Jayalalithaa’s AIADMK today clearly headed to retain power in Tamil Nadu by winning 134 seats as arch rival DMK gave a strong fight bagging 89 segments.
•    Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, set to create history by becoming the first ever leader to retain power in the state since 1989, as she retains R K Nagar constituency defeating DMK rival by 39,545 votes. 
•    Jayalalithaa secured 97,218 votes against Shimla Muthuchozhan who polled 57,673 votes.
•    Addressing jubilant party workers, Jayalalithaa called the victory a historic one and vowed to strive for the people with renewed vigour.
•    The bad news for the AIADMK came from Chennai, which was battered by flash floods in December and whose voters appeared to have overwhelmingly turned against the ruling party.
•    AIADMK candidates trailed behind the DMK in 10 of the 16 constituencies in the capital.
•    For the first time, the elections saw several alternatives to AIADMK and DMK. But all drew blank at the polls.
•    A total of 2,873 voters in the high profile Dr. Radhakrishnan Nagar constituency, where Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa was a contestant, preferred NOTA.
•    Tamil Nadu, with over 5.79 crore registered voters, had recorded 74.26 percent polling in the assembly polls held on May 16.
•    Tamil Nadu is the eleventh-largest state in India by area and the sixth-most populous. 
•    The state was ranked sixth among states in India according to the Human Development Index in 2011, with the second-largest state economy.
•    Its official language is Tamil, which is one of the longest-surviving classical languages in the world.

Pinarayi Vijayan is set to be the chief minister of Kerala as Left Democratic Front (LDF) has won 91 seats out 140 assembly seats.
•    Compared to 2011 assembly elections when it had won 68 seats, LDF increased its tally by 24 seats in 2016 assembly elections.
•    On the other hand, Congress Party led United Democratic Front (UDF), like in other states, is in for a huge setback. 
•    It is leading only in 47 seats, a big 23 seats drop compared to 2011 assembly elections.
•    The account for BJP was opened by 86-year-old former Union minister O Rajagopal, who won by over 8000 votes. He will go down in history as the first BJP MLA in Kerala’s 140-member assembly.
•    It was the image of Rajagopal, popularly known as ‘Rajettan’, apart from the BJP’s organizational strength that helped the party to create history. He is considered a noble and well meaning person.
•    Anti-incumbency factor against the Congress chief Minister Oommen Chandy is responsible for such a massive setback to the grand old party in the state. 
•    The government had been hit by a series of corruption scandals involving some of his top aides and ministers.
•    There also has been a barrage of criticism following a spate of crime against women, especially the horrific rape, torture and murder of a Dalit student.
•    Kerala has the lowest positive population growth rate in India, 3.44%; highest Human Development Index (HDI), 0.790 in 2011; the highest literacy rate, 93.91% in the 2011 according to the census data. 
•    The state has witnessed significant emigration, especially to Arab states of the Persian Gulf during the Gulf Boom of the 1970s and early 1980s, and its economy depends significantly on remittances from a large Malayalam expatriate community. 
•    Hinduism is practiced by more than half of the population, followed by Islam and Christianity. 

Election Commission on 19 May 2016 announced results of 2016 Legislative Assembly Election of West Bengal. 
•    The elections were held in six phases between 4 April 2016 and 5 May 2016 for 294 assembly seats.
•    In the elections, ruling All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) of Chief Minister Mamta Banerjee crossed the two-third mark by winning 211 seats. 
•    Congress-Left combine has taken 76 seats while BJP has bagged three seats. Independents and others have won four seats.
•    West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC Supremo, Mamta Banerjee won from Bhabanipur Assembly Constituency. 
•    She defeated her nearest Congress rival Deepa Dasmunshi by over 25 thousand votes. 
•    West Bengal Speaker Biman Banerjee has won from Baruipur Paschim Constituency.
•    The huge victory in the assembly elections 2016 compared to 2011 elections by Mamta-led TMC can be attributed to her campaign “Maa, Maati, Maanush.” 
•    In 2011 elections her party was able to secure just 184 seats.
•    Prafulla Chandra Ghosh. Prafulla Chandra Ghosh (1891–1983) was the first Chief Minister of West Bengal, India.

Beti, a four minute documentary film on girl child education from India, has been invited for special screening at the 42nd Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF), Washington DC.
•    Beti is the only short film from India to be featured amongst 421 films representing 85 countries and will be screened on 30 May 2016, which is Seattle Memorial Day at the SIFF.
•    The film was made by young student filmmakers of Chandigarh.
•    The movie is directed by Shivain Arora.
•    The short film promotes girl child by narrating the real life story of three girls from a government school and their dream for the future.
•    The Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF), held annually in Seattle, Washington since 1976, is among the top film festivals in North America. 
•    Audiences have grown steadily; the 2006 festival had 160,000 attendees. 
•    In recent years, the SIFF has run for more than three weeks (24 days), in May/June, and features a diverse assortment of predominantly independent and foreign films and, in recent years, a strong contingent of documentaries.

Justice Tinlianthang Vaiphei on 16 May 2016 was sworn in as the acting Chief Justice of Tripura High Court. He was administered the oath of office by the Governor Tathagata Roy at the Raj Bhavan in Agartala.
•    At present Vaiphei is the Acting Chief Justice of the Gauhati High Court. He replaced Deepak Kumar Gupta, who was transferred as the chief justice of the Chhattisgarh High Court.
•    Vaiphei was appointed as an Additional Judge in the Gauhati High Court in July 2003. He was elevated as the Chief Justice (Acting) in October 2015.
•    High Court of the state of Tripura was established in March 2013.
•    Prior to the establishment, a bench of the Gauhati High Court used to have jurisdiction over the state.
•    The seat of the High Court is at Agartala, the capital of Tripura.
•    Deepak Gupta worked as the first Chief Justice of the court.
•    This article empowers the President of India to appoint acting Chief Justice to a High Court.
•    Appointment of acting Chief Justice takes place when the office of Chief Justice of High Court is vacant.
•    Such an appointment also takes place when any such Chief Justice is, by reason of absence or otherwise, unable to perform the duties of his office.

Justice Tinlianthang Vaiphei on 16 May 2016 was sworn in as the acting Chief Justice of Tripura High Court. He was administered the oath of office by the Governor Tathagata Roy at the Raj Bhavan in Agartala.
•    At present Vaiphei is the Acting Chief Justice of the Gauhati High Court. He replaced Deepak Kumar Gupta, who was transferred as the chief justice of the Chhattisgarh High Court.
•    Vaiphei was appointed as an Additional Judge in the Gauhati High Court in July 2003. He was elevated as the Chief Justice (Acting) in October 2015.
•    High Court of the state of Tripura was established in March 2013.
•    Prior to the establishment, a bench of the Gauhati High Court used to have jurisdiction over the state.
•    The seat of the High Court is at Agartala, the capital of Tripura.
•    Deepak Gupta worked as the first Chief Justice of the court.
•    This article empowers the President of India to appoint acting Chief Justice to a High Court.
•    Appointment of acting Chief Justice takes place when the office of Chief Justice of High Court is vacant.
•    Such an appointment also takes place when any such Chief Justice is, by reason of absence or otherwise, unable to perform the duties of his office.

The United Nations in the third week of May 2016 announced that four Indian peacekeepers and a civilian will be honoured along with other 124 personnel with a prestigious U.N. medal.
Head Constable Shubhkaran Yadav,Rifleman Manish Malik, Havildar Amal Deka, Naik Rakesh Kumar and Gagan Punjabi will be honoured with the Dag Hammarskjold Medal awarded posthumously.
The 124 personnel will be honoured on the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers. The day, observed annually on 29 May, will be commemorated this year on 19 May.
•    Head Constable Shubhkaran Yadav served in the U.N. Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO).
•    He made the supreme sacrifice in April 2015.
•    Rifleman Manish Malik also served in the U.N. Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
•    He died in August 2015 during the mission.
•    Havildar Amal Deka served in the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF).
•    He died in June 2015.
•    Naik Rakesh Kumar served in the U.N. Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS).
•    He died in January 2015.
•    Gagan Punjabi was serving in MONUSCO in a civilian capacity under the U.N. Volunteers programme and died in an incident in January 2015.
The Dag Hammarskjöld Medal is a posthumous award given by the United Nations to military personnel, police or civilians who lose their lives while serving in a UN peacekeeping operation.The first medals were awarded in October 1998.

Senior audit service officer Hindupur Pradeep Rao was today appointed as Deputy Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG).
•    Rao, a 1981 batch officer of Indian Audit and Account Service, is presently working as Additional CAG.
•    The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the appointment of Rao as Deputy CAG with effect from July 1, 2016, an order issued by Department of Personnel and Training said.
•    The Comptroller and Auditor General is country's top auditing body. 
•    In another order, the ACC has appointed A K Mittal as Member (Engineering) in Railway Board here.
•    Mittal, who belong to Indian Railway Service of Engineers, is presently General Manager of East Central Railway.
•    He has been appointed to the new post with effect from June 1, 2016.

Former beauty queen, Bollywood actress and global human rights activist Celina Jaitly, will be honored May 13 by the Harvey Milk Foundation at the second annual Diversity Honors at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida.
•    She is a strong supporter of repealing Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, which criminalizes homosexuality,
•    Jaitly will receive the Harvey Milk Foundation’s Lilla Watson Global Champion Medal at the gala co-presented by the Harvey Milk Foundation and The Pride Center at Equality Park.
•    Jaitly, is an official Champion of the United Nations Free & Equal Campaign, will be honored for her advocacy and support for the LGBT rights movement in India. 
•    A former Miss India winner and Miss Universe runner-up, she is one of the most visible advocates against the criminalization of same-sex relationships in the world’s largest democracy.
•    Jaitly will join other Diversity Honors notables to be celebrated for their commitment to transforming lives by living authentically and advancing inclusiveness.
•    Guests at Diversity Honors will preview the North American premiere of the Levi’s X Harvey Milk Foundation Pride 2016 Collection 
•    The awards presentation will be hosted by WSVN news anchor Omar Lewis and will include Stuart Milk’s 2016 “State of the Global Equality” address.

Anjali Chandrashekar, won the third prize at the United Nations Poster for Peace Contest. 
•    She received the award at the U.N. Headquarters in New York on May 3.
•    Two of Anjali’s works were selected — ‘Break Free’ and ‘Cutting a Peace Deal’. 
•    ‘Break Free’ shows white peace doves fly out of a cage shaped like a nuclear warhead, while the other poster was about affirmative action — the dove acts like scissors and cuts through the image of a warhead, towards peace.
•    Anajli, who studied at PSBB Senior Secondary School and went on to graduate from Pratt Institute in the U.S., is no stranger to using her talent for a cause — to raise funds and to create awareness. She’s been doing it since she was 10, and has participated in several U.N. campaigns in the past.
•    This campaign was to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the first General Assembly Resolution and to reaffirm the U.N.’s historic commitment to nuclear disarmament. At the U.N., she also met the President of the General Assembly Mogens Lykketoft and actor Michael Douglas, long-standing U.N. Messenger of Peace.