• Smriti Irani to handle only the Ministry of Textiles and Rajvardhan Rathore has been given the charge of Information and Broadcasting Ministry.
• The World Health Organization (WHO) has launched a comprehensive plan to eliminate industrially-produced artificial trans fats from the global food supply by 2023. WHO calls on governments to use the ‘REPLACE’ action package to eliminate industrially-produced trans-fatty acids from the food supply.
• The International Day of Families is observed on the 15th of May every year. This year (2018), the theme for the event is ‘Families and inclusive societies’.
• India has released grant of Nepalese Rupees (NRs) 18.07 crore for river training and construction of embankments along Lalbakeya, Bagmati and Kamla rivers in Nepal.
• In a first, a Post Office Passport Seva Kendra (POPSK) run by an all-woman team has started operations in Phagwara, Punjab. It was 192nd POPSK in the country, but the first one to be operated by an all-woman team.
• The World Health Organisation (WHO) has published its first ‘essential diagnostics list’, a catalogue of tests needed to diagnose the most common conditions as well as a number of global priority diseases. Note: Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus is the present Director General of WHO. WHO is Headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.
• YES Bank and YES Global Institute have launched Agenda 25×25, which pledges to create a synergetic startup environment for budding women entrepreneurs in India. The effort would ensure that by 2025 at least 25% of all entrepreneurs in India are women. Note: Yes Bank MD and CEO- Rana Kapoor. Head office of Yes Bank- Mumbai. YES BANK is India’s fifth largest Private Sector Bank (PSB).
• Former BCCI President Shashank Manohar will serve a second two-year term as the independent chairman of the International Cricket Council after he was elected unopposed by the governing body’s Board. Note: Headquarters of ICC is in Dubai, UAE. Dave Richardson is CEO of the ICC.
• Neymar was named as France’s player of the year at an awards ceremony in Paris, France.
• Senior journalist Mark Tully will be honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the annual Red Ink Awards in Mumbai.
• Indian Under-16 National Team was crowned champions of the Four-Nation Football Tournament held in Serbia after the Indian Colts defeated Tajikistan.
• Guwahati now has India’s first railway station run by solar power.
• As per the Swachh Survekshan-2018 results, Indore has once again emerged as the cleanliest city in India. Bhopal has been ranked 2nd and Chandigarh 3rd in the survey at the national level. Besides, Vijaywada in Andhra Pradesh is India’s cleanest big city with a population of over 10 lakh.
• The World Telecommunication and Information Society Day was observed across the world on May 17. The theme for WTISD was “Enabling the positive use of Artificial Intelligence for All”.
• The President of India has appointed Uttam Pacharne, as regular Chairman of Lalit Kala Akademi.
• Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Suresh Prabhu has launched the Intellectual Property (IP) mascot ‘IP Nani’.
• The Union Environment Ministry launched the Green Skill Development Programme (GSDP) with an aim to train over 5.5 lakh workers in environment and forest sectors in the country.
• BSE Ltd became first Indian exchange to be designated as Designated Offshore Securities Market (DOSM) by United States Securities and Exchange Commission (US-SEC). Note: BSE is Indian stock exchange located at Dalal Street, Mumbai. It was first Indian stock exchange to be recognized by Government under the Securities Contracts Regulation Act in 1957.
• Veteran Bollywood actor Sridevi was honoured with the TITAN Reginald F Lewis Film Icon Award at the ongoing Cannes Film Festival.
• The inaugural National Para Games, on the lines of National Games for able-bodied athletes, will be held under the Khelo India Scheme in June-July 2018 in Bengaluru.
• Prime Minister Modi laid down the foundation stone of ‘Zojila Tunnel’ on the Srinagar-Leh National Highway in Leh. The 14.2-kilometre long Zojila tunnel will be India’s longest road tunnel and Asia’s longest bidirectional tunnel.
• India’s 16-year-old Haryana Born Shivangi Pathak has become youngest women of the country to scale Mt Everest from Nepal side. Note: Arunima Sinha was the first Indian amputee to climb Mt Everest.
• Green Good Deeds, the societal movement launched by Environment, Forest & Climate Change Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan to protect the environment and promote good living has found acceptance by the global community.
• The Commission for Scientific and Technical Terminology has decided to adopt the word ‘AYUSH’ in Hindi and English languages for scientific and technical purposes. The “AYUSH” became popular as the acronym for five traditional and complementary systems of medicine, namely Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy.
• The Anti Terrorism Day is observed on 21 May every year in our country. The official announcement of National Anti Terrorism Day was made after the assassination of India’s seventh Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi on 21 May 1991.
• India successfully test-fired the Indo-Russian joint venture BrahMos supersonic cruise missile from a test range along the Odisha coast to validate some new features.
• Russia unveiled the world’s first floating nuclear power station at a ceremony in the port of the far northern city of Murmansk. Built in Saint Petersburg, the Akademik Lomonosov arrived in Murmansk where it was moored in the port and presented to the media.
• India is the sixth wealthiest country in the world with a total wealth of 8,230 billion US dollars. According to the AfrAsia Bank Global Wealth Migration Review, the US is the wealthiest country in the world.
• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has imposed a penalty of Rs.5 crore on South Indian Bank (SIB) for non-compliance with its directions on Income Recognition and Asset Classification (IRAC) norms, Know Your Customer (KYC) norms and treasury function.
• Barcelona forward Lionel Messi has won the European Golden Shoe for the fifth time.
• Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro was reelected for a second six-year term in presidential elections. Note: Venezuela Capital- Caracas, Currency- Venezuelan bolívar.
• The Indian women’s Hockey team failed to defend its crown at the fifth Asian Champions Trophy, as it lost to hosts South Korea, 0-1 in the summit clash at Donghae City, South Korea. Indian striker Vandana Katariya was declared player of the tournament while youngster Lalremsiami was named as the upcoming player of the tournament.
• The International Day for Biological Diversity is observed across the world on May 22. The theme of International Day for Biological Diversity 2018 is ‘Celebrating 25 Years of Action for Biodiversity’ as the year 2018 marks the 25th anniversary of the Convention on Biological Diversity.
• India’s Multi Commodity Exchange had launched the country’s first copper options contracts. Three contracts with a lot size of 1 tonne were launched. Note: The Managing Director of MCX is Mrugank Paranjape.
• Home Minister Rajnath Singh has announced that the family of a paramilitary jawan who dies in action will be given a minimum compensation of one crore rupees.
• The JD(S)-Congress coalition government head HD Kumaraswamy was sworn-in as the New Chief Minister of Karnataka. Congress Leader G. Parameshwara was sworn in as Deputy Chief Minister.
• Polish author Olga Tokarczuk has won the Man Booker International Prize for her novel ‘Flights’. The novel, translated by Jennifer Croft, interweaves narratives of travel with explorations of the human body. Note, In 1971, V.S. Naipaul’s novel ‘In a Free State’ was the first book by an Indian novelist to win the Booker.
• Joint Military Exercise SURYA KIRAN-XIII between India and Nepal will be conducted at Pithoragarh, Uttarakhand.
• NITI Aayog and Sushant Singh Rajput have decided to collaborate towards promoting two major initiatives of NITI Aayog, promotion of BHIM and the Women Entrepreneurship Platform.
• Minister for Women and Child Development, Smt. Maneka Gandhi presented the prestigious Nari Shakti Puraskar 2017 to the members of the INSV Tarini team in New Delhi. The crew of the Indian Navy Sailing Vessel ‘Tarini’ is a part of the Indian Navy’s unique project ‘Navika Sagar Parikrama’.
• India rose one place to 44th this year in the global competitive rankings out of 63 countries that were ranked by the IMD World Competitiveness Center. The top 3 most competitive economies in the world are: 1. The USA, 2. Hong Kong, 3. Singapore.
• India ranks 145th among 195 countries in terms of quality and accessibility of healthcare, according to a Lancet study. The top 3 countries with the highest levels of healthcare access and quality in 2016: 1. Iceland, 2. Norway, 3. The Netherlands.
• Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar launched ‘Samagra Shiksha scheme’ for school education. An annual grant of 5,000 to 20,000 rupees will be provided for strengthening libraries in schools. The scheme will be focused on digital education.
• The World Health Organization (WHO) declared Nepal as free from Trachoma, the world’s leading infectious cause of blindness. With this, Nepal becomes the first country in WHO’s South-East Asia Region to eliminate Trachoma.
• Airtel Payments Bank has appointed Anubrata Biswas as its Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer. Note: Airtel Payments Bank was the first payments bank to start operations in India.
• India will be the host country for celebrations of World Environment Day 2018. The theme for this year is ‘Beat Plastic Pollution’. The World Environment Day will be celebrated on 5th of June.
• Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has asked its field offices to credit 8.55% rate of interest for 2017-18 into the Provident Fund accounts of around 5 crore subscribers.
• BJP leaders Ganeshi Lal and Kummanam Rajasekharan were appointed as Governors of Odisha and Mizoram, respectively.
• The Caribbean island of Barbados has elected Mia Mottley as its first female Prime Minister since gaining independence from the UK in 1966.