National
• India has successfully carried out a fresh user trial of Agni-III ballistic missile from a defence test facility in the Abdul Kalam Island.
• India has successfully carried out a fresh user trial of Agni-II ballistic missile from a defence test facility in the Abdul Kalam Island off the coast of Odisha.
• Tejas, the Light Combat Aircraft has successfully test fired Derby Air-to-Air Beyond Visual Range (BVR) missile in RADAR guided mode. The test was performed on a Manoeuvrable Aerial Target at the Interim Test Range (ITR), Chandipur.
• Goa State government has decided to ban buying and selling of plastic bags below 50 microns. Goa has already banned the use of plastic bags below 40 microns.
The Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation has launched a nation wide campaign titled ‘Darwaza Band’ to promote toilet use and freedom from open defecation across the villages of the country.
• From May 4, Bhilar, a tiny hamlet in Satara district of Maharashtra is all set to become India’s first ‘book village’.
• India will give Rs. 35 crore rupees to children of freedom fighters in Bangladesh under the new ‘Muktijodha scholarship’ scheme in the next five years.
• Leveraging information technology in a big way, the Indian Railways is set to make use of the radio-frequency identification tags (RFID) for tracking of wagons, coaches and locomotives to ensure the effective and transparent functioning of the system.
• Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has inaugurated the state’s first automatic weather station at Dongargaon in Nagpur.
Indian Railways is expected to launch a new 20 coach premier train called the Tejas Express connecting Mumbai and Goa in June.
• Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya has flagged off an ambulance service that would cater to the needs of the cows.
• India’s second tallest flag pole has been Inaugurated in Kolhapur. The pole which is 303 feet high has been constructed in the Police training academy garden as a part of the Kolhapur beautification project.
• The Minister for Human Resource and Development, Prakash Javadekar has launched Students for soldiers- a nationwide Vidya – Veerta Abhiyan to encourage Universities and educational institutions across the country to display portraits of Param Veer Chakra-decorated soldiers.
• The Union Cabinet has granted international airport status for the Vijayawada Airport. The approval was given as per provisions of Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014.
The Registrar of Geographical Indications Registry, Chennai, has accorded GI Tag for the much famed Banganapalle Mango of Andhra Pradesh.
• Sualgiri and Swalgiri communities of Odisha have been notified as Scheduled Castes after President Pranab Mukherjee gave his assent to the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order (Amendment) Act, 2017.
• Indian Army has successfully test-fired advanced Block-III version of Brahmos cruise missile in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
• World’s highest railway bridge which will be 35 metres taller than the Eiffel Tower is to come up over the Chenab River in Jammu and Kashmir at a cost of around Rs. 1,100 crore in around two years from now.
• The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved re-structuring the schemes of the Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI) under new Central Sector Scheme called as SAMPADA (Scheme for Agro-Marine Processing and Development of Agro-Processing Clusters) for the time period 2016-20.
Union Urban Development Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu has announced the Cleanest Cities in the Country and the fastest moving cities on sanitation ladder under Swachh Sarvekshan-2017.
• The government has released draft rules for a ‘no-fly list’ for banning unruly passengers.
• The Army, security forces and police had launched a massive cordon and combing operation in south Kashmir’s Shopian district following the recent militant attacks on policemen and banking facilities.
• The government has declared the entire Assam as a “disturbed” area under the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act for another 3 months.
• Union Minister for Road Transport, Highways and Shipping Nitin Gadkari has inaugurated India’s First Integrated Bio-refinery for Renewable Fuels & Chemicals for producing ethanol from a variety of biomass.
• The Ministry of Home Affairs has asked all the state governments to link prisons with courts through video conferencing in order to expedite trials and to save costs of escorting undertrials to courts.
The strategic anti-Naxal operations command headquarters of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) has been shifted back from Kolkata to Raipur.
• A seven-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice J S Khehar has sentenced the Calcutta High Court judge, Justice C S Karnan to six months of imprisonment for repeated incidents of contempt of court.
• The Supreme Court has held UB Group chairman Vijay Mallya guilty of contempt of court for transferring 40 million dollars to his children in violation of the court’s order.
• India and Japan has decided to strengthen their military cooperation and hopes to pursue a strategic partnership for ensuring regional peace and stability.
• The 29th India–Indonesia CORPAT has commenced at Port Blair under the aegis of Andaman and Nicobar Command. The bilateral exercise is scheduled to be held from 9th to 25th May.
• The government has set up a task force headed by NITI Aayog vice-chairman Arvind Panagariya to come up with a methodology to generate timely and reliable employment data.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated Supreme Court’s Integrated Case Management Information System (ICMIS).
• Kochi Metro will employ 23 members from the transgender community.
• Indian Army has planned to re-introduce cordon and search operations (CASO) as a part of its counter terrorism operations after a gap of 15 years.
• According to the 2016 Indian Exclusion Report (IXR) released by the Centre for Equity Studies (CES), in terms of exclusion from access to public goods, Dalits, Adivasis and Muslims continue to remain the worst-hit communities.
• The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has decided to share online scores of candidates taking competitive exams in order to boost hiring by the private sector.
• The Border Security Force will make use of a newly developed technology that is capable of detecting intrusions and relaying information to the nearest post for action to safeguard the 198 km India-Pakistan international border in Jammu and Kashmir.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi has launched the Narmada Seva Mission for the conservation of river Narmada, which is a lifeline of Madhya Pradesh. Prime Minister released a road map for the series of steps to be taken for the conservation of Narmada river.
• Indian Railways will install 19,000 high definition CCTV cameras at over 983 stations across the country under the Nirbhaya Fund at an approved cost of Rs 500 crore in order to ensure round-the-clock security to passengers including women. The cameras will be installed at platforms and waiting areas.
• West Bengal State government has made Bengali mandatory in all schools, including private English medium schools.
• As per the PFRDA-CRISIL report titled, Financial security for India’s elderly – The imperatives, India will begin ageing gradually and transform from ‘young’ to a ‘greying’ with every 5th Indian to be in 60s in contrast to every 12th person at present.
• Indian Navy and the Space Application Centre has signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Data Sharing and Scientific cooperation in the field of Meteorology and Oceanology.
Anshu Jamsenpa, a native of Bomdila in Arunachal Pradesh has scripted history by becoming the first Indian woman to scale Mount Everest for the fourth time.
• Nearly after 30 years after the induction of Bofors howitzers, Indian Army will get its first artillery guns called M777 from BAE Systems. Swedish Bofors guns were inducted in late 1980s after which Army has not inducted any modern artillery guns.
• The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved a collaborative mission between industry and academia called ‘Innovate in India empowering biotech entrepreneurs and accelerating inclusive innovation‘ that is aimed at accelerating research for early development of bio-pharmaceuticals.
• The 24th bilateral exercise involving Indian Navy and Republic of Singapore Navy has commenced in South China Sea. SIMBEX stands for "Singapore-India Maritime Bilateral Exercises". The exercise will be held from May 18, 2017 to May 24, 2017.
• A Bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar has banned open defecation and waste dumping on the floodplains of the Yamuna. It has also slapped an environment compensation of Rs 5,000 for people who violated the order.
• The Prime Minister Narendra Modi has released a two-part book series written by the eminent agricultural scientist Dr. M.S. Swaminathan.
• The Union Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation had constituted a committee to prepare guidelines for desiltation of Ganga River last year.
• Minister of Railways Suresh Prabhu inaugurated free Wi-Fi facility at 28 Railway Stations of Konkan Railway from Kudal Railway Station in Maharashtra.
• The GST Council headed by finance Minister Arun Jaitley has finalised a 4-slab service tax structure at the rates of 5, 12, 18 and 28 per cent as against the single rate of 15% levied on all taxable services. GST regime is scheduled to be implemented from July 1.
• The State Government of Madhya Pradesh has put an indefinite ban on the sand excavation in the Narmada River.
• A seven-member High-Level Committee on Scouts and Guides has submitted its Final Report to Minister for State (Independent Charge) for Youth Affairs & Sports, Vijay Goel with various recommendations.
• According to Union Minister Jitendra Singh, the government has forced 129 government officers to retire for non-performance in the past few months.
• The two organizations Afcons Transtonnelstroy and Kolkata Metro Railway Corporation Ltd (KMCRL) involved in implementing the East West Metro have completed boring the India’s first underwater tunnel under the Hooghly river to link Howrah and Kolkata.
• The Union Cabinet has approved the abolition of 25 year old FIPB. Henceforth, concerned ministries will be responsible for direct approval of foreign investment proposals.
• External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has jointly inaugurated the integration of E-Sanad with CBSE’s digital repository ‘Parinam Manjusha’ in New Delhi.
Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma has launched Swachh Bharat app at the National Museum in New Delhi.
• The Minister of State for Communications Manoj Sinha has launched three new initiatives, namely, BSNL’s satellite phone service; Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Telecom Skill Excellence Award Scheme & Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Sanchar Kaushal Vikas Pratisthan Scheme.
• The Union Cabinet has given its approval for allocating 2.5% of the Central Road Fund (CRF) for the development of the National Waterways.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated India’s longest river bridge – the Dhola-Sadia Bridge in Assam. The construction of the bridge began in 2011. The cost of the project is about Rs 2056 crores.
• The rare cobra lilies scientifically known as Arisaema translucens has been rediscovered in the western Nilgiris by nature enthusiasts K.M. Prabhu Kumar and Tarun Chhabra after a gap of 84 years.
• The Ministry of Environment and Forests have come up with new regulations that bans the sale of cattle for slaughter.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi has laid the foundation stone for All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) at Changsari in the Kamrup District of Assam.
• Human Resources Development Minister Prakash Javadekar has launched an Anti-Ragging Mobile App of the University Grants Commission (UGC) to help students register complaints against the menace of ragging in the country.
Defence Minister Arun Jaitley has inaugurated the newly built Aeronautical Test Range (ATR) of the Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) at Chitradurga in Karnataka.
International
• Dubai has become the first city in the world to have its own Microsoft-designed font. The font will have typeface both in Latin and Arabic script.
• India and Turkey have signed three agreements following delegation-level talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
• China plans to launch its own online encyclopaedia next year rivalling Wikipedia and Britain’s Encyclopaedia Britannica.
• Russia and Iran which are allies of the Syrian regime as well as the rebel supporter Turkey signed a Russia-backed plan for creating safe zones in Syria.
India will organise Tagore cultural Festival in Egypt to mark the 156th birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore from May 8-12.
• The US’ Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-missile system is operational in South Korea to guard against missile threats emanating from North Korea.
• China’s home-grown C919 passenger jet has completed its maiden flight. China’s C919 is a symbol of China’s ambitions to take market share from Boeing and Airbus in the lucrative global jet market estimated to be worth $2 trillion over the next two decades.
• As per the Times Rich List 2017, three India-born citizens are among top 5 richest people in Britain.
• India has received a stay order preventing Pakistan from executing the death sentence awarded to the former naval officer Kulbhushan Jadhav from the International Court of Justice at The Hague.
• Prime Minister Modi will travel to Sri Lanka to attend the Buddhist festival ‘Vesak Day’ (Buddha Jayanti) that commemorates birth, enlighten and death of Buddha.
• Mt Lhotse has recorded its first summit in 3 years. Mt Lhotse is the fourth highest mountain in the world. Indian climber Debasish Biswas and a woman climber from New Zealand were the first to successfully climb Mt Lhotse after a team of Sherpas fixed the route to summit.
• India and Palestine has signed five agreements during the 4 day visit of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to India. This is Abbas’s fifth visit to India and the third state visit after his earlier visits in 2008 and 2012.
China and the 10 member of the ASEAN grouping have agreed to a framework of a legally binding code of conduct aimed at preventing disputes in the strategic South China Sea.
• Hassan Rouhani has been re-elected as the President of Iran. He was elected as president for his first term in 2013.
• Goa State government has decided to ban buying and selling of plastic bags below 50 microns. Goa has already banned the use of plastic bags below 40 microns.
• India and Germany has inked 12 agreements after delegation level talks between Prime Minister Modi and German chancellor Angela Merkel on a range of issues like trade, skill development, cyber security and terrorism.
Business and Economy
• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has asked all the existing asset reconstruction companies (ARCs) to have a minimum net owned fund (NOF) of Rs100 crore by March 2019.
• The Real Estate Act which aims to protect the interests of homebuyers by ensuring transparency has come into effect. The Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation (HUPA) has asked all the states and Union Territories to implement the Act with letter and spirit.
• The Ministry of Civil Aviation under the proposed “Digi Yatra” initiative is looking forward to make boarding pass and security check-ins digital at airports using Aadhaar and mobile phones.
Fitch, in its latest rating review, has affirmed India’s sovereign rating at BBB-, which is the lowest investment grade rating. Despite pressure from the government and corporate for an upgrade in the rating, Fitch has kept its sovereign rating on India unchanged.
• Madhya Pradesh has become the first state in the country to shift its financial year from the present April-March cycle to January-December.
• The Department of Telecommunications has launched a web portal called the ‘Tarang Sanchar’ web portal that will allow tracking of radiation emitted from mobile towers within their locality and check for their compliance with the Electromagnetic field (EMF) emission norms defined by the government.
• Apple has reported over $256 billion in cash and marketable securities. In the previous year, Apple’s earnings report for the January-March quarter was $233 billion.
• US-based think tank Global Financial Integrity (GFI) in its report titled ‘Illicit Financial Flows to and from Developing Countries: 2005-2014’, has estimated that $770 billion worth of black money entered India during 2005-2014.
• The Union Cabinet has cleared an ordinance that seeks to amend the Banking Regulation Act to give more powers to Reserve Bank of India to deal with non-performing assets (NPAs) in the banking sector.
• According to the Reserve Bank of India’s weekly statistical supplement, India’s foreign exchange (Forex) reserves have increased by $1.594 billion to touch a lifetime high of $372.73 billion.
• India’s first private sector small arms manufacturing plant has been inaugurated in Madhya Pradesh to supply world class weapons to the armed forces in line with the India’s defence indigenisation programme.
The Reserve Bank of India has announced that new one rupee note has been printed by the government and will be soon put into circulation.
• Facebook has launched its “Express Wi-Fi” commercially in India and the service is now available via 700 hotspots across four states of Uttarakhand, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Meghalaya.
• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has tightened the rules around making the Joint Lenders’ Forum (JLF) more effective, directing banks not to break any rules and to meet all deadlines.
• The International Monetary Fund in its regional economic outlook has predicted the growth rate of India as 7.2% in the 2017-18 fiscal and 7.7% in 2018-19 fiscal.
• The Indian Railways has planned to acquire the End of Train Telemetry (EoTT) equipments to run nearly 1,000 trains without guards in the current fiscal.
• The Home Ministry has instructed 5,845 NGOs to open their accounts in banks having core banking facilities.
• The government has released new-look index of industrial production (IIP) and the wholesale price index (WPI) , which have been built on the new series of data.
• The United States will be selling high-tech Joint Service Lightweight Integrated Suit Technology (JSLIST) protective clothing worth $75 million to India.
• India has jumped 73 spots to be ranked 26th in World Bank’s electricity accessibility list. The country was ranked 99th in 2014.
• Kerala and Tamil Nadu have secured first and second rankings for the second consecutive year in public affairs index (PAI) released by the Public Affairs Centre (PAC), Bengaluru
• In the report titled, World Economic Situation and Prospects, the UN has projected a 7.3% growth for India in 2017.
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved a new coal linkage policy to ensure adequate supply of the fuel to power plants through reverse auction.
• The Union Cabinet has cleared a proposal allowing for the construction of 10 indigenous Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWR). The reactors will have a capacity of 700 MW.
• BSNL has inked agreements with Facebook and MobiKwik in order to popularize the internet and its value added services among its customers.
• Brand finance in its 2017 report that lists India’s 100 most valuable brands has named Tata Group as the most valuable brand in India at an estimated brand value of $13.1 billion.
• The 52nd Annual General Meeting of African Development Bank (AfDB) is being held at Gandhinagar in Gujarat from May 22-26, 2017. This is for the first time that this meeting is being held in India.
• The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), which is the nodal body for Start-up India, has amended the definition of a start-up.
• World Economic Forum citing UN-Habitat data has named two Indian cities-Mumbai and Kota among the world’s most crowded cities. Dhaka has topped the list followed by India’s financial capital Mumbai.
The Union Cabinet Chaired by Prime Minister has given its approval for a national procurement policy that gives preference to ‘Make In India’ in government procurements.
Science and Technology
• Scientists at IIT Roorkee have used Indian summer fruit, Jamun, to create low cost and more efficient solar cells.
• The Science Express is 16 coach AC mobile train science exhibition of Department of Science & Technology (DST).
• Scientists have detected “a strong water signature” in the atmosphere of a distant Neptune-sized planet called HAT-P-26b.
• China has set up a 160-square-meter (1,720-square-foot) laboratory — dubbed as “Yuegong-1”, or “Lunar Palace” for simulating a lunar-like environment.
• Defying calls to halt its weapons programme, North Korea has yet again test fired a ballistic missile that flew for 30 minutes before dropping into the sea between North Korea’s east coast and Japan, only 97 km from south of Russia’s Vladivostok region.
• Minister for Health and Family Welfare J P Nadda has launched new Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine, PCV, for Pneumonia at Lal Bahadur Shastri Medical College Hospital in Mandi district of Himachal Pradesh.
A global cyberattack has crippled nearly hundred countries, including India. A cyber gang called Shadow Brokers, which is a mysterious organisation is held responsible for this massive cyberattack.
• An Earth Like Planet called Proxima B orbiting the closest neighboring Star, Proxima Centauri, which is about 4.2 light years away is expected to have liquid water and the potential to support alien life.
• According to a new study conducted by a team of scientists from the University of Exeter in the UK, plant life on Antarctica is growing rapidly due to climate change.
• A team of scientists from the United States have discovered a possible cure for Ebola viruses.
• Scientists at Indian Institute of Technology Delhi have developed the device ‘Nasofilters’ which is capable of restricting up to 95% of dust and air pollutants. Involving a cost of Rs 10, it is the cheapest naso filter available. The nano-respiratory filter is now ready for commercialisation.
• NASA has named a new bacteria discovered on the filters of the International Space Station, ISS, as Solibacillus kalamii to honour the late president Dr A P J Abdul Kalam.
• NASA’s Juno spacecraft has discovered Earth-sized cyclones at the poles of the Jupiter.
Scientists have discovered a new glass frog species with transparent skin through which its beating heart is visible in the Amazonian lowlands of Ecuador.
New Appointments
• The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the appointments of Prabhat Kamal Bezboruah and M S Boje Gowda as chairmen of the Tea Board and the Coffee Board, respectively.
• Thirty-nine-year-old Emmanuel Macron has been elected as the president of France. He has become the youngest President and occupant of the Élysée Palace.
• The Minister of State for Minority Affairs (Independent Charge) Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi has appointed a renowned social and educational activist George Kurian as Vice-Chairman of National Commission for Minorities.
• Three Indian Scientist have been elected as the Fellows of The Royal Society, a premier scientific academy of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth, for their "outstanding contributions to science".
• In a major restructuring in the banking sector, Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC), headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi appointed heads of seven public sector banks besides shifting managing directors of PNB and Bank of India.
• India has been unanimously elected as the President of the UN-Habitat. UN-Habitat, an organ of the United Nations’ Organisation (UNO) reports to the United Nations General Assembly.
• Moon Jae-in has been declared winner in South Korea’s presidential election by that country’s National Election Commission.
• US President Donald Trump has nominated Indian-American Neil Chatterjee as a Member of Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). FERC is an agency responsible for overseeing America’s power grid and deciding on multibillion-dollar energy projects.
• Twitter has elevated Taranjeet Singh as its Country Director for India. Prior to this appointment, Singh was responsible for sales and marketing support for Twitter’s advertisers in India.
• Diplomat Vinay Mohan Kwatra has been appointed as India’s next ambassador to France. He is currently serving as joint secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). Kwatra will succeed Mohan Kumar who is due to retire soon.
• Retired judge of Delhi High Court Justice Mukul Mudgal has been elected as the Chairman of FIFA Governance committee at the FIFA’s 67th Congress held in Bahrain’s capital city of Manama.
The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the appointment of 1982 West Bengal cadre IAS officer Sanjay Mitra as the next defence secretary.
• World Health Organization (WHO) has appointed Amitabh Bachchan as its Goodwill Ambassador for Hepatitis in South-East Asia Region.
• French President Emmanuel Macron has appointed Edouard Philippe as the new prime minister of France.
• Ovais Sarmad who is an Indian national has been appointed by the U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to the post of Deputy Executive Secretary, which is a key post in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
• Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani has topped the Forbes list of ‘Global Game Changers’. Mukesh Ambani has been ranked at the top for his efforts to bring the internet to India’s masses.
• Air Marshal PN Pradhan has been appointed as the Deputy Chief of Integrated Defence Staff (Operations).
• Former Ethiopian Health Minister Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has been elected as the new Director-General of the World Health Organisation.
• Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ hasresigned from his post. He was elected as the 39th Prime Minister of Nepal. Prachanda has stepped down honouring a power sharing agreement entered by him with the ruling partner Nepali Congress on August 3, 2016.
• Google’s vice-president for South East Asia and India, Rajan Anandan has been appointed as the new chairman of Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI).
• United States senate has confirmed Amul Thapar as a judge to the Cincinnati-based Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.
• The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) has appointed Anurag Tripathy, a 1998 batch officer of Indian Railway personnel Service (IRPS) as the new secretary of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE). He will hold the post for a period of five years.
• Incumbent Governor of Manipur, Najma Heptulla, was appointed as the Chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia.
Awards
• The US-India Business Council (USIBC) has selected Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, Chandrababu Naidu for the ‘Transformative Chief Minister Award’ for his role in advancing the US-India partnership at the state level.
• Sanjay Pratihar, a scientist at Assam’s Tezpur University, has been selected for the prestigious Indian National Science Academy (INSA) medal for the Young Scientist Award, 2017, for his contribution to “multi-metal complexes, theoretical understanding, selective sensing of Hq2+ions and important applications in agriculture”.
Hollywood actor Emma Watson has received the first-ever Genderless Acting Award for the Best Actor category at the MTV Movie and TV Awards.
• Indian scientist Shrinivas Kulkarni has won the prestigious Dan David prize as a recognition for his contributions made in the field of astronomy.
• Prashant Ranganathan has emerged winner in the world’s largest pre-college science competition in the environment engineering category for his work on biodegradation of pesticides.
• India’s Ravichandran Ashwin has won the international cricketer of the Year Award at the CEAT Cricket Rating (CCR) International awards 2017.
• Satyabrata Rout has been awarded Sangeet Natak Akademi Puraskar for the year 2016.
Sports
• Aizawl FC has won its maiden I-League title against Shillong Lajong in their final game of the league season to become the first ever club from the northeast to win the I-League title.
• The top-seeded Indo-American pair of Leander Paes and Scott Lipsky defeated Argentine third seeds Leonardo Mayer and Maximo Gonzalez to win the Tallahassee Challenger title of the men’s double.
• As per the updated FIFA world football rankings, the Indian national football has managed to secure a 100th spot and entered into the top 100 of FIFA rankings. This is the first time in 21 years that India has been ranked into top 100.
• Kashmir based freelance photographer has bagged prestigious 2016 Wisden-MCC (Melbourne Cricket Council) Cricket ‘Photograph of the Year’ for capturing a stunning image of boys playing cricket at the Nishat garden in the outskirts of Srinagar.
Jhulan Goswami has become the highest wicket-taker in one-day internationals. Goswami has so far taken 181 wickets in 153 matches.
• Harpreet Singh has bagged bronze medal in Greco-Roman weight divisions in the Asian Wrestling Championship held at the K.D. Jadhav arena in the Indira Gandhi Stadium Complex in New Delhi.
• Sakshi Malik, Vinesh Phogat & Divya Kakran have bagged silver medals at the Asian Wrestling Championship held at the KD Jadhav Stadium in New Delhi.
• Lewis Hamilton has won the Spanish Grand Prix from pole position in the Formula One championship.
• The 19-year-old Motorsports’ Indian driver Arjun Maini, who drives for Jenzer Motorsport, has become the first Indian to win a GP3 Series (a feeder series to GP2) race at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona.
• The partnership of Deepti Sharma and Poonam Raut scored 320 in 45.3 overs in 45.3 overs to become the world’s first pair, either male or female, to forge a 300-run opening-wicket partnership in One-Day Internationals (ODIs).
• Rafael Nadal beat Dominic Thiem to clinch his fifth Madrid Open title. With this victory, he has won three straight titles after Barcelona Open and Monte Carlo Masters victories.
• Indian cricket team has retained its top position in the latest ICC Test rankings with 123 points. Indian team is six points ahead of second placed South Africa.
• The South Asian Junior Table Tennis championship was held in Mount Lavinia, near Colombia in Sri Lanka. In a stunning performance, the paddlers from India have won all the 10 Gold Medals on offer in this tournament.
• The Indian Men’s compound archery team has managed to win gold after defeating Columbia 226-221 in the archery World Cup stage 1 championships held in Shanghai, China.
• Bengaluru FC defeated Mohun Bagan 2-0 to win the Federation Cup. The final event was held in Barabati Stadium in Cuttack, Odisha.
Death
• Justice Leila Seth who became the first woman Chief Justice of a State High Court has passed away at the age of 86. She has also received the distinction of becoming the first woman to top the London Bar exam as well as the becoming the first female judge of the Delhi High Court.
• Union environment minister Anil Madhav Dave has passed away. He was 60. Anil Madhav Dave was born in Badnagar of Madhya Pradesh on July 6, 1956.
• KPS Gill, an IPS officer of the Assam-Meghalaya cadre of the 1958 batch, who is often credited with rooting out militancy in Punjab has passed away at the age of 82.
Special Days
• May 2, 2017 will be observed as the Ganga Swachhta Sankalp Divas by National Mission on Clean Ganga (NMCG) at 12 locations, namely, Kanpur, Allahabad, Varanasi, Patna, Bhagalpur, Sahibganj, Kolkata, Raj Ghat (Hardoi), Bithoor, Srinagar ( Uttarakhand), Vidhur Kuti (Bijnor) and Devprayag.
• World Migratory Bird Day (WMBD) is being observed across the world on the second weekend in May. This year, WMBD is being observed on 10th May
• National Technology Day is being observed across India on May 11 to glorify the importance of science in day-to-day life and motivate students to adopt science as a career option.
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