General Awareness May 2013

31st May

• India and Thailand signed a treaty for the extradition of runaways wanted for terrorism, transnational crimes, economic offenses and other serious crimes.

• TVS Logistics Services Ltd. acquired second company in US called Wainwright Industries, the end-to-end supply chain provider.
• As per CSO DATA released on 31 May 2013, economic growth fell to a decade's low of 5 per cent for the entire 2012-13 fiscal

• UNESCO in the Month of May 2013 had declared India's Nicobar Islands as a world biosphere reserve under its Man and the Biosphere Programme.

• According to World Health Organisation, World No-Tobacco day is observed every year on 31 May 2013.

• On 31 May Arvind Mahankali, a 13-year old Indian-American won the Scripps National Spelling Bee contest, as children from the community scripted history by dominating the prestigious competition for the sixth year in a row, grabbing top three slots this year

30 may

• Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on 30 May 2013 was elected to the Rajya Sabha for the fifth time from Assam.

• Asian woman mountaineer Premlata Agrawal has become the first Indian woman mountaineer to scale the seven continental peaks after climbing Alaska’s McKinley Peak.
• 30 May is celebrated as the Hindi Journalism Day in India’s journalism every year. On this day first Hindi newspaper, Udant Martand was brought out.
• The seventh edition of the annual Regional Pravasi Bharatiya Divas will be held in Sydney in November 2013.
• The Department of Telecom (DoT) decided to levy 650 crore Rupees penalty on Airtel for violating licence conditions.

•  Physicist Peter Higgs and Francois Englert won the 2013 Prince of Asturias Award

• Akshay B. Gaikwad won three gold medals on second day of 15th Asian Youth Weightlifting Championships in Doha.

• Rituparno Ghosh, the renowned Bengali film maker died on 30 May 2013 of cardiac arrest at his south Kolkata residence.

• The oldest person in the world, Japanese Jiroemon Kimura,116 years Japanese man became the last male of the 19th century in the world. Jiroemon Kimura was given the title of last male alive to be born in the 19th century after the death of Barbados in the month of May 2013 at the age of 113 years and 90 days.

29 May

• 44 Years old Ang Dami Sherpa from Nepal won the Everest Marathon on 29 May 2013 in women’s category of Year 2013.
• The Annual Plan for the year 2013-14 for Tripura was finalised on 29 May 2013. The size of the plan was agreed upon at 2500 crore Rupees.

28 May

• Manoj Das, the Noted Oriya writer on 28 May 2013 was presented the NTR National Literary Award.
•  On 28 May ,three scientists whose groundbreaking studies using fruit flies helped to uncover the workings of the human biological clock were named the winners of the $1 million Shaw Prize .US scientists Jeffrey Hall, Michael Rosbash and Michael Young received the award “for their discovery of molecular mechanisms underlying circadian rhythms”.
•  India, the United States and Australia came together to develop new climate-resilient varieties of rice and wheat.
•  Pranab Mukherjee conferred the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowships on N Rajam, T H Vikku Vinayakram and Ratan Thiyam for the year 2012, on 28 May 2013.
• V. Narayanasamy inaugurated ISRO Navigation Centre (INC) at Byalalu, about 40 km from Bangalore on 28 May 2013.
• The Indian telecom sector became the second largest telephone network in the world, after China by registering exceptional growth during last nine years.
• The Ministry of Women and Child Development appointed Kushal Singh as the Chairperson of National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR).

• World Hunger Day was observed on 28 May 2013 across the globe. It is an annual event .

27 May

• “Gandhi’s Outstanding Leadership “, written by former Indian diplomat-turned-Gandhian Pascal Alan Nazareth, was released at the Peking University’s Centre.
• Union Government plans to roll out a 43000-crore rupees green energy corridor project to facilitate the flow of renewable energy into the national grid.

• The Reserve Bank of India on 27 May 2013 imposed restrictions on banks and NBFCs for providing loans against gold coins.
  
  
  
  
  
• Mumbai Indians defeated Chennai Super Kings by 23 runs to win IPL Season 6 at Eden Gardens on 26 May 2013.

26 May

•  Vyas Samman for 2011 and 2012 were conferred to Prof. Ramdarash Mishra and Dr Narendra Kohli for their works Aam ke Patte and Na Bhooto Na Bhavishyati.

25 May

•  US Senate approved the name of Srikanth Srinivasan to position of the most senior US Judge to the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
• US singer-songwriter Carole King became the first woman to receive the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song.

24 May

• The Union Cabinet of India, on 23 May 2013 approved to classify Malayalam as the Classical Language.
• A new variety of mango was named Nirbhaya after the 23-year-old Delhi rape victim.

22 May

•  President Robert Mugabe on 22 May 2013 signed Zimbabwe's new constitution into law
• Foundation stone of the Indian National Defence University (INDU) was laid down by Manmohan Singh at Binola, Gurgaon
• Yuichiro Miura, the 80-year old mountaineer from Japan reached Mount Everest’s summit on 23 May 2013.
• The President of India conferred the 47th Jnanpith Award for the year 2011 on Pratibha Ray on 22 May 2013 at Balyogi Auditorium in New Delhi.

• American writer Lydia Davis won 2013 Man Booker International Prize for her innovative and influential writing.

• The Chief Minister of Kerala, Oommen Chandy won United Nation's Public Service Award for his Mass Contact Programme on 22 May 2013.
•  According to data released by Census 2011, lowest sex ratio in Haryana was observed in Gurgaon district at 854

21 May

• The Pakistani activist, Malala Yousafzai (15) was selected for UNA-USA's Global Leadership Award called Champion for Global Change Award for 2013.
• Shashi Kant Sharma an IAS from 1976 Bihar Cadre on 21 May 2013 was appointed as CAG of India by Pranab Mukherjee. He will succeed Vinod Rai in the office.
• 2014 was declared as the Friendship Year by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang for increased people-to-people interaction between India and China.
• World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development was observed on 21 May 2013. 

20 May

• Morgan Stanley on 20 May 2013 signed an agreement to sell its Indian wealth management unit to Standard Chartered.

19 May

• Indian boxers won the FXTM International Limassol Boxing Cup held in Limassol, Cyprus on 19 May 2013.

• Nunshi and Tashi Malik, two 21-year old Indians from Dehrahdun became first twins to scale Mount Everest on 19 May 2013.

18 May

• France's President Francois Hollande on 18 May 2013 signed into law a controversial bill to legalise gay marriage.

17 May

• Zhejiang University in China in May 2013 announced that the team of scientists produced an ultra-light substance known as carbon aerogel.
•  Nirbhay Sharma on 16 May 2013 appointed as governor of Arunachal Pradesh as the term of present incumbent Gen (retd) J J Singh ended in January 2013.

16 May

• The Union government on 16 May 2013 slashed the import tariff value of gold and silver to 466 Dollars per ten grams and 761 Dollars per kg, respectively.
• OBC creamy layer criteria on 16 May 2013 was raised to 6 lakh rupees from previous 4.5 lakh rupees by Union Cabinet of India. 

14 May

• The cyclonic storm MAHASEN formed over Bay of Bengal in the second week of May 2013.
• Monetary assistance under under the Indira Awas Yojana has been hiked by 25000 rupees by the Union Government following the agreement signed in Agra.

 13 May

•  Scientists at CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) invented peptide-based delivery platforms to cure Cancer.

• Siddaramaiah, the leader of the Indian National Congress on 13 May 2013 was sworn in as the 22nd chief minister of the state of Karnataka.

11 May

• National Technology Day was celebrated on 11 May 2013 as a symbol of quest for scientific inquiry and technological creativity

9 May

• The decision to declare the year 2013 as Water Conservation Year 2013 was approved by the Union Cabinet of India
• India secured 2 Silver and 7 Bronze and ended its journey in the 19th Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships held at New Delhi.

• Roberto Azevedo was appointed as the Head of the World Trade Organisation. He will take the charge of his office from outgoing Pascal Lamy in September 2013.

 8 May

• FAO in its latest report for 2011 reported that India is the largest producer and consumer of Chickpeas in the world.

• Sahara India Pariwar created a new Guinness World Record on 6 May 2013 when its 121653 workers sang India’s national anthem in Lucknow.

7 May

•  7 May 2013 was observed as the World Asthma Day across the world with its theme You Can Control Your Asthma and sub-theme It's Time to Control Asthma.

6 May

• Najib Razak on 6 May 2013 was sworn in as the Prime Minister of Malaysia for a second term by Malaysia’s king.
• India's most populous state, Uttar Pradesh, accounted for the largest number of mobile subscribers in India
• Shiksha Setu Cards were issued to the students of Government school students by Haryana Government to keep a track on performance of the students.

5 May

• Najib Razak led National Front won the 13th General Election of Malaysia on 5 May 2013 it secured 133 seats of 222 members Parliament seat.
• India and China on 5 May 2013 pulled back their troops from the stand off point at Daulat Beg Oldi sector in Ladakh.
• At the IAAF World Challenge meeting in Kingston, US-based discus thrower, Vikas Gowda clinched Gold on 5 May 2013 with the throw of 61.38 metres.

 
3 May

• US Scientists at the Harvard University created a robot called robo-fly. It is the world's smallest flying robot.
• World Press Freedom Day is celebrated across the world on 3 May 2013. 

2 May

• Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim al-Khalifa was elected as the new president of Asian Football Confederation on 2 May 2013.
• Sarabjit Singh, the Indian national and a death row prisoner in the Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat Jail died on 2 May 2013 at the Lahore's Jinnah hospital.
• Ramsar Convention appointed Dr. Christopher Briggs as its new Secretary General. He succeeded Tiéga Anada.
• Jenita Mary Nongkynrih, A young woman scientist from Meghalaya was selected for ISRO Young Scientist Award 2013

1 May

• Parliamentary Speaker Abdul Hamid was on 24 April 2013 sworn in as Bangladesh President to replace Zillur Rahman.