How much did UN owe India for peacekeeping operations?

The Indian Army has successfully built the longest suspension bridge 'Matiri Bridge' over the Indus River in the Leh-Ladakh region. Built in a record time of 40 days 'Maitri Bridge' is longest Suspension Bridge over Indus River. The 260-feet long suspension bridge was built by the combat engineers belonging to the Sahas aur Yogyata regiment of Indian Army's Fire & Fury Corps.

The Lok Sabha passed the 'DNA Technology (Use and Application) Regulation Bill, 2019' on 8 January 2019. It seeks to provide regulation for the use and application of DNA technology for the purpose of establishing the identity of a certain category of persons. The bill also seeks to establish a 'National DNA Data Bank' and 'Regional DNA Data Banks'.

Public Relations Officer (PRO) in the prime minister's office and senior journalist Jagdish Thakkar passed away in New Delhi. Thakkar, 72, who was unwell for some time, passed away at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences.

The Union Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) has recently approved the establishment of a Centre for Classical Language at the Thunchath Ezhuthachan Malayalam University in Tirur, Kerala. The Ministry has communicated the decision to the Central Institute of Indian Languages, Mysuru. In view of this, the State government would be required to prepare a detailed project report and sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ministry. The aim of the proposed centre is to study and research and other aspects of Malayalam language & will prove beneficial in implementing various projects for Malayalam language development. The centre would also assist the Malayalam University in its various initiatives.

SEBI in his guidelines titled "Guidelines for Determination of Allotment and Trading Lot Size for Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) and Infrastructure Investment Trusts (InvITs)" has reduced the minimum subscription requirement as well as defined trading lots for REITs and InvITs.For determining the allotment in an initial offer and follow on public offers, REITs have to offer their units in lots worth at least Rs 50,000 and in case of InvITs, the minimum value of a single lot should be Rs 1 lakh.The allotment to any investor shall be made in the multiples of a lot.For initial listing in case of REITs and InvITs, a trading lot should be of 100 units and for follow on public offers, each lot shall consists of such number of units in its trading lot as it had at the time of initial offer. Moreover, SEBI has also increased leverage limit for InvITs from 49 percent to 70 percent.

World Thalassaemia Day 2019 was celebrated on May 8 worldwide with a theme of "Universal Access to Quality Thalassaemia Healthcare Services: Building Bridges with and for Patients". The purpose of this day is to honour all patients of thalassaemia and their wards who never gave up despite all odds and also to support researchers who are striving to create an improved quality of life for people with thalassaemia across the world. To celebrate this day, Thalassaemia International Federation (TIF) organised 3 online competitions worldwide with a certain theme. This online competition will include a video challenge, a photo contest, and a story competition.

Japan has begun testing the ALFA-X version of its fastest-ever Shinkansen bullet train that could reach 400 km per hour (249 mph). The bullet train ALFA-X (Advanced Labs for Frontline Activity in Rail Experimentation) is scheduled to start its service in 2030, when, rail company JR East would operate it at 360 kilometres per hour (224 mph). This speed will make it 10 kph faster than China's Fuxing Hao, which links Beijing and Shanghai and operates at the same top speed. This would make ALFA-X, the world's fastest bullet train. The ALFA-X's futuristic design features 10 cars and a sleek pointed nose.The bullet train will be tested (after midnight, when the line is quiet) twice a week on the line between Sendai and Aomori, 2 Japanese cities, which are 280 kilometres apart.

The Environment Ministry launched the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) aimed at reducing toxic particulate matter in 102 Indian cities by 2024. The NCAP will be a mid-term, five-year plan with 2019 as the first year, while 2017 will be the base year for comparison of concentration. An amount of INR300 crore has been sanctioned for this purpose.

Cricket is set for a return at the Asian Games after the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) included it in the sports programme for the 2022 edition in Hangzhou. The decision was taken at the OCA's General Assembly in Bangkok.

Each year, World Tuberculosis (TB) Day is commemorated on March 24 to raise public awareness about the devastating health, social and economic consequences of TB, and to step up efforts to end the global TB epidemic. The theme of World TB Day 2019 - 'It's time'. The date marks the day in 1882 when Dr Robert Koch announced that he had discovered the bacterium that causes TB, which opened the way towards diagnosing and curing this disease.