Dharmendra Pradhan, the minister of state (in-charge) for Petroleum and Natural Gas in May 2017, co-

chaired the 2nd India –OPEC Institutional Dialogue at the Organisation of the Petroleum exporting
Countries held in Vienna, Australia.

The two day Start Up India Summit was Convened in United Arab Emirates.

India has signed a joint declaration with Germany for co-operation in the field of Alternative medicine.

The Union Cabinet has approved MoU between India and Spain in the field of Organ Transplant
Services

The 52nd Annual General Meeting of African Development Bank (AfDB) is being held at
Gandhinagar in Gujarat from May 22-26, 2017.

India imposed anti dumping duty on a Chinese chemical used in the Pharma industry and aluminium
foil to protect domestic industry from cheap imports.

Bilateral exercise SIMBEX-17 between Indian and Republic of Singapore Navy commences from 18th
May to 24th May 2017 in South China sea.

The Union Cabinet has given its approval to the signing of an agreement between India and Australia
on Co-operation in Combating International Terrorism.

Italy had upheld the ban on Sikhs carrying their ceremonial knives.

India and Palestine were inked five agreements for co-operation in various sectors during the state
visit of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to India.

During the two day India-US Maritime Security Dialogue in Rhode Island , a discussion to
strengthen maritime security co-operation was made between the top Indian and American Officials.

India has been elected as the President of UN habitat for the third time after 2007 and 1988 to lead
United Nations Human Settlements Programme. Un Habitat came into being in 1978.Mr. Venkaiah Naidu
chaired the 26th Governing Council Meeting held at Nairobi, Kenya. The theme of the four day meeting of
58 member nations is “ Opportunities for effective implementation of the New Urban Agenda.”

India hopes to pursue a strategic partnership with Japan for regional peace and stability said by Mr.
Arun Jaitely to his Japanese Counterpart Tomomi Inada during the annual Asian development Bank meeting
held at Japan on 7th May 2017

PM Modi will be visiting Colombo to attend International day of Vesak festival ( Buddha Poornima)that is
going to held from 12-14 May. This is the first time Sri Lanka is hosting this festival.

India –Russia Intergovernmental Commission held in New Delhi and they agreed to closely work to
take forward many of the collaborative ideas in diverse fields like space, nuclear disaster management, trade
and economy ,etc.

The 29th edition of Coordinated Patrol (CORPAT)begins at Port Blair between India and
Indonesia on 9th May 2017 under the aegis of Andaman and Nicobar Command. This will enhance the
mutual understanding and inter operability between the navies of the two countries. The Indonesian Naval
Ship KRI Sutedi Senoputra arrived at Port Blair to mark the commencement of 29th series of IND-INDO
CORPAT . The closing ceremony is planned at Belawan, Indonesia from 22 to 25th May 2017.

International Court of Justice (Hague) stayed the execution of Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav who
was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court for alleged spying.
 To mark the 156th anniversary of Tagore‟s birthday(8th May) , a cultural festival is organized by
India in Egypt. This is going to be hosted by the Maulana Azad Centre for Indian Culture, the cultural wing
of the Indian Embassy in Cairo.

Two of Indian Navy‟s western naval command ships ( INS Mumbai and INS Aditya) visited Egyptian
Port City of Alexandria to strengthen the military co-operation between Egypt and India.

The Union cabinet approves co-operation between India and Japan on Railway safety and signed
MoC on it.The MoC also provides a platform for Indian railways to interact and share the latest
development and knowledge in the railway sector.

Indians holding the US visa or green card can now avail arrival visa at Dubai at any point anywhere.
World
China was rankled as the most complex tax jurisdiction in Asia –Pacific as per 2017 Asia Pacific Tax
Complexity Survey conducted by Deloitte.

President of Egypt Abdel Fattah al -Sisi has signed into a law a contentious new bill to regulate non-
governmental organizations (NGO‟s), making it harder for charities to operate.

Gregg Allaman , the renowned musician of the United States has passed away recently.

Former Panama dictator Manuel Noriega has passed away recently.

Afghanistan has witnessed the launching of its first ever women‟ s only Television channel.
Zbigniew Brzezinski, National security advisor to Jimmy Carter during the chaotic years of the Iran
hostage crisis and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in the late 1970‟s has passed away.
Former Greek Prime Minister Constantine Mitsotakis has passed away.

The 70th World Health Assembly recently commenced at Geneva, Switzerland

Interpol has issued an arrest notice for fugitive former Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli to face
charges he engaged in political espionage during his term (2009-2014 )

The United Nations has released the first draft of its treaty that would legally prohibit the possessions of
Nuclear Weapons.

Roger Moore (89), the former James bond star has passed away due to cancer.

World‟s smallest nation “ Nauru “ ratified the International Solar Alliance Pact.

Prime Minister of Nepal Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda was resigned recently.

Lenin Moreno was elected as the President of Ecuador.

Al –Jazeera, the renowned newschannel has been blocked by three Arab Nations.

Donald Trump , the president of USA called for an International Isolation of Iran to root out terrorism
from the region

Hassan Rouhani has been re-elected as the President of Iran. He was elected as president for his first
term in 2013.

Victoria, a state of Australia, is considering a legislation that will legalize assisted suicide for
terminally ill patients. Patients suffering from ailments like Motor
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, Chairman and group CEO of Make My Trip was appointed as Vice Chairman of IAMAI.
 Anurag Tripathy was appointed as the Secretary of CBSE for a period of 5 years.

Amul Thapar has become the second Indian –American to be appointed to a key judicial position in
the US Circuit Court of Appeals.

Air Marshal PN Pradhan has been appointed as the Deputy Chief of Integrated Defence Staff
(Operations)

Tariq Mansoor was appointed as the Vice chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University.

VK Saraswat was appointed as the Chancellor of JNU( Jawaharlal Nehru University ). He succeeds
former ISRO Chairman K Kasturirangan.

Justice Mukul Mudgal was appointed as the Chairman of FIFA Governance Committee and the
Former Vice President of the European Commission Olli Rehn ( Finland )will be the deputy Chairman of
FIFA Governance Committee

Aruna Sundararajan was appointed as the Secretary of Department of Telecommunications.

Amitabh Bachchan has been chosen as the WHO‟s good will ambassador for hepatitis in South-
East Asia to spread awareness about this disease in this region.

Vinay Mohan Kwatra has been appointed as India‟s next ambassador to France .

Sanjay Mitra appointed as Defence Secretary he will succeed G Mohan Kumar who his going to
complete his tenure on 24th May 2017.This is his first posting in Defence Ministry . He belongs to 1982
IAS Batch .

Brij Bihari Kumar was appointed as the new Chairman of ICSSR(Indian Council of Social Science
Research ). He would be succeeding SK Thorat

Prabhat Kamal Bezboruah became the first non-IAS to became the Chairman of Tea Board of India-
Kolkatta

Renowned Coffee grower MS Boje Gowda was appointed as the Chairman of the Coffee Board of
India –Bangalore

Mallikarjun Kharge was appointed as the chairman of Public Accounts Committee(PAC)

TKK Krishna Kumar was appointed as India‟s Coco-cola President.He will replace current president
Venkatesh Kini who served the company for 19 years.

Anthony Lianzuala became the first person from North –East region to hold the position of Controller
General of Account (CGA). He is 1982 batch ICAS officer.
Economy
The Reserve Bank of India has announced that new one rupee note has been printed by the government
and will be soon put into circulation. The new note will feature „Bharat Sarkar‟ on its masthead, and
„Government of India‟ printed below that. In contrast all the other currencies in India has „Bharatiya
Reserve Bank‟ and „Reserve Bank of India‟ printed on them. This is because the one-rupee note has always
been issued by the central government.The watermarks of the Re 1 note will include the Ashoka Pillar,
the hidden numeral “1” and the hidden word “Bharat” in Hindi). The note will also feature an image of the
„Sagar Samrat‟ oil exploration rig. The new Re.1 one will be predominantly pink-green on the obverse
and reverse in combination with other colours. The new one rupee note will bear the rupee symbol. It will
be 9.7 by 6.3 cm in dimension.The central bank said that the note will bear the signature of Shakthikanta
Das , Secretary, Ministry of Finance , rest other notes bear the signature of RBI Governor.
 The Income Tax department (ITD) announced that tax payers can now link their Aadhaar card no
with and Permanent Account Number ( PAN) by using SMS based facility.The two no‟s can be linked
by sending an SMS either to 567678 or 56161. Moreover, people can also use IT department‟s e-filing
website.

India lost its fastest growing majority economy tag in the Jan-March period, which was the 4th quarter
of the financial year 2016-2017 with the GDP coming down to 6.1 % compared with previous quarter
provisional 7%.

The Union Cabinet chaired by PM Modi on 24th May 2017 approved the proposal to phase out Foreign
Investment Promotion board (FIPB) and allowing administrative ministries and departments to process
applications for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) requiring government approval.

India recently became the second largest producer of steel in the World. China stands at the top in the
world.

The GST Council has finalised a 4-slab service tax structure at the rates of 5, 12, 18 and 28 per cent as
against the single rate of 15%. GST regime is scheduled to be implemented from July 1.
The GST council has fixed the rate of 1211 items. Household items like Sugar, Tea, Coffee and edible
oil will attract 5% levy. Cereals and milk will be exempted from the tax. Manufactured goods will attract
18% levy. Luxury cars will attract 28% GST in addition to a cess of 15%. Small petrol cars will attract 28%
GST plus a 1% cess, and diesel cars will be taxed at 28% plus 3% cess. Capital goods, a key asset for the
manufacturing sector, will be taxed at 28%. Aerated drinks will fall under the 28% tax bracket.

PFRDA –CRISIL report titled „ Financial Security for India‟s elderly – The imperatives‟ on 15th
May 2017 said that India will gradually transform young to” greying country “ and by 2050 every 5th Indian
will be in the 60s as against ever 12th at present. In 2015 almost 90 % of the population was below the age
of 60 years and the working population stood at 44%.

Income Tax department has initiated “ Operation Clean Money “Portal to investigate tax evaders.

The government has raised the base year of wholesale price index (WPI) and Index of Industrial
production (IIP ) to 2011-2012 from 2004-2005

India -Chile expanded Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) to come into effect from 16th May 2017

IDBI bank is put under watch list for Prompt Corrective Action (PCA) due to high bad loans.

According to RBI, India‟s Forex reserves have increased to $375.71 billion , this is the very high value
in its life time that is due to increase in foreign currency assets. ( FCA‟s)

The Income Tax (IT) Department launched an e-facility for tax payers to link their Permanent
Account Number (PAN) with Aadhaar.

RBI tightened the rule of Joint Lenders Forum (JLF) under “ Framework for revitalizing distressed
assets in the economy guidelines on Joint Lenders Forum(JLF) and Corrective Action Plan (CAP) . These
new rules are more effective and direct banks to not to break any rules and to meet all the deadlines.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has tightened the rules around making the Joint Lenders‟ Forum
(JLF) more effective, directing banks not to break any rules and to meet all deadlines. The RBI has said that
any breach of rules would attract a monetary penalty. India‟s foreign exchange (Forex) reserves have
increased by $1.594 billion as
RBI‟s Statistical supplement. The increase was due to increase in foreign currency assets (FCAs).
 The Union cabinet approved an ordinance to amend the Banking Regulation Act for dealing with non
performing assets (NPA‟s) in the banking system to eliminate the problems of bad loans.

The Union cabinet has approved the modifications in the recommendations of 7th Central Pay
Commission on pay and Pensionary benefits in the course of their implementation.

UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific ( ESCAP) has released its annual
flagship report titled “ The Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the pacific 2017” said that India is
expected to achieve 7.1% economic growth in 2017 as re-monetisation restores consumption and
infrastructure funding increases .

Fitch, in its latest rating review, has affirmed India‟s sovereign rating at BBB-, which is the lowest
investment grade rating. According to the rating agency, India‟s general government debt burden was
67.9% of GDP whereas the „BBB‟ median is 40.9%.

Madhya Pradesh became the first state in the country to shift the financial year to January –
December from April-March . It would mean shifting the tax assessment year, Changes in infrastructure at
the company level. Current financial year is going to conclude by Dec 2107

Janalakshmi financial services Ltd , a small Finance bank has finally received its license from RBI

Important Days

May 31- World No tobacco day

Reserve Bank of India will observe 2017 Financial Literacy week from 5th -9th June 2017.

May 29- International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers is observed across the world with the
theme of 2017 “ Investing in peace around the world . Two Indian peace keepers Brijesh Thapa and
Ravi Kumar were among the 117 military, police and civilian personnel who were honoured with Dag
Hammarskjold Medal .
May 23- World Turtle Day is observed every year .

May 22 -International Day for Biodiversity or World Biodiversity Day with the theme of 2017 is
“Biodiversity and Sustainable Tourism”.

May 21- World Day for Cultural diversity for Dialogue and Development was observed with aim to
bridge the gap between different cultures.

May 18- International Museum Day with the theme 2017 “ Museums and contested Histories:
Saying the unspeakable in museums.”

May 18- World AIDS Vaccine Day

May 17 – World Telecommunication and Information Society Day and the Theme for 2017 is ”Big
Data for Big Impact “

May 10 –World Migratory bird Day with the theme (2017) “ Their Future is our Future – A
Healthy Planet for Migratory Birds and people.”

May 11-National Technology Day with the theme 2017 “Technology for inclusive and sustainable
growth “. The day is celebrated to commemorate the anniversary of Pokhran nuclear test in 1998

May 1-15 2017 – Swachhta Pakhwada is observed throughout the country by the Union ministry of
Textiles in order to spread the message of cleanliness. Seminar on the scheme “ waste to wealth “ to be
organized. Films on “ waste to wealth “ to be made by NIFT students to be organized .
 May 3- World Press Freedom Day with the theme 2017 – “ Critical minds for Critical times”:
Media‟s role in advancing peaceful, just and inclusive societies “

May 2- World Asthma Day observed globally with the theme 2017:”Asthama: Better Air, Better
Breathing”

May 1 – International Labour Day . It is celebrated top commemorate the happenings of 4th May, 1886
Hay Market Masscare in Chicago.

May 2- The Ganga Swachhta Sankalp Diwas was observed in more than 30 locations across India
through the support of National Mission on Clean Ganga‟s Volunteer Wing , Ganga Vichaar Manch.

30th April –International Jazz Day . It was observed with an aim to raise awareness in the international
community of the virtues of jazz as an education tool and creates an opportunity for mutual understanding
and tolerance. This year the host city is Havana, Cuba. It was attended by UNESCO-Director General Irina
Bokova and UBNESCO Goodwill ambassador for Intercultural Dialogue Herbie Hancock.

Awards & Honours

Sangeet Natak Akademi Puraskar for the year 2016 has been awarded to Satyabrata Rout for
developing a unique method of teaching and practicing direction and design achieved from his experience
working with eminent theatre practitioners and scholars. He is a professor from the Department of Theatre
Arts, S N School of Arts and Communication, University of Hyderabad (UoH).

International icon Priyanka Chopra will be receiving prestigious Dadasaheb Phalke Academy Award
under the newly introduced category “ Internationally acclaimed actress” for her great work in the
international platform on June 1st in Mumbai.

Two Indian Peace Keepers Brijesh Thapa and Ravi Kumar were honoured with a prestigious UN
medal ( Dag Hammerskjold Medal ) awarded posthumously for courage and service in the line of duty on
24th May 2017.

Rohan Chakravarthy , the Indian wild life and environment cartoonist won the 2017 WWF
International President Award

Prashant Ranganathan has emerged winner in the world‟s largest pre-college science competition in
the environment engineering category for his work on biodegradation of pesticides in the Intel
International Science and Engineering Fair held in the US.

Indian Scientist Shrinivas Kulkarni wins David Prize 2017. He will share the award with Andrej
Udalski of the University of Warsaw and Neil Gehrels of NASA for their discoveries on domain
astrophysics.

Along with Dr. Purnima Barman, Another Indian activist Sanjay Gubbi also won the Green Oscar (
Whitley award) for their works in the field of animal and bird conservation in India. Other winners of this
award are Indira Lacerna ( Wildman from Philippines )Ian Little (from South Africa), Alexander Blanco(
from Venezuela) and Ximena – Velez-Liendo from Bolivia.
First Bhairon Singh Shekawat Life time Achievement Honour in Public service is given to Sikkim CM
Pavan Kumar Chamling by President of India Shri Pranab Mukhurjee.

The first Tamil Film going to host at Cannes Film Festival is “ Sangamithra” directed by Sundar.C
and Jeyam Ravi and Arya in its lead role.

Anshu Jamsenpa (from Bomdila in Arunachal Pradesh) became the first Indian woman to scale the
Mt. Everest for the fourth time.
 Renowned biologist Dr. Purnima Devi Barman was nominated for prestigious Whitley awards( Green
Oscar) for her efforts and campaign to save the Greater Adjutant Stork . She has been working with
Dadra, Pachariya and Hingimari villages of Kamrup district of Assam. She is associated with Aaranyak , a
Guwhati based NGO which works for conservation of wild life.

David Letterman was awarded with the Mark Twain Prize 2017 for American Humour . He is the
one whowas the longest – running host of the late night TV shows in the United States. He is also a past
recipient of Kennedy Centre Honours for his influence on American Culture.

Krishna Kumari, health worker of Ganjam district of Odisha bagged the Prestigious Florence
Nightingale award 2017

Konkana Sen Sharma has won the best director award for her directorial debut “ A death in the Gunj
and the best actress award for Lipstick Under My Burkha at 2017 New York Indain Film Festival.

Harry Potter Actress , Emma Watson made history by winning the first –ever MTV “genderless
award”for best actor for her role as Belle in the movie titled “ Beauty and the Beast “

The 29th edition of the Sunday Times Rich List‟ released the names of UK‟s 1000 wealthiest people
including 40 Indian-born citizens. Hinduja Brothers Srichand and Gopichand have topped the list to
become the top of 134 billionaires in the country. The Mumbai-born David and Simon Reuben has been
placed at the third position. The second place in the list was allotted to the Ukrainian businessman Len
Blavatnik. Duke of Westminster, Hugh Grosevenor, The famous steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal has jumped up
seven spots in this edition‟s list to reach the fourth spot this year.

Om Puri ( Indian actor ) was conferred the award for outstanding achievement in Cinema posthumously
at the 7th Annual Asian Awards.

2017 UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press freedom prize is awarded to imprisoned Eritrean –Swedish
Journalist Dawit Isaak. This award is created in 1997

Holly wood film “ The Black Prince” starring Indian Actress Shabana Azmi and singer-poet Satinder
Sartaaj was awarded Special Jury Remi Award at Houston International film festival.

Indian actress Priyanka Chopra will be attending UNICEF gala , a fund raising event in South Africa to
support and highlight the challenges faced by children subjected to violence and abuse

Pop star Britney Spears was honored with 2017 Radio Disney Music Awards with the Ceremony‟s
first ever icon award.

Sanjay Pratihar was recently honoured with the 2017 INSA ( Indian National Science Academy)
medal for young scientist. This award was instituted in 1974. It is considered to be the highest recognition
of promise, creativity and excellence in a young scientist.This award is given to him for his outstanding
contributionsto multi metal complexes, theoretical understanding,selective sensing of Hg2+ions and
important applications in agriculture.It is going award by December 2017 to 30 young scientists from
various fields.

Aga Khan foundation has bagged the FCCI – Indian Sanitation Coalition Prize

The 44th Day time Emmy awards were announced at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in Pasadena, Los
Angeles. General Hospital was declared as the Outstanding drama series while Jeopardy grabbed the
Outstanding drama show award.
Science and Technology
Scientists at IIT Kharagpur has come up with a new technology known as „soil-to-soil‟
manufacturing technology for manufacturing cheaper, quicker and pollution-free fuel simply known as bio
fuel.. The technology is in the process of being patented.
 United States for the first time has successfully tested its defence system against an intercontinental
ballistic missile (ICBM). The test comes at the backdrop of US‟s increased tensions with North Korea.

India‟s own Global Positioning System “NavIC” will be operational from 2018.The Indian system is
expected to be significantly more accurate than the GPS
powered by American Satellites. The American GPS with 24 satellites in a constellation has wider reach
and covers the entire world while NavIC with 7 satellites covers only India and its surroundings.

NASA develops technology to help drones to land safely during emergency. After 8 test flights the
technology has successfully spotted safer landing zones like swamps or drainage ditches to crash.

Researchers in the US have reportedly identified a new way to slow down the growth of cancer cells
by a new method which involves a protein called Tudor-SN and the gene editing technology CRISPR-
Cas9.

A new glass frog species Hyalinobatrachium yaku with transparent skin and visible beating heart was
found in Eucador.

The newly built Aeronautical Test Range (ATR) of the Defence Research & Development Organisation
(DRDO) has inaugurated by the Defence Minister Arun Jaitley at Chitradurga in Karnataka.

India‟s first multi-modal electric vehicle project has inaugurated by Maharashtra‟s CM Devendra
Fadnavis at the Nagpur Airport Complex. The pilot project will have a fleet of 200 electric vehicles
including taxis, buses, e-rickshaw and auto rickshaws. All these electric-powered public transport
vehicles will be fully owned by cab aggregator Ola. In addition, four electric charging station has also
been built by Ola in various places of Nagpur including the Nagpur airport.

NASA‟s Juno spacecraft has discovered Earth-sized cyclones at the poles of the Jupiter. It has also
unveiled the presence of the storm systems that travel deep into the heart of the planet.

ISRO is set to launch India‟s heaviest rocket , “ fat boy “ , the geosynchronous satellite launch vehicle
Mark III ( GSLV MK-III) on 5th June 2017.This weighs as much as 200 fully grown Asian elephants.
India stands at 4th place in capable of sending manned missions to space after US, Russia and China.]

Construction works for building Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) has commenced in Chile , which
will become the world‟s largest optical telescope .The telescope will be constructed at a 3,000 meter-high
mountain in the middle of the Atacama desert. The ELT is funded by the European Southern
Observatory.The telescope is scheduled to commence its operations in 2024.

Apple has opened its first store in Southeast Asia at Singapore‟s upmarket shopping district.

Dubai has recently recruited robot police officer Robocop in its police force.

Deaf –blind people “ Watch” television without intermediaries was developed by the researchers under
“PervasiveSUB project”

Astronomers using the Solar Digital Sky Survey ( SDSS) have created the world‟s first map of the
large scale structure of the universe based entirely on the position of Quasars. Quasars are incredibly
bright and distant points of light.

The scientists have observed a sharp increase in biological activity in Antarctica in the last 50 years, a
new study conducted by a team of scientists from the University of Exeter in the UK revealed that plant life
on Antarctica is growing rapidly due to climate change.
 IIT Delhi scientists have developed cheapest respiratory filter and this product will be available in the
market worldwide under the brand name Nasofilter by Nanoclean Global Pvt Ltd, a company formed by
the innovators.

Karthick Chandran , a professor in the department of Microbiology at the Albert Einstein College of
medicine in Bronx, New York helped in identifying the antibodies to fight against Ebola virus

Two researchers from IIT, Madras has created a white light using the extracts of Red pomegranate and
turmeric.

The Light Combat aircraft ( Tejas )has been successfully test fired BVR Missile ( Derby Air to Air
Beyond visual range ) from Chandipur, Odisha.

Shadow Brokers (cyber gang )has carried out the attack by stealing a hacking tool “Eternal Blue” from
America‟s most powerful military intelligence unit NSA (National Security Agency ). This cyber attack
reached nearly 100 countries including India.

India test fired a surface to air missile “ Spyder”( Surface to air PYthon and DERby) from a test range
Chandipur , Odisha .It can neutralize enemy targets upto a distance of 15 km and at heights between 20 and
9000 metres.

NASA detects sign of water in a neptune sized planet called HAT-P-26b

Madhavan Nair Rajeevan , Secretary ( Ministry of Earth Sciences ) announced that India has decided
to replace Maitri research at Antartica within next 3 -4 years .

China is preparing to send men to live on the moon by testing out its space cabin in Beijing.

Unmanned Boeing- built space plane X-37B landed in Florida( NASA Kennedy Space Centre ) , US after
completing its two year long classified space mission.

NASA scientists have created a prototype of an inflatable greenhouse that could enable crop production,
oxygen creation and water recycling in deep space .It can be done in moon or Mars also. This new approach
uses plants to scrub carbon -dioxide while providing food and oxygen for those working in deep space.

Chinese scientists have created a new test kit that can help detect any kind of cancer with just one drop
of blood.

Face book launches “ Express Wi-Fi” in India. This offers internet facility to the users in rural parts of
India through public hotspots .

Agni –II Intermediate range Surface-Surface Ballistic Missile from Abdul Kalam Island in Bhadrak
district of Odisha. However, the user trial was failed and it did not meet all the desired parameters.The test
was carried out by SFC (Strategic Forces Command )as a part of training exercise.

ISRO have successfully launched the communication and broadcasting satellite “ South Asian Satellite
“ on 5th May 2107.It was launched with GSLV F-09 from Sriharikota. Participating countries area
Afghanistan,Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri lanka, Maldives and Nepal . Pakistan was denied in this.

The fossil of one of the last living species of African dinosaurs was discovered in phosphate mines of
Northern Morocco. This is believed to survive before an asteroid strike wiped them .

China‟s C919 passenger jet( home grown ) has completed its maiden flight .C919 passenger jet
undertook an 80-minute flight flying over the Yangtze River delta and touched down at Shanghai‟s
international airport.
 Agni-II ballistic missile from a defence test facility in the Abdul Kalam Island off the coast of Odisha
has successfully carried out a fresh user trial by India.

Indian army successfully test fired Brahmos-III supersonic cruise missile from Andaman and Nicobar
Island. The land to land configuration of Brahmos block III version was launched from a Mobile
Autonomous Launcher (MAL)

Dubai became the first city in world to get its own Microsoft Font. The font is available in three styles
as‟Dubai‟, „Dubai Medium‟ and „Dubai light‟

Scientists from IIT, Roorkee used naturally occurring pigment from the summer fruit Jamun to create
more efficient and inexpensive solar cells.They used the
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pigment as inexpensive photosentisiser for dye sentisised solar cells or Gratzel cells.

Sports
Former Indian Captain MS Dhoni along with current captain Virat Kohli has made into the top 15 of the
ESPN‟s World Fame 100 list for 2017 .

The foot ball club Paris Saint Germain won the Coupe de France for the 11th time in its record. The
Coupe Charles Simon also known as French Cup is the premier knock out cup competition in French
football organized by the French Football Federation.

Swiss top Stan Wawrinka successfully defended his Geneva Open Men‟s single title with a victory
over Germany‟s Mischa Zverev. The 2017 Geneva title is the 16th title of his career.

India‟s C.A Bhavani Devi won the gold medal in the sabre event of the Turnoi Satellite Fencing
Championship held at Reykjavik in Iceland. She became the first Indian to win a Gold Medal in an
international fencing tournament by beating Sarah Jane Hampson of Great Britain.

Ferrari‟s Sebastian Vettel won 2017 Monaco Grand Prix. Ferrari‟s Kimi Raikkonen stands at 2nd and
the 3rd place was secured by Red bull‟s Daniel Ricciardo.

South Korea on 28th May 2017 defeated China to lift their 4th Sudirman Cup title at Gold Coast ,
Queensland, Austarlia . It was the first time that the event was hosted outside Asia and Europe since its
establishment in 1989. The Sudirman Cup is the World Mixed Team Badminton Championship

Borussia Dortmund defeated Eintracht Frankfurt in the German Cup final held at Olympiastadion,
Berlin . Dortmund already qualified for UEFA Champions league (2017-18 edition ) through position in the
Bundesliga, Germany‟s Premier football Competition.

Arsenal won its 13th FA Cup over Chelsea , the reigning Premier League Champions on 27th May
2017 at the Wembley Stadium in London, England.

R. Vaishali won the women‟s title at the Asian Continental Blitz Chess Championship in Chengdu,
China

The football club “ Real Madrid “ won the La Liga title for the record of 33rd time.
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Leander Paes and Scott Lipsky won the Men‟s doubles title of Tallahassee Challenger 2017. On the
other India‟s Ramkumar Ramanathan finished up as a runner –up in the Men‟s singles. Men‟s single was
won by Slovenia‟s Blaz Rola.

RP Singh and Sumrai Tete are recommended for Dhayan Chand Award
Books
Haulianlal Guite , authored the book titled” confessions of a dying mind : The blind faith of atheism
“

“M.S. Swaminathan: The Quest for a world without hunger” written by Dr. M.S. Swaminathan, the
eminent agricultural scientist popularly known Father of the Green Revolution in India. A two part book
series has been released by the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi.

The first copy of the book “ Meta Physics, Moral and Politics” authored by Professor Amal Kumar
Mukhopadhyay was received by the President of India Shri. Pranab Mukherjee in Kolkatta, West Bengal.
 Narendra Modi releases 23 volumes of Basavanna‟s Vachana. All ther 23 volumes were edited by
renowned literary scholar late NM kalbargi and translated by more than 200 people. The Vachana was
commissioned by the Bengaluru based Basava samiti at a cost of Rs. 2.5 crore of which the Karnataka Govt
has contributed Rs 1 crore

Ravichandran Ashwin has won the CEAT International Cricketer of the year 2017 award.

The badminton player PV Sindhu was recently inducted in the Badminton World
Federation(BWF)Athletes Commission.

India have won all the 10 Gold Medals on offer in the South Asian Junior Table Tennis
championship tournament which was held in Mount Lavinia, near Colombia in Sri Lanka.

The Bengaluru FC defeated Mohun Bagan to lift the federation cup at Barabatti stadium in cuttack
but the mnatch was end in a tie 0-0 draw in regulation time.

Mumbai Indians beats Rising Pune Super giant to win 10th edition of IPL. It is the third time Mumbai
Indians clinched the title.

Italian Open Men‟s Single title won by Alexander Zverev by defeating Novak Djokovic in the finals
held in Rome, Italy.

N‟Golo Kante ( French Midfielder) named English Premier league‟s player of the year.

Indian archery team were represented by Abhishek Verma, Chinna Raju Srither and Amanjeet Singh.
has managed to win gold after defeating Columbia 226-221 in the archery World Cup stage 1
championships held in Shanghai, China. The women‟s team, however, failed to shine in the event. In the
Women‟s event, South Korea, Denmark and Russia emerged as winners in that order.

Grand Master RR Laxman won the All India Open Rapid FIDE Rating Chess Tournament at the
Kshudiram Anushilan Kendra, Kolkatta, west Bengal.

Paranay Varada,(14), Indian American student won the Prestigious National Geographic Bee
Championship 2017.In 2016 Rishi Nair , a 6th grader from Florida won the contest and Varada was runner-
up in that contest.

Indian cricket team has retained its top position in the latest ICC Test rankings followed by South
Africa(2nd). Australia (3rd) England (4th), New Zealand ( 5th) ,Pakistan ( 6th ), Sri Lanka (7th) , West
Indies (8th ) Bangladesh(9th) and Zimbabwe at( 10th) .

The ICC ( International Cricket Council) has raised the total prize money for Champions Trophy is
USD 500000.
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Rafael Nadal won the men‟s singles title of Madrid Open Tennis 2017 by defeating Dominic Thiem.

Lewis Hamilton( Mercedes) won the Spanish Grand Prix in May 2017, Ferrari‟s Sebastian Vettel and
Australian Daniel Ricardo occupies second and third position respectivey.

Sakshi Malik , Divya Karan and Vinesh Phogat have bagged silver medal at the Asian Wrestling
Championship held at KD Jadhav Stadium in New Delhi in 60kg, 69 kg and 55 kg categories respectively.

VVS Laxman ( Former Indian Batsman ) became the fifth Indian to receive the honorary life
membership of Marylebone Cricket Club ( MCC). MCC is in London and it was founded in 1787.Sachin
Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid , Sourav Ganguly and Zaheer Khan were the four already received this honour.
 The logo and mascot of the Asian Athletics Championship were released by Naveen Patnaik ( Odisha
CM). The Championship is scheduled to be held from 6th to 9th July 2017 at Kalinga Stadium in
Bhubaneshwar. The logo depicts an athlete crossing the finishing line with historical tourist attractions of
Odisha. Olive Ridley , the sea turtle is chosen as the mascot which annually migrates to the coastal Odisha
for mass nesting.. The mascot is named as “OLLY “.

N‟Golo Kante ( French Professional Footballer) has won the 2017 Footballer of the year award by
Football Writers‟ Association. He will receive this prestigious accolade FWA at gala dinner in London on
18th May 2017.

Indian Women team‟s fast bowler Julan Goswami became the highest wicket-taker in the history of
Women‟s One Day International‟s.She broke the decade long record of Cathryn Fitzpatrick(Australia)

ICC confirmed that Shashank Manohar will continue his function as independent Chairman of ICC
till June 2018.

Indian Wrestler Harpreet Singh won a bronze medal in the Greco –Roman Weight divisions on the
Opening day of the Asian Wrestling Championship in New Delhi. He defeated China‟s Jun Ji Na in 80 kg
category.

BCCI has announced that 15 man Indian Squad led by Virat Kohli will take part in ICC Champions
Trophy which is scheduled to be held in June 2017 in England.

Kavinder Singh Bisht ( Indian Boxer ) has qualified for the World Championships in the 52 kg
category after getting a walk over against Malaysia‟s Salam Abdul Kasim at the Asian Championships in
Tashkent, Uzbekistan
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Aizawl Football Club (FC) , the newly crowned i-League football champions threatened to go on a fast
unto death if they are not allowed to play in the top-tier of domestic club structure next session.

2016 Wisden-MCC (Melbourne Cricket Council) Cricket „Photograph of the Year‟ has bagged by
Kashmir based freelance photographer Saqib Majeed for capturing a stunning image of boys playing
cricket at the Nishat garden in the outskirts of Srinagar. With this he became the first Kashmiri and second
Asian after Atul Kamble to receive the prestigious award.

Union Sports Ministry has announced changes in the National Youth Awards to promote transparency
in selection process.. The number of awards has been increased from 1 to 10 in the Organisation category
and the cash prize is Rs 2 lakh with a trophy and Certificate. The number of awards in the Individual
category has been increased to 25 and the amount has been enhanced to Rs. 50000. A new logo also
released for National Youth Awards.

Indian national football has managed to secure a 100th spot and entered into the top 100 of FIFA
rankings. This is the first time in 21 years that India has been ranked into top 100. The rankings were first
introduced in 1992.

Famous climber Ueli Steck (40) has passed away due to a tragic accident near Mount Everest . He died
after falling the foot of Mt. Nuptse. He was planning to climb 8850 m Mt. Everest before this event to be
occurred.

Bengaluru FC striker Sunil Chhetri won the Hero of the I-league award 2016-17.Khalid Jamil who guided
Aizawl FC to a historic title win was chosen as the Coach of the year.He was honoured with Syed Abdul
Rahim Best Coach Award.

India slipped to 4th position in ICC T20 rankings . New Zealand ranks top followed by England and
Pakistan.
 Hockey India has recommended Sardar Singh‟s name for India‟s highest Sporting honour Rajiv
Gandhi Khel Ratna Award

BCCI recommended Cheteshwar Pujara and Harman Preet Kaur‟sname for Arjuna Award. Other
names included from other sports are SV singh, Dharamveer Singh and Deepika

Coaches Sandeep Sangwan and Romesh Pathania are recommended for Dronacharya Award

Neuron Disease, Parkinson‟s disease or Multiple Sclerosis could be eligible for the assisted death.

After a meeting between Chinese and ASEAN Officials in the southern city of Guiyang, they agreed a
framework for South China sea code of Conduct (COC)

Cabinet of Japan has approved a bill that will allow its emperor ( Akihito) retire his thrown to allow
Prince crown(Naruhito) to take charge of the same.

UITP Summit 2017 commenced at Montreal, Canada. UITP – International Association of Public
Transport.

Edourad Phillippe was named as the Prime minister of France. He is a member of Les Republicans
Party.

Canada recently unveiled a dinosaur had been preserved in a stone for 110 million years.

Sri Lanka which was a participant of China‟s One Belt One Road (OBOR) conference in Beijing on
16th May 2017.India boycotted the meeting due to its sovereignty concerns over the US $50 billion CPEC(
China-Pakistan Economic Corridor) which goes through Pakistan –Occupied Kashmir.

The Country of Yemen recently declared a state of emergency over Cholera outbreak .

For the first time, the Pentagon has notified the sale of CBRN (chemical, biological, radiological and
nuclear) Support Equipment, the Joint Service Lightweight Integrated Suit Technology (JSLIST)
protective clothing, to the US Congress.

Hubert Minnis has been elected as the Prime Minister of Common wealth of Bahamas

Larissa Waters( Australian senator) became the first woman senator to breast feed her baby during a
Parliamentary session.

Brazil declared an end to public health emergency for the Zika virus after about 18 months of fight
against this mosquito borne virus. Zika virus is carried by the Aedes aegypti mosquito. In Nov 2016, WHO
lifted its own international health emergency status for Zika.

The UN General Assembly invited all its organizations, Member States,NGO‟s and individuals to
observe 8-9 May in an appropriate manner to pay tribute to all the victims of the second world war.
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Moon Jae -in( Democratic party ) was sworn in as South Korea‟s President in a ceremony at the
National Assembly Seoul.

More than 50000 people were evacuated from German City of Hanover after the discovery of multiple
unexploded World War II bombs.

Emmanuel Macron elected as President of France.He is France‟s youngest leader since Napoleon
Bonaparte. He is also the first President of France outside of that country‟s two traditional main parties.

Japan‟s men only Island (Okinoshima Island )was recommended by UNESCO for World Heritage
Status .
 Syrian allies Russia and Iran signed a deal with rebel supporter Turkey to create safe zones in the rebel
-held zones.

A group of archaeologist ( Scientists of Spanish team in Draa Abul Naaga Necropolis)across the Nile
discovered the remains of nearly 4000 year old model garden outside a tomb in the Egyptian Capital of
Thebes , it is now known as Luxor.

Stephen Hawking (Physicist)has warned in a new BBC documentary that human kind would need to
leave the earth within next 100 years to survive.

China plans to launch its own online encyclopedia next year rivalling Wikipedia and Britain‟s
Encyclopaedia Britannica.

The United States (US)Millitary missile defence system THAAD(The Terminal High Altitude Area
Defence) on 2nd May 2017 became operational in South Korea. It reached an initial intercept capability to
defence against North Korean Missiles.

Appointments
The Minister of State for Minority Affairs (Independent Charge) Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi has appointed
a renowned social and educational activist George Kurian as Vice-Chairman of National Commission
for Minorities.

Manipur Governor Najma Heptulla has been appointed as the new Chancellor of Jamia Millia
Islamia.

Rajan Anandan , Google India‟s Managing Director was appointed as the Chairman of IAMAI(
Internet And Mobile Association of India) while Deep Kalra