The 8th edition of Home Expo India 2019 started in __________.

India, Brazil and South Africa (IBSA) Sherpas meeting was held in Cochin, Kerala from May 3 to May 5, 2019. Before IBSA Sherpas meeting, the 9th IBSA trilateral Ministerial Meeting was also concluded at the same venue. Indian delegation was led by T.S. Tirumurti, Secretary (Economic Relations) in Ministry of External Affairs and Amb. Norberto Moretti, Sherpa of Brazil and Prof. Anil Sooklal, Sherpa of South Africa led their respective delegation at the meeting. The Sherpas of all three countries conveyed their happiness that the first Gandhi Mandela Memorial Freedom Lecture was delivered by Cyril Ramaphosa, President of South Africa on 25th January, 2019 in New Delhi. The Sherpas welcomed 6th India-Brazil-South Africa Maritime (IBSAMAR) exercise conducted off the Coast of South Africa in September, 2018. IBSA Academic Forum met in Cochin and presented their recommendation to the Sherpas. They also appreciated the ongoing IBSA Fellowship Programme at the Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS) which was launched at India's initiative in 2017.

The 14th edition of the annual Sino-Indian border trade opens at Nathu La, which is the frontier post at Sino-Indian border in Sikkim. Officials and traders of India and China made their presence at the border to symbolise the beginning of the border trade. Every year, between 1st May to 30th November, the bilateral border trade between 2 nations is held for 4 days a week for 6 months. After a long interval of 44 years, cross border trade commenced on July 6, 2006 to promote the benefits of trade, increase tourism in Sikkim, thus offering employment for people of the region. The goods export from India totalled to Rs 45.03 crore in 2018, whereas goods imported from the TAR totalled to Rs 3.23 crore. In 2019, the export of at least Rs 50 crore is expected by India.

India and Ukraine have discussed bilateral trade featuring the importance of exports and imports between the 2 countries. The deliberation was part of the 4th Meeting of India-Ukraine Working Group on Trade and Economic Cooperation (IU-WGTEC) held in New Delhi. Both the countries should share the mandatory requirement to be fulfilled at the time of exporting or importing of any product to promote trade. Both the countries have agreed to collaborate in the field of small and medium entrepreneurship.

Haryana Chief Electoral Officer Rajeev Ranjan inaugurated India's first-of-its-kind 'Voter Park' in VikasSadan building complex, Gurugram, to raise voter awareness instructing people about the electoral process.At the park, voters will gain information about the polling process and the archives of elections in the country. The park will help to motivate qualified people to vote in the LokSabha election so that they can contribute to the growth of the country. A model of the electronic voting machine and VVPAT machine have been arranged in the park. There is a D)Selfie Point" in the park,where people can snap selfiespublicising the indelible ink mark on their finger after casting their vote. An Election awareness song "Vote KaHaiAdhikar, Suno Re Vote KaHaiAdhikar". was also launched in the function. Swaty, a student of the Government Women College, Sector-14, Gurugram, has sung the song.

The first edition of Naval Commanders' Conference of 2019 is scheduled at New Delhi from 23 to 25 April 2019. The Chief of the Naval Staff will review major activities undertaken during the previous 6 months. The themes of 'Functional Reorganisation of Indian Navy towards improving Operational Efficiency' and 'Optimal Manning' will form the core of discussions.

Asia Cooperation Dialogue's (ACD) 16th Ministerial Meeting was held in Doha, Qatar. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, H E Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani headed the 2019 dialogue. The Indian delegation was led by Gen. (Dr) V.K. Singh (Retd), Minister of State for External Affairs. By putting more stress on the theme "Partners in Progress", the minister brought into limelight India's desire to work collaboratively with all ACD Member States, in agreement with the Indian Government's approach of "Collective Efforts, Inclusive Growth".

A new species of jumping spiders named "Habrocestum longispinum" has been spotted in Ernakulam's Illithodu forests, Kerala by the arachnologists from Kochi's Sacred Heart College, Thevara.This new species belong to the genus Habrocestum, is being found in Eurasia and Africa.The survey was funded by the Department of Science and Technology - Science and Engineering Research Board. The study has been published in the Journal of Natural History.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced that he would name a new community in the Golan Heights after US President Donald Trump, who officially recognised the disputed area as Israeli territory. Israel has also stated that in appreciation of the U.S. president, it intends to name a proposed train station near Jerusalem's Western Wall after him.

5th Asia Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) Media Summit on Climate Action and Disaster Preparedness was held in Kathmandu, the capital city of Nepal with a theme of "Media Solutions for Sustainable Future: Saving Lives, Building Resilient Communities". The aim of this two day summit was to address the key issue of utilizing media's full potential of accelerating climate action and disaster preparedness and connect different stakeholders to media professionals for collaboration and joint practical projects. A two-day event marked the fourth anniversary of the Gorkha earthquake in which over 9,000 people were lost their life, around 22,000 people were injured and hundreds of thousands of people became homeless and one-third of the Nepalese economy wiped out. This summit was hosted by the Nepal government and organized by Radio Nepal, Nepal TV and ABU, led by Nepal's Communication and Information Technology ministry.

Island Protection Zone (IPZ) 2019 for Andaman and Nicobar has been notified by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. The purpose of these changes in the IPZ is aligned with the Niti Aayog's proposal for holistic development in the Islands.The government is planning to open the blue economy and sustainable utilizing of ocean resources.In this new notification, eco-tourism projects are allowed at 20 meters from the high tide line (HTL) in smaller islands like Baratang, Havelock, and Car Nicobar and at 50 meters for larger islands from the HTL.It permits the eco-tourism activities like mangrove walks, tree huts and nature trails in island coastal regulation zone (ICRZ) IA.This new notification replaces IPZ notification of 2011.