• The first part of the Indo-French joint naval exercise, Varuna 19.1was kicked off the Goa coast. The second part, Varuna 19.2, is scheduled to be held at the end of May in Djibouti.

• Akihito became the first Japanese Emperor to step down from the throne in more than 200 years. His son, Crown Prince Naruhito, ascended the Chrysanthemum throne.

• Iraq has become India’s top crude oil supplier for the second consecutive year, meeting more than one-fifth of the country’s oil needs in the 2018-19 fiscal year.

• Markets regulator SEBI directed National Stock Exchange to pay more than 625 crore in the case of misuse of its co-location facility. Note: SEBI Headquarter: Mumbai, Chairperson: Ajay Tyagi. The National Stock Exchange of India Ltd. is the second largest in the world by nos. of trades in equity shares from January to June 2018. Mr.Vikram Limaye is the Managing Director and CEO of NSE.

• International Labour Day (also known as May Day or International Workers’ Day)  is celebrated across the world on1st of May every year. The theme of International Labour Day 2019 is “Sustainable Pension for all: The Role of Social Partners”.

• India’s G Sathiyan has become the first Indian to break into the top-25 of world rankings in Table Tennis.

• The Manchester City and England forward Raheem Sterling has been named the 2019 footballer of the year by the Football Writers’ Association (FWA).

• The Central government has asked the state transport departments to make it mandatory for all Electric Vehicles to use the green number plates,irrespective of the year in which they were bought.

• In a huge diplomatic win for India, the United Nations Security Council designated Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar as a global terrorist after China lifted its hold on a proposal to blacklist him under the Security Council’s Sanctions Committee.

• BSE, formerly known as the Bombay Stock Exchange, has appointed its first independent woman director Jayshree Vyas. Note: BSE MD & CEO:Ashishkumar Chauhan.

• Former Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara has been named as the next President of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), becoming the first non-British President of the club. Sangakkara will take up the post on October 1 and will serve for a period of one year.

• India’s largest bank State Bank of India has moved to a new interest rate regime on large savings account deposits as well as short-term loans. Earlier, SBI had announced that it will link its interest rate on savings account with a balance above Rs.1 lakh and short-term loans like overdraft and cash credit facility to Reserve Bank of India’s repo rate, effective 1 May 2019.

• May 1 was celebrated as ‘Maharashtra Day’ and ‘Gujarat Day’. Note: Maharashtra CM: Devendra Fadnavis, Governor: C Vidyasagar Rao. Gujarat CM: Vijay Rupani, Governor: Om Prakash Kohli.

• World Tuna Day was celebrated on 2nd May to raise awareness about the importance of tuna and to promote more sustainable fishing practices.

• Indian shooting ace Apurvi Chandela (from Jaipur)has been ranked the world number one in the women’s 10 metres air rifle event while compatriot Anjum Moudgil rose to number two after consistent performances.

• State-owned telecom firm BSNL has become the first operator to start optical fibre-based high-speed broadband service in Pulwama with the launch of ‘Bharat Fibre’. This is the first such FTTH (fibre-to-the-home) service deployment in the (Kashmir) Valley.

• Mangaluru City Police has launched an all-women police patrol unit ‘Rani Abbakka Force’. Note: Karnataka Capital: Bengaluru, CM: H.D Kumaraswamy, Governor: Vajubhai Vala.

• Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed into law a new measure that aims to expand government control over the Internet. It would enable the creation of a national network, able to operate separately from the rest of the world.

• The UK parliament became the first national legislative body in the world to declare a climate change emergency.

• World Press Freedom Day (WPFD)is celebrated all over the world on the 3rd of May. The theme for WPFD 2019 is “Media for Democracy: Journalism and Elections in Times of Disinformation”. Note: India Ranked 140^th in 2019 World Press Freedom Index. Norway is ranked first.

• 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, for his contribution to India-France space cooperation.

• World number one Bajrang Punia has become the first Indian to win gold at the Ali Aliev wrestling tournament. Note: Bajrang, who is part of the JSW Sports Excellence Program, will fight at the historic Madison Square Garden arena.

• Jaipur will host the 8^th Asian Youth Women Handball Championship in which 10 teams will be participating. It will be played in August 2019.

• The defence ministry has approved the procurement of 10 Kamov Ka-31 Airborne Early Warning and Control helicopters for the Indian Navy. Note: Present Chief of the Naval Staff- Admiral Sunil Lanba. Vice Admiral Karambir Singh has been appointed as next Chief of the Naval Staff.

• Bhushan Patil,president at Paytm, has quit the company.

• The fourth of Indian Navy’s stealth Scorpene class Submarines of Project 75, INS Velawas launched at the Kanhoji Angre Wet Basin of Mazagon Dock Limited at Mumbai in Maharashtra. The submarine has been named ‘Vela’.

• India will be attending the Group of 7 industrialised nations meet organised by France in Biarritz in August along with Australia, Chile, and South Africa. Note: The G-7 groups together the US, Britain, France, Italy, Canada, Japan, and Germany. The grouping had included Russia but it was left out following tensions with Western nations over the annexation of Crimea in 2015.

• The Asian Development Bank (ADB) launched a $5 Billion Action Plan for Healthy Oceans and Sustainable Blue Economies for the Asia and Pacific region. Note: Takehiko Nakao is the President of the Asian Development Bank. Headquarters: Mandaluyong, Metro Manila, Philippines.

• Flipkart-owned fashion e-commerce platform Myntraannounced that it had appointed celebrity couple Virat Kohli and Anushka Sharma as its first brand ambassadors. Myntra has launched the integrated campaign called ‘Go Myntra-la-la’ which will be promoted across television, print, digital and outdoor. Note: Amar Nagaram is the present head of Myntra-Jabong.

• Microsoft has unveiled its own fully-managed ‘Azure Blockchain Service’ that would simplify the formation, management, and governance so that businesses can focus on workflow logic and application development.

• Pakistan’s former captain and star all-rounder Shahid Afridi released his autobiography, titled ‘Game Changer’. The book is co-authored by Afridi and journalist Wajahat S Khan.

• Ace Indian squash players Saurav Ghoshal and Joshna Chinappa won their respective Asian Individual Squash Championship titles in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

• World Laughter Day is celebrated on the first Sunday of May every year. This year it was celebrated on 5^th May.

• Gujarat Assembly passed ‘Gujarat Shops and Establishments(Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 2019’ to allow the shops and other businesses in the state to operate 24×7.

• The US Air Force Research Laboratory tested a laser system called Self-Protect High Energy Laser Demonstrator (SHiELD) which successfully shot down multiple air-launched missiles while in flight.

• Israel honoured  Gen. (retd) Jack Farj Rafael (JFR) Jacob,who negotiated the historic surrender of Pakistani troops in Dhaka after the 1971 Bangladesh’s liberation war, with a plaque on the Wall of Honour at the Ammunition Hill.

• The G7’s(Group of Seven) Environment Ministers gathered for a 2-day meeting in Metz, France.

• World Asthma Day 2019 was celebrated on 7 May. The theme of World Asthma Day 2019 was ‘STOP for Asthma’.

• World Red Cross Day(also known as Red Crescent Day) is observed every year on May 8. The theme for 2019 is, ‘#Love’. Incidentally, the day is also the birthday of Henry Dunant, who had generated the Red Cross Committee of the International (ICRI) in 1863 in Switzerland, Geneva.  

• India was re-elected as Observer to the Arctic Council,an intergovernmental forum.  The Council also appointed the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) as a new Observer. The Arctic Council is formed of eight circumploar countries- Norway, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, Denmark, Canada, US and Russia. 

• Singapore’s Parliament passed a law to curb the spread of fake news under which offenders may face up to 10-year jail or fines of up to S$1 million (over Rs.5.12 crore). The law empowers the government to direct social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter to carry corrections or remove content it considers to be fake news. 

• India Ratings has downgraded the YES bank’s long-term rating to ‘IND AA-’ with a negative outlook, while reaffirming short-term rating. ICRA has also downgraded the long-term ratings of the lender.

• Prof R. Madhava Menon,an educationist, scholar, and the pioneering spirit behind modern legal education in India, has passed away.

• The Indian Army is commemorating 2019 as the ‘Year of Next of Kin’and plans to reach out to the next of kin of battle casualties, ex-servicemen and serving soldiers to inform them of entitled financial benefits, welfare schemes and help resolve pension-related pro kiblems. Note: Chief of the Army Staff – General Bipin Rawat.

• The Australian flight carrier, Qantas has operated the world’s first zero-waste commercial flight from Sydney to Adelaide which disposed of all waste through compost, reuse or recycle.

• The 5th United Nations Global Road Safety Week was observed from May 6 to 12, 2019. It is celebrated once in two years. The theme of the Road Safety Week is ‘Leadership for Road Safety’.

• Amul has been announced as the principal sponsor of the Afghanistan cricket team for the upcoming World Cup, slated to be held in England and Wales from May 30.