Current Affair of May 2019

National

1. The Punjab government has decided to make it mandatory for all online food aggregators to ensure that food supplied by them should compulsorily have hygiene rating as per Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) guidelines.

2. The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) leader Narendra Modi (68) was sworn in as 15th Prime Minister for a second consecutive five-year term.

3. The Rajasthan government recently announced its decision to ban production, distribution, advertisement and sale of e-cigarette in the state.

4. India has invited the leaders of The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) Member States for the swearing-in ceremony of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This invitation is in line with the Government’s focus on its ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy.

5. The Government of India (GoI) has constituted a Tribunal for adjudicating ban on Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

6. The outgoing NDA government in one of its last decisions has decided to merge the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) with the Central Statistics Office (CSO) under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI).

7. No-frills airline SpiceJet became fourth Indian airline to have a 100 aircraft in its fleet after a recent induction of a Boeing 737 which became its 100th plane. The other three domestic airline with 100 Aircraft fleet are national carrier Air India, now grounded Jet Airways and IndiGo.

8. The Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) new commercial arm called NewSpace India Limited (NSIL) was officially inaugurated in Bengaluru.

9. A High-Level Committee constituted by Centre has submitted its recommendations to Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas on bringing down India’s dependence on crude oil imports.

10. Supreme Court has reached its full sanctioned strength of 31 with appointment of 4 new judges to the apex court. The total sanctioned strength of Supreme Court is 31 (30 + 1), which includes 30 Supreme Court Judges and 1 Chief Justice of India (CJI). The length of their term is from their joining till they retire at the age of 65.

11. The Competition Commission of India (CCI) celebrated its 10th Annual Day on 20 May 2019. The date ‘20 May’ marks the notification of substantive enforcement provisions of the Competition Act, 2002.

12. In a recent judgement the Delhi High court (HC) ruled that United Nations Organization (UNO) is not ‘State’ in terms of Article 12 of the Indian Constitution and thus it is not amenable to its jurisdiction under Article 226.

13. The University Grants Commission (UGC, the higher education regulator) has directed universities and higher educational institutions (HEIs) in India to observe 21 May as Anti-Terrorism Day so as to wean youth away from terrorism.

14. Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) and Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) signed MoU (Memorandum of understanding) for cooperation on projects related to e-mobility.

15. The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) has laid out its plans to introduce artificial intelligence (AI) system in its MCA 21 portal. It will be introduced when Ministry will roll out the Version 3 of the MCA 21.

16. The Supreme Court of India has held that a Foreigner Tribunal’s order declaring a person as an illegal foreigner will be binding and will prevail over government decision to include or exclude name from National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam.

17. The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) has reduced the prices of 9 non-scheduled cancer drugs by up to 87%. This decision is in continuation of nodal agency’s efforts to bring down drugs prices.

18. India recently handed over two Mi-24 attack helicopters to Afghanistan. The helicopters were formally handed over by Indian Ambassador to the acting Minister of National Defence of Afghanistan at Kabul Air Force base.

19. A comprehensive training strategy called National Training Workshop of Master Trainers to impart training to trainers engaged in upcoming 7th Economic Census was held at Indian Habitat Center in the New Delhi. It was organized by Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation (MoSPI).

20. Ieoh Ming Pei, the globe-trotting, versatile, preeminent Chinese-US architect who created a distinct brand of modern building design with his sharp lines and exquisite structures, has died at age of 102 years.

21. Government of India has now implemented Project ‘SPARROW-CBIC’ for online writing of Annual Performance Appraisal Report (APAR) in SPARROW, for over 46,000 Group ‘B’ and Group ‘C’ Officers of Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs (CBIC) working in its various formations all across India. The term SPARROW stands for ‘Smart Performance Appraisal Report Recording Online Window’.

22. India has found problems with the current methodology adopted by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) under its Services Trade Restrictiveness Index (STRI) to rank countries.

23. The Ministry of Home Affairs in a freshly issued notification extended ban on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE, also known as: Tamil Tigers) in India for a another period of five years.

24. India’s Captain Aarohi Pandit became world’s first woman to cross Atlantic Ocean (AO) solo in a Light Sports Aircraft (LSA) named Mahi.

25. India was unanimously chosen by member countries as next co-chair of Consultative Group (CG) of Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR) for fiscal year 2020. This decision was taken during Consultative Group meeting of GFDRR 2019 held from 13 May- 17 May in Geneva, Switzerland.

26. Mumbai Indians won Indian Premier League title by defeating Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in final at Hyderabad by 1 run.

27. The Islamic State (or IS, a Salafi jihadist militant group) for the first time has claimed that it has established a “province” in India. Although, ISIS began claiming attacks against Indian security forces in Kashmir since November 2017 but without any branch affiliation.

28. India and Nepal have inked a deal on procurement of demo train that operates on diesel. The contract agreement was signed between India’s Konkan Railways Corporation Ltd and Nepal’s Department of Railways to supply two 1600 HP Diesel Electric Multiple Unit (DEMU) train sets.

29. India will be hosting a World Trade Organisation (WTO) Ministerial meeting of developing countries in New Delhi on 13-14 May 2019. The aim is to discuss various challenges being faced by multilateral rules-based-trading system.

30. The United Nations (UN) Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres appointed 17 global figures which includes China’s Alibaba chief Jack Ma and Indian actress Dia Mirza as the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) advocates. Jack Ma, the founder and Executive Chairman of Chinese MNC Alibaba Group has been an SDG Advocate since 2016.

31. The Indian Air Force (IAF) intercepted an unknown Georgian Antonov-12, a heavy cargo aircraft trespassing into Indian sovereign territory. It was forced to land in Jaipur for necessary investigation.

32. The South Korean Tech Giant, Samsung Electronics Co unveiled world’s highest-resolution image sensor, with 64 megapixels for smartphones. This is a step to meet increasing demand for mobile devices with better image quality.

33. Vice President of India M. Venkaiah Naidu commenced his four-day official visit to Vietnam on 9 May 2019. His visit comes after a series of high-level exchanges between India-Vietnam in 2018 which include visit of Vietnamese Prime Minister in January and President in March to India.

34. India’s Jagjit Pavadia was re-elected to International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) for another five-year term beginning 2nd March, 2020. This victory has added to India’s successful record of winning crucial elections at United Nation (UN) and to UN’s subsidiary bodies.

35. The Ministry of Home Affairs announced that it has put an end to the local adverse lists commonly known as ‘Black Lists’ of Indian-origin people.

36. India and Bangladesh will jointly produce a feature movie on life and works of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (founding father of People’s Republic of Bangladesh) and also a documentary on Bangladesh Liberation War (1971). India’s state broadcaster Prasar Bharati will co-produce the film.

37. Justice PR Ramachandra Menon was sworn in as Chief Justice of Chhattisgarh High Court. He now becomes 13th Chief Justice of Chhattisgarh HC. His oath of office and secrecy was administered by state Governor Anandiben Patel at Raj Bhawan, Raipur.

38. Mysore based Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI), has prepared nearly one lakh meals for distribution in cyclone Fani hit areas of Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal. The severe cyclonic storm named Cyclone Fani had recently made a landfall impact on May 3, 2019 in Puri on Odisha coast.

39. According to data released by Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics (DGCI&S), Iraq remains India’s top crude oil supplier for second year in a row.

40. As per Ministry of Water Resources, the water storage level available in 91 major Indian reservoirs for week ending on 2 May 2019 was 40.592 BCM (Billion cubic meters), which is 25% of total storage capacity of these reservoirs. This was at 26% for week ending on April 25, 2019. This shows decline in water storage level by 1%.

41. To commemorate 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi on 2 October 2019, the Office of Principal Scientific Adviser (PSA) to Government of India and Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IIT Delhi) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in a move to come together and to bring best of science and technology to implement waste management by setting up a Centre of Excellence for Waste to Wealth Technologies in India.

42. On 2nd May 2019, Vice President Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu released postage stamp in New Delhi to commemorate 750th birth anniversary of Sri Vedanta Desikan and his great philosopher’s life and highly valued work.

43. The 14th edition of the annual Sino-Indian border trade opened at Nathu La, the frontier post at Sino-Indian border in Sikkim. To mark the commencement of border trade, officials and traders of both countries (India and China) were present at the border.

44. Rivers are a source of life and in India, this has become deadly resource due to rising levels of pollution in the rivers as tonnes of waste finds its way into them thereby polluting waters and further choking their natural flow. The pollution is a death sentence to all the flora and fauna who are part of the ecosystem. The Modi government did try to make some advance to address the issue but has miserably failed to record any progress.

45. The United Nation Security Council (UNSC) 1267 Committee designated Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar as a “global terrorist” after China lifted its prolonged hold on proposal to blacklist him. The move is a huge diplomatic win for India. It is also a symbolic victory for India in relation to terrorism spreading from groups in Pakistan as Masood Azhar is considered a blue-eyed boy of ISI (Pakistan’s spy agency).

46. Indian Army posted photographs of “mysterious footprints” that measure about 32×15 inches, on Twitter claiming that its Mountaineering Expedition team to Mt Makalu (8485m, is 5th highest mountain in world) sighted “the mythical beast Yeti”.

International

1. Sri Lanka, India and Japan have signed an Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) to jointly develop the East Container Terminal (ECT) at the Colombo Port in Sri Lanka.

2. The World Health Organization (WHO) has for the first time recognised “burn-out” in its International Classification of Diseases (ICD). The decision was taken during the World Health Assembly (WHA) in Geneva.

3. People in the Republic of Ireland have voted by an overwhelming majority to ease the constitutional restriction on country’s divorce law.

4. India has been elected to the Executive Board of first United Nations Human Settlements Program (UN-Habitat) Assembly.

5. Russia recently launched nuclear-powered Arctic icebreaker named ‘Ural’ at Baltic Shipyard in St. Petersburg. The move is to tap commercial potential of Arctic Ocean.

6. SpaceX launched a rocket carrying the first 60 satellites of its ‘Starlink’ constellation, from Cape Canaveral, Florida in US. The SpaceX’s new array of Starlink communication satellites is intended to provide Internet from space

7. The Second Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Mass Media Forum is being held at Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan capital) from 23 to 26 May 2019.

8. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) of United States (US) has unveiled the calendar for its forthcoming “Artemis” program.

9. The World Health Organization (WHO) has unveiled a new global strategy to greatly reduce deaths and injuries from snakebites. WHO also warned that a scarcity of antivenoms could soon spark a “public health emergency”.

10. The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared Algeria and Argentina as ‘Malaria-Free’ countries after no cases of indigenous transmission of disease were recorded.

11. The United Nation General Assembly (UNGA) passed a non-binding resolution asking United Kingdom (UK) to return Chagos Archipelago in Indian Ocean to Mauritius.

12. The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Council of Foreign Ministers was held in Kyrgyzstan capital Bishkek. It was attended by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.

13. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) launched ‘Golden Card’ Permanent Residency Scheme in an attempt to woo wealthy individuals and exceptional talents from all over the world.

14. Naruhito became Japan’s new Emperor after historic abdication of his father Akihito. Emperor Naruhito’s ascending of Chrysanthemum Throne marked beginning of “Reiwa” era in Japan which takes effect from May 1, 2019.

15. The United State recently approved Anti-Ballistic Missile sales to South Korea and Japan. The sale is worth more than $600 million and comes in backdrop of mounting tensions with North Korea.

16. The joint meetings of three conventions on chemicals and waste namely Basel, Stockholm and Rotterdam conventions was held in Geneva, Switzerland.

17. The United States President Donald Trump has proposed rolling out of a new immigration plan named ‘merit-based immigration system’. The announcement was made in his recent immigration policy address speech in Rose Garden at White House.

18. On May 17, 2019 in a landmark decision, Taiwan became the first country in Asia to legalise same-sex marriage thus giving gay couples the ‘Right to Marry’.

19. India has recently joined a major global initiative called ‘Christchurch call to action’ to combat extremism and terrorism online and make internet a safe and secure place. It was signed by a group of governments and major tech companies at a summit in Paris.

20. WhatsApp, one of the most popular messaging apps in the world with about 1.5 Billion users worldwide confirmed a targeted spyware attack on its platform.

21. China will be hosting a Conference on Dialogue of Asian Civilizations in Beijing, starting from 15 May to 22 May 2019. During the event an opening ceremony will be held by Chinese President Xi Jinping and six parallel sub forums will be conducted.

22. The United States government unveiled ‘Global Health Security Strategy’. It is an effort which outlines coordinated US approach to help improve world’s ability in stopping deadly outbreaks even before they spread between countries.

23. Singapore has passed a law (The Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Bill) which criminalises publication of fake news in country and allows government to block and order removal of such content.

24. Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC), under Ministry of Finance is organising a meeting of Regional Heads of Customs Administration of Asia Pacific Region of World Customs Organisation (WCO) in Kochi (in Kerela) from 8th to 10th May, 2019.

25. Iran announced it will pull out of some commitments under 2015 international nuclear agreement signed with world powers, called Joint Comprehensive Plan Of Action (JCPOA).

26. The United States President Donald Trump awarded Presidential Medal of Freedom, country’s highest civilian honour to golfer Tiger Woods. The 43-year-old Tiger Woods became fourth and youngest, professional golfer to receive prestigious highest civilian honor (after other golfers Arnold Palmer (74 years), Jack Nicklaus (65years) and Charlie Sifford(92 years)).

27. At 11th Arctic Council ministerial meeting held at Rovaniemi in Finland, India was re-elected as an observer to intergovernmental forum Arctic Council. India promised its commitment towards contributing more to Arctic Council.

28. Panama’s Electoral Court declared the centre-left candidate Laurentino Cortizo as winner of Panama’s presidential election. Cortizo is candidate for Panama’s Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD), which won 33% of 95% of votes counted. The PRD was founded in 1979 by military ruler Omar Torrijos and has been out of power since 2009.

29. North Korea (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea) fired several short range projectiles into Sea of Japan under the command of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

30. SpaceX successfully launched a Dragon spacecraft on a cargo mission for NASA to International Space Station (ISS).

31. Thailand officially crowned its new King Maha Vajiralongkorn with ‘Great Crown of Victory’ (one of five Royal Regalia i.e. symbols of kingship). He received a symbolic nine-tiered umbrella conferring him as ‘King Rama X of Thailand’. This coronation ceremony marks first ascension of a new monarch in past seven decades.

32. Iran announced it will continue with its low-level uranium enrichment in line with its nuclear deal with world powers. This move comes when on 3 May 2019, US forced Iran to stop producing low-enriched uranium and halt expanding its only nuclear power plant, thus intensifying campaign aimed at stopping Tehran’s ballistic missile programme and curbing its regional power.

33. The United States Air Force General Tod D. Wolters was sworn in as top military officer of North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), at NATO’s military headquarters in Mons, southern Belgium.

34. Afghanistan on 29 April 2019 convened rare “Loya Jirga”, a four day long grand assembly or massive meeting for delegates from across country to discuss war and efforts of United States to forge a peace deal with Taliban. At the end of huge peace summit in Kabul, Afghan officials called for immediate and permanent ceasefire.

35. Russian President Vladimir Putin on 2 May 2019 signed into law a “sovereign internet” bill which will allow Russian authorities to isolate the country’s internet. The move expands Government Control of Internet, is being publicly denounced by all rights groups in country.

Business, Economy & Banking

1. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) constituted a task force on secondary market development in corporate loans.

2. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) constituted a committee under Harsh Vardhan, to review existing state of mortgage securitisation in India and suggest measures to develop market further.

3. In a recent announcement by United States, it has removed India and Switzerland from the currency monitoring lists. The US has retained other countries like China, Japan and Germany in the list.

4. A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed between National Small Industries Corporation Limited (NSIC) and Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) for the year 2019-20.

5. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) released a draft circular titled 'Liquidity Risk Management Framework' for NBFCs and Core Investment Companies (CICs). RBI after analysing recent developments in NBFC sector proposed a set of guidelines for large Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) to help them deal with severe liquidity problems and to prevent re-occurrence of IL&FS type of debt crisis. The RBI has invited stakeholder comments on draft by June 14.

6. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has signed an agreement to electrify railway tracks in India under Railways Track Electrification Project. As per agreement ADB will provide $750 million (equivalent in Indian Rupee) long-term financing to Indian Railway Finance Corporation (IRFC).

7. The Vice President of India, M. Venkaiah Naidu called for protecting and promoting the indigenous Ongole cattle breed. He also released a Compendium on Ongole breed of cattle at the Swarna Bharat Trust in Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh.

8. The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) Central Board has decided to create a ‘Specialised Supervisory and Regulatory Cadre’ within the RBI.

9. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) appointed committee on ‘suggestions on promoting digital payment’ has submitted its report to RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das. The committee was headed by Nandan Nilekani, also known as Aadhaar Architect.

10. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has released a vision document to ensure a more convenient, affordable, quick, safer and secure e-payment system. The RBI’s vision document is titled ‘Payment And Settlement Systems In India: Vision 2019 – 2021’

11. ITC Group’s present Managing Director (MD) Sanjiv Puri was elevated as new Chairman and Managing Director of company. His appointment comes after noted industry leader and erstwhile ITC Chairman Yogi C. Deveshwar died on 11 May 2019.

12. According to Sunday Times Rich List 2019, Indian-origin Billionaire Hinduja brothers (Sri and Gopi Hinduja) were named as wealthiest people in the UK continuously for a third time. They topped No. 1 rank with a fortune of 22 billion pounds.

13. After a meeting held between Commerce Secretary of both India and China, the two countries signed a protocol for exporting of Indian Chilli Meal from India to China.

14. The Market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has barred National Stock Exchange (NSE) from accessing the securities market for six months and also imposed a fine of 1,000 crore on NSE in co-location case.

15. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) imposed a monetary penalty on five Pre-Paid Payment Instrument (PPI) issuers which include Vodafone’s m-pesa and Phonepe, for violating its regulatory guidelines under provisions of Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007. Other facing Penalty includes, Western Union Financial Services Inc., MoneyGram Payment Systems Inc, (both are US firms) for compounding of contravention and non-compliance of RBI guidelines and on Mobile Payments and Private and GI Technology.

16. The Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) to Central government, Dr. Krishnamurthy Subramanian is appointed as twelfth (12) member of Advisory Council of Fifteenth (15th) Finance Commission (FCc).

17. The recurrent stir in the Sensex or the Sensitivity Index is a shred of evidence to the aggressive and versatile nature of the Indian economy. One hundred years ago the Indian equity market was in a mess due to the end of the speculation boom after World War I. It was in 1923 that the British government had set up a committee in 1923 for taking a close look at the daily operations of the Native Share and Stock Brokers’ Association of Bombay. It was that report which contained data on the first index of tradable securities which was heavily dominated by the textile industries. The base price as of July 1914. The report had some glaring complaints that there was an absence of daily official lists of data and such lists should also be published by the Bombay Stock Exchange on similar lines of London Stock Exchange. It is because of the high fluctuations seen that the need for recording the opening, closing, highest and lowest prices should be known.

Government Schemes

1. The Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) distributed more than one lakh bee-boxes among farmers and unemployed youths across India in less than two years under its ‘Honey Mission’ initiative. This is the first time such mass scale distribution of honey bee boxes has taken place in country.

2. The government had introduced the FAME II scheme to boost the adoption of electric and hybrid vehicles in the country. The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has made the following observations about the scheme:

Awards & Honours

1. Indian writer Annie Zaidi was announced as the winner of Nine Dots Prize 2019.

2. Professor Balram Bhargava, Director General of Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) jointly won the 2019 Dr Lee Jong-wook Memorial Prize for Public Health at the 72nd World Health Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland. He won the award for his achievements as an innovator, clinician, researcher and trainer.

3. Sri Lankan writer Guy Gunaratne was announced as the winner of 2019’s Swansea University International Dylan Thomas Prize and received the winning prize sum of £30,000. He won the award for his debut novel ‘In Our Mad and Furious City’.

4. The ‘UNSDG 10 Most Influential People in Healthcare Award’ was received by Acharya Balkrishna, Managing Director (MD) of Patanjali Ayurved Limited on behalf of India’s Patanjali Group of Institutions in Geneva, Switzerland.

5. Jokha Alharthi, an author from Oman won the prestigious Man Booker International Prize for her Arabic novel "Celestial Bodies".

6. Indian peacekeeper, Late Jitender Kumar, an Indian Police Officer, is among the 119 military, police and civilian personnel who will be honoured with this year’s prestigious UN medal called Dag Hammarskjold Medal for courage and sacrifice in line of duty.

7. The Malawian soldier Chancy Chitete will be honoured with the United Nation’s (UN) highest peacekeeping award, dubbed as “Captain Mbaye Diagne Medal for Exceptional Courage”. He will be awarded posthumously in New York, US on May 24 2019.

8. Former Indian Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran is selected for Japan’s Second Highest National Award called ‘The Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Star’.

9. PCT Humanity, a charity run by an Indian named Joginder Singh Salaria in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), sets a new Guinness World Records for ‘Longest Line of Hunger Relief Package’ in Abu Dhabi.

10. The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has invited nomination for Vayoshreshtha Samman 2019 which is the National Awards for Senior Citizens for both Individuals and Institutions categories. The nominations should be sent by 31st May 2019.

11. The USA’s House of Representatives (lower house of US) Speaker Nancy Pelosi was honoured with 2019 John F Kennedy Profile in Courage Award.

12. The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) conferred ‘Sasakawa Award 2019’ for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) to Pramod Kumar Mishra, Additional Principal Secretary to Prime Minister of India.

13. The World Press Freedom Prize also known as UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize is formally conferred every year by Director-General of UNESCO, on occasion of World Press Freedom Day observed on 3 May.

14. On 2nd May 2019 former Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman A S Kiran Kumar was awarded France’s highest civilian honour ‘Chevalier de l’Ordre national de la Legion d’Honneur’ (or National Order of the Legion of Honour) by France’s Ambassador to India Alexandre Ziegler on behalf of French President.

15. The ‘Team Caeli’ from India comprising of three Indian students namely Bharat Sundal, Aakash Bhadana and Vasu Kaushik emerged as First Runner-up (second position) in Microsoft’s Imagine Cup World Championship final held in Seattle, US. The trio won for developing “Caeli”, which is world’s first smart automated anti-pollution and drug delivery mask.

16.G D Robert Govender, an Indian–origin journalist in South Africa was honoured with V K Krishna Menon Award 2019 in United Kingdom for his contribution as pioneer of decolonised journalism. He became first person to be honoured with this award posthumously. The award was given by ‘V K Krishna Menon Institute’ on 123rd birth anniversary of renowned Indian diplomat and politician V K Krishna Menon.

17. An 18-year old girl from Nepal named Bandana set a Guinness World Records on ‘Longest Dancing Marathon by an Individual’. She danced exclusively to Nepalese music continuously for 126 hours (over five days).

18. Article titled ‘Coalgate 2.0’, authored by Nileena M.S. and published in March 2018 issue of ‘The Caravan’ magazine, won Asian College of Journalism’s Award for Investigative Journalism, 2018.

Sports

1. The International Cricket Council (ICC) launched the criiio campaign on the eve of Men’s World Cup. The initiative will bring together around 460 million people playing cricket globally and to celebrate magnificent diversity of cricket.

2. India’s Apurvi Chandela won gold in women’s 10m Air Rifle at ISSF World Cup Rifle held in Munich, Germany.

3. In Sudirman Cup Badminton title 2019 China beats Japan in men’s doubles, women’s singles and men’s singles.

4. Rafael Nadal of Spain defeats Novak Djokovic of Serbia in finals and won men’s singles title at Italian Open 2019, held in Rome. This was his ninth title in Rome.

5. The Czech Republic’s Karolina Pliskova beats United Kingdom (UK’s) Johanna Konta in finals and won women’s singles title at Women’s Tennis Association’s (WTA) Italian Open 2019, held in Rome.

6. The Badminton World Federation (BWF) has launched two new formats of badminton game namely, AirBadminton and Triples. In contrast to traditional competitive badminton which is an indoor game the Airbadminton is an outdoor game.

7. After South Korea’s withdrawal from their bid to stage Asian Cup Football tournament bid China will now be hosting 2023 AFC Asian Cup. China was the sole other bidder and now has a free run to become hosts.

8. For the first time in world cup history, each participating team at upcoming ICC World Cup 2019 will have a dedicated anti-corruption officer attached with it. The move is to deliver a corruption-free tournament.

9. The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) recently announced that for the first time in history an all-female referee team will take charge of a Men’s Continental Club Cup clash.

10. India’s G.S. Lakshmi has become first woman to be appointed to International Cricket Council’s (ICC) International Panel of Match Referee. She will be eligible to take charge in international games with immediate effect.

11. Kiki Bertens of Netherlands beats Simona Halep of Romania in finals to win women’s singles title in Madrid Open tennis.

12. The World number one Novak Djokovic of Serbia beats Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece to win men’s singles title in Madrid Open tennis.

13. Lewis Hamilton won the Formula One Spanish Grand Prix at Circuit de Catalunya, in Barcelona and the Mercedes sealed its fifth consecutive one-two finish.

14. Indian shooting ace Apurvi Chandela attained world number one position in women’s 10metres Air Rifle event. Anjum Moudgil also now holds world number two rank in 10metres Air Rifle after winning her mixed team gold at ISSF World Cup in Beijing, China.

15. The Manchester City won the English Premier League football title for second successive year. Liverpool gained the second place in league.

16. The 2019 International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) World Relays was a two day biennial event which held from 11 May to 12 May 2019, in Yokohama, Japan. It offers platform for athletes to qualify for upcoming 2019 IAAF World Athletics Championships to be held in Doha, Qatar in September-October 2019.

17. The inaugural edition of world’s first exclusive women’s cricket magazine named as ‘Criczone’ was released in India.

18. Former Croatia international Igor Stimac appointed Indian men’s football team coach. His name was recommended by All India Football Federation’s (AIFF, is governing body of association football in India) technical committee, headed by Shyam Thapa.

19. Sri Lanka’s former captain Kumar Sangakkara will become first Non-British president of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC).

References:
gktoday.in

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Comments ( 2 )

  1. Biswojit Parida
    5 years ago
    Nice
  2. Mamun Rs
    5 years ago
    when we get june ka current affairs ?