Just under three years since the Brexit referendum that irrevocably changed British politics, another election is set to take place later in May that could fundamentally impact the political landscape again.
In the third week of May, British citizens and European and Commonwealth citizens resident in the U.K. will vote to select 73 candidates for the European Parliament, who will take up their seats in July for a five-year term.
CTBTO Invites India
The executive secretary of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO), Lassina Zerbo, has invited India to be an observer in the CTBT.
He said that he is not asking India to ratify [the treaty], he knows that is not possible now, but he thinks giving India the opportunity to join as an observer could be a good starting point.
Being an observer would give India access to data from the IMS, a network which when complete will consist of 337 facilities (321 monitoring stations and 16 radionuclide labs) located in 89 countries.
This system can detect even small nuclear explosions using seismology, hydroacoustics, infrasound and radionuclide technology.
Exporters of goods and services as well as suppliers to SEZ units are likely to get GST refunds automatically from June as the revenue department plans to introduce faceless scrutiny of refunds and faster claim settlement.
Currently, manufacturing exporters and suppliers to SEZs, who want to claim ITC (input tax credit) refund, have to file an application on the common portal and thereafter, manually submit a print out to the jurisdictional officer.
Once implemented, the time period for such refunds will come down to about a fortnight from months at present.
Nabventures Launches Maiden Fund
Nabventures, a subsidiary of NABARD, announced its maiden fund to back agriculture, food and rural start-ups.
Nabventures Fund has a proposed corpus of Rs. 500 crore with a greenshoe option of Rs. 200 crore.
It has received an anchor commitment from NABARD. The fund plans to raise the resources from domestic and global investors.
Pure Nutrition to Expand Offline Stores
Pure Nutrition, an online nutraceutical company, has announced offline store expansion plans to augment its retail presence in the country.
The company, which operates in five different verticals viz. dietary supplements, super foods, protein powder, pure herbal infusions and cold pressed oils, has already opened a few stores at airports for better visibility of its products and is now planning to put up stores in key cities.
Serena Williams made a winning return from injury, beating Swedish qualifier Rebecca Petersen to advance to the second round of the Italian Open clay-court tournament.
She will meet her elder sister Venus, who beat Elise Mertens in a marathon match that lasted over three hours.
The sisters last played each other in Rome 21 years ago, when a teenage Venus went on to win the tournament.
Arnav and Moumita in Indian Squad
Bengaluru teenagers Arnav Gupta and Moumita Mishra were included in the Indian squad which will compete in the second junior NBA Global Championship, a youth basketball tournament.
The tournament will be held from August 6 to 11, at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World near Orlando, USA.
The junior NBA Global Championship will feature boys and girls divisions, separated into U.S.A. and international brackets.
The winners of the U.S.A. and international brackets will play in the global championship game on August 11.
Mary Kom to Compete in India Open
Following her return to 51 kg, six-time World champion and London Olympics bronze medallist M. C. Mary Kom will compete in her first event in the Olympic weight class when she takes the ring in the $70,000 India Open boxing tournament to be held at Guwahati from May 20 to 24.
Keeping the World championships and the Olympics in mind, Mary, who clinched her sixth World title in 48 kg in Delhi in 2018, will use the India Open as a preparatory event.
As the election campaign in Bihar enters the last stretch, the ruling JD(U) has apparently changed its campaign narrative and returned to its demand for special status for the State.
Recently, JD(U)'s principal general secretary K.C. Tyagi had urged voters of Bihar to give his party at least 15 or more MPs, promising that they would raise the issue of special status for Bihar again.
Out of total 40 Lok Sabha seats in the State, the JD(U) and BJP are contesting 17 seats each with the partner Lok Janshakti Party contesting the remaining six.
Collegium Recommends Chief Justices
The Supreme Court Collegium has recommended names of four High Court judges for appointment as Chief Justices of the High Courts of Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Telangana.
As per the May 10 resolutions on the Supreme Court website, a three-member Collegium, headed by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi, recommended the name of Justice D.N. Patel as the chief justice of the Delhi High Court.
Similarly, the Collegium has recommended names of Justices A. A. Kureshi, V. Ramasubramanian and R. S. Chauhan for their appointment as Chief Justices of High Courts of Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Telangana, respectively.
China, which is developing its navy at a feverish pace, has commissioned two more guided missile destroyers taking the total of such warships to 20 with more in the pipeline.
Two Type 052D guided missile destroyers were launched in Dalian.
The PLAN is currently regarded as the world's fastest growing navy with new vessels being added to the fleet on a monthly basis.
While it has one aircraft carrier, the Liaoning which was commissioned in 2012, its second indigenously built aircraft carrier is currently undergoing trials and a third one is being built at a feverish pace.
China plans to acquire about five to six aircraft carriers in the coming years.
Diversified ITC Group announced the elevation of its MD Sanjiv Puri as the Chairman and Managing Director of the company.
Puri's elevation comes after noted industry leader and erstwhile ITC Chairman Y. C. Deveshwar passed away.
Deveshwar had stepped down from executive role in 2017 but remained as a chairman in non-executive capacity.
The Board of Directors of the company at the meeting appointed Sanjiv Puri, Managing Director, also as the Chairman of the Company with effect from May 13, 2019.
Amit Agarwal Resigns
Debt-ridden Jet Airways announced that its CFO and deputy CEO Amit Agarwal has resigned from the company citing personal reasons, with effect from 13 May 2019.
Jet Airways is running into a debt of more than Rs 8,500 crore and the airlines has shut down operations temporarily after lenders decided not to extend emergency funds for its survival.
India captain Virat Kohli bagged the International Cricketer and Batsman of the Year award during the CEAT Cricket Rating (CCR) International awards 2019.
Pacer Jasprit Bumrah, who made a mark for India and IPL franchise Mumbai Indians, was adjudged as International Bowler of the Year.
CEAT awarded Afghanistan leg-spinner Rashid Khan for outstanding bowling and Australian batsman Aaron Finch for his exceptional performance in T20.
Young prodigy Yashasvi Jaiswal, who performed exceptionally over the year was awarded Junior Cricketer of the Year while chinaman Kuldeep Yadav took home outstanding performance of the year award.
An initiative has been taken up by the State Tobacco Control Cell to implement Article 5.3 of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control in the State.
The FCTC mandates that the government at the national, State and district level should restrict access of tobacco industry in terms of pubic health aspects.
Government Hospitals Can Now Issue Disability Certificates
The Delhi government has designated 27 government hospitals in all 11 districts to issue disability certificates under the new central Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, for 21 conditions.
Hospitals under the previous act were still issuing certificates, but the number of disabilities went up in the new act and these hospitals did not have the department or specialists to diagnose them.
The newly designated hospitals will ensure that people do not have to go from hospital to hospital to get the certificates.
The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, now includes conditions like dwarfism, multiple sclerosis, and acid attack.
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