How many countries agree to include Plastic Waste in Basel Convention?

Iran and Pakistan have decided to set up a Joint Border Reaction Force (JBRF) following a number of deadly attacks by militant groups on their frontier. The announcement comes following tensions between the two countries who have in recent months accused each other of not doing enough to stamp out militants allegedly sheltering across the border. The The Iran-Pakistan border skirts the volatile southeastern Iranian province of Sistan-Baluchistan which has been the scene of frequent attacks on Iran's security forces.

The Panama Electoral Tribunal announced Laurentino "Nito" Cortizo (with 95% of votes counted) as the winner of Panama's presidential election.

In the very first initiative of President Macky Sall's 2nd term in office, Senegalese parliament has approved a constitutional reform to remove the post of prime minister.The motion was passed with 124 MPs (member of parliament) voting in favour of the motion, while 7 MPs voting against the motion.The parliament also supported the legislative alterations, whose prime objective was to prevent the president from dissolving the National Assembly. In doing so, it could no longer raise a motion of no confidence against the government. The Opposition parties have rejected the constitutional alterations.

The 11th meeting of the joint working group on counter-terrorism between India and Australia held at Canberra, Australia on May 2, 2019. Mahaveer Singhvi, Joint Secretary (Counter-Terrorism) led Indian delegation while Paul Foley, Australia's Ambassador for Counter Terrorism led Australian delegation for the meeting. The objective of this meeting is to discuss the counter-terrorism challenges which both countries are facing such as financing of terrorism, the use of the internet for terror purposes, radicalisation and foreign terrorist fighters. The Joint Working Group also agreed to further deepen counter-terrorism cooperation through mutual capacity building efforts, regular exchange of information, mutual legal assistance, regular exchange of information, sharing of best practices on counter-terrorism and radicalization.

Jaideep Sarkar has been appointed as India's next High Commissioner to South Africa. He is expected to take up the assignment shortly. Sarkar, a 1987-batch Indian Foreign Service officer, is currently serving as India's ambassador in Bhutan. He served in Indian Missions in Tokyo, Seoul and Bangladesh as well.

India and Bangladesh agreed to jointly produce the film based on the life and works of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and documentary of Bangladesh Liberation War 1971. The delegation from Bangladesh side led by Dr. Gowher Rizvi, Adviser to Prime Minister of Bangladesh met Amit Khare, Secretary of Information and Broadcasting Ministry. The co-production of film was earlier announced by the PM of both India and Bangladesh. The movie will be directed by Shyam Benegal and the scriptwriter of the movie will be Atul Tiwari and the director of the documentary will be from Bangladesh who would be assisted by a co-director from India.

The Japanese scientists have successfully created the first-ever artificial crater on an asteroid 'Ryugu'. It's a step towards shedding light on how the solar system evolved. The announcement comes after the Hayabusa2 probe fired an explosive device at the Ryugu asteroid early this month to blast a crater in the surface and scoop up material. The aim of blasting the crater on Ryugu is to throw up "fresh" material from under the asteroid's surface that could shed light on the early stages of the solar system. The asteroid is thought to contain relatively large amounts of organic matter and water from some 4.6 billion years ago when the solar system was born. The Ryugu asteroid is around 340 million kilometers from Earth.

West Indies player John Campbell and Shai Hope created the history by making first-ever 350 plus run opening stand against Ireland. Both players shared 365 runs for the first wicket and also become the only opening pair to score 150 runs each in one inning of a 50-over match. The venue of the match was Clontarf Cricket Club Ground, Dublin, Ireland.Previously, the highest first wicket opening stand was 304 runs in ODI cricket by Pakistan's Fakhar Zaman and Imam-ul-Haq against Zimbabwe in 2018.

United States Cricket Team won their first one-day international status with a third straight victory at the World Cricket League Division Two event in Namibia. The Americans defeated Hong Kong by 84 runs. Xavier Marshall, former West Indies batsman scored a century as the Americans made 280-8 while Hong Kong scored 196-7 respectively. Oman has also secured their ODI status.

'Beeg Ani Beegath', a collection of short stories in Konkani by the well-known writer, journalist, and critic H M Pernal bagged the prestigious 'Vimala V Pai Vishwa' Konkani best book award for the year 2018. H M Pernal is the pen name of Henry M Mendonca, a native of Pernal in Udupi district, who currently lives in Mangaluru. Konkani poet Sharathchandra Shenoy from Kochi won the Vishwa Konkani best poetry award for his book 'Idam Na Mama,' while Vishwanath M Shet from Uttara Kannada bagged the Vishwa Konkani lifetime achievement award. Each award carries a purse of Rs one lakh each, a certificate, memento and shawi.