Notes:
Mueenul Haq, the current ambassador to France, has been appointed as the new Pakistan High Commissioner to India. Mueen is a career diplomatic and previously served as the chief of protocol at the foreign office. The post of high commissioner to India fell vacant after Sohail Mehmood was appointed the foreign secretary in March 2019. Prime Minister Imran Khan has recently approved the appointments of over two dozen ambassadors in various countries including India and China.

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The International Museum Day (IMD) is observed every year on May 18 to raise awareness about the importance of museums as means of cultural exchange, enrichment of cultures and development of mutual understanding, cooperation and peace among peoples. The 2019 theme is ‘Museums as Cultural Hubs: The Future of Tradition’.

Notes:
An author from Oman, Jokha Alharthi has won the prestigious 2019 Man Booker International Prize for her novel “Celestial Bodies”, which reveals her Omani homeland’s post-colonial transformation. Her novel tells the story of three sisters of a desert country confronting its slave-owning past and a complex modern world. With this feat, Alharthi has become the first Arabic-language writer to take the prize. The prestigious 50,000-pound (Over 44 lakh rupees) prize, which celebrates translated fiction from around the world, is divided equally between the author and the translator. Alharthi’s translator was U.S. academic Marilyn Booth, who teaches Arabic literature at Oxford University. The prize is a counterpart to the Man Booker Prize for English-language novels and is open to books in any language that has been translated into English. This is the final year of the prize being sponsored by investment firm Man Group, which has backed the prizes for 18 years. From next year, the award will be known as the International Booker Prize.

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The 8th edition of Indo-Myanmar Coordinated Patrol (IMCOR-2019) has started at Port Blair in Andaman and Nicobar Command on May 20. The CORPAT (coordinated patrol) initiative between Indian and Myanmar navies is meant to address issues of terrorism, illegal fishing, drug trafficking, human trafficking, poaching and other illegal activities inimical to interest of both nations. Myanmar ships – UMS King TabinShweHtee and UMS Inlay – would undertake a coordinated patrol with Indian Naval Ship Saryu from 20 – 28 May 19. The patrolling effort will be augmented by Maritime Patrol Aircraft from both the navies. The ships would patrol along the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) between the two countries covering a distance of approximately 725 Kms over a period of four days. The ships will also undertake joint manoeuvres and drills during the sea phase of coordinated patrol (CORPAT) prior ‘Closing Ceremony’ of the CORPAT onboard Myanmar Naval Ship.

Notes:
South African lawmakers have re-elected Cyril Ramaphosa as the president of the country. The Members of Parliament (MP) from the African National Congress (ANC) have chosen the head of state in the parliament’s first post-election sitting. The party won 230 out of 400 seats in the election on May 8. The African National Congress party won the ballot with 57.5% of the vote, its thinnest majority since the end of apartheid.

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The State Bank of India (SBI) has announced a strategic partnership with the FMCG arm of The Art of Living — Sri Sri Tattva. Under this partnership, YONO users can avail a discount of 15% on the entire range of products offered by Sri Sri Tattva such as food, personal care, healthcare, homecare, BYOGI apparels and Shankara skincare products. Sri Sri Tattva will make YONO’s online marketplace richer with product portfolio in the organic, wellness and Ayurvedic domains, giving SBI customers formidable shopping experience.

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Late Malawian soldier Chancy Chitete has been posthumously conferred with the UN’s highest peacekeeping award – Captain Mbaye Diagne Medal for Exceptional Courage.- The award will be given during the 2019 International Day of UN Peacekeepers commemorations at UN Headquarters in New York on May 24. In November 2018, Chitete was killed in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) during an operation in the eastern part of the country to combat the ADF, an armed force that had been terrorizing civilians and disrupting the UN’s ongoing efforts to treat, and halt, the spread of the deadly Ebola virus. The award was established in 2014 for uniformed and civilian personnel who meet the criteria and is named after the late UN peacekeeper Captain Diagne, who saved hundreds of lives in Rwanda in 1994, before being killed.

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The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) has officially passed a resolution demanding the United Kingdom withdraw its administration of the Chagos Islands. The resolution welcomed the February 25, 2019 advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on the legal consequences of the separation of the Chagos Archipelago from Mauritius in 1965. It ruled that the UK’s decolonisation of the Indian Ocean islands was unlawful. It must be noted that UK retained possession of the Chagos archipelago after Mauritius gained its independence in 1968. The islands have since been used for defence purposes by the UK and the United States, which established a military base on the island of Diego Garcia. The entire Chagossian population was forcibly removed from the territory between 1967 and 1973, and prevented from returning. The Chagos Archipelago is a group of 7 atolls consists of more than 60 individual tropical islands in the Indian Ocean about 500 km south of the Maldives archipelago.

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The World Bee Day (WBD) is celebrated every year on May 20 to acknowledge the role of bees and other pollinators for the ecosystem. It provides an opportunity for governments, organizations, civil society and concerned citizens everywhere to promote actions that will protect and enhance pollinators and their habitats, improve their abundance and diversity, and support the sustainable development of beekeeping. 20 May coincides with the birthday of Anton Janaa, who in the 18th century pioneered modern beekeeping techniques in his native Slovenia and praised the bees for their ability to work so hard, while needing so little attention. The 2019 theme ‘Save the Bees’ is meant to raise awareness on the increasing need to preserve bees and other pollinators.

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Saray Khumalo, a Zambia-born Johannesburg resident, has become the first black African women to conquer the summit of Mount Everest, with an elevation of 8,848m, in her fourth attempt. She uses her expeditions to raise funds for libraries and support children’s educational activities in Africa. So far, she has managed to raise about $80,000 for children’s education and libraries. She also supports a foundation that takes care of orphans, providing them with education, shelter and food. Khumalo has also climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Aconcagua in Argentina and Mount Elbrus in Russia In 2003, South African park ranger Sibusiso Vilane became the first black person to summit Mount Everest.