World Migratory Bird Day (WMBD) is an annual awareness-raising campaign highlighting the need for the conservation of migratory birds and their habitats. It has a global outreach and is an effective tool to help raise global awareness of the threats faced by migratory birds, their ecological importance, and the need for international cooperation to conserve them.
This year’s theme “Shared Spaces: Creating Bird-Friendly Cities and Communities,” highlights the importance of making our cities more bird-friendly, benefitting nature and people alike. An environmental treaty of the United Nations, the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals provides a global platform for the conservation and sustainable use.
The argan tree (Argania spinosa) is a native species of the sub-Saharan region of Morocco, in the southwest of the country, which grows in arid and semiarid areas. It’s the defining species of a woodland ecosystem, also known as Arganeraie, which is rich in endemic flora.
The United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) designated in 1998 the endemic production area as the Arganeraie Biosphere Reserve. Also, all know-how concerning the argan tree was inscribed in 2014 on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
Moreover, in December 2018, FAO recognized the Argan-based agro-sylvo-pastoral system within the area of Ait Souab - Ait Mansour in Morocco as a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System. And lastly, in 2021, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 10 May the International Day of Argania.
The three Jansuraksha schemes have completed 10 years of providing social security cover. The three schemes- Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY), Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY) and Atal Pension Yojana (APY) were launched by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi on 9th May 2015.
All three schemes were envisioned to extend affordable financial protection to all, particularly the underserved and vulnerable sections of society. These flagship schemes aim to broaden the insurance and pension landscape by shielding citizens against life’s uncertainties and fostering long-term financial resilience.
The second edition of the Tri-Services Future Warfare Course (FWC-02), an initiative to prepare India’s Armed Forces for next-generation warfare, concluded at the Manekshaw Centre, New Delhi on May 09, 2025.
Conducted over three weeks under the aegis of Headquarters Integrated Defence Staff (HQ IDS) and coordinated by the Centre for Joint Warfare Studies (CENJOWS), the course brought together top military leaders, DRDO scientists, strategic experts, and for the first time, 15 representatives from the private defence industry including startups and MSMEs.
The RBI has imposed penalties on State Bank of India and Jana Small Finance Bank for certain deficiencies in compliance of norms. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said a penalty of Rs 1,72,80,000 has been imposed on SBI for non-compliance with certain directions on "Loans and Advances-Statutory and Other Restrictions", "Customer Protection - Limiting Liability of Customers.
The RBI said a penalty of Rs 1 crore has been imposed on Jana Small Finance Bank Ltd for contravention of certain provision of of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949. In both cases, the RBI said the penalties are based on deficiencies in compliance and not intended to pronounce upon the validity of any transaction or agreement entered into by the banks with their customers.
Regulated entities will now be required to report details of their digital lending apps through the centralised information management system portal of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the regulator said in a circular. According to the circular, the portal will be operational for reporting from May 13, and entities will have time till June 15 to upload their initial data.
The directions include measures aimed at increasing transparency in digital lending practices, particularly in how loan products are aggregated and presented to potential borrowers. “The instructions require REs to furnish details of their DLAs through the CIMS portal of the RBI,” the regulator said in the Reserve Bank of India (Digital Lending) Directions, 2025.
REs have an immediate deadline to meet — reporting on the CIMS portal by June 15. LSPs have more time — until November 1 — to comply with the requirements relating to presentation of multiple REs to borrowers. They have a lot of work to do to ensure full compliance.”
As per the Sample Registration System Report 2021 released by the Registrar General of India, on 07th May, 2025. As per the Special Bulletin on Maternal Mortality in India, 2019-21 based on the Sample Registration System, the Maternal Mortality Ratio of the country has shown a marked reduction, declining by 37 points from 130 per lakh live births in 2014–16 to 93 in 2019-21
Similarly, as per the Sample Registration System Statistical Report 2021, the downward trend of child mortality indicators continued. The Infant Mortality Rate of the country has declined from 39 per 1000 live births in 2014 to 27 per 1000 live births in 2021. Neonatal Mortality Rate (NMR) has declined from 26 per 1000 live births in 2014 to 19 per 1000 live births in 2021.
Under-Five Mortality Rate (U5MR) has declined from 45 per 1000 live births in 2014 to 31 per 1000 live births in 2021. The Sex Ratio at Birth improves from 899 in 2014 to 913 in 2021. Total Fertility Rate is consistent at 2.0 in 2021, which is a significant improvement from 2.3 in 2014.
State-owned Canara Bank has announced slashing the marginal cost of funds-based lending rate (MCLR) by 10 basis points (0.10 percentage points) across most tenors, making loans linked to the benchmark cheaper. The benchmark one-year tenor MCLR, which is used to price most consumer loans like auto and personal, will be at 9 per cent against the existing rate of 9.10 per cent
Among others, the rate of one-month, three-month, and six-month tenors will be in the range of 8.25-8.80 per cent. The MCLR on overnight tenor will be 8.20 per cent against 8.30 per cent. It is to be noted that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) last month slashed its benchmark lending rate by 25 basis points to 6 per cent.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh virtually inaugurated the BrahMos Aerospace Integration and Testing Facility at the Uttar Pradesh Defence Industrial Corridor. The Rs 300 crore facility is a key part of the Uttar Pradesh Defence Industrial Corridor and represents India's commitment to self-reliant defence manufacturing
The Uttar Pradesh government had said the facility will manufacture one of the world's fastest supersonic cruise missiles, with a range of 290 to 400 km and a top speed of Mach 2.8. The missile, a product of BrahMos Aerospace, a joint venture between India and Russia, can be launched from land, sea, or air and uses a "fire and forget" system.
The UP Defence Industrial Corridor, announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2018, has six nodes --- Lucknow, Kanpur, Aligarh, Agra, Jhansi, and Chitrakoot -- where major investments are being made to boost defence manufacturing. Uttar Pradesh is the second state after Tamil Nadu to establish a Defence Industrial Corridor.
Reserve Bank is statutorily mandated to operate the credit system of the country to its advantage. In this endeavour, Reserve Bank encourages innovation in the financial systems, products and credit delivery methods while ensuring orderly growth, financial stability and protection of depositors’ and borrowers’ interest.