at RBI headquarters in Mumbai. − Chairman of 15th Finance Commission: N.K. Singh • 7 developing countries have stressed on working collectively to strengthen the World Trade Organization (WTO) to promote development and inclusivity for the benefits of all members. − A 13 point declaration was signed by these nations at the end of the 2-day Ministerial meeting of developing countries in New Delhi. − The countries include: Egypt, Barbados, Jamaica, Malaysia, India, Indonesia and South Africa.

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• US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was visited to Brussels to discuss current pressing matters including Iran. • Admiral John Michael Richardson (Chief of Naval Operations, US Navy), is on an official tour to India. • External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj held a meeting with Foreign Minister of Iran Mohammad Javad Zarif in New Delhi. • The 3rd round of Foreign Office Consultations between India and Botswana was held in New Delhi. − The Indian side was led by Joint Secretary, East and Southern Africa in the Ministry of External Affairs Dr. Neena Malhotra. − The Botswana side was headed by Deputy Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of International Affairs and Cooperation of Botswana Government, Tapiwa Mongwa. • External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will be representing India in the meeting of Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM), of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) was held in Bishkek in Kyrgyz. • Spanish Navy ship 'Mendez Nunez' (Frigate) with a crew of 30 officers and 135 sailors is on Mumbai visit from May 18 to 23. • US president Donald Trump embarked on a 4-day visit to Japan amid trade war with China and renewed challenges from North Korea.

Bills • Russian President Vladimir Putin signed into law a “sovereign internet” bill which will allow Russian authorities to isolate the country’s internet. • ‘Gujarat Shops and Establishments (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 2019’ came into force from May 1. − This act allows that shops, commercial establishments and businesses running in state can now remain open round the clock (24X7). • A bill was introduced in New Zealand's Parliament that aims to reduce greenhouse gases, except biogenic methane, to net zero by 2050. − It aims for 10% reduction of biogenic methane till 2030 from 2017 levels and 24%-47% provisional reduction by 2050. • Singapore passed laws to combat fake news that will allow authorities to order the removal of content despite fierce criticism from tech giants, the media and rights groups. − The new laws give government powers to order social media sites like Facebook and Twitter to put warnings next to posts that authorities deem to be false and in extreme cases get them taken down. • In Serbia, lawmakers amended the penal code to introduce a life sentence without parole, despite concerns voiced by the Council of Europe. • The Philippines has proposed a law under which students will be required to plant at least 10 trees before they are allowed to graduate from primary school, high school and university.

Fund • In addition to ₹381 crore released, PM Narendra Modi has announced additional ₹1,000 crore assistance for cyclone Fani hit Odisha. • Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik announced a ₹1,600 crore relief package for livelihood support for farmers, fishermen, women self-help group members and others affected by Cyclone Fani.

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− Patnaik also launched the web portal rebuild.odisha.gov.in to crowdfund various projects in cyclone-affected areas. • The total debt of state-run Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum rose 39% year- on-year to ₹1.42 lakh crore in FY19, its biggest rise in over a decade. − The government is yet to fully clear ₹24,833-crore petroleum subsidy budgeted in FY19. • The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is going to provide $750 million (over ₹5,200 crore) long- term financing to electrify railway tracks in India.

Economy • Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has said India will request that Pakistan be blacklisted by Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the global money laundering and terror finance watchdog. − Pakistan has been on the FATF's "grey list" since June 2018, making it harder for it to access international markets. • Around 46 million of Australia's new $50 notes have been printed with a spelling mistake, the country's central bank confirmed. − The word 'responsibility' has been misspell as 'responsibilty' several times in the first speech of Australia's first female member of parliament that features on the note. • India's industrial output contracted for the 1st time in 21 months, falling 0.1% in March 2019. − Manufacturing output with a 78% weight age in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) contracted 0.4% during the month. • PM Narendra Modi and his council of ministers incurred expenses of ₹393 crore on foreign and domestic travel in the last five fiscal years, an RTI query has revealed. • Government is planning to make QR code payments option via UPI compulsory at all shops. • Pakistan's currency hit an all-time low against the US dollar after it dropped to Rs 148 per dollar in the inter-bank market. • Industrial body Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) announced that India's slowing growth is of serious concern, and tax and interest rates need to be cut urgently to revive the economy. • Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present her 1st Union Budget for 2019-20 on July 5. − The Economic Survey will be presented by new Chief Economic Adviser Krishnamurthy Subramanian on July 4. − The first session of the 17th Lok Sabha is set to begin on June 17 and will continue till July 26. • India lost its spot as the fastest growing major economy to China in the January-March quarter for the first time in one-and-a-half years. − India's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate slowed to 5.8% in the quarter, compared to China's 6.4%.

Companies/Industry • Ratan Tata, the Chairman Emeritus of Tata Sons, has invested an undisclosed amount in Ola's newly-formed company Ola Electric Mobility as part of its Series A round of funding. • American multinational technology company Microsoft has unveiled a free open-source software development kit, 'ElectionGuard', which can be incorporated into voting systems, aimed at making voting more secure. − It'll be ready for testing during the 2020 elections in the US. • Microsoft has also unveiled its own fully-managed blockchain service Azure Blockchain Service that allows for consortium blockchain networks' formation, management and governance.

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• Facebook-owned messaging platform WhatsApp has announced it is ending support for all versions of Windows Phone operating system after December 31. − Facebook had previously ended support for its main app, Messenger and Instagram on April 30 for Windows phones. • Australia's Qantas Airways made the 1st-ever commercial flight from Sydney to Adelaide that produced no landfill waste. • South Korean multinational electronics company Samsung Electronics Co unveiled world’s highest-resolution image sensor, with 64 megapixels for smartphones, to meet the growing demand for mobile devices with better image quality. • Indian Hotels Company, which runs hotels under Taj, Vivanta and Ginger brands, has partnered with Singapore's wealth fund GIC to invest ₹4,000 crore for buying hotels in India. • The government plans to introduce Artificial intelligence system in the MCA 21 portal as it seeks to make the compliance process easier as well as ensure routine enforcement activities are done round-the-clock on autopilot basis. − MCA 21 is the electronic backbone for the dissemination of information to all stakeholders, including the regulator, corporates and investors. • Jeff Bezos-led Amazon is close to winning a 7-year dispute over the '.amazon' domain name. − The Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO), a group with member countries including Brazil backed the dispute. • Japanese technology giant Sony has revealed it will stop selling its smartphones in several countries including India. • The SD Association has barred the world's second-largest smartphone manufacturer Huawei, effectively banning it from using official SD or microSD card support in all future devices. − This comes over US' ban on China's Huawei over alleged espionage concerns. • Facebook is finalizing plans to launch its cryptocurrency, internally named 'GlobalCoin', in about a dozen countries next year.

Stock Market • Markets regulator SEBI has directed National Stock Exchange (NSE) to pay ₹625 crore for lapses in checking on brokers gaining unfair access through co-location servers placed at the site of exchange. − NSE has also been prohibited from accessing the securities market for six months.

Taxation/Trade • The government has authorized the Income Tax Department to share details disclosed by businesses in their Income Tax Returns (ITRs) with Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN). − The move seeks to help authorities identify discrepancies in GST returns and ITRs and thereby detect tax evaders. • The government again deferred the imposition of retaliatory tariffs worth $230 million on 29 US products by a month to June 16. − The tariffs were announced after the US refused to exempt India from new steel and aluminium tariffs. • India has warned the World Trade Organization (WTO) against the proposal made by the European Union to create new e-commerce rules. • US President Donald Trump ordered a tariff hike on almost all imports from China after the latest round of talks to end the trade war between the world's two largest economies, ended without a deal.

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• China announced it will impose additional tariffs on $60 billion of American goods in retaliation to the increase of US duties on $200 billion of Chinese imports. − The country will impose tariffs on a total of 5,140 US products from June 1. • Japan has complained at the World Trade Organization (WTO) about India's duties of 20% on mobile phones.

Agriculture/Production • The Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) distributed more than one lakh bee-boxes among farmers and unemployed youths across India in less than two years under its ‘Honey Mission’ initiative. • Centre has issued a Drought Advisory to Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Tamil Nadu and asked them to use water judiciously as water storage in dams dropping to a critical level.

Space • The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has revealed the launch window for its second Moon mission Chandrayaan-2 is from 9th to 16th July 2019 with an expected Moon landing on 6th September 2019. • Japanese aerospace startup Interstellar Technologies has successfully launched the country's 1st

commercial rocket into space. − The flight lasted about 10 minutes, wherein the MOMO-3 rocket reached 100-km altitude before splashing in the Pacific Ocean. • The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) launched India’s latest radar imaging satellite RISAT-2B on 22nd May. − The satellite was lifted by the workhorse rocket PSLV-C46 in its 48th flight. • ISRO Chairman Dr K. Sivan inaugurated ISRO’s Young Scientist Programme called ‘Yuvika 2019’ at Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) SHAR, Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh. • ISRO Chairman K Sivan announced that the space agency is planning several missions apart from Gaganyaan manned mission and Chandrayaan-2. − They would include Mars Orbiter Mission 2, Chandrayaan 3, a mission to Venus, EXPOSat, Aditya L1 (to study Sun's corona). • German scientists have discovered 18 Earth-sized planets beyond solar system, one of which is smallest known so far while the other could offer life-friendly conditions. • The Space Exploration Technologies Corp (SpaceX) has successfully launched and deployed the first 60 satellites of its planned 12,000-satellite network Starlink, aimed to provide high-speed internet globally, to low-Earth orbit. − The satellites were deployed at an altitude of about 440 km in the third flight of one of its reusable Falcon 9 rockets. • New Space India Limited (NSIL), the commercial arm of Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), was officially inaugurated in Bangalore. − The main objective of NSIL is to scale up industry participation in Indian space programmes. • The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) unveiled the calendar for the "Artemis" program that will return astronauts to the Moon for the 1st time in half a century, including 8 scheduled launches and a mini-station in lunar orbit by 2024. − The original lunar missions were named for Apollo -- Artemis was his twin sister in Greek mythology, and the goddess of hunting, wilderness and the Moon. − Artemis 1 will be an uncrewed mission around the Moon planned for 2020. − Next will come Artemis 2, which will orbit Earth’s satellite with a crew around 2022; followed finally by Artemis 3 that will put astronauts on lunar soil in 2024, including the first woman.

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• The Russian government has revealed it incurred a total loss of around 35 billion rubles (around $542 million) owing to failed rocket launches between 2010-18.

Science and Technology • International researchers have broken the record for superconductivity at the highest temperature recorded to date at around -23°C, about 50 degrees higher than the previous confirmed record. − They created a new material, called lanthanum superhydrides, to achieve the same. • Beijing officials have decided to develop a custom operating system that will replace Windows OS on Chinese military computers. − China is doing this in an effort to make it harder for foreign actors, mainly the US, to spy on its military operations. − This comes amid the US blacklisting Huawei following which Google announced ending Android updates for it.

Health/Diseases/Drugs • The World Health Organization (WHO) has announced Algeria and Argentina as the latest countries to be recognized as malaria-free.

Energy/Gas/Oil • Iran will restart part of its Nuclear programme it had halted under the 2015 nuclear deal with other world powers. − Iran's move is in response to the US' withdrawal from the deal last year. • The Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) has offered India an 'Observer' status and access to data from the International Monitoring System. − It has been signed by 184 countries but not come into force as eight countries including India have not ratified it. • The Geological Survey of India (GSI) revealed that 35 % of India’s Graphite deposits are found in Arunachal Pradesh.

Environment • Cyclone Fani, which is said to be the most severe cyclonic storm since the super cyclone of 1999, has hit Odisha's Puri. • Republic of Ireland has become only the 2nd country in world to declare a climate emergency. − Earlier on 1 May 2019, Britain’s parliament became the first in world to declare a climate emergency. • More than 25 states and Union Territories face environmental compensation of ₹ 1 crore each for not submitting action plans on systematic disposal of plastic waste to the Central Pollution Control Board. • The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed the government to ban water purifiers where Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) in water are below 500 mg per litre. • To spread awareness about Air pollution, the Union Environment Ministry launched a song titled 'Hawa Aane De'. − The song was launched by Secretary, Ministry of Environment C K Mishra ahead of the World Environment Day on 5th of June. • The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) said that the water of river Ganga is unfit for direct drinking and bathing at most of the places it travels through in India.

Transport/Cars/Scooters • Japan has started testing world's fastest bullet train, the 'ALFA-X' version of the Shinkansen train, capable of reaching 400 kmph speed.

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− On entering operation, it will run at up to 360 kmph, outpacing China's Fuxing train, which runs 10 kmph slower. • India's fastest train Vande Bharat Express has completed 1 lakh running kilometres without missing a single trip. − The train, which can achieve a top speed of 160 kmph, was flagged off by PM Narendra Modi from New Delhi to Varanasi on February 15. • No-frills airline SpiceJet announced the induction of a Boeing 737, taking its fleet size to 100 aircraft. − With this, SpiceJet became the 4th domestic airline to achieve the feat after national carrier Air India, now defunct Jet Airways and rival IndiGo.

Films and Film Festival • India and Bangladesh are going to co-produce a film on the life and works of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (will be directed by Shyam Benegal) and a documentary on Bangladesh Liberation War. • 'Kamali', a short film on Tamil Nadu's 9-year-old skateboarder girl Kamali Moorthy, has qualified for the 2020 Academy Awards shortlist. − The 24-minute film directed by filmmaker Sasha Rainbow from New Zealand won the Best Documentary Short at Atlanta Film Festival in April. • Indian filmmaker, Achyutanand Dwivedi's film, "Seed Mother", won the 3rd prize in the international section of Nespresso Talents 2019 in Cannes. − The Nespresso 2019 first prize in the international section was won by New Zealand's Josh Morrice for "Subak", about rice cultivation in Bali, while the second prize went to Mexican filmmaker Marco Aurelio Celis' "Ruffo". • Noted Nazrul Researcher of Bangladesh Dr. Tapan Bagchi will receive this year's Nazrul award given by the West Bengal government. • The 72nd annual Cannes Film Festival was recently held at Cannes, France. − Palme d’Or - “Parasite,” Bong Joon-ho − Grand Prix - “Atlantics,” Mati Diop − Jury Prize (tie) - “Les Misérables” (Ladj Ly) and “Bacurau” (Kleber Mendonça Filho, Juliano Dornelles) − Best Actress - Emily Beecham, “Little Joe” − Best Actor - Antonio Banderas, “Pain & Glory” − Best Director - Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne, “The Young Ahmed” − Best Screenplay - “Portrait of a Lady on Fire,” Céline Sciamma − Special Mention of the Jury - “It Must Be Heaven,” Elia Suleiman − Camera d’Or - “Our Mothers,” César Díaz − Short Film Palme d’Or - “The Distance Between Us And The Sky,” Vasilis Kekatos − Special Mention of the Jury - “Monstruo Dios,” Agustina San − Queer Palm (Feature) - “Portrait of a Lady on Fire,” Céline Sciamma − Queer Palm (Short) - “The Distance Between Us And The Sky,” Vasilis Kekatos

Festival • The fasting month of Ramzan began across the country on 7th May 2019. • Sri Lanka has declared a National Vesak week from May 15 to mark the Vesak celebrations, one of the most significant events for Buddhist followers. • Buddha Purnima, marking the birth anniversary of Lord Buddha, was celebrated in different parts of the country on May 18.

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Appointments/Election (or) Latest who is who? • The new imperial era 'Reiwa' began in Japan as Emperor Naruhito ascended the throne following the abdication by his father former Emperor Akihito. • Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was among the 120 newly-elected members who were sworn-into country's new Parliament, three weeks after his victory in national election. • Air Marshal Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria took over as Vice Chief of the Air Staff. − He has replaced Air Marshal Anil Khosla. • Former Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara has been named as the next President of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). • The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has hired Sanjay Ubale, head of infrastructure and urban solutions at Tata Sons, as its policy director for India. • The Chief Economic Advisor to Central government, Dr. Krishnamurthy Subramanian has been included as the member of the Advisory Council of the 15th Finance Commission. − The council now has 12 members, including NIPFP Professor Pinaki Chakraborty, noted economists Surjit Bhalla, Arvind Virmani, Indira Rajaraman and M Govinda Rao. • Thailand's King Maha Vajiralongkorn was formally crowned as a divine monarch.

• The United States Air Force General Tod D. Wolters was sworn in as top military officer of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), at NATO’s military headquarters in Mons, southern Belgium. • In Mali, the president has named a new government after its predecessor resigned last month. − President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita announced the new executive of 37 members under Prime Minister Boubou Cisse. • Panama’s Electoral Court declared the centre-left candidate Laurentino Cortizo as winner of Panama’s presidential election. − Cortizo is candidate for Panama’s Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD), which won 33% of 95% of votes counted. • Justice PR Ramachandra Menon was sworn in as Chief Justice of Chhattisgarh High Court. • Pakistan has named International Monetary Fund (IMF) economist Reza Baqir as the new Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan. • India's Jagjit Pavadia was re-elected to the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) for another term. • Kolkata-based Tata Global Beverages appointed former Axis Bank MD and CEO Shikha Sharma as an additional and independent director on its board. • UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appoints 17 global figures including Indian actress Dia Mirza and Alibaba chief Jack Ma as the new advocates to drive action and solidify global political will for the ambitious Sustainable Development Goals. • Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka was sworn-in as the Chief Justice of Karnataka High Court. • Jyothy Laboratories, which sells products under brands like Ujala, Pril and Margo, has appointed M R Jyothy as its MD with effect from April 1, 2020. • Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) commissioner Ajoy Mehta has been appointed as the new Chief Secretary of Maharashtra. • LIC Mutual Fund appointed Dinesh Pangtey as the company's Chief Executive Officer (CEO). • The Supreme Court Collegium has recommended the appointment of Justice DN Patel as the next Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court.

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• ITC Managing Director Sanjiv Puri was appointed as Chairman after the demise of Yogesh Chander Deveshwar. • The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has appointed former Deputy Governor R Gandhi as an additional director on the private lender YES Bank's board. • Sri Lanka Civil War veteran Major General AK Dhingra has been appointed as the 1st Chief of the Armed Forces Special Operations Division. • Former Supreme Court judge, Justice A K Sikri was appointed as the Chairperson of News Broadcasting Standards Authority (NBSA) by the News Broadcasters Association (NBA) . − He replaced current Chairperson Justice (Retd.) R.V. Raveendran who completes his term on 25 May. • Croatian World Cupper Igor Stimac has been appointed Indian football team head coach for a 2- year term. • The Maharashtra government appointed senior IPS officer Deven Bharti as the Chief of the State's Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS). • Justice (retired) Madan B Lokur has been appointed to the Supreme Court of Fiji as a judge of its non-resident panel for a period of three years. • Himalaya Men announced Virat Kohli, captain of the Indian cricket team, and Rishabh Pant, "ICC Emerging Player of the Year 2018", as the official brand ambassadors for Himalaya Men Face- Wash range. • In the United States, the Senate has voted to confirm Jeffrey Rosen as Deputy attorney general, the second-ranking official at the Justice Department. • German luxury automaker BMW Group has appointed former Infosys CEO Vishal Sikka to its supervisory board. • Volodymyr Zelenskiy took oath as Ukraine's new President, announcing snap parliamentary elections at the same ceremony. • In Australia, Prime Minister Scott Morrison's Liberal-National Coalition won the federal elections. • Pakistan appointed Moin-ul-Haque as the High Commissioner to India. • Indonesia's Joko Widodo has been re-elected as president of the country, defeating rival Prabowo Subianto, a retired general. • Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Group have announced Bimal Dayal, who is currently CEO of Indus Towers, will be appointed CEO of the merged entity of Indus Towers and Bharti Infratel. − The tower companies further named Indus CFO Hemant Ruia as the combined entity's CFO. • Vistara appointed Vinod Kannan as its Chief Strategy Officer (CSO), as the carrier prepares to fly overseas. − He is going to replace Sanjiv Kapoor, who will continue to serve as Vistara's Chief Commercial Officer. • YSRCP chief Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy took oath as Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister on May 30. • Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has won the state Assembly elections for a record 5th time in a row. • The Centre has cleared names of 4 judges for their elevation to the Supreme Court. − They are: Justices Aniruddha Bose, Justices AS Bopanna, Justices B R Gavai, and Justices Surya Kant. • South African lawmakers have re-elected Cyril Ramaphosa as the President of the country.

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• UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appointed Lt Gen Shailesh Tinaikar, a decorated Indian Army officer as the new Force Commander of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan. − He is going to replace Lieutenant General Frank Kamanzi of Rwanda who completes his assignment. • Anuj Sharma, who is currently posted as ADG and IGP Operation, has been appointed as Kolkata's Commissioner of Police again. • Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) president Prem Singh Tamang took oath as the Chief Minister of Sikkim. − Hours after taking oath, Sikkim Chief Minister P S Tamang announced a 5-day working week for the state government employees. • BJP leader Pema Khandu took oath as the Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh along with Deputy CM Chowna Mein. • Swedish caller ID service Truecaller has appointed former Flipkart executive Sandeep Patil as the Managing Director of its India operations. • Walmart announced it has appointed Suresh Kumar to new elevated Chief Technology Officer and Chief Development Officer role reporting directly to CEO Doug McMillon, effective July 8. • IndiGo's Chief Operating Officer (COO) Wolfgang Prock-Schauer has been given additional charge as the low-cost airline's President. • Narendra Modi, who was elected for a second term at the Centre, took oath as the Prime Minister at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. − The oath-taking ceremony was attended by leaders of the BIMSTEC member countries. Several foreign and Opposition leaders attended the ceremony including Presidents of Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Myanmar, and Congress' Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. • Admiral Karambir Singh has assumed charge as the 24th Chief of the Naval Staff. • Bengaluru-based Ola's newly-formed company Ola Electric has appointed former Vodafone Group CEO Arun Sarin as an independent director on its board. • Justice Ajay Kumar Mittal has been sworn in as the Chief Justice of Meghalaya High Court.

Resignation/Dismissed/Retired/Quit • Spanish midfielder Xavi Hernandez, who made a record 767 appearances for Barcelona and 133 for Spain's national team, has announced that he will retire from football at the end of the current season. • Pakistan's government has fired Tariq Bajwa, Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan, and Federal Board of Revenue Chairman Mohammad Jehanzeb Khan because of their "performance". • Theresa May announced that she is going to step down as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom on June 7. • Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Peter O'Neill resigned from his post after weeks of unrest in the government. − O'Neill has handed over leadership to Sir Julius Chan, who will become prime minister for the 3rd time. • Maldives former President Mohamed Nasheed has been nominated as speaker of new parliament or Majlis which held its first sitting. • After 4 years of distinguished service, Navy Chief Admiral Sunil Lanba is going to retire on completion of his tenure. − Air Chief Marshal B S Dhanoa will take over as new Chairman COSC with effect from 31 May 2019.

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Arrests/Jailed • WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was sentenced to 50 weeks in prison in the UK for skipping bail in 2012 after an extradition order to Sweden over an allegation of rape. • Fugitive jeweller Nirav Modi will be produced before a London court for a hearing in the extradition case in connection with the ₹14,000-crore PNB scam.

Deaths • Former US Judge Damon J Keith (96), a grandson of slaves and icon in civil rights movement died. • Former chief justice of the Kerala and Madras High Courts B Subhashan Reddy (76) passed away. • Actor Peter Mayhew (74), who played the character Chewbacca in several installations of the 'Star Wars' film franchise, has passed away. • The last captive white tiger named Bajirao (18) died recently at Sanjay Gandhi National Park, in Borivali (Mumbai suburb). • Father of modern legal education in India, Dr. NR Madhava Menon has passed away • Noted novelist and Sahitya Akademi awardee Thoppil Mohamed Meeran (74) passed away. • ITC's Non-Executive Chairman Y C Deveshwar (72) passed away. • Tamil Nadu swimmer and South Asian Games gold medalist MB Balakrishnan (29) died in a road accident in Chennai. • IM Pei (102), the Architect behind buildings including the glass pyramid outside the Louvre in Paris, has died. • 'Grumpy Cat', the feline whose facial expression inspired memes on social media, has died aged 7. • Veteran Telugu actor Rallapalli Venkata Narasimha Rao (74) passed away. • Former Formula One driver Austrian Niki Lauda (70) passed away. • Filmmaker and film historian Vijaya Mulay (98) passed away. • In Jammu and Kashmir, Zakir Musa, the so-called chief of Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind, a group affiliated with Al-Qaeda, was killed in an encounter with security forces in Pulwama district. • Murray Gell-Mann (89), a physicist who theorized the existence of the quark and won a Nobel Prize for his method of classifying particles, has passed away. • Carmine Caridi (85), best known for featuring in 'The Godfather' film series, passed away. • India's only orangutan, Binny (41) passed away at Odisha's Nandankanan Zoological Park following a prolonged illness.

Awards/Honours • 6 grassroots environmental activists from around the world received prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize 2019. − They are: Alberto Curamil (Chile), Alfred Brownell (Liberia), Ana Colovic Lesoska (North Macedonia), Bayarjargal Agvaantseren (Mongolia), Jacqueline Evans (Cook Islands), and Linda Garcia (US). • Israel honors 1971 war (Bangladesh’s Liberation War) hero Lt. Gen. (retd) Jack Farj Rafael (JFR) Jacob with a plaque on Wall of Honour at the Ammunition Hill, Israel. • American golfer Tiger Woods received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from US President Donald Trump. • Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu released a Postage stamp to commemorate the 750th birth anniversary of Sri Vedanta Desikan in New Delhi.

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• Former ISRO chairman A S Kiran Kumar was conferred with France's highest civilian award 'Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur' for his contribution to India-France space cooperation. • 2 journalists working for Reuters who are under arrest in Myanmar have been awarded the 2019 UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize. − The award for Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, who were detained for exposing attacks against Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar, were presented in absentia in the East African country that is hosting the World Press Freedom Day events. • An article titled ‘Coalgate 2.0’, authored by Indian author Nileena M. S. and published in March 2018 issue of ‘The Caravan’ magazine, has won the Asian College of Journalism’s Award for Investigative Journalism, 2018. − The article investigates allotment of ‘captive coal blocks’ in Parba East and Kanta Basan regions of Chhattisgarh. • The US city of Los Angeles has renamed a nearly 4-mile stretch of road from 'Rodeo Road' to 'President Barack Obama Boulevard', in honor of the country's first African-American President. • For the first time in history, Black women are holding all 3 major US pageant titles simultaneously. − Cheslie Kryst won the Miss USA contest, and Kaliegh Garris won Miss Teen USA. − They joined 25-year-old Nia Franklin who was crowned as the 2019 Miss America in September last year.

• An Indian peacekeeper is among the 119 military, police and civilian personnel who will be honoured with a prestigious UN medal 2019 for courage and sacrifice in the line of duty. − Police Officer Jitender Kumar made the supreme sacrifice while serving in the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Central African country of Congo. • The ‘Team Caeli’ from India comprising of 3 Indian students namely Bharat Sundal, Aakash Bhadana and Vasu Kaushik emerged as First Runner-up (second position) in Microsoft’s Imagine Cup World Championship final held in Seattle, US. − The trio won for developing “Caeli”, which is world’s first smart automated anti-pollution and drug delivery mask. • Noted writer Sanjib Chattopadhyay, Classical dancer Sonal Mansingh and Tabla Maestro Pt. Swapan Chowdhury were conferred with honorary D.Litt degrees by the Rabindra Bharati University (RBU) in Kolkata. • The TIME magazine has featured Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the cover of its May 20, 2019 edition. − Titled 'India's Divider in chief', the cover carries a caricature of PM Modi. • The inaugural issue of world's 1st exclusive women's cricket magazine 'Criczone' was released with Indian team vice-captain Smriti Mandhana featuring as the cover story. • Liverpool's Sadio Mane, Mohamed Salah and Arsenal's Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang shared the Premier League Golden Boot award after they all ended up with 22 goals. • Nepalese mountaineer Kami Rita Sherpa has scaled the Mount Everest for the 23rd time, breaking his own record for the most successful attempts of climbing the mountain. • India captain Virat Kohli bagged the International Cricketer and Batsman of the Year award during the CEAT Cricket Rating (CCR) International awards 2019. − Pacer Jasprit Bumrah, who made a mark for India and IPL franchise Mumbai Indians, was adjudged as International Bowler of the Year. − Afghanistan leg-spinner Rashid Khan was awarded for outstanding bowling. − Australian batsman Aaron Finch was honored for his exceptional performance in T20. − Young prodigy Yashasvi Jaiswal, who performed exceptionally over the year was awarded Junior Cricketer of the Year. − Chinaman Kuldeep Yadav took the home outstanding performance of the year award. CSB, Ch-17, Ph: 044-24333346 GA/May’19/Page-19

− Ashutosh Aman was awarded Domestic Cricketer of the Year. − Legendary Mohinder Amarnath, who played a key role in India's 1983 World Cup triumph, was bestowed with the 'CCR International Lifetime Achievement Award'. • The IAF's MiG-21 Bison squadron No. 51, of which Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman was part of when he shot down Pakistan Air Force's (PAF) F-16 jet on February 27 this year, have received special 'Falcon Slayers' and 'AMRAAM Dodgers' patches. • 3-time Grand Slam champion Sir Andy Murray received his Knighthood at Buckingham Palace, more than two years after he was awarded the honour. • Dr PK Mishra, Additional Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister, has been conferred the 2019 UN Sasakawa Award for Disaster Reduction by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction. • US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is being honored with the 2019 John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award. • Paris St-Germain's Kylian Mbappe, who has already scored 32 goals this season, was named both the best player and best Under-21 player for the 2018-19 season. − German midfielder Dzsenifer Marozsan, who helped Olympique Lyonnais' women's team to a record-extending 13th consecutive league title and fourth straight Champions League crown, was named the best first division female player. • Omani writer Jokha al-Harthi has won the prestigious Man Booker International prize 2019 for her novel 'Celestial Bodies'. − With this, Alharthi became the 1st Arabic author to win the Man Booker International prize. − She will split the prize with her UK-based translator, Marilyn Booth who translated the book in English. • Former Indian Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran has been selected for ‘The Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Star’ (Japan’s Second Highest National Award). • Former PepsiCo Chairman and CEO Indra Nooyi presented with the Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters by Yale University, her alma mater, for her achievements in business. • British-Sri Lankan writer Guy Gunaratne received the prestigious £30,000 Swansea University International Dylan Thomas Prize 2019. − He won the award for his debut novel titled ‘In Our Mad and Furious City’. • Patanjali Ayurved Limited's Managing Director and a close aide of Yoga guru Baba Ramdev, Acharya Balkrishna has received the 'UNSDG 10 Most Influential People in Healthcare Award' on behalf of Patanjali Group of Institutions. • Professor Balram Bhargava, Director General of Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) was honored with the 2019 Dr Lee Jong-wook Memorial Prize for Public Health at the 72nd World Health Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland. • John Bailey, President of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences attended the 56th Maharashtra State Film Awards in Mumbai as chief guest. • Indian music label T-Series has become the 1st YouTube channel to reach 100 million subscribers, beating its competitor PewDiePie, who has 96 million subscribers currently. • Indian writer Annie Zaidi was announced as the winner of the USD 100,000 Nine Dots Prize 2019, won for her entry 'Bread, Cement, Cactus'.

Sports/Game • Barcelona FC has won Spanish La Liga title 2019 by defeating Levante FC by 1-0 goals. − La Liga is the men's top professional football division of the Spanish football league system.

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• Indian shooter Apurvi Chandela attained the world number one position in women's 10m air rifle event, while her compatriot Anjum Moudgil rose to number two. • Wrestler Bajrang Punia defeated Viktor Rassadin in the finals of men's 65kg freestyle in Ali Aliev wrestling tournament in Russia's Kaspiisk. • India retained its Top position in the ICC Test rankings, while England remained the number one ODI side in the latest annual rankings released in Dubai. − India also moved two points in second position in the ODI rankings behind England. • Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has released the team's New Jersey for the upcoming World Cup 2019. • Ace Indian squash players Saurav Ghoshal and Joshna Chinappa won their respective Asian Individual Squash Championship titles in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. • Opener Chris Gayle has been named Windies' vice-captain for the 2019 World Cup. • Roger Federer has become the 2nd player in Open Era (since April 1968) to record 1,200 match wins. • Mumbai Indians became IPL champions for the 4th time after defeating Chennai Super Kings by one run in a thrilling final in Hyderabad. − Orange Cap (Most runs in tournament): David Warner − Purple Cap (Most wickets in tournament): Imran Tahir • Hockey India announced that striker Rani Rampal lead an 18-member Indian women's hockey team for the 3-match series against hosts Korea, starting on May 20. • Mercedes' British driver Lewis Hamilton clinched the title at the Spanish Grand Prix. • Young Indian racer Jehan Daruvala, driving for Prema Racing, won the inaugural round of the FIA Formula 3 Championship, one of the support events to Formula One in Barcelona. • The 4th edition of the IAAF World Relays recently held at Yokohama, Japan. • Former India cricketer GS Lakshmi became the 1st female match referee to be inducted into the International Cricket Council (ICC)'s International Panel of Match Referees. • The World number one Novak Djokovic (Serbia) won men’s singles title of Madrid Open by defeating Stefanos Tsitsipas (Greece). − Kiki Bertens (Netherlands) won the Women's Singles title by defeating Simona Halep (Romania). • London Olympic bronze medallist Mary Kom is set to make her competitive debut in the 51 kg category at the India Open in Guwahati from May 20-24. − India bags a total of 57 Medals (12 Gold, 18 Silver and 27 Bronze) at India Open International Boxing tournament in Guwahati. − 6-time world champion M C Mary Kom, Shiva Thapa, L Sarita Devi and Naman Tanwar won gold in their respective finals. • Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma became the most successful player in IPL history after winning his 5th title. • In a first, all the 10 participating teams in the ICC World Cup have a dedicated anti-corruption officer attached with it to deliver a corruption-free tournament. • The Asian Football Confederation announced that for the 1st time an All-female referee team will take charge of a Men’s continental club cup clash. • South Korea have abandoned their bid to stage Asian Cup Football tournament in 2023, leaving the sole other bidders China with a free run to become hosts.

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• Bangalore-based footballer Brishti Bagchi is going to become the 1st Indian woman to play in the Spanish League. − The 25-year-old is one step closer towards making her dreams come true after being picked to play for the reserve team for Madrid Club de Futbol Femenino (CFF), a team that competes in the Spanish La Liga Division-1 league. • The winners of the 10-team 2019 ICC World Cup will get a prize money of $4 million (₹28 crore), while the runners-up will be awarded $2 million (₹14 crore). • World number two Rafael Nadal defeated world number one Novak Djokovic to clinch the Italian Open for the 9th time. Nadal also broke a tie with Djokovic by claiming a record 34th ATP Masters 1000 title. − Czech tennis player Karolina Pliskova won the Women's singles title by beating Johanna Konta. − Men's Doubles: Juan Sebastián Cabal (Colombia) / Robert Farah (Colombia) − Women's Doubles: Victoria Azarenka (Belarus) / Ashleigh Barty (Australia) • The world body governing Badminton, BFA, has launched 2 new formats of the game - AirBadminton and Triples with new dimensions of the court and an innovative shuttlecock called Airshuttle. AirBadmintion will be outdoor sports. − In Triples format, the match will be played between a team of three players each with presence of at least one female. • The Committee of Administrators (CoA) announced in New Delhi that the much-awaited elections of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will be held on October 22. • A 3-member team led by 2010 Asian Games bronze medallist Ashish Kumar was represented India at the second World Challenge Cup Series gymnastics tournament in Osijek, Croatia from May 23 to 26. − Besides Ashish, the Indian contingent will also have Rakesh Kumar Patra and Shraddha Talekar. • Gomathi Marimuthu, who won the 800 metres Gold at Asian Athletics Championships in April, has been handed a provisional suspension after being tested positive for a banned substance. • Big Bash League (BBL) franchise Melbourne Stars appointed former Australian batsman David Hussey as their Men's team head coach. − Hussey is going to replace Stephen Fleming. • The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) has dropped the plan to include a total of 48 teams at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. − The 2022 edition will remain as originally planned with 32 teams. • Pakistan's Nida Dar smashed a 20-ball fifty against South Africa in the fourth T20I to register the 2nd fastest fifty in women's T20Is. − Dar finished her innings with 75 runs off 37 balls, the highest ever T20I score by a Pakistani woman. − India's Smriti Mandhana is the 1st woman to smash Fastest Fifty in Women’s T20 Cricket • Laver Cup, an event played between a 'Europe' team and a 'Rest of the World' team, has been made into an official ATP event. − The competition, the first two editions of which were held in Prague and Chicago respectively, is backed by Roger Federer. • French Open Tennis, the 2nd Grand Slam of the season, was held in Paris. • China won the badminton world mixed-team championship, Sudirman Cup 2019 in Nanning. • In Squash, India's Mahesh Mangaonkar triumphed for the second time in the Sekisui Open in Kriens, Switzerland.

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• Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton extended his lead at the top of the Formula One championship table after winning the Monaco Grand Prix. • India's Apurvi Chandela won her 2nd International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup Gold medal this year in Germany. • Indian shooter Rahi Sarnobat won the Gold in 25m Pistol event at the ISSF World Cup in Munich. • India's 17-year-old shooter Saurabh Chaudhary broke his own junior and senior world record to win his second World Cup gold medal. − Saurabh won 10m Air Pistol event with 246.3 points, breaking his own senior record of 245 points and junior record of 245.5 points. • Forward Neymar has been stripped of Brazil national team captaincy, with his PSG teammate Dani Alves being named the new captain by the country's football federation. • The ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 begun on May 30. • Manu Bhaker secured India its 7th Olympic quota with a 4th place finish in the women’s 10m air pistol event of the ISSF World Cup. • Madame Tussauds unveiled Team India captain Virat Kohli's statue at Lord's Cricket Ground in London to mark the launch of 2019 ICC World Cup. • World number 3 Roger Federer became the 1st player in history to play 400 Grand Slam matches.

Report • According to a recent UN report, Climate change and rising sea levels may eventually wipe out ‘The Sundarbans’, which is one of world’s last and largest tiger strongholds. − The studies of report rely on climate change scenarios developed by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) for its simulation models. • The Hinduja brothers have been named the UK's wealthiest people for the 3rd time, according to Sunday Times Rich List. − Mumbai-born Brothers David and Simon Reuben secured 2nd place with a combined wealth of 18.66 billion pounds. − The richest person on 2018’s Times Rich List, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, founder of Ineos chemicals firm, slipped to 3rd rank in the list. − Zimbabwe-born Valerie Moran became 1st black female entrepreneur ever to be ranked in the Times Rich List. • Hyderabad's Rajiv Gandhi International Airport is ranked 8th among Top 10 airports for on-time performance, service quality, and food and shopping options, by AirHelp, an organization specializing in air traveler rights. − Top 3: Hamad International Airport (Qatar), International Airport (Tokyo), and International Airport (Athens). − Portugal's Lisbon Portela Airport was ranked worst. • India's 19-year-old YouTuber Ajey Nagar, who runs the YouTube channel 'CarryMinati', has been named among TIME Magazine's 10 Next Generation Leaders for 2019. − The list also features Sweden's 16-year-old climate change activist Greta Thunberg and America's 35-year-old actor-singer Tessa Thompson. • Mumbai topped the 15-city list of the most vulnerable cities to cyberattacks in 2019, followed by Delhi, Bengaluru and Kolkata, Quick Heal Security Labs revealed. − The 'Annual Threat Report 2019' put Maharashtra, Delhi and West Bengal as the top three states at most risk. • Asia's richest person Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries has toppled state-run Indian Oil to become India's largest company by revenue.

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− With this milestone, Reliance has achieved the number one position in India in terms of revenue, profit and market capitalization. • India's Unemployment Rate rose to a 45-year high of 6.1% in 2017-18 fiscal year, the Statistics Ministry announced. − The data showed that 7.8% of all employable youth in urban areas were jobless, while the figure was 5.3% in rural areas. − Joblessness among men stood at 6.2%, compared to 5.7% for women.

National Parties/Regional Parties • The BJP-led NDA has returned to power after winning the 17th Lok Sabha elections with 353 seats, bettering its tally of 336 in 2014 elections. − PM Narendra Modi has become the first non-Congress Prime Minister to return to power after completing full term. − It is the highest mandate since the 1984 Lok Sabha elections, which Congress won with 414 seats. • Longest serving CM of any state Pawan Kumar Chamling-led Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF) lost after 25 years to Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) in the state Assembly elections. • West Bengal's ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) won 22 out of 42 seats in the Lok Sabha elections whereas BJP and the Congress won 18 and 2 constituencies respectively. • The BJP won all the 4 seats in Himachal Pradesh, with all its candidates winning by a margin of over 3 lakh votes each. • Sportspersons in the 17th Lok Sabha elections − Cricketer Gautam Gambhir (BJP) has won East Delhi Lok Sabha seat. − Olympian Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore (BJP) won Jaipur Rural seat for the second straight time by defeating CWG gold medallist, Congress' Krishna Poonia. − Olympic medallist boxer Vijender Singh (Congress) lost the South Delhi seat after getting only 13.6% of the votes.

General - National • As per Ministry of Water Resources, the Water Storage Level available in 91 major Indian reservoirs for week ending on 2 May 2019 was 40.592 BCM (Billion cubic meters), which is 25% of total storage capacity of these reservoirs. − This shows decline in water storage level by 1%. • The Central Public Sector undertaking Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) has successfully commissioned two motor - pump set units for the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme (LIS) in Telangana. • The annual Sino-Indian border trade commenced with the opening of the Nathula Gate with Chinese and Indian officials exchanging ceremonious scarves (Khadas) at the border. • India has been re-elected as an observer to inter-governmental forum Arctic Council. − The decision was made at the 11th Arctic Council ministerial meeting held at Rovaniemi, Finland. • India has sought the adoption of the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism (CCIT) at the UN. − India's call comes after Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar was designated as a global terrorist at the United Nations Security Council. • The Ministry of Home Affairs announced that it has put an end to the local adverse lists commonly known as ‘Black Lists’ of Indian-origin people (mostly Sikhs), who have taken asylum abroad under the plea of alleged persecution in India.

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• An expert panel of the Maharashtra University of Health Sciences (MUHS) has unanimously proposed to remove the contents of 'virginity test' from the curriculum of forensic medicine of MBBS course. • India extended the ban on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) for 5 more years, declaring it an "unlawful association". • India was unanimously chosen by member countries as next co-chair of Consultative Group (CG) of Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR) for fiscal year 2020. − This decision was taken during Consultative Group meeting of GFDRR 2019, which was held from 13th to 17th May 2019 in Geneva, Switzerland. • India has expressed support to Nigeria's Ambassador to the UN Tijjani Muhammad-Bande as the next president of the UN General Assembly. • India has voiced concern over the delays in reimbursement to countries providing peacekeeping troops and police for UN missions. • UN Environment India and Wildlife Crime Control Bureau of India launched an awareness campaign ‘Not all animals migrate by choice’ to be displayed at major airports across the country ahead of the International Day of Biological Diversity celebrated on 22nd May. • A Breastfeeding room will be set up in Taj Mahal by July, making it the 1st Indian monument to have the facility. • Government think-tank NITI Aayog has proposed electrifying most motorbikes and scooters within next 6 to 8 years to curb pollution and reduce dependency on fossil fuels. • India was among 116 nations to vote in favour of a UN General Assembly resolution that demanded the UK withdraw its “colonial administration” from the Chagos Archipelago unconditionally within 6 months, supporting Mauritius in its quest for the restoration of sovereignty over the island chain in the Indian Ocean. • The Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) will set up its 1st container terminal outside India in Myanmar at an estimated cost of ₹2,000 crore. − APSEZ would be the 1st Indian company to set up a container terminal outside India. • Union government has banned Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh and its manifestations with immediate effect. • The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation has decided to merge Central Statistics Office (CSO) and National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) to form a National Statistical Office (NSO) in a major restructuring move. • India has rejected attempts by the United States and other countries to bring in "differentiation" to deny policy space to India and other developing countries in multilateral trade pacts. • India has been elected to the Executive Board of the 1st UN-Habitat Assembly at the Plenary Session of the Assembly started in Nairobi, Kenya. − Theme: "Innovation for Better Quality of Life in Cities and Communities".

General - International • Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief Masood Azhar was designated as a Global terrorist under 1267 UN Sanctions Committee after China lifted the technical hold. • US President Donald Trump said that he discussed a 3-way nuclear deal involving Russia and China during a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin. • China is planning to build military bases around the world to protect its investments under the Belt and Road Initiative, the Pentagon has said in its annual report to the Congress.

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− Other locations where China could build the military bases include the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and the western Pacific. − As of now, China has just one overseas military base, in Djibouti. • The Sri Lankan Police has asked the public to hand over sharp-edged weapons including swords, daggers as well as clothing resembling military uniforms. − This comes as several people, including politicians, were arrested after such weapons were discovered during searches in the aftermath of the Easter Sunday suicide blasts that killed 257 people. • The Trump administration is proposing a hike in the H-1B visa application fee. − Labour Secretary Alexander Acosta proposed the hike while testifying before a Congressional committee on annual budget of the Department of Labour for the fiscal year 2020 beginning October 1, 2019. • Iran announced it will continue with its low-level uranium enrichment in line with its nuclear deal with world powers. − This move comes when on 3 May 2019, US forced Iran to stop producing low-enriched uranium and halt expanding its only nuclear power plant, thus intensifying campaign aimed at stopping Tehran’s ballistic missile programme and curbing its regional power. • Pope Francis issued a law requiring all Catholic priests and nuns around the world to report clerical sexual abuse and cover-up, to church authorities. • Pakistan has banned 11 outfits linked to 26/11 Mumbai attacks mastermind Hafiz Saeed's Jamaat- ud-Dawa (JuD), its charity wing Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation (FIF) and Masood Azhar's Jaish-e- Mohammed (JeM). • New Zealand is going to become the world's 1st country to measure its success based on the well- being of its citizens. − Under the first 'well-being budget' to be presented, the New Zealand government will give special emphasis to mental health. • French President Emmanuel Macron and New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern are going to launch an ambitious new initiative aimed at curbing extremism online. − The initiative titled "Christchurch Call", was pushed by Ms Ardern after a white supremacist gunned down 51 people at two mosques in the New Zealand city in March. − India has joined a major global initiative to combat terrorism and extremism online and secure the internet. • Saudi Arabia has for the 1st time approved a scheme that gives permanent residency to certain expatriates, allowing them to own property in the country. − The 'Privileged Iqama' system will be offered to highly skilled foreigners and investors. • The Pakistan government has introduced a bill in the lower house of the Parliament to create the new province of South Punjab by bifurcating Punjab. • US President Donald Trump has declared a National emergency to protect the country against foreign adversaries that are taking advantage of technological vulnerabilities to threaten US communications systems. • US President Donald Trump is going to visit South Korea next month to meet with his counterpart Moon Jae-in over their efforts to persuade North Korea to scrap its nuclear weapons arsenal. • Taiwan has become the 1st Asian country to legalize same-sex marriage. • US President Donald Trump has rolled out a merit-based immigration system from which foreigners, including hundreds and thousands of Indian professionals and skilled workers, waiting to get Green Cards or permanent legal residency stand to benefit.

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• On 21st May, the UAE celebrated World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development to highlight its efforts in promoting tolerance and cultural diversity. − The event will coincide with the country’s declaration of 2019 as the Year for Tolerance and its hosting of many related events. • Sri Lanka marks the completion of 10 years of victory against the separatist war waged by LTTE with the beginning of a 4-day ceremony. − Army Commander Lt. Gen. Mahesh Senanayake said a series of ceremonies will be held under the theme ‘Dasawarshabhishekaya’ or ‘Decade of Peace’ to commemorate the soldiers who laid down their lives during the three-decade long war. • The Netherlands and Russia have settled a long-running dispute over the seizure of Greenpeace's Arctic Sunrise ship during an oil drilling protest in 2013, with Moscow expected to pay 2.7 million euros in compensation. • The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has launched a permanent residency scheme to who wealthy individuals and exceptional talents, a move that could attract more Indian professionals and businessmen to the Gulf nation. − The "Golden Card" programme unveiled by UAE Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum is open to investors and "exceptional talents" such as doctors, engineers, scientists, students and artists. • England is going to introduce a ban on single-use plastic items including straws, cotton buds and drink stirrers from April 2020 over environmental concerns. • Sri Lanka has extended by another month the emergency regulations, which were enforced after the Easter Sunday terror attacks. • Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has announced his new cabinet and the nation's new ambassadors to the United States and the United Nations. Morrison announced a new-look cabinet, including a record seven women and the first indigenous minister in Australian history, promising that it would focus on service delivery for Australians. • Citizens across 21 European nations are voting for new representatives at the European Parliament in the last leg of four day poll. − The European parliamentary election is the 2nd largest democratic exercise in the world. • Ireland has voted by an overwhelming majority to relax its constitutional restriction on divorce. • Russia launched a nuclear-powered icebreaker, part of an ambitious programme to renew and expand its fleet of the vessels in order to improve its ability to tap the Arctic's commercial potential. − The ship, dubbed the Ural and which was floated out from a dockyard in St Petersburg, is one of a trio that when completed will be the largest and most powerful icebreakers in the world. • The US Treasury Department, in its semi-annual foreign-exchange report, removed India from the list of countries it scrutinizes for currency manipulation. − India was removed given that it met only one of the three criteria, a "significant" bilateral surplus with US, for two straight reports. • Israeli lawmakers have voted to dissolve parliament after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu failed to form a coalition government following last month's elections. • US President Donald Trump has announced a tariff of 5% on all goods from Mexico starting June in a bid to pressure the country to resolve the issue of illegal immigration to the US through its border.

Books and Authors • Veteran actor Pankaj Kapur is going to release his debut novel 'Dopehri'. • President of Oscar Academy, John Bailey launched the Hindi translation of an Academy Publication, "Digital Dilemma", at a function in Delhi.

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TO THE POINTS: MAY–2019 • International Labour Day was observed on 1st May. • The Meghalaya Cabinet approved the proposal for creation of a new Directorate of Dairy Development in the state to increase milk production. • India Ratings and Research marginally lowered country’s GDP growth projection for 2019-20 fiscal to 7.3 per cent. • Bharti AXA General Insurance announced that it is going to sell policies through social media messaging platform WhatsApp. • Paytm has launched recurring payment (auto pay) service for merchants that are working on a digital subscription model. • India was the world’s fourth biggest military spender last year according to new data think tank Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) released. • Jairam Ramesh is the author of the biography Chequered Brilliance: The Many Lives of V K Krishna Menon. • GRSE to build 8 anti-submarine warfare shallow watercraft for Indian Navy. GRSE headquartered is Kolkata.

• Raheem Sterling has been named as the Football Writers' Association (FWA) Footballer of the Year 2019. He plays for Manchester City. • Indian para-athletes put up a brilliant performance to secure 1 silver and 2 bronze at the Asian Road Para-Cycling Championships 2019. • G Sathiyan became first Indian to break into the top-25 of ITTF rankings. • Cyclone Fani has recently hit the North Indian Ocean countries and Indian states having coastlines with the Bay of Bengal. • The Central Public Works Department (CPWD) has constituted a committee to bring out ‘Safety Manual’ of the department. This committee headed by Additional Director General (ADG) K M Soni. • Green coloured number plates are now mandatory for electric vehicles. • Mangaluru city police launched an all-women police patrol unit "Rani Abbakka Force". • 2.75% is the new interest rate of Savings bank account in SBI for balances above Rs 1 lakh. This is effective from 1 May 2019. • GST collections in April stood at ₹ 1.13 lakh crore. • Jayshree Vyas has been appointed as the first independent woman director by BSE. • The Goldman Environmental Prize is given by United States. • Bharat Heavy Electricals and Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) have signed an MoU for cooperation on various projects related to e-mobility. • The phase I of Indo-French joint naval exercise, “Varuna-19” is organized in Goa. • Apurvi Chandela, Indian Riffel shotter who attains world number one spot in Women’s 10m Air Rifle Event. • Former Chief Justice of the Madras and Kerala High Courts, Justice B Subhashan Reddy passed away. • Japan’s new emperor, Naruhito, has formally ascended to the Chrysanthemum Throne.

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• The Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) will launch an awareness programme on Goods and Services Tax (GST) in collaboration with Bombay Stock Exchange Institute Limited from its July 2019. • World Tuna Day celebrated on May 2. • World Press Freedom Day observed on 3rd May. • The United Kingdom parliament has become the first in the world to declare Environment and Climate Emergency. • Vice President Venkaiah Naidu launched the postage stamp to commemorate the 750th birth anniversary of Sri Vedanta Desikan. • LIC Housing Finance (LIC HFL) has launched ‘Udyam’, a skilling centre in Bengaluru. • India was the biggest recipient of funds from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in the year 2018. • The Netherlands has emerged as the third largest foreign direct investor in India during2017-18. • K. Kadiresan has taken charge as Zonal Manager of Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) in the south. • Drake, singer won record breaking number of Billboard Music Awards in its history. • Bajrang Punia wins the gold medal at the Ali Aliyev Wrestling Tournament. • Kumar Sangakkara has been named as the first non – British President of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). • Master Hirannaiah who died recently was a well known artist of Kannada film industry. • International Firefighters’ Day observed on May 4. • Huawei Technologies Co. has taken over Apple to become second largest smartphone maker in the world. • According to ADB, Asia-Pacific region is expected to power ahead growing at 5.7 percentage this year. • Dragan Mihailovic was appointed as the head coach for the men's national volleyball team. • Tod Wolters has been sworn in as the top military officer of the 29-nation NATO military alliance. • A S Kiran Kumar has received the France’s highest civilian award -Chevalier of the Order of the Legion of Honour recently. • The article titled ‘Coalgate 2.0’ has won the ACJ (Asian College of Journalism) Award for Investigative Journalism, 2018. Nileena M S is the author of the article. • IIT Delhi is going to Build a Centre of Excellence for Waste to Wealth Technologies. • Jaipur will host the 8th Asian Youth Women Handball Championship 2019. • Peter Mayhew was a renowned Actor. • The Reserve Bank of India has imposed penalties on Five prepaid payment instrument (PPI) issuers, for violation of regulatory norms. • Bajrang Punia won gold at Ali Aliyev Wrestling Tournament in men’s 65kg freestyle event. • Coal Miners Day celebrated on May 4. • World Laughter Day is celebrated on the first Sunday of May of every year. • Canada’s currency has been awarded with the best bank note for 2018 by the International Bank Note Society (IBNS).

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• Malaysia is set to become the site of the world’s first crypto city, where cash will be shunned in favor of a new cryptocurrency called DMI. • Myntra announces Virat Kohli & Anushka Sharma as first official brand ambassadors. • Krishnamurthy Subramanian has been recently inducted as the member in the Advisory Council of the Fifteenth Finance Commission. • Bhushan Patil has stepped from the post of the President of Paytm. • Sunil Sharma has been named as the acting President of the Archery Association of India (AAI). • IMF economist Reza Baqir has been appointed as the Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan. • Nepal based Bandana Nepal has recently created Guinness World Records in Dancing. • India’s largest telecom operator Vodafone Idea Ltd announced a five-year multi-million-dollar IT outsourcing deal with tech giant IBM. • Indian Navy is set to receive 10 ‘Kamov Ka-31’ Airborne Early Warning and Control Helicopter from Russia. • Indian sports person Saurav Ghoshal is related to Squash. • Xavi Hernandez announces his retirement. He plays football for FC Barcelona.

• Prominent writer and academician, Maramraju Satyanarayana Rao passed away. • International Day of the Midwife celebrated on May 05. • Every year International No Diet Day is a day that is celebrated on May 6. The day first observed on 1992. • World Athletic Day was observed on May 07. • G-7 industrialized nations meet 2019 is going to hosted by France. • The Finance Ministry has imposed an anti-dumping duty of $1,633.17 per tonne on the import of saccharine from Indonesia. • Gujarat has recently passed an Act allowing the shops and businesses to remain open 24 hours. • Rs.35 lakh is the new housing loan limit for Regional Rural Banks and Small Finance Banks to individuals in metropolitan centres under the priority sector lending. • ADB has launched an Action Plan for Healthy Oceans and Sustainable Blue Economies for the Asia and Pacific region. USD 5 billion is the total investment in the plan. • Stevo Pendarovski becomes the President of North Macedonia. • G D ‘Robert’ Govender has been awarded the 2019 V K Krishna Menon award. • Dr. Devi Prasad Shetty conferred with PC Chandra Purashkaar 2019. • Japan's first private rocket Momo-3 successfully launched. • SpaceX launched the Falcon 9 rocket with Dragon spacecraft. • Scorpene class submarine INS Vela launched by Indian Navy recently. • Frontline missile destroyer INS Ranjit was decommissioned at the Naval Dockyard, Visakhapatnam. • e-Governance Services India ties up with IIT Kanpur to upscale Unnat Bharat Abhiyan. • Theme of World Asthma Day 2019 - STOP for Asthma. • World Red Cross Day observed on May 08.

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• Mastercard invested USD 1 bn (about Rs 7,000 crore) in India in the next 5 years. • The software “ElectionGuard” has been launched by Microsoft for secure and verifiable voting. • Laurentino Cortizo has been elected as the new President of Panama. • Tiger Woods has been honored with the “Presidential Medal of Freedom” the highest civilian honour of US. • The laser weapons system ‘Self-Protect High Energy Laser Demonstrator (SHiELD)’ has been launched by the Air Force of United States. • Cochin hosted the recently concluded India, Brazil & South Africa (IBSA) Sherpas’ Meeting. • Indian film director Shyam Benegal is going to direct Indo-Bangla film on Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. • Singapore based cloud-services provider company Deskera that partnered with the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur to provide access to research opportunities. • Seymour Nurse who passed away recently was the former cricket player of West Indies. • Derek Sippy who was a sportsperson passed away recently. He was a former Billiards player. • The World Thalassemia Day was celebrated on May 8.

• The Raising Day of Border Roads Organization (BRO) was celebrated on May 7, 2019. BRO was formed in 1960. • The maximum limit set by SEBI for FPIs to invest in municipal bonds is 2% of outstanding stock of securities. • Max Life Insurance announced that it will dedicate 6th day of every calendar month as ‘Protection Day’ towards driving awareness around the concept of financial protection. • India has been re-elected as an observer to Arctic Council. • To provide a further boost to the renewable energy sector in the country, the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE) held a meeting, with the industry stakeholders. The meeting is named as Chintan Baithak. • Chhattisgarh inducted its 1st Anti-Naxal Women Commando Unit. • Rakesh Sharma has been elected as Vice-President of Geneva-based International Motorcycle Manufacturers Association (IMMA). • Visa has announced the appointment of Sujatha V Kumar as Head of Marketing for India and South Asia. • Jagjit Pavadia has recently been re-appointed on the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) for second term. • Standard Life divested 1.78% of its stake in HDFC Life Insurance. • Airtel has decided to merge its broadband satellite, or VSAT, business with that of market leader Hughes Communications India. • Prof N.R. Madhava Menon, an educationist, scholar and the pioneering spirit behind modern legal education in India, passed away. • Two Indian UN Peacekeeper Jitender Kumar and Shikha Garg have been honored for sacrificing their lives in the line of duty. • TAFE Ltd has signed an MoU with Petroleum Conservation Research Association to aid conservation of resources. TAFE - Tractors and Farm Equipment. • The year 2019 was observed as 158th anniversary year of Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore. CSB, Ch-17, Ph: 044-24333346 GA-May’19/Page-31

• The United Nations Global Road Safety Week 2019 was held between May 6 – May 12. • Qantas airway operates world’s first 'zero waste' commercial flight. • According to the recent reports bank credit grew by 13.2% in financial year 2018-19 as compared to 10.3% in the previous financial year. • ‘Talocity’is going to provide its AI-supported "touchless" technology for Yes Bank's hiring process and human resource (HR) operations. • India to soon get its first Apple retail store in Mumbai. • Former SC Judge KS Radhakrishnan has been appointed as the member of Commonwealth Secretariat Arbitral Tribunal. • Indian Army to commemorate 2019 as Year of Next of Kin. • TCS is currently the most valued firm in terms of market capitalization in India. • WHO Partnered with IFBA for eliminating industrially produced trans fats by 2023. • Amul is to be principal sponsor of Afghanistan cricket team at ICC World Cup 2019. • Sikh historian and first chronicler of partition Kirpal Singh passed away recently. • Baidyanath Mishra was a renowned economist and educationist of Odia.

• Every year National Technology Day is observed on 11 May. Theme - Science and Technology for a Sustainable Future. • The Reserve Bank of Australia has recently printed $50 note with spelling mistake of RESPONSIBILITY. • The first global Mega-Science Exhibition ‘Vigyan Samagam’ was held in Mumbai. • Dileep Sanghani has been named as the new Vice - Chairman of IFFCO. • The WTO Ministerial Meeting of the developing countries will be held in New Delhi. • Reliance is going to acquire British toy-maker Hamleys for Rs. 620 crore. • Facebook has chosen London as the centre for the global roll-out of WhatsApp pay. • Microprocessor AJIT is the first to be conceptualized, designed, developed and manufactured in India developed by IIT Bombay. • The ‘Blue Moon’ lunar lander project has been launched by Jeff Bezos. • Rajiv Gandhi International Airport has been ranked among the top 10 in the World as per a survey by Air Help. • Mukesh Kumar wins the TATA Steel PGTI Players Championship in Panchkula. • Novelist and Sahitya Akademi Awardee Thoppil Mohamed Meeran dies aged 74. He wrote novels in Tamil. • The World Migratory Bird Day 2019 was held on May 11. • International Nurses Day observed on May 12. • International Mother's Day celebrated on Second Sunday in May. • Government has announced to set up a committee to look into steel availability for engineering exporters. Director General of Foreign Trade will head the committee. • Indian actress Dia Mirza and Alibaba chief Jack Ma are among the 17 global public figures appointed by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres as the new advocates to drive action and solidify global political will for the ambitious Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

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• Tijjani Muhammad Bande has been named as the next President of the United Nations General Assembly. • Sri and Gopi Hinduja has topped the 2019 UK Rich List by Sunday Times. • “The Favourite” film won the highest number of awards at the 2019 BAFTA awards. • May You Live in Interesting Times is the theme of the Indian Pavilion at the 58th Venice Biennale. • The United Nations Ocean Conference will be held in Lisbon in 2020. • Samsung has developed the world’s highest-resolution image sensors. • The Indian Air Force has received the first Apache Guardian attack helicopter from United States. • Criczone, the world’s first exclusive women’s cricket magazine launched recently. • Novak Djokovic wins recently concluded Madrid Open title. • Mumbai Indians won the IPL 2019. • Padma Shri awardee, Hiralal Yadav who passed away at the age of 93 recently is a noted folk singer of Bhojpuri. • Peggy Lipton who passed away recently was a well known Actor. • Y.C. Deveshwar who passed away recently was the former Chairman of ITC Limited. • According to a World Health Organization (WHO), Road accidents are the leading cause of death among people in the 5-29 age-group worldwide with more than 1.35 million lives lost each year and 50 million sustaining injuries. • FDA approved first Dengue vaccine named Dengvaxia. • Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (Tangedco) will upgrade an unmanned substation in Chennai, the first of its kind in the city. • Rajasthan has given out funds ranging from ₹1.2 lakh to ₹20 lakh to over 30 startups as part of its program iStart. • Recently, RBI has imposed a monetary penalty of ₹1 crore on Nainital Bank for its failure to fully automate the non-performing asset (NPA) identification process. • NABARD has launched its own NABVENTURES Fund for agriculture and rural development startups. The total corpus of the fund is Rs 700 crore. • HDFC ERGO General Insurance has launched the Mosquito Disease Protection Policy to cover people against vector borne diseases. • Sanjiv Puri has been appointed as the MD & CEO of ITC Limited. • Dinesh Pangtey has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer of LIC Mutual Fund. • IPS officer Chhaya Sharma has recently been honored with 2019 McCain Institute Award. • Public service broadcaster Doordarshan has launched a souvenir store on online shopping website Amazon India. • ICICI Bank joins hands with Goibibo, travel portal to launch multi-currency card. • Lewis Hamilton won the Spanish Grand Prix 2019. • Indian sports person Rahil Gangjee is associated with Golf. • ‘International Day of Families’ observed on May 15. • India hosted a 2-day ministerial meeting of WTO in New Delhi.

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• Justice Madan Bhimrao Lokur has been appointed to the Supreme Court of Fiji’s non-resident panel for the duration of three years. • Salman Khan has been named by Bharat Pe, as its Brand Ambassador. • Bharti Airtel and HDFC Life insurance company have tied up to offer insurance for prepaid customers. • Paytm, digital wallet major company, has launched cash-back driven credit card with Citi Bank. • The first edition of the Young Scientist Programme ‘Yuvika2019’ will be held in 4 centres of ISRO. • The Indian Armed Forces conducted the Exercise Bull Strike at Teressa Island. • India is going to host the International Army Games 2019 in Jaisalmer. • ABHYAS, High-speed Expendable Aerial Target (drone) which was recently tested successfully by DRDO. • Brahmakalashothsava Festival is a famous festival celebrated in Karnataka. • GS Lakshmi has become the first Indian female to be appointed to International Panel of Match Referees by ICC. • Virat Kohli has been awarded the International Cricketer and Batsman of the Year at the CEAT Cricket Rating International Award 2019. • Doris Day, Hollywood legend worked in films such as Calamity Jane and Pillow Talk and had a hit in 1956 with Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be). • Mohinder Amarnath got the lifetime achievement award at the recently held, CEAT Cricket Rating Awards. • International Day of Living Together in Peace observed on May 16. • World Telecommunication Day is observed every year on 17 May. Theme – Bridging the standardization gap. • World Hypertension Day is celebrated by World Hypertension League (WHL) observed on May 17. • Every year on the third Friday in May was celebrated annually as Endangered Species Day. • India has been selected to co chair the Consultative Group (CG) of Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR) in 2020. • A Memorandum of Understanding was signed between National Mission for Clean Ganga, HCL Foundation and INTACH for taking up a project of Plantation of Rudraksh Trees in Uttarakhand as a part of CSR initiative under the Namami Gange Programme. • Recently, Navy Service Selection Board inaugurated in Kolkata. • RBI has released the “Payment and Settlement Systems in India: Vision 2019 – 2021″. • A non-banking finance companies (NBFC) with an asset size of at least Rs 5000 crore must appoint a chief risk officer (CRO). • Recently, SIDBI has launched a pilot scheme for fintech NBFCs to boost digital lending. • Anil Kapoor, actor who would be felicitated by European Chambers of Commerce for promoting children's rights. • Astin Cheda Shepra, Nepalian who has scaled Mount Everest for the 23rd time, breaking his own record in reaching atop the world's highest peak. • AK Dhingra has become the first head of India’s first tri-services Special Operations Division.

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• Cyril Ramaphosa re-elected as President of South Africa. • RBI has appointed the former Deputy Governor R Gandhi as the additional director on the board of Yes bank. • Justice A.K. Sikri has been appointed as the Chairperson of the News Broadcasting Standards Authority (NBSA). • Conference on Asian Civilizations Dialogue (CDAC) will be held in Beijing, China. • Housing finance major HDFC Limited has partnered with India Mortgage Guarantee Corporation (IMGC) to offer a mortgage-guaranteed home loan product. • The Ola Money SBI Credit Card is powered by Visa. • Aarohi Pandit became the world's first woman to cross the Atlantic Ocean solo in a Light Sports Aircraft (LSA). • China has been confirmed as the hosts for the 2023 Asian Cup soccer tournament after its only bidding rival, South Korea, withdrew from the bidding process. • Bob Hawke who passes away recently, was the former Prime Minister of Australia. • World AIDS Vaccine Day is observed on May 18. • International Museum Day is observed on 18 May. • Taiwan, Asian country recently has legalized Same-sex marriage. • Saudi Arabia has approved permanent residency for select expatriates. • Kerala become the first Indian state to issue Masala Bond. • Initiative HeArt is launched by HDFC Capital Advisors to promote technologies to make affordable housing more affordable. • Indian YouTuber Ajay Nagar named by Time magazine among Next Generation Leaders' 2019. • Nitin Chugh has been named to be the new MD & CEO of Ujjivan Small Finance Bank. • IBM has tied-up with HDFC ERGO General Insurance Company, to co-create new Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based solutions. • Indian Coast Guard Ships ICGC Vigraha has been decommissioned recently. • Mutual fund app BSE StAR MF that is launched by BSE recently. • Ieoh Ming Pei who passed away recently was a renowned Architect. • Veteran actor Rallapalli Venkata Narasimha Rao passes away. He is an actor from Telugu. • World Bee Day was observed on May 20th. • Recently, Meghalaya approves setting up of Farmers' Commission. • The third round of Foreign Office Consultations between India and Botswana was held in Delhi. • Virat Kohli and Rishab Panth named as new brand ambassadors of Himalaya MEN. • The Sasakawa Award is presented by United Nations. • Pramod Kumar Mishra has been awarded the Sasakawa Award 2019 for Disaster Risk Reduction. • Andy Murray has received a knighthood from the Prince of Wales at Buckingham Palace. • The National Academy of Agricultural Research Management (NAARM) has received national agricultural higher education project (NAHEP). The project is funded by World Bank. • India has recently made the Guinness World Record for the largest laundry lesson.

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• Sunny Pawar has bagged the Best Child Actor award for Chippa at the 19th New York Indian Film Festival. • Israel is involved jointly with India in the development of Medium Range Surface to Air Missile (MRSAM). • Bilateral naval drill SIMBEX conducted between India and Singapore in South China Sea. • Double Olympic biathlon champion Laura Dahlmeier retires aged 25 recently. • The 2nd India Open International Boxing Tournament was held in Guwahati. • Navy ship 'Mendez Nunez' (Frigate) with a crew of 30 officers and 135 sailors is on Mumbai visit from May 18 to 23. The ship belongs to Spain. • World Metrology Day observed on May 20. • The National Anti-Terrorism Day was observed on May 21. • Tripura Gramin Bank is among top banking performers in country. • World Bank had partnered with Commonwealth Bank of Australia to enable blockchain-based secondary market bond recording. • NITI Aayog has proposed a plan worth Rs 7,500 crore to create an institutional framework for artificial intelligence (AI). • Facebook has registered a new financial technology company, Libra Networks, in Geneva, Switzerland. • FSSAI has relaxed certification norms for small organic food producers with annual turnover of Rs 12 lakh to sell their produce directly to end consumers without certification. • BSNL has partnered with Google to increase access to its WiFi footprint in the country. • Volodymyr Zelenskiy has been sworn in as the new President of Ukraine. • Joko Widodo elected as President of Indonesia. • Nancy Pelosi has received the 2019 John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award. • Late Malawian soldier Chancy Chitete will be honoured with the UN's highest peacekeeping award by Secretary-General Antonio Guterres at the UN headquarters in New York. • Iceland tops in the recently the KidsRight Index. • Rafael Nadal has won the men’s single title at the 2019 Italian Open. • Niki Lauda who passed away recently was one of the well known Formula One driver. • IL&FS Engineering and Construction Company Ltd. has appointed Kazim Raza Khan as its chief executive officer. • According to the Reserve Bank of India‘s weekly statistical supplement, the overall forex reserves rose to $420.055 billion from $418.687 billion. • World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development was observed on May 21. • International Day for Biological Diversity is observed on 22 May every year. Theme - Our Biodiversity, Our Food, Our Health. • TAPI gas pipeline meeting was held in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan. • The projected Global economic growth is 3.2% as per OECD for the fiscal 2019- 20. • According to United Nation’s World Economic Situation and Prospects (WESP) 2019 report, India's economy is projected to grow at 7.1% in the fiscal year 2020.

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• Shyam Saran has been chosen for the Japan’s Order of the Rising Sun decoration for 2019. • Jokha Alharthi has won Man Booker literature prize for 2019. • Ride hailing company OLA has launched a Ola Money SBI Credit Card in alliance with SBI card. • The earth observation satellite RISAT-2B recently launched by ISRO. • Taiwan Expo 2019 began in New Delhi. • Reliance Industries Limited has recently become India’s largest company in terms of Revenue. • The Indo-Myanmar Coordinated Patrol (IMCOR) 2019 is being held at Port Blair. • Social media platform Helo becomes team sponsor of Indian Wheelchair Cricket Association for Asia Cup 2019. • Renowned filmmaker, film historian, researcher and educationist Vijaya Mulay passed away. • Recently UAE has launched Golden Card system to grant permanent residency to investors and exceptional doctors, engineers, scientists and artists. • Mumbai topped the 15-city list of the most vulnerable cities to cyberattacks in 2019. • The savings bank product KBL SB Salary is launched by Karnataka Bank for salaried class. • As per RBI data, Bank credit to infrastructure sector grew by 18.5% as of 2018-19, the highest since 2012-13 fiscal. • Pehal Charitable Trust (PCT) has entered into the Guinness Book of World Records for Longest Line of Hunger Relief (Iftar) Package. The trust is operated by India. • Hi-Tech Pipes Ltd has received 'Top Performer Award' for being one among the largest customer for Hot Rolled Coils on PAN India basis in Financial year 2018-19. • State Bank of India has announced a strategic partnership with the FMCG arm of The Art of Living — Sri Sri Tattva. • The book titled Coming Round the Mountain is penned by Ruskin Bond. • Durga Shanker Mishra inaugurated The 5th Smart Cities India 2019 expo, including Transport India, Solar India, Buildings India and Water India expos. • After successfully defending a major title (again), Brooks Koepka is back atop the Official World Golf Ranking. He is a professional golf player from America. • Famous Actor Sammy Shore passes away. • Jagan Mohan Reddy was elected as the second chief minister of divided Andhra Pradesh recently. • Asian Development has signed an MoU to provide $ 750 million loan to India for railway track electrification project. • HDFC group overtakes Tata Group as India’s largest by the way of market capitalization. • WHO has declared Algeria & Argentina malaria-free. • Bharti AXA Life Insurance has won the FICCI Claims Excellence Award. • Indra Nooyi receives honorary degree from Yale University for achievements in business. • Dr. Ankur Patwardhan won conferred with 'German Chemistry Prize'. • The first woman pilot of the Indian Air Force Bhawana Kanth was qualified to undertake combat missions on a fighter jet. • Hema Divakar won 'Global Asian of the Year' Award for Contribution to Women's Healthcare Ecosystem.

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• Tech Mahindra has signed Rs.300 crore defence contract with Indian Navy. • Dept. of Biotechnology (DBT) and Dept. of Atomic Energy (DAE) under the Government of India signed recently for joint collaboration on cancer research. • The first ever joint naval drill “Pacific Vanguard” between US, Japan, South Korea and Australia is being held at Guam, US. • Sethu FC won the finals of Indian Women’s championship recently. It was held in Ludhiana. • King Sultan Ahmad Shah who passed away recently was the chief of Malaysia. • International Commonwealth Day observed on May 24. • According to the new guidelines notified by RBI, the large modern Currency Chests are now allowed to levy service charge of Rs.8 per packet on non-chest bank branches for depositing cash in CCs. • RBI has revised its Voluntary Retention Route for Investments by FPIs by merging VRR-Govt and VRR-Corp into VRR–Combined category. The investment limit for this new category will be Rs 54,606.55 crores. • RBI has released draft liquidity framework guidelines for ailing NBFCs. • Uber has launched the world’s first rideshare submarine “scUber” in partnership with Australia.

• Infosys has completed the acquisition of 75 per cent shareholding in ABN AMRO Bank's wholly- owned Stater NV. • Naveen Patnaik has elected as the Chief Minister of Odisha recently. • Theresa May has announced her intention to quit as the Prime Minister of United Kingdom and also as the Leader of Conservative Party in June. • Akshay Kumar was named as TAFE’s brand ambassador. • Indian artist Nalini Malani has won the Joan Miró Prize 2019. • DRDO successfully test fired its Inertial Guided Bomb from Su-30 MKI Aircraft from Rajasthan. • Pakistan Successfully Test-Fires Ballistic Missile Shaheen-II. • NewSpace India Limited (NSIL) is the new commercial arm of ISRO. The authorized capital of the NSIL is Rs.100 crore. • India finishes with 57 medals at India Open International Boxing tournament in Guwahati. • World Thyroid Day observed on May 25. • Donald Trump became first foreign leader to meet new Japanese emperor. • Corp SME Suvidha launched by the Corporation Bank for MSME customers. • Acharya Balkrishna receives 'UNSDG 10 Most Influential People in Healthcare Award'. • The government has decided to merge the Central Statistical Organization (CSO) and the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) to form a NSO. NSO - National Statistical Office • Lieutenant General Shailesh Tinaikar assumed, to be head UN peacekeeping operation in South Sudan. • Himanta Biswa Sarma has recently been appointed as the Vice President of Badminton Asia Council (BAC). • Prem Singh Golay has been sworn in the new CM of Sikkim. • Justice DN Patel appointed next Chief Justice of Delhi High Court.

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• Chandrani Murmu became youngest Lok Sabha MP. • Urban 20 Mayors Summit Held in Tokyo. • Apurvi Chandela won the women’s 10m air rifle event at 2019 ISSF Munich World Cup. • Mahesh Mangaonkar won Sekisui Open. • Hamilton wins Monaco Grand Prix. • China team won 2019 Sudirman Cup. • A unique Tree Ambulance service was recently launched in Chennai. • Orchha town of Madhya Pradesh added to the Tentative List of UNESCO's World Heritage Sites. • The growth rate of India’s GDP for the financial year 2018-19 as estimated by India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) is 6.9%. • Facebook planning to launch its own cryptocurrency, GlobalCoin, by 2020. • Sri Lankan writer Guy Gunaratne won the 2019 Swansea University International Dylan Thomas Prize. • Balaram Bhargava has recently won the 2019 Dr Lee Jong-wook Memorial Prize for Public Health. • PM of Papua New Guinea Peter O'Neill resigned recently. • Pema Khandu sworn in as the Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh. • DRDO test fired the new version of Akash surface-to-air defence missile. • Saurabh Chaudhary won gold in men's 10m air rifle in ISSF World Cup 2019. • Rahi Sarnobat has won the gold in Women’s 25 metre pistol event at the ISSF World Cup 2019 in Munich. • Murray Gell-Mann passed away recently. He was the winner of Nobel Prize in Physics. • Veeru Devgan who died recently was a well known Filmmaker.

MODEL QUESTIONS

1. What is the theme of the 2019 International Labour Day (ILD)? (1) Celebrating the International Labour Movement (2) Let’s value work by providing the jobless with start-up capital support (3) Sustainable Pension for all: The Role of Social Partners (4) Uniting Workers for Social and Economic Advancement (5) None of these

2. What is the theme of the 2019 edition of World Press Freedom Day (WPFD)? (1) Media for Democracy: Journalism and Elections in Times of Disinformation (2) Keeping Power in Check: Media, Justice and the Rule of Law (3) Access to Information and Fundamental Freedoms (4) New Voices: Media Freedom Helping to Transform Societies (5) None of these

3. On which date, the World Tuna Day (WTD-2019) is observed recently? (1) May 1 (2) May 4 (3) May 2 (4) May 3 (5) None of these

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4. What is the theme of the 2019 World Asthma Day (WAD)? (1) Better air better breathing (2) You Can Control Your Asthma (3) Understanding asthma (4) Stop for Asthma (5) None of these

5. What is the theme of the 2019 edition of World Red Cross Day (WRCD)? (1) #peace (2) #love (3) #humanity (4) #unity (5) None of these

6. What is the theme of the 2019 edition of UN Global Road Safety Week? (1) Road Security a Goal, Not an Intermission (2) Leadership for road safety (3) Young road users, including young drivers (4) Walk for Road Security (5) None of these

7. On which date, the 2019 edition of National Technology Day (NTD) is celebrated in India? (1) May 13 (2) May 12 (3) May 11 (4) May 10 (5) None of these

8. What is the theme of the 2019 edition of International Day of Families? (1) Families and inclusive societies (2) Families and Climate Action: Focus on SDG 13 (3) Families, education and well-being (4) Families, healthy lives and sustainable future (5) None of these

9. What is the theme of the 2019 edition of World Telecommunication and Information Society Day? (1) Women and Girls in ICT (2) Bridging the standardization gap (3) Enabling the positive use of Artificial Intelligence for All (4) Big Data for Big Impact (5) None of these

10. What is the theme of the 2019 edition of World Metrology Day (WMD)? (1) The International System of Units – Light (2) The International System of Units – Commerce (3) The International System of Units – Transport (4) The International System of Units - Fundamentally better (5) None of these

11. On which date, the 2019 edition of the World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development is celebrated? (1) May 22 (2) May 23 (3) May 21 (4) May 24 (5) None of these

12. On which date, the 2019 edition of World Turtle Day (WTD) was observed recently? (1) May 25 (2) May 24 (3) May 22 (4) May 23 (5) None of these

13. What is the theme of the 2019 edition of International Day for Biological Diversity (IDB)? (1) Biodiversity and Sustainable Tourism (2) Our Biodiversity, Our Food, Our Health (3) Biodiversity for Sustaining People and their Livelihoods (4) Biodiversity for Sustainable Development (5) None of these

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14. Which of the following organizations has released the 'Payment and Settlement Systems in India: Vision 2019 - 2021'? (1) NABARD (2) IRDA (3) SEBI (4) RBI (5) None of these

15. Which of the following banks has become the first Indian bank to link interest rates to RBI's repo rate? (1) PNB (2) BoB (3) BoI (4) SBI (5) None of these

16. Which of the following banks has launched co-branded multi-currency travel card with Goibibo? (1) SBI (2) HDFC Bank (3) ICICI Bank (4) Axis Bank (5) None of these

17. In Madhya Pradesh, women will handle the entire work of counting votes in which of the following districts? (1) Jabalpur (2) Indore (3) Harda (4) Burhanpur (5) None of these

18. Which of the following state city police has launched an all-women police patrol unit ‘Rani Abbakka Force’? (1) Karnataka (2) Tamil Nadu (3) Kerala (4) Andhra Pradesh (5) None of these

19. Where is the headquarters of International Press Institute (IPI)? (1) Washington (2) Berlin (3) Vienna (4) New York (5) None of these

20. Where is the headquarters of IPBES (Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services)? (1) Berlin (2) Paris (3) New York (4) Bonn (5) None of these

21. Chagos Archipelago is located in which of the following oceans? (1) Atlantic Ocean (2) Pacific Ocean (3) Arctic Ocean (4) Indian Ocean (5) None of these

22. Which site of Madhya Pradesh has been included in the tentative list of UNESCO World heritage sites? (1) Maheswar (2) Orchha (3) Ujjain (4) Khandwa (5) None of these

23. Where is the headquarters of United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat)? (1) Nairobi (2) Paris (3) New York (4) Berlin (5) None of these

24. Who has become the world's first woman to cross the Atlantic Ocean solo in a Light Sports Aircraft (LSA)? (1) Sarla Thakral (2) Aarohi Pandit (3) Durba Banerjee (4) Avani Chaturvedi (5) None of these

25. Indo-French joint naval exercise ‘Varuna 19.1’ has started in which of the following places? (1) Tamil Nadu (2) Karnataka (3) Goa (4) Kerala (5) None of these

26. Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) is associated to which of the following countries? (1) Iran, United States and France (2) Russia, UK and China (3) Germany, Iran and United States (4) All of the above (5) None of these

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27. The first full-fledged Services Selection Board (SSB) of Indian Navy has opened in which of the following cities? (1) Kolkata (2) Chennai (3) Kochi (4) Mumbai (5) None of these

28. ICGS Vigraha, which is recently decommissioned at Visakhapatnam, is which class of offshore patrol vessel? (1) Samar (2) Priyadarshini (3) Vikram (4) Jija Bai (5) None of these

29. The 8th Indo-Myanmar Coordinated Patrol (IMCOR-2019) has started at which of the following sites? (1) Port Blair (2) Minicoy (3) Daman and Diu (4) Kavaratti (5) None of these

30. Which of the following organizations has successfully flight tested Inertial Guided Bomb (IGB) from Sukhoi combat jet? (1) BARC (2) MARCOS (3) DRDO (4) VSSC (5) None of these

31. Which Russian-made aircraft of Indian Air Force (IAF) has formally certified to operate on indigenous Bio-Jet fuel? (1) AN-31 (2) AN-33 (3) AN-32 (4) AN-35 (5) None of these

32. As per which UNSC committee, JeM chief Masood Azhar has been designated as global terrorist? (1) UNSC 1267 Committee (2) UNSC 1265 Committee (3) UNSC 1266 Committee (4) UNSC 1268 Committee (5) None of these

33. Which committee has recently submitted report on digital payments to RBI? (1) Kishore Sansi committee (2) Nandan Nilekani committee (3) H R Khan committee (4) Aruna Sharma committee (5) None of these

34. Who is the head of the RBI committee to review mortgage securitization? (1) Harsh Vardhan (2) V G Kannan (3) Anand Srinivasan (4) Sajjid Z Chinoy (5) None of these

35. The Belt and Road Forum (BRF - 2019) was recently held in which of the following Chinese cities? (1) Tianjin (2) Shanghai (3) Beijing (4) Hangzhou (5) None of these

36. The United Nations (UN) has decided to hold its 2020 ocean conference in which of the following cities? (1) New York (2) Paris (3) New Delhi (4) Lisbon (5) None of these

37. The 2019 Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Council of Foreign Ministers was held in which of the following cities? (1) Bishkek (2) New Delhi (3) Moscow (4) Beijing (5) None of these

38. The delegation of which union ministry represented India at the 2019 SCO Mass Media Forum at Bishkek? (1) Ministry of External Affairs (2) Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (3) Ministry of Human Resource Development (4) Ministry of Finance (5) None of these

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39. Who led the Indian delegation at the 16th Ministerial Meeting of Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD-2019)? (1) Rajnath Singh (2) Sushma Swaraj (3) V K Singh (4) Piyush Goyal (5) None of these

40. Which Indian city is hosting the World Customs Organization (WCO) regional custom heads meeting? (1) Shimla (2) Pune (3) Kochi (4) New Delhi (5) None of these

41. Which city is organizing the 2019 World Trade Organization (WTO) ministerial meeting of developing countries? (1) New Delhi (2) Pune (3) Raipur (4) Bhopal (5) None of these

42. Bharat Fibre is associated to which of the following telecom companies? (1) BSNL (2) Reliance Jio (3) Vodafone (4) Airtel (5) None of these

43. Which Indian company has become the official sponsor of the Afghanistan cricket team for the 2019 ICC World Cup? (1) Dabur (2) Sanchi (3) Amul (4) Hindustan Unilever (5) None of these

44. Which German payments company has teamed up with India to issue PAN cards? (1) Wirecard (2) Paysafe Group (3) Atos (4) Klarna (5) None of these

45. ISRO has successfully launched its radar imaging satellite RISAT-2B through which launch vehicle? (1) PSLV-C44 (2) PSLV-C46 (3) PSLV-C47 (4) PSLV-C45 (5) None of these

46. The NewSpace India Ltd. (NSIL) is the new commercial arm of which of the following organizations? (1) DRDO (2) VSSC (3) BARC (4) ISRO (5) None of these

47. Which space agency has unveiled schedule for 'Artemis' 2024 Moon mission? (1) CNES (2) NASA (3) JAXA (4) Roscosmos (5) None of these

48. Which IIT has developed an easy OCR system for reading Bharti script? (1) IIT Delhi (2) IIT Kanpur (3) IIT Madras (4) IIT Bombay (5) None of these

49. The researchers at which Canadian university has developed a specialized microscope that can diagnose skin cancer & perform surgeries? (1) University of British Columbia (2) McGill University (3) University of Toronto (4) Mount Royal University (5) None of these

50. Which international organization has unveiled a new strategy to tackle global snakebite "Emergency"? (1) ILO (2) UNESCO (3) FAO (4) WHO (5) None of these

51. Which of the following countries has been officially recognized as malaria-free in the WHO African Region? (1) Nigeria (2) Morocco (3) Algeria (4) Tanzania (5) None of these

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52. Which country has launched the world's largest nuclear-powered icebreaker 'Ural'? (1) US (2) France (3) Russia (4) Germany (5) None of these

53. ‘GRIHA for Existing Day Schools’, which is in news recently, is associated to which of the following issues? (1) Mid Day Meal (2) Quality Education (3) Environment (4) All of the above (5) None of these

54. Which of the following countries has officially become the 2nd country in the world to declare a climate emergency? (1) Ireland (2) Finland (3) Norway (4) Sweden (5) None of these

55. Which country has started test run on world's fastest-ever bullet train “Alfa-X”? (1) France (2) Japan (3) China (4) South Korea (5) None of these

56. Which Indian filmmaker will direct a film on the life of the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman? (1) Shyam Benegal (2) Sanjay Leela Bhansali (3) Mani Ratnam (4) Vishal Bhardwaj (5) None of these

57. The Desert Storm 2019 has started from which city of Rajasthan? (1) Bikaner (2) Jaipur (3) Udaipur (4) Barmer (5) None of these

58. Who has been appointed as the new Vice Chief of Indian Air Force (IAF)? (1) Om Prakash Mehra (2) Anil Khosla (3) Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria (4) Dilbagh Singh (5) None of these

59. Who has become the first non-British President of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC)? (1) Sachin Tendulkar (2) Kumar Sangakkara (3) Michael Clarke (4) Steve Waugh (5) None of these

60. Who has been appointed as first independent woman director of Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE)? (1) Rajeshree Sabnavis (2) Pooja Dhanda (3) Jayshree Vyas (4) Usha Sangwan (5) None of these

61. Who is the newly appointed Prime Minister of Mali? (1) Michel Sidibe (2) Malick Coulibaly (3) Boubou Cisse (4) Tiebile Drame (5) None of these

62. Which Indian personality has been elected as the member of the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB)? (1) Upendra Kushwah (2) Dalveer Bhandari (3) Jagjit Pavadia (4) Nagendra Singh (5) None of these

63. Which Indian personality has been appointed as new SDG Advocate of UN? (1) Chewang Norphel (2) Sonam Wangchuk (3) Jadav Payeng (4) Dia Mirza (5) None of these

64. Which Indian judge has been appointed as Judge of Supreme Court of Fiji? (1) Sharad Arvind Bobde (2) Madan B Lokur (3) N V Ramana (4) Abhay Manohar Sapre (5) None of these

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65. Who has been appointed as the new CMD of ITC Ltd? (1) Sanjay Kishan Kaul (2) Ajay Khanwilkar (3) Sanjiv Puri (4) L. Nageswara Rao (5) None of these

66. Who has officially been elected as the new President of Indonesia? (1) Maruf Amin (2) Prabowo Subianto (3) Joko Widodo (4) Sandiaga Uno (5) None of these

67. Who has been elected as the new President of South Africa? (1) Julius Malema (2) Thabo Mbeki (3) Mmusi Maimane (4) Cyril Ramaphosa (5) None of these

68. Who has been sworn-in as the new President of Ukraine? (1) Volodymyr Zelensky (2) Viktor Yushchenko (3) Petro Poroshenko (4) Leonid Kravchuk (5) None of these

69. Who has been sworn-in as the new President of Nigeria? (1) Mohd Hussain (2) Yemi Osinbajo (3) Atiku Abubakar (4) Muhammadu Buhari (5) None of these

70. Pungam Kannan, who passed away recently, was the well-known player of which sports? (1) Football (2) Hockey (3) Basketball (4) Carrom (5) None of these

71. Negasso Gidada, who passed away recently, was the former President of which country? (1) Kenya (2) Ethiopia (3) Nigeria (4) Tanzania (5) None of these

72. Duti Krushna Panda, who passed away recently, was the veteran politician of which party? (1) CPI (2) INC (3) BJP (4) BSP (5) None of these

73. Mrinal Mukherjee, who passed away recently, was the renowned actor of which regional cinema? (1) Odia (2) Bengali (3) Urdu (4) Kannada (5) None of these

74. Baidyanath Mishra, who passed away recently, was the renowned personality of which field? (1) Economy (2) History (3) Geography (4) Polity (5) None of these

75. Thopil Mohammed Meeran, who passed away recently, was the renowned novelist of which language? (1) Tamil (2) Telugu (3) Kannada (4) Odia (5) None of these

76. Y C Deveshwar, who passed away recently, was the noted industry leader of which company? (1) Infosys (2) ITC (3) Bajaj (4) Grasim (5) None of these

77. Hiralal Yadav, who passed away recently, was the veteran musician of which regional cinema? (1) Urdu (2) Bhojpuri (3) Rajasthani (4) Marathi (5) None of these

78. Surya Prakash, who passed away recently, was the renowned artist from which state? (1) Karnataka (2) Telangana (3) Andhra Pradesh (4) Kerala (5) None of these

79. Vijaya Mulay, who passed away recently, was the renowned personality of which field? (1) Photography (2) Sports (3) Film Industry (4) Journalism (5) None of these

80. Murray Gell-Mann, who passed away recently, won 1969 Nobel Prize in which category? (1) Medicine (2) Physics (3) Chemistry (4) Peace (5) None of these

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81. Which of the following Indians is/are included in the Time’s 100 Most Influential People List 2019? (1) Arundhati Katju (2) Menaka Guruswamy (3) Mukesh Ambani (4) All of the above (5) None of these

82. Which hockey player has been nominated for the 2019 Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award? (1) Chinglensana Singh Kangujam (2) P R Sreejesh (3) Akashdeep Singh (4) Romesh Pathania (5) None of these

83. Which former ISRO chief has been bestowed with France's highest civilian award? (1) U Ramachandra Rao (2) G Madhavan Nair (3) A S Kiran Kumar (4) Satish Dhawan (5) None of these

84. Who of the following Indians are among 115 UN personnel staff honoured for sacrifice in line of duty? (1) Sunny Rajput & Sukhpreet Kaur (2) Prithvi Shaw & Manju Sharma (3) Jitender Kumar & Shikha Garg (4) Narendra Singh Rathore & Neha Gupta (5) None of these

85. Which of the following golfers has been honoured with 2019 US Presidential Medal of Freedom? (1) Rickie Fowler (2) Phil Mickelson (3) Tiger Woods (4) Justin Rose (5) None of these

86. Who has been honored with the 2019 JFK Profile in Courage Award? (1) Paul Ryan (2) Kevin McCarthy (3) Nancy Pelosi (4) Charles Manatt (5) None of these

87. Jokha Alharthi, who won the 2019 Man Booker International Prize, is from which country? (1) Iran (2) Saudi Arabia (3) UAE (4) Oman (5) None of these

88. Which Indian personality has been awarded the 2019 Dr. Lee Jong-wook Prize for public health? (1) Nikhil Kumar (2) Balram Bhargava (3) Asha Kishore (4) Amit Sharma (5) None of these

89. Who will become the first Indian wrestler to fight at the iconic Madison Square Garden in New York? (1) Ravinder Singh (2) Bajrang Punia (3) Pawan Kumar (4) Sangram Singh (5) None of these

90. Who has been named the 2019 footballer of the year by the Football Writers' Association (FWA)? (1) Lionel Messi (2) Raheem Sterling (3) Neymar (4) Francesco Totti (5) None of these

91. Claire Polosak, who became the first female umpire to stand in a men's ODI, is from which country? (1) West Indies (2) South Africa (3) New Zealand (4) Australia (5) None of these

92. Which Indian wrestler has won gold in the men's 65kg freestyle at the 2019 Ali Aliyev wrestling tournament? (1) Mausam Khatri (2) Bajrang Punia (3) Rahul Aware (4) Sumit Malik (5) None of these

93. The TePe Sigeman & Co International tournament is associated to which of the following sports? (1) Judo (2) Tennis (3) Swimming (4) Chess (5) None of these

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94. Which Indian squash player has won the women's title at the 2019 Asian Individual Squash Championship? (1) Anwesha Reddy (2) Dipika Pallikal Karthik (3) Joshna Chinappa (4) Misha Grewal (5) None of these

95. Who won the 2019 men's singles title at the Madrid Open Tennis tournament? (1) Roger Federer (2) Stefanos Tsitsipas (3) Novak Djokovic (4) Rafael Nadal (5) None of these

96. Andre Russell, who has been named Most Valuable Player at the 2019 IPL tournament, is from which of the following teams? (1) Sunrisers Hyderabad (2) Kolkata Knight Riders (3) Chennai Super Kings (4) Mumbai Indians (5) None of these

97. Which of the bowlers has been adjudged as 2019 CEAT International Bowler of the Year? (1) Jasprit Bumrah (2) Kuldeep Yadav (3) Rashid Khan (4) Ashutosh Aman (5) None of these

98. Who of the following spinners has become the world's most successful women's ODI spinner? (1) Cathryn Fitzpatrick (2) Sana Mir (3) Jhulan Goswami (4) Rajeshwari Gayakwad (5) None of these

99. Who has been appointed as the first female match referee by ICC? (1) Mary Waldron (2) Shivani Mishra (3) Jacqueline Williams (4) G S Lakshmi (5) None of these

100. Which country to host the 2023 Asian Cup Football tournament? (1) Japan (2) India (3) South Korea (4) China (5) None of these

101. Who clinched the men’s title at the 2019 Italian Open Tennis tournament? (1) Novak Djokovic (2) Rafael Nadal (3) Roger Federer (4) Andy Murray (5) None of these

102. Which of the following social media platforms has become the team sponsor of Indian Wheelchair Cricket Association for 2019 Asia Cup? (1) Instagram (2) Twitter (3) Helo (4) Facebook (5) None of these

103. Which of the following teams has clinched the 2019 Sudirman Cup badminton tournament? (1) Germany (2) South Korea (3) Japan (4) China (5) None of these

104. Rahi Sarnobat, who booked 2020 Tokyo Olympic quota for India, is associated to which sports? (1) Shooting (2) Badminton (3) Sprint (4) Wrestling (5) None of these

105. Which of the following countries is the biggest spender on military expenditure in 2018, as per new data by SIPRI? (1) Russia (2) China (3) Saudi Arabia (4) United States (5) None of these

106. What is the theme of the Indian Pavilion at the 58th Venice Biennale 2019? (1) Swami Vivekananda & his preaching (2) Hundred and Fifty years of Mahatma Gandhi (3) Tribute to Madam Bhikaji Cama (4) India since Independence (5) None of these

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107. The team of scientists at CSIR has recently carried out first-ever genetic studies on people of which of the following islands? (1) Majuli (2) Ross Island (3) Nicobar Islands (4) Lakshadweep (5) None of these

108. India has been chosen to co-chair Consultative Group (CG) of GFDRR in which fiscal year? (1) 2022 (2) 2021 (3) 2020 (4) 2022 (5) None of these

109. Operation Swift Retort, which is in news recently, is associated to which of the following countries? (1) Sri Lanka (2) Afghanistan (3) India (4) Pakistan (5) None of these

110. Generalized System of Preference (GSP) is associated to which of the following countries? (1) Japan (2) United States (3) China (4) France (5) None of these

111. Which of the following countries are members of inter-governmental forum Arctic Council? (1) Canada, Denmark & India (2) Russia, Sweden & United States (3) Russia, India & China (4) France, Iceland & Germany (5) None of these

112. Which country has recently blocked all language editions of Wikipedia? (1) US (2) China (3) Iran (4) Russia (5) None of these

113. The Services Trade Restrictiveness Index (STRI) is associated to which of the following organizations? (1) OECD (2) United Nations (3) IMF (4) World Bank (5) None of these

114. Cocos (Keeling) Islands is an external territory of which of the following countries? (1) India (2) Sri Lanka (3) Indonesia (4) Australia (5) None of these

115. Christchurch Call to Action, which is in news recently, is the brainchild of which of the following countries? (1) Canada & UK (2) Netherlands & Sweden (3) Germany & Spain (4) New Zealand & France (5) None of these

116. Which country has become the first in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage? (1) Japan (2) Taiwan (3) Indonesia (4) Malaysia (5) None of these

117. Which of the following countries has been removed from US currency watchlist? (1) Italy (2) South Korea (3) Switzerland (4) Japan (5) None of these

118. Who is the author of the “Politics of Jugaad: The Coalition Handbook”? (1) Saba Naqvi (2) Madhu Trehan (3) Shereen Bhan (4) Patricia Mukhim (5) None of these

119. Which well-known actor has written the novel "Dopehri"? (1) Sanjay Dut (2) Pankaj Kapur (3) Naseeruddin Shah (4) R. Madhavan (5) None of these

Ans: 1-3, 2-1, 3-3, 4-4, 5-2, 6-2, 7-3, 8-2, 9-2, 10-4,11-3, 12-4, 13-2, 14-4, 15-4, 16-3, 17-3, 18-1, 19-3, 20-4, 21- 4, 22-2, 23-1, 24-2, 25-3, 26-4, 27-1, 28-3, 29-1, 30-3, 31-3, 32-1, 33-2, 34-1, 35-3, 36-4, 37-1, 38-2, 39-3, 40-3, 41-1, 42-1, 43-3, 44-1, 45-2, 46-4, 47-2, 48-3, 49-1, 50-4, 51-3, 52-3, 53-3, 54-1, 55-2, 56-1, 57-1, 58-3, 59-2, 60- 3, 61-3, 62-3, 63-4, 64-2, 65-3, 66-3, 67-4, 68-1, 69-4, 70-1, 71-2, 72-1, 73-2, 74-1, 75-1, 76-2, 77-2, 78-2, 79-3, 80-2, 81-4, 82-2, 83-3, 84-3, 85-3, 86-3, 87-4, 88-2, 89-2, 90-2, 91-4,92-2, 93-4, 94-3, 95-3, 96-2, 97-1, 98-2, 99- 4, 100-4, 101-2, 102-3, 103-4, 104-1, 105-4, 106-2, 107-4, 108-3, 109-4, 110-2,111-2, 112-2, 113-1, 114-4, 115- 4, 116-2, 117-3, 118-1, 119-2.

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