CLATGyan May 2019 Compendium – 1st May to 7th May

1st May

 Japan’s new emperor, Naruhito, has formally ascended the Chrysanthemum Throne, replacing
his father, Akihito, who had abdicated a day earlier. Naruhito became the 126th Emperor of
Japan. A new imperial era called Reiwa, which means order and harmony, has now begun.
The emperor in Japan holds no political power but serves as a national symbol.Japanese
Emperor Naruhito
 By raising a total of 26,852 Lebanese flags for 24 hours Beirut, capital of Lebanon broke the
Guinness World Record of New York’s Waterloo of raising 25,599 flags. The event was
organised under the patronage of lebanon’s Prime Minister Saad Hariri. It was originally
known as The Guinness Book of Records from its inception from 1955 until 2000. It is an
annually published reference book which lists record-breaking achievements.
 International Dance Day is celebrated every year on 29 April, as a global day to celebrate
dance. Its aim is to increase awareness about importance of dance among general public and
also to persuade governments across nation to include dance in education system. ‘29 April’
was chosen as the day to commemorate birthday of Jean-Georges Noverre (born on 29 April
1727), a French dancer, the creator of modern ballet, and great reformer of dance.
 Six grassroots environmental activists from around the world received prestigious Goldman
Environmental Prize 2019. The winners are Linda Garcia of US, Ana Colovic Lesoska of
North Macedonia, Bayarjargal Agvaantseren of Mongolia, Alfred Brownell of Liberia,
Jacqueline Evans of the Cook Islands and Alberto Curamil of Chile. The prize also known as
Green Nobel Prize, is an annual award established in 1989 by U.S. philanthropists Richard
and Rhoda Goldman.
 Indonesia on April 29, 2019 announced its plans to move its capital away from Jakarta to
ensure more equitable development of the country amid environmental concerns and
overcrowding issues. President Widodo-led government looks forward to form the Capital
similar to Washington D.C. and letting Jakarta sustain as the business, trade and financial hub,
similar to New York in the United States.
 Ukraine’s President-elect Volodymyr Zelensky has dismissed an offer by Russian President
Vladimir Putin to provide passports to Ukrainians and pledged instead to grant citizenship to
Russians who suffer under the Kremlin’s rule. Zelensky warned Russia not to talk with
Ukraine in the language of threats or military or economic pressure. He previously called for

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more international sanctions against Moscow in response to Russia providing citizenship to

residents of Ukraine’s separatist east.
 The Union Environment Ministry has constituted a new committee chaired by the Secretary
in the Union Environment Ministry to implement the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP),
which aims to cut pollution in the 102 worst affected cities by 20-30 percent by 2024. Its
members will include the Joint Secretary (Thermal), Ministry of Power, TERI Director
General and Professor Sachidananda Tripathi from the Indian Institute of Technology,
Kanpur.

2nd May

 Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) and Automotive Research Association of India
(ARAI) signed MoU (Memorandum of understanding) for cooperation on projects related to
e-mobility. E-mobility refers to development of electric-powered or electronic driven
vehicles. BHEL was established in 1964 an engineering and manufacturing company.
Established in 1966 ARAI is India’s leading automotive R&D organization.
 India will mark its second appearance in world’s oldest Biennale Art event to be held in
Venice, Italy. In this 58th session 16 out of 400 Haripura session posters will go up on walls
of India pavilion at 58th Venice Biennale. The Ministry of Culture, Government of India has
laid down theme for the Indian Pavilion as ‘150 years of Mahatma Gandhi’. Venice Biennale
was inaugurated in 1895 and organized by Biennale Foundation every two years.
 The International Jazz Day is globally observed on April 30 every year to recognize jazz and
diplomatic role it plays in uniting people. The 2019 edition was launched in Australia. Jazz is
a form of music which was born in New Orleans, US in late 1800s and early 1900s. UNESCO
designated 30 April as International Jazz Day in year 2011.
 Indian archaeologists recently unearthed a rare life-sized stucco sculpture from a Buddhist
site at Phanigiri in Suryapet, Telangana. Till date it is the biggest stucco sculpture found in
India. It is about 1.73 metres in height and 35 cm in width. It was created nearly 1,700 years
ago by craftsmen at Phanigiri at peak of Ikshavaku dynasty.
 The Labour Day was observed across the world on May 1, 2019. The day is also known as
International Worker’s Day and May Day. In India, the first celebration of the Labour Day
was organised in Madras by the Labour Kisan Party of Hindustan on May 1, 1923. To
commemorate the happenings of May 4, 1886, the Haymarket affair (Haymarket Massacre)
in the Chicago, the Second International, a pan-national organisation of socialist and
communist political parties, marked 1 May as the Labour Day in 1891.
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 CLATGyan May 2019 Compendium – 1st May to 7th May

 Indian shooting ace Apurvi Chandela on 1 May, 2019 attained the world number one position
in the women’s 10 metres air rifle event while compatriot Anjum Moudgil rose to number two
after consistent performances in recent years. Manu Bhaker is the world number 10 in 25
metres pistol women category. Divyansh Singh reached world number four spot in 10 metres
air rifle category. Abhishek Verma, who won a gold in Beijing, has reached world number
three in 10 metres Air Pistol category.
 Raheem Sterling has been named the 2019 footballer of the year by the Football Writers’
Association (FWA). The Manchester City and England forward topped the poll of the 400-
strong FWA membership as a clear winner, with 62 percent of the votes. Sterling lost out to
Van Dijk in the race for the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) award, but was
announced PFA young player of the year.

3rd May

 Russian President Vladimir Putin on 2 May 2019 signed a law “sovereign internet” bill which
will allow Russian authorities to isolate the country’s internet. The move expands Government
Control of Internet, is being publicly denounced by all rights groups in country. The text of
the law was published on 1 May 2019 but it will not come into effect until November. Russian
lawmakers support the new law as deeming it necessary to ensure security of Russia’s online
networks.
 The first part of 17th edition of bilateral exercise ‘Varuna’ 2019 is being conducted between
Navies of India and France off the Goa coast from 1st to 10th May 2019. The joint naval
exercise was first initiated in 1983 to develop interoperability between two navies and to foster
mutual cooperation by learning from each other’s best practices. It was named as ‘Varuna’ in
2001.
 Pakistan will observe the Pakistan Air Force’s (PAF) retaliatory action on 27th February 2019
against India as ‘Operation Swift Retort’. On February 26 Indian Air Force (IAF) carried out
counter-terror operation (Balakot Air Strike), hitting what it claimed was a JeM training camp
in Balakot, deep inside Pakistan on 26 February 2019. Then on 27 February the PAF
retaliated.
 The 14th edition of the annual Sino-Indian border trade opened at Nathu La, the frontier post
at Sino-Indian border in Sikkim. To mark the commencement of border trade, officials and
traders of both countries (India and China) were present at the border. Every year bilateral
border trade between two countries is organised four days a week for period of six months,
between May 1 and November 30. The three open trading border posts between India and
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China are- Nathu La in Sikkim, Shipkila in Himachal Pradesh and Lipulekh (or Lipulech) in
Uttarakhand.
 According to United States Commission on International Religious Freedom 2019 report,
India saw an “overall deterioration of religious freedom conditions in 2018”. US Commission
on International Religious Freedom is a bipartisan, independent federal government
commission, created by International Religious Freedom Act of 1998. India continues to
remain a Tier II country since 2009. Tier II countries are those in which during 2018
‘violations engaged in or tolerated by government are serious and characterized by at least
one of the elements of systematic, ongoing, and egregious (horrible)’.
 The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) announced that India’s second lunar mission
Chandrayaan-2 is scheduled to be launched between July 9 and 16, 2019. The Chandrayaan-
2’s lander will touch down near Moon’s southpole on 6th September 2019. It would be
launched using India’s most powerful rocket GSLV MK-III from Satish Dhawan Space
Centre in Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.
 Former Sri Lanka captain, Kumar Sangakkara was on May 1, 2019 appointed as the President
of the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), England. With this, Sangakkara became the first non-
British to head the Club. Sangakkara will take up the post on October 1, 2019 and will serve
the position for a period of 12 months. Founded in 1787, Marylebone Cricket Club is a cricket
club based at the Lord’s Cricket Ground in St John’s Wood, London, England.

4th May

 To commemorate 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi on 2 October 2019, the Office
of Principal Scientific Adviser (PSA) to Government of India and Indian Institute of
Technology Delhi (IIT Delhi) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to implement
waste management by setting up a Centre of Excellence for Waste to Wealth Technologies in
India. The project has been approved under Prime Minister’s Science Technology and
Innovation Advisory Council (PM-STIAC).
 Afghanistan on 29 April 2019 convened rare “Loya Jirga”, a four day long grand assembly or
massive meeting for delegates from across country to discuss war and efforts of United States
to forge a peace deal with Taliban. At the end of huge peace summit in Kabul, Afghan officials
called for immediate and permanent ceasefire. Loya Jirga is a centuries-old tradition in
Afghanistan which is usually convened at times of national crisis or to settle national issues.
 The 26th World Press Freedom Day was observed on 3 May 2019, jointly organized by
UNESCO, African Union Commission and Government of Ethiopia to raise awareness about
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importance of freedom of press and freedom of expression as fundamental human rights. The
theme for 2019 was “Media for Democracy: Journalism and Elections in Times of
Disinformation”. ‘May 3’ was selected to commemorate adaptation of ‘The Windhoek
Declaration’ on 3 May 1991. In December 1993, UNGA proclaimed 3 May as World Press
Freedom Day.
 According to data released by Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics
(DGCI&S), Iraq remains India’s top crude oil supplier for second year in a row. India is
world’s third largest importer of crude oil (7% of total crude oil imports) after China (20.2%)
and USA (13.8%). India’s crude oil imports meet 80 % its oil needs.
 World Tuna Day was observed on 2 May to raise awareness about importance of tuna and to
promote more sustainable fishing practices across the world. The World Tuna Day was
officially proclaimed by United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) by adopting resolution
71/124 in December 2016. Many coastal countries depend heavily on tuna fish resources for
food security and nutrition, economic development, employment, government revenue,
livelihoods, culture and recreation.
 Former ISRO chairman A S Kiran Kumar was conferred with France’s highest civilian
honour, Chevalier de l’Ordre national de la Legion d’Honneur, on May 2, 2019 for his
contribution to India-France space cooperation by France’s Ambassador to India Alexandre
Ziegler on behalf of the French President. A S Kiran Kumar served as the Chairman of the
ISRO from 2015 to 2018. He currently holds the Chair of the ISRO Committee on Earth
Observation Satellites.
 The Supreme Court bench comprising SC Justices Ashok Bhushan and Justice KM Joseph, in
a landmark judgement on April 30, 2019, ruled that any relative of a woman, who is
undergoing cruelty and dowry harassment by her husband or in laws, can file a complaint
against them. The bench stated that Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code passed in 1983,
which deals with matrimonial cruelty against women, does not contemplate that complaint
should be filed only by women, who is subjected to cruelty by husband or his relative.

5th May

 The International Cricket Council (ICC) on May 3, 2019 released the ICC Men’s T20I Team
Rankings. As per the rankings, India dropped three places to fifth position. Pakistan, ICC T20
World Cup champions in 2009, with 286 rating consolidated the top position in the men’s
Twenty20 (T20) International team rankings. The next top four positions in the rankings are
South Africa (262), England (261), Australia (261) and India (260).

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 CLATGyan May 2019 Compendium – 1st May to 7th May

 The United States Air Force General Tod D. Wolters was sworn in as top military officer of
North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), at NATO’s military headquarters in Mons,
southern Belgium. He will succeed U.S. Army General Curtis M. Scaparrotti to become new
Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) for a term of two to three years. NATO is an
intergovernmental military and political alliance based on North Atlantic Treaty (also known
as Washington Treaty) signed in 4 April 1949. It is also known as North Atlantic Alliance.
 Article titled ‘Coalgate 2.0’, authored by Nileena M. S. and published in March 2018 issue of
‘The Caravan’ magazine, won Asian College of Journalism’s Award for Investigative
Journalism, 2018. The article investigates allotment of ‘captive coal blocks’ in Parba East and
Kanta Basan regions of Chhattisgarh. It explores deforestation, re locations of people, loss of
livelihood, and denial of forest rights to tribals.
 Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) meeting chaired by Defence Minister Nirmala
Sitharaman has approved Indian Navy’s proposal to acquire 10 Kamov-31 helicopters from
Russia. The deal worth Rs.3, 600 crore, is a move to strengthen Indian Navies capability
against aerial threats to its aircraft carriers and large warships. Kamov Ka-31 is a military
helicopter manufactured by ‘JSC Kamov’ (a Russian rotorcraft manufacturing company) and
development started in 1987 for Soviet Navy.
 India and Australia held the 11th Meeting of Joint Working Group on Counter-Terrorism at
Canberra on May 3, 2019. Both the countries have agreed to further deepen counter-terrorism
co-operation through regular exchange of information and sharing of best practices on
countering extremism and radicalization.
 The Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) to Central government, Dr. Krishnamurthy Subramanian
is appointed as twelfth (12) member of Advisory Council of Fifteenth (15th) Finance
Commission (FCc). Finance Commission is constituted under article 280 of Constitution by
President of India. The chairman of first FC was Shri K.C. Neogy on 6th April, 1952. Fifteenth
Finance Commission constituted in November 2017, is chaired by N. K. Singh.
 Indian Navy’s front-line missile destroyer, INS Ranjit will be decommissioned on May 6,
2019 at the naval dockyard at Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh, after having served the
Indian Navy for 36 years. The ship was commissioned in the fleet of Indian Navy on
September 15, 1983 with Captain Vishnu Bhagwat at the helm. The ship is the third of the
five Kashin-class destroyers built by erstwhile Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
(USSR). INS Ranjit has a motto of ‘Sada Rane Jayate’ or ‘Ever Victorious in Battle’.

6th May

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 CLATGyan May 2019 Compendium – 1st May to 7th May

 Thailand has crowned its new King Maha Vajiralongkorn, marking the first ascension of a
new monarch in seven decades. King Vajiralongkorn is the tenth monarch of the Chakri
dynasty, which has reigned since 1782. The last coronation was held in 1950 for the king’s
father Bhumibol Adulyadej. Thailand has been run by an arch-royalist junta since 2014. The
monarchy takes primacy in the country but it is buttressed by the army.
 World number one Bajrang Punia won the gold medal as he defeated Viktor Rassadin in the
finals of men’s 65kg freestyle in the Ali Aliyev wrestling tournament in Kaspiisk, Russia on
May 3. The 25-year-old Indian grappler had won a gold medal recently at the Asian Wrestling
Championships 2019 in Xi’an, China.
 In its fifth launch of year, SpaceX successfully launched a Dragon spacecraft on a cargo
mission for NASA to International Space Station (ISS) on a ‘Falcon 9’ rocket, from Cape
Canaveral in Florida. The spacecraft carries 2,500 kilograms of research, supplies and
hardware for astronauts living and working on ISS as part of the CRS-17 mission (17th
resupply mission).
 An 18-year old girl from Nepal named Bandana set a Guinness World Records on ‘Longest
Dancing Marathon by an Individual’. She danced exclusively to Nepalese music continuously
for 126 hours (over five days). She broke record set by India’s Kalamandalam Hemlatha, who
danced continuously for 123 hours and 15 minutes in 2011.
 The ISRO chairman Dr K Sivan announced that Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO)
is planning to send a probe Aditya-L1 to study the sun early in 2020. The satellite would be
in a halo orbit around the L1 (Lagrangian point 1) which is 1.5 million kms from the
Earth. The mission’s key aim was to observe the solar corona, the outer layer of the sun.
 Indian boxers finished with six medals, including two gold at the 36th Feliks Stamm
International Boxing Tournament in Warsaw, Poland on 5 May, 2019. Gaurav Solanki and
Manish Kaushik bagged one gold each. Mohammed Hussamuddin won a silver after his
defeat by Russia’s Mukhammad Shekhov. Indian boxers also clinched three bronze in the
European tournament.
 The last captive white tiger named Bajirao died recently at Sanjay Gandhi National Park, in
Borivali (Mumbai suburb). He was born at national park in 2001. The white tigers are
basically a pigmentation variant of the Bengal Tiger. Their white colour is due to lack of red
or yellow pheomelanin pigment, and presence of unique recessive genes. They are also called
Bleached Tiger. They were found in Madhya Pradesh, Assam, West Bengal, Bihar and in
Sunderbans region.

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 CLATGyan May 2019 Compendium – 1st May to 7th May

 Ace Indian squash players Saurav Ghoshal and Joshna Chinappa won their respective Asian
Individual Squash Championship titles in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 6 May, 2019. Saurav
Ghoshal defeated Leo Au Chun Ming of Hong Kong 11-9, 11-2, 11-8 to win the men’s title.
Joshna Chinappa on the other hand retained her title as she beat top seed Annie Au of Hong
Kong, 11-5, 6-11, 11-8, 11-6 in the women’s final event.

7th May

 The Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment (GRIHA) Council has launched a rating
tool ‘GRIHA for Existing Day Schools’ to evaluate the environmental performance of existing
schools across India. Founded by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), GRIHA
Council is a registered society for the interaction on scientific and administrative issues related
to sustainable habitats in the Indian context.
 Following the order of the Ministry of Human Resource and Development, the government
of Karnataka has taken the necessary steps and has issued the guidelines to reduce the weight
of schoolbags. The weight of a schoolbag shall not be more than 10% of the child’s weight.
Schools have been asked to provide some space in classrooms where students can store their
notebooks and textbooks. The third Saturday of every month would be observed as a “No
School Bag Day”.
 The Indian Navy on May 6, 2019 launched the fourth Scorpene class Submarine of Project 75
‘INS Vela’ at the Kanhoji Angre Wet Basin of Mazagon Dock Limited at Mumbai,
Maharashtra. The submarine was manufactured by Mazagon Dock Limited, with the help of
main collaborator Naval Group, France (formerly DCNS). The Scorpene class submarines
have the ability to launch a crippling attack on the enemy using precision guided weapons.
INS Kalvari, the first of the Scorpene-class submarines, was commissioned by Prime Minister
Narendra Modi on December 14, 2017.
 The UK has become first country to declare an Environment and Climate Emergency in the
world. There is no clear definition of what constitutes climate emergency but the move has
been linked with vital measures will be taken on climate and the environment. The UK govt
is legally committed to a 80% reduction in carbon emissions by 2050 (about 1990 levels).
 e-Governance Services India Limited, an initiative of Common Service Centre’s (CSC), a
special purpose vehicle under the Ministry of Electronics & IT, has tied up with Indian
Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur to upscale Unnat Bharat Abhiyan. Unnat Bharat
Abhiyan is an initiative of the Ministry of HRD which aims to find solutions to accelerate
sustainable growth in rural India.
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 Former world number one Roger Federer has returned to third in the ATP Men’s rankings
released on May 6, replacing Alexander Zverev. Novak Djokovic remains first ahead of
Rafael Nadal. Japan’s Naomi Osaka remained atop of WTA Women’s rankings, ahead of
Czech Petra Kvitova and Romanian Simona Halep.
 India and the United States have agreed to strengthen economic co-operation and bilateral
trade by ensuring greater collaboration amongst stakeholders, including government,
businesses and entrepreneurs. A bilateral trade meeting was held between the two countries
in New Delhi on 6 May. Both sides also expressed satisfaction over last year’s progress, with
bilateral trade in Goods and Services registering a growth of 12.6 per cent.
 An In-House Inquiry Committee of the Supreme Court headed by Justice S A Bobde has
found no substance in the allegations of sexual harassment levelled against Chief Justice of
India Ranjan Gogoi by a former woman employee of the apex court. the In-House Inquiry
Committee has submitted its report dated May 5, 2019, in accordance with the In-House
procedure, to the next senior judge after Justice Bobde and also sent a copy to the judge
concerned, namely the Chief Justice of India.