• National

President dissolves 16th Lok Sabha

• President Ram Nath Kovind today dissolved the 16th Lok Sabha with immediate effect on the recommendation of the Union cabinet, the Rashtrapati Bhavan said in a statement.
• A communique issued by the Rashtrapati Bhavan said the President dissolved the Lok Sabha after a cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi made such a recommendation.
• “The President has accepted the advice of the Cabinet on 24.05.2019 and signed the Order dissolving the 16th Lok Sabha,” it said.
• The President also received the list of winning Lok Sabha candidates from Election Commission. The Election Commission met on Saturday to finalise the list of winning candidates to be handed over to President.

• International

2019 Urban 20 Mayors Summit to take place in Tokyo

• The second Urban 20 (U20) Mayors Summit was held in Tokyo, Japan ahead of G20 Osaka Summit.
• It had seen the participation of Mayors of 35 major cities from across the world.
• In this summit, mayors and city governors from 30 cities with 126 million people adopted 2019 Urban 20 Tokyo Mayors Summit Communique.

• Economy and Business

Facebook to launch cryptocurrency in 2020

• Facebook, which owns WhatsApp and Instagram, is gearing up to launch its own cryptocurrency in 2020.
• Called ‘GlobalCoin’, the cryptocurrency would work with a new digital payments system in about a dozen countries starting in the first quarter of 2020.
• Facebook has been in contact with US and British financial regulators to launch it.

• Sports

Mary Kom, Sarita won gold at India Open

• Six-time world champion MC Mary Kom and Sarita Devi won gold medals at the second India Open boxing tournament.
• The tournament concluded on 24 May 2019.
• India won medals in 52 kg, 81 kg, 91 kg and +91 kg men’s categories.
• While, 51 kg, 57 kg and 75 kg in women’s to conclude the campaign with 12 of the 18 gold medals available.

• Appointments

Shailesh Tinaikar to Head UN Peacekeeping Operations in South Sudan

• UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has appointed a decorated Indian Army officer as the new Force Commander of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan.
• Lieutenant General Shailesh Tinaikar, 57, will succeed Lieutenant General Frank Kamanzi of Rwanda who completes his assignment on May 26.
• The announcement was made by the UN chief on 24 May 2019.

• Appointments

Fungi that oxidise gold particles

• Australia’s national science agency CSIRO has discovered new thread-like fungi that oxidise tiny particles of gold from their surroundings and attach the gold to their strands.
• The fungi, Fusarium oxsporum, were found to grow larger and spread faster than those that don’t interact with gold.
• Gold is so chemically inactive that this interaction is both unusual and surprising.

• Defence

DRDO test fires guided bomb from Sukhoi combat jet

• Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has successfully test-fired an indigenously developed 500 kg class guided bomb from a Sukhoi combat jet at Pokhran in Rajasthan.
• The test firing of the guided bomb came two days after the Indian Air Force successfully test fired the aerial version of the supersonic BrahMos cruise missile from a Sukhoi jet at the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

• States

Naveen Patnaik set for the fifth term as Odisha CM

• Odisha’s ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) headed by incumbent Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik is all set to form a government for a fifth consecutive term.
• A meeting of the newly elected BJD legislators is scheduled to be held on Saturday, and the new Cabinet is likely to be sworn-in on Monday, May 27, party officials said.
• The final Election Commission (EC) tally shows that the BJD won 112 of the 146 Assembly seats for which elections were held.
• The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) bagged 23, the Congress nine, the CPI(M) one and a solitary Independent were also elected.

• States

Chandrani Murmu became youngest Lok Sabha MP

• BJD’s Chandrani Murmu became the youngest ever Lok Sabha MP.
• The 25-year-old BTech graduate won the reserved Keonjhar, Odisha’s seat by defeating a two-time MP.
• The Keonjhar Lok Sabha seat is reserved for Scheduled Tribes.

• States

HK Patil resigned from Congress Campaign

• In Karnataka, senior Congress leader HK Patil has resigned as President of state Congress Campaign Committee.
• He took the responsibility for the party’s disastrous defeat in Lok Sabha polls.
• He said the results have shocked all Congressmen and the outcome in Karnataka is contrary to their expectations.

• Miscellaneous

AN-32 certified to operate on Bio-Jet fuel

• IAF’s AN-32 aircraft was formally fleet certified to fly on blended aviation fuel containing up to 10% of indigenous bio-jet fuel.
• The approval certificate was received at the aero-engine test facilities at Chandigarh by Air Commodore Sanjiv Ghuratia.
• This will promote the ‘Make in India’ mission as this bio-fuel would be produced from Tree Borne Oils sourced from tribal areas and farmers.