National
May Day is celebrated
- 1 May is marked as May Day also referred to as International Workers’ Day and Labour Day in different countries across the world.
- In India, May Day was first celebrated on 1 May 1923, after the Labour Kisan Party of Hindustan was initiated and Comrade Singaravelar (Singaravelu Chettiar) helmed the celebrations.
Supreme Court directly grant divorce to couples
- A constitution or five-judge bench of the Supreme Court held that it can exercise its powers under Article 142 of the Constitution to directly grant a decree of divorce to consenting parties.
- The judgement relates to a 2014 case, titled Shilpa Sailesh vs. Varun Sreenivasan, where the parties sought a divorce under Article 142 of the Indian Constitution.
The PoSH Act
- More than half — 16 — of India’s 30 national sports federations do not have an Internal Complaints Committee (ICC), a legal requirement under the Prevention of Sexual Harassment (PoSH) Act, 2013.
- The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, commonly known as the PoSH Act, was passed in 2013.
- It defined sexual harassment lay down the procedures for complaint and inquiry, and the action to be taken in cases of sexual harassment.
The law on polygamy in India
- Polygamy is the practice of having more than one married spouse — wife or husband. The issue is governed both by personal laws and the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
- Parliament passed the Hindu Marriage Act in 1955, outlawing the concept of having more than one spouse at a time.
- Buddhists, Jains, and Sikhs are also included under the Hindu Marriage Code. The Parsi Marriage and Divorce Act, 1936, had already outlawed bigamy.
- Marriage in Islam is governed by the Shariat Act, 1937. Personal law allows a Muslim man to have four wives.
Behind the violence in Manipur
- The longstanding demand of the Meitei community to be included in the list of the state’s Scheduled Tribes (ST).
- The demand for ST status for the Meitei community has long been opposed by the state’s tribal groups.
International
The Arab League reinstated Syria
- The Arab League on 7 May 2023 voted to reinstate Syria’s membership after its suspension more than 10 years ago, underlining the thawing relations between Damascus and other Arab countries.
- The Arab League, formally known as the League of Arab States, was established in 1945 with initially just six nations: Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Syria.
- Currently, it has 22 member states, who have pledged to cooperate on economic and military affairs, among other issues.
KALADAN PROJECT
- A vessel was flagged off from Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port in Kolkata to officially kick-start the operation of Sittwe Port in Myanmar.
- It is part of Kaladan Multimodal Transit Transport Project (KMTTP) with a primary aim to create an alternative route to connect northeast and mainland India.
- Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) is the Project Development Consultant for KMTTP.
Washington Declaration
- South Korean President visited U.S. to commemorate the 70th anniversary of U.S.-South Korea bilateral relations.
- A highlight of the visit was the signing of the “Washington Declaration” as a nuclear deterrence strategy.
Title 42 is ending
- The United States is getting ready to lift COVID-19 restrictions that have blocked migrants caught at the S.-Mexico border from seeking asylum since 2020, a major policy shift with humanitarian and political implications.
- The COVID restrictions, known as Title 42, were first implemented under Republican then-President Donald Trump in March 2020 at the beginning of the pandemic.
Economy
THE PREVENTION OF MONEY LAUNDERING ACT (PMLA), 2002
- New rule has brought in practicing Chartered Accountants, Company Secretaries, and Cost and Works Accountants carrying out financial transactions on behalf of their clients into the ambit of PMLA.
- Financial transactions that would be considered for monitoring include buying and selling of any immovable property; managing of client money, securities or other assets; management of bank, savings or securities accounts etc.
Global Financial Innovation Network (GFIN)
- The Reserve Bank of India has opened the application window for all India based firms and innovators to participate in Global Financial Innovation Network (GFIN)’s first ever Greenwashing TechSprint.
- Greenwashing is marketing that portrays an organisation’s products, activities or policies as producing positive environmental or social outcomes, or avoiding environmental or social harm, when this is not the case.
Science And Technology
Voyager 2 probe gets new lease of life
- The Voyager 2 spacecraft was launched in 1977 and it is now more than 20 billion kilometres away from Earth. Now, it plans to keep the spacecraft’s science instruments turned on for a few years longer than previously anticipated.
- Voyager 2 and Voyager 1 are the only spacecraft that have ever operated outside the heliosphere, which is considered to be the border of our solar system.
Baby born with three people’s DNA
- In a first, a baby in the United Kingdom (UK) has been born using three people’s DNA, UK’s fertility regulator Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has confirmed on 10 May 2023.
- The technique, called early pronuclear transfer, involves transplanting the nuclear DNA from a fertilised egg into a donated egg, which contains healthy mitochondria, on the day of fertilisation. It has extensively been researched ever since 2015-16.
25th anniversary of Pokhran-II
- On 11 May 1998, India conducted three nuclear bomb test explosions at the Indian Army’s Pokhran Test Range. Two days later, on 13 May, two more bombs were tested.
- Codenamed Operation Shakti (literally, “strength”), these tests would display India’s capability to build fission and thermonuclear weapons.
- On 18 May 1974 with support from Indira, India carried out its first nuclear test at the Pokhran test site. Pokhran-I, codenamed Operation Smiling Buddha, would be billed as a “peaceful nuclear explosion”, with “few military implications”.
Neurotoxins gas leak leads to deaths
- 11 people died due to Hydrogen Sulphide gas leak (a kind of neurotoxin) in the Giaspura area of Ludhiana.
- Neurotoxins are poisonous substances which can directly affect the nervous system.
- Methane, hydrogen sulphide, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide are common neurotoxic gases.
LIGO-India
- The government has given the final go-ahead to India’s Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory, or LIGO-India.
- The LIGO-India facility is being constructed in the Hingoli district in Maharashtra.
- LIGO - India is a planned advanced gravitational- wave observatory to be located in India as part of the worldwide network.
- This Project is funded by Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) and the Department of Science and Technology (DST).
Miscellaneous
World Press Freedom Day
- World Press Freedom Day is celebrated annually on 3rd May to raise awareness about the importance of press freedom and the role of journalists in promoting democracy and defending human rights.
- This day was declared by the United Nations General Assembly in 1993 to mark the anniversary of the Windhoek Declaration, a statement of principles for a free press in Africa that was adopted by journalists and media professionals from across the continent in 1991.
World Thalassemia Day 2023
- On 8th May 1994, Thalassemia International Federation (TIF) observed World Thalassemia Day in memory of George Englezos.
- In India, thalassemia, along with two other blood disorders, was recognised as a benchmark disability in the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, of 2016.
- Thalassemia is a genetic-blood disorder that requires people to have regular blood transfusions mostly throughout the span of their life.
Mission Amrit Sarovar
- More than 50,000 water bodies have been rejuvenated ahead of schedule (build 50,000 'Amrit Sarovar' by August 2023) under the Mission Amrit Sarovar.
- Mission Amrit Sarovar was launched in 2022 with an objective to develop at least 75 Amrit Sarovar in every district of the country with a view to conserve water for the future. The Ministry of Rural Development is the nodal ministry.
Cyclone Mocha building over Bay of Bengal
- The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has said that a cyclonic or low-pressure area developed in the Bay of Bengal.
- This cyclone will be named Mocha (Mokha), a name suggested by Yemen after the Red Sea port city, which is known to have introduced coffee to the world over 500 years ago.
- Cyclone Mocha, a tropical cyclone, has been developed due to storm in southeast Bay of Bengal (BoB).
The Progress to End Child Marriage
- Despite a steady decline in child marriage in the last decade, multiple crises including conflict, climate shocks, and the ongoing fallout from COVID-19 are threatening to reverse hard-earned gains, according to a new analysis issued by UNICEF.
- India has recorded significant progress in recent decades, it still accounts for one-third of world’s child brides.
