• Prime Minister Narendra Modi has dedicated to the nation its first smart and green highway, the Eastern Peripheral Expressway at Baghpat in Uttar Pradesh. The 135-kilometer six-lane access-controlled expressway envisages signal-free connectivity between Ghaziabad, Faridabad, Gautam Budh Nagar and Palwal. It is India’s first highway to be lit by solar power besides provisions of rainwater harvesting.

• Japan’s women clinched the Uber Cup. The Uber Cup, sometimes called the World Team Championships for Women, is a major international badminton competition contested by women’s national badminton teams.

• Real Madrid has lifted Champions Trophy defeating Liverpool in Kiev, Ukraine.

• Former US astronaut Alan Bean, who was the fourth man to walk on the Moon, has died in Texas, United States.

• Sangeeta Bahl, a 53-year-old former model, has become the oldest Indian woman to conquer Mount Everest. Note: Shivangi Pathak (16 Years) from Haryana recently became India’s youngest woman to climb the Everest from Nepal side.

• The BCCI and UN Environment signed an agreement to promote ‘green’ Cricket in India.

• Film actor Akshay Kumar launched the twin pit toilet technology campaign in New Delhi. The twin pit toilet technology is an Indian invention that collects defecation for a period of five years and then it turns into valuable organic compost.

• Colombia would be formally joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The announcement was made by the Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos. With the move, Colombia will become the first Latin American nation to be a part of the alliance. It would be joining the bloc as a ‘global partner’, which means it will not necessarily have to take part in any joint military action and will be fully accredited in Brussels.

• The first edition of the Global Wind Summit will be held in Hamburg, Germany in September 2018. The conference on wind is the largest and most important meeting of the wind industry worldwide.

• Former Pakistan Chief Justice Nasirul Mulk was appointed as the interim Prime Minister of the country until the general elections are held on July 25.

• Chennai Super Kings has defeated SunRisers Hyderabad to clinch their third Indian Premier League title. With this, Chennai Super Kings equalled Mumbai Indians’ record for winning the most number of Indian Premier League titles.  Player of the Match award went to Chennai Super Kings’ Shane Watson in IPL Final 2018.

• The main event of4th International Yoga Day celebrations will be held at Dehradun in Uttrakhand on 21st of June. Dehradun has been selected as the venue for Mass Yoga Demonstration of International Yoga Day.

• An Agreement for IBRD Credit of USD 21.7 Million from the World Bank for the Strengthening of Public Financial Management in Rajasthan Project was signed in New Delhi. The Project size is approximately USD 31 million, of which USD 21.7 million will be financed by the World Bank, and the remaining amount will be funded out of the State Budget.

• The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)has recognised Cochin International Airport Ltd (CIAL) in Kerala as the world’s first fully solar energy-powered airport. CIAL is India’s first airport to be constructed in public-private-partnership (PPP) model in 1999.

• The International Day of UN Peacekeepers is observed across the world on May 29, with an aim to honour more than 3700 peacekeepers who have lost their lives while serving the United Nations since 1948. The theme of the International Day of UN Peacekeepers 2018 is ‘UN Peacekeepers: 70 Years of Service and Sacrifice’.

• NSDL executive Sudha Balakrishnanhas been appointed the first-ever chief financial officer (CFO) of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

• Goa celebrates its Statehood Day on 30th May, as it was on 30th May 1987 when Goa became India’s 25th state.  Earlier, Goa was a union territory, namely, Goa, Daman and Diu for all administrative and governance considerations. Daman and Diu were separated from Goa and continue to be administered as a union territory.

• The Gujarat government unveiled its ‘Reuse of Treated Waste Water Policy’ which aims to reduce the state’s dependence on freshwater sources like the Narmada river. The policy will promote the use of treated wastewater and will see the setting up of sewage treatment plants (STP)in all major towns and cities of Gujarat.

• The Gaj Yatra campaign was flagged off by the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) Brand Ambassador Ms. Dia Mirza at an event organised in Meghalaya. Gaj Yatra’, a “journey celebrating India’s national heritage animal”, aims at securing 100 elephant corridors across India.

• Justice R.K. Agrawal has been appointed as the President of the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC).

• Software giant Microsoft has surpassed Google’s parent company Alphabet in market capitalisation for the first time in three years. Microsoft has now become the third most valuable firm globally after Apple and Amazon. Note: Microsoft Corporation is an America Based technology company. CEO- Satya Nadella, Headquarters- Washington DC.

• Top Indian discus thrower Vikas Gowda retired after competing at the highest level for more than 15 years, during which he became the first and only Indian male to win Commonwealth Games medal in the discipline.

• The joint military exercise SURYA KIRAN-13 between India and Nepal began at Pithoragarh in Uttarakhand. The military exercise is a biannual event which is conducted alternatively in Nepal and India every six months.

• Yoga guru Baba Ramdev’s Patanjali launched a new swadeshi messaging application called ‘Kimbho’to compete with WhatsApp.   The tagline of Kimbho is “Ab Bharat Bolega”. Patanjali has recently tied up with Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) to enter the telecom sector by launching Swadeshi Samriddhi SIM cards.

• The Government of India and the World Bank signed a $500 million loan agreement to provide additional financing for the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) Rural Roads Project, implemented by Ministry of Rural Development, Govt. of India.

• Every year, on 31^st May, World Health Organization observes World No Tobacco Day (WNTD). The theme of World No Tobacco Day 2018 is “Tobacco and heart disease.”

• As many as 26 countries, including India, will participate in the biennial Rim of the Pacific, RIMPAC military exercise, in and around the Hawaiian Islands and Southern California. It is the world’s largest international maritime exercise.

• Indian Oil Corporation has emerged as India’s most profitable state-owned company for the second consecutive year.

• Indian star cricketer Yuvraj Singh has been awarded the ‘most inspiring icon of the year for Social Welfare’ award by the Dadasaheb Phalke International Film Festival (DPIFF) for his exemplary contribution in the field of social welfare.

• Social networking giant Facebook partnered with the National Commission for Women (NCW) to launch a Digital Literacy Programme (DLP).

• Neem and black buck have been declared as the state tree and animal respectively of Andhra Pradesh. The rose-ringed parakeet will be the state bird while jasmine will be the state flower. Note: Andhra Pradesh was bifurcated to create Telangana in June, 2014.

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched three Indian digital payment systems – RuPay, BHIM app and UPI by SBI at the’Business, Innovation and Community Event’ in Singapore. With the launch, India’s RuPay digital payments system was linked up with Singapore’s 33-year old Network for Electronic Transfers (NETS). The move will enable RuPay users to make payments at all of NETS acceptance points across Singapore.

• Kendrick Lamar received the Pulitzer Prize in music for his album “Damn.”  Lamar is the first rapper in history to be given the award.

• President Ram Nath Kovind presented the ‘Santokbaa Humanitarian Award’ to Child rights activist and Noble Laureate Kailash Satyarthi and space scientist A S Kiran Kumar, Chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

• President Ram Nath Kovind has given his assent to an ordinance to set up the country’s first national sports university in Manipur.

• Union Minister for Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi laid the foundation stone of India’s first advanced DNA forensic laboratory in Chandigarh. The state-of-the-art ‘Sakhi Suraksha’ lab has been built at a cost of Rs 99.76 crore from the Nirbhaya Fund.

• The Income Tax Department has issued a new reward scheme titled “Benami Transactions Informants Reward Scheme, 2018”to seek people’s participation in the Income Tax Department’s efforts to unearth black money and to reduce tax evasion.

• The Union Ministry of Culture introduced a new scheme called ‘Seva Bhoj Yojna’ to reimburse the central share of CGST and IGST on items for food/ prasad/ langar/ bhandara offered free of cost by charitable religious institutions. The scheme has been launched for financial years 2018-19 and 2019-20 with a total outlay of Rs. 325.00 crores.

• Giuseppe Conte was sworn in as prime minister of Italy’s new populist government.

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi handed over the Padma Shri award,one of India’s highest civilian awards, to former Singaporean diplomat Tommy Koh.

• India has signed the Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA)in Nursing with Singapore. This is the first MRA being signed by India with any of our Free Trade Agreement (FTA) partners.

• The ICC has included Nepal, Netherlands, Scotland and the UAE in their ODI rankings list apart from the 12 existing countries.

• According to a Save the Children’s “End of Childhood Index 2018”,India ranks 113 among 175 countries with regards to where childhood is threatened as a result of poor health, malnutrition, exclusion from education, child labour, and child marriage.

• Pedro Sanchez has been sworn in as Spain’s new prime ministerby King Felipe. Mr. Sanchez took the oath to protect the constitution without a bible or crucifix – a first in Spain’s modern history.

• In Egypt, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi was sworn in for a second four-year term in office.

• Environment-friendly, clean and equipped with amenities of international standards for tourists, 13 Indian beaches of Odisha, Maharashtra and other coastal states will soon be the first in not just India, but in Asia, to get the Blue Flag certification. The Blue Flag beach standards were established by Copenhagen-based Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) in 1985.

• The Reserve Bank of India has chosen customer protection as a theme for the Financial Literacy Week which has begun on June 4. This event ends on June 8.

• World Bicycle Day was observed on June 3.

• World Environment Day was observed on the 5th of June. The theme for the World Environment Day 2018 is, “Beat Plastic Pollution”.

• The government has announced the launch of ‘Krishi Kalyan Abhiyaan’ under which farmers in select villages will be given assistance and advice on ways to improve farming techniques and raise their income.

• The Centre has appointed MK Jain, Managing Director, and CEO of IDBI Bank, as the RBI’s Deputy Governor.

• Indian skipper Virat Kohli has emerged as the International Cricketer of the Year at the CEAT Cricket Ratings awards, which were presented in Mumbai. Other CEAT Cricket Ratings awards presented are:

1. International Batsman of the Year Award:Shikhar Dhawan (India).
2. International Bowler of the Year Award: Trent Boult (New Zealand).
3. T20 Bowler of the Year Award:Rashid Khan (Afghanistan).
4. Outstanding Innings of the Year Award:Harmanpreet Kaur (India).