1) Kerala tops, Bihar last in public affairs index
•Two South Indian States - Kerala and Tamil Nadu - secured first and second rankings for the second year in a row while poll-bound Gujarat gained two positions rising from five in 2016 to three in 2017 and Bihar stayed at the bottom in public affairs index (PAI) in governance in States.
•Former Chief Justice of India M.N. Venkatachaliah released the report in the presence of former Karnataka Lokayukta N. Santosh Hegde, PAC Director G. Gurucharan and former Chief Secretary of Rajasthan C.K. Mathew.
2) Govt revised base year of WPI, IIP to 2011-2012 from 2004-05
•The government has revised the base year of Wholesale Price Index, WPI and Index of Industrial Production, IIP to 2011-2012 from 2004-05. As per the new series, April WPI inflation stood at 3.85 percent and March IIP at 2.7 percent. The Consumer Price Index-based inflation in April stood at 2.99 percent.
•Briefing media in New Delhi, Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion Ramesh Abhishek stated the new series of WPI will provide a more accurate picture. In the new series, prices used for compilation do not include indirect taxes and will remove the impact of fiscal policy.
3) India test-fires ‘Spyder’ surface-to-air missile from Odisha test range
•India test fired a surface-to-air missile ‘Spyder’ from a test range at Chandipur in Odisha as part of missile launch practice of a series of tests of the short-range quick reaction.
•Spyder is an acquired missile system from Israel which is a short-range quick reaction surface-to-air missile to neutralize enemy targets up to a distance of 15 km and at heights between 20-and-9,000 meters.
•Former Chief Justice of India M.N. Venkatachaliah released the report in the presence of former Karnataka Lokayukta N. Santosh Hegde, PAC Director G. Gurucharan and former Chief Secretary of Rajasthan C.K. Mathew.
2) Govt revised base year of WPI, IIP to 2011-2012 from 2004-05
•Briefing media in New Delhi, Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion Ramesh Abhishek stated the new series of WPI will provide a more accurate picture. In the new series, prices used for compilation do not include indirect taxes and will remove the impact of fiscal policy.
3) India test-fires ‘Spyder’ surface-to-air missile from Odisha test range
•Spyder is an acquired missile system from Israel which is a short-range quick reaction surface-to-air missile to neutralize enemy targets up to a distance of 15 km and at heights between 20-and-9,000 meters.
4) Amitabh Bachchan appointed WHO Goodwill Ambassador for Hepatitis
•Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan has been appointed by the World Health Organisation as its Goodwill Ambassador for Hepatitis in South-East Asia Region to spread awareness about the disease.
•This is the first formal association between WHO and Amitabh Bachchan, who served as UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador for Polio in India.
5) Portugal wins Eurovision 2017 Song Contest for the first time
•Portugal won the Eurovision-2017 Song Contest for the first time ever with a melancholy ballad performed by a singer who suffers from a serious heart condition.
•The fado-tinged song "Amar Pelos Dois" was performed by 27-year old Salvador Sobral, who is awaiting a heart transplant. It scored a crushing victory, winning top marks both from the televoters and the countries' professional juries.
•The ceremony was in the capital of ex-Soviet Ukraine Kiev watched by some 200 million TV viewers. Bulgaria's big-voiced 17-year old singer Kristian Kostov came second with a confident performance of "Beautiful Mess". Third was Moldova's SunStroke Project with a raucous song called "Hey, Mamma".
6) Asian Wrestling Championship: Bajrang wins first gold medal for India
•Bajrang Punia provided India its first gold medal on the penultimate day of the Asian Wrestling Championship at the Indira Gandhi Sports Complex in New Delhi. He defeated South Korea’s Seunghui Lee 6-2 in the men’s 65kg freestyle category.
•Prime Minister Narendra Modi has congratulated Punia for winning the Gold medal and said the country was proud of his exemplary accomplishment.
•Wrestler Sarita settled for a silver medal. She lost 0-6 to Aisuluu Tynybekova of Kyrgyzstan in the final of women's 58kg category. Indian women wrestlers have registered their best ever performance in the Asian Championship in this edition with six medals, including four silver so far.
•Olympic Bronze medallist Sakshi Malik, Vinesh Phogat and Divya Kakran had on Friday claimed silver medals while Ritu Phogat had won a bronze.
