1. The 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. India has recently signed four MoUs with Papua New Guinea (PNG) in areas of infrastructure, healthcare, information technology and agriculture. For this, India will provide $100 million credit line for development of infrastructure and will establish India-Papua New Guinea Centre for Excellence in IT in PNG.
5. Tabassum Adnan, a women's rights activist from Pakistan's Swat valley, has won the 2016 Civicus Nelson Mandela Graca Machel Innovation Award in individual activist category at Bogota, Colombia. She is the founder of NGO Khwendo Jirga (Sister's Council), the first women-only 'jirga' in Pakistan, to address issues of women's right, including honour killings and acid attacks.
6. Surender Kumar Bhagat, the 1982-batch IPS officer of the Uttarakhand cadre, has been appointed as the new Director General (DG) of Railways Protection Force (RPF). He will succeed Rajiv Ranjan Verma and will serve RPF till the date of his superannuation i.e. on June 30, 2017. Presently, he is working as Special Director General in the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).
7. The book "Param Vir: A War Diary" has been written by Manju Lodha, a well-known Indian social activist. It was recently launched in London by Navtej Sarna, Indian High Commissioner to United Kingdom. The book chronicles the lives of 21 Param Vir Chakra awardees, the highest military honour bestowed by India to those serving in the Indian armed forces.
8. 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.
9. The mobile app "Indian Customs- Guide to Travellers" has been launched by the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) to inform traders, exporters and importers about Customs Baggage Rules, 2016. The mobile App has been developed by Bengaluru Customs and is available on Android Play store, Apple Store and Windows Store. The app is user friendly and serves as a useful tool for quick and effective dissemination of information about baggage rules and entitlements and hence serves to clarify doubts and concern of International passengers and also ensure better compliance. The CBEC is the nodal national agency responsible for administering customs, central excise, service tax and narcotics in India.
10. The Kerala state branch of Indian Medical Association (IMA) has partnered with UNICEF to promote safe and healthy practices for improving maternal and child health in the state. The initiative will help Kerala to achieve world class level in reducing child mortality rate. As part of the partnership, IMA and UNICEF will orient all the 35,000 doctors of the association in the state, on the importance of prescribing good practices to their patients, besides medicine.
11. 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.
12. The Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) has signed MoU with SAARC Development Fund (SDF) for mutual cooperation and collaboration. Both will work together in co-funding of projects in Indian MSMEs on risk sharing basis in identified sectors and for development of suitable financial products for SME financing for MSMEs of other SAARC nations. In it, technology transfer and software of loan tracking systems will be available to MFIs in other SAARC nations and capacity development of SDF/SIDBI and SME funding institutions in SAARC nations.
13. Indian-American journalist Neela Banerjee and three of her colleagues from Inside Climate News – John Cushman Jr, David Hasemyer and Lisa Song – has won the prestigious 2016 Edgar A Poe award. The annual award by the White House Correspondents Association (WHCA) honours journalistic work of national or regional significance.
14. 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".
15. 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.
16. The ADMM-Plus (ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meeting Plus) Exercise on Maritime Security and Counter Terrorism (Ex MS & CT) has started at Brunei on May 1, 2016 and will end at Singapore on May 9, 2016. To strengthen the strong bilateral ties and extensive maritime interactions between India and ASEAN countries, Indian warship INS Airavat is participating in the martime exercise. The Indian Naval Ship (INS) Airavat is a Landing Ship Tank, indigenously designed and built in India. The ship has a lift capability of 500 troops, 10 tanks and 11 combat trucks.
17. The book "Great Acceleration: How the World is Getting Faster, Faster" is authored by Robert Colvile. It is the story about how technology is speeding up the pace of life. It explains how technology is transforming the media, politics and the financial markets and asks whether our bodies and the natural environment can cope.
18. 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.
19. The Union Government has recently launched "Unnat Jyoti by Affordable LEDs for All (UJALA)" the National LED programme in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. The scheme is being implemented by Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), a joint venture of PSUs under the Union Ministry of Power. Under the scheme, 3 crore LED Bulbs will be distributed in Madhya Pradesh in the next 6 months. Under it, people of Madhya Pradesh will get subsidiesed 9W energy efficient LED bulbs by paying just Rs.85 per LED bulb. UJALA will not only help reduce consumers their electricity bills but also contribute to the energy security of India.
20. 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.
21. The Andhra Pradesh Government has recently launched "Chandranna Bima Yojana" an insurance scheme for the working class people in Vijayawada. Under the scheme, about 1.5 crore workers in the state would be covered, by which Rs. 5 lakh would be paid if the insured worker met with an accidental death, Rs. 5 lakh in case of permanent disability and Rs. 3 lakh for partial disability.
22. The two noted Indian scholars-Lokesh Chandra, President of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) and Mansura Haider, former academic adviser at the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) have been honoured with the "North Star", Mongolia's highest award at Golf Links, New Delhi. They were awarded for their contribution to the development of friendly relations between India and Mongolia and promotion of Mongolian studies. The occasion also marked 60th anniversary of Indo-Mongolian diplomatic relations.
23. The novel "The Slashed Canvas" has been authored by Deb Sanjoy Dutta, which follows Siddhartha (Buddha) in three different entities and in three different eras. The book presents various instances of monetary and sexual exploitation of an individual's conditions, misery, poverty and hardship. With his book, the author also highlights corruption in the society and its rapid proliferation in all spheres of life.
24. 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.
25. Board The 6th edition of Senior Men's National Hockey championship 2016 has been won by Railway Sports Promotion Board (RSPB) by defeating Hockey Punjab in the final by 6-5 in Etawah, Uttar Pradesh.
26. The Union Government has recently launched Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) at Maldepur Morh in Ballia district, Uttar Pradesh for providing free of cost LPG (cooking gas) connections to women from Below Poverty Line (BPL) families. The tagline for the scheme is "Swachh Indhan, Behtar Jeevan". The PMUY scheme will increase usage of LPG and will help in reducing health disorders due to usage of polluting conventional cooking fuels like wood, cowdung, etc. It will also reduce air pollution caused by smoke from solid fuel usage in kitchens and other places and will ensure reduced deforestation and cutting down trees for firewood.
27. 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.
28. According to the new study by the Organisation Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the European Union's Intellectual Property Office, India is the 5th biggest exporter of fake goods in the world. The list is topped by China, followed by Turkey, Singapore and Thailand.
29. BCCI has nominated Indian Test captain Virat Kohli for the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award.
30. Ajay Mittal, a 1982 batch IAS officer of Himachal Pradesh Cadre, has been appointed as the new secretary of Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I & B). He succeeded Sunil Arora. Prior to his appointment, he was serving as Additional Chief Secretary for Transport, Social Justice and Empowerment Department in Himachal Pradesh.
31. Prof. Sriram Ramaswamy, Director of TIFR Centre for Interdisciplinary Sciences (TCIS), Hyderabad, has been on the list of 50 scientists elected as the Fellows of the Royal Society (FRS) of London, a premier scientific academy of the U.K. and the Commonwealth. Besides him, two other Indian viz.biochemist Ramanujan Hegde, MRC Laboratory of Microbiology, U.K. and applied mathematician Lakshminarayanan Mahadevan, Harvard University were also elected. The Royal Society elects new Fellows and Foreign Members every year. Its mission is to recognise, promote, and support excellence in science and to encourage the development and use of science for the benefit of humanity.
32. In the International Monetary Fund (IMF)'s latest Regional Economic Outlook for Asia and the Pacific, India's growth forecast for 2016 and 2017 has retained at 7.5%. The key to boost India's economic growth are structural reforms like Goods and Services Tax(GST) and in areas like land and labour.
33. 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.
34. The World Asthma Day (WAD) is an annual event organized by the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) to improve asthma awareness and care around the world. It takes place on the first Tuesday of May. The theme of 2016's event is "You Can Control Your Asthma".
35. 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.
36. Master Gaurav Menon has won the award for Best Child Artist at the 63rd National film awards 2015 for Malayalam movie Ben.
37. Leicester City football club has won the 2016 English Premier League (EPL) title . With this win, Leicester City has become the champions for the first time in their 132-year history. The Football Writers' Association (FWA) Footballer of the Year 2016 has been awarded to Jamie Vardy, footballer of Leicester City.
38. The book "Politics of the United Nations Peacekeeping Operations" has been authored by Yeshi Choedon. This book investigate deep into military personnel and financial management by the United Nations in its peacekeeping efforts around the world, which the author claims to be the most important and evident method to control conflicts around the world.
39. The United Nations'World Press Freedom Day is observed every year on May 3 to raise awareness of the importance of freedom of the press. The 2016 Theme is "Access to Information and Fundamental Freedoms – This Is Your Right!". On this day, the 2016 UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize has been honoured to Khadija Ismayilova, an investigative journalist from Azerbaijan, in Helsinki, Finland.
40. Nico Rosberg, a German Formula One driver for Mercedes Formula One team, has won the 2016 Formula 1 Russian Grand Prix in Sochi, Russia.
41. 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.
42. The Union Railways Ministry has recently launched "E-enabled PMIS app" for proper monitoring of all ongoing railway projects online throught India. The Project Management and Information System (PMIS) is a web-enabled IT application which would cover the entire life cycle of complex projects. It is a step in leveraging resources which would empower railways in transforming the way projects are designed, built and commissioned.
43. The Coal and Power Minister Piyush Goyal has recently launched a "Contract Labour Payment Management System", a web portal of Coal India Limited (CIL), for monitoring compliance of labour payment and other benefits to contract workers under the Contract Labour (Regulation & Abolition) Act, 1970. It is an integrated system for all subsidiaries of CIL. The portal provides access to all contract workers through a Workers Identification Number to view their personal details and payment status. Contract workers can also register their grievances through this portal.
44. The International Firefighters' Day (IFFD) is observed every year on May 4 to recognize and honor the fire fighters who risk their lives every day to save life and property of public. The day celebrates the dedication, heroism and importance of firefighters from all over the world.
45. The book "Exploring Marxist Bengal" has been authored by Debraj Bhattacharya. In this book the author, who was born and brought up in West Bengal/India during the Left Front era, ponder over his experiences during the Marxist regime and the ideology he believes in right now. He also explores issues such as poverty, cinema, Soviet Union, etc.
46. The Madhya Pradesh government will launch "Nagaroday Abhiyan" campaign on the lines of 'Gramoday Se Bharat Uday Abhiyan' in the state in July-August 2016. The campaign will focus on welfare of the people and development of urban localities. In it, the slum dwellers will be given pucca houses and the places where poor people live will be made slum-free.
47. 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.
48. 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.
49. Recently, Sumeeth Reddy, an Indian badminton player, has booked his seat in males doubles event with Manu Attri in 2016 Rio Olympics. Apart from them, 5 other Indian shuttlers have booked their berth for the 2016 Rio Olympics, which is scheduled in August 2016. The list includes two female singles players in Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu, a male singles' player in Kidambi Srikanth and women's doubles pairing of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa.
50. Mark Selby, an English professional snooker player from England, has won the 2016 Betfred World Snooker Championship and won the world title 2nd time in his career. He is the current World No. 1 snooker player, who defeated China's Ding Junhui by 18-14 score in the final at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England to win this title.
51. The Reliance Power has recently received in-principle approval from the Government of Bangladesh for the first phase of a 3,000 MW Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG)-based power plant. As per the approval, the first phase of 750 MW power plant will be set up at Meghnaghat (Narayanganj district), around 40 km South-East of Dhaka along with the Floating Storage and Re-gasification Unit (FSRU) terminal at Maheshkhali Island in Cox's Bazar district of Bangladesh.
52. The book "The Great Swindle" has been authored by Pierre Lemaitre, which has won the 2013 Prix Goncourt Prize, France's most prestigious literary award. It's an engrossing, densely plotted, richly detailed and exciting novel that begins in the last days of World War I and follows three main characters: Albert ( a humble bank clerk), Lieutenant d'Aulnay Pradelle (an ambitious and dishonest officer) and Edouard Pericourt ( an aspiring artist from a wealthy family). The three might never have met in peacetime, but the war brings them into the same world. It's a tale of widespread corruption and exploitation in which everyone is concerned, in which the dead are sacred and the living people are aimless.
53. The Andhra Pradesh's agriculture project "Harita-Priya" has won the 2016 World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) prize in e-Agriculture category. The project "Harmonized Information of Agriculture, Revenue and Irrigation for a Transformation Agenda – Precision Technology for Agriculture (Harita-Priya) is meant to collect very specific climate data from farms by using wireless sensor networks and give farmers personalized information regarding alerts on irrigation schedules, pests and plant diseases, etc., through SMS.
54. The AP Disaster Recovery Project (APDRP) will be funded jointly by the World Bank and the Andhra Pradesh government in the ratio 68:32. As a result, the World Bank's arms International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and International Development Association (IDA) will finance Rs.1,550 crore and the state government would spend Rs. 670 crore) as its share. The purpose of the project is to increase the capacity of the state units to respond promptly and effectively to an eligible crisis or emergency.
55. Vice-Admiral Sunil Lanba, a specialist in Navigation and Direction, has been appointed as the new Chief of Naval Staff of the Indian Navy. He will succeed Admiral Robin K.Dhowan, who retires on May 31, 2016. Currently, Lanba is serving as Flag Officer Commanding in chief in the Western Naval command in Mumbai. He will be the 23rd chief of Indian Navy and will have the full 3-year tenure as the Navy Chief.
56. Dr. Radha Binod Barman, a well-known statistician, is the newly appointed part-time Chairperson in the National Statistical Commission (NSC). The NSC is an advisory body on all statistical matters, set up to increase public trust in official statistics.
57. As per SocialCops' analysis of World Bank data, India ranks 137th out of 210 countries on electrification with 78.7% of its population having access to electricity. There are 87 countries with 100% access to electricity, 40 countries with 90-99%, and 6 countries with 80-89%.
58. The report titled "Protecting People through Nature: Natural World Heritage Sites as Drivers of Sustainable Development" has been released by the World Wildlife Fund for nature (WWF). As per the study, 114 natural and mixed World Heritage sites out of 229 in 96 countries around the world, including Western Ghats, have oil, gas or mining concessions overlapping them or are under threat from at least one other harmful industrial activity. For example, Indian sites viz. Manas Wildlife Sanctuary, Great Himalayan National Park Conservation Area, Kaziranga National Park, Sundarbans National Park, the serial sites of Western Ghats, etc., are threatened by harmful activities such as mining.
59. Kumar Rajesh Chandra, a 1985 batch IPS officer of Bihar cadre, has been appointed as the chief of Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS), the aviation security wing of the government. He succeeded G S Malhi, who had completed his tenure as BCAS chief in November 2012. The post was lying vacant since then. Previously, Chandra was working as the Additional Director General (Modernisation), Bihar Police.
60. Keoladeo National Park (also known as Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary) is a World Heritage Site, located at Bharatpur, Rajasthan. It is famous as one of Asia's finest birding areas, with over 380 resident and migrant species, including the Common, Demoiselle and the rare Siberian Cranes. It is also an excellent place to watch mammals like Golden Jackal, Striped Hyaena, Fishing Cat, Jungle Cat, Nilgai, Sambar, Blackbuck and wild Boar.
61. The Soor Sarovar Bird Sanctuary is located in Agra, Uttar Pradesh. It is home to more than 165 species of resident birds and migratory birds. The sanctuary also has the population of more than 300 of pythons. It is also one of the biggest bear resue centre of India for dancing bear.
62. 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.
63. The trade body of Indian IT firms, National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) has recently signed a partnership agreement with Facebook, a social networking site, to build a 'Product Design Initiative' in India to encourage young entrepreneurs to become problem solvers and solution builders. The purpose of the initiative is to offer focused programmes to build awareness around product design, training on design tools, design lab, awards, design sprints and mentorship. This will be a flagship programme of the NASSCOM Product Council and aim at supporting over 500 product start-ups on product design. It will also focus on training over 5,000 product designers over a period of two years.
64. Soumyajit Ghosh is an Indian table tennis player from Siliguri, West Bengal. As per the latest International Table Tennis Federation world rankings, he has been ranked 65 in the world and thus, became the No.1 Indian paddler. Beside this, he also booked his berth for the 2016 Rio Olympics.
65. The book "Incarnations : India in 50 lives" has been authored by Sunil Khilnani, a Professor of Politics and Director of the King's College London (KCL) India Institute. The book explores the lives of 50 people who have shaped India, beginning with the spiritualist Lord Buddha and ending with the capitalist Dhirubhai Ambani.
66. Indian author Parashar Kulkarni has won the the 2016 Commonwealth Short Story Prize for Asia region for his politically grounded, funny fiction story 'Cow and Company'. It's a story about four men in search of a cow, which is adjudged as the 'best piece of unpublished short fiction in English' from Asia and will receive £2500 pounds.
67. The Goa Shipyard Limited (GSL) has recently launched "Shaurya", an Indian Coast Guard Ship (ICGS) at Vasco, Goa. The vessel is capable of cruising at a speed of 23 knots and has a range of 6,000 nautical miles. It will be fitted with state-of-the-art machinery like the integrated machinery control system and integrated bridge system. The ICGS Shaurya will be commissioned into service in 2017.
68. India has acquired 4th position at the 2016 International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) Junior World Cup in Suhl, Germany with 3 gold, 4 silver and 3 bronze medals. In this world cup, 48 countries had participated but only 24 nations made it to the medals table. Italy has topped the table with seven gold, four silver and one bronze, followed by Russia and Germany.
69. The legendary Indian filmmaker Yash Chopra, who shot most of his romantic dramas in the lush mountains of Switzerland, has been honoured with a special statue by the Swiss government. The bronze statue of the late filmmaker, which weighs about 250 kg, has been inaugurated by his wife Pamela Chopra and daughter-in-law Rani Mukherjee at the Kurssaal Garden in the central Swiss town of Interlaken, which is a prime and popular spot of tourists.
70. Zimbabwe will print its own version of US dollars i.e. "bond notes" in order to ease a cash shortage in the country. The specially-designed $2, $5, $10 and $20 bond notes will have the same value as their US dollar equivalents. The Central bank governor John Mangudya has stated that new currency notes, also known as bond notes, will be backed by $200m (£140m) support from the Africa Export-Import Bank. In 2009, due to prolonged hyperinflation, Zimbabwe had declared its own currency "Zimbabwean dollar" as defunct. Since then, Zimbabweans have been using US dollar, the South African rand, the British sterling and the Chinese yuan for their daily needs.
71. The well-known actor Shashi Kapoor's biography titled "Shashi Kapoor – the Householder, the Star" has been authored by film journalist Aseem Chhabra.
72. The Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX), the US-based private space transport service company, has successfully launched Japanese JCSAT-14 communication satellite into space from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, United States. The JCSAT-14 will support data networks, television broadcasters and mobile communications users in Japan, East Asia, Russia, Oceania, Hawaii and other Pacific islands. The satellite is designed for 15 years of service.
73. ICICI Bank , the private sector lender, has become the first financial institution of India to sign MoU with the BRICS Grouping-promoted New Development Bank (NDB) for a partnership in bond issuances, co-financing, treasury management and human resources. It creates a platform for sharing knowledge and deepening network connectivity between NDB and ICICI Bank. The agreement will also facilitate NDB in exploring rupee-denominated bonds in the domestic and international markets and also help collaborate for funding India's development project.
74. Pakistan has won the 3rd edition of the Asian Kabaddi Championship 2016 (Circle Style) by defeating India in the final by 50-31 in Islamabad, Pakistan and retain its title.
75. The 4th edition of South Asia Initiative to End Violence Against Children (SAIEVAC) Ministerial meeting 2016 will be held in New Delhi, India from May 9 to 11, 2016 to ensure the protection and security of the children of the region. The SAIEVAC is the apex body of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) created to bring governments of the region into active engagement for child protection against violence.
76. The World Athletics Day is observed every year on May 7 to popularize sports among the youth, to promote athletics as the primary sport in schools and institutions and to encourage and introduce new talent and youngsters in the field of athletics.
77. The Nagaland State Police department has won the National Award for Smart Policing in the category of Road Safety and Traffic Management for the initiative of "SMS based Vehicle Monitoring System (SVMS)" at FICCI Auditorium in New Delhi. The SVMS provides an easy platform for policemen and citizens to report vehicle theft and alert the various field formations of police across the state through sending one SMS. The award is instituted by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).
78. 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.
79. The 11th edition of Habitat Film Festival 2016 has started in New Delhi on May 7, 2016. The five-day-long festival will showcase some of the brilliant films of 2015-2016 viz. Sanskrit movie "Priyamanasam", Malyalam movie "Ennu Ninte Moideen", Bengali movie "Cinemawala", Tamil move "Visaranai", etc., which depict themes as diverse as love, courage displacement, migration, intolerance, caste, corrupt systems, destruction of indigenous culture, etc.
80. To improve battle readiness, Indian Army has started the military training exercise "2016 Exercise Chakravyuh-II" in Pallu-Sardarsahar area of Suratgarh, Rajasthan. The exercise also involves rapid mobilisation and execution of battle plans in conjunction with the Indian Air Force (IAF). The purpose of the exercise is to validate the battle readiness and operational effectiveness of the pivot formation and rapid division along with all its affiliated components.
81. Recently, Sakshi Malik, Indian wrestler in the women's freestyle 58 kg category, has booked her berth in the 2016 Rio Olympics by defeating Len Jhang in the semifinal at the Olympic world qualifying tournament at Istambul, Turkey. Beside her, Vinesh Phogat (48 kg category) has also qualified for 2016 Rio Olympics by defeating Avin Demirhan of Turkey 12-2 in the semi final in the qualifying tournament.
82. 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.
83. Kalraj Mishra, the Union Minister for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME), has recently inaugurated the Harmukh Khadi Gram Udyog Sansthan in Srinagar, Jammu & Kashmir. The sansthan will be the spinning and weaving centre and marketing plaza for khadi goods.
84. The Agrasen ki Baoli is a 60-meter long and 15-meter wide historical step well on Hailey Road in New Delhi. It was built in pre-Lodhi era (14th century) by Raja Agrasen to collect rainwater during the mansoon. It is a protected monument by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act of 1958.
85. The Government of India (GoI) has started the process for issuance of Unique Business Identification Number (UBIN) for start-up enterprises to begin their new businesses without any delays. The drive has been launched by the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP) under the aegis of Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry. The DIPP will issue the UBIN for the new entrepreneurs after the receipt of related applications. This number would automatically be moved on to Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) portal after it is issued to the intended beneficiary and subsequently sent on to the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) which would nomenclature it as Permanent Account Number (PAN) for UBIN.
86. The Gujarat Government has recently accorded minority status to the Jain community in the state and regarding to it, a Government Resolution (GR) has also issued. Previously, the UPA government at the Centre had conferred minority status on the community at the national level in January 2014. The minority status has nothing to do with reservation, it will benefit the poor among the Jain community as they can avail of various scholarships and government welfare schemes.
87. The Asia's first Rice Technology Park will be set up by the Karnataka Government at Gangavati in Koppal district. Beside this, the Maize Technology Park will also set up at Ranebennur in Haveri district. The parks will be based on the public-private participation model to resolve the problems of rice and maize growers. It also help paddy cultivators of Tungbhadra command area and Krishna command area. Additionally, the technology park would have facilities for rice flour, rice rava, rice bran oil, noodles, rice-based alcohol, animal and poultry feed and paddy husk used for power generation and brick-making.
88. The book "Anubandh: Building 100-mile communities" has been authored by Ela Bhatt, noted Gandhian and the force behind the Self Employed Women's Association (SEWA). The book makes an appeal to build holistic and mutually beneficial communities to cater to the basic needs of daily life: food (including water), clothing, education, health, housing, education and banking. It also presents the idea of creating local communities within a 100-mile radius to cater to livelihoods and sustainable living. In a way, this originates from Gandhi's belief of self-sustaining communities.
89. Novak Djokovic, a Serbian professional tennis player, has won the 2016 Mutua Madrid Open Men's Singles title by defeating Andy Murray in the final by 6-2 3-6 6-3 on outdoor clay courts at the Park Manzanares in Madrid, Spain.
90. Simona Halep, a Romanian professional tennis player, has won the 2016 Mutua Madrid Open Women's Singles title by defeating Dominika Cibulkova in the final by 6–2, 6–4 on outdoor clay courts at the Park Manzanares in Madrid, Spain.
91. Indian Boxers viz. Ankush Dahiya (60kg), Ashish Kulhirya (64kg) and Reyal Puri (81kg) has won silver medals and Manjeet Singh (+91kg) has won bronze medal in the 7th edition of Asian Youth Championships 2016 held at Pavlodar, Kazakhstan. With this, India has acquired third position after Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan in the tournament.
92. The book "Who killed Swami Laxmanananda?" has been authored by Anto Akkaraa, a rights advocate and journalist with international media. The book gives details about sequence of events that demolishes the ?theory of Christian conspiracy in the killing of the hindu monk in Kandhamal District of Odisha on August 23, ??2008. In the rioting that followed nearly 50 Christians were officially confirmed killed.
93. Dr. Manvendra K Singh, an Indian scientist from Uttar Pradesh's Gorakhpur city, has been awarded the Singapore's National Research Foundation (NRF) fellowship of SGD 3mn (about Rs. 14.7 crore) to pursue research in the field of congenital and adult cardiovascular diseases. He is working as an assistant professor in the cardiovascular and metabolic disorders programme at Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore. The NRF is responsible for developing strategies, policies and plans for research, innovation and enterprise.
94. The World Migratory Bird Day (WMBD) is observed every year on the second weekend of May across the world to raise awareness and highlight the need for the protection of migratory birds and their habitats. The 2016 WMBD is observed on May 10 with the theme "Stop the Illegal Killing, Taking and Trade of Migratory Birds".
95. The Union Government has recently constituted Sanjay Mitra committee to prepare a policy framework for app-based taxi aggregators and other transport operators. The 3-member committee will look into the issues of Supreme Court's order dated December 2015 and Environmental Pollution Prevention and Control Authority (EPCA) directions dated April 29, 2016 on banning diesel taxis in Delhi-NCR and the various problems the operators are facing as a result of the ban.
96. Atma Ram Nadkarni, Bombay High Court senior advocate, has been appointed as the Additional Solicitor General (ASG) in Supreme Court of India for a period of 3 years. An ASG acts as law officer to advice the Government of India (GoI) on various legal matters. The headquarters of ASG may be at New Delhi or Mumbai or Chennai or Allahabad as the GoI may specify from time to time.
97. The Union Ministery for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation has recently launched 9-projects for rural sanitation initiatives under Namami Gange Programme for conservation of river Ganga in Sahibganj, Jharkhand. The purpose of the projects is to improve the health and quality of life of 78 villages of the Ganga River basin in Jharkhand through improved sanitation practices, quality of waste water and storm water runoff flowing from the villages into the river Ganga.
98. Mrugank Paranjape has been appointed as the new Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX), country's largest commodity exchange.
99. The Green Zone is the most common name for the International Zone of Baghdad.
100. The Union Minister of State for Culture and Tourism Dr. Mahesh Sharma has recently released a commemorative coin of Rs 100 and a circulation coin of Rs 10 as a part of 475th Birth Anniversarycelebrations of Maharana Pratap in New Delhi. Maharana Pratap was the ruler of Mewar, a province in modern day Rajasthan. He was a brave warrior, successful organizer and ingenious strategist, who fearlessly fought the Mughals and protected his people until his death.
101. The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has recently launched a web-based application "Integrated Waste Management System (IWMS) -www.iwms.nic.in" to help in tracking the movement and management of hazardous and other solid wastes. The purpose of the portal is to increase transparency in the working of the Ministry and other Centre/State level regulatory bodies and also to reduce the time taken for processing applications, seeking various types of permissions under the recently notified waste management regulations. The portal will facilitate the people in obtaining permission for import and export of certain categories of waste, for reuse, recycling, recovery or co-processing and conserve the primary source and also help the authorities to identify the problem areas and plan accordingly.
102. The bollywood actress Priyanka Chopra has been ranked No. 1 in the "Times 50 Most Desirable Women 2015" list, followed by Deepika Padukone and Sunny Leone and Jacqueline Fernandeze.
103. The National Technology Day is celebrated every year on May 11 by the Union Ministry of Science & Technology to commemorate achievements of Innovation and Technology in India. The 2016 theme 'Technology enablers of Startup India'.
104. 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.
105. The Indian Navy has recently launched the state-of-the-art harbour defence systems, viz. Integrated Underwater Harbour Defence and Surveillance System (IUHDSS) and Mine Warfare Data Centre (MWDC) to increase the Navy's surveillance capability and response to security threats at the naval dockyard in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. The IUHDSS is a multi-sensor system capable of detecting, identifying, tracking and generating warnings for all types of surface and underwater threats to Visakhapatnam harbour. While, the MWDC will collate, analyze and classify data collected by the Navy's Mine Hunting Ships from various ports along the East coast.
106. The Hockey India (HI) has recently recommended national men's team players V.R. Raghunath and Dharamvir Singh and women's team captain Ritu Rani for the Arjuna Award 2016. Apart from this, Former Indian player Sylvanus Dung Dung, who was part of the Olympic gold medal winning team in 1980, has been recommended for the 2016 Dhyan Chand Lifetime Achievement Award and veteran Coach CR Kumar has been recommended for the 2016 Dronacharya Award.
107. The Madhya Pradesh Tourism (MPT) has won the Lonely Planet Group's Best Indian Destination for Wildlife Award for the year 2016.
108. The book "White magic: A story of heart break , Hard Drugs and Hope" has been authored by Arjun Nath. Through the book, the author describes the time he spent at Land as a recovering heroin addict: the rules and rituals, the agony of withdrawal and the moments of lightness he shared with his fellow inhabitants. In all, it's a funny book on getting back on track after doing drugs.
109. 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.
110. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has recently established Nozzle Testing Laboratories (NTL) at Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre in Thiruvananthapuram, Andhra Pradesh to carry out advanced R&D esearch in the area of rocket nozzle. The nozzles up to Area Ratio (AR) 300 and more can be tested in the facility. This NTL facility is the first of its kind in India to cater to a wide range of studies related to nozzles such as contour optimisation for large AR (Area Ratio) nozzles, flow separation, techniques for flow separation control, nozzle wall heat transfer.
111. Revathi Balakrishnan, an Indian-American woman elementary teacher from Texas, has been honored by US President Barack Obama at the White House for her excellent work in the field of education. Beside this, she has been named as the 2016 Texas Elementary Teacher of the Year and Texas Teacher of the Year.
112. 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.
113. Tony Cozier (75), the legendary West Indies commentator, has recently passed away in Barbados. He covered almost every West Indies series since 1962 and is one of the most respected cricket writer, broadcaster and historian. He was described as having an encyclopaedic knowledge of cricket.
114. Indian Wrestler Ravinder Khatri has recently secured the 2016 Rio Olympic berth in the Greco-Roman 85 kg category after Kenzheev Zhanarbek of Kyrgystan failed the dope test at the Asian Olympic qualifier. Apart from him, Babita Kumari has also booked a ticket to 2016 Rio Olympic after Sumiya Erdenechimeg failed the test in 53kg freestyle division. With this, 8-Indian wrestlers from India has booked their berth in 2016 Olumpics.This is the first time that India will be represented in all three formats -men's freestyle, female wrestling and Greco-Roman at the Olympics.
115. 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.
116. As per recently released urban air quality database of World Health Organization (WHO), "Zabol" an eastern Iranian city, has been ranked first among the most polluted cities in the world. Based on readings of fine particulate pollution in the air (PM 2.5), the four Indian cities are among the world's 10 most polluted cities. These are Gwalior (2nd), Allahabad (3rd) , Patna (6th), and Raipur (7th). The National Capital of India "New Delhi" has been ranked 11th among 3,000 cities in 103 countries in terms of PM 2.5 and 25th in terms of PM 10 (coarse pollution particles) levels. In 2014, New Delhi was ranked the most polluted city.
117. The Union Ministry of Textiles has recently signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with NDTV Ethnic Retail Ltd. for popularizing India Handloom textiles as a fashionable product for youth at Udyog Bhawan, New Delhi. The joint venture will promote and launch NDTV's Indianroots Fashion Accelerator (IFA) project, to support fresh talent and to support new and innovative ventures in fashion industry.
118. Praveen Rashtrapal (76), an Indian National Congress (INC) leader and a Rajya Sabha member from Gujarat, has recently passed away in New Delhi . Following his demise, Rajya Sabha was adjourned for the day on May 12, 2016. He was a distinguished Parliamentarian, a noted trade unionist and a dedicated social worker. Rashtrapal was elected to the 13th Lok Sabha (1999-2004) and was a member from the Upper House from April 2006 to April 2012 and was re-elected in April 2012. He was the Assistant Commissioner of Income Tax and was also associated with the trade union movement of Income Tax employees.
119. The International Nurses Day is observed every year on May 12 to commemorate the birth anniversary of the Florence Nightingale and to mark the contribution of nurses towards the society. The 2016 theme is "Nurses: A Force for Change: Improving Health Systems' Resilience".
120. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh ( RSS) Chief Mohan Bhagwat has recently inaugurated the 3-day International Vichaar Mahakumbh conference at Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh. The conference will hold discourses on various aspects of human welfare viz. values, religion, spirituality, environment, science and women's empowerment. The people from all walks of life and society will participate in the Vichar Mahakumbh. It is an effort to discover the solutions to various national and global problems from the perspective of traditional values of life.
121. The Indian Air Force (IAF) has recently launched its Electronic Maintenance Management System (e-MMS) Project, an automated military maintenance system at the Air Force Station in Pune, Maharashtra. The project is one of the largest Maintenance Repair Overhaul ( MRO) IT implementation in the world, which would help IAF to transform from a paper-based legacy maintenance system to an online system. The e- MMS system has been designed and developed by the Indian IT giant Wipro.
122. Manjit Singh, co-founder of the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund, has been appointed as the member of President's Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships (PACFBNF) by the US President Barack Obama. Singh is the President of Agilious, a software technology consulting firm he founded in 2013.
123. 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.
124. Hindupur Pradeep Rao, the 1981 batch officer of Indian Audit and Account Service, has been appointed as the Deputy Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) with effect from July 1, 2016.
125. India's first contactless business credit card has been launched by ICICI bank in association with Jet Airways, India premier international airline,, for Small and Mid-sized Enterprises (SMEs) and their employees. The card has been christened as the 'Jet Airways ICICI Bank Business Advantage Card', which helps customers to save on their business expenses. The card is powered by the ' VISA payWave' contactless technology that enables the cardholder to make payments by simply tapping the card at contactless enabled terminals in more than 48 countries, including India. The card can also be used by dipping or swiping at non-contactless merchants.
126. 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.
127. Former India captain Anil Kumble has been re-appointed as the chairman of the ICC Cricket Committee for 3 years. Kumble, the all-time highest wicket-taker for India, was appointed as the chairman for his first term in 2012 and will now continue to head the panel until 2018. The ICC Cricket Committee is representative of all stakeholders in the game, including players and umpires. It is empowered to make recommendations on cricket playing issues.
128. Reliance Jio Infocomm, a subsidiary of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), has launched "JioMoney Wallet" , a digital wallet service, for Indian consumers. The service will enable customers to make bill payments, mobile recharges and insurance premium payments, as well as do online shopping. It also allows users to send and receive money to and from family and friends. The wallet service, which allows consumers to use barcode scan to pay at physical stores, will also offer deals, coupons and cashback directly to customers on their mobile phone from local merchants. Additionally, the service will enable easy transfer of JioMoney balance into the customer's bank account.
129. The terrorist group Islamic State (IS), also known as Daesh or ISIS or ISIL, has recently launched its first mobile app "Huroof" for children to teach them the Arabic alphabet and it has full of references to weapons and jihad. The app has games for memorizing and how to write the Arabic letters in addition to including a nasheed (a cappella Islamic songs) designed to help teach the alphabet. The lyrics in the nasheed are littered with jihadist terminology, while other games within the app also include militaristic vocabulary with basic words like tank, gun, rocket, etc.
130. Shweta Rathore, silver medal winner at the prestigious Asian Body Building and Physique Championship in 2015, will be first Indian to compete in the World Championship to be held in Hungary in October 2016.
131. "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.
132. Fatma Samba Diouf Samoura of Senegal, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) resident representative in Nigeria, has been appointed as the first female secretary general of FIFA (Federation Internationale de Football Association). She will take her post by mid-June 2016 after undergoing an eligibility check administered by an independent review committee.
133. The Ministry of AYUSH and the World Health Organization (WHO) have signed an historic Project Collaboration Agreement (PCA) for cooperation on promoting the quality, safety and effectiveness of service provision in traditional and complementary medicine. It aims to support WHO in the development and implementation of the 'WHO Traditional and Complementary Medicine Strategy: 2014-2023' and will also contribute to the global promotion of traditional Indian systems of medicine.
134. 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.
135. The World Fair Trade Day (WFTD) is a global celebration of fair trade bringing together thousands committed to building healthy and sustainable communities with small-scale producers worldwide. Its' an initiative of WFTO that falls on the second Saturday of May of each year. The 2016 WFTD is observed on May 14 with theme 'Be an Agent for Change', which is a tangible solution to poverty eradication, a good tool for sustainable development and most of all Fair Trade promotes social justice.
136. 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.
137. Anjali Chandrashekar from India, a New York-based designer and artivist, has won the 3rd prize in 2016 UN Poster for Peace contest for her poster titled 'Cutting Barriers through Peace', which features a peace dove slicing through a nuclear weapon. The 1st prize went to Ivan Ciro Palomino Huamani from Peru for his poster 'Spinning Peace', which features a nuclear weapon being unraveled into string which is then used to fly kites and balloons and to jump rope. The 2nd prize has won by Michelle Minzhi Li from United States from her poster 'Peace in our Hands', which features a shadow puppet of a peace dove above a broken nuclear weapon. The award is presented by the UN Office for Disarmament Affairs (ODA) to raise awareness of the need for nuclear disarmament and to inspire citizens across the globe to add their voices, and use their artistic talents,to promote a world free of nuclear weapons.
138. India's first startup hostel has been launched in Bengaluru, Karnataka by Construkt Media, an entrepreneur platform. The hostel will be the business-friendly accommodation for the travelling startup and creative community. It's the 3,500-square-feet hostel, which can host 20 people at a time at a cost of Rs. 850 per night and the facilities include a self-catering kitchen, WiFi, lounge space, laundry and meeting space.
139. The book "Drowned Detective" has been authored by Neil Patrick Jordan, an Irish film director, screenwriter and novelist. The novel is an intoxicating, atmospheric exploration of relationships, lies and betrayal. It depicts genre-defying story about Jonathan, a private investigator, who arrived in a small eastern European city because he was told about the opportunities opening up in former Soviet countries. The story moves as the detective sets up, along with a colleague from that country, an agency to trace missing people and criminals.
140. Justice Naveen Sinha has been sworn-in as the new Chief Justice of Rajasthan High Court. Prior to this appointment, he was the Chief Justice of the Chhattisgarh High Court since July 2014.
141. India has successfully test fired an indigenously developed Advanced Air Defence interceptor missile "Ashwin" at Abdul Kalam Island in Bhadrak district of Odisha. It is capable of destroying any incoming hostile ballistic missile. With this, India has become the fourth country to have successfully developed this anti-ballistic missile system, after United States, Russia and Israel. The interceptor missile is a 7.5-meter long single stage solid rocket propelled guided missile equipped with a navigation system, a hi-tech computer and an electro-mechanical activator. It weighs around 1.2 tonnes and has a diameter of less than 0.5 meter.
142. Sania Mirza and her Swiss partner Martina Hingis have won the 2016 Italy Open Women's Doubles Title by defeating the Russians Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina in the final by 6-1, 6-7, 10-3. This was the season's 5th title for the Indo-Swiss pair after Sydney, Brisbane, Australian Open and St Petersburg. With this victory, Hingis and Mirza has also captured their 14th women's doubles title together.
143. Max Verstappen (18) has become the youngest-ever winner of a Formula 1 by winning the 2016 Formula 1 Spanish Grand Prix at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Montmelo, Spain. He is a Belgian-Dutch racing driver who competes under the Dutch flag in Formula One with Red Bull Racing.
144. Andy Murray from Britain has won the 2016 Italian Open Men's singles tennis tournament by defeating Novak Djokovic in the final by 6-3, 6-3 score. in Rome, Italy. It is Murray's first Italian Open title. With this, he has become the first British singles champion in Rome since Virginia Wade in 1971 and the first men's singles winner there since George Patrick Hughes in 1931.
145. A non-fiction short film on girl child education "Beti" has been invited for a special screening at the 42nd edition of Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF) 2016, Washington DC. The movie is a 4-minute documentary, is directed by Shivain Arora. The short film promotes girl child by narrating the real life story of three girls from a government school and their dream for the future. It is the only short film from India to be featured amongst 421 films representing 85 countries.
146. Rajasthan is set to become the first Indian state to issue newspaper advertisements for the post of Vice Chancellor (VC) of government universities.The new process will allow maximum number of applicants to apply for the post of VC. With this process, the university will get a VC in time and the selection process will be more transparent. Presently, the selection committee headed by the nominee of the Governor selected a candidate without any advertisement.
147. The Government of India (GoI) has recently declared May 16 as National Dengue Day to mark the toll the deadly disease has been taking in terms of lives and to reaffirm nationwide efforts to tackle the scourge by using both education and medical intervention. Dengue is a viral disease i.e. transmitted by the bite of Aedes mosquito, which include symptons such as high grade fever 2 to 7 days and headache, vomiting, muscle and joint pains, and a characteristic skin rash.
148. 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.
149. 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.
150. As per National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER), the Delhi-based think-tank, India's GDP growth rate is projected to 7.6 % in FY 16 (2015-16) and 7.7 % FY 17 (2016-17) because of a favourable monsoon.
151. 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.
152. The Urban Development Minister Muppavarapu Venkaiah Naidu has recently launched a 15-day special initiative 'Swachh Office Drive' for ensuring cleanliness at all Government offices across the country under the Swachh Bharat Mission. The Ministry also issued a Swachh Office Manual suggesting standard procedures to all central ministries and state governments to ensure sanitation.The Manual enables self-assessment framework for improving Swachh Office Ratings, identification of gaps in sanitation infrastructure for correctional interventions.
153. The first Maritime Security Dialogue between India and the United States was recently held at Jawaharlal Nehru Bhawan, New Delhi. The discussion focused on strategic maritime security issues such as Asia-Pacific maritime challenges, naval cooperation and multilateral engagement. Both the sides agreed for "white shipping" technical arrangement to improve data sharing on commercial shipping traffic and Navy-to-Navy discussions on submarine safety and anti-submarine warfare.
154. 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".
155. 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.
156. The first-of-its-kind military tourism initiative in India "Veer Yatra" has been launched by Maharashtra Ex-servicemen's Corporation (MESCO) in Pune, Maharashtra to strengthen the bond between the military establishment and the civilian population. It is a nationwide tour of Indian Military camps, colleges, memorials and museums. The initiative would also provide meaningful and gainful employment to ex-servicemen and army widows.
157. Justice Deepak Gupta has been sworn-in as the new Chief Justice of the Chhattisgarh High Court. Previously, he was the Chief Justice of the Tripura High Court.
158. The World Telecommunication and Information Society Day (WTISD) is observed every year on May 17 to mark the anniversary of International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and to raise awareness of the possibilities that the use of the Internet and other Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) can bring to societies and economies, as well as of ways to bridge the digital divide. The 2016 theme is "ICT: Entrepreneurship for social impact".
159. The book "Making It Big: The inspiring Story of Nepal's first billionaire in his own words" has been authored by Binod Chaudhary,Nepal's first billionaire. It is the inspiring story of the author, who is behind the iconic Wai Wai noodles brand. The story offers lessons on turning dreams into reality and is a must-read for all upcoming entrepreneurs.
160. Nandini Bhandaru , a doctoral researcher at IIT-Kharagpur, has won the European Materials Research Society's (E-MRS's) Young Scientist Award at the 2016 EMRS Spring Meeting in Lille, France for her outstanding contribution to materials science and nanotechnology, particularly nano-patterning of soft films and surfaces.
161. The Odisha government has launched a special scheme "Green Passage" for orphan students to ensure that they get free of cost higher education in the state. As per the scheme, orphan students pursuing higher education from Plus-II level to post-graduation level, will no longer have to bear the education expenses.
162. The World Bank (WB) has recently sanctioned $625 million loan to support India's grid connected rooftop solar programme to generate clean energy. The project will finance the installation of at least 400 MW of grid connected rooftop solar photovoltaic ( GRPV ) across India. The project will be implemented by the State Bank of India ( SBI) which will lend the funds to parties who wish to invest in rooftop photovoltaic systems.
163. Syamantak Payra (15), an Indian-American student, has won the prestigious Intel Foundation Young Scientist Award for developing a low-cost electronically-aided knee brace that allows a person with a weakened leg to walk more naturally. The award has been given by Intel Corporation and the Society for Science and the Public (SSP) at the 2016 'Intel International Science and Engineering Fair' in Arizona.
164. 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.
165. 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.
166. 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.
167. The International Museum Day (IMD) is observed every year on May 18 to raise awareness on how important museums are in the development of society. The 2016 theme is "Museums and Cultural Landscapes".
168. 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.
169. 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).
170. The 2016 Women Economic Forum (WEF) has been hosted by New Delhi, India under the theme "Women: Uplifting and Uniting the World" from May 16-21, 2016. The WEF is a mega marquee global event hosted by ALL Ladies League (ALL), the world's largest league of women. In the 2016 WEF, 1500 Women from 75 countries and all walks of life will meet to discuss social empowerment, leadership, economic, business and social issues like innovation, start-ups, leadership, entrepreneurship, business and globalization, diplomacy, sustainable development, peace and spirituality, social empowerment, environment and art.
171. India's private sector lender HDFC Bank has launched "SmartUp", a first-of-its-kind dedicated solution for start-ups, to fulfill all their banking needs. It was launched in association with Zone Startups India (ZSI), a start-up accelerator in Mumbai. SmartUp is customized to meet all the requirements of a startup, offering banking and payment solutions, along with advisory and forex services.
172. Dr. Rakesh K. Jain, an Indian American professor at Harvard Medical School, has been bestowed with the prestigious "2015 National Medal of Science" from the United States President Barack Obama for his work on tumor biology, particularly research on the link between tumor blood vessels and improving the effects of chemotherapy and radiation treatment.
173. 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.
174. Diwaliben Bhil (80), the well-known Gujarati folk singer and Padma award winner, has recently passed away in Junagadh, Gujarat. She had given her voice to various Gujarati film songs, folk songs and Garba and also performed on All India Radio and Doordarshan.
175. The book "Curfew in the city" has been authored by Vibhuti Narain Rai. The book was first published as a Hindi novella in 1988 (Shahar Mein Curfew), has been translated in English (by C.M. Naim) and brought out by Penguin in 2016. It is a sensitive and touching study of a people in a crumbling inner city locality when curfew is suddenly clamped on them. Its' theme was a 1980 Hindu-Muslim riot in the city of Allahabad and authorwrote freely about how religious prejudice in the Hindu dominated police force and provincial administration led to Muslim citizens' being viewed as enemies and thus becoming easy targets of brutality and murder.
176. The Indian's women 4x100m relay team has recently broke the 18-year-old national record to finish in 4th position at the IAAF World Challenge athletics meet in Beijing, China. The 4x100m women relay team comprising Dutee Chand , Srabani Nanda , HM Jyoti and Merlin Joseph clocked 44.03s to finish the race and broke the 18-year-old record of 44.43s created by the quartet of Saraswati Dey, Rachita Mistry, EB Shyla and PT Usha on July 22, 1998 in Fukuoka, Japan.
177. The global rating agency, Moody's Investors Service has forecast a growth rate of about 7.5% for the Indian economy in 2016 and 2017. This growth will be driven largely by private consumption growth.
178. India has recently successfully test-fired indigenously developed nuclear capable Prithvi-II missile at Chandipur, Odisha. The short-range surface-to-surface missile has a strike range of 350 km and is capable of carrying 500 kg to 1,000 kg of warheads and is thrusted by liquid propulsion twin engines. It uses advanced inertial guidance system with maneuvering trajectory to hit its target. The battlefield missile has flight duration of 483 seconds and a peak altitude of 43.5km.
179. 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.
180. 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.
181. The 'Centre for Environmental Health' has been launched by the Union Health and Family Welfare Minister J P Nadda in New Delhi to assess the impact of environment related problems due to climate change, air pollution, pesticide use and sanitation on health. It is a joint initiative of the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) and Tata Institute of Social Science (TISS) and it will conduct policy relevant research across a range of environmental health issues across the country.
182. Rupa Iyer , an Indian-American biotechnologist, has won the "Distinguished Leadership in Teaching Excellence Award", the highest teaching award of University of Houston (UH), for her continuous and notable contributions in the field of education in United States (US). It is the highest award given in teaching and the only one given in this category by the varsity. Currently, she is Associate Dean, Research and Graduate Studies at the University of Houston's College of Technology.
183. The Himachal Pradesh government has recently launched PEHAL programme for raising education standards at Ridge Maidan, Shimla. The purpose of the programme is to speed up developmental works and government schemes through effective implementation at grassroots level. The PEHAL will focus on five key areas viz. primary education, forest rights, health and sanitation, campaign against drugs and skill development and women Empowerment. With this, Shimla has become the 1st district in the state to launch such different programme to work as a team with the people.
184. 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.
185. The Minister of State for Science and Technology Y.S.Chowdary has recently launched "Qora", an indigenously developed Fecal Incontinence (FI) management system. The medical device has been developed by Department of Biotechnology (DBT) and is implemented at AIIMS and IIT Delhi in collaboration with International partners such as Stanford University (USA), Queensland University of Technology (Australia), etc. The Fecal incontinence (FI) is a medical condition marked by inability to control one's bowel movements, causing stool (feces) to leak unexpectedly from the rectum. It affects nearly 100 million bed ridden patients worldwide.
186. 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.
187. 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.
188. The book "Dr. Ambedkar: Life and Mission" has been authored by Dhananjay Kheer. This book gives an idea of Dr. Ambedkar's contribution to Indian thought, history, literature and the constitution and of his place in the evolution of Hinduism and its phases.
189. Philip Abraham, councillor and journalist from Kerala, has been elected as the Deputy Mayor of Loughton town in the United Kingdom. Loughton is a vibrant town in the Epping forest district of Essex.
190. 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.
191. 2 Roots, a Delhi-based Non-profit organization ( NGO), has been awarded the "The Inter-cultural Innovation Award 2016" for their unique Student Exchange Program, which allowed children in schools from India and Pakistan to connect through written, audio and visual recordings that share history before partition and thus eliminating misunderstandings about each other's cultures. This engagement also facilitates the students to ask each other questions, thereby discovering common interests. The award has been given by United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) in Baku, Azerbaijan.
192. The book "Firaq Gorakhpuri: The Poet of Pain and Ecstasy" has been authored by Ajai Mansingh. It's the biography of Firaq Gorakhpuri, who was known for his ghazals, nazms, rubaais and qataa. The book reveals how the poet's loveless marriage found its way into his melancholic poetry. It tells the compelling tale of the poet's life, inspiration and struggles.
193. Anurag Thakur has been elected as the new president of Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). He succeeded Shashank Manohar, who stepped down from the position to become the first independent chairman of the International Cricket Council (ICC). Thakur is a BJP MP in the Lok Sabha and was the former secretary of the BCCI.
194. The UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has recently appointed former Irish President Mary Robinson and Kenyan diplomat Macharia Kamau as special envoys for El Nino and climate. Both the envoys will provide the leadership required to tackle these challenges by raising the profile and sounding the alarm. The El Nino weather phenomenon, which occurs every two to seven years, affects rainfall patterns and causes both drought and flooding.
195. The Himachal Pradesh government has recently launched an artificial propagation programme for rehabilitation and conservation of Golden Mahseer fish. A hatchery with an outlay of Rs. 6 crore has been set up at Machhial near Jogindernagar town in Mandi district to rear mahseer, to breed the fish and release its fingerlings into the wild. The Golden mahseer is known as the tiger of Indian rivers. The population of the golden mahseer is declining in the state due to various reasons viz. construction of dams, barrages, pollution, indiscriminate fishing of brood and juvenile fish, introduction of exotic species and habitat deterioration. It has been declared endangered by the Washington-based International Union of Conservation of Natural Resources (IUCN).
196. The market watchdog Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has recently made mandatory for Participatory Notes (P-Notes) users to follow Indian anti-money laundering laws and report any suspicious transactions immediately. The issuers of P-Notes would have to conduct periodic review and report the complete transfer trail of P-Notes to SEBI on a monthly basis in addition to the present requirement of reporting details of their holders. The P-Notes are typically instruments issued by registered foreign institutional investors to overseas investors, who wish to invest in Indian markets without registering themselves directly in India to save on time.
197. The National Anti Terrorism Day is celebrated every year on May 21 in India to raise awareness among all sections of people, about the danger of terrorism, violence and its dangerous effect on the people, the society and the nation as a whole. On this day, in 1991, the former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated by a suicide squad of Liberation of Tamil Tigers Eelam (LTTE), while attending a rally in Sriperumbudur, Tamil Nadu.
198. 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.
199. Sarbananda Sonowal will be sworn-in as the new Chief Minister of Assam at Khanapara field in Guwahati on May 24, 2016. In the 126-member assembly, BJP along with its allies, Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and Bodo Peoples Front (BPF) has won 60 , 14 and 12 constituencies respectively. Sonowal is a Member of Parliament ( MP) of the 16th Lok Sabha from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) representing Lakhimpur Lok Sabha constituency in Assam. Presently, he is the Union Minister for Sports & Youth Affairs.
200. Mohun Bagan Athletic Club has clinched the 2016 Indian Federation Cup football tournament by defeating Aizawl FC in the final by 5-0 at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium in Guwahati, Assam. It is the record 14th time that Mohun Bagan has won the title and became the most successful club in the history of the competition.
201. The Central Government has recently constituted 11 members committee to recommend measures to increase India's combat capabilities of the armed forces and re-balance the overall defense expenditure. The committee will be headed by Lt Gen D B Shekatkar (retd).
202. 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.
203. 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.
204. 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.
205. The book "To Cancer, With Love: My Journey of Joy" has been authored by Neelam Kumar, a cancer survivor. The book is an anti-soppy, hilarious, cancer-wrestling memoir on life and its side-effects. It increases our understanding about the disease and will leave us wondering at the resilience of the human spirit. This book is a serious attempt to help us victorious over anything that life throws. It is an exclusive and unique interactive section will guide us through our personal challenges in a step-by-step and rational manner.
206. The Gujarat Government has recently launched a novel initiative "Smart Village" program to improve public facilities in the villages. Under the program, 300 villages will be selected and will get Rs. 80 lakh to Rs. 2 crore cash assistance from the state government. The smart village is one of the platform that brings the state and church together to make thedifference in the lives of poor tribal people in unreached villages. It is building up of a complete village, self-reliant by mobilizing renewable energy and complete participation of people in all development towards a smart village or a model village among Indian villages.
207. The International Biodiversity Day (IDB) (or World Biodiversity Day) is observed every year on May 22 to promote conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity. The 2016 theme is "Mainstreaming Biodiversity; Sustaining People and their Livelihoods".
208. Kiran Bedi, the BJP leader and former IPS officer, has been appointed as the new Lieutenant Governor (LG) of Puducherry. She will succeed Lieutenant General (Retd.) Ajay Kumar Singh, who is currently been appointed as the LG of Andaman and Nicobar islands. Singh was given the additional charge as the LG of Puducherry after the former LG for the Union Territory Virendra Kataria from the UPA regime.
209. Sikkim Chief Minister Pawan Chamling has been conferred with the "Yug Kavi Siddhicharan Award", one of the Nepal's prestigious literary award, by the Nepal Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli for his commendable contributions in promoting Nepali literature in India. The award carries a certificate of appreciation and a sum of NRs 100,000. His works in Nepali include Prarambhik Kavita (poems), Antyaheen Sapana: Mero Bipana (poems), Ma Ko Hoon! (poems), etc.
210. India's most successful cueist Pankaj Advani has won the 2016 Asian 6-Red Snooker Championship by defeating top seeded Malaysian Keen Hoh Moh by 7-5 in Abu Dhabi . With this, he became the first in the world to hold both world and continental titles in 6-red snooker at the same time.
211. The National Aluminium Company Limited (NALCO) has recently signed a MoU with Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization to explore the possibility of setting up smelter- cum-gas based power plant on joint venture in Iran for the proposed smelter plant in Chabahar Free Trade Zone. For the proposed smelter plant NALCO will supply alumina from its refinery in India.
212. India's Javelin Thrower Neeraj Chopra has clinched the silver medal at the Zygmunta Selesta Memorial in Warsaw, Poland by his throw of 79.3 m. Though, he missed the Olympic qualification mark of 83 metres.
213. 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.
214. Mohamed Nasheed, the former president of the Maldives, has been granted political refugee status in the United Kingdom (UK). He is a prominent human rights campaigner and Maldives first democratically elected president, who served for 4 years before he was toppled in what he called a coup backed by the military and police. He was jailed in 2015 after a trial that drew widespread international criticism for being part of a slide to authoritarianism in the country. In January 2016, he was allowed to go to Britain on medical grounds.
215. The Indian Navy has recently commissioned "INS Tarmugli", an indigenously built highly maneuverable Fast Attack Craft, at Naval Dockyard in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. INS Tarmugli will be based in Visakhapatnam under the Naval Officer-in-Charge (Andhra Pradesh). It would be deployed for coastal patrol and surveillance operations along the East Coast of India. The ship is named after an island in the Andaman group and is capable of operating in shallow waters at high speeds and is equipped with enhanced fire power.
216. 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.
217. 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.
218. The book "The Bones of Grace" has been authored by Tahmima Anam, a British Bangladeshi writer, novelist and columnist. It is the story of Zubaida, and her search for herself. The novel is the final part of Anam's Bengal trilogy, which chronicles three generations of the Haque family from the Bangladesh war of independence to the present day.
219. For effective waste management in an eco-friendly manner, the Sikkim government has recently banned the use and sale of disposable foam food containers like cups, plates, spoons, containers, etc., and has restricted the use of mineral water bottles in government programmes all over the state.
220. The Government of India (GoI) has recently imposed a complete ban on Indian citizens travelling to war-torn Libya, irrespective of the purpose of the visit, in view of the prevailing security situation in that country.The travel ban is effective from May 3, 2016 till further orders.
221. India has recently signed loan agreement with World Bank (WB) for IBRD loan of $ 100 million for 'Karnataka Urban Water Supply Modernization project'. The purpose of the project is to provide city-wide access to a continuous piped water supply in the eligible cities in Karnataka and to strengthen the service delivery arrangements across the city.
222. Pinarayi Vijayan, the veteran leader of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), has been sworn-in as the new Chief Minister of Kerala. In 2016 Kerala Legislative Assembly election, he won the Dharmadom assembly constituency in Kannur by getting 87329 votes with a huge lead of 36905 votes against the opposing candidate.
223. The first-ever United Nations World Humanitarian Summit (WHS) has been held at Istanbul, Turkey. The purpose of the summit is to better coordinate support for and drive investment in education for children and youth affected by humanitarian emergencies and protracted crises.
224. K Anirudhan (92), the well-known communist leader and parliamentarian, has recently passed away at Vazhuthacaud in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. He was known for his significant contribution to build the Communist party movement in southern parts of the Kerala state.
225. Prof. Frances Hamilton Arnold, an American scientist and engineer, has won the 2016 Millennium Technology Prize in recognition of her discoveries that launched the field of 'directed evolution', which mimics natural evolution to create new and better proteins in the laboratory. With this, she became the first woman to win the €1m prize. The Millennium Technology Prize is awarded once every two years by Technology Academy Finland (TAF) and presented by the President of Finland to promote technological research and Finland as a high-tech Nordic welfare state.
226. Lieutenant General S K Saini has been appointed as the new commandant of the prestigious Indian Military Academy (IMA) in Dehradun. He is an alumni of National Defence Academy ( NDA) and IMA. The IMA is the officer training Academy of the Indian Army, established in 1932 in Dehradun, Uttarakhand.
227. The National Meet on Mining Sector will be held at Jaipur, Rajasthan on 27 May to provide an appropriate platform to discuss, review and firm up the way-ahead in expediting the pace of reforms initiated by the MMDR (Amendment) Act. The high-level meeting will be organized by the Union Ministry of Mines that provide an effective platform to showcase the recent policy initiatives of the Government of India (GoI) and also facilitate thorough discussion on the issues, challenges and opportunities in the mining sector. It will also help the Central Government to take feedback on further improvements in the policy environment in the mining sector.
228. The Union Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) will launch "ASMITA", a student tracking system in June 2016. The acronym "ASMITA" stands for All School Monitoring, Individual Tracing Analysis. It will be launched under Shala Asmita Yojana (SAY). The system will be an online database which will carry information of student attendance and enrolment, mid-day meal service, learning outcomes and infrastructural facilities, among other things, on one platform for both private and government schools. The students will be tracked through their Aadhaar numbers and in case those not having unique number will be provided with it.
229. The World Bank (WB) has recently launched the Pandemic Emergency Finance Facility (PEF), a new financing mechanism to quickly mobilise funds to tackle global disease outbreaks and create a new insurance market for pandemic risk. The new facility will accelerate both global and national responses to future outbreaks with pandemic potential. It was built and designed in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO) and the private sector. The major epidemics covered under the facility include new influenza pandemic virus A, B and C, SARS, MERS, Ebola, Marburg, Crimean Congo, Rift Valley, Lassa fever, etc.
230. The Union Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) has recently launched the multilingual knowledge portal "Bharatavani ( www.bharatvani.in )" at Baba Saheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University at Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. The portal has more than 130 dictionaries, glossaries and terminology books in text and PDF formats. It has been launched in 22 Indian languages which will be extended to 100 within a year. Along with the portal, the ministry has also launched the Bharatavani Multi-lingual App which will enable users to search for one language text in another as well as get meanings in different languages. The purpose of the Bharatavani is to foster national integration by emphasizing on multilingual and cross-lingual learning tools and technologies. The portal and app has been developed by Central Institute of Linguistics Mysore.
231. Baciro Dja has been named as the new Prime Minister of Guinea Bissau by the President Jose Mario Vaz. Dja will succeed Carlos Correia, who was dismissed from his post by the President on May 12, 2016. Bissau is the capital of West African country.
232. 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.
233. The Telangana state Government has entered the prestigious Limca Book of Records for its Intensive Household Survey conducted in August 2014. The survey compiled all kinds of information about each household in the state with an aim to prepare a data-bank for its social welfare and development programmes. It gathered information on households, educational qualifications of their members, their post office savings, bank account details, mobile phone numbers, Aadhaar card numbers and gas connection details immediately after state formation in 2014. Thus, the Telangana Household Survey has been awarded as the national record by the Limca Book of Record.
234. 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.
235. The Minister of State (IC) for AYUSH Shripad Yesso Naik has launched the new website of the Ministry of AYUSH "http://ayush.gov.in" under digital India mission and web portal for International Day of Yoga (IDY) in New Delhi. The new web portal has a provision to provide all the updated and significant information relating to IDY-2016. It has a social wall where the entire social media interactive platform shall be available for the visitors to keep track on the discussions and participate in them. The portal will also have linkages of all the important web pages of the Government of India viz. Swachh Bharat, Make in India, etc.
236. 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.
237. The Union IT & Communications Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has stated that the payments bank of India Post will start functioning from March 2017. The postal department has the widest network in India. Presently, there are 1, 54,939 post offices, out of that 25,560 are departmental post offices and 1, 29,379 are branch post offices. Thus, India Post's payments bank will provide a wider platform to implement financial inclusion programmes.
238. As per recent study conducted by Assocham-KPMG, India is the 5th largest producer of electronic waste (e-waste) in the world. Beside this, India has also emerged as the world's 2nd largest mobile market with 1.03 billion subscribers. As per the study, about 100 crore mobile phones are in circulation, nearly 25 % end up in e-waste every year, thus, the rising levels of e-waste generation in India have been a matter of concern in recent years.
239. Indian para athlete and Arjuna Awardee Amit Kumar Saroha from Haryana has won the gold medal in men's club throw (F-51) at the 2016 French Open Athletics Championship in Paris. In this championship, he broke the Asian record which he had himself set at 2015 World Championships in Doha by winning silver medal, with a throw 26.58m. Saroha has already qualified for the 2016 Rio Paralympics scheduled to be held September 2016.
240. The All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) Chief Mamata Banerjee has been sworn-in as the new Chief Minister of West Bengal at Red Road, Kolkata for second successive five-year term. Beside her, 41 party MLAs has taken oath as ministers in the new cabinet in the state Assembly.
241. Bharti Enterprises founder and Chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal has received Harvard Business School Alumni Achievement Award for the year 2016. The award is presented annually since 1968.
242. 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.
243. Aditi Krishnakumar, an Indian author, has won the 2016 Scholastic Asian Book Award (SABA) in Singapore for her manuscript "Codex: The Lost Treasure Of The Indus". The SABA is the joint initiative of the National Book Development Council of Singapore and Scholastic Asia.
244. 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".
245. 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.
246. 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).
247. Lakshadweep has become the first Union Territory (UT) to sign "24×7 Power for All" document. The document chalks out a plan to increase solar capacity of the region from 2.15 MW to 8.45 MW. The plan also envisions reduction of AT & C losses from current level of 21% to 6.7% till 2019 by increasing the collection efficiency up to 99 %.
248. India's first integrated web portal "www.nzeb.in" has been launched by the Union Ministry of Power in collaboration with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to promote and mainstream Net Zero Energy Buildings (NZEB). The portal will provide complete information about NZEB, those that generate as much energy as they use, and also how to achieve near-zero energy status through the use of efficient lighting and equipment, integration of renewable energy technologies and best practice design strategies. Additionally, the portal hosts the NZEB Alliance, an industry-wide body setup to drive the Indian markets toward highly energy-efficient buildings.
249. The book "Green Signals: Ecology, Growth and Democracy in India" has been authored by Jairam Ramesh, the former Union Environment and Forest Minister (Independent Charge). The book provides a view on the functioning of a minister who believed in taking a pro-active approach. It also addresses the challenges involved in trying to ensure economic growth with ecological security. It is written to serve as a record for posterity and supported by facts and figures, hence making it a good reference for scholars and students.
250. 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.
251. The 42nd G7 summit was held on May 26–27, 2016 in Kashiko Island, Shima, in Japan. The summit aimed to address challenges affecting the growth of the world economy, like slowdowns in emerging markets and drops in price of oil.
252. 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.
253. Km The Indian Air Force (IAF) has successfully tested an advanced version of BrahMos land-attack supersonic cruise missile system at Pokaran, Rajasthan.The missile is the fastest in the world and has a flight range of up to 290 km and carries a conventional warhead of 200 to 300 kg, thus delivering with high-precision, devastating power at supersonic speed. This state- of-the-art missile system has empowered all three wings of the armed forces with impeccable anti-ship and land attack capability.
254. 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.
255. 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.
256. The International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers is observed every year on May 29 to pay tribute to all the men and women who have served and continue to serve in United Nations peacekeeping operations for their high level of professionalism, dedication, and courage and to honor the memory of those who have lost their lives in the cause of peace. The 2016 theme is "Honouring our Heroes".
257. The book "Gujarat Files: Anatomy of a Cover Up" has been authored by Rana Ayyub, which is recently launched in New Delhi. The book is an account of an 8-month long undercover investigation by journalist Rana Ayyub, who is a filmmaker from the American Film Institute Conservatory to investigate the Gujarat riots. The book, also describes the story of fake encounters and the murder of state Home Minister Haren Pandya. She also quoted IPS officer Rajan Priyadarshi as linked Modi and Shah to the communal violence in the state.
258. Arnab De, an Indian-American scientist, has won the prestigious 2016 Springer Theses Award for his outstanding research in which he developed transgenic mice to study a critical tumour-suppressor "A20". De has dedicated his PhD thesis to cricketing legend Sachin Tendulkar and his alma mater Kolkata's Presidency University. The Springer Theses Award is awarded by Springer, a leading global publisher of renowned scientific journals and books, to recognize outstanding PhD research.
259. The Public Sector Enterprise of Government of India (GoI), Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) has recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Horticulture Innovation Australia (Hort Innovation) for launching a joint funding call to support Research and Development (R&D) organizations and other eligible entities to undertake novel and cutting-edge strategic translational research in horticulture at affordable costs. The focus of the joint call is to carry out horticultural research in order to develop and deploy modern tools of plant biotechnology to improve crop productivity. The funding commitment from BIRAC and Hort Innovation is upto AUD 6 Million over a period of 3 years.
260. The Sunrisers Hyderabadhas has won the 2016 Indian Premier League (IPL) by defeating Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in final by 8 runs at the Chinnaswamy stadium, Bangalore. Ben Cutting (Sunrisers Hyderabad) has been declared the Man of the Match for his all round performance and Player of the series has been awarded to Virat Kohli (RCB). It is the 9th season of the IPL, a professional Twenty20 cricket league established by the Board of Control for Cricket in India ( BCCI) in 2007.
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