• International

Israel honours 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War Hero Lt. Gen JFR Jacob

• Israel honoured Lt. Gen. (retd) Jack Farj Rafael (JFR) Jacob, with a plaque on the Wall of Honour at the Ammunition Hill.
• Gen. (retd) JFR Jacob negotiated the historic surrender of Pakistani troops in Dhaka after the 1971 Bangladesh’s liberation war.
• Ammunition Hill was a fortified Jordanian military post in the northern part of Jordanian ruled East Jerusalem.
• Gen. Jacob (died in 2016 at the age of 92 years) served as a Lieutenant General in the Indian Army and later as a Governor of two Indian states-Goa and Punjab.

• International

Mali President named new government

• In Mali, the president has named a new government after its predecessor resigned in April 2019.
• President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita announced the new executive of 37 members under Prime Minister Boubou Cisse.
• He was appointed on April 22, 2019, to oversee the formation of a broad-based government.

• Sports

Dragan Mihailovic Appointed As Coach Of Indian Volleyball Team

• The Volleyball Federation of India appointed Serbian Dragan Mihailovic as head coach of the men’s national team in a move linked to the long term goal of Olympic Games qualification. Mihailovic has more than 25 years of experience as a coach.
• The VFI also announced the appointment of Pryemyslaw Gaszyoski and Valadimir Radosevic as the team’s physio trainer and physiotherapist respectively.
• All the three have been appointed for five months and will work with the team for the Asian Championships scheduled to be held in Iran during September 2019.

• Awards

G D ‘Robert’ Govender Conferred With V K Krishna Menon Award

• GD ‘Robert’ Govender, an Indian-origin journalist in South Africa, has been honoured in the UK with 2019 V K Krishna Menon award for his outstanding contribution as a pioneer of decolonised journalism.
• The South Africa-born journalist was awarded posthumously during an event to mark the 123rd birth anniversary of the Indian diplomat and politician V K Krishna Menon.
• During a career spanning nearly 60 years, Govender developed a reputation as a campaigning journalist and author.

• Awards

Trump awards highest US civilian honour to Tiger Woods

• US President Donald Trump presents the Presidential ‘Medal of Freedom’ to Golfer Tiger Woods (43-years) during a ceremony in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington.
• Woods is only the fourth and the youngest golfer ever to have received the highest American civilian award.
• Tiger Woods is considered one of the greatest golfers of all time.
• Mr Woods won the Masters tournament last month, his first major title since the 2008 US Open, capping a remarkable comeback from personal turmoil and physical injuries.

• Appointments

Gregor appointed global ambassador

• Gregor Robertson has accepted an ambassador role with the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy.
• The Global Covenant of Mayors is a coalition of over 9,000 cities and is the largest global alliance for climate leadership.
• In his role as ambassador, the former mayor will be taking his knowledge of urban climate change strategies to organizations around the world.

• Important Days

World Asthma Day being observed today

• World Asthma Day is being celebrated every year on the first Tuesday of May to increase awareness about asthma and aims to improve the lives of people with asthma across the world.
• Asthma is a chronic disease of the lungs which causes breathing problems.
• Asthma usually appears through symptoms like coughing, tightness in the chest, breathlessness.
• The theme for this year World Asthma Day is ‘Stop for Asthma’.

• Science and Tech

Japanese private firm sends the first rocket into space

• A Japanese aerospace startup funded by a former internet maverick successfully launched a small unmanned rocket ‘MOMO-3’ into space from a test site in Taiki on the northern Japanese island of Hokkiado.
• According to Japanese aerospace startup Interstellar Technology, its 10-meter (32-foot) craft reached an altitude of about 100 kilometres (60 miles) before splashing down into the Pacific Ocean.
• The successful flight lasted about 10 minutes and came after two failed launches by the same company in 2017 and 2018.
• It is the first commercially developed Japanese rocket to reach orbit.

• Science and Tech

Chandrayaan-2 to be launched in July this year

• According to ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation), India’s second lunar mission Chandrayaan-2 will be launched on a day between 9 and 16 July this year.
• Chandrayaan-2’s lander will touch down near the Moon’s south pole on 6th September.
• The National space agency said Chandrayaan-2 will have three modules in it, an orbiter, a lander named Vikram and a rover known as Pragyan.
• Chandrayaan-2 will be launched using India’s most powerful rocket GSLV-Mark-3.

• Defence

INS Ranjit decommissioned at Visakhapatnam

• Rajput class destroyer ‘INS Ranjit’ was decommissioned at a solemn grand ceremony at Naval Dockyard at Visakhapatnam.
• The Decommissioning Ceremony was graced by 16 officers and 10 sailors from the commissioning crew and 23 erstwhile Commanding Officers.
• The ship commissioned on 15 September 1983 by Captain Vishnu Bhagwat in erstwhile USSR has rendered yeoman service to the nation for 36 years.
• The ship since her commissioning has sailed for 2190 days covering a distance of over 7,43,000 nautical miles.
• The ship has been at the forefront of major naval operations and has the distinction of serving on both Eastern and Western seaboards.

• States

Gujarat Assembly Passes Act to Allow Shops & Businesses Remain Open 24X7

• ‘Gujarat Shops and Establishments (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 2019’ passed by Gujarat Assembly which came into force from May 1, 2019.
• The Act will allow the shops and other businesses in the state to operate 24×7.
• The Act replaced the Gujarat Shops and Establishments Act, 1948 which prevented shops and other businesses from operating between 12 to 6 a.m.
• Employees will get twice the regular salary for working overtime, against the one-and-a-half-time as provided under the earlier act.

• Miscellaneous

Last captive white tiger Bajirao dies at 18

• The last captive white tiger ‘Bajirao’ at the Sanjay Gandhi National Park in Mumbai died at the age of 18.
• He was suffering from chronic ankylosis on the left shoulder and chronic senile generalised arthritis for the last four years.
• The tiger’s autopsy carried out by the pathology department of BVC indicated multiple organ failures along with old age as the probable cause of death.