Ireland becomes first country to legalise gay marriage by popular vote

Republic of Ireland became the first country in the world to be legalized same-sex marriage through popular vote. The referendum on this issue to amend country’s written constitution was passed with a resounding 62.1 per cent ‘Yes’. Off the total voter turnout of 60.5 per cent, 1,201,607 people voted in favour of same-sex marriage, while 734,300 voted against it.

Jayalalithaa takes oath as Tamil Nadu CM for fifth time 

AIADMK General Secretary J Jayalalithaa was on 23 May 2015 sworn­-in as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for fifth time. Along with her, 28 others were sworn in as ministers in her Cabinet. She is the 18th Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu and succeeded O Panneerselvam who resigned on 21 May 2015 following her acquittal on 11 May 2015 in the disproportionate assets case by the Karnataka High Court.

G Mohan Kumar Appointed New Defence Secretary

Senior IAS officer G. Mohan Kumar was appointed as new Defence Secretary for a two-year term. Mr. Kumar, a 1979 batch IAS officer of Odisha cadre, is presently Secretary in Department of Defence Production. He replaces R.K. Mathur, who retires May 28.

India-Singapore bilateral naval exercise SIMBEX-15 commences in Singapore

Bilateral naval exercise SIMBEX-15 between India and Singapore commenced on 23 May 2015 in Singapore. It is 3 days exercise which will conclude on May 26, 2015. Two Indian naval ships INS Satpura, an indigenously-built guided missile stealth frigate, and INS Kamorta, the latest indigenous anti-submarine warfare corvette, are taking part in this exercise.

Tanishq Abraham, 11-year-old Indian-American graduates from California college

Tanishq Abraham, 11-year-old Indian-American child prodigy created a record by graduating from California College with three associate degrees in science, maths and foreign language studies. In 2014, he also had created a record by becoming one of the youngest ever in the US to graduate high school. Tanishq is home-schooled since the age of seven. At the age of four he had joined MENSA, the prominent and oldest high IQ society in the world.