Important Days:
1.
May 1- World Asthma Day is observed every year on the
first Tuesday of May. It is
organized by the Global Initiative
for Asthma (GINA). The theme for World Asthma Day 2018
is: ‘Never too early, never too
late. It’s always the right time to address airways disease.’
2. May 2- World Tuna Day was celebrated throughout the world from 2011 when the Parties
to the Nauru Agreement (PNA) declared May 2nd as a holiday to highlight
the importance of tuna. The tuna fish is majorly found in Atlantic, Indian and
Pacific Oceans and in the Mediterranean Sea. It forms a major form of sea food
in many countries. The theme for World Tuna Day 2018 is: Smart
Tuna – Smart Ocean.
3.
May 3- World Press Freedom Day was
observed across the world with an aim to celebrate the fundamental principles
of press freedom, defend the media from attacks and pay tribute to journalists
who have lost their lives while being on duty. The theme of 2018 World Press Freedom Day - ‘keeping Power in Check:
Media, Justice and The Rule of Law’.
National:
1. Sikkim’s Pawan Chamling
(68) created history by becoming longest-serving Chief Minister in India. He has completed 23 years, four months and 17 days of
uninterrupted service in office. He surpassed earlier record held by Jyoti
Basu, 5-term West Bengal CM who held office for 23 years. Basu was in office
from June 21, 1977 to November 6, 2000.
2. A Pilot Scheme for
Procurement of Aggregate Power of 2500 MW on competitive basis for 3 years was
launched by the Ministry of Power. The main
purpose of scheme is to revive commissioned power plants which are unable to
sell electricity in absence of valid power purchase agreements (PPAs).
3. The continuation of Pradhan
Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY) beyond the 12th Five Year Plan for a
period of three year from 2017-18 to 2019-20 with the financial outlay of Rs
14832 crores approved by the Union Cabinet. The
Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana was initially approved in March 2006
with an aim to correct the imbalances in the availability of affordable
healthcare facilities across the country and augmenting facilities for quality
medical education in the under-served States, in particular.
4. The Ministry of Women and
Child Development will hold National Conference of 244 Districts under Beti Bachao
Beti Padhao (BBBP) in New Delhi on May 4, 2018. The day-long conference would be attended by the Nodal Officers
of 244 Districts, State Nodal Officers and Senior officers.
5. The Employees’ Provident
Fund Organisation (EPFO), which is providing a host of e-services for its
stakeholders, has now introduced a new service - ‘View Pension Passbook’
service through ‘UMANG app’. On clicking
‘View Passbook’ option, the pensioners would be required to enter the PPO
Number and date of birth information.After successful validation of the
information, an OTP will be sent to the registered mobile number of the
pensioner. On entering OTP, the ‘Pensioner Passbook’ will display the
details of the pensioner like name, DOB along with last pension credited
information. The facility to download the financial year wise complete
pass book details will also be made available.
6. The Union Cabinet chaired
by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved plan to set up 20 All India
Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) across the country and upgrade 73 medical
colleges. The decisions are part of the Pradhan
Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY), which has been extended by two years
till 2020 with financial outlay of Rs.14,832 crore. The decision to extend
PMSSY is aimed at meeting shortfall in healthcare professionals and facilities
across the country.
7. The Task Force constituted
on “Establishing a Coalition on Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI)” has
submitted its report to Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). The Task Force was constituted by MHA in August, 2017 and was
headed by Preeti Saran, Secretary (East), Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).
8. The National Workshop on
Data Requirements for Disaster Risk Reduction Database successfully concluded
in New Delhi on May 3, 2018. The main aim
of the two-day workshop was to develop a uniform and credible national-level
disaster database.It also aimed to develop a consensus among those concerned on
disasters and develop standardised systems for data collection, updation and
validation to ensure accuracy and quality.
9. Maharashtra became the
first state of India to provide digitally-signed land record receipts (also
known as 7/12 receipts). 7/12 receipt is the most important document which establishes the
ownership of the land. Farmers are required to provide it while
applying for loans. Besides, it is also used by the government during crop
surveys and to extend various facilities.
10. Haryana State
Government has decided to adopt startup
ranking framework issued by Department of Industrial Policy and
Promotion (DIPP). The Startup
ranking framework covers seven areas of interventions with a total of 38 action
points and overall score of 100 marks.
11. The Cabinet Committee on
Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved upgradation
and expansion of airport infrastructure at Lucknow, Chennai and Guwahati
airports with a total cost of over Rs 5,000 crore.
12. Under Central Government’s
‘Adopt a Heritage: Apni Dharohar, Apni Pehchaan’ scheme, Dalmia Bharat group
has adopted the Gandikota Fort
(located in in Kadapa district, Andhra Pradesh) It is
located close to Dalmia Bharat’s cement factory in Kadapa district and will
thus make it easier to monitor development and maintenance work being
undertaken at the fort. Gandikota Fort has been adopted by Dalmia
Group for a period of five years. Dalmia Bharat Group has also adopted Red Fort
under the ‘Adopt a Heritage:’ scheme.
13. President Ram Nath Kovind,
hosted the meeting of Vice-Chancellors of Central Universities and presented
the Visitor’s Awards at Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi. Prof. Sanjay K. Jain’s – for development of a drug delivery
system having the potential to make cancer treatment more effective and
affordable. Prof. Ashis Kumar Mukherjee – for research on the molecular
complexity of the snake venom. Prof. Ashwani Pareek – for development of a rice
variety with potential to increase farm productivity and income of farmers. Prof.
Pramod K. Nayar – for his work in Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences
14. On 3rd to 5th May 2018, ‘Vibrant North East 2018′ is
held in Guwahati, Assam. is organized by
Centre for Agriculture and Rural Development (CARD), a New Delhi-based NGO.
This is the fourth edition of the Vibrant North East expo in Guwahati. It acts
as a platform to exhibit North East’s potential and for better implementation
of Central schemes in Northeast. The expo focuses on agriculture, MSME, food
processing projects, horticulture, tea, spices, medicinal plants, coir, bamboo,
rural craft products, eco-tourism and agro and nature tourism, commerce and
rural development, skills, jobs and entrepreneurship, health, hygiene,
sanitation, power, role of cooperatives in agriculture, petroleum and heavy
industries.
15. The Maharashtra government
decided to recommend the declaration of an ordinance to rename the
Jalgaon-based North Maharashtra University after poetess Bahinabai Chaudhari. The North Maharashtra University is to be renamed as
‘Kaviyatri Bahinabai Chaudhari North Maharashtra University’.
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International:
1.
The first-ever India- South Africa Business Summit (ISABS 2018)
was held at the Sandton Convention Centre, Johannesburg, South Africa on April
29-30, 2018. The tag line of the Summit was
“United by Legacy, Unified for Prosperity”
2.
Cambridge Analytica, the UK-based data analytics company that was caught in a massive data-harvesting scandal that it
illegally harvested data of over 87 million Facebook users has announced that it would immediately shut its operations, as the
controversy has driven away virtually all of its customers.
3.
A five-day cultural festival was organized by India in Egypt to
commemorate the 157th birth anniversary of Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore. The festival is being organised by the Maulana Azad Centre for
Indian Culture (MACIC), the cultural wing of the Indian Embassy in Cairo. An
exhibition on the paintings of Tagore titled ‘Rabindranath Tagore: Rhythm in
Colours' will be held at the Museum of Ahmed Shawky at Giza as part of
the festival, which began on May 3.
4.
UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, has urged US President
Donald Trump not to walk away from an international deal designed to prevent
Iran acquiring nuclear weapons. Donald Trump
would be taking a decision on whether or not to stick with the deal on May 12,
2018. On the other side, European allies France, the UK and Germany have agreed
that pursuing the current nuclear deal with Iran is the best way to stop it
from developing nuclear weapons.
5.
US President Donald Trump signed an executive order to create a
faith-based initiative at the White House, which would promote policies that
recognize the vital role of faith in American life. Trump signed the order during a ceremony in the White House
Rose Garden on the occasion of the National Day of Prayer. The faith initiative
aims to help design new policies that recognize the vital role of faith in
American families and communities.
Science and Technology/Defence:
1. NASA and the Department of
Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) jointly demonstrated
that the Kilopower portable nuclear fission reactor could enable crewed
missions to the Moon, Mars and destinations beyond on May 2, 2018.The Kilopower Reactor Using Stirling Technology (KRUSTY)
experiment was conducted at the NNSA’s Nevada National Security Site from
November 2017 through March 2018. The team successfully established that the
system can create electricity with fission power.
2.
India has emerged as fifth largest military spender in 2017 according
to recently released report of Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
(SIPRI). The world’s five biggest military spenders
in 2017 are United States ($610 billion), China ($228 billion), Saudi Arabia
(69.4 billion), Russia (66.3 billion) and India ($63.9 billion).
3.
Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued warning of
another dust storm and thunderstorm in parts of Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. The satellite images have shown wind pressure developing in two
states leading to thunderstorms, gusty winds and heavy rain.
4.
The final and third phase of Varuna naval exercise 2018 conducted
by Indian and French navies near Reunion Island in Indian Ocean region (IOR) to
enhance their operational coordination. The first
phase was held in Arabian Sea, second phase was held off the Chennai coast in
Bay of Bengal and third near France’s Reunion Island in South Western Indian
Ocean. Indian Navy’s destroyer, INS Mumbai, and frigate INS Trikand were the
vessels participating in the exercise. Moreover, Indian Navy’s submarine,
Kalvari, P8-1 and Dornier maritime patrol aircraft and MiG 29K fighter aircraft
also had participated in the exercise.
5.
India and United States held the third round of the India-US
Maritime Security Dialogue in Goa from April 30 to May 1, 2018 focussing on
cooperation and developments in the Indo-Pacific region. During the third round of dialogue, both sides discussed
developments in maritime domain in Indo-Pacific Region and exchanged views on
ways to further strengthen bilateral maritime security cooperation.
6. Blue Origin, a US aerospace company, launched the suborbital New
Shepard rocket and space capsule from the Blue Origin’s West Texas launch site. This is the second flight of the New Shepard 2.0 spacecraft.
New Shepard was launched to a target height of 351,000 feet. Blue Origin’s
dummy astronaut is named “Mannequin Skywalker”. The payloads
consist of an experiment for NASA’s Johnson Space Center, few others from
European universities funded by the German Aerospace Center, and a “Schmitt
Space Communicator” for Solstar Company. It can carry commercial
payloads and experiments. It consists of six windows for views of Earth from
space. Blue Origin has not announced the ticket price to fly on New Shepard
yet.
Economy:
1.
Interactive Robotic
Assistant (IRA) 2.0, an interactive humanoid at its Koramangala Branch in
Bengaluru, Karnataka was launched by HDFC bank. The interactive humanoid aims to enhance user experience for
customers visiting in this branch. HDFC was first bank in India to introduce
humanoid IRA 1.0 for customer service at Kamala Mills Branch in Mumbai in
January 2o18. Currently, IRA 1.0 is stationed at Palarivattom Branch in Kochi.
2.
The core sector growth in March 2018 slowed to 4.1%, a
three-month low due to weak performance in six sectors according to index of
eight core industries released by Ministry of Commerce and Industry. These sectors are coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery
products, steel and electricity.
3.
India was ranked 11th position in the FDI Confidence Index 2018
released by global consultancy firm A T Kearney. It has slipped by three notches in 2018 as it was ranked 8th
in 2017 and 9th in 2016. This is first time India fell out of the top 10 since
2015. Top 10 countries in FDI Confidence Index 2018 are United States (1st),
Canada (2nd), Germany (3rd), United Kingdom (4th), China (5th), Japan (6th),
France (7th), Australia (8th), Switzerland (9th) and Italy (10th).
4. The 27th GST council
discussed in detail the proposal of a concession of 2 percent in GST rate on
B2C supplies, for which payment is made through cheque or digital mode, subject
to a ceiling of Rs 100 per transaction. The council
recommended for setting up of a Group of Ministers from State Governments to
look into the proposal and make recommendations, before the next Council
meeting. The Council also discussed the issue of imposition of sugar cess and
reduction in GST rate on ethanol.
5.
The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has entered into 200th
Unilateral Advance Pricing Agreement (UAPA) after it singed one in April 2018. The total number of APAs entered into by CBDT so far has gone
up to 220, which include 20 Bilateral APAs.
6.
On May 4, 2018, the World
Bank said that India is doing extremely well on electrification with nearly 85
percent of the country's population having access to electricity. In the latest report, the World Bank
said that India provided electricity to 30 million people each year between
2010 and 2016.
Appointments/Resignations:
1.
Radhakrishnan Nair is appointed
as an additional (independent) director of ICICI bank for five years by ICICI Bank’s board.
Awards/Honours:
1.
President Ram Nath Kovind presented the 65th National Film
Awards at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi on May 3, 2018.In the history of the awards, it was for the first time that
the President attended only the second half of the ceremony, honouring only a
few of the winners. For 64 years, the President has been handing over the
National Film Awards to all the recipients. The awardees were informed at the
last minute that the President will present only 11 awards. Over 60 awardees
signed a letter of protest addressed to the Directorate of Film Festivals,
expressing their disappointment at the way the announcement was made.
2. The Swedish Academy announced
that the Nobel Prize in Literature will be not awarded this year following the
sex-abuse allegations and other issues within its ranks that have stained the
body’s reputation on May 4, 2018.The decision
was taken in view of the reduced public confidence in the Academy. However, the
2018 prize will be given in 2019.It is the first time since 1943 that the
prestigious award will not handed over.
3. Adarsh Credit bagged the “Best Co-operative Society on digital
platform” award in the BFSI leadership Awards 2018, at Hotel Eros in New Delhi.
Sports:
1.
World record holder Shahzar Rizvi has risen to the top of the
world rankings in men's 10m air pistol in the latest International Shooting
Sport Federation (ISSF) charts. Other Indian
in the top 10 is Jitu Rai, who is placed sixth, while Om Prakash Mitharval is
placed 12th.
2.
India has lost the top spot in the ICC ODI team rankings to
England following the annual update. India lost a solitary point to be placed second with a total of
122 points. England have thus gained eight points and moved to 125 points. South Africa also dropped a place to be at the third position
after losing four points, from 117 to 113.
3.
Justin Langer was appointed as the new coach of the Australian
national cricket team by Cricket Australia
4.
Neeraj Goyat (Indian
pugilist ) has been awarded the WBC Asia Boxer of the Year Award.
5.
Mohamed Salah of Liverpool
football team has been named the Football Writers’ Association Footballer of
the Year for 2017/18. Mohamed Salah is the first
African winner of the award. Fran Kirby of Chelsea team won the
inaugural FWA Women’s Footballer of the Year award.
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