” Notes:the karnataka government mandates a 33% reservation for women in outsourced government services and posts, aligning with the existing quota policy for permanent positions. this reservation is within the stipulated quota for sc/st and other backward communities, ensuring women’s representation in outsourced jobs across various government departments and organizations.”

” Notes:general to lam was elected president of vietnam by the national assembly on may 22, 2024, succeeding vo van thuong who resigned amid a corruption crackdown. to lam, previously the public security minister since 2016, led the anti-corruption campaign known as “blazing furnace.” the communist party member will serve until 2026. the national assembly, with 500 members, elects the president and vice president every five years.”

” Notes:biodiversity, essential for human well-being, was first coined by walter g. rosen in 1985. it faces threats like habitat loss, pollution, and climate change, leading to species extinction and ecosystem degradation. the 2024 international day of biodiversity on may 22 highlights the theme “be part of the plan,” urging collective action to reverse biodiversity loss and support the kunming-montreal global biodiversity framework.”

” Notes:the serum institute of india (sii) has begun exporting the ‘r21/matrix-m’ malaria vaccine to africa to combat the disease. this new vaccine, recommended by who, joins the rts,s/as01 vaccine. developed by oxford university’s jenner institute and sii, it received support from edctp, wellcome trust, and eib. affordable and effective, it’s approved for children and licensed in multiple african countries, marking a significant step in global malaria prevention efforts.”

” Notes:gopi thotakura, an indian expatriate, became the first indian space tourist and the second indian in space on blue origin’s ns-25 mission. the mission, new shepard’s seventh human spaceflight, included six crew members, among them gopi thotakura. the crew also featured historical figure ed dwight, the first black astronaut candidate selected by president kennedy. new shepard has now flown 37 people into space, marking another milestone in space tourism.”

” Yes (youth enterprise scheme) bank has launched yes grandeur, a banking program in the form of savings account and debit card, for india’s emerging affluent segment.• this program targets those with an average monthly balance (amb) of rs 5 lakh or a net relationship value (nrv) of rs 20 lakh.• yes grandeur debit card offers travel benefits, including zero cross-currency markup charges and airport lounge access.• the program offers dedicated relationship managers, preferential rates, fee exemptions, and a special 3-in-1 account combining demat, trading, and savings.”

” Sbi mutual fund, india’s largest fund house, launched sbi automotive opportunities fund, an open-ended equity scheme following the automotive and allied business activities theme.• this first-of-its-kind active mutual fund will invest in stocks of automobile companies and allied businesses, both domestic and international.• the new fund offer (nfo) opened for subscription on 17th may 2024 and will close on 31st may 2024.”

” Puma india has signed a multi-year deal with the athletics federation of india (afi) to become its official kit sponsor, aiming to enhance athlete performance and create excellence within india’s sporting community.• under this partnership, puma will provide performance kits, speed suits and travel gear to every athlete under afi representing india in track & field, jumps, throws, cross country running and marathons at both domestic and international tournaments.• this is the first time that indian athletes get access to speed suits that puma supplies globally to other athletes.”

” Assam has launched the disaster reporting and information management system (drims), a digital platform for accurate reporting and assessment of damages caused by disasters.• the digital platform was developed in collaboration with united nations children’s fund (unicef) which captures critical impact indicators of damages during disasters and assists in providing relief and rehabilitation grants to the impacted beneficiaries.• it is a state-of-the-art initiative of the assam state disaster management authority (asdma) which was inaugurated by ravi kota, chief secretary of assam, at assam administrative staff college (aasc), khanapara in guwahati, assam.”

” On 17th may 2024, department for promotion of industry and internal trade (dpiit) under the ministry of commerce and industry, organised the “ondc startup mahotsav”, a 1st of its kind event held at vanijya bhawan, new delhi, delhi.• ondc startup mahotsav is a unique collaboration between startup india initiative and open network for digital commerce (ondc), both are flagship initiatives of dpiit.• the event saw the participation of over 5,000 startups including 12 unicorns, in hybrid mode.• during the event, more than 125 ecosystem stakeholders including: unicorns, startups have committed to join ondc network.• so far, ondc platform has over 5 lakh registered sellers, of which more than 70% are small and medium sized sellers.• more than 5 lakh sellers have been onboarded on the platform, of which more than 70% are small or medium sized sellers. in april 2024, ondc facilitated around 7.22 million transactions”

” Researchers have discovered a “super fluffy” exoplanet named as “wasp-193b”.the size of exoplanet is 50% larger than jupiter and its weighs only 1/7th of jupiter. therefore, it has cotton candy-like density. the exoplanet was initially spotted by the wide angle search for planets(wasp).• the exoplanet was found beyond solar system i.e. 1200 light years away from earth.• wasp-193b is the 2nd lightest exoplanet after the “kepler-51d”, a neptune like density.”

” On may 17, 2024, hdfc bank secured usd 500 million from the international finance corporation (ifc) to support underserved women borrowers. this funding aims to empower women by promoting financial inclusion, income generation, and socio-economic growth.• the funds will be used to provide microloans to self-help groups (shgs) and joint liability groups (jlgs) under hdfc’s sustainable livelihoods initiative (sli).”

” Pakistan conducted a successful training launch of the indigenously developed “fatah-ii”, the guided multi-launch rocket system (mlrs). it is being inducted in artillery divisions of pakistan army for stand-off, precision engagement of deep targets.• this marks a substantial advancement in long-range artillery capabilities of pakistan.• the rocket system is capable of engaging targets with high precision up to range of 400 kilometers (km).”

World aids vaccine day wavd also known as hiv vaccine awareness day hvad is observed annually across the world on 18 may to raise awareness about the significance of human immunodeficiency viruses hiv infections in preventing acquired immunodefici

” World hydrogen 2024 summit & exhibition, world’s largest dedicated hydrogen event, was held in rotterdam ahoy, the netherlands from 13th to 15th may 2024.• the summit featured the maiden india pavilion, set up by the ministry of new and renewable energy (mnre), government of india(goi), showcasing national green hydrogen mission (nghm).• the summit was organised by the sustainable energy council (sec) in partnership with the government of the netherlands, the province of zuid-holland, the city of rotterdam, and the port of rotterdam.note:india launched its national green hydrogen mission (nghm) in january 2023 with a budget of rs 19,744 crores, targeting a production capacity of 5 mmt (million metric tonnes) by 2030.”