Notes:
The International Labour Day, also known as International Worker’s Day or May Day, observed every year on May 1 to promote and encourage the international labour associations. The day marks the victory of workers’ movement for 8 hours of work. It also aims to pay tribute to workers sacrifices in achieving economic and social rights all over the world. In India, Labour Day is referred to as Antarrashtriya Shramik Diwas or Kamgar Din. The first Labour day or May Day was celebrated in the year 1923 in Chennai. The 2018 theme “Uniting Workers for Social and Economic Advancement” motivate workers all over the world to unite for their rights and demand social and economic advancement from the governments and capitalists. The theme also calls upon the labour leaders to collectively fight for the improvement in working conditions and press for decent work.

Notes:
Uma Bharti, the Union Minister for Drinking Water and Sanitation, has launched the GOBAR (Galvanizing Organic Bio-Agro Resources) – DHAN scheme at the National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI) Auditorium, Karnal, Haryana on May 1, 2018. The purpose of scheme is to positively impact village cleanliness and generate wealth and energy from cattle and organic waste. The scheme also aims at creating new rural livelihood opportunities and enhancing income for farmers and other rural people. Under the scheme, cooking gas would be provided to rural habitations and technical support would ensure that the scheme functioned on a sustainable basis. 

Notes:
Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge, an MP from Gulbarga (Karnataka), has been re-appointed chairman of the 22-member Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament for its fresh term starting on May 1. Kharge, is the leader of Congress party in Lok Sabha. A majority of the members of this parliamentary panel, which is headed by an opposition leader, are from the ruling NDA. It is the oldest parliamentary committee that examines the accounts showing the appropriation of sums granted by Parliament for expenditure of Government of India and such other accounts of autonomous and semi-autonomous bodies.

Notes:
The World Press Freedom Day is observed every year on May 3 to evaluate press freedom around the world, to defend the media from attacks on their independence and to pay tribute to journalists who have lost their lives while following their profession. The 2018 theme “Keeping Power in Check: Media, Justice and The Rule of Law” highlights the importance of an enabling legal environment for press freedom and gives special attention to the role of an independent judiciary in ensuring legal guarantees for press freedom and the prosecution of crimes against journalists. The day serves as an occasion to encourage and develop initiatives in favour of press freedom and to assess the state of press freedom worldwide.

Notes:
B. N. Vijay Kumar (60), the sitting BJP MLA from Jayanagar in Karnataka, has passed away in Bengaluru due to cardiac arrest while campaigning in his constituency on May 3, 2018. He was contesting the Assembly election for the third time. A two-time MLA from Jayanagar, Vijay Kumar was a bachelor and a civil engineering graduate. He was known for his simplicity and mild manners.

Notes:
The 4th Regional Conference on ‘Futuristic, Resilient and Digital Infrastructure’ was held in Bengaluru on May 4, 2018. The 2-day Conference was organized by the Ministry of Finance, Government of India in collaboration with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), andResearch and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS). The conference is a lead-up event to the 3rd Annual Meeting of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) which is going to be hosted by the Government of India on 25th and 26th June 2018 in Mumbai. The Conference saw eminent delegates representing partner institutions, academia, civil society organizations and experts from various fields expressing their views on how to bring about institutional approaches for futuristic and digital infrastructure in India.

Notes:
On May 5, the NITI Aayog and IBM have signed a Statement of Intent (SoI) to develop a crop yield prediction model using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to provide real time advisory to farmers in Aspirational Districts. The purpose of the partnership is to work together towards use of technology to provide insights to farmers to improve crop productivity, soil yield, control agricultural inputs with the overarching goal of improving farmers’ incomes. The first phase of the project will focus on developing the model for 10 Aspirational Districts across the States of Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. The scope of this project is to introduce and make available climate-aware cognitive farming techniques and identifying systems of crop monitoring, early warning on pest/disease outbreak based on advanced AI innovations.

Notes:
The 12th informal meeting of SAARC Finance Ministers was held in Manila, Philippines on May 4, on the sidelines of the 51st Annual Meeting of Asian Development Bank (ADB). The meeting was attended by the Finance Ministers / Heads of Delegations from the SAARC member states. Finance Minister of Nepal Yuba Raj Khatiwada chaired the meeting. The Finance Ministers/Heads of Delegation briefed the meeting about the current status of economic progress achieved by their countries. They also appreciated ADB for its contribution in the economic growth of SAARC countries. An Indian delegation was headed by Subhash Chandra Garg, Secretary of Department of Economic Affairs (DEA).

Notes:
The 2018 International Children’s Theatre Festival will be held at the Academy of Fine Arts in Kolkata, West Bengal from June 17 to 21. Children of various theatre groups from eight countries besides host India will take part in fest. The participating countries are France, Slovenia, Swaziland, Mexico, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bangladesh. Children of theatre groups from Indian states such as Kerala, Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Manipur, Odisha and West Bengal will also be participating in the 5-day festival. There will be no entry free and the festival will be open for everybody.

Notes:
The Tiroda Thermal Power Station is a coal-based thermal power plant located at Tirora in Gondia district, Maharashtra. The power plant is operated by the Adani Power. It has a planned capacity of 3300 MW.