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>> NASA's first mission to demonstrate a planetary defence technique, The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), will get one opportunity to hit small moonlet in the binary asteroid system Didymos. The asteroid poses no threat to Earth and is an ideal test target. NASA revealed that details about its plan to hit a small moonlet target in a double asteroid system with a spacecraft in 2022. The asteroid, called Didymoon or Didymos B, is a moon asteroid around 150 meters tall orbiting a larger body Didymos A, the most accessible asteroid of its size from the Earth.

>> The World Asthma Day was observed across the globe on May 7, 2019, the first Tuesday of May 2019. The day is observed across the world to spread awareness about Asthma and its care around the world. The day is organised and sponsored by the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) as a partnership between health care groups and asthma educators to raise awareness about asthma. The theme of World Asthma Day 2019 was 'STOP for Asthma'. Here, STOP stands for: Symptom evaluation, Test Response, Observe and assess, Proceed to adjust treatment.

>> Shahid Afridi, former captain of the 'Pakistan national cricket team' has written his autobiography titled, 'Game Changer' which will unveil answers to the much-contemplated questions about him. The book has been published by Harper Collin's India. Afridi is popularly known as 'Boom Boom' and holds the world record for the fastest ODI (One Day International) century in 37 deliveries.He also holds the distinction of having hit the most number of sixes in the history of ODI cricket. The book has been co-authored by Afridi and journalist Wajahat S Khan.

>> International No Diet Day (INDD) was observed on May 6 to promote a healthy lifestyle and raise awareness of the dangers and futility of dieting. The day also aims to raise awareness about the various dieting disorders which exist such as anorexia and bulimia. The INDD symbol is a blue ribbon. The INDD was first created in 1992 by Mary Evans Young to help people appreciate their own bodies. British feminist Mary was an anorexia patient(an eating disorder). She is the director of the British group "Diet Breakers" among the weight issues. The main agenda of INDD is Educating people on how to diet effectively and responsibly to improve healthy life and raise awareness about fatphobia, weight discrimination, sizism and potential dangers of commercial diet plans, honoring the victims of weight-loss surgery and eating disorders, promoting body acceptance and body shape diversity.

>> A Japanese aerospace start-up Interstellar Technology Inc. has successfully launched a first privately developed rocket 'Momo-3' into space. The unmanned Momo-3 was launched from its test site in Hokkaido and reached about 110 kilometers (68 miles) in altitude before falling into the Pacific Ocean after 10 minutes of flight time. It was the company's third launch attempt after previous tries failed in 2017 and 2018. In 2017, the operator lost contact with Momo-1 shortly after launch. In 2018, Momo-2 only made it some 20 meters off the ground before crashing and bursting into flames due to a problem with a control system.

>> Microsoft has unveiled fully-managed Azure Blockchain Service that would simplify the formation, management, and governance so that businesses can focus on workflow logic and application development. Instead of supporting cryptocurrency transactions, Azure Blockchain Service will let businesses develop their applications on its Cloud-based platform. Microsoft has also announced a partnership with J.P. Morgan to make "Quorum", the first ledger available in Azure Blockchain Service.

>> Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (Space X) launched its 17th commercial resupply mission to the International Space Station (ISS) by using Falcon 9 rocket with Dragon Spacecraft. The 213-foot-tall rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. This mission is a part of NASA's Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) program, which uses commercial spacecraft to deliver cargo to the ISS.

>> Stockholm International peace research institute (SIPRI) has launched a new initiative named Global Registry of Violent Deaths (GReVD) to establish the annual number of violent deaths worldwide.GReVD will count deaths caused by all forms of violence and display these in an open-source database and enable monitoring of progress on the world's commitment to 'significantly reduce all forms of violence and related death rates everywhere' by 2030 as set out in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)-Goal 16. The database will enable policymakers and researchers and the general public to track trends in violence at global, regional, national, provincial, city and municipal levels. GReVD will hold a single entry for every violent death, including perpetrator, time, location, victim and type of violence. The sources will be verifiable news reports of lethal events and processing will involve machine coding to manage the volume of entries, as well as human coding to ensure accuracy and consistency.

>> Asian Development Bank (ADB) launched 5$ billion Action Plan for Healthy Oceans and Sustainable Blue Economies for the Asia and Pacific region. This will support ADB's developing member countries' efforts for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), inclusive of the SDG 14: Life Below Water. Among the 10 rivers that transports 88% to 95% of plastics into the sea globally, 8 are in Asia and Pacific region. The Healthy Oceans Action Plan was launched at the 52nd Annual Meeting of ADB's Board of Governors, Fiji.

>> An 18-year old girl from Nepal named Bandana set a Guinness World Records on 'Longest Dancing Marathon by an Individual'. She danced exclusively to Nepalese music continuously for 126 hours (over five days). She broke the record set by India's Kalamandalam Hemlatha, who danced continuously for 123 hours and 15 minutes in 2011. She performed classical dance form Mohiniyattam and set the record at age of 37.

>> The World Press Freedom Prize also known as UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize 2019 is formally conferred every year by Director-General of UNESCO, on occasion of World Press Freedom Day observed on 3 May. In 2019 award would be shared by two jailed Myanmar journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo who reported on alleged human rights violations in the state of Rakhine, Myanmar. The Reuters reporters are serving a seven-year prison sentence in Myanmar. They are charged with breaking the country's secrets law for their journalistic investigation on the military's brutal crackdown and killings of Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine state.

>> 3rd May is observed worldwide as International Energy Day by The International Energy Agency (IEA).IEA is an autonomous inter-governmental organization based in Paris. It was founded in the framework of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in 1974 after the 1973 oil crisis.The agency works as a policy adviser to its member states and also works with non-member nations like China, India, and Russia.IEA's main focus lies in the "3Es" of effective energy policy.

>> The Asia-Pacific region s expected to grow at 5.7% in 2019. According to the bank's Asian Development Outlook 2019 report released in April, developing Asia which comprises 45 nations ranging from China to Tuvalu is projected to grow by 5.7% in 2019. However, the growth outlook for developing Asia is expected to moderate to 5.6 % in 2020.

>> The 340m wide asteroid named 99942 Apophis will fly past Earth like a 'moving star- like point of light' on April 13, 2029. It will fly above the earth's surface at 30,500 km and first become visible with a naked eye in the night sky over the Southern Hemisphere from the east coast to the west coast of Australia.In 2004, astronomers at the Kitt Peak National Observatory based in Arizona discovered Apophis and claims about the chance of 2.7% that asteroid may impact Earth in 2029. However, further observation ruled out that chance but Apophis still has a small chance of impacting Earth which is less than 1 in 100,00- many decades from now.

>> Tod D. Wolters, the former pilot, who has served in Afghanistan and Iraq, has been declared as the Supreme Allied Commander Europe during the ceremony at NATO's (The North Atlantic Treaty Organization) military headquarters in Mons, southern Belgium. This is one of the most challenging and extremely important military positions in the world. US Air Force General Tod D. Wolters who is supposed to run for a tenure of 2 to 3 years, was preceded by U.S. Army General, Curtis M. Scaparrotti.Wolters will also be the commander of U.S. forces in Europe across more than 19 million square miles.

>> Paytm has launched a recurring payment service for merchants that are working on a digital subscription model. The move will allow the subscription-based businesses to collect payments from their subscribers effortlessly. Recurring payments are an automatic payment system wherein the merchants automatically charge their customers for a specified service on a pre-arranged schedule.

>> Raheem Sterling named the 2019 footballer of the year by the Football Writers' Association (FWA). The Manchester City and England forward topped the poll of the 400-strong FWA membership as a clear winner, with 62 per cent of the votes. It was more than 100 votes ahead of Liverpool defender Virgil Van Dijk. Sterling lost out to Van Dijk in the race for the Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) award, but was announced PFA young player of the year.

>> China launched two Tianhui II-01 satellites from Taiyuan Satellite Launch Centre, also known as Base 25. The purpose of the satellite is to perform scientific experiments, land resource and geographic survey, and mapping. The satellites were launched by a Long March 4B carrier rocket also known as Chang Zheng 4B. This was the 303rd successful mission of the Long March series carrier rocket.

>> Boyz n the Hood director John Singleton, who was the first African American and the youngest-ever film-maker to be nominated for the best director Oscar, passed away at the age of 51 after suffering from hypertension. He was born on 6th January 1968 in Los Angeles, California, U.S.In 1991, he released the Boyz n the Hood film which reflected his own background growing up in South Central Los Angeles.

>> The Government of Nepal has launched an ambitious 45-day 'Everest Cleaning Campaign' to bring back tonnes of trash from Mt. Everest from 14th April 2019. The campaign is led by Solukhumbu district's Khumbu Pasanglhamu Rural Municipality and aims to collect nearly 10,000 kgs of garbage from Mt. Everest. Every year, hundreds of climbers, Sherpas and high altitude porters make their way to Everest, leaving behind tonnes of both biodegradable and non-biodegradable waste - including empty oxygen canisters, kitchen waste, beer bottles and faecal matter - on the highest peak, which has lately acquired notoriety as the "world's highest garbage dump". The collected waste will then be showcased in Namche town, before being ferried down to Kathmandu, where it will once again be showcased on World Environment Day (WED-2019) on June 5. After that, it will finally be sent out for recycling.

>> The new emperor, Naruhito (59-year-old), on 1st May received the sacred imperial regalia that represents his rightful succession to the world's oldest monarchy, Tokyo, Japan. Emperor Akihito of Japan formally stepped down on 30th April 2019 as his son Naruhito prepared to take the Chrysanthemum Throne and usher in a new imperial era. Emperor Akihito abdicated the Chrysanthemum Throne three decades after he succeeded his father, the wartime emperor Hirohito. This is the first abdication for 200 years in the world's oldest monarchy. In the "Room of Pine" in Tokyo's Imperial Palace, the popular 85-year-old performed the abdication ritual in the presence of the imperial regalia, an ancient sword and the sacred jewel. Akihito (now 85 years old), took the throne in 1989. He devoted his career correcting for a war fought in his father's name. He even brought the aloof monarchy closer to people. He is the first emperor in Japan's modern history whose era did not have a war. While the role of the emperor has been chiefly ceremonial since the end of World War II, the departing monarch acted as the nation's chief consoler during times of disaster, such as the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, and sought to make amends throughout Asia for Japan's wartime atrocities.

>> International Worker's Day also known as Labour Day and May Day, is observed on 1st May every year, to promote and encourage the international labour associations. The theme of International Labour Day 2019 is "Sustainable Pension for all: The Role of Social Partners". Labour Day provides the Labours their right to work for only 8 hours a day.

>> The name Fani was suggested by Bangladesh. The name of cyclone 'Fani' was picked up from a pool containing 64 names suggested by eight countries in the North Indian Ocean basin.(Eight Countries are India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Maldives, Myanmar, Oman, Pakistan and Thailand).

>> The 42-edition of Porsche Tennis Grand Prix was held in Porsche Arena in Stuttgart, Germany from April 22 to April 28, 2019.The prize money for the event was $8,86,077. Kvitova beat Kontaveit to win maiden Stuttgart title.A world number three Czech tennis player, Petra Kvitova beat Estonian Anett Kontaveit by 6-3, 7-6 (B) to win Stuttgart's Porsche Grand Prix 2019 in women's single.The 29-year old Kvitova, two-time Wimbledon Champion, won her second title of the year after Sydney in January 2019. Germany's Mona Barthel & Anna-Lena Friedsam won women's doubles A 28-year old Mona Barthel and a 25-year old Anna-Lena Friedsam, both from Germany defeated Russian player Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Czech player Lucie Safarova in the women's double final by 2-6, 6-3 and 10-6.