1.

Nitesh Kumar Jangir has won the 2019 Commonwealth Secretary-General’s Innovation for
Sustainable Development Award in London.His low-cost neonatal breathing device has saved
the lives of new-born babies across small towns of India

2.India has extended US$ 15 million grant assistance to Niger in support of organizing of the
African Union (AU) summit scheduled from 7-8 July, 2019 in Niamey, the capital of Niger.AU
Summit in Niamey is also expected to launch the historic African Continental Free Trade Area
(AfCFTA).India is also establishing in Niamey, Mahatma Gandhi International Convention
Centre (MGICC) under grant assistance. The MGICC honours the memory of MIndia is also
establishing in Niamey, Mahatma Gandhi International Convention Centre (MGICC) under
grant assistance. The MGICC honours the memory of Mahatma Gandhi whose 150th birth
anniversary is being observed in 2019.

3.India’s PU Chitra has won gold in women’s 1500m at Folksam Grand Prix 2019 held in
Sollentuna, Sweden.

4.Global internet body Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and
Indian IT industry body Nasscom has collaborated to develop identifier technology that can be
used for managing devices and infrastructure using internet.ICANN is a nonprofit organization
responsible for coordinating the maintenance and procedures of several databases related to
the namespaces and numerical spaces of the Internet, ensuring the network's stable and
secure operation. Its’ headquarters is located at Los Angeles in California.

5.World Refugee Day (WRD) is observed every year on 20th of June to celebrate the stories
and contributions of refugees. The 2019 theme is “#Step with Refugees - Take a Step on World
Refugee Day”.

6.Nepal, thousands of people came onto roads in capital Kathmandu against controversial
“Guthi Bill” on 19th June 2019.

7.Shefali Juneja, a 1992 batch officer of Indian Revenue Service (Income Tax cadre), has been
appointed to the post of Representative of India in the council of International Civil Aviation
Organisation (ICAO) in Montreal, Canada for a period of 3 years.

8.No.3 ODI bowler, Afghanistan leg-spinner Rashid Khan has become the most expensive
bowler in ICC World Cup history during their match against hosts England at Old Trafford in
Manchester on June 18.

9.Maharashtra bagged the top slot in the second edition of the US Green Building Council’s
(USGBC) list of India’s top ten states that have maximum number of LEED (Leadership in
Energy and Environmental Design) certified green buildings. LEED is a widely used green
building rating system.

10.India has opened its first specialised hydrotherapy treatment center (water clinic) for
elephants suffering from arthritis, joint pain and foot ailment on the banks of the Yamuna in
Mathura. It is opened near the Wildlife SOS’ Elephant Conservation and Care Centre (ECCC),
which currently houses 20 rescued elephants.

11.Bangladesh, iron ore mine has been discovered at Isabpur village in Dinajpur.
12.2020 QS World University ranking. In it, IIT Bombay has become India's best institute &
secured 152nd rank globally. IIT Delhi and (IISc), Bangalore have also been figured in the top
200.

12.(ICG) is co-hosting 12th international Capacity Building workshop in New Delhi to deepen
knowledge on issues related to piracy and armed robbery .The 2-day workshop is being
organized in cooperation with the Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and
Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia (ReCAAP). The ReCAAP is the first regional Government-
to-Government agreement to deal with piracy and armed robbery at sea in Asia.

12.Maharashtra government has decided to launch the Chief Minister's Employment

Generation Programme for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises .

14.Hiroshima University in Japan have developed a new type of cooling vest for sports athletes
that may help them compete safely in sweltering summer conditions.

15.Maharashtra government has decided to launch a pilot project providing smoke-free

environment in the kitchen for women. The project, named "Chullah (wood-fired stove)-free
and smoke-free Maharashtra", will target the women who have not benefited under the
Ujjwala or any other LPG distribution scheme

16.According to the Randstad Employer Brand Research (REBR) 2019, E-commerce giant
Amazon India is the most attractive employer brand in India .

16.(RBI) has set up an 8-member expert committee on Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises
(MSMEs) to suggest long-term solutions for the economic and finance stability under UK
SINHA.

18.World Sustainable Gastronomy Day (WSGS) is observed every year on 18th of June to focus
the world’s attention on the role that sustainable gastronomy.

20.he armies of India and Myanmar carried out a 3-week-long coordinated operation, named
‘Operation Sunrise 2’, from May 16 in their respective border areas & targeted several militant
groups operating in Manipur, Nagaland and Assam.

21.International Day of Family Remittances (IDFR) is observed every year on 16th of

June.Autistic Pride Day (APD) is observed every year on 18th of June.

22.World Food India (WFI- 2019) event will be held in New Delhi from November 1-4 as part of
the government’s effort to boost investment into this growing sector. “Forging Partnerships for
Growth”. This will be the 2nd edition of World Food India (WFI), with first one held in 2017.

23.'Snana Yatra' is a bathing festival celebrated on the full moon day (Purnima) of the Hindu
month of 'Jyestha' & considered to be the birthday of Lord Jagannath.

24.For the first time, India will host the 14th session of the Conference of Parties (COP-14) of
the UNCCD in New Delhi between September 2 -14, 2019

25.Dr. Rabi N. Mishra has been appointed as the new Executive Director (ED) of Reserve Bank
of India (RBI).Gary Woodland of the United States has clinched the 2019 US Open Golf
Championship by three strokes at Pebble Beach Golf Links in California.

26.Peter Gilchrist from Singapore has won the 2019 Pacific International Billiards
Championship at the Yarraville Club. In the final, he defeated India’s SAURAV KOTHARI.

26.World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought (WDCDD) is observed every year on 17th
of June. The 2019 theme is “Let’s Grow the Future Together”.

28.Suman Rao from Rajasthan has won the Femina Miss India World 2019 beauty pageant
during a star-studded ceremony at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Indoor StaDIAN (MH).While
Shivani Jadhav from Chhattisgarh clinched Femina Miss Grand India 2019.

29.In Pune, Social activist Makarand Tilloo has won the ‘Save Water Hero Award’ by the
HridayMitra Foundation for his efforts to raise awareness about water conservation in the city.
Tilloo is a Laughter Yoga trainer and motivational speaker by profession.

30.Zuzana Caputova, a liberal environmental activist and a political newcomer, has been
sworn-in as the first female President of Slovakia in Bratislava on 15th June 2019. She is also
the youngest president in the history of Slovakia, at the of age 45.

31.(ISRO) has recently announced that India's second mission to the moon - Chandrayaan-2 -
will be launched on July 15 at 2.15 AM from Sriharikota.Project Director and the Mission
Director will be women. Muthayya Vanitha will be the Project Director for the orbiter, the
lander and the rover, and Ritu Karidhal will be the Mission Director in charge of the GSLV-Mk
III launch vehicle.

32.anish economist and environmentalist, Inger Andersen has recently taken charge as the
new Executive Director (ED) of UNEP.HCL Technologies will soon roll out “TechBee”
programme to hire and train students for IT jobs.

33.Feni Bridge, which is also known as Maitree Setu, is developing as a corridor for trade and
commerce between India's North-East and Bangladesh over riiver Feni and will connect Tripura
with Chittagong port of Bangladesh.

34.Dr. Virendra Kumar, the 7-time Lok Sabha MP from Tikamgarh in Madhya Pradesh, has been
sworn-in as the pro-tem speaker of Lok Sabha.

35.South American Football Confederation (SAFC) has invited Australia and Qatar as guests at
2020 Copa America.

36.Australian think tank Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), India’s ranking in 2019 Global
Peace Index (GPI) has slipped five places to 141st among 163.In South Asian countries, Bhutan
topped the index with 15th rank, followed by Sri Lanka 72nd, Nepal 76th and Bangladesh
101st.

37.Bengaluru-based NGO Akshaya Patra has been awarded the 2019 BBC World Service Global
Champion Award for its school meal project programme at the BBC Foood and Farming
Awards in Bristol, United Kingdom.

38.World Elder Abuse Awareness Day (WEAAD) is observed on the 15th of June every year to
voice opposition to the abuse and suffering inflicted on elder.Adani group has recently got
final approval for controversy-hit Carmichael coal mine project in Australia.

38.June 15, the 10th edition of Regional GRIHA Summit 2019 was held in Nagpur, Maharashtra
with theme 'Transformation strategies for built environment'. GRIHA is an independent, non-
profit society jointly set up by the Ministry of New and renewable energy and the energy and
resources institute.

40.Bharat Dynamics Ltd (BDL)of hydrabad has recently signed a contract worth Rs 1,187.82
crores for supply of heavy weight torpedoes - Varunastra - to the Indian Navy.

41.Four Indian movies have been selected to be screened at the prestigious 23rd Bucheon
International Fantastic Film Festival (BiFAN-2019).Gully Boy, Andhadhun and Manikarnika: The
Queen of Jhansi while the fourth is a Tamil movie, Super Deluxe .

42.UNCTAD’s World Investment Report 2019, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into India
increased by 6% to $42 billion in 2018.India has been ranked 10th amongst the top recipients
of FDI in 2018.National Geographic Society has announced the successful installation of the
world's highest operating weather stations on Mount Everest.

43.World Blood Donor Day (WBDD) is observed every year on June 14.2019 theme "Blood
Donation and Universal Access to Safe Blood Transfusion”.

43.H D Kumaraswamy has recently launched 118 websites that would enable citizens get
building plan approvals, diversion of land use change

45.Government has taken a historic decision to reduce the salary contribution of industrial
workers who are eligible for healthcare benefits under the ESI ACT TO 4%.ESI Act of 1948
provides for medical, cash, maternity, disability and dependent benefits to the Insured Persons
under the Act. The ESI Act is administtered by the Employees' State Insurance Corporation
(ESIC). Benefits provided under the ESI Act are funded by the contributions made by the
employers and the employees. The Government of India through the Ministry of Labour and
Employment decides the rate of contribution under the ESI Act.

46.(JNU) has decided to confer its Distinguished Alumni Award to Union Ministers Nirmala
Sitharaman and Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.

47.(GoI) has recently constituted a 5-member committee to review existing marketing

structure in Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) marketing in India. The committee, headed by
economist Kirit ParikH.

48.Cabinet has accorded ex-post facto approval for the extension of the term of the
Commission to examine the issue of Sub-categorization of OBC ) by two more months upto
31st July 2019. Commission is headed by Justice (Retd.) G. Rohini.

49.President Xi Jinping has been conferred the Kyrgyzstan’s highest national award titled
“Manas Order of the First Degree” at the Ala Archa state residence in Bishkek. Xi, along with
other leaders of the group including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is in Bishkek (the
Kyrgyz capital) to attend the 19th Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit on June
14-15, 2019.

50.Kargil Vijay Diwas (KVD) is celebrated every year on July 26.theme ‘Remember, Rejoice and
Renew’

51.H.D. Kumaraswamy has recently launched the ‘Pink Sarathi’ vehicles to attend to the
complaints of women passengers travelling in city buses.. The vehicles are procured by the
Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) under the ‘Nirbhaya’ scheme.

52.Bancha in Betul district of Madhya Pradesh has become the first village in India to have zero
wooden stoves and almost no use for LPG cylinders with all its 75 houses relying on solar-
powered stoves to meet their cooking needs.

53.National People's Party (NPP), which is in an alliance with the BJP in Meghalaya, has been
granted recognition as a national party by the ECI.

54.Rafael Nadal has lifted the French Open Men's Singles title for the 12th time.India has
partnered with Portugal to set up a national maritime heritage museum at the ancient Indian
site of Lothal in Gujarat.

55.Minister of Commerce and Industry & Railways, Piyush Goyal led the Indian delegation for
the 2-day G20 Ministerial meeting on Trade and Digital EconomY Tsukuba city in Japan on June
8.Dr. Romila Thapar, the well-known historian and writer, has been elected as a member of the
American Philosophical Society (APS).

56.Canadian PM Justin Trudeau has recently announced that harmful single-use plastics will be
banned in the country from 2021 to reduce ocean WASTE.

56.After linking its short-term loans and large savings deposits rates to the repo rate, the State
Bank of India (SBI) has decided to introduce a repo raTE -linked home loan product from July 1.

58.Mount Sinabung, on the island of Sumatra, erupted for around 9 minutes on June 9 & send
clouds of volcanic ash 7 km into the sky.The volcano has seen a spike in activity since its last
major eruption in 2010.

59.India’s first dinosaur museum and fossil park has recently inaugurated by Gujarat Chief
Minister Vijay Rupani at Raiyoli village near Balasinor town of Mahisagar district. The new
museum will create a prehistoric-like era environment when dinosaurs might have roamed
around freely in Raiyoli.

60.India is planning to conduct its first-ever simulated space warfare exercise titled
‘IndSpaceEx’ in the last week of July under the aegis of the Integrated Defence Staff of the
defence ministry.

61.India has been designated as the Guest of Honour at the 33rd Guadalajara International
Book Fair (GIBF) 2019 in Mexico.Interim President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has won the 2019
Presidential election of Kazakhstan.

62.Ohio State University in United States have created high-resolution maps of points around
the globe where groundwater meets the oceans.
63.V.S. Kaumudi, a 1986 batch Andhra Pradesh cadre IPS officer, has been appointed as the
new Director General (DG) of Bureau of Police Research and DeveLOP.

64.World Day Against Child Labour (WADCL) is observed every year on June
12.THEME==Children shouldn’t work in fields, but on dreams.China has appointed veteran
diplomat Sun Weidong as its new envoy to India.

65.Amasebailu village in Kundapura Taluk of Udupi district has become Karnataka’s first solar-
powered Gram Panchayat.The project was funded by Centre and State Government in the ratio
of 30:20 and the rest was paid by the Panchayat and charitable organizations. As per the
agreement with Selco Light Pvt. Ltd, the solar lamps have a guarantee of 5 years and any faulty
lamps will be replaced by the supplier within the guarantee period.

66.Thawar Chand Gehlot, the Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment, has been
appointed the Leader of the House for the Rajya Sabha.

67.Sashakt Committee, headed by PNB non-executive chairman Sunil Mehta, has

recommended changes in existing Inter-Creditor Agreement to incorporate revised voting
threshold and other changes for decision making stipulated by RBI.

68.Ashleigh Barty, an Australian professional tennis player and former cricketer, has clinched
the women’s title at the 2019 French Open tennis tournamenT,she defeated Marketa
Vondrousova.

69.Delhi University (DU) and the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), in collaboration with
researchers from Indonesia and the US, have discovered a new species of ‘paddy frog’ from
Northeast India, primarily Assam. The frog belongs to the microhylid genus Micryletta.

70.: I V Subba Rao appointed AS a new Secretary to the Vice President of India.

‘Mela Kheer Bhawani’ is one of the biggest religious festivals of the displaced community of
Kashmiri pundits, and is associated with Hindu Goddess Ragnya Devi. It is recently celebrated
with religious fervor and gaiety at Tulmulla area of central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district and
Kupwara.

71.(RBI) has constituted a high-level committee under IBA Chief Executive V G Kannan to
examine ATM charges and fees by banks amid demands for reviewing the levies.

72.Zonel Sougaijam, a 22-year-old civil engineer from Manipur, has been honoured by
Facebook for discovering a WhatsApp bug that violated the privacy of user.

73.Amitav Ghosh has been conferred the 54th Jnanpith award for the year 2018 for his
outstanding contribution towards literature.Mr Ghosh is the first Indian author in English
language to be honoured with the Jnanpith award. The works of Amitav Ghosh portray a vast
range of subrange of subjects. His famous books include The Circle of Reason (1986), The
Shadow Lines (1988), The Calcutta Chromosome (1996), The Hungry Tide (2004), Sea of
Poppies (2008), The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable (2016).
Instituted in 1961, the Jnanpith award is bestowed only on Indian writers writing in Indian
languages included in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India and English with no
posthumous conferral. The recipients of Jnanpith award are given a cash prize of Rs 11 lakh, a
citation plaque and a bronze replica of Goddess Saraswati.

74.Shah Rukh Khan will be the chief guest at the 10th edition of Indian Film Festival of
Melbourne (IFFM), which is scheduled to be held between 8th to 17 auggust 2019.

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has approved a proposal to punish sons and daughters who
abandon their elderly parents with a jail term.

76.Indian Navy hosted a maritime information sharing workshop under the aegis of the
Information Fusion Centre — Indian Ocean Region (IFC-IOR) at Gurugram.

Priyanka Chopra, a global UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador for Child Rights, will be honored with
the Danny Kaye Humanitarian Award by UNICEF’s American chapter at their Snowflake Ball on
December 3 in New York.

76.International Albinism Awareness Day (IAAD) is observed every year on June 13 to

celebrate the human rights of persons with albinism worldwide. The 2019 theme is "Still
Standing Strong".

Council of Heads of States (CHS) of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) has started in
Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan. Modi’s first multi-lateral summit after his re-election as the
Prime Minister. This is also the second CHS meeting after India became member of SCO.

1. Nirmala Sitharaman will attend the two-day meeting of G-20 Finance Ministers and Central
Bank governors in Japan ,Fukuoka in Japan. G-20, which is a group of developing and
developed nations, includes India, the U.S., the U.K., China, Russia, Saudi Arabia ,Brazil, France
and Australia.

2. China National Space Administration (CNSA) has announced that a Long March 11 rocket
was launched from a floating launch pad in the Yellow Sea just off the coast of Shandong.third
nation after Russia and United States.

3.tennis player Sidharth Rawat defeated Rio Noguchi of Japan to win his first title in the
$25,000 ITF men’s Futures tennis tournament on June 2, 2019

4.Indian-American Congresswoman, Pramila Jayapal has become the first South Asian
American woman to preside over the US House of Representatives .116 CONGRESS .

5.Airports Authority of India (AAI) has recently signed pact WITH BOING to modernize air
traffic management in India

6.Facebook has launched its first interactive game show titled "Confetti" in India, which will
start from June 12 on its dedicated video platform - FaceBOOK WATCH

7.Sunil Chhetri has become the India’s highest capped footballer by surpassing Bhaichung
Bhutia's 107 international matches

8. NAGALAND'S Dzukou Valley has been officially declared Plastic Free Zone on the occasion of
2019 World Environment Day (WED).
9.Russia, the first tourist train service traveling through Russia's Arctic region and on to
Norway set off from St. Petersburg station ,,train, named Zarengold ("The Tsar's gold" in
German).

10.6-member Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has
reduced the repo rate by 25 basis points to 5.75% from 6.0% ,AND the reverse repo rate stands
adjusted to 5.50%, and the Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) rate and the Bank Rate to 6.0%.

11.Maldives has conferred 'Nishan Izzuddin' award on Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It is the
highest award to honour foreign nationals,President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, hold meetings
with Vice President Faisal Naseem and Speaker of Majlis and former President Mohamed
Nasheed,legislative body of the island nation called the People’s Majlis.

12.Indian Embassy in Saudi Arabia organised a "Gandhi cycle rally for peace" in Riyadh on
Friday to commemorate the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma GANDHI

12.WORLD OCEAN DAY -8 JUNE(70% OXYGEN) , THEME==“Gender and Oceans” reflects on

equalizing the representation of women and men in marine fields.

14.(IAF) has recently signed a deal worth around Rs 300 crore for buying more than 100 SPICE
bombs from Israel.

15.Telangana-based Deccan Development Society (DDS) sanghams (groups) have bagged the
prestigious United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)’s Equator PRIZE 2019.

16.Thai parliament has recently elected ex military government chief Prayuth Chan-ocha as its
new Prime Minister.

16.President Jimmy Carter will be bestowed with the George H. W. Bush Award for
Statesmanship for his contributions to relations between the U.S. and ChINA.

18.Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B) has instituted the first Antarashtriya Yoga
Diwas Media Samman (AYDMS) for 2019 to mark the contributibution of media in spreading
the message of Yoga.

18.first-ever World Food Safety Day (WFSD) has officially celebrated on 7th June 2019 to
strengthen efforts to ensure that the food we eat is safe.The day was adopted by the United
Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in December 2018. The UN has designated two of its
agencies - the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization
(WHO) - to lead efforts in promoting food safety around the world.

20.Swedish teen climate activist Greta Thunberg and her “Fridays for Future” global
movement has won a prestigious Amnesty International’s Ambassador of Conscience Award
for 2019.

21.India has been ranked 95th out of a total 129 countries in the first-ever SDG Gender Index,
which measures strides made in achieving gender commitmentments against internationally
set targets. The index has been developed by Equal Measures 2030, TOP BY DENMRK.

22.India has notified a Tax Information Exchange Agreement (TIEA) with the Marshall Islands,
which enables a bilateral sharing of banking & ownership information and allows officials of
one country to undertake tax examinations in the other.

23.Rajnath Singh will chair the Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs and be part of the
all-important panel on political affairs headed by MODI ,Singh was also made a member of
two new committees set up by the Modi government -- the Cabinet Committee on Investment
and Growth and the Cabinet Committee on Employment and Skill Development,

24.TomTom Traffic Index 2018, MUMBAI TOPPED

25.American author Tayari Jones has won the 2019 Women’s Prize for Fiction for her novel “An
American Marriage”.

26.Sinai Peninsula is a peninsula in Egypt, and the only part of the country located in Asia.

27.ARMY AND (IAF) has jointly carried out a week-long special training exercise "Kharga
Prahar-2019” in the plains of Punjab.

28.SHEELA Malayalam actress-director, has been chosen for the prestigious J C Daniel Award
for her contributions to the film world

29.United States, Google's India-born CEO Sundar Pichai and Nasdaq President Adena
Friedman have been chosen for the prestigious Global Leadership Award 2019 by business
advocacy group USIBC in recognition of the two companies' contribution as the leading
technology-driven platforms.

30.Indian junior women's hockey team clinched the 2019 Cantor Fitzgerald U21 International
4-Nations title after beating Ireland 1-0 in the final at Dublin, Ireland.

31.Tijjani Muhammad-Bande, Nigeria's Ambassador to UN, has been elected as President of

the 74th session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA).

32.Mrutyunjay Mahapatra, the renowned scientist and cyclone warning specialist, has been
appointed as the chief of India Meteorological Department (IMD).CYCLONE MAN. CWD has
given accurate forecasts on cyclones including when Phailin (2013), Hudhud (2014) and Titli
(2018) hit the eastern coast.

33.World Environment Day (WED) is observed every year on 5st of June to raise awareness of
the environment and specific environmental issues.The theme for 2019 "Beat Air Pollution" is
a call to action call to combat this global crisis.2019 WED, the Union Ministry of Environment,
Forest & Climate Change (MoEFCC) of India has launched the song ‘Hawa Aane De’ to spread
awareness about Air pollution.

34.2nd edition of Global Disability Summit (GDS) will be held at Buenos Aires, Argentina from
6-8 June 2019. Indian delegation will be headed by Thaawarchand Gehlot, the Union Minister
for Social Justice and Empowerment (MSJE)

35.(GoI) has recently rejected the reference of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC)
on Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) in its final communique at the 1th Islamic summit in Mecca.f
External Affairs (MEA) has stated that the OIC has no locus standi in matters relating to the
state of Jammu and Kashmir , which is an integral part

OIC is an international organization consisting of 57 member states & 53 of them Muslim-

majority nations. It is not for the first time that OIC has made references on J&K, and India has
slammed the 57-strong grouping of Muslim countries each time.

36.International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression is observed every year on June
4

37.Conservative businessman Nayib Bukele has been sworn-in as the new President of El
Salvador.

38.Rajasthan government has recently increased the financial assistance given to school girls
under the 'Aapki Beti' scheme and ex-gratia payment to the families of polling personnel who
die during election duty.

39.Madhya Pradesh, the state Cabinet has passed a resolution to increase reservation quota
for Other Backward Classes (OBC) from existing 14% to 27%

40.Rajiv Mehrishi, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of Indiam has been elected as
external auditor of the World Health Organization (WHO) for fRom 2020 to 2023.

41.Enoplotrupes tawangensis is a new species of dung beetle that has been discovered in
Tawang district of Arunachal Pradesh.

42.2nd edition of World Bicycle Day (WBD-2019) is observed by United Nations (UN) on 3rd
June to encourage a simple, affordable, reliable, clean and environmentally fit sustainable
means of transportation

43.In Bangkok , the 2019 edition of Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) was attended by
senior officials of India, US, Japan and Australia to hold conultations on their collective efforts
for a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific region and to reaffirm their shared commitment to
preserving and promoting the rules-based order in the region.

45.A new 'Jal Shakti' Ministry by merging the ministries of Water Resources and Drinking
Water and Sanitation with Gajendra Singh Shekhawat at its helm.Ministry will encompass
issues ranging from international and inter-states water disputes, the Namami Gange project,
the flagship initiative to clean the Ganges, its tributaries and sub-tributaries and provide clean
drinking water.

46.Ex-President Pratibha Patil has been conferred the "Orden Mexicana del Aguila Azteca"
(Order of the Aztec Eagle) in the MCCIA Bhavan, Pune. It is the highest civilian award of
Mexico given to foreigners in recognition of their outstanding services to strengthening the
bilateral ties between Mexico ,Earlier, the late President S Radhakrishna had been conferred
this honour.

47.Namrata Menon, the Panaji-based Yoga instructor and fitness expert, has been appointed
as the Goa's brand ambassador

48.The researchers at the University of Warwick in the UK have discovered a rogue exoplanet -
NGTS-4b - with its own atmosphere in the Neptunian Desert.

48.RAJIV SHARMA.Punjab and Haryana High Court has recently ruled that all animals are legal
persons entitled to legal rights like human beings in Haryana.

49.Indian-origin Anita Bhatia has been the Deputy Executive Director of the United Nations
Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-WoMEN)

50.World Milk Day (WMD) 2001, the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations
(FAO) selected June 1st as World Milk Day,2019 theme is “Drink Milk: Today & Everyday”.

51.Football, Liverpool FC won the Champions League for the sixth time at Madrid on June 1,
2019. In the final, Liverpool beat Tottenham Hotspur with a 2-nil after game defining moments
at the start and end of the game .

52.Ajit Doval, a 1968-batch IPS officer & a former Intelligence Bureau (IB) chief, has been
reappointed as the National Security Adviser (NSA) for a five year tenure. He has also been
given a cabinet rank in recognition of his contribution in the national security domain.

53.Scott Morrison has been sworn-in as new Prime Minister of Australia, after retaining the
position in the 2019 general election

54.Mumbai-based freelance writer, Annie Zaidi has been announced as the 2019 winner of the
$100,000 Nine Dots Prize for her essay ‘Bread, Cement, Cactus’

55.e International Everest Day (IED) is observed every year on May 29 to mark the first
successful climb to the world’s highest peak Mount Everest.On this day in 1953, Sir Edmund
Hillary and Tenzing Norgay Sherpa reached the zenith of the mountain and became the first
humans to achieve the feat in memory of the first summit of Mt.

56.International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers is observed every year on May 29,2019
theme is “Protecting Civilians, Protecting Peace” .the date when in 1948 the first UN
peacekeeping mission named the "United Nations Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO),
began operations in Palestien.India is the 4th largest troop contributor to the UN
peacekeeping missions.

56.Motilal Oswal Asset Management Company (AMC) has launched its WhatsApp transaction
platform for new as well as existing investors.

59.Ivo Karlovic (40) of Croatia has become the oldest man to win a match at the French Open
since 1973, after he defeated the 37-year-old Feliciano Lopez of Spain in a first-round duel of
the 2019 French Open Tennis Tournament at Roland Garros.

59.The Telangana government has decided to set up the India’s first ‘Blockchain district’ in
Hyderabad to create an ecosystem for all the start-ups .

60.Conrad K Sangma, the Chief Minister of Meghalaya, has launched Rs 18-crore Aroma
Mission at Byrwa in Ri-Bhoi district with an aim to strengthen the livelihood condition of
farmers and create employment opportunities in the state.
61.President of Kyrgyzstan Sooronbay Jeenbekov who is the current Chair of the Shanghai
Cooperation Organization (SCO) and Mauritius Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth, the Chief
Guest at this 2019 Pravasi Bhartiya Divas (PBD). and bimstec.

62.RBI) will observe 2019 Financial Literacy Week (FLW) across the country from 3rd to 7th of
June. The theme this year is - 'Farmers and how they benefit by being a part of the formal
banking system'.

63.Former ISRO chief Dr. K Kasturirangan led Committee has recently submitted the draft
National Educational Policy (NEP) to HRD Minister

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

65.On the occasion of 2019 World No Tobacco Day (WNTD) on May 31, Rajasthan Chief
Minister Ashok Gehlot has banned production, distribution, advertisement and sale of
Electronic-cigarette in the state.

66.Medical & Health Department of Rajasthan government has won the prestigious 2019
World Health Organization (WHO) award in recognition of its achievements in the field of
tobacco control.

67.Flight Lieutenant Mohana Singh has become the first woman fighter pilot to fly by day a
Hawk advanced jet aircraft

68.Puerto Williams is the main settlement, port and naval base on Navarino Island in Chile. It
faces the Beagle Channel. Recently, Puerto Williams has become the world’s southernmost city
after the Chilean authorities upgraded its status from hamlet to city. It took over the title from
Ushuaia, the capital of the Argentine province of Tierra del Fuego.

69.Chandrani Murmu (25) has created history by becoming the youngest Member of
Parliament (MP), after elected to the 17th Lok Sabha from Keonjhar (Odishaa) in the 2019
Indian general election as a member of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD).

70.The 10th edition of National Science Film Festival of India (NSFFl) is scheduled to be held in
Agartala, Tripura on January and February 2020.

71.World No Tobacco Day (WNTD) is observed every year on May 31.focus theme of 2019
edition of WNTD is on "tobacco and lung health".

72.Stanford University in the US have developed a more stable prosthetic foot which they say
could make challenging terrain.

73.Karambir Singh has taken charge as the 24th Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS) from Adm. Sunil
Lanba, who stepped down upon retirement.He is the first helicopter pilot of the Navy to
become the CNS. Prior to this post.

74.Gujarat government has decided to equip the traffic police with 'laser guns' for detection of
over-speeding by vehicles.
76.IIT-Madras has recently launched an Integrated Database on Infrastructure Projects (IDIP) at
the 15th World Conference on Transport Research conference.

76.Madhya Pradesh, Devi Ahilya Bai Holkar Airport of Indore has been declared as
International Airport.It was given the International status as per sub-rule (b) of rule 3 of the
Passport (Entry into India) Rules, 1950 by the Central Government.named after Maharani
Ahilya Bai Holkar of Indore, is considered the busiest airport in the region. The Indore airport.

77.IIT- Guwahati has signed a MoU with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to set
up a Space Technology Cell (STC) within the premise of IIT G.The new IITG-ISRO STC would be
first-of-its-kind in the North-east region to augment research and capacity building processes
in the field of space-tech.

78.Indians Scientists has recently identified a new species of primate wasp from the genus
Kudakrumia in Goa. The new species was collected in the forest

78.India’s only orangutan, ‘Binny’, has passed away at the age of 41 at Nandankanan
Zoological Park in Odisha. The great ape was brought to the Odisha zoo in November 2003
from Pune's Rajiv Gandhi Zoological Park on November 20, 2003, when she was 25.
Orangutans are one of the world’s three extant species of great apes. According to the World
Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), there are three species of orangutans — Bornean, Sumatran and
Tapanul.

80.Indian Air Force (IAF) and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) have recently
signed a MoU for getting Indian astronauts trained for ISRO’s.

81.Murray Gell-Mann (89), a Jewish American physicist who theorized the existence of the
quark and won a Nobel Prize for his method of classifying particles.

82.Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has constituted a 6-member committee to review the existing
state of mortgage securitisation in India and suggest measure,The committee on the
development of housing finance securitisation market, headed by Bain & Co Senior Advisor
Harsh Vardhan,will review the regulations relating to Mortgage-Backed Securitization (MBS)
currently in place.

83.Trump administration has recently removed India and Switzerland from its currency
monitoring list of major trading partners.ndia had a significant bilateral surplus & Switzerland
had a material current account surplus.

84.President Muhammadu Buhari has been sworn-in for his second term as President of
Nigeria in a ceremony at the Eagle Square in Abuja.

84.Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has constituted a six-member task force, headed by Canara
Bank chairman T.N. Manoharan, on the development of secondary mkt for corporate loans.
The terms of reference of the task force would include review of the existing state of the
market for loan sale or transfer in India as well as the international experience in loan trading.

86.India has been ranked 43rd most competitive economy in the 2019 edition of the IMD
World Competitiveness Rankings on the back of its robust economic growth, a large labour
force and its huge market size.Singapore has topped the index, followed by Hong Kong SAR
and United States. The IMD World Competitiveness Rankings, established in 1989, incorporate
235 indicators from each of the 63 ranked economies to evaluate their ability to foster an
environment where enterprises can achieve sustainable growth, generate jobs and increase
welfare for its citizens.

87.N Kumar, Vice-Chancellor of Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU), has been conferred
the lifetime recognition award by the Confederation of Horticulture Association of India.

88., James Marape has been nominated, elected, and sworn-in as the 8th Prime Minister of
Papua New Guinea (PNG).

89.To celebrate 2019 World Environment Day (WED), the Union Ministry of Environment,
Forest & Climate Change (MoEFCC) has recently launched the song 'Hawa Aane De' to spread
awareness about Air pollution. The theme song is written by Swanand Kirkire and sung by
Shantanu Mukherjee.

90.World Meterology Day, the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research and National
Physical Laboratory (CSIR-NPL) has recently introduced redefined Kilogram (SI unit of weight),
Kelvin (SI unit of temperature), Mole (SI unit of amount of substance), and Ampere (SI unit of
current).

91.Lewis Hamilton, a British racing driver who races in Formula One for Mercedes-AMG
Petronas Motorsport, has won the 2019 Monaco Grand Prix.

92.Union government has constituted the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Tribunal to

adjudicate whether or not there is sufficient cause for declaring the Liberation Tigers of Tamil
Eelam (LTTE) as an unlawful association. The Tribunal is comprised of sitting Judge of Delhi
High Court Justice Sangita sehgal.

93.In October 2020, Sweden will host an international conference against anti-Semitism in
memory of the Holocaust. The conference, which is scheduled to be held in Malmo, will
coincide with two significant dates: the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Europe from Nazi
rule and the 20th anniversary of the Stockholm Declaration, the founding document of the
International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA).

93.Lieutenant General Shailesh Tinaikar has been appointed as the new Force Commander of
the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS).

95.Rahi Sarnobat booked an Olympic quota place for India at World Cup rifle pistol stage in
Munich, Germany by winning gold in women's 25m pistol event.

96.The first session of the UN-Habitat Assembly has started at the headquarters of UN-Habitat
in Nairobi, Kenya on May 27, 2019. India has been elected to the Executive Board of the UN-
Habitat Assembly. The special theme for 2019 Assembly is ‘Innovation for a better quality of
life in cities and communities' with the sub theme of ‘Accelerated Implementation of the New
Urban Agenda towards achievement of the Sustainable Development goals.

97.Russia has recently launched the third and final Project 22220 LK-60Ya-class nuclear-
powered icebreaker – the Ural - at the Baltic Shipyard in St Petersburg to open up Arctic
shipping routes.

98.Orchha town is situated on the banks of the Betwa river in Niwari district of MP’s
Bundelkhand region.The town was built by King Rudra Pratap Singh of Bundela dynasty in the
16th century. The ancient town is famous for its Chaturbhuj Temple, Orchha fort complex, Raja
Mahal among others. The Bundela architecture has Mughal influence since the two dynasties
were very close. Orchha town in Madhya Pradesh has been included in UNESCO’s tentative list
of world heritage sites following a proposal sent by the A.S.I..

99.In squash, Mahesh Mangaonkar from India has clinched the Sekisui Open title for the
second time in his career in Kriens, Switzerland on May 25, 2019.

100.Prem Singh Tamang, the president of Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) and popularly
known as P S Golay, has been sworn-in as the new chief minister of Siikkim. Governor Ganga
Prasad administered the oath of office to Mr. Golay in a grand ceremony at the Palzor stadium
in Gangtok. The Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF), which had ruled the State for 25 years, won
15. Mr. Golay succeeded Pawan Chamling of the SDF who has the record of longest-serving
Chief Minister of the country, ruling the State for five consecutive terms for a little over 24
years.

101.British-Sri Lankan human rights documentary maker- turned debut novelist, Guy
Gunaratne has won the 2019 £30,000 Swansea University International Dylan Thomas prize for
his debut novel ‘In Our Mad and Furious City’.

102.naval drill exercise ‘Pacific Vanguard’has been kick started by the United States, Japan,
South Korea and Australia near Guam, United States.

102.World Thyroid Day (WTD) is observed every year on May 25

102.Acharya Balkrishna, the Managing Director of Patanjali Ayurved Ltd., has received the
'UNSDG 10 Most Influential People in Healthcare Award' on behalf of Patanjali Group of
Institutions in Geneva, Switzerland.

105.2nd edition of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Mass Media Forum was held at
Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan from 23-26 May, 2019.. A delegation from I&B Ministry represented India
at the Forum. The Forum was inaugurated by the President of Kyrgyz Republic Mr. S.
Jeenbeko.“Shanghai Spirit”.May 21, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj attended a two-
day meeting of the 2019 Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Council of Foreign
Miniisters in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.

106.Cardiologist Prof. Balram Bhargava has won the 2019 Dr Lee Jong-wook Memorial Prize for
Public Health at the 72nd World Health Assembly in Geneva.Prof. Bhargava is the Director-
General of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).

107.May 26, China clinched the badminton world mixed-team championship at the 16th
edition of the Sudirman Cup 2019 in the Chinese city of Nanning.

108.International Day for Biological Diversity (IDB) is observed every year on 22 May 2019 to
increase understanding and awareness about biodiversity issues on a global scale. The 2019
theme “Our Biodiversity, Our Food, Our Health”

108.(WHO) has officially recognized Algeria and Argentina as malaria-free countries, after no
new cases of the deadly disease have been reported for at lleast 3 consecutive years.

110.(UNGA) has officially passed a resolution demanding the United Kingdom withdraw its
administration of the Chagos Islands.The resolution welcomed the February 25, 2019 advisory
opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on the legal consequences of the separation
of the Chagos Archipelago from Mauritius in 1965.The islands have since been used for
defence purposes by the UK and the United States, which established a military base on the
island of Diego GarciA.The entire Chagossian population was forcibly removed from the
territory between 1967 and 1973, and prevented from returning.The Chagos Archipelago is a
group of 7 atolls consists of more than 60 individual tropical islands in the Indian Ocean about
500 km south of the Maldidives archipelago.

111.World Bee Day (WBD) is celebrated every year on May 20 to acknowledge the role of bees
and other pollinators for the ecosystem,2019 theme ‘Save the Bees’ is meant to raise
awareness on the increasing need to preserve bees and other pollinators.

112.Saray Khumalo, a Zambia-born Johannesburg resident, has become the first black African
women to conquer the summit of Mount Everest, with an elevation of 8,848m, in her fourth
attempt.Khumalo has also climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Aconcagua in Argentina
and Mount Elbrus in Russia.2003, South African park ranger Sibusiso Vilane became the first
black person to summit Mount Everest.

112.Dr. Hema Divakar, a Bengaluru-based medical doctor, has been honoured with the 'Global
Asian of the Year 2018-19' award in Dubai recently for her yeomen services and contributions
to the women's healthcare ecosystem, in India.

114. Germany, the international competition ‘Elsevier Foundation-ISC3 Green and Sustainable
Chemistry Challenge’ was recently held at the 4th Green and SSustainable Chemistry
Conference. In it, a project idea by Dr. Ankur Patwardhan from Pune has bagged the second
prize of €25,000.. His project named ‘Butterfly attractant for pollination and ecosystem health’
is about the relation between chemistry and ecosystem.

115.Sethu FC has clinched their first ever Indian Women's League trophy after defeating
Manipur Police 3-1 at the Guru Nanak Stadium in Ludhiana on May 22

116.(UN) has recently released the World Economic Situation and Prospects (WESP) 2019 Mid-
year Update.UN has lowered its forecast for India’s GDP growth in 2019-20 to 7.1% from its
estimate in January of 7.5%, citing an overall slowdown in global growth.UN lowered its
growth forecast for South Asia marginally to 5.8% in 2020 from the 5.9% estimated for the
year in January.

116.Bangladesh-based terror outfit — the Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) — was

banned by the Government of India (GoI) under the anti-terror law UAPA.

116.(RBI) has allowed large modern currency chests to increase the service charges on cash
deposited by non-chest bank branches from the existing rate of f Rs. 5 per packet of 100 pieces
to a higher rate subject to a maximum of Rs. 8 per packet.

118.In Ukraine, comedian and political newcomer Volodymyr Zelensky has been sworn-in as
the new President of war-torn country.

118.World Turtle Day (WTD) is observed every year on May 23.India Biodiversity Portal (IBP)
initiated a ‘Turtle Spotting Week’ as part of a unique exercise to document the creatures
across India.

120.workhorse of the Indian Air Force (IAF), the Russian made AN-32 transport aircraft was
formally fleet certified to fly on a blended bio-jet fuel parttly derived from trees. The fuel will
be 10% tree-derived and 90% conventional aviation fuel.

121.(DRDO) successfully flight tested a 500 kg class Inertial Guided Bomb (IGB) from Su-30 MKI
Aircraft from the Pokhran test range in Rajasthan.

122.NASA has recently unveiled the calendar for the "Artemis" program that will return
astronauts to the Moon for the first time in half a century.‘ARTEMIS’ stands for ‘Acceleration,
Reconnection, Turbulence, and Electrodynamics of the Moon's Interaction with the Sun’.

123.NewSpace India Ltd. (NSIL) has officially inaugurated in Bengaluru, Karnataka to scale up
industry participation in Indian space programmes. It is the commercial arm of Indian Space
Research Organisation (ISRO).responsible for manufacturing the and production of Small
Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) and Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) through technology

124.(WHO) has unveiled a new strategy to dramatically cut deaths and injuries from
snakebites, and also warned a lack of anti-venoms could soon spark a ""public health
emergency".

125.German payments company Wirecard has teamed up with India to simplify the process of
issuing tax identity cards required to open bank accounts, transffer money or complete
business transactions. The deal, with state company UTI Infrastructure Technology and
Financial Services, seeks to widen the disstribution of so-called PAN cards in the country.

126.South African lawmakers have re-elected Cyril Ramaphosa as the president of the country.
The Members of Parliament (MP) from the African National Cong

127.World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development is observed every year on
May 21 to increase the understanding of issues around culturaral diversity and development
among governments, non-governmental organizations and the public.The day was created as a
result of the destruction of the Buddha statues of Bamiyan in Afghanistan in 2001.This year, in
2019, the UAE has celebrated the day to highlight its efforts in promoting tolerance and
cultural diversity.

128.(SBI) has announced a strategic partnership with the FMCG arm of The Art of Living — Sri
Sri Tattva.

129.Chancy Chitete has been posthumously conferred with the UN’s highest peacekeeping
award - Captain Mbaye Diagne Medal for Exceptional Courage.The award will be given during
the 2019 International Day of UN Peacekeepers commemorations at UN Headquarters in New
York on May 24.

129.India has been ranked 117th out of 181 countries in the 2019 KidsRight Index, which ranks
countries on the basis of how much they are involved and equipped to improve child rights.
Iceland made the top position with an overall score of 0.967, followed by Portugal, and
Switzerland.The annual global index is an initiative of Kids Right Foundation in cooperation
with Erasmus University in Rotterdam, Netherlands.

131.Flight Lieutenant Bhawana Kanth, who belongs to Darbhanga (Bihar), has created history
by becoming the India’s first female fighter of the IAF.MiG-21 Bison aircraft

132.(ADB) has signed an agreement to provide long-term financing of $750 million equivalent
in Indian rupees to fund the Railways track electrification project. It is the largest single non-
sovereign loan ever committed by ADB to Indian Railway Finance Corporation (IRFC) to
electrify railway tracks.

133.World Hypertension Day (WHD) is observed every year on May 17 to spread awareness
about the disease that the World Health Organisation (WHO) calls a“silent killer” and “global
public health issue”.

134.India’s social media platform - Helo has become the official team sponsor of Indian
Wheelchair Cricket Association for 2019 Asia Cup, which has starteed on May 15 in Nepal. This
association makes Helo the first social media app to host and promote Indian Wheelchair
Cricket on its platform.

135.An author from Oman, Jokha Alharthi has won the prestigious 2019 Man Booker
International Prize for her novel "Celestial Bodies", which reveals her Omani homeland's post-
colonial transformation.

136.(ISRO) has successfully launched its newest microwave earth observation satellite RISAT-
2B from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) at Sriharikota through its trusted workhorse
PSLV-C46. The 615-kg RISAT-2B meant for application in fields such as surveillance, agriculture,
forestry and disaster management support.

137.8th edition of Indo-Myanmar Coordinated Patrol (IMCOR-2019) has started at Port Blair in
Andaman and Nicobar Command on May 20.CORPAT (coordinated patrol) initiative between
Indian and Myanmar navies is meant to address issues of terrorism, illegal fishing, drug
trafficking human trafficking, poaching and other illegal activities inimical to interest of both
nations.

138.Priyanka Mohite, the 26-year-old Satara based mountaineer, has become the first Indian
woman to successfully scale Mount Makalu — the fifth-highest mount.she is from MH.

139.Prime Minister of United Arab Emirates (UAE), Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum
has launched the permanent residency system “Golden Card” for expats investors,
entrepreneurs, specialized talents and researchers to be a part of the UAE’s success story.

140.Shyam Saran, an Indian career diplomat, will be conferred with Japan's second highest
national award- The Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver StaR.India's Foreign Secretary
during 2004-2006.

141.Police Officer Jitender Kumar is among the 119 military, police and civilian personnel who
will be honoured with a prestigious 2019 UN Dag Hammarskjol Medal for courage and sacrifice
in the line of duty.

142National Anti Terrorism Day (NATD) is celebrated every year in India on May 21 to spread
the message of global peace and non-violence and stop youngssters from following cult
practices and being misguided.

143.Delhi High Court has ruled that the United Nations (UN) is not a State under Article 12 of
the Constitution of India and is not amenable to its jurisrisdiction under Article 226 of the
Constitution.

145.Joko Widodo has been officially re-elected to a second term as President of Indonesia. His
win is a victory for stability and continuity in Indonesia,Southeast Asia’s largest country and a
geopolitical anchor for the region.

145.India has recently signed the new global anti-terror initiative ‘Christchurch Call to Action’,
which is the brainchild of New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and French President
Emmanuel Macron to fight terrorism.The document was signed and adopted with
participation from 26 nations, including France, New Zealand, European Commission, Ireland,
Norway, Senegal,Canada, Jordan, UK, Indonesia, Australia, Germany, Japan, Spain,
Netherlands and Sweden. The agreement came in the backdrop of the attacks on mosques s
on 15th March 2019 and is aimed at stopping abuse of the Internet by extremists.

146.Taiwan has become the first in Asia to legalise same-sex marriage with the passage of
legislation giving gay couples the right to marry

147.American politician, Nancy Pelosi has been honored with the 2019 John F Kennedy Profile
in Courage Award at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library aand Museum in Boston.

148.(UNESCO) has celebrated the 2nd edition of International Day of Light (IDL-2019) on 16th
May to mark the role light plays in our daily lives.

148.Mueenul Haq, the current ambassador to France, has been appointed as the new Pakistan
High Commissioner to India.

150.NASA space agency has found evidence for a unique mixture of methanol, water ice, and
organic molecules on the surface of Ultima Thule, which is locatted in the Kuiper Belt - beyond
the orbit of Neptune.. The mixture is very different from most icy objects explored previously
by spacecraft. Ultima Thule (also known as 2014 MU69)is 4 billion miles from Earth and has
captured scientists' curiosity since they discovered it had a snowman-like appearance.

151.PCT Humanity, a charity run by an Indian in the UAE, has set the new Guinness Book of
World Records for its hunger relief efforts during the holy month of Ramzan in Abu
Dhabi.Joginder Singh Salaria, founder of Pehal charitable Trust (PCT), said the efforts were in
continuation to the vegetarian iftar held daily at the premises of his company Pehal
International, Dubai Industrial Park.

152.(IMD) is observed every year on May 18 to raise awareness about the importance of
museums as means of cultural exchange, enrichment of cultures s and development of mutual
understanding, cooperation and peace among peoples. The 2019 theme is 'Museums as
Cultural Hubs: The Future of Tradition'.

153.(WMD) is observed every year on May 20 to commemorate anniversary of the signing of

the Metre Convention in 1875.2019 theme is “The International System of Units -
Fundamentally better”.Treaty provides the basis for a coherent measurement system
worldwide that underpins scientific discovery and innovation.

154.Rafael Nadal of Spain clinched the men’s title at the 2019 Italian Open Tennis tournament.

155.University of British Columbia (UBC) in Canada have developed a specialized microscope

that has the potential to diagnose diseases.

156.(RBI) - appointed committee headed by Aadhaar architect Nandan Nilekani submitted its
report on promoting digital payments to RBI Governor Shaktikanta.RBI will examine the
recommendations of the committee and will link the action points, wherever necessary, in its
Payment Systems Vision 2021 for implEMENT.

156.Kerala became the first sub-sovereign entity in the country to access the international
market by listing masala bonds issued through its off-budget mechanism - the Kerala
Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB). Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has become the
debutant head of tate in the country to open trading at the London Stock Exchange (LSE) for
the day.

156.World AIDS Vaccine Day (WAVD) is observed every year on 18th May to spread awareness
about the urgent need for a vaccine to prevent HIV infection.

159.26th edition of Singapore India Maritime Bilateral Exercise (SIMBEX)-19 has commenced in
the South China Sea on May 19.

160.Nepali mountaineer, Kami Rita Sherpa has created history by successfully scaling the
Mount Everest peak (8848m) for the 23rd time on May 14, 2019.

161.Union Ministry of Finance has launched Project Sparrow for online writing of Annual
Performance Appraisal Report (APAR) in SPARROW (Smart Performance Appraisal Report
Recording Online Window) for Group ‘B’ and ‘C’ Officers of Central Board of Indirect Taxes &
Customs (CBIC).

162.India has found problems with the current method under which the OECD index –Services
Trade Restrictiveness Index (STRI) - ranks countries based on their services trade policies.

163.initiative towards a greener ecosystem in Ganga Basin, the tripartite MoU (Memorandum
of Understanding) was signed between National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG), HCL
Foundation and INTACH for taking up a project of 'Plantation of Rudraksh Trees in
Uttarakhand' under the 'Namami Gange' Programme. The aim of the project is to plant 10
thousand Rudraksh trees in the catchment area of river Ganga in Uttarakhand in association
with local community and other stakeholders.

164.. Pramod Kumar Mishra, Odisha-born IAS officer and Additional Principal Secretary to the
Prime Minister of India, has been conferred United Nations Sasakawa Award for Disaster Risk
Reduction for the year 2019 in Geneva, Switzerland.

165.Bollywood actor Anil Kapoor has been felicitated by Council of European Chambers of
Commerce (CEUCC) in India and an European Union delegation as part of the 'Europe Day'
celebrations in Mumbai on May 17. He has been felicitated for his decade-long support to
promoting the cause of children's rights and his collaboration with the EU and Plan India in
their girls' rights endeavours.

166.The book titled "Coming Round the Mountain", will be released officially by India's
beloved children's author Ruskin Bond on his 85th birthday on 19th May 2019 at Cambridge
bookstores in Mussourie.

167.London-based sculptor Anish Kapoor has topped the first edition of the Hurun India Art
List.

168.A comprehensive survey on plastic pollution has been conducted by marine scientists on
the Australian external territory of Cocos (Keeling) Islands.

169.World Telecommunication and Information Society Day is observed across the globe every
year on May 17 to help raise awareness of the possibilities that the use of the Internet and
other Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) can bring to societies and
economies.2019 theme is ‘Bridging the standardization gap’.

170.After 29 glorious years of service from 1990 to 2019, the Indian Coast Guard ship (ICGS)
Vigraha has recently decommissioned at Visakhapatnam, Andhra PRADESH.

171.5th edition of “International Army Scout Masters Competition” will be organized under
the aegis of Konark Corps at Jaisalmer, Rajasthan from 24 July to 17 August 2019.

172.Justice Arjan Kumar Sikri, the former judge of Supreme Court of India (SCI), has been
appointed as the chairperson of News Broadcasting Standards Auththority (NBSA) by the News
Broadcasters Association (NBA).

173.ICICI Bank has launched a co-branded multi-currency card with online travel booking
portal Goibibo.

174.International Day of Families is observed every year on May 15 to promote awareness of

issues relating to families ,2019 theme “Families and Climate Action: Focus on SDG 13” focuses
on families, family policies and major SDG 13 targets such as improve education n, awareness-
raising and human and institutional capacity on climate change mitigation, adaptation, and
impact reduction and early warning.

174.Sanjiv Puri has been appointed as the new CMD (Chairman and managing director) of ITC
Ltd, India’s largest cigarette maker.

176.Justice Madan B Lokur, the Retired Supreme Court judge of India, has been appointed to
the Supreme Court of Fiji as a judge of its non-resident panel.

177.China has expanded its ban on Wikipedia to block the community-edited online
encyclopedia in all available languages.

178.(RBI) has released a vision document - Payment and Settlement Systems in India: Vision
2019 – 2021 - with its core theme of 'Empowering Exceptional Epayment Experience', for
ensuring a safe, secure, convenient, quick and affordable e-payment system.

179.2023 Asian Cup Football tournament will be hosted by China after South Korea withdraws
its bid.

180.Indian Armed Forces carried out Exercise Bull Strike at Teressa Island in Andaman and
Nicobar (A&N).

181.Assam, a type of orchid - Lecanorchis taiwaniana (parasitic bloom) - has coincidentally

discovered by Assam’s forest officer named Jatindra Sarma.The parasitic bloom is a variant of a
Japanese orchid.

182.Croatian World Cupper Igor Stimac has been appointed head coach of the Indian men's
senior football team for a two-year term.

183.Sri Lanka has declared a National Vesak Week to mark the most significant event for
Buddhists all over the world.

184.Paris summit, French President Emmanuel Macron and New Zealand's Prime Minister
Jacinda Ardern launched an ambitious new initiative to eliminate terrOR .ONLIINE.

184.US Department of Energy's (DOE) Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has created a
next-generation plastic, called Poly Di-Ketoenamine (or PDK),that can be fully recycled into
new materials of any colour, shape, or form, without loss of performance or quality.

186.Madhya Pradesh, women will handle the entire work of counting votes in Harda district of
the state.

187.Captain Aarohi Pandit, a 23-year-old pilot from Mumbai, has become the world's first
woman to cross the Atlantic Ocean solo in a Light Sports Aircraft.

188.India has been unanimously chosen as co-chair of the Consultative Group (CG) of Global
Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR) for the fiscal year 2020. The decision was
taken during the meeting of GFDRR held in Geneva, Switzerland on the margins of the 6th
Session of the Global Platforform for Disaster Risk Reduction (GPDRR) 2019.

189.G.S. Lakshmi has become the first-ever woman to be appointed to ICC’s International
Panel of Match Referees and will be eligible to officiate in inteternational games with
immediate effect.

190.Pacer Jasprit Bumrah, who made a mark for India and IPL franchise Mumbai Indians, has
been adjudged as International Bowler of the Year during the CEAT Cricket Rating (CCR)
International awards 2019.
191.(UNGA) has decided to hold the high-level 2020 United Nations Conference in Lisbon,
Portugal from June 2 to 6.toward, the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG)
14.

192.Pakistan off-spinner Sana Mir bagged the title of the most successful women ODI’s spinner
in the world after she dismissed Sune Luus from South Africa in the third ODI of ICC Women’s
Championship on May 12, 2019.

193.Japan has started testing it’s fastest-ever shinkansen bullet train “Alfa-X”, which is capable
of reaching 400 kilometres per hour (249 mph).

194.ISRO Chairman Dr. K Sivan has recently inaugurated Young Scientist Programme (Yuvika-
2019) for school children at Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) in Sriharikota, Andhra
Pradesh.

195.Kiki Bertens has won women’s singles title at the 2019 Madrid Open tennis tournament. In
the final, she defeated Simona Halep.

196.HDFC ERGO General Insurance Company has recently launched the 'Mosquito Disease
Protection Policy'.This new policy will cover an individual against common mosquito-borne
diseases like Dengue Fever, Malaria, Chikungunya, Japanese Encephalitis, Kala-aZAR Lymphatic
Filariasis and Zika Virus.

197.Nabventures, a subsidiary of NABARD, has recently launched its first-ever Rs 700-crore

venture capital fund for equity investments in agriculture and rural-focused startups.

198.The 18 nations ADMM-Plus (Asean Defence Ministers' Meeting-Plus) multilateral maritime

security field exercise has recently concluded in Singapore.. This is the 4th such exercise
conducted under the ADMM-Plus grouping. The ADMM-Plus consistes of 10 ASEAN countries
along with Australia, China, Japan, India, South Korea, New Zealand, Russia and the United
States.

199.China is hosting Conference on Dialogue of Asian Civilizations in close collaboration with

UNESCO in its capital city Beijing from 15 to 22 May, 2019.Focus on themes of the exchange
and mutual learning of Asia civilizations, and a community of shared future.

200., Top seed Novak Djokovic of Serbia beat Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece 6-3, 6-4 to win his
third Madrid Open Tennis title.

201.Mumbai Indians became IPL champions for the fourth time after defeating Chennai Super
Kings by one run in a thrilling final in Hyderabad.

202.(WTO) ministerial meeting of developing countries has started in New Delhi.

203.The first edition of world's first exclusive women's cricket magazine 'Criczone' has been
released in Jaipur, Rajasthan. In it, Indian team cricket vice-captain Smriti Mandhana.

204.PS officer Chhaya Sharma, who led the investigation team of the infamous Nirbhaya gang-
rape and murder case, has been awarded the 2019 McCain Instituttute Award for Courage and
Leadership.
205.Islamic State (IS) has claimed for the first time that it has established a “province” in India,
after a clash between militants and security forces in the Kashmir region killed a militant with
alleged ties to the group. The new ‘province’ is called “Wilayah of Hind ” by the militant group.

206.International Nurses Day (IND) is celebrated around the world on 12 May,birth

anniversary of Florence Nightingale, who was also known as ‘The Lady with the Lamp’.She was
famous as manager and trainer of nurses during the Crimean War. The theme for 2019 is –
"Nurses A Voice to Lead – Health for All".

207.(IAF) has recently received the first AH-64E (I) - Apache Guardian helicopter at Boeing
production facility in Mesa, Arizona in the United States.

208.Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka has been sworn-in as the new Chief Justice of Karnataka
High Court.

209.Amul will be the principal sponsor of the Afghanistan cricket team for the 2019 ICC World
Cup, which will be hosted by England and Wales.

210.After United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland has officially become the 2nd country in the
world to declare a climate and biodiversity emergency. It happened after the Oireachtas (Irish
parliament) report on Climate Action was accepted by the government and opposition parties
without a vote.

211.National Technology Day (NTD) is held every year on May 11 to celebrate India’s
achievements in science and technology and to mark the historic feat of test-firing its very first
nuclear-capable missile back in 1998 at Pokhran.

212.Indian Army has decided to commemorate 2019 as the ‘Year of Next of Kin’ and plans to
reach out to the next of kin of battle casualties.

212.Supreme Court has recently upheld the constitutional validity of the Karnataka Extension
of Consequential Seniority to Government Servants Promoted on the Basis of Reservation (to
the Posts in the Civil Services of the State) Act, 2018.

214.World Migratory Bird Day (WMBD) is observed every year on 11th of May to raise
awareness of issues affecting migratory birds 2019 theme − “Protect Birds: Be the Solution to
Plastic Pollution!” − will put the spotlight on the negative impact of plastic pollution on
migratory birds and their habitats.

215.(WHO) has partnered with the International Food and Beverage Alliance (IFBA)
to achieve its target under REPLACE initiative of eliminating industrial l trans-fat
from industrially produced global food supply by 2023.

216.Konkan Railways Corporation Ltd (KRCL) has signed a contract agreement with
Nepal's Department of Railways to supply two 1600 HP DEMU train sets. KRCL is a
Union Government Company headquartered at CBD Belapur in Navi Mumbai that
operates Konkan Railway.

216.United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has appointed 17 global

figures including Indian actress Dia Mirza and Alibaba chief Jack Ma as the new
advocates to drive action and solidify global political will for the ambitious
Sustainable Development Goals.

218.Veteran actor Pankaj Kapur will soon release his debut novel 'Dopehri', based
on a play of the same name which he wrote and directed several years ago

218.Iran has recently announced to stop respecting limits on its nuclear activities
agreed under a 2015 nuclear deal with major powers until they find a way to bypass
renewed US sanctions. The Iran nuclear deal was formally known as the Joint
Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

220.Justice (Retd.) K S Radhakrishnan has been appointed as a member of the

Commonwealth Secretariat Arbitral Tribunal in London.

221.BharatPe has launched India's first UPI Bahi Khata for merchants, which allows
merchants to record their cash/ credit (udhar) sales customer wise, request
accounts receivable from customers via SMS payment links, and keep track of
accounts payable to suppliers, among other services.

222.A team of herpetologists led by Ashok Captain have described a new species of
reddish-brown pit viper — a venomous snake with a unique heat-sensing system —
from a forest in West Kameng district of Arunachal Pradesh.

223.Bajaj Auto Executive Director Rakesh Sharma has been elected as Vice-
President of Geneva-based International Motorcycle Manufacturers Association
(IMMMA) at Yogyakarta, Indonesia

224.Samsung Electronics Co has recently launched the world's highest-resolution

image sensor for smartphones at 64-Megapixels to meet the growing demand for
mobile devices with better image quality.

225.Two Indian Navy ships - Guided Missile Destroyer INS Kolkata and Fleet
Support Ship INS Shakti carried out a 6-day long exercise ‘Group Sail’ with naval
ships of Japan, Philippines and the United States of America (USA) in the disputed
South China Sea from 03 May to 09 May 19.

226.t Donald Trump bestowed Tiger Woods with the Presidential Medal of Freedom
in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington.

227.Lakshadweep is an archipelago of 36 islands and scattered over approximately

78,000 square km of the Arabian Sea with population of approximately 65,000.
scientists at CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) carried out
first-ever genetic studies on the people of Lakshadweep Island.

228.5th edition of United Nations (UN) Global Road Safety Week has started from
6th May with theme “leadership for road safety”.(WHO) promotes road safety as a
means to reduce traffic-related injuries.UN Global Road Safety Weeks and its’
campaigns are chaired by WHO and the United Nations Economic Commission for
Europe (UNECE).
229.India and Bangladesh will jointly produce a film on the life & works of the
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, and also a documentary on Bangladesh
Libration war.Indian filmmaker Shyam Benegal and will be written by Atul Tiwari.

230.UN report titled “IPBES Global Assessment” has been released by IPBES
(Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem
Service.The headquarters of IBPES is located in Bonn, Germany.

231.The meeting of the Regional Heads of Customs Administration of Asia Pacific

Region of the World Customs Organisation (WCO) is being organized by Central
Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) in Kochi from 08th to 10th May, 2019.

232.(MHA) has decided to discard its 'Black List' of Indian-origin people, who have
taken asylum abroad under the plea of alleged persecution in India.

233.The 6-day Brahmakalashothsava festival is celebrated in the ancient Chandkuru

Sri Durga Parameshwari Temple annually in Polali,Dakshina Kannada district in
Karnataka.

234.For the first time, researchers have recently sighted nests of the grizzled giant
squirrel (Ratufa macroura) at Pakkamalai Reserve Forests near Gingee (Tamil
Nadu) in the Eastern Ghats.

235.Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) Mumbai have found a novel

function for serotonin (a chemical that signals between neurons),serotonin is
involved in the generation of new mitochondria (the powerhouse of the cell) in
neurons, increased cellular respiration and fuel (ATP) in in the cell.

236.World Thalasseamia Day (WTD) is observed every year on May 8.Thalaseemia

is a chronic blood disorder. It is a genetic disorder due to which a patient cannot
make enough hemoglobin found in Red Blood Cells (RBC’s). This leads to anemia
and patients also require blood transfusions every two to three weeks to
survive.The 2019 theme is “Universal access to quality thalassaemia healthcare
services:

237.Japanese aerospace startup Interstellar Technology Inc. has become the first
private firm in Japan to launch a rocket into space.It has successfully launched a
small rocket ‘Momo-3’ from its test site in Hokkaido, which reached about 110
kilometers (68 miles) in altitude before falling into the Pacific Ocean after 10
minutes of flight time.

238.India's first natural Ice Cafe has started at a height of 14,000 feet in Leh,
Ladakh. The ice cafe is located on the Manali-Leh Highway.By b.r.o.

239.Desert Storm 2019 is touted to be the longest Cross-Country Rally in India,

which is started from Bikaner in Rajasthan on 8th May.

240.India has been re-elected as an observer to inter-governmental forum Arctic

Council at the 11th Arctic Council ministerial meeting at Rovaniemi, Finland. Indian
researchers have been studying whether there is a co-relation between Indian
monsoon and the Arctic region. National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research, an
Indian institute under the Ministry of Earth Sciences, has set up a research station,
'Himadri', in Svalbard in Norway that works on the mass balance of glaciers, the
effect of the warming on the marine system, the formation of clouds and
precipitation, and the effect on biodiversity.Arctic governments and the indigenous
people of the Arctic. It consists of 8 members countries: Canada, Denmark, Finland,
Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden and the United States.

241.World Red Cross Day (WRCD) is observed every year on May 8 to recognize the
extraordinary contribution and incredible achievements of the stalwarts and
volunteers around the world for helping the people in need anytime, anywhere.
2019 theme is “#love” or simply "love",

242.ndia's Jagjit Pavadia has been re-elected to the International Narcotics Control
Board (INCB) for a 5-year term beginning 2nd March, 2020.

243.World Asthma Day (WAD) is celebrated every year on first Tuesday of May to
increase awareness about asthma and aims to improve the lives of people with
asthma across the world. 2019 WAD is observed on 7th of May with theme ‘Stop for
Asthma’. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO).

243.Mali, President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita has recently announced the new
government of 37 members under Prime Minister Boubou Cisse ,Cisse's predecessor
Soumeylou Boubeye Maiga and his entire cabinet resigned on April 18 following the
massacre of some 160 members of the Fulani herding community on March 23 in
the village of Ogossagou near Mali's border with Burkina Faso.

245.Indian police officer Jitender Kumar deployed to the UN mission in Congo and a
consultant Shikha Garg with the UN development programme, killed in the
Ethiopian Airlines plane crash, are among 115 UN peacekeepers and staff honoured
by the global organisation for their sacrifice.

246.In a bid to evaluate the environmental performance of existing schools across

India, the Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment (GRIHA) Council has
recently released a rating tool ‘GRIHA for Existing Day Schools’.

247.Missile destroyer of the Indian Navy 'INS Ranjit' has recently decommissioned
at a solemn ceremony at the Naval Dockyard in Visakhapatnam, after serviving the
Indian navy for 36 years.

248.Laurentino Cortizo has been declared the winner of 2019 presidential election
of Panama. The 2019 elections have been dominated by pledges to fight corruption
and to tackle Panama's image as a money-laundering country.

248.Justice PR Ramachandra Menon has been sworn-in as the new Chief Justice of
the Chhattisgarh High Court. Governor Anandiben Patel administered him the oath
of office and secrecy at a function at Raj Bhawan
250.Volleyball Federation of India (VFI) has recently appointed Dragan Mihailovic
(from Serbia) as head coach of the men’s national team in a move linkeed to the
long term goal of Olympic Games qualification.

251.G D 'Robert' Govender, an Indian-origin journalist in South Africa, has been

honoured in the UK with 2019 V K Krishna Menon award for his outstanding
contribution as a pioneer of decolonized journalism.

252.Pakistan’s former captain and star all-rounder Shahid Afridi has recently
released his controversial autobiography, titled ‘Game Changer’.

253.In chess, the TePe Sigeman & Co International tournament has started in
Malmo, Sweden on May 3. According to the World Chess Federation(FIDE),the
tournament will have 8 players with an average rating of 2663, making it a Category
17 tournament.

254.Ace Indian squash players Saurav Ghoshal and Joshna Chinappa won their
respective Asian Individual Squash Championship titles in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
on May 6. Saurav Ghoshal defeated Leo Au Chun Ming of Hong Kong.

255.After 8 years, India will once again mark its presence at the art world's oldest
Biennale in Venice, Italy that begins on 11th May 2019. The overarching theme at
the 58th Venice Biennale 2019 is 'Our Time for a Future Caring', and India has
decided to showcase Father of Nation Mahatma Gandhi to ensure a memorable show
at the art event. Theme ‘Hundred and Fifty years of Mahatma Gandhi’.

256.Common Service Centre’s (CSC) e-Governance Services India Limited has tied
up with Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Kanpur to upscale ‘Unnat Bharat
Abhiyan’, which is an initiative of the Ministry of HRD. . Under the Unnat Bharat
Abhiyan, IIT-Kanpur has brought together 15 leading higher education institutions
from Uttar Pradesh.

256.According to the latest data from US space agency NASA, the giant asteroid
named 99942 Apophis is expected to approach dangerously close to the Earth on
April 13, 2029. However, there is no need to worry as it will be about 31,000km
away from the surface of the Earth. Apophis was discovered in 2004 by U.S.
astronomers

256.Journalist Nileena MS, a reporting fellow with The Caravan, has won the
prestigious ACJ Award for Investigative Journalism in print/online category foor the
year 2018. She won the award for her story titled “Coalgate 2.0: The Adani Group
reaps benefits worth thousands of crores of rupees as the coal scam continues
under the Modi government”.

256.The fourth of Indian Navy’s stealth Scorpene class Submarines of Project 75,
INS Vela has recently launched for trials at the Kanhoji Angre Wet Basin of Mazagon
Dock Limited (MDL) in Mumbai. The submarines are being built at Mazagon Dock
Limited,Mumbai. The submarines are being built at Mazagon Dock Limited, with the
main collaborator being M/s Naval group, France.The INS Vela is the 4th of the six
Scorpene submarines that has completed its out fittings at MDL.

260.Nepali teenager, Bandana Nepal (18) has set a new Guinness World Record on
'Longest Dancing Marathon by an Individual' by dancing continuously for 126 hours
(over 5 days). She received the official confirmation from the Guinness Records on
3rd May 2019.

261.India is officially invited to Group of 7 (G-7) industrialized nations summit

along with Australia, Chile and South Africa. The summit is scheduled to be held in
Biarritz, France in August 24-25, 2019.

262.Mangaluru City Police has launched an all-women police patrol unit ‘Rani
Abbakka Force’ for the protection of women and children.

263.16th Ministerial Meeting of Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD-2019) was held in

Doha, Qatar from April 30-May 2 with theme "Partners in Progress”. Gen. ((Dr) V.K.
Singh (Retd), Minister of State for External Affairs led the Indian
delegation.Minister expressed profound sorrow for April 21 terrorist attacks in Sri
Lanka and emphasized the need for the world community to expeditiously adopt
the UN Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism (UNCCIT).

264.Former ISRO chairman A S Kiran Kumar has been conferred with France's
highest civilian award - Chevalier de l'Ordre national de la Lgion d'Honneur - for his
contribution to India-France space cooperation.

265.(SBI) has become the first bank in the country to link its saving and loan
interest rates to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)'s repo rate.

266.Dilip Kumar, a 1995-batch IAS officer of Punjab cadre, has been appointed as
the Officer on Special Duty (OSD) in the office of LokpaL.

267.King Maha Vajiralongkorn has been crowned as the Rama X of Thailand in a

dazzling show of pageantry on behalf of the Thai people.

268.International Firefighters' Day (IFFD) is observed every year on May 4 to

recognize and honour the sacrifices that firefighters make to ensure that our
communities and environment are as safe as possible.

269.US Air Force General Tod Wolters has been sworn-in as the top military officer
of the 29-nation NATO military alliance.He became Supreme Allied Commander in
Europe (SACEUR) at a ceremony on Friday at NATO's military headquarters in Mons,
southern Belgium.

270.According to the latest rankings released by the International Shooting Sport

Federation (ISSF), Indian shooting ace Apurvi Chandela from Jaipur has recently
attained the world number 1 position in the women’s 10m air rifle event.

271.World Press Freedom Day (WPFD) is observed every year on 3rd May.2019
theme “Media for Democracy: Journalism and Elections in Times of Disinformation”.
272.World Press Freedom Day (WPFD-2019), Vienna-based International Press
Institute (IPI).

273.World No. 1 Bajrang Punia won the gold at the 2019 Ali Aliyev wrestling
tournament. In the final of men's 65kg freestyle,he defeated Viktor Rassadin inin
Kaspiisk, Russia.

274.M Jayshree Vyas, a professionally-qualified chartered accountant, has been

appointed as the first independent woman director of Bombay Stock Exchange.

274.World Tuna Day (WTD) is observed every year on May 2 to highlight the
importance of sustainably managed fish stocks in achieving the 2030 Agenda for
Sustainable Development. Tuna and tuna-like species are very important
economically — to both developed and developing countries — and a significant
source of food.

274.BSNL has become the first operator to start optical fibre-based high-speed
broadband service in Pulwama with launch of 'Bharat Fibre'.

277.Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar was listed as a designated terrorist by

the UN Security Council 1267 Committee on 1st May 2019 after China lifted its
block on the move.

278.150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, the Office of the Principal

Scientific Adviser (PSA) to the Government of India and IIT Delhi have signed an
MoU to set up a Centre of Excellence for Waste to Wealth Technologies for
implementation of sustainable, scientific and technological solutions for waste
management, through validation and deployment of available technologies for
transformation of waste to wealth.

279.United Kingdom Parliament has become the first national legislative body in the
world to pass national declaration (or motion) of an Environment and climate
emergency.

280.Ace India goalkeeper P.R. Sreejesh has been nominated for the prestigious Rajiv
Gandhi Khel Ratna Award by Hockey India.

281.The first part of the Indo-French joint naval exercise - Varuna 19.1 – has started
off the Goa coast from 1 to 10 May 2019.

282.Pakistan Air Force (PAF) has decided to observe its retaliatory action on
February 27 against the Indian air strikes on the Balakot terror camp as 'Operation
Swift Retort'.

283.The former Sri Lanka batsman Kumar Sangakkara has become the first non-
British President of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC).

284.Dredging Corporation of India Limited (DCIL) has inked a MoU with Water &
Power Consultancy Services (India) Limited (WAPCOS) to jointly identify suitable
future projects and carry out geotechnical investigation and engineering
consultancy. The headquarters of WAPCOS is located at New Delhi.

284.In Rajasthan, the 8th Asian Youth Women Handball Championship is scheduled
to be held in Jaipur, in which 10 teams, including defending champions South Korea,
will be participating.

286.Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics, Iraq sold 46.61

million tonnes (mt) of crude oil to India during April 2018 and March 2019, which
is 2% more than 45.74 mt it had supplied in 2017-18 fiscal. Saudi Arabia also
maintained its position as the 2nd-largest crude supplier to India during the year
followed by Iran and United Arab Emirates (UAE) which toppled Venezuela to
become India's fourth largest crude supplier.

287.Meghalaya, the Geological Survey of India (GSI) North Eastern Region (NER)
has recently installed two geological display boards at two important geological
sites in the State with geo-scientific information which will help in creating
awareness among visiting tourists, students and the general PUBLIC.

288.30th April 2019, Market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India
(SEBI) barred the National Stock Exchange from raising money on the securities
market directly or indirectly for six months on the collocation case.

288.International Jazz Day (IZD) is celebrated around the world on April 30 every
year to raise awareness in the international community of the virtues of jazz as an
educational tool, and a force for peace, unity, dialogue and enhanced cooperation
among people. In 2011, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO) officially designated April 29 as International Jazz Day.

290.Claire Polosak from Australia created history by becoming the first female
umpire to stand in a men's One-Day International (ODI).

291.nternational Labour Day (ILD) is celebrated every year on 1st of May to honour
the contribution of working men and women. India, the first Labour day or May Day
was celebrated in 1923 in Chennai. The 2019 theme is - Sustainable Pension for all:
The Role of Social Partner

292.According to latest data released by global think-tank Stockholm International

Peace Research Institute (SIPRI),l world military expenditure rose by 2.6% to
$1,822 billion in 2018. As per new data, the United States is the world’s largest
spender on defence in 2018.

293.Alfred Brownell from Liberia, an environmental lawyer and activist, has been
awarded the prestigious 2019 Goldman Environmental Prizze for exposing alleged
abuse by the palm oil company Golden Veroleum Liberia and helping to prevent it
from converting about 50 km2 of forest that is home to elephants, pygmy
hippopotamuses and chimpanzees into palm oil plantations.

294.(BHEL) and Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) have signed a

MoU for cooperation on various projects related to e-mobility.
295.Barcelona FC has successfully defended its Spanish La Liga crown after beating
Levante UD in the final at Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona on April 27, 20`19.

296.Archaeologists in Telangana have recently unearthed a rare life-sized stucco

sculpture from a Buddhist site at Phanigiri in Suryapet.

297.Union Environment Ministry has constituted a committee to implement the

National Clean Air Programme (NCAP), which aims to reduce particulate matter
(PM) pollution by 20%-30% in at least 102 cities by 2024. The committee will be
chaired by the Secretary, Union Environment Ministry.

298.Israel has recently honoured 1971 war hero Lt. Gen. (retd) Jack Farj Rafael
(JFR) Jacob with a plaque on Ammunition Hill Wall of Honour in Jerusalem.

298.Raheem Sterling, the Manchester City and England forward, has been named the
2019 footballer of the year by the Football Writers' Association (FWA).

300.Air Marshal Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria has been appointed as the new Vice
Chief of Indian Air Force (IAF). He succeeded Air Marshal Anil Khosla.

301.International Dance Day (IDD) is observed every year on 29th of April to

celebrate the birth anniversary of Jean-Georges Noverre (1727–1810), the cretor of
modern ballet.

302.Wipro Consumer Care and Lighting (WCCL) has acquired the Philippines-based
personal care maker Splash Corporation for an undisclosed amount to enter the
country which has a consumer base of around 100 million.

303.Arjuna awardee and star Indian golfer Gaganjeet Bhullar won the ‘Outstanding
achievement as a player award’ at the 4th edition of the annual India Golf Industry
Association (GIA) awards at the Delhi Golf Club.

304.Government of Nepal has launched an ambitious 45-day 'Everest Cleaning

Campaign' to bring back tonnes of trash from Mt. Everest from 14th April 2019.

305.(IGNOU) has launched an awareness programme on Goods and Services Tax

(GST) in collaboration with Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Institute Limited to help
small scale businesses.

306.Beirut, the national capital of Lebanon, has set a new Guinness World Record
for the number of national flags raised in a city for 24 hours.

307.“Politics of Jugaad: The Coalition Handbook” has been authored by journalist

Saba NaqvI.

308.2nd edition of Belt and Road Forum (BRF - 2019) was officially held in Beijing
with theme “Belt and Road Cooperation: Shaping a Brighter Shared Future”. In it, 37
heads-of-state and 159 countries had participated along with United Nations
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and International Monetarry Chief (IMF)
Christine Lagarde.
309.Bajrang Punia is set to become the first Indian wrestler to fight at iconic
Madison Square Garden in New York.

310.Dr. Srinivasa Chakravathy and his team at IIT Madras has developed a unified
script for nine Indian languages, named the Bharati script.

311.World Day For Safety And Health At Work is observed every year on 28th of
April by the International Labour Organization (ILO) to promote safe, healtthy and
decent work.

312.Jamia Millia Islamia (New Delhi) have developed an ultrasensitive quantum

thermometer using graphene quantum dots.

312.(UNGA) has officially celebrated the first-ever International Day of

Multilateralism and Diplomacy for Peace on 24th April 2019 for the international
observance. The day is a reaffirmation of the UN Charter and its principles of
resolving disputes among countries through peaceful means.

314.six-member expert committee led by former RBI governor Bimal Jalan was
appointed on December 26, 2018 to review the Economic Capital Framework (ECF)
ffor the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

315.Dominic Thiem clinched the 2019 men's singles title at the Barcelona Open
Tennis tournament.

316.BCCI recommended Indian pacers Mohammad Shami and Jasprit Bumrah, all-
rounder Ravindra Jadeja and women’s team spinner Poonam Yadav for the 2019
Arjuna award.

316.(RBI) has recently announced that it will shortly issue Rs 20 denomination

banknotes in the Mahatma Gandhi (New) Series.The new denomination has motif of
Ellora Caves on the reverse that depicts the country's cultural heritage. It also
contains a portrait of Mahatma GanDHI at the centre, with micro letters 'RBI',
'Bharat', 'India' and '20', along with a guarantee clause.

318.Indian Army signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with National

Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) to construct four underground tunnels for
storage of ammunition along the China and Pakistan border.

318.(CPWD) has constituted an expert committee to formulate a design policy for

building construction and infrastructure development. . The committee, under the
chairmanship of CPWD's Additional Director General M K Sharma, is aimed at
reviving building construction and infrastructurre development at all levels in the
CPWD which comes under the Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry.

320.Puranik Yogendra (or Yogi) from Pune has become the first ethnic Indian to
contest and win an election in Japan. He has been elected to Edogawa Ward
assembly of Tokyo.

321.Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has recently

constituted a 13-member Committee to review the regulatory framework on
microinsurance and recommend measures to increase the demand for such
products.The committee, under the chairmanship of IRDAI Executive Director
Suresh Mathur.

322.Modern Slavery Innovation Fund (MSIF) supports international projects to trial

innovative ways of stopping modern slavery, It is in news recently because Britain
has pledged £4 million to support global anti-slavery projects. Six organizations -
Anti-Slavery International and the United Nations Uniiversity, Stronger Together,
The Freedom Fund , Retrak and Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI) - will share the aid
money from MSIF.

323.(ILO) has recently announced that Qatar will officially abolish its controversial
exit visa system for all foreign workers by the end of 2019.It must be noted that
Qatar has introduced a series of labour reforms since its selection as the 2022
World Cup host, with the event setting in motion a huge construction programme
employing foreign workers.

324.Indian Council of Medical Research has launched the 'Malaria Elimination

Research Alliance (MERA) India' to eliminate malaria from India by 2030.

325.In shooting, Abhishek Verma secured India's fifth Olympic quota place by
winning the 10m air pistol gold medal at the ISSF World Cup at Beijing, China on
April 27, 2019. He clinched the top spot with a total score of 242.7. This is India's
fifth 2020 Tokyo Olympic quota after Anjum Moudgil and Apurvi Chandela (10m air
rifle women), Saurabh Choudhary (10m Air Pistol men) and Divyansh Singh Panwar
had secured berths.

326.5th Asia Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) Media Summit on Climate Action and
Disaster PrepareThe theme of the two-day summit is “Media Solutions for
Sustainable Future: Saving Lives, Building Resilient Communities”.

327.World Intellectual Property Day (WIPD) is observed every year on April 26,
theme==‘Reach for Gold: IP and Sports’.

328.Divyansh Singh Panwar bagged silver in 10m Air Rifle event with 249.0 points
in the 2019 ISSF World Cup for pistol and rifle shooters in Beijing.He also secured a
quota for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics,

329.(SBI) has launched India’s first ‘Green Car Loan’ (Electric Vehicle) to encourage
customers to buy electric vehicles. The new scheme will offer loan at 20 basis points
lesser than the interest rate on the existing car loan schemes.

330.Japanese scientists have successfully created the first-ever artificial crater on

an asteroid ‘Ryugu’. It’s a step towards shedding light on how the ssolar system
evolved. The announcement comes after the Hayabusa2 probe fired an explosive
device at the Ryugu asteroid early this month to blast a craater in the surface and
scoop up material.
331.World Immunization Week (WIW) is a global public health campaign i.e.
celebrated by the World Health Organisation (WHO) from April 24 to 30 with
theme“Protected Together: Vaccines Work!”.

332.Indonesia has recently released a special commemorative stamp on the theme

of Ramayana to mark the 70th anniversary of the establishment of its diplomatic
ties with India. The stamp is designed by renowned Indonesian sculptor Padmashri
Bapak Nyoman Nuarta.

333.The unmanned BepiColombo spacecraft is the joint mission of the European-

Japanese space agencies. It is named after Italian scientist Giuseppe “Bepi”Colombo.

334.General (Retd.) Dalbir Singh Suhag has been appointed as India's new high
commissioner to the Republic of Seychelles.

335.Department of Biotechnology (DBT) has decided to fund the Centre for Cellular
and Molecular Biology (CCMB) and the National Research Centre on Meat (NRCM)
for research on cell-based meat, which can also be called clean meat or cultured
meat.Headquarters of CCMB is located at Hyderabad, Telangana.

336.World Malaria Day (WMD) is observed every year on 25th of April to raise
awareness and funds for the treatment and prevention of the disease.
THEME==‘Zero malaria starts with me’

337.The global startup ecosystem map Startupblink has released its latest 2019
Startup Ecosystem Ranking. In it, India has been ranked 17th out of 100 countries,
based on the strength of its startup ecosystem. The index is topped by United States,
followed by UK, Canada, Israel, and Australia.

338.Fitch Ratings has recently said in its APAC sovereign credit overview report that
the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is the first Asia-Pacific (APAC) central bank to
begin interest rate easing cycle by cutting the policy rate back-to-back in the last
two monetary policy reviews in 2019.Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), headed by
RBI Govenor Shaktikanta Das, cut rates in February and April, citing prospects of
benign inflation. In the four months of 2019, the RBI has cut policy interest rates
twice twice by 0.25% each to one-year low of 6%.

338.Kotak Mahindra Bank (KMB) has become the first Destination Bank to go live
with Net Banking and Debit Card-based authentication solution on NPCI’s e-
Mandate API platform.

340.(RBI) has divested its entire stake in National Housing Bank (NHB) and the
National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) for Rs 1,450crore
and Rs 20 crore, respectively. The move is part of ending the cross-holding in
regulatory institutions and follows the recommendation of second Narasimham
committee report of October 2001 and the RBI's own discussion paper on the same
entitled 'Harmonizing the role and operations of development financial institutions
and banks.
341.Russian state-run atomic energy corporation Rosatom has successfully tested
the world’s first Floating Nuclear Power Plant (FNPP)– Akademik Lomonosov. The
FNPP has a capacity of 70MW and is equipped with two reactors of 35MW each.

342.Michelin-star chef and filmmaker Vikas Khanna has been named as brand
ambassador of Indo-American Arts Council (IAAC) at the Consulate General of IndiA
in New York City. The IAAC will organise the New York Indian Film Festival (NYIFF
-2019) that will showcase 30 Indian feature-length films, including three
documentaries.

343.Rajendra Kumar Nayak, the 1983 batch officer of Indian Defence Accounts
Service , has been appointed as the new Controller General of Defence Accounts.

343.Pakistani journalist Cyril Almeida has won the World Press Freedom Hero
award of The International Press Institute (IPI) for his critical and tenaciouus
coverage of the civil-military relations in Pakistan.

345.Rana Dasgupta has won the 2nd edition of Rabindranath Tagore Literary Prize
2019 for his 2010 novel "Solo" , a tale of estrangement and the ultimate failure of
material existence.

346.Asian Tea Alliance (ATA), a union of five tea-growing and consuming countries,
was launched on Friday in Guizhou in China.The members of the alliance are the
Indian Tea Association (ITA), China Tea Marketing Association (CTMA), Indonesian
Tea Marketing Association, Sri Lanka Tea Board and Japan Tea Association. ATA
plans to work towards enhancing tea trade, cultural exchanges, technology
exchanges as well as globally promoting tea.

347.London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) has established the
Amartya Sen Chair in Inequality Studies to honour the Indian-born economisT.

348.World Book and Copyright Day (WBCD) is celebrated worldwide on 23rd April
to pay tribute to the veteran literary figures like William Shakespeare, Miguel
Cervantes and Inca Garcilaso De La Vega. It is a symbolic date in world literature.

348.World Book and Copyright Day (WBCD) is observed every year on April 23 to
recognise the scope of books which are seen as a link between the past and the
future, a bridge between cultures and generations.

350.The world's tallest 131 ft indoor waterfall has opened for the general public at
Singapore's Jewel Changi Airport.

351.The researchers have finally detected the most ancient type of molecule in our
universe in space for the first time ever. They used NASA’s Stratospherric
Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) to detect helium hydride in a planetary
nebula NGC 7027 about 3,000 light-years away from Earth. Helium hydride ion
(HeH+).

352.AYUSH has recently signed a MoU with Council of Scientific and Industrial
Research (CSIR –New Delhi) for cooperation in research and education in ares of
traditional systems of medicine and its integration with modern science.

353.Iran and Pakistan have decided to set up a Joint Border Reaction Force (JBRF)
following a number of deadly attacks by militant groups on their frontieier.

354.(TCS) has partnered with the Department of Posts (DoP) to modernise a

network of more than 1.5 lakh post offices across the country.The multi-year digital
core programme will transform the DoP into a multi-service digital hub, modernise
the delivery of mail and packages, enhance customer experience and launch
innovative services that will drive new revenues.

355.UAE Space Agency and Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) have
recently announced that 85% of the Hope Probe project has been completed.

356.'Utkarsh Bangla' scheme of the West Bengal government has won the
prestigious 2019 World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) award of the
UnitedNations. The scheme aims to create a pool of skilled candidates industry
ready.

356.India has been nominated as the “Guest of Honour” country at the 29th edition
of the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair (ADIBF-2019) which begins on Appril 24

356.World No.1 Bajrang Punia made India proud once again by clinching the India’s
first gold at the Asian Wrestling Championships 2019 in Xi'an, China. Punia logged
10 points in a row in the gold medal bout to reclaim his Asian Championship crown.

359.The UN English Language Day is observed every year on 23rd of April to

celebrate multilingualism and cultural diversity as well as to promote equal use of
all six official languages throughout the Organization. These are Arabic, Chinese,
English, French, Russian and Spanish.

360.Gomathi Marimuthu from Tamil Nadu has clinched India's first Gold in the
women's 800m race at the 2019 Asian Athletics Championships in Doha, Qatar.
Gomathi clocked a personal best time of 2 minute 02.70 seconds in the half mile
event to win a surprise gold for India.

361.Scientists have long been known that Mercury and the Earth have metallic
cores. Like Earth, Mercury’s outer core is composed of liquid metal, but there have
only been hints that Mercury’s innermost core is solid. Now, in a new study,
scientists from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland have
found evidence that Mercury’s inner core is indeed solid and that it is very nearly
the same size as Earth’s inner core.To explore what the core of Mercury is made of
the science team used several observations from the NASA’s MESSENGER (Mercury
Surface, Space Environmement, GEochemistry, and Ranging) mission looking at the
planet's spin and gravity.

362.Government of Malawi has launched the pilot tests for the world’s first malaria
vaccine - RTS,S (or Mosquirix) -to give partial protection to childreen up to 2 years
of age. The other two African countries - Ghana and Kenya - will introduce the
vaccine in the coming weeks.This move is part of World Health Organization
(WHO)-coordinated three country pilot programme where the risk of malaria is
high and there has been previous success with other childhood vaccines.

363.Dr. Benny Antony, co-founder of Kochi-based Arjuna Natural Ltd, has been
conferred with the National Intellectual Property Award for 2019 in the category of
Top Individual for Patents and Commercialization. Along with the National IP
Award, the Intellectual Property Office India and the Worrld Intellectual Property
Organisation (WIPO) have jointly conferred the ‘WIPO Medal for Inventors’ also to
Antony.Antony is the inventor of the world’s leading patented turmeric extract
formulation “BCM-95” and also has over 80 international patents to his credit.

364.National Panchayati Raj Day (NPRD) is celebrated every year in India on April
24 by the Ministry of Panchayati Raj.

365.In Football, the Services lifted the 2019 Santosh Trophy by defeating Punjab 1-
nil in the final at the Guru Nanak Stadium in Ludhiana.

366.Indian Navy has launched guided missile destroyer INS Imphal at Mazagon
Dock Shipbuilders in Mumbai on April 20.It’s the third state-of-the-art warship built
as part of Project 15B, in which ships are built to carry and operate two multiple
role helicopters.

367.The first edition of Naval Commanders’ Conference - 2019 is scheduled to begin

in New Delhi from April 23. The 3-day conference is the apex forum with in the
Service for interaction between the Naval Commanders.

368.UAE Cabinet has recently adopted a new National Artificial Intelligence Strategy
2031 at the Presidential Palace in Abu Dhabi. Its aims at positioning the UAE as a
global leader in artificial intelligence by 2031 and to develop an integrated system
that employs artificial intelligence in vital areas.

369.Malayalam film Bhayanakam (Fear) directed by Jayaraj has won the best
cinematography award at the 2019 Beijing International Film Festival (BIFF).The
cinematography was done by Nikihil S Praveen. The film had also won the best
cinematography award at the 65th National Film Awards.

370.Ravinder Kumar Passi has been appointed to the post of chairman of the Export
Promotion Council for Handicrafts (EPCH).

371.International Labour Organization (ILO) has recently released the report titled
'The Safety and Health at the Heart of the Future of Work - Building on 100 years of
experience'. In it, the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy which killed thousands of people is
among the world's "major industrial accidents" of the 20th century (after 1919).

372.World Earth Day (WED) is observed every year on 22nd of April to demonstrate
support for environmental protection.This is a day which is meant to emphasise the
need to protect the planet and preserve its environment. The day also marks the
anniversary of the Modern Environmental Movement, started in 1970.

373.Royal Society of London has announced a list of 51 eminent scientists elected to

its fellowship in the year 2019.s Dr. Gagandeep Kang, who is now with the
Translational Health Science and Technology Institute, Faridabad.Dr. Kang has
become the India's first female scientist to be elected to the Fellow of the Royal
Society (FRS).

374.Two Indian Navy warships - the stealth guided missile destroyer INS Kolkata
and tanker INS Shakti - will participate in the International Fleet Review (IFR) as
part of 70TH Anniversary celebrations of PLA (Navy) at Qingdao, China.

374.India and France will conduct their largest ever naval exercise 'Varuna-2019'
off Goa coast and Karwar with an objective of expanding their strategic partnership
in the Indian Ocean region (IOR).

374.India has slipped two places to rank 140th among 180 nations in the 2019
World Press Freedom Index (WPFI), report released by Reporters Without Border
nternational NGO based in Paris.

377.Saudi Arabia will host the 15th edition of G20 summit in its capital Riyadh,
which is scheduled to be held on November 21-22, 2020 ,This would be the first G20
summit to be hosted by an Arab country.

378.World Liver Day (WLD) is observed every year on 19th of April.

379.A global provider of real-time electronic payment and banking solutions, ACI
Worldwide has recently announced that Canara Bank has successfully y rolled out
major new functionality to support EMV (Europay, MasterCard and Visa) card
acquiring across its ATM network and Aadhaar Authentication and leverage ACI’s
UP Retail Payments solution to achieve market firsts.

380.English translation of the 100-year-old classic Punjabi poem about Jallianwala

Bagh massacre, 'Khooni Vaisakhi' has been released in Abu Dhabi.ndia's
Ambassador to the UAE Navdeep Singh Suri has commended the launch of a book
containing English translation of the Punjabi poem. The poem was trnslated by Mr
Suri whose grandfather, revolutionary poet and novelist Nanak Singh, a Jallianwala
Bagh survivor, wrote it after witnessing first-hand.

381.Jaideep Sarkar, a 1987-batch Indian Foreign Service officer, has been appointed
as India's next High Commissioner to South Africa.

382.A site containing the 220-million-year-old fossilized remains of nearly a dozen

dinosaurs has been discovered in western Argentina.

383.IDBI Bank has launched the ‘NRI-Insta-Online’ account-opening process for

Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) residing in Financial Action Task Force (FATF)
member countries. The person will not be required to furnish physical documents
and KYC proofs for opening an account with the bank.
384.NASA astronaut Christina Koch will set record for longest single spaceflight by a
woman.

384.Cricket icon Mahendra Singh Dhoni has been appointed brand ambassador of
bus ticketing platform ‘redBus’. Dhoni will appear in a hockey player avatar in his
first cameo for the brand, slated to be launched soon.

386.Bank of Maharashtra (BoM) has partnered with M1Xchange Trade Receivables

Discounting System (TReDS) platform for MSME bill discounting. TReDS is a digital
platform to support Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) to get their bills
financed at a competitive rate through an auction where multiple registered
financiers can participate.

387.Cholamandalam MS General Insurance Company Limited has been certified with

ISO 31000:2018 by TUV India for applying a risk management system in line with
the standard.

388.Israeli President Reuven Rivlin has formally nominated Benjamin Netanyahu for
a fourth consecutive term as prime minister

388.Russia has recently dismissed the findings of the long-awaited report by US

Special Counsel Robert Mueller and said that it failed to present any evidence of
Russian meddling in the 2016 US elections.

390.Chhyoiphel Kundeling Monastery has recently inaugurated by a Buddhist

scholar Shyalpa Tenzing Rinpoche at Lisankhu village in Sindhupalchok district
NEPAL.

391.Sri Lanka has launched its first satellite ‘Raavana-1’ into space from the Mid-
Atlantic Regional Spaceport at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility on Virginnia’s East
Shore.

392.Nepal has successfully launched its first satellite NepaliSat-1 into space from
Virginia in the United States. Nepal Academy of Science and Technology (NAST)
initiated the launch of the country's own satellite under the BIRDS project of the
Japanese Kyushu Insttitute of Technology. The BIRDS project has been designed in
association with the United Nations (UN) and aims at helping countries launch their
first SATELLITE.

393.The critically endangered ‘Kakapos’ - the world's fattest species of parrot - have
enjoyed a record breaking breeding season, according to New Zealand Department
of Conservation (DOC).

394.By using data obtained by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft, the researchers discovered
deep lakes (more than 300 feet, or 100 meters) filled with methane on Saturn’s
moon Titan. The team also found “phantom lakes” that fill and empty periodically. It
must be noted that Titan is the only known body in our solar system other than
Earth with a liquid on its surface.
395.World Heritage Day (WHD) is celebrated every year on April 18.2019 theme is
‘Rural Landscapes’.

396.Mithali Raj has been named as the goodwill ambassador of the Indian team for
the Street Child Cricket World Cup (SCCWC-2019.

397.The researchers at Tel Aviv University have successfully "printed" the world's
first three dimensional (3D) vascularised engineered heart using a patiient's own
cells and biological materials to completely match the immunological, cellular,
biochemical, and anatomical properties of the patient.

398.(IMF) and the World Bank (WB) have jointly launched a project called
“Learning Coin”. It is a private blockchain-based coin and only accessible withinin
IMF and the World Bank to help both multinational agencies learn about the merits
of blockchain. The coin project has been launched in order to conduct research and
learn more about the core technologies that have been used to implement
cryptographic assets such as Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH).

399.Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) Mission of NASA has discovered its
first Earth-size planet - HD 21749c.The newly-discovered planet is about 89%
Earth’s diameter. The planet is likely very hot, with surface temperatures perhaps as
high as 800 degrees F (427 degrees C). It orbits HD 21749, a K-type dwarf star.

400.Richard Powers has been honoured with the 2019 Pulitzer Prize in fiction
category for his innovative novel ‘The Overstory’, which shows us the world through
the perspective of nature.

401.UN cultural experts have recently offered to help in rebuilding the iconic
structure of the famed Notre Dame cathedral in Paris.. UNESCO World Heritage
Centre Director Mechtild Rossler said that the Cathedral is part of the World
Heritage site officially known as “Paris, Banks of the Seine”, inscribed on the World
Heritage List, in 1991’.. The cathedral, where construction began in the 1160s
extending for more than a century, is considered to be the finest example of the
French Gothicic style of architecture, with its groundbreaking use of rib vaults and
buttresses, stained glass rosettes and sculpted ornaments.

402.Bangladesh, the historic Mujibnagar has recently celebrated on April 17, 2019.
The day marks the oath taking ceremony of Bangladesh's first governmenent in
1971 at Baidyanathtala in Meherpur.

403.(ICC) Cricket for Good CC has partnered with UNICEF to organise

#OneDayforChildren campaign at the Men’s Cricket World Cup 2019.

403.8th edition of Home Expo India 2019 began at India Expo Centre and Mart in
Greater Noida on April 16.

405.(MEA) has set up an Indo-Pacific division in the foreign office to integrate the
Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA), ASEAN region and the Quad. The nw division
is a brainchild of foreign secretary Vijay Gokhale.
406.Three Indian student teams won awards in NASA's 25th edition of Human
Exploration Rover Challenge 2019 at the US Space and Rocket Centre in Huntsville,
Alabama on April 12-13.

407.World Haemophilia Day (WHD) is observed every year on April 17 to increase

awareness of haemophilia and other inherited bleeding disorders.2019 theme
‘Outreach and Identification’, encourages people to meet and connect with other
people who have had similar experiences, and what it is liKE.

408.Institute for Development and Research in Banking Technology (IDRBT), an

arm of Reserve Bank of India (RBI), has launched a 5G Use Cases Lab for banking
and financial sector. The use of 5G will change a range of technologies and
applications including point of sale machines in the banking sector which were now
using 2G.

409.International Day of Human Space Flight is observed every year on April 12.On
12th April 1961 the first human space flight was carried out by Yuri Gagarin, a
Soviet citizen.

410.India's first-of-its-kind 'Voter Park' has recently inaugurated in Gurugram,

Haryana to increase voter awareness and educating people about the electoral
process.

411.World Allergy Week (WAW) is an annual initiative of the World Allergy

Organization (WAO) to raise awareness of allergic disease,2019 theme is "The
Global Problem of Food Allergy". In 2019, the WAW ran from 7th to 13th April and
the focus area was food allergy.

412.China has successfully tested the world’s first armed amphibious drone boat
‘Marine Lizard’ in Wuhan, capital of Central China’s Hubei Province.Built by
Wuchang Shipbuilding Industry Group under China Shipbuilding Industry
Corporation (CSIC), the drone ship could be used in land assault operations and is
capable of forming a combat triad with aerial drones and other drone ships.

412.Harsheel Dani from India has clinched the 2019 Dutch International badminton
title at Hague in Netherlands. In the final, he defeated Mads Christopherersen of
Denmark.

412.4th Resilient Cities Asia-Pacific (RCAP) Congress 2019 is a platform for

discussing the opportunities and mechanisms of executing the Nationally
Deterermined Contributions (NDCs), which is started in New Delhi on April 15,
2019.he three-day event is being hosted by the South Delhi Municipal Corporation
in association with UN (ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability).

415.Mumbai, EsselWorld launched India’s first foreign interactive and exotic world
park at the Essel World Bird Park in Gorai.

415.Telecom operator Bharti Airtel in collaboration with FICCI Ladies Organisation

(FLO) launched a women safety app – My Circle - to help women in case they face
any problem or a panic situation.

415.(DRDO) has recently successfully test fired the underdevelopment long range
subsonic cruise missile 'Nirbhay' from launch complex-3 of the Integrated Test
Range (ITR) at Chandipur, Odisha. It has a operational range of 1000 km and can fly
very low to the ground to avoid detection by enemy radar callled terrain hugging
capability.

418.Meena Kumari Maisnam from Manipur clinched gold in the 54 kg category at

the 2019 Boxing World Cup in Cologne, Germany.

418.The world’s foremost Artificial Intelligence (AI) Summit will be held at the
Dubai World Trade Centre in UAE from April 30 to 1st May, 2019.The aim of the
inaugural 'AI Everything (AIE)’ is to empower global dialogue on the future of
government, business and society.It will be hosted by the UAE National Programme
for Artificial Intelligence, with the support of International Telecommunication
Union (ITU) and the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) and in
strategic partnership with Smart Dubai.

420.Ethiopian athletes Gelete Burka (women’s race) and Abrha Milaw (men’s race)
won the 43rd edition of the Paris Marathon on 14th April 2019.

421.n Kerala, people are celebrating the Malayalam New Year “Vishu” with
traditional gaiety and fervor on 15th April 2019.The word Vishu means ‘equal’ in
Sanskrit, and it marks the sun’s transit to the Mesha rashi (the first astrological sign
in the zodiac).

422.Bibhu Kalyan Nayak from Bhubaneswar has become the first Indian to be
appointed Chair of International Hockey Federation (FIH) Health and Safety
Committee by the world governing body.

423.Director General at Life Sciences – DRDO, Dr A K Singh has been conferred with
Lifetime Achievement Award-2019 during 4th APJ Abdul Kalam Innovation Conclave
at Chandigarh University, Mohali.

424.Journalists Kyaw Soe Oo and Wa Lone (Myanmar) has been chosen for 2019
UNESCO/Guillermo Cano Press Freedom Prize. Both laureates are serving 7-year
prrison sentences.

425.Forbes has recently compiled a first-ever list of the World's Best Bank 2019 in
terms of customer services and technological advancements.The private lender,
HDFC Bank, was ranked at the top of the Forbes list of Indian banks, followed by
ICICI Bank, DBS, Kotak Mahindra Bank and IDFC Bank

426.Dr. Mohammad Shtayyeh has been sworn-in as the new prime minister of the
State of Palestine by President Mahmoud Abbas at his headquarters in the West
Bank city of Ramallah. The 18th Palestinian government since the establishment of
the Palestinian Authrity in 1995 was sworn in according to a presidntial decree
issued by Abbas.
427.In a major attempt to build resilience against the impact of climate change, the
Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) and the Space Applications
Centre (SAC) of ISRO have joined together to map, validate and protect smaller
wetlands in the coastal region aimed at restoring them through coastal livelihood
programmes.

428.'Political Leaders Position and Action on Air Quality in India 2014-2019' has
recently released by a Delhi-based environment body - Climate Trends. As per
report, Uttar Pradesh's Kanpur has been ranked 1st on the WHO’s list of 15 most
polluted cities. Faridabad (Haryana) stood at 2nd position, follow by Varanasi (UP),
which is the Lok Sabha constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

429.Two schemes of the West Bengal government for skill development and
distribution of bi-cycles to students have won the prestigious World Summit on the
Information Society (WSIS-2019) awards under the aegis of the United Nations in
Geneva. The schemes are "Utkarsh Bangla" and "Sabooj Sathi". Utkarsh Bangla got
the topmost award and emerged a winner in Capacity Building category. Sabooj
Sathi ranked in the first five as a champion project under ICT application: E-
Government category.

430.Alice G. Vaidyan, the CMD of the General Insurance Corporation (GIC) of India,
has been awarded the Freedom of the City of London in recognition of her work to
promote insurance ties between India and the UK.

431.Astronomers have captured the first-ever image of a black hole, which is

located in a distant galaxy known as ‘Messier 87’ (M87), through a network of 8
linked radio telescopes known as the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) Collaboration.

432.Rio Paralympics silver medallist Deepa Malik has been named the recipient of
the New Zealand Prime Minister’s Sir Edmund Hillary Fellowship for 2019 in
recognition of her inspiring achievements.

433.Professor Najma Akhtar has become the first-ever woman Vice-Chancellor of

Jamia Millia Islamia University (JMI) for a period of five years or until shtil she
attains the age of 70 years, She is also the first lady vice chancellor of any central
university in Delhi.

434.Google has introduced a new open platform called Anthos to run and manage
apps from anywhere. It is based on the Cloud Services Platform.

435.To empower AGRI, MSME segment and small businesses, the State Bank of India
(SBI) has signed the first co-origination loan agreement with PAISALO Digigital
Limited. It is the first agreement of its kind in the country that SBI has signed.

436.Shiv Das Meena, an IAS officer of Tamil Nadu cadre of 1989-Batch, has been
appointed as the CMD of National Buildings Construction Corporation (NBCC).

437.India and Sweden have recently launched the India-Sweden Collaborative

Industrial Research and Development Programme on the occasion of the Sweden-
India Innovation Partnership AI for All Summit in New Delhi.

438.Supreme Court Justice K M Joseph has recently delivered a separate judgment in

the Rafale case. He countered the claim made by the Government of India for
privilege over Rafale purchase documents under the Official Secrets Act (OSA),
which affected national security and relations with France. He stated that the Right
to Information (RTI) Act supersedes the OSA. By referring to Section 8(2) of the RTI
Act, Justice Joseph said the government cannot refuse information if disclosure in
public interest overshadows certain ‘protected interests’.

439.Russia government announced its decision to confer the Order of St Andrew the
Apostle - the highest state decoration of the country on Prime Minister modi.

439.United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has recently released a State of World
Population 2019 report. The report stated that India’s population grew at an
average annual rate of 1.2% between 2010 and 2019 to 1.36 billion, which is more
than double the annual growth rate of China.

441.Google Pay more useful for Indian customers, Google has partnered with
MMTC-PAMP India to introduce buying and selling of gold through the app.Through
this partnership with India’s only London Bullion Market Association (LBMA)-
accredited gold refinery, Google Pay users will be able to buy 99.99% 24-karat gold.

442.University of Edinburgh have discovered a new state of physical matter - which

allows atoms to exist as both solid and liquid at the same time.

443.Scientists have recently discovered new species of ancient human excavations

in Philippines.This newly identified species named Humo Luzonensis after Luzon
Island, where bones and teeth from individuals of this species were excavated from
Callao Cave.

445.Gargi Kaul, a 1984-batch officer of the Indian Audit and Accounts Service
(IA&AS), has been appointed as new Secretary of Defence Finance.

445.India’s education technology startup ‘Dost Education’ has bagged a $25,000

Next Billion Edtech Prize 2019 for its ability to empower parents to take charge of
their child’s early education by creating short, friendly audio content that is sent to
them via their mobile phones.

447.Indian Army, the Government of India (GoI) has recently cleared the
procurement of 464 T-90 tanks from Russia.

448.India’s flagship programme, the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) (or
Namami Gange) was awarded the distinction of “Public Water Agency of the Year”
by Global Water Intelligence at the Global Water Summit (GWS) in London on April
9.The GWS was the major business conference for the water industry worldwide.

449.On April 11, the Supreme Court (SC) imposed a fine of Rs 20 lakh on the West
Bengal government for imposing a 'virtual' ban on the public screening of the
satirical film Bhobishyoter Bhoot in the state. A bench headed by Justice D Y
Chandrachud.

450.Telugu poet K Siva Reddy has been selected for the prestigious Saraswati
Samman, 2018 for his collection of poetry titled Pakkaki Ottigilite (Turning Aside
While Lying Down). It is the highest recognition in the field of Indian literature and
carries a cash purse of Rs 15 lakh, apart from a citation and a plaque. Pakkaki
Ottigilite, published in 2016, is an anthology of 104 poems in blank verse.

451. Indian captain Virat Kohli has been named as the Leading Cricketer of the year
for an unprecedented third year in a row by the 2019 edition of Wisden Cricketers’
Almanack.

452.Nepal government has recently sent a 4-member team of experts to re-measure

the height of Mount Everest. Chief Survey Officer Khim Lal Gautam and Survy Officer
Rabin Karki will ascend Mount Everest. . Survey of India had measured the height as
8848 meter in 1954 and it has been adopted as authentic height by the Government
of Nepal till date.

453.University of Wisconsin-Madison in the US have developed a novel sensor that

can be used in smartphone-sized devices to detect dangerous chemicals based on a
unique fingerprint of absorbed and emitted light.

454.e National Safe Motherhood Day (NSMD) is observed every year on 11th of
April to raise awareness about the proper healthcare of women and maternity
facilities to pregnant and lactating women. 2019 theme is "Midwives for Mothers".
India is the first country in the world to have officially declared a National Safe
Motherhood Day.

455.(IIT-Madras) has been ranked as the top institute in the overall category in the
latest edition of National Institute Ranking Framework (NIRF) 2019 and is followed
by Indian Institute of Science (IISc), IIT Delhi, IIT-Bombay, IIT-Kharagpur, IIT
Kanpur, JNU, IIT-Roorkee, IIT-Guwahati and BHU.

455.United States has recently designated Iran’s elite military force, Islamic
Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) in
accordance with section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 (INA).

455.Garbine Muguruza of Spain has successfully defended her Monterrey Open title
when Victoria Azarenka retired injured from her first WTA singles final in three
years. Muguruza was leading the match between the two former world number.

455.National Green Tribunal (NGT) Chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel has
constituted a committee to look into the alleged erosion of Yamuna floodplain due
to movement of heavy vehicles in Haryana's Sonipat district.

455.London has become the world’s first city to implement a special Ultra Low
Emission Zone (ULEZ) that would charge an entry fee for older vehicles if they do
not meet the emission standards. The move aims to reduce toxic air pollution and
protect public health. ULEZ will be operational for 24 hours and 7 days a week.

455.The joint military exercise titled “Bold Kurukshetra-2019” was held between
the Indian Army and Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) at Babina Cantonment in Jansi,
Uttar Pradesh from April 8 to 11.

460.World Economic Forum (WEF) in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA)
2019 was held at the Dead Sea in Jordan on April 6 to 7.

461.Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding

(MoU) with HDFC Bank to spread awareness about the benefits of listing on BSE
Startups platform.

462.Article 324 of the constitution, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has
recently issued an order prohibiting display in electronic media including
inematograph of any biopic or publicity material in the nature of
biography/hagiography sub-serving the purposes of any political entity or any
indiviidual entity connected.

463.IIT-Madras has recently collaborated with American conglomerate General

Electric (GE) to set up India’s first ‘Cold Spray’ SMART (Surface Modification and
Additive Research Technologies) Laboratory, which will develop advanced services
technology for aircraft engine components.

465.World Homeopathy Day (WHD) is observed every year on 10th of April to

commemorate the birth anniversary of the founder of Homeopathy, Dr Christian
Frdrich Samuel Hahnemann.

466.The joint military exercise “African Lion 2019” has conducted between Morocco
and the US from March 16 to April 7.

467.Graham Reid from Australia has been appointed as the new chief coach of the
India men's hockey team till the end of 2020.

468.Isaak Hayik has set a new world record as the oldest person to play in a
professional soccer match at the age of 73.

469.As per latest report on “South Asia Economic Focus, Exports Wanted” by World
Bank (WB), India's GDP growth is expected to accelerate moderately to 7.5 % in FY
20 (2019-20) and will be driven by continued investment strengthening,
particularly private-improved export performance and resilient consumption.

470.World Bank (WB) has recently released its latest edition of Migration and
Development Brief. In it, India has retained its position as the world's top recipient
of remittances with its diaspora sending a whopping $79 billion back home in 2018.
India was followed by China ($67 billion), Mexico ($36 bn), the Philippines ($34
billion), and Egypt ($29 billion).

471.International Day of Reflection on the 1994 Rwandan genocide is observed

every year on 7th of April in memory of the victims of the genocide in Rwanda.In
1994, around 800,000 Tutsis were slaughtered in Rwanda in a hundred-day
campaign.

472.University of Michigan in the United States have found that dangerous airborne
viruses can be rendered harmless on-the-fly when exposed to 'cold plasma' - a
stream of energetic, charged fragments of air molecules.

473.(RBI) has recently tweaked Liquidity Coverage Ratio (LCR) norms to provide an
additional 2% window to lenders.

474.Chinese badminton ace Lin Dan clinched the 2019 men’s singles Malaysia Open
at Axiata Arena in Kuala Lumpur on April 7.

474.Indian swimmer Kushagra Rawat made the ‘B’ time standard for the 2019 FINA
World Championships and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

474.India has recently evacuated its entire contingent of peacekeeping forces

comprising 15 CRPF personnel from Tripoli after the situation suddenly worsed in
Libya.

477.World Health Day (WHD) is observed every year on 7th of April as a global
health awareness day under the sponsorship of the World Health Organization.e
2019 theme is “Universal Coverage: Everyone, Everywhere”.

477.global coalition on clean and efficient cooling was launched at the First Global
Conference on Synergies between the 2030 Agenda and Paris Agreement, which
concluded on April 3, 2019, in Copenhagen, Denmark.It is a global effort led by UN
Environment, the Climate and Clean Air Coalition, the Kigali Cooling Efficiency
Program, and Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL).

477.Tata Steel has been named as the 'Global Slag Company of the Year' at the 14th
Global Slag Conference and Exhibition 2019 in Aachen, Germany.

480.olympic silver medallist P.V. Sindhu and star javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra has
been named as female and male sportsperson of the year in the ESPN India Multi-
Sport Awards for their achievements in 2018.

481.Indian Navy has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Council of

Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) to undertake joint research and dd
development of advanced technologies for the Indian Navy.

482.In a setback to the ruling Pinarayi Vijayan government, a 49-page report

submitted by an Amicus curiae to the Kerala High Court (KHC) on April 3
recommended a judicial probe into the cause of the worst-ever floods to hit the
state in August 2018 after it found that faulty dam management led to the fooding.
In a report, amicus curiae Jacob P. Alex said that none of the 79 dams in the State
were operated or used for the purpose of flood control and moderation, despite the
obligation to utilise them for flood control as per the stipulations under the
National Water Policy.
483.National Cardiology Conference 2019 at Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute
of medical sciences in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh.

484.Nepal-India Franchise Investment Expo and Conclave will be held in Kathmandu

from 15th to 16th May, 2019. The event primarily focuses on building the relations
between India and Nepal through entrepreneurship development.

484.Chinese scientists have discovered a possible "death switch" mechanism in

plant's immune system that triggers infected cells to self-destruct, thus limiting the
spread of the disease and keeping other parts of the plant healthy.

486.On April 5, Telecom giant Samsung Electronics released the Galaxy S10 5G in
South Korea. It is the world’s first available smartphone with built-in fifth-
generation communications. Earlier, South Korea became the first country to roll
out a super-fast 5G mobile network nationwide.

487.Vipin Anand Monday has recently taken charge as the new Managing Director
(MD) of the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC).

488.National Maritime Day (NMD) of India is celebrated every year on April 5 to

spread awareness in supporting intercontinental commerce and the global economy.
On this day, in 1919, navigation history was created when SS Loyalty, the first ship
of the Scindia Steam Navigation Company, journeyed to the United Kingdom. The
theme of the 56th edition of the NMD 2019 is "Indian Ocean-An Ocean of
opportunity".

488.Centre for Cellular & Molecular Biology (CCMB) have discovered a new enzyme
‘Murein Endopeptidase’ which helps in breaking cell walls of bacteria.

490.Guwahati Railway Station has become the first station in India to obtain the ISO
14001: 2015 certification for implementation of environment managemement
system by carrying out directives issued by the National Green Tribunal (NGT).

491.(BIS) has tied up with IIT Delhi to collaborate in the field of standardisation
and conformity assessment. Under the MoU, the two have agreed to set-up a Centre
of Excellence in the field of Standardisation, Testing and Conformity Assessment
with the BIS branding at IIT-Delhi .

492.(JAXA) has said that its Hayabusa2 spacecraft has successfully blasted the
surface of an asteroid Ryugu to make a crater on its surface.

493.Praful Patel, the president of All India Football Federation (AIFF), has become
the first Indian to be elected as a member of the FIFA Executive Council.

494.David Malpass, a top US Treasury official in Trump administration, was

unanimously selected as the new President of the World Bank for a period of five
years.

495.A music and poetry festival titled 'Jashn-e-Ittihaad' was held at the Jamia Milia
Islamia central university in New Delhi.
495.To counter growing Chinese footprint in Indian ocean region, the Indian Navy
has initiated the process to acquire six lethal submarines under the ambiitious
Project-75 India (I).

497.Shah Rukh Khan has been conferred with Honorary Doctorate from University
of Law, London.

498.Vikram Kirloskar, the CMD of Kirloskar Systems Ltd, has taken charge as the
new President of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

499.e Sri Lankan army has decided to conduct its largest ever military exercise
titled ‘Exercise Western Shield’ in July 2019 to provide an opportunity for army
trainees to march through areas that are not usually accessible to others, except
forest conservation authorities.

500.The book titled “Saffron Swords- Centuries of Indic Resistance to Invaders” has
been authored by Manoshi Sinha Rawal.

501.Phayeng Village of Manipur has been tagged as the India's first carbon-positive
settlement., Phayeng will receive a grant of Rs10 crore in phases to facilitate
afforestation in the catchment of river Maklang that flows along the village.

502.NuGen Mobility Summit 2019 will be organized by the International Centre for
Automotive Technology (ICAT) at Manesar, NCR, from 27th to 29th November.

503.te of the Global Air 2019 report has recently released by the Boston-based
Health Effects Institute (HEI).The report revealed that 1.2 million Indians lost their
lives due to exposure to unsafe air in 2017.

504.International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action is

observed every year on April 4 to raise awareness about landmines, explosive
remnants of war, and progress toward their eradication. The 2019 Theme is "United
Nations Promotes SDGs – Safe Ground – Safe Home".

505.Indian Army has constructed the 260 feet long cable-suspension bridge 'Maitri
Bridge' over Indus river at Choglamsar village in Leh in a record time of 40 days. It
is the longest suspension bridge over the river and is built by combat engineers of
the 'Sahas aur Yogyata' regiment of the Indian Army's 'Fire and Fury Corps'.

506.Brunei has recently introduced harsh new Islamic laws that make adultery and
homsexuality punishable.

506.Chicago has created history by electing an African-American woman as its

mayor for the first time. Lori Lightfoot is a former federal prosecutor and practicing
lawyer who has never before held elected office.

506.(ADB) has recently released its flagship publication Asian Development Outlook
2019. In its report, ADB has lowered India’s growth by 40 basis points to 7.2% in
fiscal year 2019-20. Still, it will be fastest growing economy in the world.
506.(RBI) has cut its repo rate under Liquidity Adjustment Facility (LAF) by 25
basis points to 6.0% in its first bi-monthly policy statement of the currrent financial
year FY20, with immediate effect. The move will cheer markets and investors and is
the second consecutive rate cut by the RBI.

510.UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan has conferred the
prestigious Zayed Medal to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for giving a “big boost’ to
bilateral strategic ties between the two countries.

511.Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe in Japan has put
a theory speculated by the late Stephen Hawking to its most rigorous test to date,
and their results have ruled out the possibility that primordial black holes smaller
than a tenth of a millimeter make up most of dark matter.

512.India has recently signed an agreement with National Bank for Agriculture and
Rural Development Consultancy Service (NABCONS) for setting up India-Afrca
Institute of Agriculture and Rural Development (IAIARD) in Malawi.

512.South Korea will launch the world's first fully-fledged 5G mobile networks on
5th April 2019. Hyper-wired South Korea.

514.United States has approved the sale of 24 multi-role MH-60 Romeo Seahawk
helicopters to India under its Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program.

515. “Kundan: Saigal's Life & Music” has been penned by Sharad Dutt, documentary
filmmaker and former DDG of Doordarshan.
516.Queen’s University Belfast and Aberystwyth University in the UK, the sun’s
magnetic field is ten times stronger than previously thought.Using the Swedish one-
metre Solar Telescope at Roque de los Muchachos Observatory, in the Canary
Islands, David Kuridze studied a particularly strong solar flare which erupted near
the surface of the Sun.

516.Kovind became the first-ever Indian President to visit Bolivia.

516.Prof. Vikram Patel, a psychiatrist and professor of global health at Harvard

Medical School, has won the prestigious 2019 John Dirks Canada Gairdner Global
Health Award.

516.Kerala, the group of science experts of the Hume Centre for Ecology and
Wildlife Biology has decided to launch ‘Café Scientifique’ to promote science among
public in an interesting way.

520.For the second successive year, Telangana has been ranked first in e-learning
training programme of Department of Personal and Training (DoPT) of the G.O.I.

521.(GoI) has constituted a tribunal to adjudicate if there exists sufficient cause to

ban the Jamaat-e-Islami Jammu and Kashmir (JeL) and the Jammu and Kashmir
Liberation Front-Yasin Malik (JKLF-Y) faction. The tribunal will be headed by Justice
Chander Shekhar of the Delhi High Court.The decision has been taken by the Union
Home Ministry exercising the powers conferred under the Unlawful Activities
(Prevention) Act of 1967.

522.Vadodra-based artist Raju Baraiya has been chosen as the Glenfiddich's

Emerging Artist of the Year 2019.

523.Viktor Axelsen of Denmark has won the men’s singles title at the 2019 Yonex-
Sunrise India Open badminton tournament on March 31.

524.China has successfully launched the first of its new-generation ‘Tianlian II-01’
data relay satellite into orbit by a Long March-3B carrier rocket from the Xichang
Satellite Launch Centre in southwest Sichuan Province.

525.World Autism Awareness Day (WAAD) is observed every year to raise public
awareness of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Autism is a brain disorder that
typically affects a person's ability to communicate with others.

526.Batman will be first inductee into the Comic-Con Museum's Character Hall of
Fame. The honor was announced during the "Happy Birthday Batman!" panel at
WonderCon on March 30, when Batman turned 80.

526.Lewis Hamilton, a British racing driver, has won the 2019 Formula 1 Bahrain
Grand Prix tournament.

526.Kandhamal Haldi, a variety of turmeric indigenous to southern Odisha, has

finally got the Geographical indication (GI) tag from Intellectual Property.

526.Swiss-based NRI scientist Dr Rajendra Joshi, who belongs to Rajasthan, has

been conferred with the 2019 Pravasi Bhartiya Samman Award (PBSA) by the
KOVIND.

530.Zuzana Caputova, a liberal environmental activist and a political newcomer, has

been elected as the first female President of Slovakia

531.Roger Federer lifted his fourth ATP Miami Open title with an emphatic 6-1, 6-4
win over defending champion John Isner.

532.ISRO has successfully launched India’s latest EMISAT defence satellite from the
Sriharikota spaceport.PSLV-C45 flew in a new configuration called “QL”.

533.South Korea has won the 2019 Sultan Azlan Shah Hockey tournament.In the
final, they defeated five time champion India in a penalty shootout 4-2 at Ipoh in
Malaysia on April 1.

534.(GRSE) has become the first Indian shipyard to build and deliver 100 warships
to the Indian Navy, Indian Coast Guard and Mauritius Coast Guard.

535.Earth Hour 2019 was observed on March 30 with theme “#Connect2Earth” to

encourage people across the world to turn off non-essential electric lights .

536.(IUCN) has recently listed Hump-backed Mahseer as Critically Endangered in

the Red List of Threatened Species.. The scientific name of hump-backed mahseer is
‘Tor remadevii’, which is named after noted ichthyologist K. Remadevi of the
Zoological Survey of India.

536.Using platinum nanocatalyst, a two-member team at the IIT Madras has

successfully converted petroleum waste-product toluene into benzoic acid.Benzoic
acid is used as a food preservative (E210) and medicine for fungal/bacterial
infection.

536.Hongkou district of Shanghai has recently claimed to have the world’s first
district with 5G coverage and a broadband gigabit network.

536.(GoI) has set up a multi-disciplinary terror monitoring group (MDTMG) to

ensure synergised and concerted action against terror financing and terror-related
activities in Jammu and Kashmir. The MDTMG will have representatives from the
Jammu and Kashmir Police, Intelligence Bureau, CBI, NIA, and IT DEPT.

540.India has been designated as the Guest of Honour at Paris Livre (Paris Book
Fair) in 2020, while France will be the guest country at the New Delhi World Book
Fair (NDWBF) in 2022. The announcement was recently made by the nodal agency –
National Book Trust (NBT).Livre Paris (Paris Book Fair) will take place from March
20 to 23, 2020.

541.Wipro has recently partnered with IIT Kharagpur to collaborate on industry-

focused applied research in the areas of 5G and Artificial Intelligence.

542.State of the Global Climate' report has recently launched by the World
Meteorological Organization (WMO). The report presented a grim picture of the
accelerating physical signs and socio-economic impacts of the climate change across
the world as record greenhouse gas concentrations drive global temp.

543.Facebook Inc has recently banned praise, support and representation of white
nationalism and separatism. This move has drawn a qualified approval from New
Zealand where a massacre of 50 people in mosques was live streamed in March.

543.Ministry of commerce has launched a blockchain-enabled marketplace app for

coffee to help farmers integrate with markets so that they can realise fair price.

545.Kovind has recently honoured with Croatia’s highest civilian award — the
Grand Order of the King of Tomislav.

546.International Day of Solidarity with Detained and Missing Staff Members is

observed every year on 25th of March by United Nations to mobilize action,emand
justice and strengthen resolve to protect UN staff and peacekeepers, as well as
colleagues in the non-governmental community and the press.

546.The book “Gandhi: The Writer" was authored by Bhabhani Bhattacharya, who
wrote social-realist fiction.

546.According to the Skytrax World Airport Awards, New Delhi's Indira Gandhi
International (IGI) Airport has been designated as the best Indian airport but ranks
59th globally.

546.Assam Chief Electoral Officer Mukesh Sahu launched the Enajori initiative in
Guwahati. It is a special initiative for persons with disabilities with aan aim that 'No
Voter to be Left behind'.

550.(UNSC) has unanimously passed the first-ever resolution ordering members to

enforce laws against terror financing.

551.National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) has been awarded the “Best Sports
Federation” award in the country by ASSOCHAM.

552.Nobel Prize-winning economist Amartya Sen has been awarded the prestigious
2019 Bodley Medal, the highest honour bestowed by the University of Oxford's
world-famous Bodleian Libraries.

553.Manu Gulati, a teacher from a Delhi government school, was honoured with the
2019 Martha Farrell Award in the category of 'Most Promising Individual'' for her
decades of efforts in enabling a gender-neutral society by coaching boys and girls in
Delhi schools.

554.Israeli researchers have discovered the world's longest salt cave, called
Malham. It stretches over 10 km, runs through Mount Sodom, Israel’s largest
MOUNT.

555.The 2nd Joint Logistics Node (JLN) of tri-services has recently become
operational at Naval base in Mumbai.The first JLN consisting of the three services
was set up at Andaman and Nicobar Islands in 2018.

556.To promote innovation in FinTech space, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has
decided to set up a Regulatory Sandbox for Fintech Startups.The central bank will
issue guidelines within two months for fintech companies to test their new products
on a small group of users before scaling up.

556.Vijayawada Railway Station has received Gold Rating by the Indian Green
Building Council (IGBC) for Green Measures.The station boasts of 100% LED
lighting, five star rated fans, pumps and motors and solar water heating systems..
IGBC with the help of Environment Directorate of Indian Railways has come up with
a system called Green Railway Stations Rating System (GRSRS) where railway
stations will be encouraged to adopt more eco-friendly ways.

556.The book titled “Indian Fiscal Federalism” has been authored by former RBI
Governor Dr. Y V Reddy and co-authored by Dr. G R Reddy.

556.ustice (Retd.) DK Jain, who is the newly appointed ombudsman for the BCCI,
will also be its ad-hoc Ethics Officer.The mandate of the Ethics Officer is to look into
matters of conflict of interest involving players, coaches and officials. Rule 39(1) of
the new BCCI Constitution states: “The BCCI shall appoint an Ethics Officer at the
Annual General Meeting for the purpose of guidance and resolution in instances of
conflict of interest.

560.Yoshua Bengio, Geoffrey Hinton, and Yann LeCun have won the 2018 ACM A.M.
Turing Award for conceptual and engineering breakthroughs in Artificial
Inteelligence (AI) that have made deep neural networks a critical component of
computing.

561.Tashigang, a small village of Himachal Pradesh, has now become the world’s
highest polling station. The polling station falls in Buddhist-dominated Lahaul-Spiti
district of the state at an altitude of 15,256 feet, and is one of the 17 assembly
segments that form the Mandi Lok Sabha seat, the second largest constituency in
the country.

562.ccording to the 2018 global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI), India has
reduced its poverty rate drastically from 55% to 28% in 10 years between 2005-06
and 2015-16.The report was recently released by the United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP) and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative
(OPHI). The report said that across the 640 districts in India, the poorest district is
Alirajpur in Madhya Pradesh, where 76.5% of people are MPI poor. Among states,
Jharkhand had the greatest improvement, with Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar,
Chhattisgarh, and Nagaland only slightly behind. However, Bihar is still poorest
state in 2015-16, with more than half of its population in poverty.

563.International Energy Agency (IEA) has recently published the ‘Global Energy &
CO2 Status Report’, which is designed to provide an update on the world’ energy
markets, including the latest available data for oil, natural gas, coal, wind, solar,
nuclear power, electricity, and energy efficiency.

564.Australian Antarctic Program have discovered a network of lakes lying under

the ice during their 160-day expedition to the Totten Glacier,the largest in eastern
Antarctica.

565.e International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and Transatlantic

Slave Trade is observed every year on 25th of March. The 2019 theme “Remember
Slavery: The Power of the Arts for Justice”.

566.Pakistan government to establish a corridor that will allow Hindu pilgrims from
India to visit Sharda Peeth, an ancient Hindu temple and cultural site in Pakistan-
occupied Kashmir (PoK).

566.Executive Board of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has

recommended adding Break dancing, skateboarding, sport climbing and surfing to
the 2024 Paris Olympic Games when the full membership meets in June.

566.(DRDO) has successfully conducted its first-ever Anti-Satellite (A-SAT) missile

test ‘Mission Shakti’ from the Dr AP J Abdul Kalam Island in Odisha.Ballistic Missile
Defence (BMD) Interceptor Missile has successfully shot down a live satellite on a
Low Earth Orbit (LEO).
566.IIT-Delhi have designed an “Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based low-power
electronic hardware system” to easily detect Malaria.

590.World Theatre Day (WTD) is observed every year on 27th of March 1961.

591.Researchers at the GRAPES-3 muon telescope facility in Ooty have measured

the electrical potential, size and height of a thundercloud that passed overhead on
December 1, 2014. The study of thunderclouds is helpful in navigation of aircraft
and preventing short circuits in aeroplanes.

592.The world's largest e-waste recycling facility has recently opened at the Dubai
Industrial Park in United Arab Emirates (UAE) by “Enviroserve’ company with
support of Swiss Government Export Finance Agency.

593.IIT-Gandhinagar has conducted study of 89 urban areas in India. In it, they

found that though there is an absolute increase in temperature during heat waves in
both urban and non-urban areas, the urban areas are relatively cooler than the
surrounding non-urban areas.The study was published in the journal
‘Environmental Research Communications’.

594.Facebook has launched two new India-specific -tools to boost civic engagement
on its platform — Candidate Connect and Share You Voted.

595.Donald Trump has officially recognized Israeli sovereignty over the occupied
Golan Heights ., Israel has got an absolute right to self-defence. Israel captured the
Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Middle East war, and subsequently annexed in
1981.

596.The book titled “Every Vote Counts-The Story of India’s Elections” has been
authored by former Chief Election Commissioner Navin Chawla.

596.Chennai Super Kings star Suresh Raina has scripted history as he became the
first cricketer in the history of the Indian Premier League (IPL) to score 5000 runs.

596.(UAE) government has launched a programme, titled "Lose to Win", to help

overweight employers to shed extra kilos and adopt a healthy lifestyle.

596.Peter Tabichi, a science teacher from rural Kenya who donates most of his
salary to help poorer students, has been crowned the world’s best teacher and
awarded a $1m prize in Dubai. He is the maths and physics teacher at Keriko
secondary school in Pwani Village, in a remote part of Kenya’s Rift Vally.

600.Indian Navy's Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Training Facility (NBCTF) has
been inaugurated by Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Sunil Lanba at INS Shivvaji in
Lonavala near Pune. The NBCTF, christened "Abhedya", impenetrable in Sanskrit,
will help train personnel of naval ships fitted with nuclear, biological and chemical
detection and protection systems..

590.United States has recently clinched a strategic port deal with Oman that allow
American ships and warplanes to take advantage of two Arabian Sea port of Duqm
and Salalah located near strategic Strait of Hormuz.

591.(ISRO) will launch a 436 kg electronic intelligence satellite Emisat for the
(DRDO) along with 28 satellites of international customers from the spaceport of
Sriharikota. It will also demonstrate its new technologies like three different orbits
with a new variant of PSLV rocket ‘PSLV-C45’. Emisat is a satellite based on ISRO's
Indian Mini Satellite -2 (IMS-2) bus platform.

592.K Govindaraj has been re-elected as president of the Basketball Federation of

India (BFI).The national team of India is also called as Young Cagers

593.(RBI) has recently appointed 5-member committee under the chairmanship of

Nandan Nilekani to further deepen digital payments and enhance financial inlusion
through Fintech.

594.India has moved up two places to rank 76th on a global energy transition index
2019. This annual list, compiled by Geneva-based WEF.The report said that India is
amongst the countries with high pollution levels and has a relatively high CO2
intensity in its energy system.

595.World Meteorological Day (WMD) is observed every year on 23rd of March to

mark the establishment of World Meteorological Organization (WMO) on this day in
1950. This year, the organisation is celebrating its 69th anniversary. The 2019
theme ‘The Sun, the Earth and the weather”.

596.Australian Research Council (ARC) Centre of Excellence for Nanoscale

BioPhotonics, have developed a new automated non-invasive technique for
diagnosis eye surface <IRSHAD ALAM>.

596.International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination is observed every

year on 21st of March,t to fight for democracy and equal human rights in South
Africa during the Apartheid regime (a regime which embraced racial
discrimination). The 2019 theme is “Mitigating and countering rising nationalist
populism and extreme supremacist ideologies”.

596.Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute of Medical Sciences and Technology (SCTIMST) has
recently developed an anti cancer anti-inflamatory drug conjugated to the human
serum Albumin.

596.Indian paddler Archana Kamath clinched a silver in the under-21 women’s

singles section of the Seamaster ITTF Challenge Plus 2019 Oman Open table tennis
tournament at Muscat. Archana started playing table tennis at the age of 9 years.

600.21st March, Italy’s PRISMA Earth observation satellite launched into orbit by
the European Vega rocket from the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana.
PRISMA (or Precursore Iperspettrale della Missione Applicativa) is a small
hyperspectral imaging satellite i.e. designed to provide information about
environmental monitoring, resources management, pollution and crop health.
590.Financial Technology (Fintech) Conclave has been organized by NITI Aayog in
New Delhi and was inaugurated by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikant
Das.

591.Langkawi International Maritime Aero Expo (LIMA-2019) has started in

Langkawi, Malaysia from 26 March 2019 to 30 March 2019. Indian Air Force (IAF)
participating in the Maritime Aero Expo for the first time, during which it will
showcase its indigenously developed Light Combat Aircraft (LCA)-Tejas.

592.World Water Day (WWD) is observed every year on 22nd March to tackle the
global water crisis in households, schools, workplaces and farms.The 2019 theme
‘Leaving no one behind’ is the central promise of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable
Development.Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG 6) is to ensure availability and
sustainable management of water for all by 2030.

593.Kazakhstan has officially renamed its capital Astana to Nursultan to honour

outgoing leader Nursultan Nazarbayev who stepped down as President after three
decades in office.

594.Global Economic Outlook (GEO), Fitch Ratings has recently cut India’s economic
growth forecast for the financial year FY20 starting April 1, to 6.8% from its
previous estimate of 7%, on weaker than expected momentum in the economy.

595.Infosys has signed a three-year partnership agreement with Roland-Garros to

provide technology solution for tennis tournament.French Open, also called Roland-
Garros.

596.Former India hockey captain Sardar Singh has been elected in the athletes
standing committee of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) at its 38th General
Assembly in Bangkok . Apart from him, IOA secretary general Rajeev Mehta was
named in the culture standing committee.

596.India's deepest shaft cave has been discovered at Krem Um Ladaw in East Khasi
Hills district of Meghalaya during the 28th edition of the annual 'Caving in the
Abode of the Clouds Expedition'. The cave has a 105 m deep shaft entrance passage.
The cave has a 105 m deep shaft entrance passage.

596.The first-ever high-level dialogue on Indo-Pacific Cooperation (HLD-IPC) was

held in Jakarta, Indonesia with theme was ‘Towards a Peaceful, Prosperous and
Inclusive Region’. It was organized by Government of Indonesia and saw
participation of all 18 EAS member states including India.Dialogue reflected India's
view that has outlined by PM Modi in 2018 Shangrila Dialogue -- inclusive and
transparent & rules based indo-Pacific.

596.SpiceJet has become the first Indian low-cost carrier to get the membership of
global airlines’ grouping International Air Transport Association (IATA). IATA
represents more than 290 airlines, including Air India, Jet Airways and Vistara.

600.World Happiness Day (WHD -2019), the United Nations released the 7th annual
World Happiness Report, which ranks the world's 156 countries on “how happy
their citizens perceive themselves to be”. In it, India has dropped 7 spots and is
ranked 140th in the 2019 UN World Happiness Index. India featured in the five
countries that had the largest drop since 2005-2008 in the index, along with Yemen,
Syria, Botswana and Venezuela. Finland has been ranked as the happiest country in
the world for the second year in succession. The Nordic nation is followed by
Denmark, Norway, Iceland and Netherlands. pakistan (67).

601.International Day of Forests is observed every year on 21st of March to

celebrate and raise awareness of the importance of all types of forests. 2019 theme
is “Forests and Education”. This year, the International Day of Forests promotes
education to Learn to Love Forests.

602.Hindi writer Leeladhar Jagudi will be honoured with the Vyas Samman 2018 by
the KK Birla Foundation for his collection of poems “Jitne Log Utne Prem”.The book,
published in 2013 was selected by a Chayan Samiti presided over by litterateur Dr.
Vishwanath Prasad Tiwari.

603.In football, India has clinched the SAFF Women's Championship for the fifth
time in a row. In thefinal, they defeated hosts Nepal 3-1 at Biratnagar on 22nd
March 2019.

604.Jimmy Carter — the 39th president of the United States — has reached a new
milestone and become the longest-living President in U.S. history at the age 94
years.

605.University of Arkansas and Argonne National Lab in the US have identified

more cost-effective and efficient ways of producing hydrogen fuel by splitting water.

606.Purdue University in the US, including one of Indian origin, have developed a
new process to remove nearly all traces of oil in produced water -- a byproduct from
the oil refinery and extraction process. The process uses activated charcoal foam
and subjects it to solar light to produce heat and purify water.

607.Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) has recently released the National

Guidelines on Responsible Business Conduct (NGRBC).These guidelines urge
businesses to actualize the principles in letter and spirit. For this purpose, the
National Voluntary Guidelines on Social, Environmental and Economic
Responsibilities of Business, 2011 (NVGS) have also been revised.

608.Vice Admiral Karambir Singh has been appointed the next Chief of Naval Staff
(CNS). Singh will succeed Admiral Sunil Lanba who retires on May 31.At present,
Vice Admiral Singh is serving as the Flag Officer Commanding in Chief of the Eastern
Naval Command in Visakhapatnam.

609.Mumbai, ESPNcricinfo has partnered with IIT Madras to launch ‘Superstats’, a

next level artificial intelligence tool that can analyse cricket statistics through
machine learning. The tool will forecast if and how a player’s or a team’s
performance can turn around a game, on real time.
610.World Poetry Day (WPD) is celebrated every year on 21st of March, 1999
during UNESCO’s 30th session held in Paris.

611.(ECI) has appointed transgender social activist Gauri Sawant, as one of the 12
election ambassadors from Maharashtra.

612.Prof. Karen Uhlenbeck of the University of Texas at Austin has become first
woman to win the Abel Prize, one of the world’s most prestigious international
mathematics awards.The prize was first awarded in 2003 to honor the 19th-century
Norwegian mathematician Niels Henrik Abel.

612.World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has recently released the

2018 report on patents filed by members of its Patent Cooperation Treaty
(PCT).United Nations (UN) data shows the United States remained the leading
individual country for patent applications in 2018. But on a regional basis, Asia’s
surge continued.US led the way with 56,142 applications, followed by China
(53,345) and Japan (49,702).

612.World Sparrow Day (WSD) is observed every year on 20th of March.The 2019
theme "I Love Sparrows".

615.Italian Premier Premier Giuseppe Conte has pledged to make Italy the first
Group of Seven nation to join China's ambitious Belt and Road initiative.

616.International Day of Happiness (IDH) is observed every year on 20th of March

to recognise the importance of happiness in the lives of people around the
world.The 2019 theme “Happier Together” focuses on what we have in common,
rather than what divides us. It is celebrated by all 193 UN Member States.

616.MITRA SHAKTI is conducted annually as part of military diplomacy and

interaction between armies of India & Sri Lanka.. The joint exercise for the year
2018-19 will be conducted from 26 March to 08 April 2019 in Sri Lanka.

618.Nursultan Nazarbayev, the longest-serving post-Soviet leader, has unexpectedly

resigned as president of Kazakhstan after 29 years in power in a surprise public
address on national television. But, he would remain the chairman of the country’s
powerful security council, the leader of the Nur Otan parrty, which dominates
parliament, and his official title as “The Leader of the Nation”.

618.(SAIL) has launched smart garbage bins made of stainless steel. These smart
garbage bins will be able to send a signal to the garbage collection vehicle about the
‘fill-up’ position of the bin, aiding better cleaning and lower human intervention.

620.Brazilian physicist and astronomer Marcelo Gleiser (60) has been awarded the
prestigious $1.4 million Templeton Prize for year 2019 for his work on bllending
science and spirituality. He is the first Latin American to win the prestigious prize.

621.Indian Coast Guard Ship 'INS Vijit' has become the first-ever Coast Guard ship
to visit Indonesian port of Sabang on March 17, 2019.
622.IIT Roorkee has signed a pact with the Indian Space Research Organisation
(ISRO) to set up an ISRO-IITR Space Technology Cell (STC).ISRO – IITR Cell shall
pursue advanced research in the areas of relevance to the future technological and
programmatic needs of the Indian Space Programmatic needs of the Indian Space
Programme and shall devote its resources including human resources to this effect.

623.3rd edition of Namaste Thailand Festival (NTF-2019) was held at Select

Citywalk in New Delhi on March 15, 2019.The 3-day fest was organised by the Royal
Thai Embassy with an aim to strengthen bilateral ties and increase cultural
exchange between India and Thai.

624.Diksha Dagar, an Indian female professional deaf golfer, has created history by
becoming the youngest Indian woman to win on the Ladies European Tour at the
age of 18 as she won the 2019 Investec South African Women's Open in Cape Town
on 16th March. She also became the 2nd Indian woman golfer to win a title after
Aditi Ashok.

625.Pramod Sawant, the former Speaker of the Goa legislative Assembly and BJP
MLA from Sankhelim in north Goa, has been sworn-in as the 11th CM.

626.The book titled “The Great Disappointment: How Narendra Modi Squandered a
Unique Opportunity to Transform the Indian Economy” has been authored by
Salman Anees Soz. The book claims that Demonetisation was a terrible idea.

627.Bengaluru FC won the 5th edition of the Indian Super League (ISL-2019) by
defeating FC Goa 1-0 in the final at the Mumbai Football arena on 17th March

628.Delhi-based Journalist and author, Raghu Karnad has won the 2019 Windham-
Campbell Prize under non-fiction category for his debut book 'The Farthest Field:
An Indian Story of the Second World War' in London.Karnad has become the 2nd
Indian to receive the prestigious prize, since Jerry Pinto won it for his novel ‘Em
And The Big Hoom’ in 2016.

629.The first-ever joint military exercise of Shanghai Cooperation Organization

(SCO) titled “Sary Arka Antiterror 2019” is scheduled to be held in grasslands of
Kazakhstan in the Sary Arka region. The decision to hold the joint exercise 'Sary-
Arka-Antiterror 2019' was announced during the 34th meeting of the SCO's
Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) council held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

630.Assam Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Mukesh Sahu has launched an initiative ‘i-
help’ to promote digital electoral literacy in view of the forthcoming Lok Sabha poll.
The ‘i-help’ is a joint initiative of the office of the Assam CEO and Common Service
Centres (CSC).

631.Former Supreme Court judge and current member of the National Human
Rights Commission (NHRC), Pinaki Chandra Ghose has been named as the India’s
first Lokpal (anti-corruption ombudsman). The Lokpal Act, which was passed in
2013 after a nationwide anti-corruption movement, provides for setting up of
Lokpal at the centre and Lokayuktas in the States to probe corruption complaints
against top functionaries and public servants, including the PM AND CM.

632.Former ISRO scientist, Nambi Narayanan has been conferred the 2019 Padma
Bhushan by President Ram Nath Kovind.He is best known for his role in developing
the Vikas Engine which was used for the first PSLV (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle)
launched by India.

633.Soyuz spacecraft carrying NASA astronauts Nick Hague and Christina Koch, and
cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin of Roscosmos has successfully docked to the
International Space Station (ISS) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
The Soyuz (SAW-yooz) is a Russian spacecraft. It transports crews to the ISS and
returns them to Earth after their missions.

634.4th session of United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) was held in

Nairobi from 11th to 15th March 2019. In it, UNEA adopted two resolutions pilotted
by India on single-use plastics and sustainable nitrogen management. The 2019
theme of the UNEA was Innovative Solutions for environmental challenges and
sustainable production and consumption.

635.The registration of political parties is governed by the provisions of Section

29A of the Representation of the People Act of 1951.

636.(SBI), ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank would have to comply with additional capital
requirement norms by 1st April 2019 as the banks continue to be in the RBI list of
Domestic Systemically Important Banks (D-SIBs) for 2018. D-SIBs are required to
maintain higher capital as compared to other banks.

637.(NGT) has directed the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) to prepare a
noise pollution map and remedial action plan to solve the issue across INDIA.

638.Uttar Pradesh has undertaken census of otters in its protected areas. The
exercise that began in the Pilibhit Tiger Reserve (PTR) will be completed by the end
of March 2019. Otters are an important part of the forest ecosystem. A thriving
population of otters means a healthy river ecosystem. These mammals, listed in
schedule II of the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972, are rarely seen due to their
extremely shy nature. They feed on fish, bird eggs.

639.Prof. Ashis Nandy has been chosen for the prestigious 2019 Hans Kilian award
for his efforts to adapt western traditions of thought such as psychoanalysis to non-
western context.

640.West Nile Virus (WNV) fever is a mosquito-borne viral infection, which is rare
in India. It is a single-stranded RNA virus that causes West Nile fever.It is a member
of the family Flaviviridae, specifically from the genus Flavivirus, which also contains
the Zika virus, dengue virus, and yellow fever virus. The World Health Organisation
(WHO) has stated that the WNV is transmitted to humans through bites from Culex
mosquitoes which get infected when they feed on infected birds. The infection could
be confirmed only if the second samples test positive.
641.March 15, the first-ever BRICS Sherpa meeting under the Presidency of Brazil
concluded at Curitiba in Brazil. T S Tirumurti, Secretary (Economic Relations) in the
MEA, led the Indian delegation at the 2-day meeting.

642.International Football Federation (FIFA) President Gianni Infantino has

recently announced that India will host the 7th edition of U-17 Women’s World Cup
in 2020. This will be the 2nd FIFA tournament India will be hosting, after the U-17
Men’s World Cup in 2017.

643.Geographical Indications Registry has recently granted the Geographical

Indication (GI) tag to Coorg Arabica Coffee, Wayanad Robusta Coffee, Chikmagalur
Arabica Coffee, Araku Valley Arabica Coffee and Bababudangiris Arabica Coffee.
According to the GI application, Coorg Arabica Coffee is grown specifically in
Kodagu district in Karnataka.

643.IIT Kharagpur has signed a MoU with Centre for Development of Advanced
Computing (C-DAC) to set up India's first state-of-the-art 1.3 PetaFlop high
performance computing facility and data center funded under the National
Supercomputing Mission.

645.National record holder Irfan Kolothum Thodi has become the first Indian from
athletics to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics while finishing fourth in the 20 km
event of the Asian Race Walking Championships at Nomi in Japan.

646.Karnataka has won the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy for the first time. In the final,
they defeated Maharashtra by 8 wickets at the Holkar Cricket Stadium INDORE.

647.Supreme Court of India (SCI) has appointed senior advocate P.S. Narasimha as
mediator for resolving various disputes related to cricket administration.

648.Arecanut (also known as supari or betel nut) is the latest entrant in the list of
agricultural produce with a Geographic Indication (GI) tag.The Totagars’
Cooperative Sale Society (TSS) Ltd, a Sirsi-based agri cooperative, is the registered
proprietor of the GI ‘Sirsi Supari’.‘Sirsi Supari’ grown in Sirsi, Siddpaur and Yellapur
taluks of Uttara Kannada district in Karnataka.

649.World Consumer Rights Day (WCRD) is observed every year on March 15 to

promote the basic rights of all consumers and empower them.The 2019 theme is
‘Trusted Smart Products’ has been chosen in view of the increased popularity of
smart gadgets.National Consumer Day (NCD) on 24th of December every year.

650.(SBI) has launched doorstep banking service for senior citizens over 70 years
of age, differently-abled customers and infirm customers, including visually-
impaired customers.

651.Astronomers from Japan, Taiwan, and Princeton University have discovered 83

quasars powered by supermassive black holes in the distant universe, which were
formed when the universe was only 5% of its current age. These quasars are lying
13 billion light-years away from the Earth. The team used data taken with 'Hyper
Suprime-Cam' (HSC) instrument, mounted on the Subaru Telescope of the National
Astronomical Observatory of Japan which is located on the summit of Maunakea in
Hawaii.

652.Austrian capital Vienna has topped the Mercer's index of most liveable cities for
the 10th year in a row, followed by Zurich in Switzerland. In joint third place are
Auckland, Munich and Vancouver. Luxembourg was the safest city in the world. In
105th place, Chennai ranks as the Asia-Pacific region safest city, while Karachi
(226) is the least safe. According to Mercer’s 21st annual Quality of Living
Rankings, Hyderabad and Pune have been named the most liveable city in India with
rank 143rd. New Delhi featured at the 162nd position on the list, Mumbai at 154
and Bengaluru at 149.21st edition of the annual survey evaluated 231 cities across
the globe between September and November last year.

653.Padmanaban Gopala, a social entrepreneur from Tamil Nadu, has bestowed with
the 2019 Commonwealth Youth Award for the Asian region at the Commonwealth
Secretariat in London for his technology-based food rescue organisation. Gopalan,
founder of No Food Waste, was named the winner of the award for his work towards
achieving the UN's Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) of Zero Hunger with his
innovative system of recovering excess food to distribute to those in need.

654.Greta Thunberg, the 16-year-old Swedish environmental activist, has been

nominated for 2019 Nobel Peace Prize for her efforts in climate activism and
fighting global warming.

655.Kento Momota has become the first Japanese man to win the All England Open
Badminton Championships when he beat Denmark’s Viktor Axelsen 2-1 in the men’s
singles final at the Birmingham Arena

656.On 15th March, the Festival of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (FINE-2019)

has been inaugurated by President Ram Nath Kovind in Gandhinagar, Gujarat. The
festival is organised by the President's Secretariat in association with Department
of Science and Technology (DST) and National Innovation Foundation(NIF).

655.Maharashtra, the 10-day long Africa-India Joint Field Training Exercise

(AFINDEX-19) between the Indian Army and 16 African nations will be conducted in
Pune from March 18 to 27. The purpose of the exercise is to train the participating
contingents in Humanitarian Mine Assistance (HMA) and Peace Keeeping
Operations (PKO) under the United Nations Charter.

656.The 4th edition of the Internet of Things (IoT) India Congress 2019 will be held
in Bengaluru on August 22-23, 2019

656.Erode turmeric (of Tamil Nadu) has finally got a Geographical Indication (GI)
tag on 6th March 2019, which will help the farmers and traders from the region to
claim sole rights over the famed ‘Erode Manjal’,by ‘Erode Manjal Vanigarkal Matrum
Kidangu Urimaiyalargal Sangam’.

660.Dialogue and Development Commission (DDC) of the Delhi government has

constituted a 17-member high-level committee to reform higher education in the
capital. The committee, chaired by DDC vice-chairperson Jasmine Shah, will
recommend goals, metrics, policies, and actionable plans for reforming Delhi ’s
higher education system within a year. DDC is the premier think-tank which advises
the state government on key policy issues. Nalanda 2.0, a non-profit policy think
tank with a “mission to making India’s higher education system world class”, is
collaborating with the DDC as the knowledge partner in the initiative.

661.Young Mumbai sailor Upamanyu Dutta bagged the bronze in the Laser Standard
race for men in the Asian Open Laser Sailing Championship in Singapore.

662.M R Kumar has been appointed the new Chairman of Life Insurance Corporation
of India (LIC) and will hold the post for a period of five years.LIC is the largest
insurance company in India headquartered in Mumbai. It was founded in 1956 when
the Parliament of India passed the Life Insurance of India Act that nationalised the
private insurance industry in India.

663.Indo-Oman joint military exercise titled “Al Nagah III 2019” has started at Jabel
regiment headquarters, Nizwa, in the Arab country.The exercise is scheduled to end
on March 25 at Jabel Al Akhdar Mountains.

664.Special Olympics World Summer Games 2019 has started at Abu Dhabi in UAE
on March 14. It is a multi-sport event for athletes with intellectual disabiilities in
the tradition of the Special Olympics movement.

665.(RBI) has decided to inject rupee liquidity into the system through long-term
foreign exchange buy/sell swap — a first-of-its-kind instrument used for r liquidity
management. The RBI would conduct dollar-rupee buy/sell swap auction of $5
billion for tenor of 3 years on March 26 to inject rupee liquid to inject rupee
liquidity for longer duration. Under the buy/sell foreign exchange swap, a bank will
sell US dollars to the RBI and simultaneously agree to buy the same amount of US
dollars at the end of the swap period.

666.Recently, a study titled “Hotspots of human impact on threatened terrestrial

vertebrates” published in the journal PLOS Biology has reported that human
impacts on species occur across 84% of the earth’s surface.Malaysia has been
ranked first among the countries with the highest number of impacted species
(125), followed by Brunei and Singapore. India ranks 16th in such human impacts,
with 35 threatened species impacted on average. The Southeast Asian tropical
forests including those in India’s Western Ghats, Himalaya and north-east — are
among the ‘hotspots’ of threatened species. These affected areas are also ‘cool-
spots’ (the world’s last refuges wherre high numbers of threatened species still
persist). They could be result of protection or because of intact habitat.

667.UK’s Royal Mint has recently issued a new commemorative 50 pence coin
inspired by the late legendary British physicist Stephen Hawking’s seminal work on
black holes. The coin was designed by British engraver and printmaker Edwina Ellis.

668.International Women’s Day (IWD-2019) and its 60th anniversary, American

toymaker Mattel has released a new range of barbies to honor 20 female role
models across 18 countries speaking 14 different languages. Indian gymnast Dipa
Karmakar has been selected as a Barbie Role Model to help inspire the next
generation of girls.

669.Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI)’s latest report, a total

of 155 countries imported major arms in 2014–18. Saudi Arabia was the world’s
largest arms importer from 2014-18, which accounted for 12% of the total imports
during the period. While, India at 2nd spot accounted for 12% of the total imports
during the period. While, India at 2nd spot accounted for 9.5% of the global total.
The top five arms importers — Saudi Arabia, India, Egypt, Australia and Algeria—
accounted for 35% of total arms imports in 2014–18.

670.By using Indian multi-wavelength space observatory AstroSat, the astronomers

from Thiruvananthapuram and Mumbai have identified a new population of
ultraviolet stars in the globular cluster NGC 2808. Globular clusters are collections
of thousands to millions of stars, moving as one unit.NGC 2808 is one of the most
massive globular clusters that we know of, and is located at a distance of 47,000
light years from us. This cluster was observed by the team of researchers using the
UltraViolet Imaging Telescope (UVIT) on-board AstroSat.

671.Raghuram Rajan has been honoured with the ‘Yashwantrao Chavan National
Award 2018’ for his contribution to economic development.

672.(WHO) has recently launched new Global Influenza Strategy for 2019-2030
aimed at protecting people in all countries from the threat of influenza.A global
influenza pandemic was listed as one of the WHO’s top ten threats to global health
in 2019.

673.India’s first integrated community-based HIV treatment centre and clinic for
LGBTQ has recently inaugurated at Humsafar Trust’s office in Mumbai.The centre is
supported by the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) and Family Health
International 360.The centre will give free counselling and provide Anti-Retroviral
Therapy (ART). ‘LGBTQ’ stands for - Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer.

674.Jammu-born film director and novelist Ved Rahi has been selected for
prestigious ‘Kusumagraj’ national award for literature.The award is instituted by
the city-based Yashwantrao Chavan Maharashtra Open University (YCMOU).

674.As per the latest report by the World Gold Council (WGC), India has the 11th
largest gold reserve with the current holding pegged at 607 tonnes. India is the
world’s largest consumer of gold. The top slot is occupied by the U.S., which boasts
of gold reserves of 8,133.5 tonnes, followed by Germany,(IMF) is included and is
third on the list with total gold reserves of 2,814 tonnes.WGC is market
development organization for the gold industry. It is headquartered in London,
United Kingdom (UK).

676.Union Cabinet has recently approved the proposal for accession of India to (i)
The Nice Agreement concerning the International classification of Good nd Services
for the purposes of registration of marks, (ii) The Vienna Agreement establishing an
International Classification of the figurative elements of marks, and (iii) The
Locarno Agreement establishing an International classification for industrial
designs.

677.14th CII-EXIM Bank Conclave on India-Africa Project Partnerships will be held

in New Delhi from March 17-19, 2019. It is being organized by Ministry Commerce
& Industry in association with Confederation of Indian Industry and EXIM Bank of
India.

678.e 34th edition of Aahar 2019 - the International Food and Hospitality Fair has
started in New Delhi on March 12. The 5-day fair, organized by India Trade
Promotion Organisation (ITPO).

679.5th edition of the SAFF Women's Championship 2019 has started in Biratnagar,
Nepal on March 12.

680.Madhya Pradesh government has taken the ordinance route to increase

reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) from 14% to 27%.

681. National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) is the government agency for authentic
source of data on crime, accidents, suicides, and prisons for policy matters and
research data as defined by the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Special and Local Laws
(SLL). Founded in 1986, Bureau is also apex nodal agency for all Finger Print
related matters including accreditation of Finger Print Experts in the country. It is
headquartered in New Delhi and is part of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). The
current Director of NCRB is Ramphal Pawar (IPS). Recently, NCRB has celebrated its
34th Inception Day on March 11.

682.Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) is a NASA robotic spacecraft currently

orbiting the Moon in an eccentric polar mapping orbit.

683.(MIT) have developed an imaging system which could be deployed to find tiny
tumours, as small as a couple of hundred cells, deep within the body.They used their
imaging system, named "DOLPHIN," which relies on near-infrared light, to track a
0.1-millimetre fluorescent probe through the digestive tract of a living mouse.

684.Madhya Pradesh has appointed self-styled godman Namdev Tyagi to the post of
the chairperson of the ‘Ma Narmada, Ma Kshipra evam Ma Mandakini River Trust’.
He is popularly known as “Computer Baba”.

686.World Kidney Day (WKD) is observed every year on 2nd Thursday of March as a
global health awareness campaign to raise awareness about impact of kidney
disease and its associated health problems worldwide.WKD is been observed on
March 14 with theme “Kidney Health for Everyone Everywhere”.

686.March 11, the indigenously developed Pinaka guided weapon rocket system
successfully test fired at Pokhran desert in Rajasthan to boost artillery capability of
the Indian Army. The short range guided Pinaka weapon system is equipped with a
state-of-the-art guidance kit comprising an advanced navigation.

687.The traditional and handmade ‘Marayoor Jaggery’ from Idukki district of Kerala
has finally got the Geographical Indication (GI) tag.

688.Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, a Deputy Director General of Programmes (DDP) of

the World Health Organisation (WHO), has been named Chief Scientist of the WHO.

689.Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences (INMAS) has developed a

range of 'combat casualty drugs' that can extend the golden hour till the tthe golden
hour till the trooper is shifted to hospital. INMAS is a medical laboratory of DRDO.

690.Kavinder Singh Bisht has clinched gold in the 56kg-category at the 38th GeeBee
Boxing Tournament in Helsinki, Finland.

691.Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has officially named Dr. Mohammad

Shtayyeh as the new Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority.

692.IIT Kharagpur have devised unique solutions ranging from detecting counterfeit
currency to nuclear radiation tracking through wearable sensors at the recently
concluded nationwide competition, Smart India Hackathon 2019.

693.Ministry of Tourism has won the First Prize in the category of TV Cinema Spot
at the prestigious international Golden City Gate Tourism Awards 2019.The awards
were given for the following promotional films and TV commercials produced under
the Incredible India 2.0 Campaign: Yogi of the Racetrack,The Reincarnation of Mr.
and Mrs. Jones, Sanctuary in Paris, Maharani of Manhattan and The Masala Master
Chef.The Golden City Gate Tourism Multi-media Awards are given annually in
various categories related to the Tourism and Hospitality sectors. The ‘Golden City
Gate’ is a creative multi-media international competition for countries, cities,
regions and hotels.

694.Japanese architect Arata Isozaki has been named 2019 laureate of the 46th
Pritzker Prize, architecture's most prestigious award,at the Palace of Versailles in
May 2019, with a public lecture in Paris.

695.FASER (or the Forward Search Experiment) will complement CERN’s ongoing
physics programme & extend its discovery potential to several new particles.

696.The book titled "Tiger Woman" has been authored by Bengali novelist Sirsho
Bandopadhyay. It is translated by Arunava Sinha from the Bengali version
"Shardulsundori" is set in the Calcutta of the 1880s.

697.116-year-old Japanese woman, Kane Tanaka has been honoured as the world's
oldest living person by Guinness World Records.

698.(GoI) has constituted a 5-member committee to examine the issues related to

framing of a proper, structured scheme for providing insurance cover to advocates
and suggest modalities for its implementation.The committee, under the
chairmanship of Legal Affairs Secretary Alok Srivastava.
699.India-Japan Space Dialogue was held in New Delhi that brought together outer
space related ministries and agencies in two countries.The dialogue provided an
opportunity to exchange information on the space policy of each country and to
hold discussions on space security, bilateral cooperation between JAXA-ISRO. The
space agencies Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Japan Aerospace
Exploration Agency (JAXA) focused on Surveillance and Maritime Domain
Awareness (MDA) of the waters in the East China Sea, the South China Sea and the
Indian Ocean.The Indian delegation was led by Additional Secretary for
Disarmament and International Security Affairs in Ministry of External Affairs,
Indra Mani Pandey.

700.Krishna Kumari Kohli has become the first-ever Thari Hindu woman to be
elected to the Senate of Pakistan in March 2018 and chaired the session of the
Upper House of Parliament on the occasion of the International Women’s Day (IWD-
2019).

701.European Union and the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) inaugurated the
Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence for European Union Studies in India at the varsity.
The Centre of Excellence for European Union Studies in India (CEEUSI) at JNU will
provide greater visibility to EU studies in India and South h Asia. After Manipal
Academy for Higher Education, JNU is one of only two Centers of Excellence
awarded EU funds in India.

702.Subhash Chandra Garg , a 1983 batch IAS officer of Rajasthan cadre, has been
designated as the new Finance Secretary (FS) of India.

703.Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports has granted provisional recognition to All
India Carrom Federation (AICF) as National Sport Federation with immediate effect
till up to 31st March 2019 or decision of the Hon’ble High Court of Delhi in the
matter, whichever is earlier.

704.Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat has recently launched the
free milk scheme “Mukhyamantri Anchal Amrit Yojana” for anganwadi children.

704.Malaysia has become the 124th member of the International Criminal Court
(ICC) after ratifying the Rome Statute.

706.(IRDAI) and the National Health Authority (NHA) have formed a Joint Working
Group (JWG) to curb fraud in the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya.11-
member group, with NHA Deputy CEO Dinesh Arora as the chair and lRDAl
Executive Director Suresh Mathur as the co-chair, would submit a report within 6
months on how to detect and deter fraud through a common repository and
capacity-building.JWG will develop standards for field verifications and
investigations besides guidelines to “name and shame” fraudsters.AB-PMJAY is the
health insurance scheme for availing secondary and tertiary care, cashless
treatment at empanelled private and public hospitals across AB-PMJAY is the health
insurance scheme for availing secondary and tertiary care, cashless treatment at
empanelled private and public hospitals across.
707.Indian-American television personality and internationally acclaimed food
expert, Padma Lakshmi has been appointed by the (UNDP) as its newest Goodwill
Ambassador on the eve of International Women’s Day (IWD-2019).

708.International Women’s Day (IWD) is celebrated every year on 8th of March 8 to

celebrate the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. The
purpose of the 2019 theme “Think Equal, Build Smart, Innovate for Change” is to
achieve gender equality by putting innovation by women and girls, for women and
girls, at the heart of efforts.Campaign theme of 2019 IWD “#BalanceforBetter”.

709.Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has recently approved the

investment sanction for construction of 624 MW Kiru Hydro Electric Project on
River Chenab in Kishtwar district of Jammu & Kashmir (J&K).

710.Dr Ajit Kumar Mohanty has been appointed new Director of Bhabha Atomic
Research Centre (BARC) for a period of 3 years.

711.Union Cabinet has approved the National Mission on Transformative Mobility

and Battery Storage to promote clean, connected, shared, sustainable and holistic
mobility initiatives in the country. The multi-disciplinary mission with an Inter-
Ministerial Steering Committee will be chaired by NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant.

712.Cabinet has recently approved the "Flood Management and Border Areas
Programme (FMBAP)" for Flood Management Works in entire country and River
Management Works in entire country and River Management Activities and works
related to Border Areas for the period 2017-18 to 2019-20.The funding pattern for
FM Component for works in general category States will continue to be 50%
(Centre) : 50% (State). For projects of North East states, Sikkim, Jammu and
Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, the Centre will bear 70% of the cost.

712.Google has recently launched a new app 'Bolo' that aims to help children in
primary school learn to read in Hindi and English. Bolo app will be available on Google
Play Store in India for all smartphones running Android 4.4 (Kit Kat) and higher, and can
also work offline.

714.Congress government in Chhattisgarh has recently constituted a high-level

committee under a retired Supreme Court judge to review cases against tribal who
are in prison for alleged involvement in Left-Wing Extremism ,Justice (retd) A K
Patnaik, will review the cases registered against people belonging to Scheduled
Tribes (ST) in the naxal-affected area.

714.Madhya Pradesh, ancient tribal language Gondi will be taught in tribal districts
to save it from becoming a thing of the past.

716.National Centre for Good Governance (NCGG) has recently signed a

Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Indian Institute of Corporate
Affairs (IICA) to ensure better utilisation of infrastructure facilities during training
programmes.NCGG has been set up by the Government of India (GoI) under the
aegis of DARPG (Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances).It
aims to promote good governance through capacity building on public policy and
governance both at national and international level and carrying out studies
research on issues relating to governance. Its head office is at New Delhi. The IICA,
registered as a society, is under the Ministry of Corporte Affairs with the primary
objective of establishing, managing, maintaining and running a world class institute.

716.3rd edition of the bilateral joint exercise “Al Nagah 2019” is scheduled to be
held between India and Oman from 12th to 25th March at Jabel Al Akhdar
Mountains in Oman.

718.Rice Knowledge Bank – Assam (RKB-Assam) is an agriculture web portal i.e.

dedicated to enhancing knowledge on rice production techniques, agricultural
technologies, best production practices and state agriculture facts. RKB-Assam has
been launched as part of the World Bank funded project- Assam Agri-business and
Rural Transformation (APART). The portal is the result of efforts of Assam Rural
Infrastructure and Agricultural Services Society (ARIAS), Assam Agricultural
University (AAU); with technical assistance from International Rice Research
Institute.

718.Thanga Darlong, the 99-year old tribal musician and music guru, has been
conferred the first Atal Behari Vajpayee Life Time Award for preserving the musical
form during the 37th Agartala Book Fair in Tripura. Darlong is the last tribal
musician to play Rosem – a bamboo made a flute-like musical instrument.

720.Hewlett Packard India has recently signed a MoU with the Andhra Pradesh
Innovation Society (APIS) and Andhra Pradesh Economic Development Board
(APEDB) to build a Center of Excellence (CoE) for Additive Manufacturing (AM)
powered by HP’s 3D printing technology.

721.(FAO) has recently said that five candidates have been presented by FAO
member countries for the post of Director-General, to be elected in June 2019.India
has nominated NITI Aayog member and agricultural economics and policy expert
Ramesh Chand to lead a specialised agency of the United Nations focussed on
achieving food security for all. The other candidates are Qu Dongyu of China, Medi
Moungui of Cameroon, Catherine Geslain-Laneelle of France and Davit Kirvalidze of
Georgia. The next Director-General of FAO will be appointed for the period August 1,
2019 to July 31, 2023 and will be eligible for only one additional mandate of four
years.

722.e Prime Minister’s Science, Technology and Innovation Advisory Council (PM-
STIAC) has identified nine Science and Technology missions with focus on ‘Science
for People and People for Science’. These missions include Natural Language
Translation (NLT), Quantum Frontier, Artificial Intelligence (AT),National
Biodiversity Mission (NBM), Electric Vehicles, Bioscience for Human Health, Waste
to Wealth, Deep Ocean Exploration and AGNIi (Accelerating Growth for New India’s
Innovations).

723.Tripura government has launched a one-month project - Notun Disha (new

direction) to provide training to school teachers.In it, the state government has
decided to distribute laptops to 800 school teachers to assess the level of students’
development in different disciplines.

724.Niti Aayog has recently released Delta ranking report. In it, the Hailakandi
district of Assam has been ranked first among the 112 aspirational distriicts of
India, followed by Kondagaon district of Chhattisgarh. Hailakandi has made a giant
leap from 52nd position to no. 1 position on the basis of its performance during
November-December 2018 and January 2019. For securing the first rank as an
aspirational district, Hailakandi will be given an allocation of Rs. 10 crore.

724.Indore has been adjudged India's cleanest city for the 3rd straight year in the
central government's cleanliness survey ‘Swachh Survekshan 2019’.Top ranked
cities received a statue of Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi as award for their
work towards cleanliness.New Delhi Municipal Council area was given the 'Cleanest
Small City' award, Uttarakhand's Gauchar was adjudged the 'Best Ganga Town' in
the central gov survey.

726.Israeli spacecraft “Beresheet” on it’s first-ever moon mission has recently sent
its first selfie back to Earth.

727.World Bank (WB) and the Government of India (GoI) has signed a $250 million
loan agreement for the National Rural Economic Transformation Project to boost
Rural Incomes across 13 States in India.

728.Dr. Mahesh Sharma has recently inaugurated ‘Azaadi Ke Diwane’ museum at the
Red Fort premises in New Delhi. The museum is dedicated to the unsung hereroes of
the country’s freedom struggle and is built by the Archaeological Survey of India
(ASI).

729.Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah, a Kuwaiti politician and sports administrator,

has been re-elected president of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) for an 8th term
despite being embroiled in a forgery case brought by Swiss investigators.The
headquarters of the OCA is located at Kuwait City.

730.(GSI) has launched 22 permanent Global Positioning System (GPS) stations

across India to identify seismically hazardous zones and encourage mapping
activity.22 GPS-Geodetic (pertaining to Geodesy, the science of earth measurement)
observatories.

731.P Venkata Ramesh Babu, a 1985 batch IAS officer, has been appointed as the
director-general of the National Archives of India (NAI).

732.New Delhi Declaration on Asian Rhinos 2019’ has recently signed by the five
rhino range nations – India, Bhutan, Nepal, Indonesia and Malaysia - for the
conservation and protection of the species at the recently held 2nd Asian Rhino
Range Countries meeting in New Delhi.The meet was organized by the Ministry of
Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) in collaboration with IUCN
Asian Rhino Specialist Group, WWF-India and aaranyak.
733.Narendra Modi launched the Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Mandhan (PM-SYM)
Yojana at Vastral in Gandhinagar.The national pension scheme for workers and
labourers of unorganised sector was announced in the interim Budget 2019. It will
provide monthly pension of Rs. 3000 to the employees of unorganised sector after
60 years of age. The scheme will benefit 10 crore workers in unorganised sector.

734.Modi launched a National Common Mobility Card (NCMC) in Ahmedabad,

Gujarat, which will function on the “One Nation One Card” model across the
country.NCMC is the India’s first indigenously developed payment platform for
transport that can be used to make payments across public transport anywhere in
country, including Metro, bus and suburban railways, for toll and parking, and for
retail like any credit or debit card.Beside this, PM Modi also launched an Automatic
Fare-Collection system (AFC) called ‘SWEEKAR’, and a gate and card-reader system
called ‘SWAGAT’. The three together will enable the use of the national mobility card
across the country without a conflict with existing Point-of-Sale (PoS) machine.

734.Rajnath Singh has inaugurated the project BOLD-QIT (Border Electronically

Dominated QRT Interception Technique) on India-Bangladesh border in Dhubri of
Assam. The project is a part of the Comprehensive Integrated Border Management
System (CIBMS), which many countries including Israel have adopted toensure
proper border management. Hence, the implementation of the BOLD-QIT project
will not only help Border Security Force (BSF) to curb all types of cross border
crimes but also provide respite to the troops from round the clock human
surveillance.BSF is responsible for safeguarding of over 4,000km long International
Border with Bangladesh.

736.Sarbananda Sonowal has recently ordered a ban on molasses in the state in the
aftermath of the hooch tragedy in two districts - Golaghat and Jorhat.

737.Air Force Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman will be honoured with the
first-ever ‘Bhagwan Mahavir Ahimsa Puraskar’, which is instituted by the Akhil
Bharatiya Digambar Jain Mahasamiti.

738.(ISRO) has launched “Yuva Vigyani Karyakram (or Young Scientist Programme)
for school children to be studying in the 9th standard. ISRO scientists will impart
basic knowledge on Space Technology, Space Science and Space Applications to the
children to arouse their interest in emerging areas of Space activities. ISRO will
conduct “Catch them young” residential training programme of around two weeks
duration during summer holidays for these children.

739.India's aerospace scientist and Chief of (DRDO), Dr. G Satheesh Reddy has been
conferred the Missile Systems Award 2019 by the American Institute of Aeronautics
and Astronautics (AIAA). He will share the prize with Rondell J. Wilson, a former
Principal Engineering Fellow of Raytheon Missile Systems.

740.General Assembly of Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) has decided to include

cricket in the sports programme in the 2022 edition of the Asian Games, which is
scheduled to be held in Hangzhou, China. The last time cricket featured in the Asian
Games was in the 2010 and 2014 edition but Team India opted out, busy.

741.World Wildlife Day (WWD) is observed every year on 3rd of March. The 2019
theme “Life Below Water: For people and planet” aims to “conserve and sustainably
use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable dev.

742.Tea Board of India is a state agency of the Government of India (GoI)

established to promote the cultivation, processing, and domestic trade as well as
export of tea from India. It was established by the enactment of the Tea Act in 1953
with its headquarters in Kolkata. Union Ministry of Commerce has reappointed P K
Bezbaruah as the chairman of Tea Board for a period of three years. Bezbaruah, the
owner of Bokahola Tea Company in Assam, was earlier appointed as chairman of Tea
Board as its first non-IAS officer. He was also instrumental in initiating a revamp of
the old electronic auctioning system.

743.8th edition of joint military exercise 'Sampriti-2019' between the armies of

India and Bangladesh has recently started at Bongobondhu Cantonment in Tangail,
Bangladesh

744.United States has officially shuttered its consulate in Jerusalem & downgraded
the status of its main diplomatic mission to the Palestinians by folding it into the
U.S. Embassy to Israel.

746.Bajrang Punia has won a gold medal in 65 kilogram freestyle at the Dan Kolov-
Nikol Petrov tournament in Ruse, Bulgaria. He beat American Jordan Oliver 12-3 in
the final & also secured the maximum ranking points from the tournament.

746.The book titled "Designing Destiny: The Heartfulness Way" has been authored
by Spiritual teacher Kamlesh Patel, who is popularly known as Daaji.

747.Modi inaugurated an Indo-Russian joint venture (JV) that will manufacture the
new 7.62x39 mm caliber Kalashnikov AK-203 rifle in Korwa near Amethi.

748.Macky Sall has been re-elected for a second term as President of

Senegal,President of Senegal is elected using the two-round system; a candidate
must receive over 50% of the vote to be elected in the first round.

749.Modi has recently addressed the Construction Technology India 2019

conference on 'Global Housing Technology Challenge', in New Delhi. PM Modi
declared the 2019-2020 as the Year of construction technology in a bid to increase
the use of modern technology in the construction sector.

749.Bhagwan Lal Sahni, a BJP leader from Bihar's Muzaffarpur, appointed new
Chairman of the newly constituted National Commission for Backward Classes .

761.Anil Kumble, a former Indian captain of Tests and ODIs, has been reappointed
as the Chairman of the International Cricket Council (ICC) Cricket Committee for the
third consecutive time. This 3-year stint will end in 2021 and be his final term as
the Chairman of the ICC Cricket Committee.
762.Odisha State Disaster Management Authority (OSDMA) has been honoured with
the coveted SKOCH award for 2018 for its remarkable achievements in the field of
disaster management at the 56th SKOTCH Summit at New Delhi on February 25.

763.(RBI) and Bank of Japan (BOJ) have signed a Bilateral Swap Arrangement (BSA)
for $75 billion that will help in bringing greater stability in foreign exchange and
capital markets in the country.

764.Supreme Court pulled up the Haryana government for passing amendments to

an act which allows construction in the ecologically-sensitive Aravalli hill.A bench
of Justices Arun Mishra and Deepak Gupta.

766.Shekhar has won the 10 kilometre race of Nepal's Chief of Army Staff (COAS)
Open Marathon and Run for Fun held in Kathmandu. Shekhar of CISF,Contingent at
Embassy of India in Kathmandu secured first position.

766.West Indies opener Chris Gayle has become the first-ever player to smash 500
sixes in international cricket

767.Zero Discrimination Day (ZDD) is observed every year on 1st of March to

promote equality before the law and in practice throughout all of the member
countries of the UN.2019 campaign 'Act to change laws that Discriminate' challenges
people to act against laws that discriminate in their country. The campaign
encourage s people to ask themselves "What if …" and to think about their own
actions.

768.Smriti Zubin Irani launched a comprehensive programme for the development

of knitting and knitwear sector in the country under the PowerTex India schEME IN
DELHI.

769.BCG-IBA report titled ‘EASE Reforms for Public Sector Banks’ has measured the
performance of each Public Sector Bank (PSB) on 140 objective metrics across six
themes, including customer responsiveness, credit off-take, and digitization. As per
report, the Punjab National Bank .

770.Lignocellulosic biomass (or LC biomass) refers to plant biomass that is

composed of carbohydrate polymers (cellulose, hemicellulose), and an aromatic
polymer (lignin).Cabinet has approved the "Pradhan Mantri JI-VAN (Jaiv Indhan-
Vatavaran Anukool fasal awashesh Nivaran) Yojana" for providing financial support
to Integrated Bioethanol Projects using lignocellulosic biomass and other renewable
feedstock.

771.(RBI) has recently constituted an 8-member task force headed by its former
deputy governor Usha Thorat to examine issues related to offshore rupee markets
and recommend policy measures to ensure the stability of the external value of the
domestic currency.

772.National Science Day (NSD-2019), the Union Human Resource Development

(HRD) Minister, Prakash Javadekar launched Rs 250 Crore scheme ‘STARS’ to fund
500 science projects. The selection of these projects would be done on the basis of
competitions.The project will be coordinated by (IISc), Bangalore. Interested
candidates will have to submit applications to take part in the competition.STARS
stands for “Scheme for Translational and Advanced Research”. Beside this, the HRD
Ministry in collaboration with the National Skill Ministry and Labour and
employment Ministry collaboratively launched SHREYAS – Scheme for Higher
Education Youth for Apprenticeship and Skills to empower non-Tech courses.

773.National Science Day (NSD) is observed every yearon 28th of February to mark
the discovery of Raman effect by Physicist C V Raman on 28th February, 1928.Sir CV
Raman was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1930.National Science Day was
marked for the first time on February 28, 1987.theme=='Science for the People and
the People for Science'.

774.(National Book Trust) has appointed educationist and author Govind Prasad
Sharma as its new Chairman.NBT is an autonomous organisation under the
Department of Higher Education of Union Ministry of Human Resource Development
(HRD).

774.England opener Alastair Cook has officially received the knighthood for his
services to cricket by the Queen in an official ceremony at the Buckingham PALACE.

776.Prakash Javadekar has launched the Scheme for Higher Education Youth in
Apprenticeship and Skills (SHREYAS) for providing industry apprenticeship
opportunities to fresh graduates through the National Apprenticeship Promotional
Scheme (NAPS).

777.International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague ruled that the United Kingdom
must transfer the Chagos Islands (Diego Garcia) to Mauritius as they were not
legally separated from the latter in 1965. It has ruled that continued British
occupation of the remote Indian Ocean archipelago is illegal.

778.India has been ranked 47th out of 100 countries in the Inclusive Internet Index
(3i) 2019, which is prepared by the 'Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) for
Facebook. The list is topped by Sweden, followed by Singapore and the US.

779.Indian playwright Mahesh Elkunchwar has been chosen for the 2019 META
Lifetime Achievement Award. He will be conferred upon with the award on March
12 along with the winners of the 14th Mahindra Excellence in Theatre Awards
(META) festival.

780.Suresh Raina has become the first Indian batsman to cross 8000 runs in T20
cricket. He achieved this feat when he scored 12 runs against Puducherry in Syed
Mushtaq Ali Trophy at Delhi.

781.Suresh Prabhu inaugurated National Institutes of Design (NID) at Bhopal in

Madhya Pradesh and Jorhat in Assam through video conference from New Delhi on
22 feb.Both institutes are autonomous institutions under Department for Promotion
of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce and Industry.e
National Design Policy 2007 had recommended setting up design institutes on the
lines of NID Ahmedabad in other parts of India to promote design promote design
programs. Four new NIDs have been set up in Andhra Pradesh (Amaravati), Assam
(Jorhat), Madhya Pradesh (Bhopal) and Haryana (Kurukshetra).