Which country releases a special stamp on Ramayana theme?

The Government of Malawi has launched the pilot tests for the world's first malaria vaccine - RTS,S (or Mosquirix) -to give partial protection to children up to 2 years of age. The other two African countries - Ghana and Kenya - will introduce the vaccine in the coming weeks. This move is part of World Health Organization (WHO)-coordinated three country pilot programme where the risk of malaria is high and there has been previous success with other childhood vaccines. It aims to reach 360,000 children per year across the three countries. The vaccine has been developed by British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) in partnership with the PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative. According to WHO, Malaria kills some 435,000 people around the world each year, the majority of them children. Most of these deaths are in Africa, where more than 250,000 children die from the disease every year.

India was re-elected as Observer to the Arctic Council, an intergovernmental forum. The decision was taken during the 11th Arctic Council ministerial meeting at Rovaniemi, Finland. The Council also appointed the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) as a new Observer. India successfully got the Observer status in 2013 during the Kiruna Ministerial meeting held in Sweden. India has its Arctic research station 'Himadri' in Svalbard, Norway since 2008. Located at the International Arctic Research base, the research station was set up by India's National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research, an institute under the Ministry of Earth Sciences.

Defence Ministry Nirmala Sitharaman approved Indian Navy's proposal to acquire 10 Kamov-31 choppers from Russia at a cost of around Rs. 3,600 crore to strengthen its capability against aerial threats to its aircraft carriers and large warships. They cleared the Rs. 3,600 crore proposal for buying around 10 Kamov-31 Airborne Early Warning and Control choppers for the aircraft carrier operations and deployment on future warships. Indian Navy already has a fleet of 12 of these Kamov-31 choppers which sanitise the air space around the aircraft carriers and destroyers operating in open seas.

The Netherlands has emerged as the third largest foreign direct investor in India during 2017-18, with investments pegged at about $2.67 billion across sectors. The Netherlands was also the second largest destination for foreign investment by Indian companies, after Singapore, with investments worth $12.8 billion in 2017.

Commerce Ministry, Indian High Commissions and embassies of 11 African nations organized a 2-day, (that is on May 3rd and May 6th) long interaction to deepen the India-Africa trade relations. This was arranged over Digital Video Conference (DVC) and was attended by more than 400 members of the Indian business community in Africa. The interactions with the Indian Diaspora were held in 11 African nations, namely, Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya, Zambia, and Mauritius, Nigeria, Mozambique, Ghana, South Africa, Botswana, and Madagascar, to construct an efficient engagement with the Indian Diaspora in Africa. This initiative gives more focus on the requirement for a multi-faceted strategy to enhance trade and investment between India and Africa.

In Bangladesh, the historic Mujibnagar has recently celebrated on April 17, 2019. The day marks the oath taking ceremony of Bangladesh's first government in 1971 at Baidyanathtala in Meherpur. On this day in 1971, senior leaders of the liberation movement of Bangladesh had assembled at Baidyanathtala to form the provisional government of independent Bangladesh. Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was declared the President in absentia as he was arrested and flown to Pakistan after the Pakistan military crackdown on the then 'East Pakistan' on the night of March 25, 1971. The day is being observed by political parties and social and cultural organisations through various programs across Bangladesh.

India will be attending the Group of 7 industrialised nations meet organised by France in Biarritz in August along with Australia, Chile, and South Africa. the French ambassador to India Alexandre Zeigler stated that one of the issues on the agenda of the G-7 meet would be fighting terrorism in cyberspace.

The US has won a World Trade Organization (WTO) ruling against China's use of tariff-rate quotas (TRQ) for rice, wheat and corn. The case, lodged by the Obama administration in late 2016, marks the second U.S. victory in as many months in the country's ongoing trade spat with China. TRQs are two-level tariffs, with limited imports allowed at the lower 'in-quota' tariff and subsequent imports charged an 'out-of-quota' tariff, which is generally much higher. The US argued that the quotas limited market access for its grain exports. Australia, Brazil, India, and the European Union were among those reserving their rights in the dispute brought by the world's largest grain exporter.

Kazakhstan has set up Coordinating Council for attracting foreign investments including from India. A decision was taken to lay down the functions of Investment Ombudsman in order to venture for new approaches to improve the investment scenario in Kazakhstan. The meeting identified the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC) as a Unified Center for the coordination of work on investment and promotion of the investment image of Kazakhstan.

Indian archaeologists recently unearthed a life-sized stucco sculpture from a Buddhist site at Phanigiri in Suryapet, Telangana. As per heritage department officials, it represents one of Bhodhisattva in Jathaka Chakra.This is the largest stucco sculpture found from India till date. The sculpture is about 1.73 metres in height and 35 cm in width.It is considered to have been built at at peak of Ikshavaku dynasty.The preliminary excavation at Phanigiri was started by archaeological department official Khaja Muhammad Ahmad in 1941.