May-Current affairs part 2

1.18 member Indian Army Mountaineering Expedition team to 'Mt Makalu (8485m)' successfully scaled the peak on 16 May 2019.Mt. Makalu is the fourth tallest in Nepal and fifth highest Peak on the Earth with its height 8,463m.

2.Singapore India Maritime Bilateral Exercise 'SIMBEX-2019' held recently.It is between two navies in the Andaman Sea and Bay of Bengal.

3.ISRO has announced its planned seven mega missions which will be conducted over a period of next 10 years. 

1. Chandrayaan-2.XPoSat (to study cosmic radiation in 2020) and Aditya-L1(to the Sun in 2021).
2. Undefined Missions – which include missions which are still in planning stage namely Mangalyaan-2 (or Mars Orbiter Mission-2 in 2022), Lunar Polar Exploration (or Chandrayaan-3 in 2024), Venus mission (in 2023), Exoworlds (exploration outside the solar system in 2028).

4.Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board issued Masala Bonds to raise funds from the overseas market.Masala Bonds are rupee-denominated bonds i.e the funds would be raised from overseas market in Indian rupees.

5.India’s first engineless train, ‘Vande Bharat Express’, also known as ‘Train 18’, completed 1 lakh running kilometres, It runs between Delhi and Varanasi at speed of 160 kmph.

6.Vice President of India, M. Venkaiah Naidu has called for protecting 'Ongole cattle' breed. It is an indigenous cattle breed that originates from Prakasam District in the state of Andhra Pradesh.

7.ISRO successfully launched radar imaging satellite 'RISAT-2B' on-board PSLV-C46from Sriharikota.It is the fourth flight unit of the RISAT programme.

8.United Nations (UN) has adopted May 22 as The International Day for Biological Diversity,2019 theme is – “Our Biodiversity, Our Food, Our Health.”

9.'Jokha Alharthi', an author from Oman won the prestigious Man Booker International Prize for her Arabic novel “Celestial Bodies“.She became the first Arabic language writer to win this award. It is an annual award, given for a single work of fiction in any language.

10.Ministry of Human Resource Development plans to launch an ambitious ₹1.5 lakh crore 'EQUIP(Education Quality Upgradation and Inclusion Programme)' project to improve the quality and accessibility of higher education over the next five years.

11.The 'Orchha town' of Madhya Pradesh has been included in tentative list of the World Heritage Sites of UNESCO.

12.'Elephant Bonds' are are the 25-year sovereign bonds in which people declaring undisclosed income will be bound to invest 50 per cent.

13.DRDO has successfully test fired 'AKASH-MK-1S' missile. This is surface to air anti-aircraft missile with a strike range of 25 km,

14.UN  Security Council consists of fifteen members. Russia, the United Kingdom, France, China, and the United States—serve as the body’s five permanent members.

15.Operation 'Safed Sagar' was undertaken by the Air Force jointly to flush out infiltrators in the Kargil sector along the Line of Control. 

16.Admiral ;Karambir Singh; has taken charge as the 24th Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS).

17.The first session of the ;UN-Habitat Assembly; has started at the headquarters of UN-Habitat in Nairobi, Kenya on May 27, 2019.

18.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. 

19.South African lawmakers have re-elected ;Cyril Ramaphosa; as the president of the country.

20.Flight Lieutenant ;Bhawana Kanth;, who belongs to Darbhanga (Bihar), has created history by becoming the India’s first female fighter of the Indian Airforce.

21.The 8th edition of Indo-Myanmar Coordinated Patrol ;(IMCOR-2019); has started at Port Blair in Andaman and Nicobar Command . The CORPAT(coordinated patrol) initiative between Indian and Myanmar navies).

22.The 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.

23.The 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).

24.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.