1- Aruna Shanbaug, face of mercy killing in India passes away

Aruna Shanbaug

Aruna Shanbaug, a nurse who was in a vegetative state for 42 years after being sexually assaulted passed away in Mumbai’s King Edward Memorial (KEM) hospital.

Earlier in second week of May she was put on ventilator after suffering a serious bout of pneumonia but she lost her battle for life. In 1973, she brutally assaulted by a sweeper at KEM hospital which had cut off oxygen supply to her brain. Since then she was in vegetative state (coma) and was cared by KEM hospital staff. In 2011, the Supreme Court (SC) had rejected a plea for her mercy killing (euthanasia) which was filed by former journalist and author Pinki Virani. However, based upon this case SC had framed the guidelines for passive euthanasia instead of active euthanasia. After this ruling of SC, she had become the face of mercy killing as her case sparked a debate in the country about the euthanasia laws.

It should be noted Pinki Virani had authored non-fiction book called ‘Aruna’s Story’ in 1998 based upon her life. While Duttakumar Desai had written Marathi play Katha Arunachi based upon her and in 2002 was staged under director Vinay Apte.

Quick Facts

• Active euthanasia: In this case medical professionals or another person deliberately do something that causes instant death of patient.
• Passive euthanasia: In this case, the common treatments such as antibiotics or life support of patient are withhold which in turn leads to death.
• It should be noted that Netherlands was the first nation to legalise Euthanasia.

2- Draupadi Murmu sworn in as first woman Governor of Jharkhand

Draupadi Murmu

Ms. Draupadi Murmu was sworn in as the first woman and overall ninth Governor of Jharkhand since the state was granted statehood status after bifurcating from Bihar on 15 November 2000. Jharkhand High Court Chief Justice Virendra Singh administered oath of office under the provisions of Article 159 of Constitution to her.

She succeeds Syed Ahmed who was recently transferred as Governor of Manipur by President Pranab Mukherjee.

About Draupadi Murmu

• Draupadi Murmu is two-time Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA from Odisha Assembly and had represented Rairangpur.
• She had served as Cabinet Minister in the Naveen Patnaik led coalition government of Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and BJP.
• She was the Minister of State (MoS) with independent charge for Commerce and Transport from March 2000 to August 2002.
• She also was MoS for Fisheries and Animal Resources Development from August 2002 to May 2004.

With this, Draupadi Murmu also became the first woman and tribal leader from Odisha to be appointed as a Governor in an Indian State.

3- India and South Korea sign 7 agreements to enhance bilateral relations

India and South Korea have signed 7 agreements /MoUs to enhance bilateral relations. The agreements were signed during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s last leg of three nation tour viz China, Mongolia and South Korea.

Signed agreements are

• Agreement for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with Respect to Taxes on Income- It was signed in lines with the Double Taxation Avoidance Convention (DTAC) signed between both nations in 1985. It revises previous convention with a view to avoid the burden of double taxation on taxpayers in the two countries.
• Cooperation in Audio-Visual Co-Production- It will boost opportunities for collaboration between both countries in film industries sector and facilitate collaboration, exchange and co-production of films, animation and broadcasting programmes.
• MoU for Cooperation between the India’s National Security Council and Korea’s Office of National Security- It will formalize consultations between the structures of National Security Council of both nations in a number of areas.
• MoU for cooperation in the field of Electric Power Development and New Energy Industries- It envisages cooperation in areas of electric power development and new energy industries. It basically includes areas such as smart grids and power information and technology, renewable energy, transmission and distribution of electric power, energy efficiency and storage system.
• MoU on Cooperation in Youth Matters- It will encourage and strengthen cooperation on youth matters through participation. It will basically enhance participation through international conferences, exchanges, youth camps, seminars, festivals etc.
• Framework of Cooperation in the Field of Road Transport and Highways– It envisages cooperation in areas such as road policies, construction and design, road operation, management and safety, electronic toll collection systems and intelligent transport systems.
• MOU in the Fields of Maritime Transport and Logistics- It envisages cooperation between the two countries in the fields of maritime transport and logistics. It will include sharing of information, technologies and experiences, exchange of experts and port operations, training of seafarers etc.

Apart from signing these agreements both nations also issued Joint Statement for Special Strategic Partnership.

4- Harkeert Singh Saini, an Indian-American wins Prestigious Police Award in Texas, US

Harkeert Singh Saini, an Indian-American policeman has been awarded the prestigiousTop Civilian Supervisor of the Year. He was conferred with award for his efficient services to the Houston Police department in the state of Texas of United States. He received this award from Houston Mayor Anise Parker and Police Chief Charles A McClelland.

Saini hails from Hoshiarpur district of Punjab and is a graduate from Deshbandu College in New Delhi. He had settled in Houston in 1998 and joined Houston Police Department in March 2000. In his 15 years of service he was subsequently promoted as an office supervisor.

5- Union Government allocates Rs 5000 cr for development of AYUSH

Union Government has allocated 5,000 crore rupees for the growth of Department of AYUSH, that comprises Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy. It was announced by Union Minister of State (MoS) for AYUSH Sripad Naik at a function in Mumbai, Maharashtra. The allocation of additional funds to Department of AYUSH will help it to create awareness about Ayurveda and promote traditional ayurvedic medicines at international level.

India and China are two prominent players in the field of traditional medicines at international level. However, traditional Chinese medicines have seen easy acceptance across the globe, but the Indian Ayurvedic medicines are yet to gain global acceptance. In the last ten years, Indian traditional medicines have seen a 25 per cent rise in sales at the international level. Union Government also focusing to address the issues in order to compete at international level.

Department of AYUSH also has launched an independent National AYUSH Mission aimed at capacity building for the sector. It is also planning to observe Ayurveda Day for creating awareness about Ayurveda.

6- Vikas Gowda wins bronze medal in Shanghai IAAF Diamond League

Vikas Gowda

India’s ace discus thrower Vikas Gowda won a bronze medal in the second leg of the prestigious International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) Diamond League series in Shanghai, China. In his fifth and penultimate attempt, Gowda hurled the disc to a distance of 63.90 metres to settle at third position. With this win, he has won 4,000 US Dollars besides earning one Diamond League point.

In this IAAF Diamond League series, Robert Urbanek of Poland won the Gold with a throw of 64.47 metres. Piotr Malachowski of Poland won Silver medal with a throw of 64.47m.

It should be noted that Gowda is National record holder and also 2014 Commonwealth Games gold medallist and Asian Games silver medal winner.

7- Ethiopian runners win both Men’s & Women’s titles in TCS World 10000m run

Ethiopian runners won both the Men’s and Women’s titles in the eighth edition of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) World 10 Thousand metre run in Bengaluru, Karnataka.

In Men’s category, Mosinet Geremew bagged the title by clocking 28 minutes and 16 seconds, while his teammate Fikadu settled at second place clocking 28 minutes and 14 seconds.

In the women’s section, Mamitu Daska bagged the title by clocking 31 minutes and 57 seconds.

In Indian Men’s category Suresh Kumar bagged the title by clocking 29 minutes 49 seconds. In women’s category Tamil Nadu’s Suriya Loganathan won the title with a time of 35 minutes and 58 seconds.

8- Pope Francis canonises two Palestinian nuns

Pope Francis has canonized Marie Alphonsine Ghattas and Mariam Bawardy from Palestine. The canonization ceremony was held in Vatican’s St Peter’s Square and was attended by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and over 2,000 Christian pilgrims from the region.

Both of them are 19th Century nuns who lived in Ottoman-ruled Palestine. They are also are the first Arabic-speaking Catholic saints to Canonized. Sister Marie-Alphonsine Danil Ghattas was founder of the Sisters of the Most Holy Rosary of Jerusalem and Maryam Baouardy had founded a Carmelite convent in Bethlehem. It should be noted that this move is seen as a token of Vatican support for dwindling Christian communities in the Middle East.

Note: Cannonisation is the act by which the Catholic Church or Eastern Orthodox Church declares a deceased person as a saint. After canonization the person acquires the title of Saint.

9- Maria Sharapova of Russia won the women’s single of Italian Tennis Open for third time

Maria Sharapova

Russian Maria Sharapova on 17 May 2015 won the women’s singles of Italian Open for the third time.  She defeated Spain’s Carla Suarez Navarro by 4-6 7-5 6-1. The Italian Open title was held in Rome, Italy. The men’s singles of the Italian Open (also called Rome Masters) was won by Novak Djokovic of Serbia.

The Italian Open is the most prestigious red clay tennis tournament in the world after the French Open. The men’s competition of the Open is an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event on the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) tour, and the women’s competition is a Premier 5 event on the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) tour. The two events were combined in 2011. The tournament is played on clay courts, currently during the second week of May. The event is also known as the Rome Masters and the Italian Championships

10- India assumed Presidency of the 68th World Health Assembly after 19 years

India on 18 May 2015 assumed Presidency of the 68th World Health Assembly (WHA) after 19 years. The session was presided by the Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare Jagat Prakash Nadda at Geneva. The 68th World Health Assembly will be held from 18 May 2015 to 27 May 2015. The 68th World Health Assembly will deliberate on key issues of global interest including anti-microbial resistance, air pollution and health, global health emergency, preparedness and surveillance, global strategy and plan of action on public health, innovation and intellectual property, and research and development in neglected tropical diseases.

The World Health Assembly (WHA) is the forum through which the World Health Organization (WHO) is governed by its 194 member states. It is the world’s highest health policy setting body and is composed of health ministers from member states.

Dr Roberto Morales Ojeda, Minister of Public Health of Cuba, was the President of the 67th World Health Assembly held in Geneva from 19 May -24 May 2014.

11- Union Government launched official website of NITI Aayog with blog section

Union Government on 18 May 2015 launched official website of National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog. The website is launched by Dr Arvind Panagariya, Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog. The website can be accessed on http://www.Niti.Gov.In.

The website is launched with blogs section that will have articles, field reports, work in progress and opinions by the officials. The portal will provide details of the constitution, functions and current activities of the NITI Aayog. The web page will also have reports prepared by the Aayog in its initial stages. The government replaced the Planning Commission with NITI Aayog on 1 January 2015. Thereafter, the government had archived the website of the Commission in the first week of January 2015.

The Aayog has been mandated to serve as a policy think-tank for the central as well as state governments and has Prime Minister as its Chairperson.

12- Official website of 10th World Hindi Conference launched

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on 16 May 2015 launched the official website of 10th World Hindi Conference at Jawaharlal Nehru Bhawan in New Delhi. It can be visited at www.vishwahindisammelan.gov.in.  The logo for the Conference was also chosen by the Logo Selection Committee after a logo design competition was organized by the Ministry of External Affairs. Khyati Gupta from Banglore was awarded the prize money of 50000 rupees by the External Affairs Minister.

The 10th World Hindi Conference (WHC) will be held from 10 September to 12 September 2015 at Lal Parade Ground in Bhopal. The conference will be hosted by the Ministry of External Affairs in partnership with state government of Madhya Pradesh. The main theme of the Conference is Hindi Jagat: Vistar avm sambhavnai.

Apart from this, to fulfill various aspects of the conference, three committees on Advisory, Management and Programme have been constituted. Sushma Swaraj will be the Chairperson of the Advisory and Programme Committees, while Gen. (Retd) Dr V K Singh, Minister of State for External Affairs, will be the Chairman of the Management Committee.

The decision to organize the 10th edition of the Conference in India was taken at the 9th World Hindi Conference held in Johannesburg, South Africa in September 2012. The first World Hindi Conference was held in 1975 in Nagpur, India and since then, nine such Conferences have been held all over the globe.

Details of the previous nine Conferences held so far are as follows:

13- Former Army Brigadier David Granger sworn-in as eighth President of Guyana

David Granger

Former Army Brigadier David Granger on 16 May 2015 was sworn in as the eighth President of Guyana.  He was sworn-in as the President after his A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) party-led coalition won the national elections. In the national elections held on 11 May 2015, his coalition APNU – Alliance for Change (AFC) defeated the ruling People’s Progressive Party (PPP). With this, it ended the 23 year old grip on power of Indo-Guyanese PPP.

The APNU-AFC coalition riding high on the campaign to reduce high youth unemployment and violent crime as well as crack down on piracy won 207200 votes. The PPP, on the other hand, got 202674 votes. Further, Granger’s coalition is expected to have three-four seat majority in the 65-member Parliament.

Besides, Indo-Guyanese politician Moses Nagamootoo, who defected from the PPP, was tapped as Prime Minister and the full cabinet is expected to be unveiled on 26 May 2015. Earlier Donald Ramotar, the PPP veteran and incumbent President, had forced an early ­elections after suspending and dissolving the parliament in November 2014 to avoid a no-confidence vote.

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