1. Senegal’s lawmakers gives the approval of the removal of the prime minister’s position
• Senegalese parliament has approved a constitutional reform to remove the post of prime minister.
• The motion was passed with 124 MPs (member of parliament) voting in favour of the motion, while 7 MPsvoting against the motion
• The parliament also supported the legislative alterations, whose prime objective was to prevent the president from dissolving the National Assembly. In doing so, it could no longer raise a motion of no confidence against the government
• The Opposition parties have rejected the constitutional alterations.
• Macky Sall, in early April, announced the decision for the Prime Minister (Mahammed Boun Abdallah Dionne) to abolish his own job.
• Mahammed Boun Abdallah Dionne served as the Prime Minister of Senegal since 6th July, 2014. He is the 3rd prime minister appointed by President Macky Sall. President Sall reappointed Dionne as Prime Minister on 6 September 2017.
• Dionne was preceded by Aminata Toure.
• Macky Sall has been the President of Senegal since April, 2012. He was re-elected as the President in the first round voting in February 2019 Senegalese presidential election. Sall was preceded by Abdoulaye Wade.
2. World Trade Organisation (WTO) ministerial meet
• The World Trade Organisation (WTO) ministerial meeting of developing countries will begin in New Delhi.
• The two-day meeting is being held at a time when the multilateral rule-based-trading system is facing serious and grave challenges.
• The meeting will provide an opportunity for the Ministers to discuss various issues and the way forward. On the first day, there will be a meeting of senior officers of the participating countries. Tomorrow, the Ministerial Meeting will be held.
• India has convened a WTO (World Trade Organization) ministerial meeting of 16 developing and six least developed countries. Issues such as impasse on the appointment of WTO`s appellate body members and way forward on reforms at the global trade body would be discussed in the meeting of developing countries in New Delhi on May 13-14.
• The 22 countries would also try to build consensus on how to move forward on the WTO reforms, while preserving the fundamentals of the multilateral trading system.
• On the first day, there will be a meeting of senior officials of the participating countries and on the second day, the ministerial meeting will be held. Ministers from Bangladesh, Central African Republic and South Africa have confirmed their participation. Vice ministers, senior officials and ambassadors will be representing other countries.
• Participating countries include Argentina, Bangladesh, Barbados, Brazil, Chad, China, Egypt, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Nigeria, Oman, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and Turkey.
3. 131st birth anniversary of haematologist Lucy Wills
• 131st birth anniversary of leading English haematologist, Lucy Wills who was the pioneer in tackling prenatal anaemia during pregnancy was observed on 10th May .
• Lucy`s seminal work in India in the late 1920s and early 1930s helped identify folic acid supplementation to prevent anaemia in pregnant women.
• Wills spent her life traveling the world and researching on the health of pregnant women until her death in 1964.
• Born in 1888, she conducted seminal work in India in 1928 on macrocytic anaemia during pregnancy.
• Lucy Wills observed an apparent correlation between the dietary habits of different classes of Bombay women and the likelihood of their becoming anaemic during pregnancy.
• Poor women were the ones with both the most deficient diets and the greatest susceptibility to anemia.
• This anemia was then known as `pernicious anemia of pregnancy`.
• However, Lucy Wills was able to demonstrate that the anemia she observed differed from true pernicious anemia.
• The nutritional factor called the `Wills Factor` was subsequently shown to be folate, the naturally occurring form of folic acid.
• Her observations led to the discovery of a nutritional factor in yeast which both prevents and cures this disorder.
• It was later found to help not just pregnant mothers but also the child by helping in their brain development.
4. Indian Embassy in Abu Dhabi issues important instructions for Indian job aspirants in UAE
• Indian Embassy in Abu Dhabi and the Indian Consulate in Dubai have cautioned that Indians seeking jobs in the UAE must authenticate their employment offers and permit visas before arriving in the country.
• Amid cases of duping and visa frauds, the Consulate in Dubai said that job aspirant should not come on visit visas.
• The Embassy in Abu Dhabi used its account on social networking sites to caution job hunters to follow the standard procedure, and obtain a valid work permit and employment letter before reaching the UAE.
• Government of India had earlier said that starting from January 2019, registration is mandatory for all Indian nationals holding an employment visa in all the 18-emigration check required (ECR) countries.
• Expats with a valid employment visa have to register in the portal www.emigrate.gov.in.
5. US unveils strategy to detect and respond to health security threats globally
• The United States government has come up with a first of its kind strategy to prevent, detect and respond to threats from infectious diseases occurring naturally or accidentally, in an effort to help improve the world`s ability to stop and contain deadly outbreaks before they spread between countries.
• The Global Health Security Strategy defines the actions the US administration will take by adopting a whole-of-government approach to health security and leveraging the strengths of different federal departments, agencies and funding streams.
• A senior administration official told reporters after the strategy was released by the White House, that their National Security Strategy specifically identifies combating biological threats and pandemics as a cornerstone of national security.
• Biological threats, like infectious disease outbreaks, are a national security priority.
• The strategy outlines a coordinated US approach that focuses on three interrelated goals: strengthen partner country global health security capacities, increase international support for global health security and a homeland prepared and resilient against global health threats, the official said.
• The White House said that the US is working with international partners to help improve the world`s ability to stop and contain infectious disease outbreaks before they spread between countries.
6. Protocol signed for exportation of Indian chilli meal to China
• After a meeting of Commerce Secretary Anup Wadhawan and General Administration of Customs of China (GACC) Vice Minister Li Guo, India and China signed a protocol for exportation of Indian chilli meal to China.
• In the meeting both the dignitaries discussed the challenges related to trade regarding the pending Indian request for agricultural products, that wasn’t been given clearance.
• They also agreed to resolve the market access issues quite fast in order to achieve the vision of a more balanced trade.
• In order to bridge the trade deficit (which stood at 50.12 $ billion during April-February 2018-19), India is seeking larger market access in the Chinese market for its manufactured and agricultural products.
• This is why India has shared a list of 380 products with China that includes horticulture, textiles, chemicals and pharmaceutical products.
Table for agricultural commodities signed between India and China:
SI. No. Commodity Year of Signing
1 Mango 2003
2 Bitter Gourd 11th April, 2005
3 Grapes 11th April, 2005
4 Rapeseed Meal 15th May, 2015
5 Basmati Rice 21st November, 2006
6 Basmati Rice and
Non-Basmati Rice 9th June, 2018
7 Fish meal/ fish oil 28th November, 2018
8 Tobacco leaves 21st January, 2019
9 Chilli Meal 9th May, 2019
7. Iran likely to withdraw from parts of nuclear deal
• Iran is likely to announce that it is partially withdrawing from the nuclear deal it struck with world powers, its state-run news agency reported.
• The move comes a year after President Donald Trump pulled America from the accord. The terms of the withdrawal remain unclear.
• The news agency said President Hassan Rouhani will explain Iran`s decision in letters to leaders of Britain, France and Germany that will be handed over to their ambassadors in Tehran.
• Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif will separately write to the European Union, the agency said.
• The United Nations` nuclear watchdog says Iran has continued to comply with the terms of the 2015 nuclear deal.
8. Cannes Film Festival 2019
• One of the most prestigious international event from the world of cinema, Cannes Film Festival will begin in France.
• Information and Broadcasting Secretary Amit Khare, who is leading Indian delegation at Cannes, will inaugurate India Pavilion tomorrow.
• The Pavilion will showcase Indian cinema across linguistic, cultural and regional diversity, with the aim of forging international partnerships in distribution, production, filming in India.
• Indian Delegation will also release a special poster to mark the golden jubilee of International Film Festival of India (IFFI-2019).
9. Chinese Navy launches two Type 052D new guided missile destroyers
• Chinese Navy has commissioned two new Type 052D guided missile destroyers in Dalian, a coastal city. They are the 19th and 20th ships in the class and are named as Tangshan and Suzhou. China, at present, has 20 Type 052Ds either in active service or to be launched for service soon.
• The destroyers are fast and warships are operated for long distances. In addition, they can be used to accompany the aircraft carriers.
• The newly developed Type 052D destroyers are the upgrades of its previous version Type 052C.
• The Type 052D destroyer is a large 7500 tone destroyer. It was introduced into the People’s Liberation Army Navy(PLAN) in March 2014.
• PLAN is the World’s fastest growing Navy as it adds new vessels to the fleet every month.
• Last month, PLAN celebrated its 70th anniversary in Qingdao, China. Indian naval ships including INS Kolkata along with tanker INS Shakti participated in it.
• For the first time in its history, Chinese navy has logistics bases in Djibouti in the Indian Ocean.
• It is developing Pakistan’s Gwadar port in the Arabian Sea and has also acquired Sri Lanka’s Hambantota port for 99 years in a debt swap.