India is elected as President of UN-Habitat, the United Nations’ Human Settlements Programme

  • India was unanimously elected as the President of the UN-Habitat, an organ of the United Nations’ Organisation (UNO) on 8th May 2017. 
  • India has been elected to head the body after a decade. Four day meeting of the 58 member Governing Council of UN-Habitat theme is “Opportunities for effective implementation of the New Urban Agenda.”

Legendary Sitarist Rais Khan passed away on  6th May 2017

  • Renowned Sitar maestro Ustad Rais Khan passed away on 6th May 2017 in Karachi, Pakistan. 
  • Ustad Rais Khan was born in Indian city of Indore, Madhya Pradesh, on 25th November 1939. 
  • The Sitarist’s maternal grandfather Inayat Ali Khan was also considered one of the finest sitar players in the subcontinent. 

NBT to host book fairs in - Panchayats

  • The National Book Trust (NBT) is planning to launch Panchayat Pustak Mela with the objective of organising regular book fairs in rural areas across the country. 
  • The main motto behind introducing this new scheme at the panchayat level is to encourage the reading habit in villages.

Justice Karnan is the first High Court judge to be sentenced to jail by - Supreme Court


  • A seven-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court (SC), headed by Chief Justice J S Khehar, sentenced Justice C S Karnan, the Calcutta High Court judge, to six months of imprisonment on 9th May 2017.
  •  Justice Karnan has been sentenced for imprisonment of repeated incidents of contempt of court. 
  • It is the first time that the Supreme Court has sent a high court judge to jail on contempt charges.

Undetonated World War II bombs found - in Germany

  • After the discovery of multiple unexploded World War II bombs, more than 50,000 people were evacuated from the German city of Hanover. 
  • While two of the suspected bombs were found from a construction site in the Vahrenwald district, three more were found from another suspected site near the location.

Konkona Sen Sharma bags Best Director and Best Actress awards at  New York Indian Film Festival

  • Konkona Sen Sharma grabbed the top honours at the 2017 New York Indian Film Festival (NYIFF) in the first week of May 2017.
  •  Konkona won the Best Director award for her directorial debut A Death in the Gunj and the Best Actress award for Lipstick Under My Burkha at NYIFF 2017. 
  • A Death in the Gunj is a drama thriller starring Kalki Koechlin, Vikrant Massey, Jim Sarbh and Tanuja.

29th edition of CORPAT between India and Indonesia begins at Port Blair

  • The 29th series of India- Indonesia Co-Ordinated Patrol (CORPAT) commenced at Port Blair. The Indonesian Naval Ship KRI Sutedi Senoputra arrived at Haddo Wharf, Port Blair to mark the commencement of 29th series of IND–INDO CORPAT. 
  • An Indonesian Maritime Patrol Aircraft also flew in with the Indonesian Naval delegation led by First Admiral Bambang Irwanto to INS Utkrosh.

Union Government sets up a task force to compute - Reliable and timely employment data

  • The Union Government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi created a task force on employment data on 9th May 2017. 
  • NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Arvind Panagariya headed the task force and will be responsible for creating a methodology to generate timely and reliable employment data.

Integrated case management system of Supreme Court launched by  PM Narendra Modi


  • The Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi launched the integrated case management system of the Supreme Court on 10th May 2017 at a function in New Delhi. 
  • Chief Justice of India, Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and judges of the apex court attended this inaugural event.