1. Ujjala scheme will be launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.The scheme aims to provide LPG connections without security deposit to 50 million women from BPL households over the next three years, using the money saved from 1 crore 13 lakh cooking gas users voluntarily giving up their subsidies.
2. China has recently developed the world's first graphene electronic paper that will catapult the material to a new level. It is developed by The Guangzhou OED Technologies in partnership with a company in Chongqing Province of China. As compared to traditional e-papers, graphene e-paper is more flexible and has more intensity and has high-light transmittance, which means optical displays will be much brighter. The production cost of graphene e-paper (derived from carbon) will be much lower than the traditional e-papers, which use the rare, expensive metal indium.
3. The Gujarat Government has recently declared 10% reservation quota for Economically Backward Classes (EBCs) in general category for higher education and government jobs. The new category would cover all upper castes whose family income does not exceed Rs 6 lakh per annum. The reservation announced by the state government will cross 50% reservation limit set by the Supreme Court of India (SCI) and may face legal hurdles. The state government is already providing 50% reservation to SC/STs and OBCs.
4. The Maharashtra Government has recently launched 'Adi Praman'' a web-based application, which will facilitate the tribal populace of the state to get the caste validity certificates online. The validity certificate will be bar-coded with a unique identification number and enable authorities to directly verify the status of validity certificate using the unique barcode number. The portal "etribalvalidity.mahaonline@gov.in" will show the real-time status of the applications through email and text messages. This initiative will make the entire process of securing caste validity certificate transparent, fast and easy and will effectively curb the menace of bogus certificates.
5. The Madhya Pradesh High Court has termed reservation in promotions in the state as unconstitutional. The Chief Justice Ajay Manikrao Khanwilkar bench has stated that the reservation to underprivileged during appointments is logical but reservation in promotions frustrate talented people. It is injustice to give priority to reserved categories over general classes in promotions.
6. International Labour Day, also known as International Worker's Day or May Day, observed every year to promote and encourage the international labour associations. The day marks the victory of workers' movement for 8 hours of work. It also aims to pay tribute to workers sacrifices in achieving economic and social rights all over the world. The 2016 theme is "Celebrating the international labour movement".
7. The Bhitarkanika Wildlife Sanctuary is located at the Kendrapara District, Odisha. The park is home to the endangered Saltwater Crocodile, White Crocodile, Indian python, King Cobra, black ibis, darters and many other species of flora and fauna.
8. Andhra Pradesh is set to become India's first State to make all of its urban areas 'Open Defecation Free' by October 2, 2016 that marks the two years of the launch of Swachh Bharat mission by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
9. INS Kalvari, also known as Tiger Shark (or S50), Indian Navy's first indigenous Scorpene-class stealth submarine, has recently launched for the first sea trial in the Mumbai naval dockyard. It is a diesel-electric attack submarine which is built by Mazagon Dock Limited (MDL) in collaboration with French naval defence and energy company DCNS under Project 75 in Mumbai, Maharashtra.
10. The Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary (CWS) is located at Munnar in the Idukki district of Kerala. The area is diverse in eco systems and rich in ethnic cultural heritage. It is a well known repository of medicinal plants and the habitat for the endangered Giant Grizzled Squirrel of India. It also supports a healthy population of star tortoise, tufted grey langur, gaur, spotted deer, slender loris, wild elephant, crocodile, tiger, leopard and many a birds, insects and plants.
11. Nour El Sherbini (20), an Egyptian professional squash player, has become the youngest ever Women's squash World champion by defeating Laura Massaro of England in the final of the 2015 Naza PSA Women's World Championship at Bukit Jalil in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. With this, she has overtaken the Susan Devoy of New Zealand, who won the title in 1985 at the age of 21.
12. The Supreme Court of India (SCI) has recently constituted R.M. Lodha committee to monitor the functioning of the Medical Council of India (MCI) for at least a year. The apex court has used its rare and extraordinary powers under the Article 142 of the Constitution as the Government of India (GoI) had not acted on the report of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health and Family Welfare. The 3-member committee will have the authority to oversee all statutory functions under the MCI Act and will be free to issue appropriate remedial directions. All policy decisions of the MCI will require approval of the oversight committee.
13. The Manas Wildlife Sanctuary is a UNESCO Natural World Heritage site, a Project Tiger reserve, an elephant reserve and a biosphere reserve in Assam. It is a home to a great variety of wildlife, including many endangered species viz. tiger, pygmy hog, Indian rhinoceros and Indian elephant.
14. Nirmala Sitharaman, the Minister of State for Commerce & Industry (I/C), has recently launched "EXIM Analytics" a web-based dashboard to provide easy access to the public on export and import trends of India. The portal has been developed by the Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics. The dashboard will provide an accurate perspective to the general public on the facts around the trade performance in India and will also provide a graphical collection of export and import from India.
15. The Mukkurthi National Park is located in the Nilgiris district of Tamil Nadu, is a 78.46 km² protected area . It is home to an array of endangered wildlife, including royal Bengal tiger and Asian elephant, but its main mammal attraction is the Nilgiri tahr. Previously, the park was known as Nilgiri Tahr National Park.
16. Cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar, Bollywood actor Salman Khan and Olympic shooting champion Abhinav Bindra have become India's goodwill ambassador for the 2016 Rio Olympics.
17. The 2016 Malabar trilateral naval exercise will be hosted by Japan. In it, the naval ships of United States, India and Japan will participate to advance multi-national maritime relationships and mutual security issues.
18. Sadiq Khan, belongs to the British-Pakistani family, has been elected the new Mayor of London. With this, he became the first Muslim mayor of city. He is the member of the Labour Party and Member of Parliament (MP) for Tooting since 2005. Beside this, Khan also worked as a solicitor specialising in human rights and chaired Liberty (an advocacy group based in the United Kingdom) for 3 years.
19. According to 'The Economist' newspaper , India has been ranked at 9th position in the 2016 crony-capitalism index with crony sector wealth accounting for 3.4 % of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The non-crony sector wealth in India accounts for 8.3 % of its GDP. Among the 22 countries, the index ranked Russia as the worst crony-capitalist country, followed by Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Ukraine, Mexico, Indonesia and Turkey. Taiwan and China are ranked 10th and 11th position. Germany is the cleanest with least number of crony capitalists. The Economist composed the index by consulting Forbes's list of the world's billionaires. The magazine then labelled each billionaire a "crony" or not depending on how they earned their fortune. The term "Crony capitalism" describes an economy in which success in business depends on close relationships between business people and government officials.
20. The Green Zone is the most common name for the International Zone of Baghdad.
21. Rodrigo Duterte, Maverick anti-crime candidate and mayor of Davao City, has won the 2016 Philippines Presidential Election. He will succeed the President Benigno S. Aquino III in June 2016.
22. The Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary (also known as Pakshi Kashi of Karnataka) is a bird sanctuary in the Mandya District, Karnataka. It is an important nesting and breeding ground for the thousands of bird species. The sanctuary is a home to streak-throated swallows, great stone plover, painted stork, Asian openbill stork, common spoonbill, woolly-necked stork, black-headed ibis, lesser whistling duck, Indian shag, stork-billed kingfisher, egret, cormorant, etc.
23. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will issue banknotes of Rs. 1000 denominations with inset letter 'R' in both the number panels. The banknotes will have on the obverse, all the other security features, including ascending size of numerals, bleed lines and enlarged identification mark. The banknotes bearing signature of RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan, will also have the year of printing '2016' printed on the reverse.
24. Shashank Manohar, the former President of Board of Control for Cricket in India ( BCCI), has been appointed as the new independent chairman of the International Cricket Council (ICC) for a tenure of two years.
25. The book "Chaos and Caliphate: Jihadis and the West in the Struggle for the Middle East" has been authored by Patrick Cockburn, an Irish Journalist. The book exposes how millions of people were killed by a series of disastrous Western interventions in West Asia. It communicates the author's experiences in these places and it provides much context for these events at a personal level. The largest part of the book deals with Iraq. He is best at explaining the motives of people in those areas.
26. Michel Temer, the former vice president of Brazil, has assumed the presidential powers and duties as Acting President of Brazil following the suspension of President Dilma Rousseff during her impeachment trial. He played an important role in the effort to impeach Dilma Rousseff, the first woman Brazilian President. On May 12, 2016, she has been suspended from office, with her presidential powers and duties removed until her Senate trial ends, but she retains the title, official residence and staff.
27. "Dadaab" the world'ss largest refugee camp is located at Dadaab, a semi-arid town in Garissa Country, Kenya. It is in news recently because the Kenyan Government has decided to close Dadaab refugee camp over the issue of national security. The camp is a temporary home to 330,000 refugees mostly from Somalia and South Sudan who have fled from their country due to brutal civil war.
28. The Aguada Central Jail, Goa's erstwhile and largest prison, will now be converted into jail museum. It will tell the story of those who fought for freedom from the Portuguese. The Goa Tourism Development Corporation (GTDC) will convert the jail into a historical and heritage centre in a Rs. 25.8 crore project.
29. The Spices Board of India will set up the India's first Spice Museum at Willingdon Island in Kochi, Kerala. The purpose of the museum will be to attract and educate travellers about the history and growth of the Indian spice industry. The museum will showcase over 30 raw spices and culinary herbs and will show how they are cultivated, processed, stored and quality assessed. There will be paintings, pictures, brochures and books and visitors will be able to buy authentic Indian spices.
30. Prof. Udupi Ramachandra Rao, the former chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), will be honoured with the 2016 IAF Hall of Fame Award by the International Astronautical Federation (IAF) for his outstanding contribution to the progress of astronautics within the framework of the IAF activities. He will receive the 'IAF Hall of Fame' Award and a certificate at the 67th International Astronautical Congress on September 30, 2016 in Guadalajara, Mexico. With this, Prof Rao will become the first Indian to be honoured with the 'Hall of Fame' Award by the IAF.
31. Justice Mukul Mudgal has been appointed as the deputy chairman of FIFA Governance Committee. He is the former Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana and headed the IPL spot-fixing probe. Beside him, Portuguese Luis Miguel Maduro, who is a former European Court of Justice Advocate General, will head FIFA's governance committee.
32. Recently, a 3-member Indian women's archery team consists of Deepika Kumari, Bombayla Devi and Laxmirani Majhi has been named for the Rio Olympics after a series of selection trials in the last 3-months. The women's trio will compete in the individual events as well as team event at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
33. The first World Conference on Tourism for Development will be held in Beijing, China from May 18-21, 2016 under the theme 'Tourism for Peace and Development' to advance the contribution of tourism to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). The event will be jointly organized by the Government of the People's Republic of China and the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO). Beside this, China, as chair of the G20, will also host the 7th G20 Tourism Ministers' Meeting under the theme "Sustainable Tourism – An Effective Tool for Inclusive Development".
34. Han Kang, the South Korean author, has won the 2016 Man Booker International Prize for her novel 'The Vegetarian'. A novel is about a woman who wants to reject human brutality and gives up eating meat. With this, she became the first South Korean to win this prestigious award. As per new format, the prize, worth $72,000, will be shared equally between Han and her translator Deborah Smith.
35. The world's largest single rooftop solar power plant with capacity of 11.5 MW has been opened at Dera Baba Jaimal Singh at Beas in Amritsar district, Punjab. It is spread over 82 acres of rooftop in single campus on multiple roofs with installed capacity of 19.5 MW. The plant has been set up with the cost of Rs. 139 crore. The project will generate clean and green energy sufficient to power approximately 8,000 homes.
36. The Union Government has recently constituted a 5-member committee to comprehensively review and give recommendations on the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) roadmap for the future. The committee will be headed by former Revenue and Expenditure Secretary N.K. Singh. The committee will examine the need and feasibility of having a 'fiscal deficit range'as the target in place of the existing fixed percentage of GDP and make specific recommendations. It will also examine the need and feasibility of aligning the fiscal expansion or contraction with credit contraction or expansion respectively in the economy and submit its report by October 31, 2016.
37. The book "The World Outside My Window" has been authored by Ruskin Bond. Through the book author gives details of the most interesting facts about the insects, birds, trees and flowers he has observed in hilly areas. From the butterfly, dragonfly, scorpion and ant lion to different varieties of cacti, semul trees, the jasmine flower and the wild flowers found in the Himalayan region, as well as birds of the hills and the urban areas like Delhi, the author describes them all and also advises readers to spent some time with nature & love it.
38. British author J.K. Rowling has been honoured with the 2016 PEN/Allen Foundation Literary Service Award at the PEN Literary Gala in New York's Museum of Natural History, United States for her extraordinary creativity and for her efforts on behalf of institutionalised children and other humanitarian causes.
39. The World's first Scanning Helium Microscope (SHeM) has been built by Australian researchers to examine materials without disturbing them. The new microscope will facilitate scientists to study human, animal, and plant samples, as well as computer chips and pharmaceutical drugs, without damaging or changing them. The SHeM has been developed by the University of Newcastle, (UON), led by Professor Paul Dastoor in collaboration with researchers from the University of Cambridge (UK).
40. The tropical cyclone 'Roanu' has recently hit the western part of the Bay of Bengal, East of the Indian city Chennai. The wind speed reaching 90-100 km/hr gusting to 110 kmph is expected to move northeastwards along and off north Andhra Pradesh and Odisha during next 48 hours.
41. The International Buddhist conference has started in Lumbini, Nepal on May 19, 2016 to mark the 2,560th birth anniversary of Lord Buddha. The 2-day conference has been organised under the theme "Lumbini, Nepal: the birth place of Lord Buddha and the fountain of Buddhism and world peace". The main purpose of organising the event is to highlight Lumbini as birth place of Lord Buddha and the fountain of Buddhism, in the international arena, to establish Lumbini as the centre for interfaith and peace dialogue as well as developing Nepal as the fountain for world peace.
42. The Pench National Park is located in Seoni and Chhindwara districts of Madhya Pradesh. The area of the present Pench Tiger Reserve has been described in Ain-i-Akbari and is the setting of Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book.
43. The 42nd edition of Group of 7 (G7) Summit will be held at Ise-Shima, Japan on May 26–27, 2016 to address global challenges. Under the Presidency of Japan, the 2016 Ise-Shima Summit will discuss measures to address the global economic slowdown, terrorism, the humanitarian crisis and ongoing conflicts. The G7 is a group of seven leading industrialised nations viz. Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States.
44. Tsai Ing-wen has been sworn in as the first female President of Taiwan. She is the leader of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) which favours independence from China.
45. Rakesh Kumar Mishra, a noted expert in the study of function of genes, has been appointed as the new Director of the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). The headquarters of CCMB is in Hyderabad.
46. President Pranab Mukherjee has recently launched a mobile app 'Monitor' to transform President's Estate into a smart township. Beside this, he also inaugurated an Intelligent Operations Centre (IOC) at Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi. The app is a residents collaboration tool of the IOC. It will help residents and domain (Energy, Water, Horticulture, Waste and Security) supervisors to collaborate in a smarter way for their observations. It will enable residents to report issues such as broken street lights, electricity failure, water wastage etc and check resolution status using their mobile devices in the Estate on real time basis. The mobile app is created by IT Company IBM.
47. Ratan P Watal, the former finance secretary, has been appointed as the Principle Adviser for social sector in Niti Aayog for a period of 3 years.
48. The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has successfully launched India's first reusable space shuttle "RLV-TD" from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) at Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.The purpose of Re-Usable Launch Vehicle – Technology Demonstrator (RLV-TD) is to put satellites into orbit around earth and then re-enter atmosphere. The 6.5 meter long RLV-TD has aeroplane like structure which weighs about 1.75 tons. The RLV-TD is a series of technology demonstration missions that have been considered as a first step towards realizing a Two Stage To Orbit (TSTO) fully re-usable vehicle. The cost of this project is Rs. 95 crore.
49. The Denmark national badminton team has won the 29th edition of the Thomas Cup badminton tournament 2016 by defeating Indonesia by 3-2 in the final at the Kunshan Sports Centre in Kunshan, Jiangsu province, China. With this, Denmark has become the first European country to win the Thomas Cup.
50. The AIADMK chief Ms. J Jayalalithaa has been sworn-in as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for record 6th time after winning 2016 state assembly election. This is her historical 2nd consecutive term after her mentor M G Ramachandran set the record in 1984.
51. The Chinese women national badminton team has won the 26th edition of Uber Cup Badminton tournament 2016 by defeating South Korea in the final by 3-1 at the Kunshan Sports Centre Gymnasium in Beijing, China. With this, China have won three-straight Uber Cups and 14 in total since the team first started competing in the tournament in 1984.
52. The well-known scientist S K Sharma has been appointed as the Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) for a period of 5 years. He will be responsible for design, construction, commissioning and operation of nuclear power reactors. Presently, he is working as Distinguished Scientist and Director (Operations) in NPCIL.
53. The Mukurthi National Park is located in the western corner of the Nilgiris Plateau west of Ootacamund hill station in the northwest corner of Tamil Nadu state in the Western Ghats mountain range of South India. It is home to an array of endangered wildlife viz. royal Bengal tiger, Asian elephant, Nilgiri tahr, etc. The park is a part of Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, India's first International Biosphere Reserve.
54. The Kempegowda International Airport is an international airport of Bangalore, Karnataka. It is in news recently because the taxi aggregator Uber has signed a pact with Kempegowda International Airport to provide people rides who land in the city from the airport. Through this pact, Uber will be given a dedicated parking area and pick-up zone called 'U Zone' located within the airport premises.
55. The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) will open its first branch in India at Ahmedabad, Gujarat. This is a part of MoU signed between IDB and India's EXIM Bank during Prime Minister Narendra Modi visit to United Arab Emirates (UAE) in April 2016. As part of MoU, a $100 million line-of-credit was to be given to facilitate exports to IDB's member countries. The headquarters of IDB is at Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The main purpose of IDB is to foster the economic development and social progress of member countries and the Muslim community in accordance with principles of Shariah (Islamic law). The bank has 56 Islamic countries as its members.
56. Sunil Bharti Mittal, the Bharti Enterprises founder and Chairman, has won the 2016 Harvard Business School Alumni Achievement Award. The award, presented annually since 1968, is the highest honour the Harvard Business School confers on its alumni who have contributed significantly to their companies and communities while upholding the highest standards and values.
57. Mount Sinabung volcano is a stratovolcano of andesite and dacite inthe Karo plateau of Indonesia. It recently erupted on 22 May, killing nearly 7 people in Gembar village in the western province of North Sumatra.
58. The Pakke Tiger Reserve is located in the foothills of the Eastern Himalaya in the East Kameng district of Arunachal Pradesh. It is in news recently because, it has won the '2016 India Biodiversity Award".
59. Rishi Nair (12) has won the 28th edition of National Geographic Bee championship 2016 at National Geographic headquarters in Washington DC, United States. He won the $50,000 college scholarship, a lifetime membership in the National Geographic Society and a Lindblad expedition to south-east Alaska.
60. The 10-day bilateral air combat exercise "Ex Desert Eagle – II" has started between Indian Air Force (IAF) and United Arab Emirates Air Force (UAEAF) at Al-Dhafra Air Base, UAE from May 24, 2016 that will be continued till June 3, 2016. These air combat exercises provide exposure towards mission planning and execution in a simulated high threat combat environment, apart from building bonhomie with friendly Air Forces of India and United Arab Emirates (UAE).
61. The expert committee headed by T S R Subramanian set up to formulate the new National Education Policy has recently submitted its report to the Union Human Resource Development (HRD) ministry. The committee made the report after a thorough examination over 29,000 online suggestions and going through deliberations on 33 themes with various stakeholders from the education sector.
62. MGNREGA was tested on basis of three performance indicator Firstly, through efficiency of a state in providing the guaranteed 100 days of employment. Second, on basis of regular wage payment, as MGNREGA requires the wages to be paid within 15 days of closing the muster roll. Third, on basis of work completion rate refers to the number of works completed compared to works started, in percentage terms. Tripura was ranked first in overall performance index.
63. The Neeraj Kumar Gupta committee has been constituted by the Union government and the Reserve Bank of India ( RBI) to boost cashless transaction. The purpose of the 7-member committee is to increase card acceptance infrastructure and fix interchange fee for credit cards. The taskforce will also work at ways in which cardpayers needn't pay a surcharge for fuel, utility bills and railway bookings.
64. The Valmiki National Park is located in the West Champaran district of Bihar. It is home to many species such as tiger, rhinoceros, black bear, leopard, wild dog, wild buffalo, wild boar, python, cobra, King cobra, krait, banded krait, Nepal kaleej pheasant, three-toed quail, flycatcher, etc.
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