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Equations centre of excellence, Karanpur, Ballupur, Ph. No. + 919411575426, + 919219655426

Equations centre of excellence

Current Affairs May 2017 INDIAN AFFAIRS

1. HRD Minister Prakash Javedekar launches Vidhya –Veerta Abhiyan The Minister for Human Resource and Development, Prakash Javadekar has launched Students for soldiers- a nationwide Vidya – Veerta Abhiyan. The portraits of Param Veer Chakra decorated soldiers were handed over to the Vice Chancellors of Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi University, Jamia Milia Islamia, Jammu and IIT Delhi. The “wall of heroes” depicting portraits of brave soldiers who showed exemplary bravery in defending the nation is expected to instil a sense of patriotism and nationalism among students.

2. Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act roll out from May 1, 2017 The Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act - RERA has come into effect from May 1, 2017. Government’s objective behind this Act is to protect home buyers and bring in overall transparency in the real estate sector which will encourage genuine private developers.

It is to be noted that Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Bill, 2016 was passed by Parliament in March 2016. So far only 13 States and Union Territories have notified the rules under this act.

Some important provisions of RERA:

All State/UT governments have to appoint regulatory authorities for implementing the rules framed under RERA. It has been made mandatory for developers to disclose all details about the project on regulator ’s website and provide updates about construction progress at intervals of three months.

The real estate agents will also have to get themselves registered with the concerned authority. The developers will have to deposit 70% of the funds collected from buyers in a separate bank account for construction of the project. It is promoter’s responsibility to rectify any structural or workmanship defects which has been notified by the buyer within a period of five years from the date of handing over possession. Such defects have to be rectified within 30 days and the buyer should not be charged for the same, failing which the buyer is entitled to receive compensation under RERA.

3. Uttar Pradesh launches ambulance service to rescue ill or injured cows Uttar Pradesh has launched an ambulance service for cows. Gauvansh Chikitsa Mobile Vans’ has launched to rescue ill or injured cows. An ill or injured cow has been taken to either gaushalas (cow shelters) or veterinary doctors. The service will initially be available in Allahabad, Gorakhpur, Lucknow, Mathura and Varanasi. Uttar Pradesh is the second state after Madhya Pradesh to have an ambulance service for cows.

4. Centre sanctions Rs 200 crore for Jammu and Kashmir primary teachers For paying pending salaries of primary teachers in Jammu and Kashmir Union Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar has sanctioned Rs 200 crore. Prakash Javadekar has sanctioned Rs 25 crore and Rs 52 crore for two engineering colleges in the state. Scholarships will be available to polytechnic students.

5. India opens small arms manufacturing unit in MP in a joint venture with Israel Punj Lloyd Ltd and JV partner Israel Weapon Industries (IWI) has inaugurated the country's first private sector small arms manufacturing plant at Malanpur in Madhya Pradesh. It aims to manufacture small arms in the plant for the Indian defence forces and also for exports.It is the first time to get its own 'Made in India' small arms. Total cost of this programme is Rs 200 crore for fabrication and assembly facility for defence systems, primarily for small arms.

6. World's highest rail bridge taller than Eiffel Tower on Chenab to be completed in two years World's highest railway bridge that is expected to be 35 metres taller than the Eiffel Tower will be built on Chenab River in Jammu & Kashmir within next two years. Specifications of Highest Railway Bridge to be built on River Chenab.

The arc-shaped bridge will have a height of 359 m above the river bed.. 315 km long bridge will connect Bakkal (Katra) and Kauri (Sr inagar). Estimated cost of construction is around 1100 crore. Over 24,000 tonnes of steel will be used for construction.

7. Jharkhand announces Jan-Dec FY Jharkhand will become the second state in the country to announce its financial year from January to December. i. According to Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das the new budget will be scheduled in December. The new fiscal year for Jharkhand would commence from January 1, 2018 and end on December 31, 2018.

8. Odisha to introduce boat ambulances in four districts Odisha will introduce boat ambulance service in four districts where people face difficulties in getting health service. The boat ambulance service will be available in Koraput, Malkangiri, Kendrapara and Kalahandi districts. The state government has sanctioned six boat ambulances for these areas which will be part of the 108 ambulance service.

9. Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu flags off Naharlagun-Guwahati Shatabdi Express On May 7, 2017, Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu flagged off the Naharlagun-Guwahati Shatabdi Express. He also laid the foundation of the Murkongselek-Pasighat broad gauge line in Arunachal Pradesh. The train will depart on every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday from Naharalagun and on Monday, Wednesday and Friday from Guwahati. Enroute to Guwahati, the train will have stoppages at Harmuti, Rangapara (North) and Rangiya.

10. Cabinet approves NPA ‘package’ for banks The cabinet has cleared the nonperforming asset (NPA) resolution package that includes an ordinance to amend the Banking Regulation Act for empowering the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to deal with bad assets in an effective manner.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the measures would be sent to President for approval. As per the latest government data, public sector banks’ gross bad loans stood at Rs 6.07 lakh crore as on December 31, 2016 as compared to Rs 5.02 lakh crore on March 31, 2017.

11. Nitin Gadkari inaugurates The Highway Saga, SRISHTI exhibitions On May 3, 2017, Mr. Nitin Gadkari – Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways, inaugurated two exhibitions, ‘The Highway Saga: Past Present & Future’ and ‘Safe Road & Inter State Highways Transforming India (SRISHTI)’ in New Delhi.

These exhibitions are part of India Integrated Transport and Logistics Summit (IITLS) organized by the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways from 3rd to 5th of May, 2017. About The Highway Saga: Past, Present & Future - As the name indicates, this exhibition displayed the evolution of road transport in India starting from Indus Valley Civilisation to current times. About Safe Road & Inter State Highways Transforming India (SRISHTI): This exhibition had some interactive activities aimed at enhancing visitors’ awareness of road safety issues.

12. FSSAI panel clamps down on junk food, bats for tax, ad ban


In a bid to cut down consumption of unhealthy food products and reducing the rising burden of chronic diseases like cancer and diabetes, Indian food regulator, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has proposed a set of measures, including tax, strict labelling norms and ban on advertisements of such products.

13. PM Modi launches integrated case management system of Supreme Court in presence of CJI On May 10, 2017, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Integrated Case Management System of the Supreme Court. Chief Justice of India (CJI), J S Khehar and Union Law and IT Minister, Ravi Shankar Prasad were also present at the occasion. CJI Jagdish Singh Khehar has proposed to integrate the system with all the 24 high courts and the subordinate courts.

Expected Benefits from Integrated Case Management System of the Supreme Court: • This system will serve as a digital repository for case-related information, enabling litigants to access data and retrieve information online. All records of cases (pertaining to all stages) at district court or high court will be available in digital form.

• It is a step in the direction of paperless Supreme Court, which contributes to saving environment as well as achieving the vision of ‘Digital India’. This is another instance where Government has adopted technology based innovation to improve the functioning of legal system in India. Earlier, on April 20, 2017, Union Law Ministry launched three technology-backed initiatives - pro-bono legal services, a tele-law service and ‘Nyaya Mitra’ scheme - for offering legal aid to the marginalised, poor and vulnerable communities.

14. IRCTC has offered delivery of rail tickets allowing passengers to make payment through any payment mode, including cash. IRCTC through its website and mobile app has now introduced pay-on-delivery as one of the

payment options for its customers. Passengers can book train tickets online and pay at the time of delivery. 15. Maharashtra Govt. has imposed a ban on the sale of junk food in school canteens. Junk food leads to obesity, dental diseases, and diabetes and heart ailments. High in fat, salt and sugar food at school canteens will be stopped. The government creating awareness among children about consuming nutritional food.

16. The Centre has asked all states to link prisons with courts through video conferencing. The prison e-system should be integrated with Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS) as well as e-courts on priority basis. It is aimed to having an effective prison administration system.Separate training course on deradicalisation of prisoners should also be conducted.

17. Supreme Court sentences Justice Karnan to 6 months imprisonment The Supreme Court sentenced Calcutta high court judge C.S. Karnan to six-month imprisonment. It had been declared by a seven-judge bench headed by chief justice of India S. Khehar. On 1 March, the apex court had ordered a Calcutta government hospital to constitute a medical board, examine his condition and submit a report to the court by 8 May. The medical board was to be assisted by the West Bengal director general of police (DGP) and a team of police personnel in carrying out the directions passed by the court.

18. Haryana to start door-to-door survey to collect data of every resident, issue smart IDs to every house Haryana government has decided to gather a detailed data of every resident and issue a smart IDs for every house in Haryana. The aim of this survey is to get details of land holdings and the status of facilities such as social security pension, scholarship, MGNREGA, loans and LPG connection. The data will be used to make sure that benefits of 150 services of 87 departments are provided online. The unemployed youth will be provided employment through the survey and every hired youth (Saksham) will cover 150 to 200 houses.

19. DIPP, WIPO to set up Technology and Innovation Support Centres for IP generation Industrial promotion body DIPP and the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) have signed an agreement to establish Technology and Innovation Support Centres in the country. It aims to boost generation and commercialization of intellectual properties. It will provide an impulsion to knowledge sharing, capacity building and sharing of best practices among the over 500 TISCs operating worldwide.

WIPO's TISC programme provides innovators in developing countries with access to locally based, high quality technology information and related services.

20.Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh will chair the 28th meeting of the Northern Zonal Council on 12th of May in Chandigarh. North Zonal Council comprises the Chandigarh, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan and Delhi.

Five Zonal Councils – Central, Western, Northern, Southern and Eastern—have been established under the State Reorganisation Act, 1956. 21. The Election Commission of India has launched National Contact Centre. The National Contact Centre is operated on a National Grievance Redressal System Software. This software is a single window platform to manage complaints and feedback received through alls, emails, SMS and website access in an integrated and time-bound manner.

22. Ahmedabad is going to host biggest International Yoga Day event on 21st June. The event will include the participation of 5 Lakh people. The event would be inaugurated by the state’s Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and BJP president Amit Shah. It would be jointly hosted by the city’s GMDC and AES grounds.

23.Rajnath Singh (Home Minister) inaugurated the second meeting of National Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction (NPDRR) in New Delhi on 15 May 2017. The second meeting of NPDRR will be held from 15 to 16 May 2017.

The event has welcomed entries from over 500 applicants from countries across the world. The theme of NPDRR is Disaster Risk Reduction for Sustainable Development: Making India resilient by 2030.

24.Centre will spend Rs 11,000-crore on roads in Naxal affected areas. It will provide road connectivity to 44 Naxal-affected districts. It includes Sukma district in Chhattisgarh which had recently witnessed a Maoist attack. The project will be implemented under the PradhanMantri Gram Sadak Yojana.

25.On May 15, 2017, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched ‘Narmada Seva Mission’, which enlists steps to be taken for the conservation of the Narmada River in Madhya Pradesh. PM Modi launched this mission document at the concluding ceremony of the ‘Namami Devi Narmade Sewa Yatra’ at Amarkantak in Anuppur district of Madhya Pradesh. Amarkantak is the origin place of River Narmada.

About ‘Namami Devi Narmade Sewa Yatra’: ‘Namami Devi Narmade Sewa Yatra’, an awareness campaign for conservation of River Narmada was launched by Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on December 11, 2016 from Amarkantak.

• A core team of 50 sevaks covered a distance of 1831 km on the southern bank of the river and 1513 km on the northern bank passing through nearly 1100 villages and towns. Various public functions and events were organised along the course of the yatra for involving masses in this conservation campaign.

• Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan and spiritual leader Dalai Lama extended support to this campaign. 26. Railways to install CCTV cameras at over 900 stations under Nirbhaya fund Indian Railways will install about 19,000 high definition CCTV cameras at 983 stations across the country to strengthen security of passengers including women at rail premises. Amount of 500 crore from Nirbhaya Fund has been approved for this project. The CCTV cameras will be installed on platforms and waiting areas.The footage of CCTV cameras will be continuously monitored by trained Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel.

27. GST Council finalises tax rates on 80-90% goods, services


On May 18, 2017, the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council headed by Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and comprising representatives of all states has finalised tax rates on 80- 90% of goods and services under four brackets (5%, 12%, 18% and 28%). Essential items of daily use have been kept in the lowest bracket of 5%.

• The GST Council also approved 7 set of rules for the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime that will be rolled out from July 1, 2017. 28. PM Narendra Modi releases stamp on Ramanujacharya's 1000th birth anniversary Prime Minister NarendraModi released a commemorative stamp on the 1,000th birth anniversary of Saint Ramanujacharya on May 1, 2017 in New Delhi. The central message of Saint Ramanujacharya's life was inclusive society, religion and philosophy.

29. ICMR to implement UN agency's standards on clinical trials Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), along with other leading research funders and international NGOs will adopt UN health agency's recommendations to register and publicly disclose results of all clinical trials they fund, co-fund, sponsor or support.

i. Policies for the same will be developed and implemented within next 12 months. ii. Besides agreeing to disclose results within specified timeframes, these entities have also agreed to monitor compliance with registration requirements and to endorse the development of systems to monitor results.

iii. Currently about 50% of clinical trials go unreported owing to negative results. 30. NITI Aayog holds the first Samavesh meeting On May 17, 2017, first meeting of the National Steering Group and other knowledge partners was held in NITI Aayog. This meeting was co-chaired by Amitabh Kant – CEO of NITI Aayog and Ratan P Watal - Principal Adviser, NITI Aayog. This meeting is the first ever initiative to bring the large number of institutions from diverse domain to deliberate together on the road map for inclusive development in India.

Knowledge partners comprised 32 premier educational and policy research institutions. Representatives of four State Governments viz. Assam, Kerala, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh also attended the meeting.

31. Government's decision to set up 10 atomic power plants to generate 33,400 jobs, Rs 70,000-crore opportunity India will set up 7000 mw of indigenous nuclear power plants, power, coal, renewable and mines minister Piyush Goyal announced. Once completed, the 10 reactors of 700 MW each will give much needed fillip to the domestic nuclear industry. The decision will lead to Rs 70,000 crore domestic orders for pressurized heat water reactors and create 33,400 direct and indirect jobs. 32. Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad to go 100 per cent LED-lit The Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad has become South India’s first airport to go 100% LED-lit. The airport currently caters to more than 15 Million Passengers annually with close to 400 daily air traffic movements. Out of the 26,000 conventional lamps, more than 19,500 have been converted into LED, saving 2.2 Million Units of electricity per annum.

33. PM Modi lays foundation stone for six projects of Kandla Port Trust Prime Minister NarendraModi laid the foundation stone for 6 projects related to development of Kandla port. It ’s total cost worth Rs 993 crore. The Kandla Port Trust is named after Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay, who stood for the uplift of all sections of the society.

34. AP amends Act to appoint PV Sindhu as Group-1 officer The Andhra Pradesh Legislature on 16th of May has passed a Bill to appoint Olympics winner shuttler PV Sindhu as a Group-1 officer in the government by amending the state public services Act.

35. India’s Anshu Jamsenpa becomes first Indian woman to conquer Mt Everest twice within 5 days India’s Anshu Jamsenpa has become the first woman to conquer Mount Everest twice within five days. i. Anshu Jamsenpa along with Nepali climber Furi Sherpa scaled the peak at 8:00 am on 21st of May. ii. Jamsenpa set the world record becoming the first woman climber to make double ascent in five days’ time. iii. She is also the first Indian woman to scale Mt Everest for the fifth time. 36. Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu flags off high-speed Tejas Express between Mumbai-Goa The luxurious train, Tejas Express set to be running between Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus and Karmali in North Goa on May 22. Tejas Express has ultra-modern facilities like LED TV, wi-fi, CCTV etc.The Tejas Express would operate between Mumbai and Karmali (Goa) five days a week during non-monsoon period and during monsoon, just three days a week. It has 20 coaches - one executive AC chair car with 56 seating capacity and 12 AC chair cars with 78 seat capacity of each coach.It is a super-fast train, which will run at a speed of 130 kmph.

37. Maharashtra Govt Forms 'Good Morning Squad' To Monitor Open Defecation The Maharashtra government has decided to form ‘good morning’ squads to curb open defecation in all villages and districts across the State.The squads will comprise representatives of local bodies, self-help groups, NGOs, students and social workers working in the area of sanitation and cleanliness. The members of the squads have been asked to monitor areas where the practice is still prevalent.

38. Fadnavis launch Samwad Sabha to reach out to farmers Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has launched a 'ShivarSamwad Sabha to reach out to farmers in the state and to address their issues. Nearly 4,000 elected representatives of the party will participate in the campaign.Meetings will also be conducted with the farmers at various locations. It is a 4 day initiative to reduce the rising resentment among farmers across the state over delay in procurement of tur this year.

39. Centre bans sale of cows for slaughter at animal markets, brings restrictions on cattle trade As per new rules notified by the Environment Ministry, Government has banned the sale of all kinds of cattle for slaughter at animal markets across the country. This new rule has been notified under Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (PCA) Act of 1960.

New Rules pertaining to Cattle Trade:

Now onwards only farmland owners will be allowed to trade at animal markets. As per the notification, cattle comprise bulls, bullocks, cows, buffaloes, steers, heifers, calves and camels. Sellers and buyers will be required to produce identity and farmland ownership documents at the time of trade. Traders will have to submit the copies of proof of sale to local revenue office, the local veterinary doctor in the district of the purchaser and animal market committee. The notification has banned setting up of animal markets within 50 km of an international border and 25 km of a state border.

40. On May 30, 2017, Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan launched Drinking Water and Sanitation Ministry’s ‘Darwaza Band’ campaign for promotion of toilet usage across the country. Narendra Singh Tomar - Union Minister for Drinking Water and Sanitation, Devendra Fadnavis – Chief Minister of Maharashtra and other dignitaries were present at the formal launch of the campaign in Mumbai.

About ‘Darwaza Band’ Campaign: This campaign is an initiative of the Union Drinking Water and Sanitation Ministry and is supported by the World Bank. It has been rolled out countrywide immediately after the launch. The objective of the campaign is to encourage behaviour change in men who have toilets but are not using them.

41. WHO confirms first three Zika virus cases in India. According to World Health Organisation (WHO) report India has detected first three Zika- affected patients all from Ahmedabad in Gujarat.

Key Points:


i. The cases were brought to the knowledge of the WHO by the Health Ministry on May 15, 2017.The virus is transmitted to people through a bite of an infected mosquito called Aedes Aegypti, which also transmits dengue and chikungunya.

ii. Earlier, all the three cases had been confirmed by the Union Health Ministry’s labratories -first in January 2016, then in November 2016 and the last one in January 2017.

PLACES IN NEWS

1.MP first to switch to Jan-Dec fiscal year.Madhya Pradesh became the first state in India to switch to the January-December financial year from existing April-March cycle. It will break a 150-year old tradition of adopting the financial year from April to March. This practice of April-March financial year was adopted by the British Government in 1867. Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan decided to shift the financial year to January-December.

2. Cabinet approves Vijayawada Airport as International Airport.Union Cabinet has given its approval for the declaration of Vijayawada Airport in Andhra Pradesh as International Airport. The decision is in accordance with the provisions of Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014. • The decision was taken on account of repeated demands from airline operators and surge in passenger traffic. The infrastructure upgradation required for international operations will be carried out by Airports Authority of India.

3. Nagpur will be the first Indian city to get electric radio cabs Nagpur will be the first Indian city to get electric radio cabs. It will be started from 26th of May. It will be launched by Union transport minister Nitin Gadkari. The Project will be undertaken by Nagpur Municipal Corporation.and is the first project of its kind in the country.

The pilot project will see around 200 e-cabs in Nagpur with the local body to provide for the charging stations across the city. 4. Bishu Parv or Sendra observed in Dalma Wildlife Sanctuary The Dalma Wildlife Sanctuary is located 10 km from the city of Jamshedpur in Jharkhand. The 2017 hunting festival “BishuParv” was observed in Jharkhand. It is famous for holding many elephants and other animals, which come downhill during the monsoons and winter and enter nearby villages and towns of Jharkhand and West Bengal.

5. Two centres of the Central Institute of Plastics Engineering and Technology (CIPET) will be set up in west and south Haryana. These centres will help meet industry requirements for plastic engineers and technicians. Plastic Park will be set up over a 75 acre land in Panipat at a cost of Rs 1,500 crore, while a Pharma Park will be set in over a 100 acre land in Karnal.

6. India's first Aquatic Rainbow Technology Park (ARTP) will be set up in Chennai. The park will include an ultra-modern facility for ornamental fish equipped with multi-species hatchery and live feed culture units. Tamil Nadu is the second largest exporter of ornamental fish after West Bengal.It will bear total cost of Rs 61.89 crore.

7. On May 2, 2017, Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu flagged-off Western Railways' first Humsafar Express between Ahmedabad and Chennai at a function held in Udvada town in Valsad district of Gujarat. Full-fledged operations of the train will start from May 8, 2017 from Ahmedabad and from May 10, 2017 from Chennai.

The first Humsafar Express was introduced on December, 16 2016 between Gorakhpur (Uttar Pradesh) and Anand Vihar terminal in Delhi. 8. Yogi Adityanathgovt to merge local bodies of Mathura-Vrindavan, Ayodhya-Faizabad The Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government decided to merge the local bodies of two temple towns of Ayodhya-Faizabad and Mathura-Vrindavan on 9th May 2017. Its main aim is to generate more revenue by providing better facilities to the tourists. The cabinet passed Lord Krishna's town Mathura-Vrindavan as a Nagar Nigam and Ayodhya- Faizabad as a municipal corporation-Nagar Nigam.

9. Telangana first state to have logo for vehicles driven by persons with hearing impairment Telangana is the first state to introduce a logo for identifying vehicles driven by persons with hearing impairment. The logo is designed by the Hyderabad-based graphic designer Manikanta Annapragada. He is the first person to obtain a driving license in the hearing impaired category.

10.On May 26, 2017, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated India’s longest river bridge, the Dhola-Sadiya bridge. This bridge has been named after late legendary singer Bhupen Hazarika. Sadiya was the birth place of Bhupen Hazarika.

11. On May 28, 2017, Delhi Chief Minister, Arvind Kejriwal and Union Urban Development Minister, M Venkaiah Naidu flagged off Heritage Line of Delhi Metro through video conferencing at Metro Bhawan in Delhi. Union Minister of Science and Technology, Harsh Vardhan was also present at the event.

About Heritage Line of Delhi Metro: This heritage line will connect Old Delhi areas with the commercial hub of Delhi at Janpath. • It is an extension of the existing Violet Line that runs between Faridabad and ITO and is expected to take onsiderable load off Chandni Chowk and Chawri Bazar stations of Yellow Line.

• Heritage Line comprises four stations viz. Kashmere Gate, Dilli Gate,Jama Masjid and Lal Qila on the stretch of 5.17 km. All these stations have been decorated in line with historical theme, depicting the glorious past and buzzing present. The artwork has been done by the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH).

FOREIGN VISITS

1. Sri Lanka PM Ranil Wickremesinghe’s 5-day visit to India Ranil Wickremesinghe, the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka was on an official visit to India from 25-30 April, 2017. He is the third leader from South Asian region to visit India during April 2017. Earlier, Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina (from 7th – 10th April) and President of Nepal Bidya Devi Bhandari (from 17th – 21st April) visited India.

India & Sri Lanka sign MoU on economic co-operation: On April 26, 2017, during the visit of Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, India and Sri Lanka signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on economic cooperation in New Delhi.

2. President of Cyprus Nicos Anastasiades has arrived in India on a 5-day visit Nicos Anastasiades, the President of Cyprus was on an official visit to India from 25-30 April 2017. He arrived in Mumbai on April 25, 2017. During his stay in Mumbai, he met Vidyasagar Rao – Governor of Maharashtra. He also gave a keynote address at a Business Forum.

• In New Delhi, Nicos Anastasiades was accorded a ceremonial guard of honour in the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhavan. He also paid tribute to Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat and described him as a "spiritual leader of Cyprus and inspiration for its freedom struggle".

3. Turkish President Erdogan to arrive New Delhi on 2-day India visit Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the President of Turkey was on an official visit to India from April 30, 2017 to May 1, 2017. This is Erdogan’s first visit to India as President of Turkey. Earlier, in 2008 he visited India as Prime Minister of Turkey.

India-Turkey Business Summit • India-Turkey Business Summit was held on May 1, 2017 in New Delhi. President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan along with his 150-member business delegation took part in this summit.


• PM Modi highlighted that India-Turkey bilateral trade has gone up to USD 6.4 billion in 2016 as compared to USD 2.8 billion in 2008. 4. Palestine President Mahmoud Abbas four day visit to India On May 14, 2017, Mahmoud Abbas – President of Palestine, arrived in India for a 4-day official visit. • During the course of his visit, Mr. Abbas held extensive talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on key bilateral, regional and international issues including the Middle East peace process.

• Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas presented a mosaic and an artwork to Prime Minister Narendra Modi with his name written in it in Arabic. He also visited C-DAC (the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing) in Noida to seek cooperation of Indian IT industry for Palestine-India Techno Park, being built by India in Ramallah, Palestine at cost of $12 million.

India and Palestine signed five MoUs

(i)Visa exemption for diplomatic passport holder (ii)Agricultural cooperation (iii)Cooperation in field of IT & Electronics (iv)Cooperation in health sector (v)Cooperation in the field of youth affairs and sports 5. PM Narendra Modi’s two day visit to Sri Lanka Prime Minister Narendra Modi was on a two-day visit to Sri Lanka on 11th and 12th May 2017. During this visit, he participated in the International Vesak Day celebrations, the biggest festival of Buddhists and attended several other programmes. PM Modi addresses Vesak Day celebrations in Colombo Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the chief guest for the 14th International Vesak Day celebration in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

6. Mauritius PM Pravind Jugnauth’s 3 day visit to India On May 26, 2017, Mauritius Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth arrived in India for a three-day official visit. • On May 26, 2017, he held discussions with Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu and Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.

• On May 27, 2017 Mr Jugnauth held delegation level talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. During the course of his visit, he also met President Mukherjee, Vice President Hamid Ansari, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Defence and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.

• India has announced USD 500 Million assistance in form of Line of Credit to Mauritius.

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

1.Turkey, Russia and Iran sign 'safe zones' deal for Syria Turkey, Russia and Iran has signed ‘safe zones’ deal for Syria to encourage an agreement between the Syrian government and the rebel forces. The deal was signed by the heads of the delegations that represents the three ally countries during peace talks in Kazakhstan’s capital city, Astana. The representative delegations reviewed the implementation of the ceasefire agreement and the termination of hostilities during the two-day talk in Astana.

The main objective of the deal is to put an immediate end to the violence. 2. World's first quantum computing machine made in China A team of Chinese scientists led by renowned quantum physicist Pan Jianwei have announced that they have built the world's first quantum computing machine that is 24,000 times faster than its international counterparts.

Researchers believe that quantum computers in some ways may dwarf the processing powers of current day supercomputers. Analogy to explain the power of quantum computing: Conventional computing is like reading a book in the library one at a time, whereas quantum computing is like reading all books in the library at the same time.

3. India to hold festival in Egypt to mark Rabindranath Tagore's birth anniversary India will organise cultural festival in Egypt to mark 156th birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore. Maulana Azad Centre for Indian Culture (MACIC), the cultural wing of the Indian Embassy in Cairo will organise this festival from 8th -12th May 2017, which will feature a dance show, film screening, a play and painting competition.

4. India to replace Maitri station in Antarctica, expand research activity India has planning to replace its Maitri research station in Antarctica with a new one in the next three to four years. India is drafting its own laws to safeguard its interest in Antarctica, as it is currently governed by international laws. India assured to expand its research activity in the Antarctica and a new ship, with a special ice- cutting facility, will be procured for the purpose.

5. World Health Organization (WHO) has declared an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo. According to WHO report at least one person has died after contracting the virus in the country's north-east.

More than 11,000 people died in the Ebola outbreak in West Africa in 2014-2015,mainly in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia. 6. India's 'Ujala' to light up homes in United Kingdom India has launched the process to export 'Ujala to the United Kingdom with affordable 'Made in India' LED bulbs. Ujala is globally one of the largest efficiency programmes and being run by Energy Efficiency Services Ltd. The programme has turned India into the world's LED capital, accounting for 10-12% of the global market 4 billion bulbs.

7. The Jaipur Literature Festival was inaugurated in London on 21st of May, 2017 At the festival South Asia's literary heritage, oral and performing arts, books and ideas, dialogue and debate are presented. It included a wide array of authors and artists from India and the UK. This year marks the fourth London edition of the festival, which has its roots in the Pink City of Jaipur where it marked its 10th anniversary in January this year.

8. Azraq has become the world's first refugee camp powered by renewable energy. To serve 20,000 Syrian refugees in the remote Azraq camp in Jordan's desert the United Nations refugee agency switched on a newly built solar power plant. The $9.7 million plant was funded by the Ikea the global home furnishings retailer.

9. Japan is going to build a war museum at MaibamLokpaChing in Manipur’s Bishenpur district. MaibamLokpaChing is a historical place where the British and the Japanese fought during the Second World War. On special occasions, relatives of the Japanese soldiers who died during the war, come to Manipur in memory of their loved ones. About 70,000 Japanese has lost their lives in the Imphal and Kohima battles, which are regarded as the fiercest.

10.5th edition of Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction (GPDRR) took place from 22nd to 26th May 2017, in Cancun, Mexico. Around 4,000 participants and delegations from over 180 countries attended this 5th edition of the Global Platform which was held outside Geneva, Switzerland for the first time and hosted and co-organised with the Mexican government.


This is the first international summit on disaster since the Sendai Framework, which was adopted in 2015 in Japan. 6th edition of Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction will take place in 2019 in Geneva, Switzerland.

11.The first-ever women television channel “Zan TV (or Women’s TV)” has started in Kabul, Afghanistan. It has been started on May 30, 2017 with a staff of all female presenters and producers.

Founder of Zan TV is Hamid Samar

SUMMITS & CONFERENCES

1.On May 4, 2017, Minister of Road Transport and Highways Mr. Nitin Gadkari inaugurated the first ever India Integrated Transport and Logistics Summit (IITLS) in New Delhi. This three- day summit has been organised by Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.

2. Sushma inaugurates 8th conference of head of missions in Delhi External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has inaugurated the eighth conference of head of missions in Delhi. It is a four-day annual conference which aims to discuss major developments globally and how India should mould its policy to deal with them. India’s ties with the African continent as well as with the Gulf countries and the situation in the Middle East are also expected to be discussed during the meet.

3.First outreach programme of the Ministry of External Affairs, ‘Videsh Sampark’ was hosted in Telangana. The conference was held on May 13, 2017 in Hyderabad. It was inaugurated by Gen. V.K. Singh - Minister of State for External Affairs. The objective of ‘Videsh Sampark’ conference is to involve State Governments in creating awareness on the schemes and initiatives launched by Ministry of External Affairs pertaining to consular and passport services, engagement with overseas Indians, and welfare and protection of overseas Indians.

4. The 2017 Arctic Energy Summit (AES) will be held in Helsinki, Finland from September 18- 20 2017. It will be hosted by the Institute of the North and Finland Ministry of Economy and Employment. The 2017 Arctic Energy Summit builds on the Sustainable Development Working Group’s. It addresses energy as a fundamental element of the sustainable development of the Arctic, and occurs during Finland’s Chairmanship of the Arctic Council (2017-2019). The three-day Summit will focus on a diverse set of topics, including: oil and gas; geothermal, solar, wind, hydro and tidal energy; utilities; microgrids; energy policy and regulation; community impacts; energy finance and investment; climate change; and energy security.

5. India skips One Belt One Road Summit in Beijing. India boycotted the two-day conference on China’s "One Belt One Road" (OBOR) initiative, which was held in Beijing on 14th and 15th May 2017. The boycott by India is a diplomatic retaliation to China ’s action of blocking India’s membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) and blocking UN sanctions on Pakistan-based terrorist Masood Azhar.

6. 43rd G7 summit was held on May 26–27, 2017 in Taormina, Sicily, Italy. The summit was attended by leaders of G7 countries viz. US, UK, Germany, France, Italy, Japan and Canada as well as the representatives of European Union.

G7 presidency rotates annually between member countries. Presidency for the year 2017 is held by Italy. The theme of the Ital ian G7 presidency in 2017 is "Building the foundations of renewed trust."

7. On May 22, 2017, Dharmendra Pradhan - Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Petroleum and Natural Gas, co-chaired the 2 nd India-OPEC Institutional Dialogue at the OPEC headquarters in Vienna, Austria. Mr.Pradhan held a one-to-one meeting with Mr Mohammad Sanusi Barkindo - Secretary General of OPEC.

8. 3rd RCEP Inter-sessional Ministerial Meeting. 3rd Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Inter-sessional Ministerial Meeting was held on 21-22 May 2017 in Hanoi, Vietnam.

♦ Trade Ministers of all 16 RCEP countries participated in this meeting. ♦ Indian delegation to this meeting was led by Union Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. ♦ As Philippines is currently holding the Presidency of ASEAN, the RCEP Inter-sessional Ministerial Meeting was chaired by Ramon Lopez - Trade Minister and Industry Minister of Philippines.

9. Start Up India Summit held In UAE A two-day ‘Startup India Summit’ was held in Abu Dhabi, UAE, on 23rd and 24th May 2017. This summit was held by the Consul General of India (CGI) in Dubai and Embassy of India in Abu Dhabi in partnership with iSPIRIT, a nonprofit think tank and was supported by TiE Dubai, a nonprofit association dedicated to fostering entrepreneurship.

The summit aimed to provide a shared platform for the Startup eco system in both, India and UAE for greater collaboration, exchange of ideas, interaction with academia, investors and industry and for having access to funding from the venture capitalist in the UAE.

10. The 28th edition of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit has started in Brussels, Belgium on May 24 and 25, 2017. The top agenda of the meeting was terrorism. It is also expected that NATO is to join the US-led anti-Islamic State coalition (IS). The main aim is to fight against Islamist terrorism. The 2018 NATO summit will be held in Istanbul, Turkey.

11.India’s Ministry of External Affairs hosted the 'India-Pacific Islands Sustainable Development Conference’ in Suva, Fiji, on 25th and 26th May 2017. The conference was inaugurated by Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, the Acting Prime Minister of Fiji. It was held under the framework of the Forum for India Pacific Islands Co-operation (FIPIC). The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) was key knowledge partner.Minister of State for External Affairs, Gen. (Dr.) V K Singh hosted the conference. He also announced that India will contribute US$ 1 million to Fiji’s Trust Fund for their Presidency of COP-23 to be held in November 2017.

12. 70th World Health Assembly (WHA70) was held from 22nd to 31st May 2017 in Geneva, Switzerland. Dr Margaret Chan gave her last address as Director-General of the WHO, with her tenure coming to an end. Member States of WHO, elected Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus as the new Director- General of WHO. Delegates at the World Health Assembly approved the organization’s proposed programme budget of US$ 4421.5 million for the biennium, which includes a 3% (or US$ 28 million) increase in Member State assessed contributions for 2018–2019.

RANKINGS & REPORTS

1.On May 4, 2017 Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu released 3rd edition of the Swachh Survekshan which ranked 434 Indian cities on various cleanliness parameters. Indore in Madhya Pradesh emerged as the cleanest city and Gonda in Uttar Pradesh ranked at the bottom as the dirtiest city.

2. India to clock 7.1 per cent GDP this year, 7.5 per cent in 2018: UN report As per 'The Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific 2017' released by UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), Indian economy is expected to register 7.1% GDP growth in 2017 and 7.5% in 2018.

The survey was launched by ESCAP Executive Secretary Shamshad Akhtar in Bangkok.


Growth Outlook for India: The survey has forecasted 7.1% growth for Indian economy in 2017. The growth will come on the back of increased Government spending on infrastructure projects and remonetisation activity by Reserve Bank of India, which is expected to restore consumption patterns.

3. Indian has ranked 2nd among 40 countries on ‘Renewable Energy Country Attractiveness Index’ 2017 released by Ernst and Young (EY). This marks an improvement of one spot as compared to 3rd rank in 2016.

India maintained its upward trajectory on the index on account of Central Government’s programme to build 175 GW in renewable energy generation by year 2022. This initiative is in direction to realise a larger vision of wherein renewable energy will account for 40% of installed capacity by year 2040.

4. India has ranked 154th among 195 countries on healthcare index in Lancet medical journal’s report titled 'Global Burden of Disease'. Performance of countries was assessed for a period of 25 years from 1990-2015, based on death rates from 32 diseases that could be avoided by effective medical care.

• Tuberculosis, diabetes, diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus and measles, treatable cancer, rheumatic heart disease, hypertensive heart disease, chronic kidney disease, and maternal or neonatal disorders are some of the diseases for which death rate was tracked.

5. As per Savills Tech Cities 2017 rankings, Bengaluru has been adjudged as the most affordable city having the lowest cost of l iving out of 22 tech cities across the world.

6. According to the International Stainless Steel Forum (ISSF) in May 2017 India overtook Japan to become the second-largest steel producer in the world in 2016.

The data was released by the International Stainless Steel Forum at a annual conference in Tokyo, Japan. The top producer of the steel of the world in the year 2016 is China. In 2016-17 India became net exporter of steel with 8.2 MT of exports, registering a 102 per cent growth over previous fiscal

7. Two Indian cities Mumbai and Kota have been named among the world's most crowded cities. According to World Economic Forum (WEF) citing UN Habitat data the list is topped by Dhaka.

• Dhaka has a population density of 44,500 people per square kilometer. Dhaka is the most crowded city on the planet, followed by India's financial capital Mumbai.

Mumbai has a population density of 31,700 people per square kilometre at the second place. Medellin in Columbia ranked third with 19,700 people per square kilometer followed by Manila at the 4th place with a density of 14,800. 8. Taj Mahal only Indian monument to figure in top 10 global landmarks Taj Mahal is the only Indian monument which has featured in the list of top 10 Global Landmarks, by Traveller ’s Choice. Taj Mahal has secured 5th position on this list.

Traveller’s Choice Top 10 Global Landmarks: Rank Landmark

1 Angkor Wat in Siem Reap 2 Zayed Grand Mosque Center in Abu Dhabi 3 Mezquita Cathedral de Cordoba in Cordoba 4 St Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City 5 Taj Mahal in Agra 6 Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood in St Petersburg 7 Great Wall at Mutianyu in Beijing 8 Machu Picchu 9 Plaza de Espana 10 Duomo di Milano 9. Mukesh Ambani tops Forbes list of Global Game Changers Mukesh Ambani, a Reliance Industries Chairman has topped the Forbes list of ‘Global Game Changers’. i. The top 3 spots in the list have been occupied by: Mukesh Ambani of India (1st), Ziv Aviram, Amnon Shashua of Israel (2nd), Stewart Butterfield of United States (3rd).

ii. The oldest person to feature on the list is Christo Wiese, 75, who is credited for creating Africa’s largest retail empire.

BANKING & FINANCE

1. President promulgates ordinance on empowering RBI on bad loans resolution To initiate insolvency proceedings for the recovery of bad loans the government gave wide-ranging legislative powers to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to issue directions to lenders.

Non-performing assets (NPAs) or bad loans of public sector banks (PSBs) have reached at a very high level over Rs 6 lakh crore in sectors such as power, steel, road infrastructure and textiles. The much-awaited ordinance to amend the Banking Regulation Act was announced by President Pranab Mukherjee. Under this Reserve Bank to issue directions to any banking companies to initiate insolvency resolution process in respect of a default under the provisions of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), 2016.

2. AIIB grants $160 million for Andhra Pradesh power project Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank has approved $ 160 million loan for a power project in Andhra Pradesh. India is the second largest shareholder of Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) after China. Its aim is to strengthen the power transmission and distribution system in Andhra Pradesh. DJ Pandian is the Vice President and Chief Investment Officer of the AIIB. Andhra Pradesh is one of the first states to be selected for this programme. It helps in improving system reliability and also helps in improving the commercial performance of the state’s distribution companies.

3. Ujjivan Small Finance Bank commences operations in Pune.Ujjivan Small Finance Bank has started its operations in Pune. Its total branches now come to 30 across the country.It has started its operations from 4 locations. The four locations are Swargate, Pimpri, Akurdi and Hadapsar. It provide services like doorstep banking, mobile, internet and phone banking, access to biometric ATMs and Aadhar enabled debit cards. It offers savings bank account with no charges for minimum balance.

4. ADB Predicts 7.4 percent growth for Indian Economy this Fiscal.Asian Development Bank predicts 7.4% in the current fiscal year 2017-18 and 7.1% in the fiscal year.It is projected by ADB that India market is more deregulated and have open the paths to welcoming to FDIs. One of the reasons of Asian economies growth is that they have enjoyed from open free trade system. The overall export performance of India is also become positive day by day. ADB forecast 7.6% growth for next year.


5. ICICI to make 600 villages digitally-enabled in 2017.On May 2, 2017, ICICI Bank said it has made 100 villages digitally-enabled in 2017 and plans to transform 500 more by the year-end. The 100 villages which have been transformed into 'ICICI Digital Villages' are located across 17 states in India. These include 16 in Gujarat, 14 each in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, 12 each in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka and 11 in Rajasthan among others.

6. On May 9, 2017, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) extended the deadline for companies undertaking billing business under the Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS) by seven months to December 31, 2017. The extension has been granted on account of difficulties expressed by various entities in meeting the deadline. The extension is for those companies intending to become an agent of an authorised Bharat Bill Payment Operating Unit (BBPOU) or wants to exit the business of bill payments. As per the guidelines issued on November 28, 2014, for implementation of BBPS, banks and non-bank entities, currently engaged in the bill payment activities covered under ambit of BBPS can participate either as Bharat Bill Payment Operating Units (BBPOUs) or as an agent of an authorized BBPOU.

7. The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has raised Rs. 3000 crore through Masala Bonds at London Stock Exchange. Funds raised through these Masala Bonds will be used for constructing roads and transport infrastructure in India.

The NHAI Masala Bonds issue was launched by Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari on May 11, 2017, in London. Initially, issue size of NHAI Masala Bonds was Rs. 1500 crore. Owing to positive response from investors, the issue size was raised to Rs. 3000 crore.These bonds will give 3% annual returns to investors. It is the largest ever 5-year issuance and also the largest inaugural transaction so far in the masala bond market.

8. The Finance Ministry has set up an "Investor Facilitation Platform". It will provide information about stocks of public sector units. The platform that launched by the DIPAM is developed and maintained by PRIME Database. PRIME Database is India's first database that works for the primary capital market covering fund raising by the Indian corporate sector and the Government through equity, debt or securitization, in India or abroad.

9. LIC Housing Finance Launches New Home Loan Product Griha Siddhi' LIC Housing Finance launches new home loan product Griha Siddhi Griha Siddhi will offer loans for construction, purchase of house or flat and repairs or renovation to the existing properties. It will offer interest rate of 40 per cent up to Rs 25 lakh and for loans up to Rs 1 crore the interest rate will be 8.50 per cent per annum for the borrowers. For women borrowers a special interest rate of 35 per cent for loans up to Rs 25 lakh.

10.The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has initiated an action on IDBI Bank that will restrict bank from hiring, opening branches and giving big ticket loans. The directions from the RBI is aimed at ensuring that the bank takes measures to cut down its losses by reducing expenses and recovering problem loans from hiring, opening branches. IDBI Bank is the first bank against which the revised PCA has been implored..

11.SBI revises service charges; to charge ATM withdrawals at Rs 25.State Bank of India the country's largest public sector lender has announced that it will start levying charges of Rs 25 for every withdrawal done at its automated teller machine or ATM kiosks. The bank has also mentioned that it will also charge the amount for exchange of "sullied" notes worth and above Rs 5,000. All categories require Rs 5,000, Rs 3,000, Rs 2,000 and Rs 1,000 minimum balance to be maintained to avoid suspension of the accounts.

12. RBI issues new branch expansion norms. To promote financial inclusion, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has allowed the opening of mini branches or banking outlets across the country without taking permission from the regulator.

i. It is applicable to all domestic scheduled commercial banks except Regional Rural Banks. ii. According to RBI norms banks need to open atleast 25 per cent of their banking outlets in a year in unbanked rural centres. The RBI also clarified that ATM kiosks, cash depositing counters and mobile branches will not be treated as banking outlets. RBI also mentioned that the first branch opened in a tier five or tier six city will be ounted as a banking outlet.

13. HDFC Life has announced the launch of an artificial intelligence-based application named SPOK. i. It can automatically read, understand, categorise, prioritise and respond to customer emails sent to the private insurer. SPOK is an insurance email bot that can read customer queries within milliseconds and respond to them.

ii. The email Bot is built on cutting-edge Artificial Intelligence and Natural Language Processing technologies 14. Government has announced that 'entertainment tax' levied by states has been subsumed in the GST and thus, taxation on cable and DTH services shall come down post the roll-out of GST from July 1, 2017.

Taxation on Entertainment, Cable and DTH under GST regime: i. Finance Ministry has stated that services by way of admission to entertainment events or cinematography films in cinema theatres will attract 28% GST.

ii. Currently, states impose entertainment tax of up to 100 per cent in respect of exhibition of cinematography films in theatres/cinema halls. Under GST, the entertainment tax has been subsumed, and hence only the taxes levied by a panchayat or municipality on entertainments and amusements will continue.

In addition to the benefit of lower headline rates of GST, the entertainment service providers shall be eligible for full input tax credits (ITC) of GST paid in respect of inputs and input services. GST Council has finalised 18% tax rate on cable TV and Direct-To- Home (DTH) services.

15. SBI launches national hackathon. State Bank of India (SBI) has launched a National Hackathon for developers, start-ups and students. The main aim to launch National hackathaon is to come up with innovative ideas and solutions for the banking sector. Hackathon which will start from June 6, 2017 and ends on June 20, 2017. The hackathon has named 'Code For Bank'.

16.The Reserve Bank of India will soon circulate one rupee notes while the existing notes and coins will also continue. The new notes will be in Pink-Green colour with the representation of the one rupee coin on the reverse of the note. According to RBI these currency notes are legal tender as provided in The Coinage Act 2011. The new notes will bear the bilingual signature of economic affairs secretary Shaktikanta Das.

17.Google has announced the new "Solve for India" initiative for tier-2 cities. Tier-2 cities include Pune, Jaipur, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Kochi, Indore, Nagpur, Nashik, Madurai, Kanpur, and Chennai. Areas include agri-tech, healthcare, transportation, education, sanitation and more. Entrepreneurs will now have the opportunity to learn directly from Google engineers.

18.Bharti Airtel has announced a strategic partnership with taxi aggregator Ola. It aims to offer a range of exciting digital services to customers. Airtel Payments Banks, India's first payment bank, will join hands with Ola app to offer convenient digital payments solutions to customers for their rides. communication and mobility needs.

19. Anti-dumping duty imposed on certain glasses from Iran and aluminum radiators from China in order to protect the domestic industry from cheap imports. The imposed fine on both products and it would be effective for a period of five years. The anti-dumping steps are not taken to restrict imports or cause an unreasonable increase in the cost of products but instead to ensure fair trade and to provide a level-playing field to the domestic industry.


20.As per a latest report, released by Brand Finance on May 17, 2017, Tata Group is India’s most valuable brand, carrying an estimated brand value of $13.1 billion. Tata retained top position as India’s most valuable brand despite 4% reduction in its brand value as compared to 2016.The total brand value of India’s top 100 brands grew by 15% in 2017. This growth is higher than the global average of 11%.

21.The Finance Ministry has imposed definitive anti-dumping duty on ‘clear float glass’ imports from Iran. Clear float glass is a superior quality of glass which is used in the construction, refrigeration, mirror and solar energy industries. The definitive anti-dumping duty imposed by the Revenue Department will be valid for five year.

22.BHEL has commissioned a 250 mw thermal unit in Maharashtra. The project is owned by Maharashtra State Power Generation Company (Mahagenco). The unit has been commissioned at Parli Thermal Power Station (TPS), located in Beed district in the Marathwada region of Maharashtra.

23.Apple has opened its first store in Southeast Asia at Singapore. Apple already has almost 500 stores globally with more than a million visitors daily. Apart from Singapore it has stores located in Hong Kong, China and Japan in Asia. Apple expects this store to be one of the most of the most popular stores in the world. The tech giant celebrated its 40th anniversary last year.

24.The government has announced the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) to grant Industrial licences to defence manufacturers. DIPP will now process the applications for grant of licence for manufacture of defence items. Before DIPP the Home Ministry was carrying out this exercise. The department, under the commerce and industry ministry, is mainly responsible for formulation of polices with regard to promotion of foreign investment and manufacturing industries.

AWARDS & RECOGNITIONS

1.Shabana Azmi starrer The Black Prince awarded at film fest in Houston On the occasion of the 50th annual world fest houstan international film festival awarded the special jury remi award to Indian actress Shabana Azmi and singer-poet Satinder Sartaaj on 3 May 2017. Shabana Azmi got the award for her starring role in Hollywood film 'The Black Prince'. 'The Black Prince' is a life story of the last king of Punjab - Maharajah Duleep Singh. Maharajah Duleep Singh was also named as the Black Prince of Perthshire.

2. Bengaluru FC skipper Chhetri wins Hero of I-League award Bengaluru FC (Bengaluru Football Club) skipper Sunil Chhetri, who scored seven goals in the recently concluded edition of the I-League football tournament, has won the most coveted Hero of the League award.

3. Sachin Tendulkar Conferred With Fellowship Award In UK Sachin Tendulkar conferred with Fellowship Award at the 7th annual Asian Awards in UK. India’s cricket icon plans to support charities and various initiatives to help the under-privileged people in the second innings of his life. He also plans to provide solar lights to poor people in India. The ceremony, which celebrates excellence in the global Asian community, also paid tribute toIndian actor Om Puri.

4. Emma Watson takes first major gender-neutral movie award On May 7, 2017, actress, Emma Watson became the first person to win the MTV Movie and TV Awards’ new gender-neutral Best Actor in a Movie award for her performance as Belle in “Beauty and the Beast.” This year, MTV Movie and TV Awards’ also added a gender-less best actor category award for television. In this context, ‘gender-neutral’ means, every award category had a single list of male as well as female nominees together, unlike Oscars or Golden Globe, which have separate categories for Male Actor and Female Actor.

5. VVS Laxman named an Honorary Life Member of MCC Former India batsman V V S Laxman was awarded an honorary life membership to the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) on 11 May 2017. Laxman is the fifth Indian to receive the honour, after Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly and Zaheer Khan. He was a right-hand batsman, who played mostly in the lower middle order.In 2012, he retired from international cricket.

6. ICICI Bank Chief Chanda Kochhar receives 'Woodrow Wilson Award' for global corporate citizenship Chanda Kochhar, the Managing Director and Chief Executive of ICICI Bank became the first Indian woman to be conferred with the prestigious Woodrow Wilson Award for Global Corporate Citizenship. The award was conferred by Woodrow Wilson Centre on May 10, 2017 in Washington DC, US. Ms. Kochhar received this award for demonstrating a commitment to the common good beyond the bottom line. 2017 Woodrow Wilson Award for Public Service has been conferred on United States Senator, Mitch McConnell.

7. ISRO receives 2014 Indira Gandhi Peace Prize On May 18, 2017, Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh presented the 2014 Indira Gandhi Peace Prize to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) at a function in New Delhi. The prize was announced in the year 2014 by the jury headed by the Vice President M. Hamid Ansari. The Prize was presented to AS Kiran Kumar - hairman of ISRO, in presence of Sonia Gandhi, Chairperson of the Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust (IGMT).

8. Deveshwar, Soumitra Chatterjee conferred Bengal's highest civilian award Thespian Soumitra Chatterjee and India’s longest serving boss Y.C. Deveshwar have been conferred with the Banga Samman.It is the West Bengal’s highest civilian award, by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

9. Nepalese woman breaks world record for Most Everest summits A 44-year-old Nepalese mountaineer Lhakpa Sherpa has broken her own world record for the most Everest summits by a woman after scaling the world’s tallest peak for the eighth time.

10. Jacqueline Fernandez wins humanitarian award for her philanthropic work in India. Bollywood actress Jacqueline Fernandez has received the International Humanitarian Award at the second annual Asian Voice Charity Awards. These awards have been instituted by Asian Voice, a leading British Asian news weekly. Jacqueline has been given this award for her humanitarian work in India and abroad.

11. ‘The Square' wins top award at Cannes Film Festival 2017.The Ruben Ostlund-directed satire ‘The Square’ has won the top prize at the 70th Cannes Film Festival 2017.

The movie is directed by the Ruben Ostlund. Sofia Coppola became the second woman in the festival ’s history to win best director at this auteurist temple.

12. Lionel Messi wins fourth Golden Shoe, ties record with Cristiano Ronaldo.Professional football player Lionel Messi has won the European Golden Shoe for a fourth time. Playing for FC Barcelona, Lionel Messi scored 37 goals this season. With the fourth Golden shoe to his name, Messi has equalled Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo’s record. Lionel Messi topped the Golden Shoe table by scoring 37 goals and securing 74 points, and was ahead of Bas Dost of Sporting Lisbon by six points.

13. Priyanka to receive Dadasaheb Phalke Academy Award Actress Priyanka Chopra has received the Dadasaheb Phalke Academy Award. Priyanka has received the award for being an international icon. The event will be held at Bhaidas Hall, Vile Parle West in Mumbai. She will be given the award for newly introduced 'Internationally Acclaimed Actress' category at a ceremony.


14. Author Jhumpa Lahiri wins 2017 PEN/Malamud award. Author Jhumpa Lahiri wins PEN/Malamud Award 2017.PEN/Faulkner Foundation has announced that Professor of Creative Writing Jhumpa Lahiri is the recipient of the 2017 PEN/Malamud Award for Excellence in the Short Story.

APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNS

1.Mr Anthony Lianzuala takes over as the new controller General of Accounts (CGA) Mr. Anthony Lianzuala has become the New Controller General of Accounts (CGA). Anthony Lianzuala is a 1982-batch Indian Civil Accounts Service (ICAS) Officer. MrLianzuala was the first Director of training institute in the field of Public Financial Management and Accounting in the North-East named INGAF-NER, based in Aizawl, Mizoram.

2. Shobana Kamineni to take over as new CII president Shobana Kamineni has been appointed as first Woman President of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)on May 1, 2017. Shobana is an executive vice chairperson of the Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Limited. She is also vice-chairperson of the KEI Group, a diversified logistics, leisure & infrastructure business.

3. Mallikarjun Kharge appointed as new chairman of PAC Mallikarjun Kharge is appointed as the Chairperson of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the Parliament. Mallikarjun Kharge replaced K.V. Thomas. The Public Accounts Committee PAC has 14 members from Lok Sabha and seven from Rajya Sabha.

4. Moon Jae-in elected South Korea President South Korea has chosen Moon Jae as its new President. Center-left candidate Moon Jae-in was elected by a majority of votes. Moon has replaced President Park Geun-hye. He belongs to liberal Democratic Party. He leads with 41.1% of the vote.

5. Baahubali 2' becomes first Indian movie to cross Rs 1000 cr at box office Baahubali 2 is the first Indian movie to cross Rs 1000 croremark with its worldwide collections. Baahubali 2 crossed the 800 crore mark on 6th. Baahubali 2 Director SS Rajamouli.

6. Emmanuel Macron to be France’s youngest President Emmanuel Macron an Independent centrist has become France’s youngest-ever president. He is 39. Emmanuel promised to unite a divided and fractured France. Despite Le Pen’s loss, she marked a historical high point for the French righ.

7. Sanjay Mitra appointed as new Defense Secretary Sanjay Mitra will be the next defence secretary of the country. He is the 1982 batch IAS officer from West Bengal cadre. He will assume charge on May 24 when incumbent G Mohan Kumar retires.He was holding the charge of secretary in the ministry of road transport and highways.

8. Sohail Mahmood, Pakistan's new High Commissioner to India Sohail Mahmood the senior most officer of Pakistan Foreign Service has been designated as Pakistan’s new High Commissioner to India. 9. V K Saraswat appointed new JNU Chancellor On May 11, 2017, V K Saraswat, Scientist and former Director General of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) was appointed as Chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru University for a five-year term. V K Saraswat succeeds former Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman, K Kasturirangan, who completed his term on March 30, 2017.

10. Venu Rajamony appointed India's ambassador to Netherlands Venu Rajamony a Press Secretary to President Pranab Mukherjee and senior diplomat has been appointed India's Ambassador to the Netherlands.

11. Harsh Vardhan Gets Additional Charge Of Environment Ministry The Minister of Science and Technology and Earth Sciences, Dr. Harsh Vardhan has been given additional charge of the Environment Ministry. Dr Harsh Vardhan, a senior minister in the Narendra Modi cabinet, holds the charge of the ministries of earth sciences and science and technology. For a brief period in 2014, Harsh Vardhan was the Health Minister in the Modi cabinet.

12. Emmanuel Macron picks centre-right Édouard Philippe as PM French President Emmanuel Macron on 15 May 2017 named Edouard Philippe as the Prime Minister of the country. Edouard Philippe from a center-right party and he is a member of the Les Republicans party. Edouard Philippe is a French lawyer and politician and he was born on 28 November 1970.

13. Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' Resigns As Nepal Prime Minister Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' announced his resignation while addressing the nation in a live telecast. It was his second stint as the Prime Minister. He was elected as the 39th Prime Minister of Nepal.

14. P V Sindhu elected to Badminton World Federation Athletes’ Commission On May 24, 2017, Indian badminton player P.V. Sindhu became the second Indian to be inducted in the Badminton World Federation (BWF) Athletes' Commission. India’s Saina Nehwal is already in the BWF Athletes’ Commission. In the election which took place on the sidelines of the Sudirman Cup in Gold Coast, PV Sindhu topped the ballot with 129 votes. PV Sindhu, along with Marc Zweibler of Germany and Kristy Gilmour of Scotland will serve a four-year term in this role.

15. Anurag Tripathy appointed as secretary of CBSE Anurag Tripathy has appointed as Secretary of CBSE. A 1998 batch officer of Indian Railway personnel Service (IRPS) Anurag Tripathy has appointed the new secretary of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE). It is appointed by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT). He will hold the post for a period of five years.

16. Syed Ghayorul Hasan Rizvi assumes charge of Chairman of National Commission for Minorities Syed Ghayorul Hasan Rizvi has assumed a charge of the Chairman of the National Commission for Minorities in New Delhi. He served as Chairman, U.P Minority Finance Development Corporation Ltd. Syed Ghayorul Hasan Rizvi is a graduate in Arts and also holds Diploma in Mechanics.

17. Manipur Governor, Najma Heptulla appointed as Jamia Chancellor Manipur Governor Najma Heptulla has been unanimously appointed as the Chancellor (Amir-e- Jamia) of Jamia Millia Islamia for a five year term by the University’s Court (Anjuman). She succeeds Lt. Gen. (Retd.) M.A. Zaki, who will complete his five-year term this month. Appointment of Najma Heptulla was confirmed by Tala Ahmad, the Vice-Chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia. She has been a five-time member of the Rajya Sabha, and it’s Deputy Chairman for 16 years.

18. Banks Board Bureau gets 2 more members Shubhalaxmi Panse and Pradip Shah The appointment of two additional members of Banks Board Bureau (BBB) has announced on 30th of May. The members are as follows:


Former Allahabad Bank chairperson and managing director Shubhalaxmi Panse. Private equity player Pradip Shah has been chosen into the board as independent members.

19. George Kurian appointed as Vice-Chairperson Of National Commission for Minorities George Kurian has been appointed as vice-chairman of National Commission for Minorities on 30th May, 2017. He is a renowned social and educational activist from Kerala. Other members of the Commission are Sulekha Kumbhare, Sunil Singhi and Vada Dasturji Khurshed Kaikobad Dastoor.

SCHEMES

1.Haryana govt to offer meals at subsidised rates for workers The Haryana government has decided to open canteens that offer meals at subsidized rates for workers. It offers meals to registered construction workers under the Antyodaya Anna Yojana, at 23 locations in the state. Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) is a Government of India sponsored scheme to provide highly subsidized food to millions of the poorest families. Mobile food vans would also be started at 23 convenient sites with large number of workers. Meals would be served in these canteens between 8 am and 2 pm.

2. India to give Rs 35 cr to children of freedom fighters in Bangladesh Under the new ‘Muktijodha scholarship’ scheme India will give Rs. 35 crore rupees to children of freedom fighters in Bangladesh in the next five years. All freedom fighters will be eligible for multiple entries on Indian visa for a period of five years. Every year 100 of them will be entitled to free medical treatment in Indian hospitals.

3. PM Narendra Modi launches Sampada scheme for value addition of agriculture produce On May 26, 2017, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the launch of the new scheme SAMPADA (Scheme for Agro-Marine Processing and Development of Agro- Processing Clusters) which will bring value addition of agriculture produce and will thereby increase farmers ’ income. PM announced this scheme at a ceremony for laying the foundation stone of Indian agricultural research institute in Gogamukh in Assam Details about SAMPADA (Scheme for Agro-Marine Processing and Development of Agro- Processing Clusters):

Financial Outlay: Rs. 6000 crore To be implemented by: FY 2019-20 4. PM Modi launches Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Sanchar Kaushal Vikas Pratisthan Scheme This scheme aims to train rural youth to maintain mobile towers, repair optical fibres and fix other communication technologies. Under first phase of this scheme, training will be provided to 10,000 people from 10 States/UTs including Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha, Punjab and Haryana. Government will spend Rs. 7 crore for this purpose.

5. 'Maa’ committee formed to check mid-day meal quality in UP schools A Mother’s Day gift has given for lakhs of children and their moms in Uttar Pradesh. Maa committee is formed to check mid-day meal quality in UP schools. Maa committee will aim to get nutritious food prepared in hygienic conditions. It is served to students in state-run primary schools.This scheme will be introduced on 14th of May.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

1.Strike-delayed European Rocket launches In French Guiana An Ariane 5 rocket that carries two telecommunications satellites for South Korea and Brazil blasted off on 5th May. It was delayed since March 20 due to a incapacitate strike in French Guiana. The rocket launched at 6:51 pm (2151 GMT) from Europe's space port in Kourou, Guiana, and Arianespace. It helps to provide internet access to remote and underserved communities. The first satellite, SGDC, separated from the rocket just over 28 minutes after lift-off. The second, KOREASAT-7, was placed in orbit a little more than 36 minutes from launch.

2. NETRA inducts India's first high temperature drop tube reactor India's first of its kind, indigenously developed high temperature drop tube reactor (DTR) system has been installed by NTPC Energy Technology Research Alliance (NETRA). The DTR system is used for designing advanced ultra super critical technology, combustion characterisation of coal/biomass, and reducing carbon footprint from the fossil fuel plants.

3. Indian GSLV Rocket lifts off successfully with South Asia Communications Satellite Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Gift’ to south Asian nations, the South Asia Satellite (GSAT- 9) was successfully launched on May 5, 2017, by ISRO from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh. GSAT-9 was launched using ISRO’s GSLV-F09 rocket.

• South Asia Satellite will improve disaster and telecommunication links between India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Maldives. About South Asia Satellite: It is a geosynchronous communications and meteorology satellite developed by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Weight: 2230 kg, Transponders: 12 Ku-band transponders (36 Mhz each), Mission Life: More than 12 years, Cost: 235 crore (entirely funded by India) 4. SpaceX Launches Intelligence Mission on Falcon 9 US based rocket manufacturing company SpaceX successfully launched and landed a rocket carrying carrying NROL-76 for US intelligence from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida on May 1, 2017. This was the fourth SpaceX booster landing at Cape Canaveral and fifth successful mission in 2017. It is the SpaceX's first recycled rocket flew last month.

5. Department of telecom launches ‘Tarang Sanchar’ portal for information on mobile tower radiation Department of Telecom (DoT), Ministry of Communications has launched Tarang Sanchar.It is a web portal for Information sharing on Mobile Towers and EMF Emission Compliances. It will allow tracking of radiation emitted from mobile towers within their locality. It checks their compliance with the Electromagnetic field (EMF) emission norms defined by the government.

6. Rajnath Singh launches the MHA Mobile Application for Grievances Redressal of CAPF personnel Home Minister Rajnath Singh has launched a Mobile-based grievance redressal application for central paramilitary personnel, development. The app is launched against the backdrop of huge incidents of troopers taking to social media to voice their complaints. Family of every trooper killed in action gets a compensation of at least Rs 1 crore.

7. Swachh Bharat App Launched in National Museum "Swachh Bharat App” has been launched in National Museum under Ministry of Culture by the Minister of State (I/C) for Culture & Tourism Dr Mahesh Sharma. The main focus of this “Swachh Bharat App” is to basically involve people actively to become part of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (Clean India Movement).

8. LCA Tejas successfully test fires beyond visual range missile


On May 11, 2017, indigenously-built Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas, successfully test fired Beyond Visual Range (BVR) air-to-air missile. The success of this test asserts that LCA Tejas can now be loaded with missiles having BVR capabilities. LCA Tejas fired the missile to strike a manoeuvrable aerial target. The test was conducted to assess the integration of the Derby BVR missile with avionics, fire-control radar, launchers and missile weapon delivery system of Tejas.

9. Arun Jaitley, launches Operation Clean Portal Arun Jaitley the Union Minister of Finance has launched the Portal of Operation Clean Money https://www.cleanmoney.gov.in. in New Delhi. Its aim is to tab dishonest citizens hiding their income to the authorities and Government.

10. Indian Teen from Tamil Nadu develops the world’s smallest satellite for NASA A18-year-old boy from Tamil Nadu has created the world’s smallest satellite named ‘KalamSat’. It is developed by Riftah Sharook.He is from Pallapatti town; Tamil Nadu. KalamSat weighs only 64 grams and is named after former President APJ Abdul Kalam.

11. ISRO and NASA collaborate to build Earth - imaging satellite NISAR NASA and ISRO will collaborate to build Earth - imaging satellite NISAR. It has launched the world’s biggest and most expensive earth imaging satellite. It total cost $1.5 billion. The satellite has been named NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR).

12. Neil Armstrong's moon dust bag may fetch $4 mn at auction An extremely rare bag used by NASA astronaut Neil Armstrong to collect the first dust samples from the Moon may fetch up to USD 4 million at an auction in the US.

13. China launches Satellite Navigation Positioning System China has launched national satellite navigation and positioning system on 28th of May. It will provide positioning service to transportation, emergency medical rescue and city planning and management. China will launch 18 Beidou navigation satellites by 2018 and 6 to 8 Beidou satellites will be sent into orbit in the second half this year.

14. Pentagon successfully tests ICBM defense system for first time On May 31, 2017, US military conducted a successful missile defence test involving a simulated attack by an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). Firstly an ICBM-type missile was fired from the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands toward the waters at south of Alaska.

ENVIRONMENT

1.Madhya Pradesh Assembly declares Narmada living entity Madhya Pradesh government has passed a law in the state to give recognition to Narmada River. A special session of the state Assembly passed the resolution granting the 1312-km- long Narmada. It provides all legal rights of a person or a living entity to ensure “conservation of aquatic bio- diversity linked with the purity and continual flow of the river”.

2. Andhra Pradesh's Banganapalle mango gets GI tag Andhra Pradesh's Banganapalle mango got Geographical Indication registration from the Geographical Indications Registry. 3. NASA detects signs of water on distant 'warm Neptune' Scientists using NASA telescopes have detected "a strong water signature" in the atmosphere of Neptune-sized planet. It could help and understand more about the birth and development of planetary systems.It shows that the distant planet HAT- P-26b has a primitive atmosphere composed almost entirely of hydrogen and helium.

4. In tribute to APJ Abdul Kalam, NASA names new species after him A newly discovered organismfound on the International Space Station has been named after APJ Abdul Kalam by NASA. The name of the bacterium is Solibacilluskalamii and the species name is after Dr Abdul Kalam and genus name is Solibacillus which is a spore forming bacteria.

5. Cyclone 'Mora' spins up over Bay, eyes Bangla coast for landfall A deep depression in the Bay of Bengal has been declared intensified into a tropical cyclone named Mora. It is a second cyclone in the Bay of Bengal after Maarutha. Maarutha which was formed in April, 2017 triggering heavy rainfall in Sri Lanka, Myanmar and India ’s Andaman & Nicobar Islands. Cyclone Mora is second such cyclone in the Indian Ocean.

SPORTS

1.ICC T20 rankings: India drop to No. 4 in ICC T20 rankings Annual update of ICC Twenty20 International team rankings was released on May 1, 2017. India has dropped two places to slip to fourth position.

Rank Team 1st New Zealand 2nd England 3rd Pakistan 4th India

2. Soumyajit Ghosh wins singles & doubles gold at Chile Open Indian table tennis player Soumyajit Ghosh has bagged both the singles and doubles gold at the Seamaster 2017 ITTF Challenge Chile Open in Santiago, Chile. Men’s singles final was contested between two Indian players, Soumyajit Ghosh and Anthony Amalraj, in which Soumyajit clinched the title.

3. Rafael Nadal clinches record 10th Barcelona Open title On April 30, 2017, Spanish professional tennis player, Rafael Nadal beat Dominic Thiem of Austria in the final to win the Barcelona Open for a record 10th time. This victory also marked Nadal's 71st tournament win in his career. Moreover he had reached this year’s finals of Barcelona Open after beating Andy Murray for the first time in his career. However, Nadal just took 90 minutes to beat Thiem in the finals.

4. Joshna Chinappa becomes first Indian to win Asian Squash title On April 30, 2107 Joshna Chinappa created history by becoming the first Indian to clinch the Asian Squash title with a thrill ing win over compatriot Dipika Pallikal Karthik in the women's final held in Chennai, India. The title match lasted for 78 minutes.

5. Shiva Thapa wins silver at Asian Boxing Championships On May 6, 2017, Indian Boxer Shiva Thapa won a silver medal at the Asian Boxing Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. He lost the final match to Elnur Abduraimov from Uzbekistan as he got injured at the beginning of the match.

6. Great Britain wins Sultan Azlan Shah Cup beating Australia; India finishes third


Great Britain has won 26th edition of the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup Hockey tournament by defeating Australia in the final match by 4-3. The final match was held on May 6, 2017 in Ipoh, Malaysia. Great Britain has won the Azlan Shah Cup after a gap of 23 years. India won the bronze medal in this tournament by defeating New Zealand. It is to be noted that Australian team has won Azlan Shah Cup nine times.

7. Jhulan Goswami named Highest Wicket-Taker in Women’s One-Day Internationals Indian fast bowler, Jhulan Goswami now holds the record as highest wicket-taker in women’s one-day international. In the ongoing Women’s Quadrangular Series in South Africa, Jhulan managed to get 3 wickets in a match against South African team, which took her career total to 181 wickets in 153 matches. She thereby broke Australia’s Cathryn Fitzpatrickthe’s world record of 180 wickets. India’s former left-arm spinner Neetu David is at No. 4 position with 141 wickets.

8. Grand Prix of Liberation: Heena Sindhu wins bronze, India come back with 7 medals In the women’s 10m Air Pistol Heena Sindhu won a bronze medal. India ended the Grand Prix of Liberation Plezn 2017 shooting championships with seven medals. Heena shot 218.8 in the eight-woman final on the championship’s final day to finish third. India won one gold, two silver and four bronze medals.

9. Amul to sponsor New Zealand cricket team for Champions trophy Amul will be prime sponsor of the New Zealand cricket team in the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy. It will start from June 1 in England. New Zealand is also the world's number one T20 team as per the ICC Rankings. The first time New Zealand will play with Amul.

10. Indian cricket team retains No.1 spot in ICC Test rankings, SA hot on heels India retained its No.1 position on the International Cricket Council (ICC) Test team rankings. India has moved to 123 points after gaining one point. While second-ranked South Africa now has bowed from 109 points to 117 points.

11. India win all 10 gold medals in South Asian Junior Table Tennis Championships In the South Asian Junior Table Tennis championship India has won 10 gold medals. A proud moment for India. The South Asian Junior Table Tennis championship was held in Mount Lavinia, near Colombia in Sri Lanka. Apart from 10 gold medals, the Indian partic ipants have also won 14 medals that total makes to 14.

12. Mumbai Indians win IPL title for third time On May 21, 2017, Mumbai Indians (MI) defeated Rising Pune Supergiant (RPS) in the Grand Finale by a margin of 1 run to win the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2017 title. This final match of IPL 20217 was played at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad.

Mumbai Indians successfully defended this score by restricting Rising Pune Supergiant at 128/6. Krunal Pandya was named Man of the Match. With this win Mumbai Indians became the only IPL team to have won three titles. Moreover, Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma became the only player to be on the winning side for four times.

13. Sweden beat Canada to win ice hockey world title Sweden won the Ice Hockey World Championship title for the 10th Time. Sweden won a championship with a 2-1 goal. This win is Sweden's first in four tries against Canada.

14. Ashwin wins International Cricketer of the Year award Ravichandran Ashwin an Indian spinner was bagged with International Cricketer of the Year award at the CEAT Cricket Rating (CCR) International awards 2017 on 24 May 2017. The ceremony was held at the Cricket Club of India in Mumbai.

15. South Korea defeat China to win 2017 Sudirman Cup South Korea defeated China won badminton's Sudirman Cup for the first time in 14 years on 28th of May, 2017. South Korea has won by 3-2 points over 10-time champions China. It was held in Gold Coast Australia.

16. Harmanpreet Kaur becomes the first Indian women cricketer to play in England’s T20 league Harmanpreet Kaur, the captain of India’s T20 team has become the first Indian women cricketer to play in England’s T20 league. The Kia Super League is also known as the Women’s Cricket Super League. The tournament will be started from August 10, 2017. It is the domestic T20 tournament held in England and Wales that features women cricketers.

OBITUARY

1.Former Mauritanian junta Chief Ely Ould Mohamed Vall dies of heart attack Ely Ould Mohamed Vall, former military junta leader of Mauritania (West African Country) died off a heart attack on May 5, 2017. Following the death of Ely Ould Mohamed Vall, Mauritania’s president has declared 3 days of national mourning.

2. Leila Seth, first woman judge of Delhi High Court, dies The first woman chief justice of a Delhi high court Justice (retd)Leila Seth has died. Leila was 86 and died of cardiac seizure.She was a mother of Vikram Seth a famous writer of “A Suitable Boy”.

3. Ex-Madhya Pradesh minister Pratap Singh Baghel passes away Congress leader and former Madhya Pradesh minister Pratap Singh Baghel had passed away. He was 70. 4. Dronacharya awardee Wrestler Capt Chand Roop passes away Dronacharya awardee and wrestler Capt. Chand Roop has passed away. He was 88. Capt Chand Roop was received Dronacharya award in 2010

5. 86-Year-Old Nepali Mountaineer dies on Mt Everest Min Bahadur Sherchan, the oldest climber to scale the Mount Everest has died.She was 86-year- old. Sherchan had scaled the Everest at the age of 76 in 2008 and recorded his name in the Guinness Book of World Records in 2010 as the oldest climber.

6. Pakistani Sitarist Ustad Raees Khan Dies A Legendary sitar player Ustad Raees Khan died . He was 77. He was honoured with Presidential award and Sitara-e- Imtiaz in 2005 and 2017, respectively.

7. Himachal minister Karan Singh passes away Himachal Pradesh Cabinet Minister Karan Singh has passed away on 12 May 2017. He was 59. He was suffering from cancer. He represented the Banjar assembly constituency in Himachal Pradesh Assembly.

8. Environment Minister Anil Madhav Dave Passes Away Union environment minister Anil Madhav Dave has passed away. He was 60. He was born in Barnagar in Madhya Pradesh. He was elected to the Rajya Sabha in August 2009.

9. Veteran actress Reema Lagoo passes away Veteran actress Reema Lagoo has passed on 18thMay 2017 at Kokilaben Hospital in Mumbai. She had suffered a massive cardiac arrest. She was 59.

10.Sir Roger Moore, James Bond actor, dies aged 89. Moore was the third actor to play British secret agent James Bond in seven feature films. It was released between 1973 and 1985 that were based on the books by Ian Fleming.


11.A former Prime Minister of Greece Constantine Mitsotakis had died on 30th May 2017. Mitsotakis was prime minister of Greece from 1990 to 1993.

12. MP, Veteran Filmmaker Dasari Narayana Rao is a well-known filmmaker and producer has died. He was 75 years old. Rao has celebrated his 75th birthday on May 4 this year.

BOOKS & AUTHORS

1.Venkaiah Naidu releases set of books titled ‘Swachh Jungle ki kahani – Dadi ki Zubani’ Minister for Information & Broadcasting Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu released a set of books titled ‘Swachh Jungle kikahani – DadikiZubani’ published by Publications Division. The books aimed at transformation and creating awareness among children. The series of books had been published in 15 Indian languages.

2. President Pranab Mukherjee receives first copy of book ‘Metaphysics, Morals and Politics’ The President of India Pranab Mukherjee, on 18 May 2017 received the first copy of book ‘Metaphysics, Morals and Politics’ in Kolkata, West Bengal. The book is authored by Professor Amal Kumar Mukhopadhyay.

3. Book titled “India’s Indira: A Centennial Tribute” launched President Mukherjee has attended the programme of launch of a book, India's Indira- a Centennial Tribute’. It has been edited by Anand Sharma, a senior Congress leader. The book was unveiled by Vice President Hamid Ansari. Indian National Congress (INC) vice president Rahul Gandhi was also present at the event.

4. Union Home Minister releases the book ‘India 2017 Yearbook’ authored by Rajiv Mehrishi Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh has released the book ‘India 2017 Yearbook’. It is authored by the Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi. The book was published by the McGraw Hill Education India.

5. "A new book "Winning like Virat: Think & Succeed like Kohli" by Abhirup Bhattacharya" A new book "Winning like Virat: Think & Succeed like Kohli" by Abhirup Bhattacharya. It discloses the secrets of the cricketer's consistent form, while attempting to decode his philosophy towards life. Bhattacharya writes in his book If we focus on Virat, the cricketer and the man, we will find some extraordinary traits.

IMPORTANT DAYS

May 1 : International Workers’ Day (Theme:Celebrating the international labour movement. May 2 : World Tuna Day

World Asthma Day (First Tuesday in May) Theme: Better air better breathing May 3 : World Press Freedom Day May 5 : International Midwives Day May 8 : World Red Cross day(Theme: Less Known Red Cross Stories) May 10 : World Migratory Bird Day May 11 : National Technology Day May 12 : International Nurses Day May 14 : Mother’s Day May 15 : International Day of Families(Theme: Families, education and well-being.) May 16 : National Dengue Day May 17 : World Telecommunication and Information Society Day May 18 : World AIDS Vaccine Day May 20 : World Metrology Day May 21 : Anti-Terrorism Day May 22 : International Day for Biological Diversity May 23 : World Turtle Day May 25 : International Missing Children’s Day May 29 : International Day of UN Peacekeepers May 31 : World No Tobacco Day (Theme: Tobacco – a threat to development)

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