• Konkan Railways Corporation Ltd has signed a contract agreement with Nepal’s Department of Railways to supply two 1600 HP DEMU train sets. The train sets will be manufactured by the Integrated Coach Factory, Chennai.

• Pune-based Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER)team found a new species of reddish-brown pit viper snake with a unique heat-sensing system. The species is named ‘Trimeresurus arunachalensis’ after Arunachal Pradesh, where it was discovered. This makes Arunachal Pradesh the only state to have a pit viper named after it.

• National Technology Day is observed every year on 11th of May in India, as a reminder of the anniversary of Shakti. Shakti is the Pokhran nuclear test which was held on the 11th of May, 1998. The first nuclear test Pokhran with a codenamed as‘Smiling Buddha’ was carried out in May 1974.

• Ireland has declared a climate emergency in their country,to be the second country after Britain to do so.

• Indian actress Dia Mirza and Alibaba chief Jack Maare among the 17 global public figures appointed by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres as the new advocates to drive action and solidify global political will for the ambitious Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). 

• United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) decided to hold its 5-day long 2020 high-level Ocean Conference in Portugal’s Lisbon to Support the Implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 14: Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development in Lisbon. 

• Professor Tijjani Mohammad Bande has been appointed as the new President of the United Nations General Assembly.His appointment was announced by María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés, outgoing president of UNGA. 

• IPS officer Chhaya Sharma, who led the investigation team of the infamous Nirbhaya gang-rape and murder case,has been awarded the 2019 McCain Institute Award for Courage and Leadership.  

• Pakistan off-spinner Sana Mir has become the most successful women’s ODI spinner in history.Currently, Mir is placed on the third position in the ICC’s ODI bowling ranking, which is topped by Indian pacer Jhulan Goswami.  

• Mumbai Indians became IPL champions for the fourth time after defeating Chennai Super Kings by one run in a thrilling final in Hyderabad. Note: Orange Cap- David Warner of Sunrisers Hyderabad scored most runs: 692 Runs in 12 Matches. Purple Cap- Imran Tahir of Chennai Super Kings took most wickets: 26 Wickets in 17 Matches. Jonny Bairstow of Sunrisers Hyderabad Highest Individual Score: 114 Runs.

• Inaugural issue of world’s first exclusive women’s cricket magazine ‘Criczone’ was released with Indian team vice-captain Smriti Mandhana featuring as the cover story. 

• In 2019, World Migratory Bird Day is celebrated on May 11 and October 12. The theme for World Migratory Bird Day 2019 is ‘Protect Birds: Be the Solution to Plastic Pollution’. 

• International Nurses Day is celebrated around the world on 12 May.It celebrates the birth anniversary of Florence Nightingale. The theme for 2019 International Nurses Day 2019 is “Nurses – A Voice to Lead – Health for All”. It was first celebrated by the International Council of Nurses (ICN) in 1965.  

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has imposed a monetary penalty of Rs.1 crore on Nainital Bank for its failure to fully automate the non-performing asset (NPA) identification process, despite specific directions issued in this regard.

• The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) announced 700 crore venture capital fund for equity investments in agriculture and rural-focused startups. NABARD has been contributing to other funds till now and this is the first time that the rural development bank has launched a fund of its own. The fund has been launched by Nabventures, a subsidiary of NABARD, and has a proposed corpus of Rs 500 crore with an option to retain over-subscription of Rs 200 crore, called as the greenshoe option. 

• CEAT Cricket Rating (CCR) Awards 2019 were announced in India captain Virat Kohli bagged the  International Cricketer and Batsman of the Year award during the CCR International awards. Pacer Jasprit Bumrah was adjudged as International Bowler of the Year. 

• India’s GS Lakshmi has become the first ever woman to be appointed to the ICC International Panel of Match Referees. The first woman on the ICC Development Panel of Umpires was Kathy Cross, who retired in 2018.

• Housing finance major HDFC Limited has partnered with India Mortgage Guarantee Corporation (IMGC) to offer a mortgage-guaranteed home loan product.

• Merchant service and UPI payments app Bharat Pe has roped in Bollywood actor Salman Khan as its brand ambassador.

• 15 May was observed as The International Day of Families. The Theme for 2019 International Day of Families is“Families and Climate Action: Focus on SDG 13″.

• India signed the ‘Christchurch Call to Action’ in Paris. The agreement came in the backdrop of the attacks on mosques in March and is aimed at stopping the abuse of the Internet by extremists.

• Captain Aarohi Pandit, a 23-year-old pilot from Mumbai became the world’s first woman to cross the Atlantic Ocean solo in a Light Sports Aircraft (LSA).

• Nepalese Sherpa climber Kami Rita has scaled Mount Everest for a 23rd time, breaking his own record for the most successful ascents of the world’s highest peak.

• Reserve Bank of India has released a vision document ‘Payment and Settlement Systems in India: Vision 2019 – 2021’, with its core theme of ‘Empowering Exceptional E-payment Experience’ for ensuring a safe, secure, convenient, quick and affordable e-payment system.

• To give a fillip to digital lending, Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) has put togethera pilot scheme to extend financial assistance of up to Rs.10 crore to new-age fintech non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) engaged in financing small businesses and other income-generating activities.

• ITC Managing Director Sanjiv Puri has been appointed as the chairman by the Board of Directors. His new designation will now be chairman and managing director.

• China has become the sole contender to host Asian Cup Football tournament in 2023 after South Korea has announced to withdraw its bid to host the game.

• Taiwan has approved a bill legalizing same-sex marriage, a landmark decision that makes the self-ruled island the first country in Asia to pass gay marriage legislation.

• The Saudi government has approved for the first time a scheme (The “Privileged Iqama”system) that gives permanent residency to certain expatriates, allowing them to own real estate in the kingdom and reside with their families without a Saudi sponsor.

• Ujjivan Small Finance Bank Limited has appointed Nitin Chug has its next Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) from December 1, 2019. Bank’s current MD and CEO, Samit Ghosh is retiring on November 30, 2019.

• May 16th was celebrated globally as the International Day of Light.

• World Telecommunication & Information Society Day is observed all over the world on 17th May.The theme for World Telecommunication & Information Society Day 2019 is ‘Bridging the Standardization Gap’.

• United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) conferred Sasakawa Award 2019 for Disaster Risk Reduction to  Pramod Kumar Mishra, Additional Principal Secretary to Prime Minister of India.

• The Geological Survey of India (GSI)in its report revealed that about 35 % of India’s total Graphite reserves are found in Arunachal Pradesh. This is the highest found in the country.  

• Kerala became the first state to tap into masala bond market by listing the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB)’s masala bond worth of USD 312 million (Rs 2,150 crore) in London Stock Exchange (LSE)’s International Securities Market (ISM).

• The 26th Edition of Singapore India Maritime Bilateral Exercise (SIMBEX)-19 commenced in the South China Sea.

• After decades of ground-breaking laboratory works,the world’s scientific and technical community, in a landmark and historic decision has unanimously adopted the resolution to redefine four of the seven base units, the kilogram (SI unit of weight), Kelvin (SI unit of temperature), mole (SI unit of amount of substance), and ampere (SI unit of current).  

• State-run telco BSNL has announced that it has joined hands with internet major Google to expand its WiFi footprint across the country. 

• Indian filmmaker, Achyutanand Dwivedi’s film, “Seed Mother”,won the third prize in the international section of Nespresso Talents 2019 in Cannes.

• Rafael Nadal was the winner in Men’s singles category while Karolina Pliskova won the Women’s singles title of the Italian Open 2019.  

• 2nd India Open International Boxing Tournament started in Guwahati.

• The world body governing Badminton, BFA,has launched two new formats of the game Air Badminton and Triples with new dimensions of the court and an innovative shuttlecock called Airshuttle. AirBadmintion will be outdoor sports. In Triples format, the match will be played between a team of three players each with the presence of at least one female.

• World Bee Day was observed on 20th May. 

• World Metrology Day is observed every year on 20 May.The theme for World Metrology Day 2019 is The International System of Units – Fundamentally better.