1)Reliance Brands, a subsidiary of Mukesh Ambani led Reliance Industries (RIL) has acquired 100% stake in British toy major Hamleys Global Holdings Limited from Hong Kong-based C Banner International in a cash deal of worth USD 88.6 million. A 259 years old British toy major, Hamleys was founded in 1760 and currently, it has 167 stores across 18 countries. ii. Reliance Lifestyle Holdings has Indian franchise of the Hamleys Global Holdings Limited and runs around 88 stores in 29 cities throughout the country.
2) The Indian Air Force legally received its 1st Apache Guardian attack helicopter AH-64E (I) during a ceremony at the Boeing production facility in Mesa, Arizona, US (United States). This first attack helicopter in India’s defense arsenal was received by Air Marshal AS Butola, IAF. Apache is a stealthy and versatile machine that has been designed for all kinds of missions. It consists of a laser and infrared systems for day and night operations air to surface Hellfire missiles 70 mm rockets an automatic cannon
3) According to the recent report released by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) titled ‘Sand and Sustainability: finding new solutions for environmental governance of global sand resources‘, India and China top a list of nations where illegal sand mining has become a key environmental issue. According to the report, in 2017, China was listed 1st in the highest usage of cement at an approximated 2.4 billion tonnes while India was ranked 2nd, with 270 million tonnes, and USA (United States of America) was listed 3rd at 86.3 million tonnes. Worldwide, the demand for sand and gravel is around 50 billion tonnes per day.
4) Anand-based National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) has developed the world’s first complete parent-wise genome assembly of buffalo named “NDDB_ABRO_Murrah” of riverine buffaloes. This comes on the back of the successful launch of a customized genotyping chip for indigenous cattle and their crosses, named INDUSCHIP. To ensure better accuracy, for the first time a trio binning was used for separating haplotypes of a buffalo, using a father-mother-offspring trio. World buffalo population is estimated to be 224.4 million, of which 219 million (97.58 percent) are in Asia.
5) A team of researchers led by Professor Walter Salzburger from the University of Basel, Switzerland have discovered that certain deep-sea fish have expanded their rhodopsin genes to detect various wavelengths in near-total darkness in the deep sea, the largest habitat on Earth. It was published in the Journal of Science. The genes can cover exactly the wavelength range of light “produced” by light-emitting organs of deep-sea organisms. This is known as bioluminescence. Some deep-sea fish have adapted to detect the tiny amount of residual light that makes it to the depths of the ocean using their highly sensitive telescope eyes.
6) A 35-year old, former Manchester City and Barcelona midfielder Yaya Toure retired from football. He had won three premier league titles, two League Cups and one Football Association Challenge Cup (FA Cup) in 2011 for Manchester City and for Barcelona, he won two La Liga titles and Champions League 2019. He was a professional player of Ivory Coast and named four times African Footballer of the Year in 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014.
7) On May 11, Yogesh Chander Deveshwar, who built ITC passed away after a brief illness in a private hospital at Gurugram. He was 72. He was India’s longest-serving corporate chief with over 20 years of experience. He had stepped down as the Chief Executive of ITC in 2017 and served the organization as the non-executive chairman. It was during his term, ITC saw the tremendous transformation from being a tobacco company to a multi-business union. YC Deveshwar was born on February 4, 1947, in Lahore. He completed B.Tech in Mechanical Engineering from IIT-Delhi, followed by a diploma from Harvard Business School. He also took a training course in hotels and services from Cornell University.
8) The 83-year old renowned singer, Yakshagana ‘Bhagawatha’ Nebburu Narayana Hegde breathed his last, at his residence in Nebburu in Sirsi Taluk of Uttara Kannada. He was popularly called as Nebburu in Badgu Thittu school of Yakshagana. The singer is survived by his wife, a son and a daughter. Yakshagana ‘Bhagawatha’ was a recipient of the Karnataka Rajyotsava Award, which was then the Karnataka Yakshagana and Janapada Academy Award. He had also received many other awards like the Keremane Shivarama Award. A souvenir titled ‘Nebburu Ninada‘was released in his honor.
9) Every year on May 11, National Technology Day is observed in India to mark India’s technological advancements. It also emphasizes the importance of science in our day-to-day life. This day marks the remembrance of the successful launch of Shakti-I nuclear missile at Pokhran Test Range in Rajasthan on May 11, 1998. Along with the launch of Shakti-I nuclear missile, which was headed by the then President Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, India also successfully test fired two nuclear weapons as part of Operation Shakti.
10) In order to commemorate the technological achievements made by India, the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee announced May 11 as the National Technology Day. This day also marks the launch of Hansa-3, India’s first indigenous aircraft. It was flown in Bengaluru when the nuclear tests were being conducted in Pokhran, Rajasthan. On the same day, the Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) conducted the last test-fire of the Trishul Missile. This missile was later inducted into service by the Indian Air Force and Indian Army.
11) The World Migratory Bird Day for 2019 is observed on May 11. It is celebrated twice in the year, which falls on the second Saturday in May and October. In 2019, it will be celebrated on May 11 and October 10. The theme for this year is “Protect Birds: Be the Solution to Plastic Pollution!”. It is organized by the Secretariats of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) and the African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbird Agreement (AEWA) along with Environment for the Americas (EFTA). It is celebrated to raise awareness on the need for protecting the migratory birds and their habitats. The first world Migratory Day was observed on the weekend of April 8-9, 2006.
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