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Additional Solicitor-General Harin P Raval  resigned from his post on 30 April2013.  He  submitted  his  resignation  to  the  Union  Law  Minister Ashwani Kumar.

A six-member inter-ministerial committee was constituted by the Union Govt. recently to suggest measures for enhancing exports fromcountry’s micro, small and medium enterprises. Head of this committee is R S Gujral, Finance Secretary.

King Willem-Alexander became Netherlands’s first King in over 120 years as the Dutch Queen Beatrix on 30 April 2013(after a rule of 33 years) signed the Act of Abdication in favourof his son, who therefore became new King of the Netherlands.

Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury was elected as the new Speaker of Bangladesh’s Parliament (Jatiya Sangsad) on 30 April 2013, thereby becoming the first woman Speaker of Bangladesh.

India’s rank in the recently released Economist magazine’s Index of Democracy 2012 is  38, out of a total of 165 countries. India’s overall score was 7.52.  The top three positions go to Norway (9.93) Sweden (9.73) and Iceland 9.65, while the United States is ranked 21^st.

Astronomers of NASA discovered two new exoplanets (planets outside our universe) recently with the help of Kepler space telescope. The names given to these  newly  discovered  exoplanets are KOI-200b and KOI-889b.

Indian death row prisoner Sarabjit Singh died in the wee hours of 2 May 2013 in a Lahore hospital after being in coma for nearly a week following a brutal assault by other inmates of the high security Kot Lakhpat Rai Jail, Lahore. Sarabjit was convicted in Involvement in a string of bomb attacks in Punjab province that killed 14 people in 1990. He belongs to the Bhikhiwind village In Punjab’s Tarn Taran district.

The  high-powered  Cabinet  Committee  on  Security  (CCS),  headed  by  Prime  Minister Manmohan Singh on 1 May 2013 approved a modernization project for central paramilitary forces.  Rs. 11,000 crore has  been  allocated  for  this  much-awaited  project,  which  will  be implemented in five years beginning this fiscal. The central paramilitary forces which are included in this project are Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Border Security Force (BSF), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), National Security Guard (NSG) and Assam Rifles.

Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) recently launched an Islamic equity index especially for Islamic investors. BSE had also launched India’s first Islamic index in 2010.

Andhra Pradesh state govt. recently launched the “Bangaru Talli” scheme under which the government would bear Rs. 55, 000 on each girl child to pursue studies till graduation and allocate Rs.1 lakh after completion of the course.

CMJ University ,A private university of Meghalaya faces probes after it awarded Ph.D. degrees to as many as 434 candidates in the academic year of 2012-13, even as only 10 of its faculty members have doctorates.

Indian cinema completed its 100 years on 3 May 2013. “Raja Harishchandra”, the first film made by an Indian (Dada Saheb Phalke) premiered was released exactly 100 years ago on 3 May 1913. This landmark film released in Coronation Theatre of Mumbai.

RBI came up with its annual monetary policy statement on 3 May 2013. The economic growth rate proposed for the Indian economy for the current fiscal of 2013-14 in this  statement was 5.7% In comparison the growth rate during 2012-13 was at decade’s lowest level of 5%. In  its  annual  monetary  policy  statement  of  3  May  2013,  RBI  Governor  D.  Subbarao highlighted “Widening Current Account Deficit or CAD” measure as the biggest threat to monetary policy. CAD  is  the  difference  between  inflow  and  outflow  of  foreign currency.

Haritha V. Kumar of Kerala was the topper of Civil Services exam for 2012, results of which were announced on 3 May 2013. Haritha is at present at the National Institute of Customs, Excise and Narcotics in Faridabad where she is undergoing training as an IRS officer. This was her 4^th attempt and her qualification is Btech E.ce.

Brad Drewett ,Executive Chairman of ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals), the top-most association of professional tennis players worldwide,passed away on 3 May 2013.

“My Stamp” is the name of a customized stamp service launched by India Post, which provides facility of printing customized stamps featuring self or any theme to customers. Under this scheme any Indian national can get a stamp featuring him/her at a nominal cost of Rs. 300 for 12 stamps of Rs. 5 denomination.

“Aviation Arm” branch of Indian Navy completes 60 years of operations during May 2013.

Thailand imposed a 33.11% anti-dumping duty on steel imports from India recently, thus giving a further blow to Indian steel industry.

US $6 billion loan would be provided to India by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in next three years, as stated by ADB President Takehiko Nakao on 5 May 2013 at the concluding day of the 46th annual meeting of the funding agency held at Greater Noida, India.

PV Sindhu won her first Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament on 4 May 2013, when she won the Yonex Sunrise Malaysia Open.

Fourth Brigadier-level flag meeting between India and China on 4 May 2013 failed to come to any outcome on the burning issue of occupation of Indian territory by the Chinese Army personnel. This meeting held At Chushul, Ladakh. The final agreemebt was Both India and China  would  simultaneously  withdraw  their  forces  from  Daulat  Beg  Oldie  (DBO) sector, where the forces face each other head to head.

86.16 crore mobile  consumers  are  there  in India as announced in a recently released survey results conducted by TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India), which includes mobile consumer figures till February 2013. Uttar Pradesh emerged as the state with largest mobile phone consumers in this survey by TRAI.

Fali S. Nariman is the author of the recently released book “The State of the Nation”.

The  Union  Cabinet  recently  decided  that women self help groups (SHGs) will get bank loans at 7% interest rate per annum under its flagship programme, National Rural Livelihood  Mission  (NRLM).  Where as  existing  interest  rate  under  NRLM is 11.5% to 14% per annum.

The Supreme Court on 6 May 2013 gave its clearance to the national policy for establishment of the controversial Kudankulam nuclear power plant in Tamil Nadu. Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited – NPCIL is to operate this plant.

Union Govt.’s ambitious “National Food Security Bill” was moved in for consideration in the Lok Sabha on 6 May 2013 amidst uproar by opposition benches. The bill however failed to move ahead due to continued din in the house. This bill was first introduced in the Lok Sabha On 22 December 2011.

The Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) Govt. started functioning from Srinagar from 6 May 2013 as part of “Darbar Move”. “Darbar Move” is a century old practice under which the J&K Govt. functions six months from each of its two capitals, Jammu and Srinagar. This tradition was started during in 1872 during the Dogra regime of Maharaja Ranbir Singh. The govt.functions from summer capital Srinagar from May to late October and from the winter capital of Jammu from November to late April.

31 per 1,000 live births was India’s neonatal mortality rate (NMR) for year 2011 as announced in the latest Sample Registration System (SRS) data released recently. NMR for 2010 stood at 33 per 1,000 live births.

According  to  the  recently  released Creative Index Report 2013,  Delhi is India’s most creative state in terms of use of modern technology,  talented  people  and  tolerance.

The Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPI), held its summit meet at Abu Dhabi on 5 May 2013, presented a comprehensive plan to eradicate all types of polio from the world. This is a six-year plan in which efforts will be taken to eradicate polio completely by 2018.

119th constitutional amendment, which was moved in the Rajya Sabha by External Affairs  Minister  Salman  Khurshid  on  7  May  2013,  is  associated  with  Giving  effect  to  the  acquiring  of  territories  by India  and  transfer  of  territories  to Bangladesh in pursuance of the agreement between the two countries.

Axis Bank will replace state-run Bank of India (BoI) as the trustee bank for the National Pension System (NPS) from July 2013 onwards.

Mayon ,One of the most active volcanoes of the Philippines erupted on 7 May 2013, killing at least 5 climbers and trapping more than a dozen others near the crater in its first eruption in three years.

Najib Razak was sworn in as Malaysia’s Prime Minister for a second term on 6 May 2013.

Haryana state recently announced launching “Shiksha Setu” cards for all students studying in govt. schools with an objective to keep the teachers and guardians updated about students’ performance.

Churchill Brothers(Goa) team won Indian football’s prestigious I-League for 2013.

Congress returned to power in southern state of Karnataka after about 7 years by scoring a landslide victory over the BJP. 121seats were won by Congress out of a total 223 assembly seats, results for whom were announced on 8 May 2013.K.Siddaramaiah sworn in as C.M of Karnataka on 13^th may 2013.

Union govt. on 8 May 2013 approved the National Cyber Security Policy for the country with an objective of creating a secure computing environment in the country. Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) gave its go-ahead to this policy.

“Bichitra” is the title of an online collection of Rabindranath Tagore’s works that was launched by President Pranab Mukherjee on 5 May 2013. “Bichitra” is an initiative of Kolkota’s Jadavpur University.

RBI Governor D. Subbarao on 9 May 2013 highlighted Open Market Operations – OMO  as a tool for dealing with the probable shortage of cash in the Indian economy.

A noted exponent of Hindustan classical vocalist Ustad Zia Fariduddin Dagar passed away at the age of 80 on 8 May 2013. Dagar was exponent of “Dhrupad” form of Hindustani classical music.

Year 2013 would be celebrated as  Year of Water Conservation .This decision was taken at the Cabinet Meeting held on 9 May 2013.

Legendary actor of yester years Pran Sikand, popularly known as Pran, was honoured with the prestigious Dadasaheb Phalke award  at  his  Mumbai  residence  on  10  May 2013. Pran could not attend the ceremony in New Delhi due to ill-health. It is probably for the first time that an artiste was given the Phalke award at his home. Manish Tewari , Information and Broadcasting Minister gave this award to Pran at his residence.

The proposal of the Ministry of Shipping for establishing two new major ports in the country was approved by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on 9 May 2013. These new ports are to be established in Dugarajapatnam  of Nellore in Andhra Pradesh and Sagar Island in West Bengal. This  will  be  the  second  Union  government- controlled  port  in Andhra Pradesh after the one in Visakhapatnam.

Kapil Sibbal, Telecom Minister was given additional charge of Law Ministry on 11 May 2013, as his predecessor Ashwini Kumar resigned a day before.

Dr C P Joshi, Road and Transport Minister was given additional charge of Rail Ministry on 11 May 2013 as Rail Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal resigned on 10 May 2013 following the arrest of his nephew Vijay Singla a few days ago for allegedly accepting Rs.90 lakh for fixing promotion in Railway Board.Mahesh kumar was the one involved in this.

NSE stock exchange launched country’s first dedicated debt trading platform on 13 May 2013.

One year extension was given to Cabinet Secretary Ajit  Seth by the Union Govt. on 13 May 2013, by  which  his  service  has  been  extended  till  13  June  2014.

Fernando Alonso (Spain) won the Spanish Grand Prix Formula 1 on 12 May 2013 at the Barcelona circuit.

Serena Williams on 12 May 2013 won 50th title of her career after defeating Maria Sharapova in the Madrid Open finals.

Indian scientists on 14 May 2013 unveiled the first completely indigenous and affordable vaccine to prevent severe rotavirus diarrhoea, named “Rotavac”. Bharat Biotech company has been associated in the development of vaccine candidates and clinical trials for Rotavac.

Britain recently launched the Super Priority Visa service for urgent travellers from India, which is first-of-its-kind service to be launched by this country anywhere in the world.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was on 30 May 2013 elected to the Rajya Sabha from Assam for 5th time. Manmohan Singh was sent to the Rajya Sabha from Assam for the first time in 1991.

According to announcements made by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 15 May 2013, it will launch the much-talked about “inflation-indexed bonds” On 4 June 2013.

Three IPL players S. Sreesanth, Ankit Chavan and Ajit Chandalia belonging to Rajasthan Royals were arrested on the early hours of 16 May 2013 by Delhi Police on charges of spot fixing.

Roberto Azevedo of Brazil has been recently nominated as the new head of the World Trade Organization (WTO).He will take place of Pascal Lamy.

Sergey Karjakin of Russia  won  the  Norway  Chess  2013  super  tournament  that  concluded  on  18  May  at Stavanger,  Norway.

leading English newspaper of India “Hindustan Times” recently appointed Nicholas Dawes, a South African journalist as its new Chief Editorial and Content Officer.

SBI Chairman Pratip Choudhuri recently said that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) should be made regulator of all home loans in the country. RBI  is  the  regulator  of  home  loans  provided  by  all commercial banks while National Housing Bank (NHB) is the regulator of loans provided by housing finance companies like HDFC Limited, LIC Housing Finance Co. Ltd., etc.

France on 17 May 2013 became 14th country in the world to give legitimacy to gay marriages.

8 Agreements were signed between India and China on 20 May 2013 on the occasion of Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang’s official visit to India. During this visit, year 2014 was declared as Friendship Year for the two countries.

Zahra Shahid Hussain ,a founding member of Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tahrik-e-Insaf (PTI), was shot dead in Karachi on 19 May 2013.

Indian  National  Defence  University, India’s  first  defence  university  is  to  be  set  up  at  Gurgaon’s Binola village, Haryana.

Arunima Sinha of Uttar pradesh became the first Indian woman amputee(no leg) to successfully scaled Mt. Everest on 21 May  2013.

US state Oklahoma was devastated by a powerful tornado on 20 May 2013, in which more than 90 people died.

Eesha Khare ,An 18-year-old Indian-American girl has invented a super-capacitor device that could potentially charge a mobile phone in less than 20 seconds.

Shashi Kant Sharma  took over as the new Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India on 22 May 2013 replacing vinod rai.

Myanmar President Thein Sein’s historic visit to the US on 20 May 2013 opened a new chapter of bilateral relations between the US and Myanmar. After 47 years a President from Myanmar (formerly Burma) visited the United States.

The second regime of United Progressive Alliance (UPA-2) completed 4 many years in power at the Centre on 22 May 2013.

Rs. 6 lakh per annum is the new income criterion for creamy layer section of OBC, which was recently hiked by the union govt from 4.5 lakhs per annum.

India on 22 May 2013 successfully test fired the 290-km range Brahmos supersonic missile from Indian Navy’s latest guided-missile frigate  INS  Tarkash.  This test  was  conducted  at  Goa.

Lydia Davis of US won the £60,000 Man Booker International Prize for 2013, which is given in recognition of a writer’s overall contribution to fiction.

Indian market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) completed 25 years of its establishment on 24 May 2013.

Malayalam language is set to be granted the status of a classical language after the union cabinet on 23 May 2013 approved classifying this language as a classical language.

On 23 May 2013, Yuichiro Miura of Japan became the oldest person to reach the summit of Mount Everest.

The  Legislative  Assembly  of  Himachal  Pradesh  completed  50 years  of  its formation on 24 May 2013.

Mumbai Indians team won IPL 2013 against Chennai super kings in the final at Eden gardens,kolkatta.

Radha Krishna Mathur was appointed as the new Defence Secretary of India on 25 May 2013. He succeeds Shashikant Sharma who has taken over as Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG).

Nico Rosberg of Germany belonging to the Mercedes team won the Monaco F1 Grand Prix, final of which was held on 26 May 2013.

‘Blue is the Warmest Colour’ film won the prestigious Palme d’Or at the recently concluded 66th Cannes Film Festival.

World Cup Cricket 2019 would be jointly hosted by England and Wales.

On 29 May 2013, 60th anniversary of the conquer of Mt. Everest is being celebrated.

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)’s Navigation Centre was inaugurated on 28 May 2013 by V. Narayanasamy, the Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) at  Byalalu, about 40 km from Bangalore.

Mrs. Kushal Singh was appointed as the Chairperson of National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) recently.

Famous social activist Ms. Aruna Roy , who was a member of the UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council (NAC), decided not to continue in the council for another term of NAC.

Noted filmmaker Rituparno Ghosh(west bengal)  passed away of a cardiac arrest on 30 May 2013.

SK Roy was appointed as the Managing Director of the Life Insurance Corporation (LIC), which is the largest financial institution in the country.

Justice Kalyan Jyoti Sengupta (of Uttarakhand High Court) has been appointed as the Chief Justice of the Andhra Pradesh High Court. He was sworn in on 21st may 2013.

Andhra Pradesh govt. had set up “A.P state security mission” under the chairmanship of homeminister. it’s a 6 member commission.

Andhra Pradesh Home Minister P Sabitha Indra Reddy and state Roads and Buildings Minister Dharmana Prasada Rao submitted their resignations to Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy on 20^th may in jagan’s illegal case.

Prasanna kumar mahanty,IAS became new chief secretary of A.P on 30^th april 2013.

Kiran kumar reddy appointed G.Gangadhar as A.P state S.C corporation chairman and Tripurana venkataratnam as state womens’ commission chairman in may 2013.

Satwik Karnik(12),basically from Kundapur region has won the ’National Geographic B’ competition organized by America’s ‘National Geographic Society’.

13 Year-old Indian-American Arvind Mahankali won Scripps National Spelling Bee prize 2013.

NTR literary award was presented to Oriya writer manoj das.

Lok Sabha Speaker Meira kumar unveiled the statue of N.T.R on may 7^th in the parliament near rajya sabha gate.