MAY 1 2024

1.Supreme Court of India, dated 26th April, 2024 in Writ

Petition (Civil) No. 434 of 2023, ECI has issued the new
protocol for handling and storage of Symbol Loading
Unit (SLU). All CEOs have been directed to create
necessary infrastructure and provisions to implement
the new protocols for handling and storage of SLUs.
2. Shompen tribe of Great Nicobar -voted for the first
time in a General Election.
In Tamil Nadu, there are six PVTGs, namely
Kuttunayakan, Kota, Kurumba, Irular, Paniyan, Today
with a total population of 2,26,300. Out of 1,62,049 18+
eligible PVTGs, 1,61,932 are registered elector.

India has 8.6% tribal population which includes 75

groups of Tribals which are Particularly Vulnerable Tribal
Groups (PVTG).
• In the elections to the last 11 state legislative
assemblies, there were around 9 lakh eligible voters
from 14 PVTG communities namely Kamar, Bhunjia,
Baiga, Pahadi Korwa, Abujhmadia, Birhor, Sahariya,
Bhariya, Chenchu, Kolam, Thoti, Kondareddy, Jenu
Kuruba & Koraga.
• 100% enrolment of PVTGs
 3.The Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES), Government of
India, and the National Centre for Polar and Ocean
Research (NCPOR), will host the 46th Antarctic Treaty
Consultative Meeting (ATCM 46) and the 26th Meeting of
the Committee for Environmental Protection (CEP 26)
from May 20 to 30, 2024, in Kochi, Kerala.
• This is in line with India’s poise to facilitate constructive
global dialogue on environmental stewardship,
scientific collaboration, and cooperation in Antarctica.
• The Antarctic Treaty, signed in 1959 and entered into
force in 1961,
• The CEP was established under the Protocol on
Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty (the
Madrid Protocol) in 1991.
• India has been a Consultative Party to the Antarctic
Treaty since 1983. It participates in the decision-making
process along with other 28 Consultative Parties to the
Antarctic Treaty to date. India’s first Antarctic research
station, Dakshin Gangotri, was established in 1983.
• At present, India operates two year-round research
stations: Maitri (1989) and Bharati (2012).
• These are permanent research stations since 1981.
May 2
5.The Election Commission of India has taken a serious
view of activities by political parties and candidates
 seeking details of voters under the guise of various
surveys for their proposed beneficiary schemes, as a
corrupt practice of bribery under Section 123(1) of the
Representation of the People Act, 1951.

• The Commission has directed all District Election

Officers to take appropriate actions against any such
advertisements within the statutory provisions namely
Section 127A of the Representation of People’s Act,
1951, 123 (1) of the Representation of People’s Act,
1951, and Section 171 (B) IPC.

6.India and New Zealand to have deeper collaboration

in Pharma, Agriculture and Food Processing Industries,
among others
• 11th India – New Zealand Joint Trade Committee (JTC)
Meeting held in New Zealand
• Enhancing services sector trade given special focus
during discussions
7.The index of mineral production of mining and
quarrying sector for the month of February, 2024 (Base:
2011-12=100) at 139.6 is 8.0% higher as compared to
the level in the month of February, 2023. As per the
provisional statistics of Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM),
 the cumulative growth for the period April-February,
2023-24 over the corresponding period of previous year
is 8.2%.
8.Elected Women Representatives of Panchayati Raj
Institutions to Participate in CPD57 Side Event
“Localizing the SDGs: Women in Local Governance in
India Lead the Way” on 3rd May 2024 at United Nations
Headquarters in New York.

9.The #PlayTrue Campaign highlights NADA India’s

commitment to equipping athletes, coaches, and the
entire sporting community with a thorough
understanding of anti-doping regulations, empowering
them to champion clean play in India.The campaign was
held from 15th to 30th April, 2024.Hq new Delhi .

10.India has been working on a Trade and Economic

Partnership Agreement (TEPA) with EFTA countries
comprising Switzerland, Iceland, Norway &
Liechtenstein.
• The Union Cabinet chaired by the Hon’ble Prime
Minister has approved signing of the TEPA with EFTA
States.
• EFTA is an Inter-governmental organization set up in
1960 for the promotion of free trade and economic
integration for the benefit of its four Member States.
• For the first time in history of FTAs, binding commitment
of $100 bn investment and 1 million direct jobs in the
next 15 years has been given.
• The agreement comprises of 14 chapters with main
focus on market access related to goods, rules of origin,
trade facilitation, trade remedies, sanitary and
phytosanitary measures, technical barriers to trade,
investment promotion, market access on services,
intellectual property rights, trade and sustainable
development and other legal and horizontal provisions.
• EFTA is offering 92.2% of its tariff lines which covers
99.6% of India’s exports. The EFTA’s market access offer
covers 100% of non-agri products and tariff concession
on Processed Agricultural Products (PAP).
• India is offering 82.7% of its tariff lines which covers
95.3% of EFTA exports of which more than 80% import
is Gold. The effective duty on Gold remains
untouched.Sensitivity related to PLI in sectors such as
pharma, medical devices & processed food etc. have
been taken while extending offers. Sectors such as
dairy, soya, coal and sensitive agricultural products are
kept in exclusion list.
 May 3
• 11.7th India-Indonesia Joint Defence Cooperation
Committee (JDCC) meeting in New Delhi on May 03,
2024.
12.MNRE organized a 'Run for Sun' Marathon at
Jawaharlal Nehru
MAY 4
13.Australia is an important trading partner of India in
Oceania region with merchandise trade between India
and Australia reaching around 24 billion USD in 2023-
24.
• First Joint Committee Meeting (JCM) under India-
Australia Economic Co-operation and Trade Agreement
(Ind-Aus ECTA), both the sides while acknowledging the
sooth implementation of the ECTA
• Issues including MRAs on organic products, market
access issues related to products like okra,
pomegranate, grapes, cottage cheese, macadamia
nuts, lentils and avocado, TRQ administration,
pharmaceutical pricing control in Australia particularly
on Generics, progress made by the working group on
Whisky and Wine .
14.IREDA organized its 16th Stakeholders’ Interaction
Meet at the India International Centre in New Delhi
today, May 4, 2024. The Stakeholders’ Meet witnessed
 enthusiastic participation from business partners
spanning the renewable energy spectrum, including
Solar, Wind, Hydro, Bio Energy, and New & Emerging
technologies.
• IREDA’s net worth has witnessed significant growth from
Rs. 2,995 crores in FY 2020-21 to Rs. 8,559 crores in FY
2023-24, demonstrating its financial strength and
stability.
MAY 5
• 15.REC gets RBI nod to set up subsidiary in GIFT City,
Gujarat
• The GIFT City platform offers a conducive environment
for international lending activities, coupled with world-
class infrastructure. We are confident that REC will
harness these advantages to carve a niche for itself in
the global market. The entity at GIFT City will not only
present new business opportunities for REC but will
also contribute significantly to the growth of the
country’s energy sector. We look forward to leveraging
this strategic move to further propel REC’s mission of
fostering growth in India’s power and infra sector while
expanding our footprint on the global stage.”
MAY 6
• 16.4th Session of India-Ghana Joint Trade Committee
held in Accra
• India, Ghana agree to operationalise UPI on Ghana
Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems in six
months
17.The 12th Meeting of the Board of Directors of
Karmayogi Bharat was held in Mumbai on May 3rd, 2024.
The meeting was chaired by Shri. Ramadorai
Subramanian.
• 1 crore course enrolments and the offering of more than
1000 courses
• Integration of the e-HRMS platform with iGOT
Karmayogi
• Collaboration with NITI for States platform, emphasizing
the importance of SAMARTH curated programs in
driving block level and district-level capacity-building
initiatives.
• Three new criminal laws passed by the parliament-
Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023; the Bharatiya Nagarik
Suraksha Sanhita, 2023; and the Bharatiya Sakshya
Adhiniyam, 2023, and the Digital Personal Data
Protection Act .
18.Ministry of Tourism, Government of India is
participating in Arabian Travel Mart 2024, being held in
Dubai from May 6th to 9th May, 2024.attract visitors from
the MENA region.
MAY 7
 19.Secretary, Department of Pharmaceuticals launches
the MEDITECH STACKATHON 2024 in collaboration with
CII at New Delhi
• India’s MEDTECH industry holds immense potential
with projections estimating a growth rate of 28%
annually: Dr Arunish Chawla
• way forward Size of USD 50 billion by 2030.
• India is the 4th largest market for medical devices in Asia
and among the top 20 globally. Net imports for 2022-23
stands at USD 4101 Million with import coverage ratio of
0.45.
• surge in imports, driven primarily by countries like the
US, China, and Germany.

• The STACKATHON would deliberate in eight focused

groups namely
1.Cancer Therapy,
2.Imaging,
3.Critical Care,
4. Assistive Medical Devices, Body Implants,
5.Surgical instruments
6. Hospital Equipment, Consumables & Disposables
7. IVD Instruments and
8.reagents
 20.Shri K. Sanjay Murthy launches Capacity Building on
Design and Entrepreneurship (CBDE) program
• The Capacity Building Program is designed to equip
identified HEIs and faculty members to focus on Design
and Entrepreneurship development in their institution
with the support of mentors from industry.
• 30 HEIs have been selected through a process
anchored by the IIITDM, Kancheepuram, a Malaviya
Mission Teacher Training Center (MMTTC) as Nodal
Centre for the program.
21.DigiLocker, the flagship platform under Digital India
initiative, has enabled this revolutionary step by
providing a secure, trusted and eco-friendly solution for
issuing and accessing academic credentials in digital
format by boards, universities and other bodies.
• The Council for the Indian School Certificate
Examinations (CISCE) integrated with DigiLocker
platform to declare the ICSE (Class X) and ISC (Class
XII) examination results for 2024 digitally via DigiLocker
platform. Additionally, CISCE made available
certificates and marksheets in real-time through
DigiLocker
• The overall pass percentage for ICSE 2024 was an
impressive 99.47% with Girls outperforming Boys
(99.65% for Girls vs 99.31% for Boys). In the ISC exams,
98.19% students cleared with a similar trend of girls
faring better than boys (98.92% vs 97.53%).
22.Ministry of Mines, in collaboration with the Indian
Institute of Technology – Indian School of Mines (IIT-
ISM), Dhanbad will organize a one-day work shop in
Delhi
• To discuss the draft framework of the State Mining
Index, envisaged to capture mining sector performance
of States.
23.National Centre for Good Governance commences
the Two-Week Capacity Building Programme on Project
and Risk Management for Public Works for officials of
Tanzania at Mussoorie
• 39 senior officers from various key ministries and
departments are attending the program
• “Progressive policies and digital governance is the
mantra for development and empowerment of citizens”
says DG, NCGG.