General Knowledge & Current Affairs
May 2022 - 23rd to 31st
- Navies of India and Bangladesh conducting CORPAT (Coordinated Patrol) in Bay of Bengal
- Union Home Minister Amit Shah inaugurates & lays foundation stones of various infrastructure projects worth Rs 1180 crore in Arunachal Pradesh
- Year-long celebrations of 250th Birth Anniversary of Raja Ram Mohan Roy begin
- National Recruitment Agency to conduct computer-based online CET for recruitment to non-gazetted posts by year end
- IIT-JEE (IIT-Joint Entrance Exam) to go global and be open to students from 25 nations, from US to Vietnam
- Centre forms 3-member panel to investigate Ramban tunnel collapse on Jammu-Srinagar highway on May 19
- West Bengal: Arjun Singh, BJP MP from Barrackpore, joins Trinamool Congress
- PM headed Inter-State Council, which works to promote and support cooperative federalism in the country, reconstituted
- WHO honours India’s one million all-women ASHA workers for ‘outstanding’ contribution to advancing global health
- Citizens can now use MyGov Helpdesk on WhatsApp to access Digilocker service
- National Health Authority launches revamped ABHA (Ayushman Bharat Health Account) mobile application to manage health records under Ayushman Bharat
- Punjab: Health Minister Vijay Singla sacked by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on corruption charges; arrested
- Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) opposes petition for the “restoration of 27 temples” alleged to have been destroyed to construct the Qutub Minar complex
- Odisha: Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams inaugurates new Lord Venkateswara temple in Bhubaneswar
- Vinai Kumar Saxena appointed new Lieutenant Governor of Delhi
- India ranked 54th on Travel and Tourism Development Index by WEF
- Navies of India & Bangladesh conducting Bongosagar exercise at Port Mongla, Bangladesh
- Captain Abhilasha Barak becomes first woman combat aviator of Army Aviation Corps
- Minister of State for Culture and External Affairs Meenakshi Lekhi participates in 7th BRICS Culture Ministers’ Meeting hosted by China through video conference
- Delhi court awards life imprisonment to Kashmiri separatist Yasin Malik under UAPA (Unlawful Activities Prevention Act) in a terror funding case
- Former Union Minister Kapil Sibal resigns from Congress
- 17th Mumbai International Film Festival (MIFF) from May 29 to June 4; Bangladesh made ‘Country of Focus’
- Gujarat: PM inaugurates Nano Urea Liquid Plant constructed at IFFCO, Kalol
- 50 per cent of rural households have access to tap water connections: Jal Shakti Ministry
- INS Gomati decommissioned at Naval Dockyard in Mumbai after 34 years of service
- Tamil Nadu: Vice President Naidu unveils late CM M. Karunanidhi’s 16-ft tall statue in Chennai
- Centre retracts caution on Aadhaar photocopies; UIDAI had warned against sharing them to avoid ‘misuse’
- NADI-3 (Natural Allies in Development and Interdependence) Asian Confluence River Conclave organised in Guwahati on May 28-29
- National Women Legislators’ Conference organised in Thiruvananthapuram
- 75th Cannes Film Festival: Shaunak Sen’s “All That Breathes” won the 2022 L’Oeil d’Or (Golden Eye) for the best documentary
- K.V. Raghupathi wins International Panorama Golden Award for his book ‘The Mountain is Calling’
- Minority certificates would be provided to six religious communities in Assam; Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains and Parsis
- Home Minister Amit Shah lays foundation stone for new international sports complex in Ahmedabad
- For 1st time, India Post delivers mail using drone in Gujarat under pilot project
- India-Bangladesh passenger train services resume after two years; Bandhan Express flagged off from Kolkata station for Khulna
- WHO selects Jharkhand for World No Tobacco Day Award-2022 for state’s efforts in controlling tobacco consumption
- North India’s first Industrial Biotech Park inaugurated at Kathua in J&K
- Punjabi Singer Sidhu Moose Wala shot dead in Mansa district day after security withdrawn
- PM releases benefits under PM CARES (Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations) Fund for children orphaned in Covid
- Statehood day of Goa celebrated; became 25th state of India on May 30, 1987
- ‘Yoga for Humanity’ is theme of International Day of Yoga on June 21
- Shruti Sharma tops civil services exam, women bag first three ranks: UPSC
- Gen Next Democracy Network programme of Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), concludes
- NHA (National Health Authority) launches public dashboard for Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission
- Annual meeting of World Economic Forum begins in Davos, Switzerland with its theme as “Working Together, Restoring Trust”; Commerce & Industry Minister Piyush Goyal leads Indian delegation
- International Day for Biological Diversity celebrated on May 22; theme: “Building a shared future for all life”
- World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development celebrated on May 21
- International Tea Day celebrated on May 21
- PM Modi joins US President Biden in launch of 12-nation Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF)
- Leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia agree to work further on a peace plan for Nagorno-Karabakh in a Brussels meeting
- Davos 2022: World Economic Forum (WEF) launches metaverse for strong public-private cooperation
- World Turtle Day celebrated on May 23
- International Day to End Obstetric Fistula observed on May 23
- Quad (Quadrilateral Security Dialogue) summit organised in Tokyo; participants: PM Narendra Modi, US President Joe Biden, Japan’s PM Fumio Kishida and Australia’s PM Anthony Albanese
- Quad recognises urgent need to address climate change; launches ‘Q-CHAMP’ (Quad Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation Package)
- QUAD leaders launch Quad fellowship programme for graduate STEM degrees in the US
- UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights) Michelle Bachelet visits China; meets Foreign Minister Wang Yi
- WHO (World Health Organisation) DG (Director-General) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus reappointed for a second five-year term
- Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya addresses 75th session of World Health Assembly in Geneva
- World Economic Forum’s Chief Economists Outlook report warns consequences from fragmentation of global economy
- DCO (Digital Cooperation Organization) and WEF (World Economic Forum) announce new initiative to boost flows of digital foreign direct investments globally
- Karuna Nundy, Gautam Adani and Khurram Parvez, three Indians on TIME 100 Most Influential People list
- US President Joe Biden says America will intervene militarily if China invades Taiwan
- US: Teenage gunman kills 18 children in a shooting at an elementary school in Texas
- Hungary amends constitution to extend govt’s state of emergency powers
- Sri Lanka PM Ranil Wickremesinghe appointed as finance minister, to lead debt talks with IMF
- New Zealand extends troop deployments to Solomon Islands till May 2023
- International Week of Solidarity with the Peoples of Non-Self-Governing Territories being observed by UN from May 25 to 31
- Russia and China block UNSC’s statement on Myanmar humanitarian crisis
- Russia says eastern Ukraine town of Lyman is under its full control
- Russia carries out test of Zircon hypersonic cruise missile
- Iran confirms seizure of 2 Greek oil tankers in Persian Gulf
- Menstrual Hygiene Day observed on May 28
- 75th annual Cannes Film Festival organised in Cannes, France; ‘Triangle of Sadness’ (English), written and directed by Ruben Östlund, wins Palme d’Or award
- Nepal’s Tara Air flight, with 22 including 4 Indians onboard, crashes; no survivors
- International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers observed on May 29; theme: “People. Peace. Progress. The Power of Partnerships”
- Sudan: General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan lifts state of emergency countrywide
- Govt giving additional fertiliser subsidy of Rs 1.10 lakh crore this fiscal: FM Nirmala Sitharaman
- India Ideas Conclave ‘India 2.0: Rebooting to Meta Era’ organised by the India Foundation in Bengaluru
- Salil Parekh reappointed as Infosys CEO & MD for another five years
- RBI-constituted panel to review customer service standards in banks, NBFCs; headed by B. P. Kanungo
- Export tariffs on new iron ores and concentrates raised to 50% from 30%
- Karnataka HC extends stay on ED order seizing Xiaomi India assets
- Govt allows duty-free import of 20 lakh tonnes per year of crude soyabean, sunflower oil
- India imposes restrictions on sugar exports from June 1; is world’s biggest producer of sugar and the second biggest exporter after Brazil
- Indian companies have emerged as the most trusted by the domestic population, followed by China, Canada, the US and the UK, according to Edelman Trust Barometer Special Report
- International Conference on New Technologies and Innovations in Rural Roads inaugurated in New Delhi by Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Minister Giriraj Singh
- Union Minister for Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal addresses the event ‘India at 75: Strategic Outlook’ at the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos,
- World Economic Forum announces new “Alliance of CEO Climate Action Leaders India” that will work towards fast-tracking decarbonisation
- Logistics services provider Delhivery lists after IPO at premium over issue price
- Venus Pipes & Tubes lists after IPO at premium over issue price
- National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI) defends service charge being levied by restaurants across the country
- Triumph launches all-new Tiger 1200 adventure motorcycle in four variants; prices starting from Rs. 19 lakhs
- Tata group hospitality firm Indian Hotels Company Ltd (IHCL) reappoints Puneet Chhatwal as Managing Director and CEO for another term of five years
- Anant Rangaswami, the founding editor of ad magazine Campaign India, dies at 61
- RBI issues norms for gold import by qualified jewellers through India International Bullion Exchange IFSC (IIBX)
- RBI cancels registration of 5 NBFCs, cites ‘irregular’ lending practices
- MeitY (Ministry of Electronics and IT) issues draft norms to mobilise non-personal citizen data with govt
- US surpasses China as India’s biggest trading partner in FY22 at $119.42 bn
- PMEGP (Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme) extended till FY26; assists youth in setting up of micro enterprises in non-farm sectors.
- Govt aims to cut power output from at least 81 coal-fired plants over 4 years
- Tata Motors to takeover Sanand plant; signs MoU with Ford and Gujarat govt
- US
An 18-year-old gunman murdered 19 young children and two adults at a school in Uvalde, Texas on May 24. After a standoff, he was shot dead by the police. On May 14, another gunman had shot and killed ten black people at a supermarket in Buffalo. - UK
In Britain the final report from Sue Gray, a senior civil servant, into parties held at Downing Street during covid lockdowns was released, after police investigations ended. The report indirectly criticised Boris Johnson, the prime minister, for “failures of leadership and judgment”. - ARGENTINA
A judge in Argentina agreed to a deal that means the president, Alberto Fernández, will pay a donation to a vaccine research institute so that legal proceedings against him for allegedly breaching lockdown rules in July 2020 are dropped. - BRAZIL
A police raid on a favela in Rio de Janeiro resulted in the deaths of 21 people. Police said all but one of the fatalities were members of a drug gang who were resisting an attempt to arrest their leaders. - UKRAINE
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has entered its “most active phase”, as the invading forces assaulted dozens of towns in the Donetsk region. Ukraine’s foreign minister said his country strongly disagreed with a suggestion by former US diplomat Henry Kissinger that it cede territory to Russia to bring an end to the war. - HUNGARY
Viktor Orban, the right-wing prime minister of Hungary, declared a state of emergency because of the war in Ukraine. His opponents say this is a ruse for Orban to consolidate more power. - CHINA
Michelle Bachelet, the UN’s human rights chief, began a highly orchestrated tour of the region of Xinjiang, where China is accused of detaining 1 million Uyghurs and other minorities. Her ability to investigate such claims has been limited by the government, which expects a “friendly” visit. - AUSTRALIA
The Labor Party won federal elections in Australia, defeating the conservative government of PM Scott Morrison that has held office for almost a decade. The new prime minister is Anthony Albanese. - JAPAN
While the QUAD Summit of leaders from US, Australia, Japan and India was being held in Tokyo, China and Russia flew nuclear capable warplanes over the Sea of Japan in a coordinated exercise. Soon after, North Korea test-fired three ballistic missiles towards the Sea of Japan. - TAIWAN
US president Joe Biden caused a kerfuffle when he suggested that America will use force to help Taiwan if it is invaded by China. A furious China said there was no room for compromise. Biden later clarified his comment, and said America had not changed its policy of providing Taiwan with the “military means” to defend itself.
- Australian swimmer Ariarne Titmus sets women’s 400-meter freestyle world record
- Athletics: Jyothi Yarraji smashes own women’s 100 m hurdles national record
- Football: Manchester City crowned 2021/22 English Premier League champions
- Spanish football club Real Madrid win UEFA Champions League tournament by beating English club Liverpool 1-0 in final played in Paris
- Cricket: Gujarat Titans (133 /9 in 18.1) defeat Rajasthan Royals (130/9 in 20) in final at Ahmedabad to win IPL
- Sergio Perez of Red Bull wins Formula One Monaco
- Rajasthan: CM Ashok Gehlot announces Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award for state’s sportspersons Grand Prix
- Former British champion jockey Lester Piggott dies at the age of 86
