1. International Museum Day is observed on 18th May

• International Museum Day (IMD) is an international day that is celebrated on 18th May every year. It is coordinated by the International Council of Museums (ICOM). The objective of International Museum Day (IMD) is to raise awareness of the fact that, Museums are an important means of cultural exchange, enrichment of cultures and development of mutual understanding, cooperation and peace among peoples.

• The theme for International Museum Day (IMD) 2019 is Museums as Cultural Hubs: The future of tradition.

1. The purpose of ICOM is Conservation, continuation and communication to society of the world's natural and cultural heritage.
2. Formed on  -1946
3. Location     - Paris, France

2. Kerala State to go paper less under E Vidhan initiative

• The Kerala Legislative Assembly recently announced an initiative to digitize all its records and proceedings under its ambitious project called E-Vidh.

• It is expected that if Kerala Assembly shifts completely into e-space it will save time as well as printing costs of about Rs.35 crore to Rs.49 crore . This will make their functioning transparent, responsive, productive, more accountable and participative to public.

  Foot Notes :-

1. Capital‎ - Thiruvananthapuram
2. CM   -   Shri Pinarayi Vijayan         
3. Governor-Shri Justice (Retd.) Palaniswamy
4. National Park -Periyar

3. Aarohi Pandit the world’s first woman to cross the Atlantic Ocean solo in a Light Sports Aircraft

• 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), thrilling her family, friends and aviation circles in Mumbai.

• En route, she set another world record as the first woman pilot to fly solo above the treacherous Greenland ice-cap in an LSA, and is due for at least half a dozen other records by the time she reaches India, Lynn told IANS.

  Foot Notes :-

1. Chief of the Air Staff (CAS)        -   Air Chief Marshal Birender Singh
2. Founded                                        -   8 October 1932
3. Commander-in-Chief                   -  President Ram Nath Kovind
4.  first Indian woman Pilot           -   Sarla Thakral
5. Chief Minister of Maharashtra  - Devendra Fadnavis
6. Governor of Maharashtra          -  C. Vidyasagar Rao

4. Sunny Pawar won the Best Child Actor award for his performance in ‘Chippa’ at 19^th New York Indian Film Festival

• Child actor, Sunny Pawar aged 11, won the Best Child Actor Award for his performance in ‘Chippa’ at the 19^th New York Indian Film Festival. He hails from a slum in Kunchi Kurve Nagar in Mumbai, Maharashtra.

• His film ‘Lion’ directed by Australian Garth Davis’, which was nominated for Oscars 2017, had awarded him the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards (AACTA Awards). He has also won a Special Mention Grand Jury Prize at the Asia Pacific Screen Award

Foot Notes :-

1. Film ‘Chippa’ is directed by Safdar Rahman

5. Afghanistan’s High Peace Council Secretary- Umer Daudzai’s visit to India 

• Sushma Swaraj, External Affairs Minister met Umer Daudzai, (during his visit to India) Afghanistan’s High Peace Council Secretary who briefed her on the outcome of the recently held the historic ‘Loya Jirga’ or peace meeting in Kabul.

• Loya jirga” peace summit in Kabul was held in May, 2019 which had around 3,200 religious and tribal leaders, politicians and representatives.

Foot Notes :-

1. Capital       -      Kabul
2. Currency     -     Afghani
3. President        -    Ashraf Ghani
4. Official languages - Pashto, Dari

6. India’s fastest train ‘Vande Bharat Express’ completed 1 Lakh kilometers without missing single trip

• India’s fastest train ‘Vande Bharat Express’ completed 1 Lakh kilometers without missing single trip. It was flagged off by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi  under ‘Make In India’ Initiative, on February 15, 2019 from New Delhi to Varanasi. This 16 coach train began its commercial run from February 17, 2019.

• ‘Make in India’ is a flagship program formally launched by PM Narenda Modi on 25^th September 2014. The campaign was dedicated to Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya who was born on the same the date in 1916. The logo of ‘Make In India’ consists of lion and Ashoka Chakra. 25 sectors are included under Make in India campaign.

Foot Notes :-

1. The indigenously-built high-speed train was manufactured by the Integral Coach Factory in Chennai.
2. This high speed train is expected to replace Shatabdi Express trains soon.

7. Kerala became first state to list Masala Bond in overseas market

• Recently, 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 masala bond has tenor of 5-year and a 9.723% coupon.

• This was the brainchild of Kerala’s state finance minister Thomas Issac. The objective of this initiative was to tap masala bond market and to rebuild the infrastructure in Kerala from the proceeds of masala bond.

Foot Notes :-

1. National Parks/Wildlife Sanctuaries-Eravikulam National Park, Periyar National Park, Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary etc.
2. Dance Forms -Kathakali, Mohiniyattam, Koodiyattam, Chakyar Kothu, Theyyam etc
3. About London Stock Exchange (LSE)
4. Location   - London, U.K
5. CEO          - David Schwimmer

8. BSNL partnered with Google for expanding WiFi footprint

• Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has partnered with Google on the occasion of World Telecom Day. The objective is to expand BSNL’s Wi-Fi footprint in the country. Currently, there are around 38,000 BSNL Wi-Fi hotspot locations working across the country and one can use these after buying the Wi-Fi vouchers worth of Rs 19 and more.

1. BSNL Headquarter:  New Delhi , CEO:  Anupam
2. Google Headquarter:  California(US),CEO: Sundar Pichai

9. India sets Guinness World Records of ‘largest laundry lesson’ with the participation of 400 young men

• On May 17, 2019, India achieved a Guinness World Records of ‘largest laundry lesson’ with the participation of 400 young Indian men. The event was a part of #sharetheload campaign. It was done to share the responsibility of cleaning clothes at home along with the female members of the family.

• Earlier, the largest laundry lesson was achieved by Lion NANOX Team (Japan) at Lion Hirai Research Laboratory in Edogawa, Tokyo, Japan on November 29, 2017. It had 318 people.

Foot Notes :-

1. Originally Published   -  1955
2. Subject         -     World Records
3. Publishe       -   Jim Pattison Group
4. Genre             -  Reference work
5. Authors      -    Craig Glenday, Norris McWhirter

10. Harda district of Madhya Pradesh becomes the first where women handle entire work of counting votes

• In Harda district of Madhya Pradesh, women will handle the entire work of counting votes. This first of its kind initiative was taken for the empowerment of women.

Foot Notes :- Madhya Pradesh 

1. Known as      -      ‘Heart of India’ (due to its geographical location)
2. MP has                -   the largest reserves of diamond and copper
3. Chief minister    -  Kamal Nath
4. Capital                -   Bhopal
5. Governor           -    Anandiben Patel
6. Districts              -     52