1. Anthony Lianzuala, a 1982-batch Indian Civil Accounts Service (ICAS) Officer, took over as the new Controller General of Accounts (CGA) in New Delhi on May 1, 2017. With this, he became the first person from the North-Eastern Region to hold this position. The CGA is the apex Accounting Authority of the Central Government and exercises the powers of the President under Article 150 of the constitution for prescribing the forms of Accounts of the Union and State Governments on the advice of the Comptroller & Auditor General of India.
2. The South Asia satellite "GSAT-09" will be launched by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on May 5, 2017 to boost the development and economy of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) nations in the region. It will be launched into the orbit from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) in Sriharikota using a Geostationary Launch Vehicle (GSLV) Mk-II launch vehicle. The 2,230 kg satellite has 12 Ku-band transponders. It is cuboid in shape and built around a central cylinder has a mission life of over 12 years. The satellite will enable full range of applications and services in the areas of telecommunication and broadcasting applications viz. Television, Direct-to-Home (DTH), Very Small Aperture Terminals (VSATs), Tele-education, Telemedicine and Disaster Management Support. The beneficiaries of GSAT-09 are as follows: Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka and Maldivies.
3. India's first-ever Blind Football Academy (BFA) with full time training & rehabilitation for the visually impaired persons is expected to come up at Kochi in Kerala. The Society for Rehabilitation of Visually Challenged (SRVC) and the Indian Blind Federation (IBFF) are making an effort to establish the academy. The purpose to set up BFA is to train and develop the best players to create a national team of world class standard and to qualify for the Paralympics by 2024.
4. Karnataka is the India's most corrupt state on the basis of people's experience in paying bribes for public services, as per latest survey conducted by the Centre for Media Studies (CMS) on corruption perception. Andhra Pradesh has acquired second position, followed by Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Jammu & Kashmir and Punjab. The annual corruption survey "CMS India Corruption Study 2017", which covered 20 states, found Himachal Pradesh, Kerala and Chhattisgarh to be the least corrupt. The report stated that around one-third of the households experienced corruption in public services at least once during the last one year in comparison to about 53% of households that admitted to paying bribes during a similar study in 2005. The study further found that the total bribe paid by households across 20 states and 10 public services was Rs 6,350 crore in 2016 as against Rs 20,500 crore in 2005.
5. The Aymanam grama panchayat of ward No. 15 in Kerala has become the India's first-ever digitised Panchayat ward. For this, Krishan Pal Gurjar (the Union minister of state for social justice and empowerment) has launched the website of the first digitalized panchayat ward number 15 of Aymanam grama panchayat "www.digitalaymanam.com" at a function held at a temple premises in Kottayam district. The website also contains information about blood donors' forum and telephone directory of the people of the ward.
6. Yusra Mardini, a Syrian woman who helped save a boat carrying fellow refugees, has been appointed a new Goodwill Ambassador for United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to work harder for people seeking shelter from war. She is the Syrian refugee & Olympic athlete and has been granted asylum in Germany.
7. Shobana Kamineni, executive vice chairperson of the Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Limited, has been appointed as first Woman President of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). She succeeded Dr Naushad Forbes and will hold the position for the year 2017-18. Apart from her, Rakesh Bharti Mittal takes charge as President Designate and Uday Kotak has become the new CII Vice President. CII is a non-government, not-for-profit, industry-led and industry-managed organisation, playing a proactive role in India's development process.
8. The Maharashtra government has recently launched the state's first Automated Weather Stations (AWS) at Dongargaon in Nagpur. With this, the state has become the first Indian state to install first-of-its-kind service for farmers. Around 2,065 such weather stations will also install at the village/mandal level across Maharashtra. The AWS will be helpful in measuring the wind direction, wind speed, air temperature, relative humidity, and record the amount of rainfall. The gathered information will be shared among the farmers by making them available on Mahavedh portal (Maharashtra agriculture weather information network) as well as on the Skymet mobile application.
9. Madhya Pradesh has become the first Indian state to announce shifting of its financial year format to January-December starting from 2018, as against the current practice of April-March cycle. The decision has recently taken by the state government in its state cabinet meeting, which was chaired by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. Thus, the budget session of the next financial year would be held in December-January 2018.
10. The Government of Indonesia is hosting the World Press Freedom Day (WPFD)'s main event and the UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize Ceremony in Jakarta, Indonesia from May 1-4, 2017. Dawit Isaak, an imprisoned Eritrean-Swedish journalist, has been bestowed with the 2017 UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize on May 3, 2017. The $25,000 Prize award was given to Dawit Isaak's daughter "Bethelem Isaak". He was arrested in a crackdown on the media in September 2001 by the Eritrean government and till date his present location is unknown. The 2017 theme of WPFD is "Critical Minds for Critical Times: Media's Role in Advancing Peaceful, Just and Inclusive Societies". The day is observed every year on May 3 to raise awareness of the importance of freedom of the press and remind governments of their duty to respect and uphold the right to freedom of expression enshrined under Article 19 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
11. The Government of Japan is hosting the 50th annual meeting of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Board of Governors from May 4 to 7, 2017 in Yokohama, Tokyo. The theme of the meeting is 'Building Together the Prosperity of Asia.' The event will emphasis issues such as regional cooperation, trade, financial and economic connectivity across Asia and the Pacific, small and medium sized enterprises, sustainable and inclusive cities, and employment.
12. The world's highest railway bridge will come up over Chenab River in Jammu and Kashmir (J& K), which is expected to be completed in 2019. The bridge will form a crucial link in the 111-km stretch between Katra and Banihal, which is part of the Udhampur- Srinagar-Baramu rail link project. It will be constructed at a cost of around Rs 1,100 crore in hostile terrain, will use over 24,000 tonnes of steel and will rise 359 m above the river bed. It will be designed to withstand wind speeds of upto 260 km per hour, the 1.315 km long engineering marvel" will connect Bakkal (Katra) and Kauri (Srinagar). Once completed, it will surpass the record of the Beipan river Shuibai railway bridge (275 m) in China.
13. Mallikarjun Kharge, the Congress leader, has been appointed as the new chairman of the 21-member Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament. He succeeded KV Thomas, whose term ended on April 30, 2017. The Committee on Public Accounts is the oldest Parliamentary committee that examines the accounts showing the appropriation of sums granted by Parliament for expenditure of Government of India and such other accounts of autonomous and semi-autonomous bodies. The committee also examines the Reports of Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) on various subjects like Civil, Defence, Posts, Railways and Taxation. Besides, the Committee examines the CAG reports on performance appraisals of various centrally sponsored schemes.
14. India's first-ever private sector small arms manufacturing plant has set up at Malanpur in Madhya Pradesh in a joint venture with Israel. The purpose of the plant is to supply world class weapons to the armed forces in sync with the India's defence indigenisation programme. The plant is a joint venture between Indian defence conglomerate 'Punj Lloy' and Israel Weapon Systems (IWS), which will produce four products — X95 carbine and assault rifle, Galil sniper rifle, Tavor assault rifle and Negev Light Machine Gun (LMG). The weapons will be assembled based on 100% transfer of technology.
15. Prabhat Kamal Bezboruah, a leading tea association industrialist, has been appointed the new chairman of the Tea Board of India. He will be in office till November 1, 2018. At present, Bezboruah is the chairman of the Tea Research Association and owner of Bokahola Tea Company Private Limited, which manages around 12 gardens in Assam with an annual production of about 55 lakh kg. Beside this, M.S. Boje Gowda has been appointed the new chairman of the Coffee Board of India. Gowda is a renowned coffee grower and will be in the post till December 14, 2018.
16. Banganapalle mangoes, one of the most popular and finest varieties of mango from Andhra Pradesh, has received the Geographical Indication (GI) Registration Certificate by the GI Registry, Chennai. With this, the Andhra Pradesh government has become the registered proprietor of the GI tag for mangoes. Banganapalle mangoes have been grown for over 100 years in the State. It is also known as Beneshan, Baneshan, Benishan, Chappatai and Safeda. The GI indicates products that have a specific geographical origin and possess qualities or a reputation that are due to that origin. Once product is registered as GI, no producer can claim the same name, which is covered by a GI tag, without taking consent from the applicant.
17. The Vansda National Park (VNP) is a protected area which represents the thick woodlands of the Dangs and southern Gujarat, and is situated in the Navsari District of Gujarat. It is home to an array of wild animals viz. Indian leopard, rhesus macaque, common palm civet, Hanuman langur, small Indian civet, four-horned antelope, wild boar, Indian porcupine, barking deer, etc. The best time to visit is post-monsoon season till winter when the forests are lush green and streams are full.
18. Great Britain has won the 26th edition of the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup by defeating Australia 4-3 in a thrilling hockey final at Ipoh, Malaysia on May 7, 2017. This victory came to Great Britain in the Azlan Shah Cup after 23 years. Australia Earlier, India outclassed New Zealand 4-0 to clinch a bronze medal in the hockey tournament.
19. Emmanuel Macron, a former civil servant and investment banker, has won the 2017 Presidential election of France and will take office on May 14, 2017. With this, he will become the youngest President in French history and the youngest French head of state since Napoleon. Beside this, Macron will also become the first President from outside the two traditional main parties since the modern republic's foundation in 1958. He fought the election under the banner En Marche! a social-liberal political party founded by him on April 2016.
20. The 7th edition of multinational military exercise "Eager Lion" has started in Jordon from May 8, 2017. Approx 7,400 troops from Europe, Asia, Africa and the Arab Gulf region are taking part in the exercises which run to May 18th, including from United States, Britain, Japan, Kenya, Pakistan, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. The man oeuvres would include border security, cyber defence, and "command and control" exercises, to bolster coordination in response to threats including terrorism. Jordan is a key recipient of US financial aid and a partner in the US-led coalition battling Islamic State group jihadists in Syria and Iraq.
21. The 33rd edition of joint military exercise "Balikatan ( or Shoulder-to- Shoulder)" has started between Philippines and the United States on May 8, 2017 at Camp Aguinaldo in Manila, Philippines . The focus of the 10-day exercise is on disaster response and counter terrorism while excluding territorial defense operations. Approx 5,400 personnel will be involved in the drills exercise.
22. The Hollywood star Emma Watson has won the first-ever Gender-Neutral Acting award for the Best Actor category for her movie "Beauty and the Beast" at the 2017 MTV Movie & TV Awards in Los Angeles, California. It was the 26th edition of the awards and for the first time it presented honors for work in television as well as cinema. It was also the first time men and women competed jointly in the acting categories.
23. Venu Rajamony, the 1986 batch Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer, has been appointed as the next Ambassador of India to the Kingdom of the Netherlands. He will also be India's Permanent Representative to the Organisation for Prevention of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) based in The Hague and cover the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the Permanent Court of Arbitration and other international organisations based in the Netherlands. He is expected to take up his assignment shortly. Rajamony is a journalist-turned-career diplomat, who is currently the Press Secretary to President Pranab Mukherjee.
24. Moon Jae-in, a former human rights attorney, has been sworn-in as the 19th President of South Korea. He succeeded Park Geun-hye. After taking the office, Moon appointed South Jeolla Province Governor, Lee Nak-yon as the Prime Minister. He also nominated Suh Hoon, a longtime intelligence official with expertise in North Korea issues, as his new chief of the National Intelligence Service.
25. The Maharashtra government has recently imposed a ban on sale of 'High in Fat, Salt and Sugar' (HFSS) food at school canteens across the state. A Government Resolution (GR) listed 12 categories of foods which cover potato chips, noodles, carbonated soft drinks, pizza, burger, cakes, biscuits, buns, pastries, etc., which cannot be sold. It also gives a list of 20 items that can be sold, which include wheat roti, vegetable pulav, idli-vada, coconut water and jaljira. The resolution also calls for creating awareness among children about consuming nutritional food.
26. Justice (Retd.) Mukul Mudgal, the Retired judge of Delhi High Court, has been elected as the new Chairman of FIFA Governance committee at the world football governing body's 67th Congress in Manama. The position of the governance chief fell vacant after Miguel Maduro was fired for his role in blocking Russian World Cup official Vitaly Mutko from retaining his seat on ruling council. Justice Mudgal headed the IPL 2013 spot-fixing probe and also involved in overseeing the conduct of international cricket matches. Prior to this appointment, Justice Mudgal was the deputy chairman of the governance committee.
27. The Indian Army has decided to re-introduce Cordon and Search Operations (CASO) as a "permanent feature" of its campaign against militants after a gap of 15 years. The CASO will be carried out in a major way in militancy-hit areas of Kulgam, Pulwama, Tral, Budgam and Shopian in south Kashmir. The Army had discontinued CASO following stiff opposition from the local population and after 2001 launched CASO only on specific intelligence-based inputs. The security establishment felt that CASO had alienated the local population from the armed forces due to difficulties people faced during such operations. The decision to re-introduce CASO as a major feature of the counter-terror operations comes against the backdrop of anger over the recent killing of young and unarmed Kashmiri Army officer Lieutenant Ummer Fayaz in Shopian by militants.
28. The 14th edition of United Nations International Day of Vesak has started at Colombo in Sri Lanka from May 12-14, 2017 under the theme "Buddhist Teachings for Social Justice and Sustainable World Peace". The events include an International Buddhist Symposium the participation of over 400 delegates from 100 countries. Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister of India, is the chief guest for UN Vesak Day. The significance of Vesak lies with the Buddha's teaching of cessation of suffering and universal peace to all humankind. It is a message to urge followers to do that which is good and to turn away from evil. It is a message of peace and perfect harmony between human beings and nature.
29. The United States has approved $75 million high-tech chemical protective clothing for the Indian armed forces that will protect soldiers against biological and chemical warfare. The Joint Service Lightweight Integrated Suit Technology (JSLIST) consists of 38,034 each: suits, pairs of trousers, pairs of gloves, pairs of boots and NBC bags; 854 aprons; 854 alternative aprons; 9,509 Quick Doff Hoods; and 114,102 M61 filters. The entire package also includes 38,034 M50 general purpose masks.
30. V K Saraswat, the renowned scientist and former Director General of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), has been appointed as the new Chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru University(JNU). He succeeded former ISRO chairman K Kasturirangan, who completed his term on 30th March 2017. Saraswat has been appointed for a term of five years. Currently, he is serving as the Member of NITI Aayog. According to JNU Act, the post of chancellor is a titular post.
31. Austin has topped the list of 22 tech cities across the world, as per the 2017 Savills Tech Cities Index. San Francisco has acquired 2nd position followed by New York and London. From India, Bengaluru ranked 20th among tech cities in the world. But when it comes to the cost of living index, Bengaluru tops the charts with a weekly residential rent for tech employees and household standing at $236 – compared to the tech cities' average of $368. The purpose of 2017 Savills Tech Cities programme is to understand the diverse factors that make up a good location choice for the tech sector.
32. Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan has been appointed by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as its Goodwill Ambassador for Hepatitis in South-East Asia Region to boost awareness and intensify action to arrest the epidemic. As WHO goodwill ambassador for hepatitis in the region, Bachchan will lend his voice and support to public awareness programmes that aim to scale up preventive measures and advocate for early diagnosis and treatment of viral hepatitis. This is the first formal association between WHO and Bachchan, who served as UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador for Polio in India.
33. Chanda Kochhar, the chairman of ICICI Bank, has become the first Indian woman to be conferred with the prestigious Woodrow Wilson Award for Global Corporate Citizenship from the Woodrow Wilson Centre in Washington DC on May 10, 2017. With this, she has joined the league of former Indian recipients– former President and space scientist APJ Abdul Kalam and IT honcho Narayana Murthy. The annual award was instituted in 1998 by the prestigious Wilson Center to felicitate individuals whose actions and accomplishments, either in their careers or through service.
34. India's first electric cab fleet will be launched in Nagpur on May 26, 2017 to promote the usage of electric and hybrid vehicles in India. The pilot project will be undertaken by Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) and Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M) will provide 200 most likely the e-Verito and the e20 Plus. For this purpose, the Government of India (GoI) had already passed the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric (FAME) Vehicles scheme in 2015. Under the FAME India scheme, around 99,000 hybrid/electric vehicles (xEVs) are currently given direct support by way of incentives since the launch on April 1, 2015. The sole purpose of the scheme is to go completely electric by 2030.
35. The 43rd edition of G7 summit will be held at Taorminain Sicily, Italy. The attendees will include the leaders of the seven G7 member states as well as representatives of the European Union. The 43rd G7 summit will be the first summit for British Prime Minister Theresa May, French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni and U.S. President Donald Trump.
36. Edouard Philippe, a centre-right mayor, has been appointed as the new Prime Minister of France by the President Emmanuel Macron. Philippe is not from the President's new centrist party but from the centre-right Republicans. The choice is seen as an attempt to draw in key figures from both the right and left of French politics.
37. India has been ranked 26th in the list of electricity accessibility according to the World Bank in the current year from 99th spot in 2014. It is because of Indian government's rural electrification programme, over 13,000 villages electrified out of a total of 18,452 and are on track for completion within the targeted 1,000 days. Additionally, a person who applies for electricity connection should be able to get electricity in 24 hours if power infrastructure is available and in areas where there is no power infrastructure a person should expect electricity in a week.
38. Arun Jaitley, the Union Minister of Finance, has officially launched the Portal of Operation Clean Money on May 16, 2017 for a transparent tax administration as well as to enable citizen engagement for creating a tax compliant society. The salient features of the portal are to provide comprehensive information at one place, to enable citizen engagement for creating a tax compliant society & to enabling transparent tax administration by sharing status reports. The portal designed by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) will identify those who have made large deposits or purchases and which are not in line with declared income as a follow-up to Operation Clean Money.
39. The Uttar Pradesh government has recently constituted "Maa committee" to check mid day meal quality in state-run primary schools to ensure that the students will get nutritious food prepared in hygienic conditions. It will be a committee of six mothers, from all sections of the society, whose students are studying in that school. From cleanliness in kitchen to quality of food being served to children, the committee will keep an eye on minute details.
40. Anshu Jamsenpa, the Indian mountaineer from Arunachal Pradesh, has scripted history by becoming the first Indian woman to scale the Mount Everest for the fourth time. She will attempt a double ascent to the world's highest peak to make it a total five successful climbs. If she is successful with her double ascent this time, Ms Jamsenpa will set a record five climbs of Mt Everest.
41. The Vishakhapatnam railway station in Andhra Pradesh has been adjudged as the cleanest railway station among the 75 busiest stations in the country in category A1, followed by Secunderabad, Jammu Tawi, Vijayawada and Anand Vihar railway stations. This was revealed by Third Party Audit Report on Station Cleanliness i.e. released by Ministry of Railway in New Delhi on May 17, 2017. The railway stations are categorised — A1, A, B, C, D, E and F — based on their annual passenger revenue by the ministry. Among the 'A' category stations, Beas railway station in Punjab was rated the cleanest station followed by Khammam station in Telangana and Ahmednagar station in Maharashtra. Zone wise South-East Central railway has been ranked first followed by East Coast railway and Central Railway. The survey was carried out by the Quality Council of India (QCI) and was based on criteria such as toilets on platforms, management of tracks and dustbins.
42. Mukesh Ambani, the chairman of Reliance Industries, has been named among the 25 most influential business leaders from around the world in the Forbes Global Game Changers 2017 list. Ambani is the only Indian in the list that comprises business leaders from 8 different countries. The 2017 list was based on corporate growth, innovation and international presence.
43. Sanjay Gubbi of Karnataka and Dr. Purnima Barman of Assam have won the prestigious 2017 Whitley Award, popularly known as Green Oscars, for their efforts in wildlife conservation. Ms. Barman has won the award for creating an all-female network to save the Greater Adjutant stork, known in India as Hargila, and its wetland habitat in Assam, while Mr. Gubbi has been awarded for his work to protect tiger corridors in Karnataka. Each of the winners will receive 35,000 pounds prize money in project funding over one year. The Whitley Fund for Nature is a UK-based charity that works to highlight grassroots leaders in nature conservation across the developing world.
44. Anil Madhav Dave (60), the Union Environment Minister, has passed away in New Delhi on May 18, 2017. He was well-known for his work on river Narmada through an organisation 'Narmada Samagra' founded by him, which works on conservation of Narmada and its catchment area through various activities and events. Dave was appointed as Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Environment, Forest and Climate Change on July 2016.
45. Indian scientist Shrinivas Kulkarni has won the prestigious 2017 Dan David prize in the "Future" category for his contribution in the field of astronomy. The "Future" category for 2017 is being shared by Kulkarni with two other recipients — Andrej Udalski of the University of Warsaw and Neil Gehrels of NASA — for their discoveries on time-domain astrophysics at festive awards ceremony in Tel Aviv, Israel on May 21, 2017. Kulkarni is a professor of astrophysics and planetary science at California Institute of Technology in Pasadenan, United States. The three Dan David prizes of $1 million each are given every year in the categories of "Past", "Present" and "Future" to people around the world who have made outstanding contributions to humanity in the sciences, humanities, or through their work in civil society.
46. Dr. Harsh Vardhan has given the additional charge of Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) following the death of Minister Anil Madhav Dave. Dr. Vardhan is the incumbent minister at Ministry of Science and Technology and Ministry of Earth Sciences and represents Chandni Chowk in Delhi as a Member of Parliament (MoP) in the 16th Lok Sabha.
47. The 52nd annual meeting of African Development Bank (AfDB) Group will be held at the Mahatma Mandir convention centre in Gandhinagar , Gujarat from May 22 to 26, 2017 with theme "Transforming Agriculture for Wealth Creation in Africa". It's the first-ever AfDB meeting in India, which will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on May 23, 2017 . The 2017 AfDB meeting meeting will be a mega international event to be attended by more than 3000 delegates from 81 member countries from across the world including the Governors, Alternate Governors, Executive Directors, policy makers and businesses. It will provide a forum for representatives of government, business, civil society, think-tanks, academia and the media to debate key issues in Africa.
48. The Madhav Chitale committee on de-siltation of River Ganga has recommended a slew of measures which includes study to guide de-silting activities, sand registry for de-silting and a technical institute to conduct the sediment budget, flood routing studies and confirm the necessity of the de-silting of section of the river. The committee suggested good agricultural practices, river bank anti-erosion works and avoiding encroachment of flood plain and reclamation of adjoining lakes along the river. The committee also recommended de-silting of adjoining lakes to increase their storage capacities. The committee was constituted in July 2016 by the Ministry of Water Resources River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation to prepare guidelines for desiltation of river Ganga from Bhimgauda (Uttarakhand) to Farakka (West Bengal).
49. Mathunny Mathews (81), popularly known as 'Toyota Sunny', has recently passed away on May 20, 2017 in Qadisiya in Kuwait. The funeral was held at his native Podippara, Eraviperoor in Pathanamthitta district, Kerala. He was an Indian & a resident in Kuwait, who played a key role in the safe evacuation of 1.7 lakh Indian nationals from the Emirate after Saddam Hussein's Iraqi forces invaded Kuwait in 1990. Mathews was one of the founding members of the Indian Arts Circle which brought the expats together. He was the inspiration for 'Airlift', a Bollywood movie in which Akshay Kumar depicted Ranjit Katyal.
50. China has become the largest stainless steel producer in the world in 2016, according to data released by the International Stainless Steel Forum (ISSF) at annual conference held on May 14-19, 2017 in Tokyo, Japan. India overtook Japan as the second- largest producer in 2016. ISSF is a non-profit research and development organisation founded in 1996 and serves as the focal point for the international stainless steel industry. As per the report, India's stainless steel production rose to 3.32 million tonne in 2016 showing an impressive growth of about 9% over 3 million tonne it produced in 2015.
51. Sher Bahadur Deuba, a Nepali Congress leader, will become the new Prime Minister of Nepal, after Pushpa Kamal Dahal "Prachanda" resigned from the post. The resignation is to honor an accord signed in August 2016 when Prachanda was elected the prime minister with Deuba's support. According to the agreement, Prachanda was to remain in office until the local elections were held while polls at the provincial and central levels were to be conducted under Deuba as the Prime Minister. He was elected as the 39th prime minister of Nepal after forging an alliance with the Nepali Congress on August 3, 2016.
52. Recently, the Union government has appointed 7 members in the minorities panel along with chairperson. Gayarul Hasan, a social activist from Uttar Pradesh, will become the new chairperson of the National Commission for Minorities (NCM). The other members are Activist and BJP leader from Kerala George Kurian, former Maharashtra minister Sulekha Kumbhare, Jain representative from Gujarat Sunil Singhi and Vada Dasturji Khurshed, chief priest of Udvada Athornan Anjuman, are the other members of the panel. This is for the first time that a Jain member will be part of the panel after the community was notified as 'minority' in January 2014. The tenure of the panel members is of three years (if not extended). The NCM was set up under the National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992 to look into complaints from members of five religious communities — Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and Zoroastrians (Parsis). The panel has seven members, including its chairperson and vice chairperson.
53. Taiwan has become the first Asian country to recognize same sex marriage after the constitutional court's ruling comes in support of legalizing same-sex marriage. The panel of judges has given the island's parliament two years to amend or enact new laws, which could potentially make Taiwan the first place in Asia to allow same-sex marriage. It must be noted that South Africa is the only country in Africa to permit same-sex marriage.
54. Nauru, the world's smallest republic, has become the sixth country to ratify the International Solar Alliance (ISA) Framework pact initiated by the Indian and French Governments at the climate change summit held at Paris in 2015. The motivating factor behind the ISA is the need for continents like Asia and Africa to protect the environment while generating energy for development goals. Beside this, five more African nations — Comoros, Cote d'Ivoire, Somalia, Ghana and Djibouti — have committed to sign the Solar Alliance pact during the ongoing meeting of the African Development bank (AfDB) in India. This is the first time that India is hosting the annual meetings of the AfDB. The tiny island nation of Nauru is the smallest state in the South Pacific and third smallest state by area in the world, behind only Vatican City and Monaco.
55. The boring of India's first underwater rail tunnel under the Hooghly River for establishing metro link between Howrah and Kolkata has completed before its scheduled deadline of July 2017. The tunnel is 16.6 km long, out of which 10.8 km runs under the ground. Of this 10.8 km, 502 metres is under the water and the whole thing connects Howrah to the west and Salt lake to the east. It will have 12 stations and six will be underground. Estimated cost of the entire project is $750 million or about Rs 5,000 crores. The final commissioning of the project is expected by December 2019, following which it will be operational. The project is built by Afcons Transtonnelstroy and implemented by Kolkata Metro Railway Corporation Ltd (KMRCL).
56. The world's first operational robot police officer "Robocop" was officially inducted into the Dubai police force at the 4th Gulf Information Security Expo and Conference (GISEC) in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE) on May 21, 2017. The robot is around 5-foot tall and weighs a 100kg. It can not only identify hand gestures from a distance of up to 1.5 metres, but can also detect people's emotions and facial expressions. The newly-recruit Robocop will be used for patrolling the city's malls and tourist attractions. The people will be able to use it to report crimes, pay fines and get information by tapping a touchscreen on its chest. Apart from being able to chat with people, the robocop can also shake your hand and offer a millitary salute. At present it can communicate only in Arabic and English, but there are plans to add Russian, Chinese, French and Spanish to its repertoire.
57. The 28th edition of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit has started in Brussels, Belgium on May 24 and 25, 2017 in which terrorism will top the agenda of the meeting. It is expected that NATO is to join the US-led anti-Islamic State coalition(IS) to fight against Islamist terrorism. The 2018 NATO summit will held in Istanbul, Turkey.
58. The Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated India's longest bridge "Dhola-Sadia Bridge" in Assam on May 26, 2017. This three lane, 9.15 kilometre bridge has been built over river Lohit, a tributary of the Brahmaputra river. It links Dhola in Assam to Sadia. The bridge will reduce the distance from Rupai on NH- 37 in Assam to Meka-Roing on NH-52 in Arunachal Pradesh by 165 KM. The travel time between the two places will come down from the current six hours to just one hour, a total five hour reduction. This will result in saving of petrol and diesel worth Rs 10 Lakh per day. It will also cater to the strategic requirements of the country in the border areas of Arunachal Pradesh, besides facilitating numerous hydro power projects coming up in the state.
59. The capital of Bangladesh "Dhaka" is the world's most crowded city with a population density of 44,500 people per square kilometre, released by World Economic Forum (WEF), citing UN Habitat data. According to UN Habitat data, of the top 10 most densely populated cities in the world, six are in Asia, three are in Africa and one is in South America. India's financial capital Mumbai, home to 31,700 people per square kilometre has acquired second place, where as Kota in Rajasthan with 12,100 people per square kilometre was ranked seventh. Others in the list include Medellin in Columbia (3rd), Manila in Philippines (4th, 14,800), Casablanca in Morocco (5th, 14,200), Lagos in Nigeria (6th, 13,300), Singapore (8th, 10,200) and Jakarta in Indonesia (9th, 9,600).
60. India's first multi-modal electric vehicle project has been inaugurated by the Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari, along with Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis at the Nagpur Airport Complex to promote eco-friendly transport. With this, Nagpur became the first city in India to have electric mass mobility system with a fleet of 200 electric vehicles, including taxis, buses, e-rickshaw and autos.
61. The 43rd edition of G7 summit has started at Taorminain Sicily, Italy on May 26, 2017. The 2-day meet will discuss a wide range of issues, including global economy, security and energy. The leaders of the Group of Seven wealthy nations as well as representatives of the European Union are participating in the summit. The 2017 G7 summit is the first summit for British Prime Minister Theresa May, French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni and U.S. President Donald Trump. The G7 members are Italy, Canada, France, United States, United Kingdom, Japan and Germany.
62. Iconic attraction of India Taj Mahal has emerged as the 5th most popular landmark in the world and 2nd in Asia, according to the online travel portal TripAdvisor's 'Travellers' Choice Awards for Landmarks. Globally, Angkor Wat in Cambodia, Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque Center in Abu Dhabi, Mezquita Cathedral de Cordoba in Spain, and St Peter's Basilica in Italy, bagged the first four ranks respectively. Whereas, the top 10 landmarks in Asia has been topped by Angkor Wat, followed by Taj Mahal on the second place. Apart from this, Taj Mahal has also ranked first in the list of popular landmarks in India, followed by AmberFort, Jaipur; Swaminarayan Akshardham, New Delhi, etc.
63. South Korea has won the 15th edition of the Sudirman Cup-2017 by defeating China in the final with a 3-2 win Carrara Sports and Leisure Centre in Australia on May 28, 2017. It is S.Korea's fourth title, with the last one coming in 2003. It was the first time that Australia had hosted the tournament and the first time this event is hosted outside Asia and Europe since its establishment in 1989.
64. The construction of the world's largest optical telescope has started in northern Chile, which is expected to begin operating in 2024. The Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) is being built by the European Southern Observatory (ESO) and will have a main mirror that is 39m in diameter. The telescope will be positioned on top of Cerro Armazones – a 3046-metre long mountain Chile. It will tackle a wide range of scientific challenges, including probing Earth-like exoplanets for signs of life, studying the nature of dark energy and dark matter, and observing the universe's early stages to explore humans' origins.
65. Dr Najma Heptulla, the Governor of Manipur and former Minority Affairs Minister, has been appointed as the new Chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi for five-years. She succeeded Lt. Gen. (Retd.) M.A. Zaki. Dr. Heptulla is the grand-niece of India's first education minister, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad. She has been a 5-time member of the Rajya Sabha between 1986 and 2012 and deputy chairman of the Rajya Sabha for 16 years. She has had the distinction of presiding over the women's parliamentarians' group of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) in 1993.
66. India has been ranked 120th among 131 countries in women workforce, as per recently released World Bank (WB)'s India Development Report (IDR). As per the report, the participation level has been dropping since 2005, despite 42% women are graduates. The report states that only 27% of women of the age of 15 or older are working or actively looking for a job. Three of every five prime working age Indian women (26-45 years) are not economically active, meaning they neither work on a farm, nor in businesses, nor do they earn any wages. The report highlighted that India's potential GDP growth rate can be boosted by a percentage point if women participation increased.
67. The World No Tobacco Day (WNTD) is observed every year on May 31 to encourage a 24-hour period of abstinence from all forms of tobacco consumption around the globe. The day is further intended to draw attention to the widespread prevalence of tobacco use and to negative health effects, which currently lead to nearly 6 million deaths each year worldwide, including 600,000 of which are the result of non-smokers being exposed to second-hand smoke. The 2017 theme "Tobacco – a threat to development" has been set by the World Health Organization (WHO). The campaign aims to demonstrate the threats that the tobacco industry poses to sustainable development, including the health and economic well-being of citizens in all countries.
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